Loose Ends ~ McCall's 6948; and a fail

I have a confession to make. I hate having UFO's.
I don't like leaving things unfinished. It gets under my skin.

I've had a few patterns sitting around in various stages of completion since August? September? Who knows but they've been bugging me!  It is so unlike me! I like to finish a project all the way before I start the next.

I finally got around to that pile this week.  I'd like to start the new year off with a clean slate.

McCall's 6948
After I made K her red maxi sundress in July 2014 She asked me to make a high/low hem dress.  I purchased this beautiful cotton fabric sometime in 2014 from fabric.com and cut out the pattern in a size 10 back in August.  I used a purple cotton lycra for the bodice.

When I went to put the skirt together I realized I had cut the front part backwards. The fold was on the wrong side!!! Boo. I had no more fabric left and couldn't find anymore to purchase.  I was deflated and left the project.  I couldn't believe I made such an silly mistake!

Well I went back and finished it now.  I just cut up the fold and left that stinking line right there in the center front. It is what it is.  K loves this dress anyway and hopefully she won't notice.  K noticed immediately and has banned the dress to the get rid of pile.  I'm going to sneak it into her closet and pray she forgets and loves it in the summer.

It is a very pretty dress.  I normally do not like high/low hems but this looks pretty on K.  The bodice is big for her but she has time to grow into it.
Fabric: Laguna Stretch Cotton Jersey Knit Amethyst, Kaufman that has been in my stash since March 2014. 1/2 yard at $3, skirt is 100% cotton woven, it was simply called Vines Multi, 2 yards for $11.16. Total for dress: $14.16

Jalie 3242
I also had these undies cut out for me in the purple cotton lycra leftovers from K's bodice from the dress but never sewed them up.  I used binding for the leg elastic though I think I should have done them a bit tighter.  I used regular picot elastic for the top and sewed right on top of it with the coverstitch. After wearing them a day, the leg elastic does get a tad loose over time.  Next time I will cut the strips at a full 2" so there is some pull in the binder attachment which makes them smaller. If I do 1 3/4" the binding goes on flat and nice for necklines but with not much pull. At 2" it has nice pull, but wrinkles the fabric. I hope that made sense.

I just love the fit and coverage of the Jalie underwear!

Now I just have 4 more pairs of Jalie's to sew up for K and my pile will be clear! :)

And on to the fail. Not really a fail, fail. But a time wasted fail.  LOL.

K loves my elephant Renfrew and asked me to make her a top like that.  So I spent some time drafting out a cowl and modifying two Ottobre tops to get to here.  Looks cute right? like a baby Renfrew (minus the cuffs and hem because this was a fast "trial".  K put it on to test it out and hated the cowl.  She said she felt choked, even though it is loose on her neck. So, no go. I'm just glad I didn't cut into nice fabric but used crappy $1.99/yard fabric!!  You live, you learn.  (still, it would have been super cute on her). Sigh.

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~