Jalie Swimsuits

To combat my lack of sewing mojo I jumped back in with swimsuits.  We have a 15' pool that we put up in the summer (my muscles and joints love it!) so I figured we would need more suits than just 1 each.  Plus, the local pool was rebuilt with a fun waterpark type theme and I know the kids will want to spend lots of time there this summer too.

Pattern:
Top: Jalie 3023
T for the shoulders, U for the bust/waist, and W for the hips.  These are one step up from my measurements.  This is the same I used in February for my other suit I made. The fit is still great even tough I've gained weight.
I added clear elastic to the top band. I didn't' have issue with it gaping on the other one but I haven't tested it in the water yet, but just to be safe that this one won't gape at all :-)

Shorts: Jalie 3351
V at the waist to a Z at the hip (one size up from my measurements also)
This time I was able to sew the brief correctly into the shorts so no seam is by the waist. Thanks Shirley for those awesome directions!!

Fabric: Pink/Navy Lycra stripe swim knit I picked up from fabricstalkers on facebook for only $3 for the yard.  I am smitten with this fabric!!  The white is White Activewear.  It has a soft brushed surface on the backside and wow. I wish I had more of this.  It is so soft. I used up my last scraps to finish this suit.

Insides, see! no seam!

Top insides include a nice shelf bra

I love these patterns - they are true winners.

I made another set up for K because her other ones ended up tight. So I made these bigger and they are a tad loose. LOL.  I'm done with suits for a bit now so she will just have to make due!

 Floral is "Italian Swimwear Print - Neon Multi" and is nylon/spandex.  .
Teal paired with floral is: "Teal Green Activewear" and is nylon/lycra. It is thin and really slippery, plus it is very stretchy. I would use it more for dance and not so much for swim; it was a pain to sew.  I used up the very last bits of both these fabrics.

I'm working on shorts right now: traced, muslin, adjusted, sewn, adjusted, wore. re-traced, re-adjusted... lol.  I'm getting there. ;-)

Here's a side by side of Feb to now to show my weight change. Small changes, but they do make a difference

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~

Moving forward from MMM and reflections

I have to admit, I've done terrible at MMM this year. I thought I would do great since I have more makes, but as I went through my closet I realized not much fit me.  I lost a ton of weight with my last digestive spell in the Fall, but now I've gained about 30 pounds since December.

I'm not worried - my weight goes up and down like a see-saw because of my health issues.  However, it makes it a bit hard to sew for myself when my figure constantly changes!

I did go through my closet and found that these lovely makes no longer fit. I put them in the "small size" box.  I must have taken about 75% of my closet out with RTW.  Then I dug out my "larger size" box and added a few things to my closet, about 25% all RTW.   This was a great experience for me to learn what I needed in my wardrobe.

Here are the Me Makes I had to put away

From top L to R

Jalie 2805 tee, too short, From May 2014

Burda envelope top 10/2014 #103 - love it, too tight. From Jan 2015

New Look 6100 Shorts - tight, From July 2012

Colette Beignet from June 2013 - Never worn

Burda Racer Back 05/2007 #109A - love it, too short, From March 2014

Jalie 3024 Tank - tight, From Feb 2015

New Look Tank 6285-too tight, from June 2014

In addition to the fitting issues with MMM, it has also been much colder here than normal.  This makes me want to stay in the house and not do much.  So I lounge in a tee and yoga pants or jeans.  Not very exciting! Lol.  So I throw my hands up and not stress out about it.  MMM is over for me this year, next year will be better. :D

With that in mind, I lined up a few patterns I need to sew up to fill gaps in my wardrobe.  Here is what I hope to sew soon, in no particular order:

McCall's 4261 - Skirt from really funky ruffle, leopard fabric

McCall's 6964 - I really want to try the tank pattern on this as well as the boatneck on the bottom

McCall's 6796 - The short sleeve view with that awesome neck, or even the tank version

Jalie 2804 - the tank view

New Look 6100 - to replace the ones that were too tight

New Look 6470 - the crossover tank on top right.

Simplicity 1801 - the view she is wearing. I made this in the long view before and love it. Fits great.

Simplicity 3880 - the green shorts on the bottom middle

Simplicity 7196 - I'm working on these right now. The shortest view.

My sewing agenda will be filled with tanks, shorts, skirts, and a dress.  I need clothes for warm weather!  Wish me luck!


~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~

Sewing Mojo-nojo

Sewing has slowed to a halt in this house lately.  I just can't seem to get out of my funk.  I bought new fabric and patterns, but they didn't spark me to sew at all.  I have things I want to make and things I need  to make. I just can't seem to make!

