New Look 6899

Did you just about have a heart attack when you saw this post?! That title on this blog can only mean one thing! I ACTUALLY SEWED SOMETHING!!! Yep.

Ta-da! Based on New Look 6899. I've had the brown part (yeah, that darker fabric that it's mostly made out of is brown knit.) more or less finished for a while now, but then we got involved in a totally awesome sewing room remodel that made sewing more or less impossible for a while.

However, we're headed to Disney World (!!!!!!) in less than a week, and I was determined (since I got the fabric) to have this tunic top for the trip. So when I finally had - or rather, took the time to sew, I knew exactly what to do.

Obviously the brown part was the original patter, only lengthened quite a bit. Also obviously, the neckline was huge. Like, fall-off-my-abnormally-broad-shoulders huge. (Granted, it got slightly better when I added the neckband piece, but it still was too big for comfort or modesty.) So, I knew I was going to have to somehow add to the neckline. After thinking about this off and on for weeks, I decided that probably the quickest and easiest thing to do would be to add a contrasting color, using the same pattern pieces to get a similar shape. And that's what I did. I pulled all the pattern pieces back out, traced the neckline edge of each one, added 2.5 inches (could've gone 3 to 3.5 inches I think, but it's okay as it is now.), and cut them out - after a minor brain lapse, which thankfully ended before I cut every piece out. Of course I also cut out another neckband piece.

My vision was, more or less, to have a shirt that would have the layered look without the bulk or warmth of actually layering. Not completely sure that's how it came out, but I like it anyway.

Finishing this tunic too WAY longer than it should have for several reasons, which, for brevity, I will list rather than explain in great detail:

• Neck was too wide - took a long time to cut out, sew together, and sew on the additional, contrasting pieces.

• Back gaped really bad - quick fix, but annoying nonetheless.

• Had very little shape - again, quick fix. Took in nearly 4" from the sides...

• Armholes were very large. Nerve-wracking, imperfect, good-enough fix that I'm only okay with. Also added the contrasting band there to add length. I'd still call 'em cap sleeves, but they're more modest cap sleeves now.

• Front right side of the neck was gaping weirdly... Had to make (from the scraps - just sorta guessed, didn't have a pattern or directions, so not bad, I think) and sew on that bow. I feel like it's on the wrong side of the shirt - not sure why, but I think I looks fine, and it did help the odd gaping problem!

And last but not least:

A peek at our under-construction sewing room! I am so excited about this project. When we get it all done, it's going to be AMAZING!

Anyway, there you have it. I'll probably never use New Look 6899 again. It's just too huge for me, and doing all those alterations was way more work that I bargained for - at least this time around. Still, I'm pleased with the end result.

2 more down!

Woohoo! 2 more sweater alterations out of the way! Again, not too creatively, but done nonetheless, and I'm happy with them. :)

6 Shirts

4 Skirts

Tally Update

Until today, I hadn't sewn at all since Wednesday. Sorta lose motivation, you know? Well, that and the fact that Thanksgiving lasted through the weekend, the Lord's Day was full, and yesterday and Monday were busy with other things, including getting over a cold. I'm going to try really hard now to stick to my 2-a-day goal. I went a long way in accomplishing that today since I successfully, if not overly creatively, conquered 2 sweaters! Which brings us to the tally:

4 Shirts

4 Skirts

Alteration/Repair Count

I worked a good bit of the day Wednesday on that stack of stuff next to the sewing machine. I knocked out 1 shirt and 4 skirts, and I'm sorta-kinda in the middle of another shirt (although I'm pretty close to just calling that one a failure...).

Just thought I'd pop by while I had a minute and create a tally! I think the total (of successful alterations or repairs is something like this:

2 Shirts
4 Skirts

My goal is kind of a 2-a-day thing on normal days, which, obviously, wasn't yesterday, and isn't today, seeing as how we're about to leave for another day with family! Gotta go!

Show time!

I don't have a before picture, but imagine this in a men's medium size, mock-turtleneck, hugeness. Yep, I wore it anyway, but, nonetheless, it landed in my ginormous pile of things to alter. So, I decided to change it up a bit today. And, boy, change it up I did!

I actually had enough material after cutting the original shirt all to pieces to do Vogue 8536. Well, more or less anyway. I based this off of it, and I like how it turned out! :)

I've done that pattern before, but I did a different view. Last time it worked, per se, but my fabric wasn't as stretchy as it's supposed to be. This time it worked a lot better - despite the fabric still not being quite as stretchy as it's supposed to be, I think. I'm assuming it's not as stretchy anyway; I didn't check it. The neck facing/binding piece was not able to stretch as long as it needed to to cover the neck opening. That wasn't a problem though; I just gathered about two inches of the neck opening on either side of the "V." It added a nice touch, I think.

Boys' Western Shirt

For this shirt I used Simplicity 5366. I did view B, size medium for the boys. This is a birthday present for my soon-to-be-8 year old brother, so SHHHH!!! ;)

I pretty much just followed the pattern. I can't really think of any changes! Shocking, I know. I did consistently put the buttonholes off-center, but our buttonholer is such a pain to use, I wasn't about to redo them! I've had it cut out for a couple of days now, but I didn't get a chance to sew until today. It was a full day of sewing, but I did finish it in one day!

By the way, the khaki that I used in the yoke was an old skirt my sister was getting rid of. I love it when I can re-purpose things into something entirely new, and completely unrecognizable from the original!

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.