Sewing for my Sis: Miette Skirt!

Hi, guys!  I’m so glad to report that I’ve finished the first garment for my sister’s back-to-work wardrobe!  It’s the Miette skirt from Tilly and the Buttons!

I’m a big fan of indie patterns, and I love to support new designers.  I felt bad because neither this skirt nor the Mathilde blouse is my style at all, but I wanted to be supportive of Tilly’s new endeavor.  Luckily my sister loved this pattern so I was able to try out one of these designs– yay!

This skirt comes together very quickly.  There are no zippers, buttonholes, or difficult techniques to slow you down.  It’s a perfect beginner’s pattern.  I spent more time turning the waistband and ties right-side out and pressing them than on the rest of the skirt in its entirety!  Unfortunately, most of the sewing on this skirt took place in the late evening after work when I was really tired, so I made a stupid mistake and lost momentum on the project.  I attached one of the waistband pieces to the wrong side, making one tie 30″ longer than the other!  Somehow I didn’t notice this until I had turned out the waistband, trimmed the seams, and topstitched the whole thing down.  I didn’t want to unpick the whole thing as I was afraid that it would fray like crazy, so I just chopped off extra length on the one side, folded down the edges, and topstitched it closed.  Then I folded the edges under on the extra piece, fit it around the short edge, and topstitched that down.  It’s not a flawless fix, but it’s functional and it got me out of my funk.

Action shot: look, no peep show! This is one well-designed wrap skirt!

The pattern instructions aren’t illustrated at all, but there are photos on the blog from Tilly’s sewalong demonstrating every step.  I can’t emphasize enough how easy this pattern is.  If you’re thinking about learning how to sew, and you want to try out a project that will pretty much guarantee your success, this is a good bet.

I used a red linen from my stash (hooray!), and I’m not sure how wise of a choice this was.  It’s drapey and nice, but I wonder if it’s not TOO drapey.  Somehow the skirt makes my butt look huge, and I don’t have a whole lot of junk in the trunk!  And the ties look a little droopy in linen, so maybe a fabric with a little bit more body might have looked a little nicer.  But overall, I’m pleased with this skirt and I really hope my sister likes it.  It’s really adjustable, so at least I know it should fit her.

Does this make my butt look big? Kidding. Kinda.

I’m so glad I finished something off this list!  Next I’m planning to whip up some quick tops to go with this skirt!

Ginger Made: Crescent Blouse!

Hi, everyone!  I’m really excited to share this post with you!  A few months ago, Megan Nielsen invited me to pattern test one of her new designs, and as soon as I saw her awesome pattern, I freaked out and totally wanted to spill the beans!  I’m so glad I finally get to show it to you!

This is the brand-spankin’-new Crescent Blouse pattern.  Isn’t it adorable?  Like most of Megan’s patterns, this one has quite a few options– a rounded, crossover hem or a squared tunic hem, and there’s also an optional Peter Pan collar.  You could also lengthen it to make a dress, which would be mega cute!

I used some linen leftover from my M6553 dress, and had just enough for the top– it’s another stash-busting score!  I just love linen.  Sure, it’s a little rumply, but it’s so breathable and has such a great texture.  I particularly love this color, so I was really glad to use up the yardage I had in my stash.

This pattern is EASY to make.  It takes a little time to make bias binding and finish all the openings with it, but it’s otherwise really, really simple.  There aren’t any darts, but you could easily add them if you need the extra shaping.  As always, Megan’s instructions are a piece of cake to follow (mmm… cake…).  The blouse closes around the neck with a button on either side (which I also found in my stash, yay!).  I used French seams throughout the blouse, so the finish is very clean.

I really like this top!  The shoulder cutouts are sexy without being too revealing, and the whole thing is just so summery!  It’s a loose shape, maybe not super flattering on me, but it’s perfect for hot, sticky days.  I definitely want to make a few more of these!

If you haven’t already, hop over to Megan’s blog and check out the entire Breakwater collection!  It makes me REALLY wish that summer would hurry up and get here– I wanna bicycle seaside like the model in the lookbook! 

