My Sewing Space

It's been a few years since I made myself a new "Christmas" dress. This one qualifies with even a couple of hours to spare. This is Butterick 6244. Most of the people that have used/reviewed this pattern have made the coat. I really liked the dress even though it is hard to see any details in the pattern photo. (I wish there was a way to just scroll through tech drawings on pattern sites). I liked the high neck, princess seams, and gentle A-line of the skirt. The fabric is a black/ivory ponte knit that I bought online more than a year ago. I was a little disappointed that the ivory part wasn't brighter, but thought I could make it work for winter rather than summer. The print is a bit bolder than I usually wear (okay, any print at all is more print than I usually wear). The pattern calls for woven fabrics, so I sized down for the muslin and then took it in a bit more all around before cutting the real thing. I also raised the bottom of the armholes. They ...

My sewing lately has been quite intentional, planned, and purpose-driven. I typically work well that way, but last week I needed a bit of a break and wanted to just sew something for fun. If it didn't turn out to be a runaway success, I wasn't going to worry about it. I pulled out a piece of black ponte knit fabric that was in my stash. I know it isn't the best quality and I didn't want to be tempted to use it for something that I would invest a lot of time in or would want to last awhile. It's a fairly heavyweight knit, but has quite a lot of stretch and decent drape. I don't know made me want to make harem pants, but after I had the thought I really wanted to go ahead with it. After looking for a pattern to download from Burdastyle , I remembered that I already had an issue with a suitable pattern in it ( 1/2011 #124 ). I didn't think I would like that deep yoke, so I modified that to be narrower and straighter across and also changed the front ...

The amount of time or effort I put into a sewing project makes no difference in the amount of appreciation I get from my kids. They each have their own idea of what makes something special (a certain print, twirlability, sparkles, etc) but they all love comfy, cozy clothes. Who doesn't, really? I guess that doesn't make my kids unique. My son is my most tactile child and in his mind cozy and fuzzy are synonymous. He felt a pair of fuzzy pants in a store and badly wanted to take them home with him. They were a terrible fit, so I told him I'd make him some. I picked up this ribbed fleece fabric at Fabricland and used Ottobre 4/2013 #27 to make his new favorite thing to wear. The pattern is called "Ultimate Casual Basic Sweatpants." I thought that was pretty perfect. I stripped down the basic pattern even more by leaving off the pockets and bottom leg cuffs. My daughter needed some more warm clothing as well, so I made the pants again (just adding length) a...

Last year, I took on a big coordinate-the-family-for-Christmas project . Nothing at all like that happened this year. We were well into December before it even occurred to me that I'm often sewing new Christmas clothes. After a quick closet assessment, I decided that my older daughter was really the only one who needed anything new right now. And what she needed was more of just a winter dress rather than a holiday dress. I did a bit of thinking and came up with a plan before going to Fabricland. The "let's just see what we find" sort of trips always leave me overwhelmed and disappointed. Also, I had a limited amount of time and had to be quick and focused with a list. Thankfully, they had what we needed and my plan worked! The fabric is a teal ponte knit so it is both comfortable and washable. The pattern is a heavily modified Ottobre T-shirt pattern and a 3/4 circle skirt. I used Kadiddlehopper's tutorial for drafting the skirt part. I put a zipper...

Awhile ago I was inspired by this photo via Pinterest. I liked the layers, the simple lines and the mix of neutral colors. I was pretty convinced that her dress was navy, but now I think it's actually dark grey. It took me awhile to get over the "no-no" of navy and black together , but lately I really like it. Same with brown and black. So, this is me combining as many neutral colors as possible: The tunic is the noteworthy item here. The pattern is Simplicity 2245 , a lisette pattern that I purchased awhile ago. I made View B, the tunic. Based on other reviews and the fact that my fabric had some stretch, I went down two sizes. I also added darts in the back for a more streamlined shape there. There were no changes otherwise - this is an easy project! The pockets are a great feature of this pattern. The instructions for completing them are great - they look more complicated than they are. The fabric is a stretch cotton blend with tone-on-t...

The fourth (and final!) part of the Coordinated Christmas Clothing project is a skirt for me. Truthfully, this was the piece I sewed first for a couple of reasons. I originally bought the fabric to make something for me and I knew that if I didn't like my garment I wasn't going to want to go ahead with this endeavor. So, I actually sewed this at the end of November and it might be a stretch for me to remember the construction process! I searched awhile for a pattern that I liked. I wanted something a little more interesting than my usual plain choices, but didn't find anything from the major pattern companies that jumped out at me. I've never sewn a Knip Mode pattern before, but I've seen others make unique things, so I perused their site. There I saw this skirt that did jump out at me. I tried buying the pattern when I saw it, but I was having computer issues and couldn't get the transaction to go through. Then I started thinking more about the patter...

This past summer I really increased my summer dress selection. My fall/winter dress choices are pretty minimal, but I think I'd like to change that this year. I associate fall/winter dresses with being cold, so I'm hoping to find dress options that have long sleeves, work well for layering, or can be made in warm fabrics. I started this add-more-dresses project with a dress to wear to a wedding I attended last weekend. While out snoop shopping a few weeks ago, I tried on a ponte knit sheath dress with tucks radiating from the side seam. It cost $250. Even though everything about the dress was too short (bodice length, skirt length, sleeve length), it was a flattering style and was easy to wear. It was very similar to Butterick 5559 . I picked up the pattern and some navy ponte knit fabric and got to work on my own version. This was a very interesting pattern to sew. There are separate top and bottom pieces for the front and back - the seam is hidden under the tuck at the...