How I Got Started

I have often wondered how others began sewing. Since I am so curious I figured others also are.
Here's my story:

When I was 8 yo, my grandmother taught me how to cross-stitch. I loved it and eventually started to do needlework also. Every year during my school career the teachers would have students fill out a sheet for elective classes. Every year I would sign up for sewing, every year I would be turned down. My senior year, I finally asked the school counselor why. I was told that students in Advance Placement classes were not allowed to take it. Since I was a "good" student and never made waves I just forgot about it, but I still resent being punished for doing well in classes.

Fast forward about 5 yo, I'm now married and living in a travel trailer with my husband. We both decided that we needed new curtains for the living room area. Cody bought me a cheap sewing machine for Christmas and also signed me up for a class at the nearby sewing machine shop. I ended up sewing a blouse instead but did eventually make curtains about 2 years later. LOL.

That class is the only sewing class that I have ever had a chance to take. I've pretty much learned everything through trial and error, books and for the past year, the internet. All of these have helped me tremendously and bolstered my confidence.

If you have a story, let me know. I would love to hear about it.

Simplicity 3775

I made the first dress in November. This is Simplicity 3775, View A in a jersey knit that I bought from Fashionista Fabrics. It is extremely comfortable and I have received so many compliments while wearing this dress. I was walking into Sam's Club and the Salvation Army bellringer actually stepped in front of me and told me that it was a beautiful dress (that has NEVER happened to me before). I can definitely see why this pattern is in the Top 10 patterns for 2007 over on PatternReview.

I made my usual adjustments for anything that I make. A FBA on the front bodice piece and I shortened the waist piece but did not shorten the piece for the ruching around the waist. I eliminated the ruching for the back, this was not because of any fashion sense but mainly because I did not have enough material! I believe that it was definitely for the best, the back ruching would have accentuated my extremely curvy rear-end. I finished the hem of the skirt with a 2-thread rolled hem on my serger.

The only thing that I did not like was that this knit just seemed to grow. The skirt was originally around the bottom of my calves, it now is just above my ankles. I did not fix this because I really do not like to go back and redo what I consider to be finished. I'm lazy that way!

This is my second version of this dress. Made in December, this is View F made from fabric purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics. This is the Moorish Dreams jersey, and a black panne velvet. I used the panne velvet for the ruching band around the waist and for the contrast bands around the neckline. Once again I left off the back ruching (that is just not for someone like me). For a modesty panel, I used the front bodice piece from View A.

This dress was cut out using the same tools and the same pattern pieces and yet it fits just a little tighter. I still love it though, and because this knit is more stable my skirt did not grow and stayed where I wanted it to be.

I love both versions of this dress and do plan to make at least one more at some point.

A big THANK YOU goes out to my honey for being willing to take pictures of me even though his arm is in a cast. I love you!

Obsession

So, when can you tell that maybe you love all things sewing just a little too much?


When the luggage for your sewing machine is not only nicer but cost more than your own!

Have a great day!

A Little Lesson

The skirt, Simplicity 4095, is just a basic 6-gore with an elastic waist. I used a rayon jersey knit in deep aqua from Gorgeous Fabrics. This skirt is fairly long (for someone that is only 5'), so I cut off 3" of the pattern before cutting out the fabric. After sewing the skirt panels together, I switched to the elastic foot that came with my serger. I love this foot - if you don't have one for your serger, get one! It stretches the elastic as it serges it onto your fabric. Then all that is needed is to fold the elastic to the inside and stitch it down.

For my shirt, I decided to try my hand at making Simplicity 3837. I used Funk-O-Rama jersey knit, also from Gorgeous Fabrics. I did a FBA on the pattern, cut it out, and sewed it up. I tried it on, took it off, and threw the shirt and pattern in the trash. It showed at least an inch of my bra and just kind of looked funny. I knew instantly that I would never wear it. Oh well, live and learn. Just because others have had success with a pattern does not mean that I will. But what now? I now had a skirt made and nothing in my closet matched it.

I did have (I believed) enough leftover fabric to make something very simple. I looked through my patterns; however, nothing jumped out and grabbed my attention.

That night, I actually dreamed about Vogue 8151. The next morning, I looked to see if I had enough fabric and yes, I did!

I had to take up 2" in the waist of both the front and back pattern pieces. The back also had to be cut out along the selvages, so it now has a center back seam. The neckline piece was cut from the back of wadder (thank goodness I didn't throw that away in the kitchen trash).


It took a little over an hour to sew this shirt and it looks great and is very comfortable.

I never realized how hard it is to take pictures of yourself. Does anyone have any tips?

It's Finally Finished!

It took me awhile but I did get this outfit finished. After looking at the picture of me in my red skirt I had to just hang my head in disgust. While I really liked it, I hated the way I looked like a short, fat stick. The skirt just really wasn't what I had envisioned. I felt that the skirt for this outfit needed to be more flowing (if that makes sense). I went through my stash and found Burda 8102. This is perfect, it doesn't have a lot of extra material around the hip area and then it flares out around the knees. This something that so many of the "How to Not Look Fat" books say is essential. I bought more red pique from Heirloom Creations in Lafayette, La., and Ambiance lining from JoAnn's Fabrics. I used the lining as an underlining per an article in Threads mag. from March of 2004.





The blouse is New Look 6669 with alterations. I raised the neckline, did my very first FBA (which was not nearly as hard as I thought it would be), and did a different treatment on the sleeves. For the sleeves, I cut off about 4" of the pattern, then finished the edge of the sleeve. I then folded 2" to the inside and then sewed tucks every 1/2" all the around the bottom of the sleeve. I had seen this done on a Dior blouse in the Sept. 2007 of Vogue. Down the front of the blouse is a ribbon with a bow and hand-made tatting down each side.

In all, I'm very pleased with how this outfit turned out. It is very stylish and I absolutely love the red color.