What are you guys working on?  Sewing for summer (or winter?)?  Found any new favorite patterns lately?

Ginger Made: Naughty Kitty Petrouchka Top

It’s still January, right?

OK. I may have technically missed Jungle January, but I was with you in spirit and have been dying to add some animal print madness to my wardrobe! As soon as Anne announced the month-long extravaganza, I pulled this jersey out of my stash and started plotting. I picked it up at Mood several months ago during a mega shopping expedition with my sister, and the whole time I couldn’t stop saying to her, “This is so awful… I HAVE to have it!” It’s neon leopard print jersey, people! It’s too obnoxious NOT to bring home with you (ladies: this mantra does not apply to dudes). I found out at the cutting counter that it’s Betsey Johnson… makes sense, right? Homegirl loves her crazy prints!

I used Papercut Patterns‘ new(ish) Petrouchka Top pattern, a raglan-sleeved peplum top with a curved seam at the midriff (totally obscured by the print, but it’s an adorable detail). It was mondo easy to put together– seriously, the most difficult part was trying to figure out what 1cm seam allowances are equal to (I spent a ridiculously long time trying to do that math… before I figured out that there’s a 1cm mark on my sewing machine…). I made an XS, and I had to remove a ton of excess from the side seams and sleeves (like, as much as 4″ in some places). I wish that there was a chart of the finished garment measurements (OH WAIT, THERE TOTALLY WAS BUT I IGNORED IT BECAUSE, AGAIN, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT 99 CM EQUALS IN REAL NUMBERS???). So yeah. After I’d already made all the alterations, I spent 3 seconds Googling “99 cm to inches” and realized that 39″ in the bust would never work for me, so I should’ve known better and just sized down from the get-go. Live and learn. Let’s see… I also re-serged the seam joining the peplum to the bodice to raise the waistline a little. I still think it’s a bit too low, but I don’t want to lose any more length in the front, so I’ll just leave it. I’ll shorten the bodice and lengthen the peplum if I make this again.

I’m still not 100% sold on the peplum trend. This doesn’t emphasize my hips, luckily, but I’m not sure how flattering it is to have all that fabric hanging from the waist. But I definitely wouldn’t have tried a peplum at all if I hadn’t loved this pattern so much, so that says a lot. I will probably make this again before ye olde peplum’s 15 minutes of fame in 2013 is up. I’ll say this, though– I definitely feel like a bit of a naughty kitty in this top.

Wicked, wicked kitty…

I’m so glad I finally have a reason to get this out of my stash and onto my body! It’s so trashy and fun– I feel like throwing a cosmo at someone when I’m wearing it! I’m sure Anne would approve this message– if she’s not president of the Sewing Bad Girls Club, I don’t know who is.

Watch This Lace Sorbetto Top!

Hi, guys! I’m so thrilled to be participating in Marie‘s Watch This Lace project!  Marie is one of my absolute favorite bloggers, and I had such a blast making a garment with her precious vintage lace!  Alright, enough chit-chat.  Hop over to her blog and read my post here!

Man Friend: “You’ve got to get the gator head into your photos!”

While you’re at it, wish Marie a happy birthday!  She celebrated her 30th yesterday– woohoo!

Obligatory pug photo

Ginger Made: Sister Kniturday!

First of all, I hope that all of you guys in the eastern U.S. survived Hurricane Sandy without any damage or harm.  We’re just fine– some damage to our neighborhood, but none to our house or car, and our power (and more importantly, cable!) stayed on the whole time (just not the internet at home, so I’m a bit behind on my blogroll).  I feel so grateful and blessed, and my thoughts are with the folks who weren’t so lucky (and the millions of people who still don’t have power and probably won’t for several days).  And thank you so much to everyone who emailed to check in and make sure we were OK– that really meant the world to me.  THANK YOU!

