Sunday's Best (my version of Fable)...and McCall's

Hello everyone,
 I know it's been awhile but I have exciting news I have finally finished my first dress McCall's 6696....and I am totally pleased. I have a few pics of the garment up-close...it's really just to give an idea of what it looks like.  I will be wearing it soon so I will have pics of it in action. 

  Plus, I  have finally worn my version of fable for Sunday mass and it was an experience. There really isn't anything wrong with it per se. I just realized that it fit the occasion but did not compliment my body.  The proportion is really off.  I wonder if I were to use another fabric for this pattern will it look and feel better.  I need to make some adjustments so I guess the only way to find out is if I sew another version of it. Which is something I look forward too. So here are a few pics of my attire.  I hope all is well with everyone and I will be posting the second version of McCall's in the upcoming weeks.

Update on construction of McCall's 6696...and the wannabe fable jacket.

 

Hello Everyone,

 It's been awhile but things are slowly progressing.  So far I have finished my version of the fable jacket.  I have some reservations about the look of the  jacket because it looked nothing like I imagined, but,  I do like the fit and the concept behind it.  Will I make another version?  No.  It took to long and the material was very fussy.  Every time I would get back to sewing different parts of the jacket it would grow and not just grow in the sense that it needs a little alteration here and there, it was inches of fabric appearing in different parts of the jacket.  I had so much fabric to cut out, it became ridiculous.  Which made me come to terms with my fabric choice, although it seemed like an awesome idea,  I should of left it at that... an idea.

 

 



 

 And here what I have so far for my McCalls 6696.  I love how this shirtdress is coming out. 

I struggled with this one because I added to many inches in the bodice forgetting that there is a front placket to be added.  It's a good thing this situation can be resolved easily. The next version is being cut out so I will be posting on how I altered this version differently from my last one. Let's see how that turns out.
Hope all is well,
A.S.

Spring Sewing 2015

Hello All,
     As of late I have been doing the sewing jumble juggle...I can't seem to keep focus on one project.  Every time I look into my pile of patterns, something always jumps out at me.  So I decided since I am inspired to do so many things, I will have to find a way to organize myself and see where this journey takes me.  So my Thursdays are cutting out pattern days, Fridays are measuring and altering days and Saturdays are cutting out fabric days.  You notice there is no sewing day right, yeah I guess it's just going to happen when the sewing bug bites until then I will just have to wait. But when I think about it.... that's a great thing, I am doing of all the hard work now and get to do the fun stuff later.
So here are a few pics on what I am working on and some things I got from Jo-Ann.

So we have this little number here McCall's 6696.  Which is a dress I wanted to do for a long time, but was intimidated by the buttonholes.  I figure at this point in my sewing journey I can take a leap of faith and try to make this dress happen.  Plus the fabric I have in my stash been waiting so long to be used it would be a shame to let this opportunity pass.

I love this cotton fabric it's so vibrant and fun...I know this is going to be an awesome experiment...I mean dress.

This is another favorite of mine....I love the different shades of blue.  But I really love the idea that it reminds me of a tourist shirt.  I can't wait to make this happen.

I used my sloper to make the appropriate adjustments to my pattern.

Since Simplicity was having a sale. I decided to pick up a few patterns.

 And here is my ultimate favorite.  While watching a movie I was inspired to create this top.  I  don't know how or why Hell Raiser 3 could encourage me in any way to make such a docile but cute top, but hey I am happy some sewing mojo was being conjured up during it's viewing. I mean huh?  No leather, no spikes, no chains.  But, ANYTHING! At this point to get something going.

  Well that's it for now. 
A.S.

Construction Update

Here are a few pics of the jacket I am working on. So far it looks nothing I had in mind but I still like it.









Well this is the parting shot.  Hope all is well.  Later, A.S.

Hello Again

Hello Everyone,
  This post is going to be pic heavy...so I hope no one minds looking at a few updated pics.   Forgive the random pic order.  I was having a difficult time adding my pictures on this blog.  According to this website my picture gallery had to be updated.  I sometimes hate technology.
This was one of my Sunday's Best Outfit.



This was an outfit I wore for my sister's surprise birthday. 




My Halloween dress...almost done.




You remember my Beautiful FrankenHulk Top well it took me awhile but I finally found the perfect sweater for her.  Isn't she lovely?


I leave that for all of you out there to judge.  I personally love her because I used techniques on her that I had not tried before and in that sense she is a success but as far as design...hmph.  I still will wear her.  Like I state before and I'll state it again....NO ROOM FOR WADERS!


That's it for now. 
Later,
A.S.

2015...ALREADY!

Wow!  It’s been about six months since I posted anything on this blog.   I really have no excuse, I am an awful blogger.  It’s not because I have been lazy I literally can’t keep up with the amount of ideas/concepts I want to work on.  Every week I am trying to work on a new muslin for a top or outfit that I want to create, unfortunately when you have your hands in too many things nothing gets done.

That’s why I am happy I have a sewing instructor to keep me organized and focus.  She loves the fact that I have grown as far as creating designs and pattern making, but I think I sometimes exhaust her…just a little bit.  (Which I think is a good thing.)

2015 so far has been a decent year as far as sewing is concerned.  I am ninety percent done with my Halloween dress….which has been in my closet for the last three months.  I have to hem the dress, add buttons and either create a belt or buy one.  I think I am going to buy one. 

Then I started a new jacket, which I am really excited about.  I made the muslin for it, cut out and sewed the bodice together.  Now, I am working on the collar and sleeves.  I love this jacket because it was an inspired piece from pyramidcollection.com I believe it's called fable. I don't think they sell this particular item anymore, sad really.    My version is created from curtains that I got from a 5 dollar bin.  Hey, I do what works for me. 

Anyway that is it for right now.  Hopefully sooner than later I will update everyone on what I am doing and maybe post the things that I have done.

Going Retro (Part 2)....Simplicity 1459

Hello Everyone,
     Well it's been an awesome weekend and I have to say I really enjoyed the surprisingly warm weather here in New York.  But, I do hope I will see some autumn weather soon, before we get hit with the very cold and harsh days of winter. 

     Working with Simplicity 1459 has been awesome so far the instructions are straight forward and easy to follow and the cotton fabric has been really great to work with.  I used duct cotton to underline the dress because I wanted it to have structure, especially around my mid-section.  There are a few reasons as to why I thought it was important to use this method as a means to create the kind of dress I envisioned. 
1) I needed a fabric to help keep me warm during those chilly days.
2) I like the feel of a hefty fabrics.
3)  I am a firm believer that when constructing a garment for a plus size woman it helps to emphasize on the way it fits her body.  Fabric choice makes all the difference in the world and sometimes it require a fabric that has structure to help minimize bumps and lumps and focus on all her beautiful qualities.
 I think I am going to use this process as a base for most of my autumn/winter wear.

Being that it was Sunday, I wanted to leave you guys with a parting shot in my church wear.  I love this outfit.... which made me think about putting a few jackets in my future project pile. Uh yeah, we will see.

As always, Be Blessed.
A.S.