Audrey's Sheath Dress - Vogue 8110

Audrey is a lady from choir.  She asked me to make her a simple sheath dress for her upcoming birthday.  I happened to have this pattern in my stash, and it was even in her size range.  I picked it up in a bin sale ages ago, thinking it would be useful to have in my stash for this very purpose.  

She loved the design.  I decided to cut a 6-8-10, and I folded up the petite 'shorten' lines.  This was a very good decision.  The waistline hit her at exactly the right place, and it hung beautifully.

I sewed the lining together first, so we could adjust the fit.  I added a seam at the waist and used cotton for the bodice and satin for the skirt.  

It fit her like a glove.  It was a little tight at the bust and under the arms, so I let out the side seams 2", and I lowered the armhole.  I also made a 1/2" swayback adjustment.

The blue print is rayon, and it was wonderful to work with.  It pressed very well, and was light and drapey.  

I sewed this entire dress in 7 1/2 hours.  What a great, easy project.  And what a great fit!  

Audrey, you look fabulous!  Happy Birthday!

Kimono Sleeve Top - Version 3 - Burda 7866

My choir was in a concert, and we were asked to wear black bottoms and bright, solid-coloured tops.  I decided to whip up another version of my favorite kimono sleeve top.  

I thought I had enough royal blue knit in my stash, but this shirt is very wide, and I didn't have enough.  So, I went to Fabricland and picked out some bright purple rayon knit.  I gotta say, this is the trickiest knit I have ever worked with.  This top took me 2 hours and 15 minutes, which is slightly longer than both my previous versions.  This is one of those knits that likes to curl, and it was slinky and scrunchy and just finicky.  But I conquered it.  

For a fun splash of colour (and because I had no purple thread in my stash), I serged all my seams with orange thread, and I did a backwards orange coverstitch around the neckline, just for something different.  I didn't do a very good job on the neckline, as I sewed this top the morning of the concert and was in a huge rush.  But it turned out quite fine anyways.  

The concert was an absolute blast.  Now I have no more choir until September!  Oh me, oh my! what am I going to do with myself?!  I guess I'll have to sew.  Yes, I think that's a good idea.

Pocahontas Dress - Simplicity 2222

We were invited to a friend's birthday party, and the theme was cowboys and indians.  We could dress up if we wanted to.  Of course I wanted to dress up!  

I've been wanting to make a muslin for Simplicity 2222 (Suede Says dress/romper), so I figured this would be a great opportunity to make a wearable muslin.  I started dreaming up a Pocahontas dress.  

I have a pile of beige linen that I could have used, but I look dreadfully pale in beige, so I started digging through my stash to see if I could find some better colours.  I found some rust corduroy and a crazy print that screamed 'native and tribal'.  I scrounged up 2 different trims, 6 rust-coloured buttons, and some orange bias binding.  The only thing I bought for this project was the fringe.  

I cut a straight size 16, and it fit really well at the hips, but the bust was a tiny bit snug.  I compensated by overlapping my buttonholes as little as possible.  Next time, I'll let out the bust by an inch or two.  

I absolutely LOVE the fit of the neckline, armholes, and racerback.  It is so comfortable!


I sewed this as fast as I could.  I always sew fast when I make muslins, and I did that with this, except I serged all my seams and finished everything nicely.  I can't believe how fast I managed to sew!  I almost felt reckless, but everything still turned out excellent.  I didn't keep track of my time when I was cutting, but my sewing time was only 2 hours and 40 minutes. Not bad for a slowpoke like me!  I guess I should be more brave and try sewing faster on everything I make!  I'm always very anal and want everything to be perfect, but I seem to be able to do a great job even if I sew fast.  I've gained a lot of confidence from this project.  

Back view - inside out

I wasn't sure if I was going to have any fitting issues, as this is nothing more than a rectangle with an elastic waist.  I decided to do a 1" swayback adjustment.  I took 1/2" each off the skirt and the bodice.  This was not necessary.  It hangs a bit short at the back, and I kept having to hike up the front waist to make sure I was hanging straight.  Now I know for next time.  Rectangles have no shape, and they don't need many adjustments.

I'm very happy with the amount of ease at the hips.  The corduroy is a little stiff and poufy, but if I made this in anything lighter and drapier, I think it would be fabulous.

I added 3" of length to the skirt, and I didn't even hem it.  I serged the bottom edge, and that's where I sewed the fringe and the trim.  This is a short skirt.  Appropriate for the young ladies these patterns are targeted at.  Unless they're 5'10", like me.  I'm happy with the finished length I ended up with.  

Close-up of pockets and elastic waist

I made a stretchy headband and attached 2 long pheasant feathers that my mother in law gave me.  I love my feathers!  They were very tall.  I kept having to duck to get through doors.  Now I know how my 6'8" brother feels!

I borrowed the cowboy boots when we got to the party.  They were in a big bag of cowboy stuff, and they fit me!  I think they finish off the outfit nicely.

We had a blast, and I felt very festive in my costume.

Tank tops!