I spent this weekend, before the hurricane struck (gosh, it feels like a month ago!), with my sister, who came up from Baltimore.  She has recently started sewing garments, in no small part due to my heavy peer pressure gentle encouragement, and has been really interested in, but afraid of, sewing with knits.  So I was pretty excited to sit down with her this weekend and have a little jersey sewing bootcamp (a Sister Kniturday, if you will)!

I thought that Cindy’s Dolman Sleeve Top pattern would be a nice pattern to start with, since you don’t need to set in any sleeves (AND IT’S A FREE DOWNLOAD, PEOPLE!).  I made a version first to test the fit on my sister and give her a chance to see how it goes together before cutting into her own fabric.  I used an organic bamboo/rayon knit that I picked up at Mood about a year ago with a Renfrew top in mind, but had set aside thinking it was too slinky and stretchy.

And hey, look, it IS too slinky and stretchy!  It was OK to sew with, but it’s so very drapey that anything you’re wearing underneath the top is outlined clearly.  Hello, bra!  Definitely didn’t realize how bad it was until I looked at these photos– I should wear a tank top underneath!  But hey, stash-bustin’ feels good even if the results aren’t picture-perfect, amirite?

Damage on the block courtesy of Hurricane Sandy… (sidenote: do you like my giant phone case?  safety first!)

The shirt is really comfy and easy to wear, so that’s a plus, and the pattern is BEYOND simple to put together (AND DID I MENTION IT’S A FREE DOWNLOAD?!?!  Thanks, Cindy!!!!!).  I flew through it!  I also really like the green color– it’s slightly more vibrant than a hunter green without veering into primary color territory (which is only OK if you’re dressed up like a crayon for Halloween).  [EDIT: I forgot to mention that I lengthened the sleeves by 6", so yours will be much shorter if you make it without alterations.  I also found it a bit too long, and the band a bit wider than I liked, so I just serged the waistband seam at 5/8" a second time and it was the perfect length.  My sister has a longer torso than I do, so we kept hers the original length.]

My sister made a version in a cotton jersey blend (also from Mood, picked out Saturday in what can only be described as a merciless raid on the Garment District).  Doesn’t it look cute on her?

Isn’t she cuuuuuute?

It’s kind of a perfect top for her– dressier than a tee, but still really easy to wear, perfect for her job as an elementary school teacher.  You have to be comfortable when you chase little kids around all day!

A side effect of a sister Kniturday is that now my sis reallllly wants a serger!  A second side effect is that now I wish (even more than usual!) that she lived in NYC so we could hole up like a couple of nerds and sew away every weekend!    Well, Baltimore isn’t THAT far away, but we are popular, busy, lazy people who don’t get it together to see each other often enough.  But now that’s she succumbed to the siren song of my little Brother, I bet she’ll be tempted to Bolt Bus her way to NYC more often!

Side effect of dolman tees: instant mega-biceps! Raaaaawwwwwrrrr!

Ginger Made: NL 6022 (or, The “See Ya Next Summer” Dress)

Guys.  It’s fall now!  Sure, the calendar says we’ve still got a few more summer days left, but there’s a chill in the air and a sadness in my heart that can only mean that sunny, warm days are coming to an end.  (Yeah, yeah, I get it, everybody looooooves autumn and sweaters and leaves and what not, but I work outside and I HATE the cold, so I’m always a little bummed when temperatures start to dip).  So, I thought I would squeeze in one last summer dress, even though I probably won’t have a chance to wear it until next year.

I used New Look 6022, view C.  I snapped up the pattern during a sale at Jo-Ann right after seeing Rochelle’s cute version of this dress, but I didn’t have time to whip one up until recently.  I skipped making a muslin, instead deciding to measure a dress I own with a similar silhouette and choosing a size based on those finished measurements (size 6 on top and a 8 on the bottom– there’s tons of ease in this pattern!).  I forgot to take a photo of the inside of the dress, but this is my neatest make by far– it’s finished completely with French seams and bias tape, so it should be able to take a beating!  I guess you’ll just have to take my word for it (although you shouldn’t… I’m a liar).