K has refused to take decent photos of things I've made her and I've run into terrible fitting problems for myself.  It is discouraging to have wadder, after wadder.

Nonetheless, here are some makes I sewed up about a week to two weeks ago.

Kwik Sew 3498 Yoga Pants

I foolishly bought this pattern thinking it was for women, lol. Imagine my surprise when I realized it was a girls pattern. K's measurements put her at the topmost size of XL. I traced and held up the pattern to K and realized it was too long,  I took out 2.5" at the lower L/S line on the calf. 

This is a super fast sew. The waistband is double wide and a fold over so 4 layers of fabric end up holding up the pants. Normally I put elastic into this type of waistband but these held up just fine. They were the perfect width.

The pants look great and fit perfectly - if not a smidgen too tight. K liked the rise and had no complaints. She just didn't want pictures taken, lol. This is a great basic pattern for girls. Fabric is 1 yard of lilac cotton lycra from purple seamstress for $6.50

Jalie 3245
This pattern, oh. The pain and anguish. I love the look, the simplicity, the easy sew-ability.  And that is were the good ends. I can't seem to get this pattern to fit me correctly no matter what I do. My hands were thrown up in the air and I just had to walk away.  I made two muslins and they just weren't working.  I'm not sure if I will come back to it or just find another tank pattern.

The problem? Terrible huge drag lines from bust to hip. I've had this problem with this dress below in the past and still haven't figured out why. Other patterns I don't have this problem with. So what gives! lol. I refuse to but a bust dart in a knit, I just need to figure out a different solution. Plus my knits are super stretchy, and the dress below wasn't. *shrug*

Anyway, I used a floral Hatckhi knit blend of poly, rayon, and lycra (which I realize I threw away before taking a picture of, oops).  I used 7/8 yard for $3.50. Purchased at Fashionfabricsclub Jan 2015. I'm not fond of this fabric so it was the perfect muslin.  It turned out horrid fitting. The purple is cotton lycra. I tweaked the fit of it a bit in the front and back shaping and it didn't fit much better. 1 yard at $6.50

Now for K on the other hand, of course the pattern works great. These tanks take so little fabric and look real cute.  I used my binder attachment on my coverstitch for the neck and armholes. This was so fast and easy compared to the directions, lol.

The first tank was a muslin with scrap fabric. It turned out cute but long.

The second and third tanks I shortened by 2" and they are perfect now. (of course no pics from K) Sizes are O for the shoulders and bust, S for the waist, and P for the hip.

Each fabric was 3/4 yard. The rainbow one was a nice rayon jersey but off grain. I bought it off fabricstalkers on facebook Feb 2015 for only $4. Yellow cotton lycra was used for the bands.
The second one I used scraps from this Ottobre tunic I made for myself and loved. The front is a geometric sweater knit from fabricmart in Sept 2013 and the pink is cotton lycra scraps.  So this one was about $5.

 

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~

MMM 2015 Week 1

I started off MMM great, but it's sort of going downhill.  I need to get back on track! Here is my first week of MMM 2015.

May 1st, 2015 70°F

 Sorry I look grumpy here, I'm really not unhappy ;-)

Grocery Shopping night with the family. Charley Harper Renfrew top

May 2nd, 2015 79°F

Outside house work with the husband

Burda Tie Tank Top 05/2007 #130

May 3rd, 2015 82°F and Thunderstorms

Lounging around the house, I wore a t-shirt with these

Ottobre Woman Sweet Dreams Pj Shorts 05/2011 #2

May 4th, 2015 73°F and Thunderstorms

 Lounging around the house. 

Jalie 3024 and 3022

May 5th, 2015 60°F

I wore just the pants, had a routine MRI

Jalie 3022 most comfy pants ever, though pilling :( 

And sadly that is it. I haven't worn any Me-mades since the 5th.  I find that I reach for tee shirts more often than anything so I have a gap of that in my wardrobe of me mades. I have a lot of fun geeky t-shirts that I own so I'm not sure if I will fill that gap with me-mades.

I haven't started going through my closet yet either of what to keep, toss, donate, etc.  I should start that soon!  How about you, how has your me-made been going? Is it harder than you thought?

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~

April Recap 2015

A Quick Recap of the month

11 items, 11 and 5/8 yards of fabric. Total fabric cost $64.81

How did I do for April with my resolutions?

1 new pattern: yes, the kwik sew for K
1 new Burda/Otto for me: didn't happen this month, I need to make this a priority
1 fabric stash: yes! 5.25 yards
1 me make each month in 2015: yes, 1, but it was sorta meh

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~