Another road trip?

Yes it is true, we are heading out in the morning for yet another road trip.  I guess the one to Florida in May wasn't enough! Actually our really good friends are getting married and my husband is the best man so we had better show up!  This time we rented a car so no vehicle break-downs will slow us down.

We are going to be in Oklahoma for about a week.

When we return I hope to get going on my Beignet Skirt by Colette Patterns. I'm super excited to give it a go.  I'll let you know when I get it finished.



Until then,
Happy Sewing!
~ Kristin ~

Vintage Loveliness ~ Simplicity 9902

I wanted to sew this vintage jumper for Miss K for the last year and a half but she wouldn't fit in it then.  I waited so patiently for her to grow just one size so it would fit.  Every few months I would glance at the pattern and sigh.  I picked up this fabric so long ago at Hancock and knew it would work perfect for this 70s inspired dress.

 

I love vintage patterns.  Love them so much!  Whether they are from the 40s, 50s, 60s, or 70s I dig them all.  It is so cool to see the fashions of the times.  It is even cooler to be able to sew new garments from old patterns! Time warp at its best.

Vintage patterns rock because they are so detailed and explain things so wonderfully in the instructions.  They do not disappoint.  I really haven't had a head scratching moment when sewing a vintage pattern... not like when I sew current ones.

Time to sew: 3 hours
After I took this picture I noticed how well I matched the from halves.  How the heck did I do that? Awesome!

I love that this dress has darts, for a girl!  There are front darts and back neck darts.  I went with contrasting fabric for the collar and pockets.  I stayed true to the pattern and followed all the instructions.  I don't dig the neck and armhole facings.  Facings suck honestly, but mostly because I don't like to hand sew - so slip stitching is not what I like to do.  I used very lightweight stay tape to keep the suckers down. shh.

First time sewing a collar. Even though this one did not stand up.  I was slightly confused it didn't match each end at first, until I realized it wasn't supposed to and that there is a gap there.

Miss K is shorter than most 10 year olds because she is only 7 - so the dress is longer on her than in the picture.  This is great because K wants it longer and I enjoy it longer too.

Fabric: Picked up Sept 15, 2012 "Gypsy Song" Green Floral. on sale for $1.79 a yard!!! I used almost the whole 2 yards so the dress cost less than $5 after zipper and contrasting fabric.

I was only allowed to take pictures of the dress on Miss K if she got to be on the trampoline. Sounded like a good enough deal to me. 

The fit is great

The back is so cute

I love this walking shot - it makes me think 70s for some weird reason

 Those darn bugs even end up on the trampoline

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~

"The 5 Skirts" or How you know you LOVE a pattern too much.....

So this last Sunday I made a jersey knit skirt with the Ottobre ZigZag skirt pattern from issue 03/2013 #30.
I exclaimed my love of the simple pattern and how Miss K needed bottoms around here for summer.  Well I went a bit overboard. . . :-)

I loved the jersey skirt a little too much and over the week thought about how little material is used to make these cuties.  Then Wednesday night I dug into my fabric scraps and as I dug further and further I found so many cute fabrics to make this skirt with.  Well I had to stop myself at 5.  All 5 are woven skirts too and I was itching to see how well the woven skirt looked as opposed to the knit one.

And, I LOVE them all!

My small fuzzy helper was with me the whole way

 She wasn't impressed with my singing though.

I ran out of clear elastic so I had to try the gathering foot on my serger

 Holy buckets was it fast and easy to make ruffles with that thing!

 lots and lots of ruffles.  there are 10 panels total for the 5 skirts (a front and a back each)

I serged all raw edges on these puppies and used the fast method of fold and press, fold again and press for the double hem on the bottoms.

And here they are!

Kitty Fabric left over from this tiered dress back in March, 2012; Pink Polka Dots from May 2012 Skirt

Puppy Fabric left over from Jan 2012 pillow project and May 2012 skirt  Blue fabric I hadn't used yet 

Green floral from June 2012 tiered sundress Black from my April 2013 Tank

Purple Floral from 2013 Easter Dress Green Check from May 2012 Skirt

Both Pink Floral and Blue fabric from recent June 2013 dress

Obsessive? Maybe.  Too much? Quite possibly. Scrap Busting? For sure!  These are cute, fast, easy and wicked cheap.  K now has some bottoms to choose from this summer.  Yay!

Here is Miss K wearing one of the skirts.  Asking her to try on more than one is not possible; plus she has a cold so is not feeling well.

"There is a bee mom, I'm not standing by the flowers"

"It's way to sunny here mom"

 "Mom, can we be done?"

 That little bottom ruffle just makes me smile in the heart. 

Comfy elastic waist

I think I'll leave the pattern alone for a bit now.  But I'll pick it up again in the fall! Each skirt only cost about a dollar or so.  Yay!

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~