This is exactly the kind of dress that I wished for all summer long– super easy to pull on, cool, and completely no-fuss.  Sure, maybe it’s a little shapeless and plain, but I don’t really mind that in an everyday dress.  I used a linen I bought a year or so ago from Belraf Fabrics on the Lower East Side, so score one for stash-bustin’!  I made the fabric belt shown on the pattern envelope, but I dunno… do you guys find that self-belts/sashes look a little… homemade?  It was sorta bulky and not very elegant, so maybe I’ll wear it sometimes, but for now I kind of prefer it paired with a narrower belt.

If I make this again (and I probably will), I think I’ll skip the keyhole opening, like Rochelle did.  I’m realizing that I really hate them– my hair always gets snagged on the button!  And because this fabric is light and really drapey, the keyhole sags and looks a little gross (probably from the weight of the button, but I suspect I’ve got a bit too much width in the back shoulder area, too).  I’ll probably go back next summer and stitch it up.

Eww! Ugly keyhole!!

What have you guys been sewing lately?  A swan song for the season’s end?  Or have you jumped headfirst into the next season?

Also… in case you were wondering who/what was at the end of the leash…

Her tail moves faster than the speed of any camera shutter!

… it’s Peggy!  I think she would look amazing in a matching coral sundress, but THAT WOULD BE CRAZY.  And we are all about sanity, sobriety, and responsibility in these parts… not pugs in people clothes, y’all.

What I’m trying to say is that I really wanted to make a matching dress for Peg, but HOLY CRAP, IS IT HARD TO MEASURE A WIGGLY DOG!

 

 

Ginger Made: Colette Hazel Dress

Hi, guys!  I’m really excited about finishing the first dress for the Sew Colette 2.0 sewalong!  Hooray!  It’s just so fun to make something alongside lots of other fun ‘n’ fancy gals!  I’m really excited to see your dresses!

OK, are you ready?  Here’s my Hazel dress!

First things first, a huge thank-you to my sister for surprising me with this pattern!  Ain’t no pattern like a free pattern, AMIRITE??  Thanks, B!

In keeping with the whole cash-efficient theme of this dress, I opted to stash-bust and used this cream/slightly peach cotton shirting that I bought from Mood last summer.  It’s really sheer, so I underlined the entire thing with cotton batiste (also in my stash!).  I thought this fabric was so sweet when I bought it, and I still really like it, but from a distance, it looks exactly like muslin!  Whoooooops!  It’s got a subtle stripe to it that’s really pretty up close… you’ll just have to trust me on that!

Thank goodness for pockets… I’m like Ricky Bobby– I don’t know what to do with my hands in photos!

This dress came together so quickly and easily!  I kinda couldn’t believe it… there’s usually SOMETHING for me to fight with!  I made a straight size 2, and it just about fit perfectly right outta the gate.  I really liked the unhemmed length, so I added 5/8″.  The bust darts were too long, so I shortened them, but then they stuck out like crazy, so I returned them to just about the original length.  Too long is better than crazy pointy, right?

See? I told you it was striped! You should have believed me.

The bodice fit PERFECTLY when I made the muslin, but after I wore it for a while, I decided that I wanted a tad more ease.  Look– it’s hot, it’s sticky, and I don’t really need a sundress clinging to my sweaty stomach.  So it’s a little more loosey-goosey (and a little frumpier, to be honest) now, but I can deal with that.  We’re all about comfort right now, folks.

I played around with lace trim and little buttons down the front, both of which were cute,  but in the end I opted to keep this really simple and unadorned.  It’s probably kinda boring this way, but it just seemed cooler and breezier without any added trims or doodads.  I pinned on a felt hair clip from Gertie in Roses today, and that was just the ticket to jazz it up a little.  I’m looking forward to trying out new accessory combinations with it!

Next up, the Macaron dress!  I’m looking forward to making this– I’ve had the pattern in my stash for a while, and I’m excited to prioritize it!  If you haven’t been following along with Sew Colette 2.0, now’s a great time to join in on the fun!  Anyone out there making the Macaron?  Have you chosen your fabric yet?