Butterick 4154

Well, I can't find a correct link to this pattern anywhere! :( It's a historical patter that I've used the skirt pattern from several times. I really like it - not the least because it's super fast and easy! ;)

I got this lovely plaid from Sir's when we went a few weeks ago. I think it's a wool blend. Whatever it is, it's really pretty lightweight, and hangs excellently! LOVE it! The pattern is a half circle skirt. 

To do a half-circle skirt, you fold the fabric in half with the cut ends together, if that makes sense. It's not like most other patterns where you fold it selvages together. Anyway, then you cut your waist size out of corner on the fold. Then measure however long you want it (I usually go as long as I can, so I make my first length measurement along the selvages.), mark that down from the waist cut all along the hemline. Cut that out, then cut out your waistband. I usually make my waistband piece about 3" wide, and I usually cut it along the selvages (I know you're not supposed to, but I prefer working with it that way...). Sew up the back seam of the skirt, but leave 5-7" up at the waist for the zipper. Sew in the zipper. With right sides together, sew on the waistband piece (after interfacing it, if necessary), finish the waistband by flipping it up, rolling it inside (double it... kind of), and stitch in the ditch (top stitch on top of the seam you just did). Add a hook and eye, and hem it up! Ta-da! Not sure if all that made sense, but there you go anyway. If you had trouble following all that, I'm sure there are many great tutorials out there - some of them probably even have helpful diagrams.

You can pretty well see the stitch I used for the hem in this picture. From very start (cutting out) to the very end (hemming and adding the hook and eye), this skirt took me about 4 hours, maybe less, and I wasn't even particularly hurrying! I tell you, I love this skirt pattern! :)

I got to SEW again!

We got the sewing room usable yesterday! I was so excited; I couldn't wait to try it out! (Not to mention, I had/have TONS of projects in mind.) Mama, Claire, and I went on our annual Sir's pilgrimage a week or two ago, and, though we mainly went for (and got) fabric for new curtains throughout the house, I found some magnificent pieces for myself that I really just couldn't pass up. One of those pieces was a khaki corduroy, perfectly drab - just the way I like it. :P When I got it I had the basic idea of what I wanted to turn it into. I'd just read a post by a good friend, and fellow seamstress, who mentioned one of her staple skirt patterns, Butterick 3134. Now, I love, love, love a-line skirts, but I wanted a bit more flare. The question was... how to you add flare to an a-line corduroy skirt, and a drab one at that?!? I decided to add a flounce. I figured I'd want it longer anyway, so that was a perfect way to add length and flare at the same time! Somehow I forgot my solemn vow never to do flounces again, because of the hemming issues... Oops. Anyway, here's how my new skirt came out:

I like it a lot. :)

Before I show you a close up of the details, I have a little tip about adding to/altering pre-existing patterns: DON'T FORGET TO ADD/INCLUDE SEAM ALLOWANCES!!! I noticed that the pattern had a convenient little bit of information on the envelope which stated that the bottom width of Skirt C was 88". Wonderful! I didn't have to measure anything to get that info! Love that (don't love that the pattern didn't include a waist measurement...). Because of my fabric, and the angle I wanted, I ended up having to cut my flounce as four pieces. That's gonna be 22" wide at the top of each, right? WRONG! Or at least it should have been. It should have been 22" + 2(5/8") = 23 1/4" each. Thankfully, I realized what I'd done wrong before I'd sewn anything up, and was able to make it fit by taking the bottom of the skirt in a bit, and sewing the flounce seams a little smaller than normal. Still, seems like sloppy workmanship to me, and, when possible, I try to avoid it.

Lately I've had a thing against completely blank slates. Much to my own surprise, I've been paying much more attention to the little things, the details that give the garment a finished touch. I focused all my detailing for this skirt around the flounce. I really love the extra stitches one of our machines has. The one I used to hem the skirt kind of looks like rick-rack! I also added two rows of regular stitching above the seam line where I added the flounce. I wanted to sew down the seam allowance, and I just decided to include it in the detail work. I'm pleased with the result. :)

Vest

Well, I was being good this morning and studying for my next test. However, I got frustrated as I read about the amendments to the constitution, and how they're interpreted. (Not sayin' they're all bad... just don't like the enormous amount of authority they mean the federal government now thinks it has.) In order to straighten things out in my mind and stop getting so frustrated, I didn't really do the right thing, but anyway, I started listening to a couple more lectures by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

That's beside the point however. The point is that, since I was listening to lectures, I could cut something out and sew! I chose to try Butterick 4815, view D.

I like how it turned out! It looks pretty great with my new skirt too! :D

The only change I made was, I think, to take in the side seams about an inch on each side. Since I took them in that much, I didn't do the side seams exactly like the pattern said.

Another Winnie the Pooh Toddler Dress

So, along with the two adorable Winnie the Pooh fabrics that I used on the last Winnie the Pooh toddler's dress and upper two-thirds of the tiered skirt in the previous post, I had another Pooh-themed fabric (found in the lower third of the tiered skirt). It's always fun to try to come up with the cutest possible way to use fabrics like these. This time I don't feel like I did as well as I could have, but it was fast, easy, and still turned out very cute!

For this dress, I used Butterick 4176, more or less. The biggest deviation was to add the lace around the neck edge instead of doing single-fold bias tape as they suggested. I also didn't just straight-line hem it. The machine I used has a cute stitch that almost exactly mirrors some of the design on the fabric; that was too much of a temptation NOT to do! Unfortunately the thread doesn't match as well as I thought it did when I started, but I think it still looks good. :)

With this, I think I'm finally done with all my Pooh-themed fabrics, though don't be surprised if one or more of them show up again as pockets on bags, dresses, skirts, etc.

Matching Sister Jumpers

Well, sort of matching. I ended up having a lot more of this fabric than I thought originally, so matching jumpers immediately came to mind. I used Butterick 4842, views E and C. The little one, view E, I went along with the pattern exactly, I believe, but I experimented with the bigger one. I used bias tape around the the neck and armholes, and serged the flounces (I just couldn't bring myself to hem those two small circles!). I added the thin ribbon to both as well. They turned out cute, I think!

Butterick 3485, View A

I've never used a pattern to make a bag or tote before, so I was determined to try it with some of my larger pieces of scrap fabric. I used the blue toile that I had left over from THIS dress to make THIS pattern, view A. I really like how it turned out!

The bag is fully lined. I hadn't really intended or thought to make this until I'd already started, so I used whatever we had on hand. I used a piece of small, cotton, craft rope for the button loop, a buckle from one of my brother's broken belts (it's a little heavy for the bag...), and a regular button as opposed to a toggle button. The only somewhat significant change to the pattern I made (aside from not making it out of suede or leather) was to add piping around the flap. I really like the clean touch that adds. :)

Toile Toddler Outfit

Here's another picture of a project that I made a while back. I used THIS pattern, only adding the navy ribbon. It was a difficult pattern, but I was using heavy fabric. If I make it again, I'll probably use a light weight fabric. It turned out really cute though! I'm very willing to sell it for $50. It's about a size 2, maybe 3, and cute, cute, cute! I wish I could find a darling little girl to model it, but I can't find one willing to be photographed. :)