I still can hardly believe that I managed to squeeze 3 new tank tops into my last-minute sewing in the 2 days before I left for Mexico!  Yay, me!


Anyways, I've changed this pattern so much, I don't think I'm even going to post a review.  The only thing I really kept the same is the shape of the racer back, and by the time I make more, it will be altered even more.


I knew the armhole was going to gape, so I compared it to a tank top that I already had and estimated how much to close the armhole.  I trasnferred the armhole dart and opened up a bust dart.

The side seams don't even resemble the original.  For one thing, I added about 4" of length, and the curves I used are very custom fitted to my body.  Essentially, I think I came close to an 18-16-14, but that's based on my New Look sleeveless top.  It never ceases to amaze me how little curve I have in my hips.  When I sew for pears, I look at those 'hip flanges' (as I like to call them), and I can't imagine how they're possibly going to fit, and then they try it on, and presto!  Their curves fill out all that shape.  On me, the hip flanges always stick out.  

I copied the center back from the New Look top, as it had some curve to it, and the Simplicity pattern was straight.  I did a 1" swayback adjustment (I think this is my first ever!).  It helped a lot.  I think I'm confident enough to do this on everything I make from now on.  I have more curves at the center back than I do on the sides!  Weird.  But it fits!


I cut out the light gray one and sewed it together and made a few adjustments before I cut into my next 2.  I traced my pattern and this is what it looks like.  It's almost completely straight except for the bust dart and a slight indentation at the waist.  And a lot of curve at the center back.

Since I was doing a lot of assembly line sewing, I knew I would have to sew all 3 just the way they were, and if they needed further tweaking, well too bad.  I have at least 5 more fabrics in my stash that want to become tank tops, so I'll have plenty of time to tweak them one by one until I get a perfectly tailored pattern.  

Once I got the elastic sewn to the neck and armholes, they all kinda hiked up a bit.  Next time, I will lower the armhole by a good inch or more, and I'll cut into the back of the armhole and scoop out the racer back a bit.  And I may lower the front neckline, but I'll wear them to the gym a few times before I decide that.

All in all, I'm happy with all of them.  The dark gray one is my favorite because of the texture and drape of the fabric.  It's so soft and comfy.  The other 2 are wearable.  The pink one is very thin and will be great for hot summer days.  I think it might be a knit tricot.  It was kinda hard to work with!  But it was good practice for thin flimsy fabrics.

Bathing suits finished! Sewing details.

I'm back from Mexico and having fun playing with all my pictures.  Before I get to the good stuff, I have to go over all the nitty gritty details of the last days of sewing my bathing suits.


The halter tops were fairly easy.  I didn't really use the instructions; I just used the pattern pieces and did my own thing.  I had read some reviews that said a few people had omitted the dart and used gathers instead.  I tried this on the white lining and attempted to pin the bra cup to it.  Once I had it pinned to myself (well, my bra, that would really hurt!), I noticed a big baggy spot where the dart should be.  So, I decided to sew the dart.  The shaping is really quite nice.  The trick is not to get a pucker at the end of the dart.  Here is how I did it.  I just followed the edge for a while so I didn't have an abrupt angle.  All my darts look smooth.

The bra cups were much easier to pin in place with the new darts.  I positioned the seam on the dart, about 3/8" from the bottom, and tried to center the cup as best I could.  I pinned it in place about every inch or so.  I zigzagged around all the edges.  The cup is positioned inside the lining, so that when you see the inside of the bathing suit, all you see are zigzag stitches on the white lining.  I had a picture, but it got erased somehow.  Use your imagination.

I layered the lining and the blue fabric together and serged elastic onto the sides, pulling slightly near the armholes.  I also serged elastic onto both long edges of my bands.

I pinned the halter pieces to the band, and sewed with a stretch stitch just beside the clear elastic, at about 3/8".  I turned the seam toward the band and coverstitched it.  It worked like a charm.

I tried it on and decided where I wanted my hooks to go, and sewed them in and trimmed the excess.  

The band is perfect, but the halters are a bit tight.  Bathing suits are not meant to be full support bras.  I could have let it down at least an inch or two.  They were quite tight, and mid-way through my holiday, one of my halter hooks broke, and I ended up sewing the straps together.  Thank goodness for the little sewing kits they give you at the hotel!  I was just pulling it over my head anyways.  Keep that in mind when you're sewing halters.  Sometimes you don't need hooks or ties.  Both halters ended up breaking and getting sewn back together.  Thankfully, the ones on the bands survived, but I will probably try and find metal hooks and replace them.


Anyways, back to sewing.  I was quite efficient and made my 3 tank tops and all my bathing suits before switching to cover stitch.  I spent several hours coverstitching everything.  It was fun.  I didn't use any pins, I just carefully turned my elastic under and sewed.  Everything turned out great.  I used wooly nylon in the chain looper.

I am very impressed with how professional my bathing suits look.  This has been really fun!  Of course, I could have made it easy on myself by making one halter top and one bottom, but I wanted more.  2 tops and 6 bottoms later, this is what I ended up with.  I wore everything except one pair of flame bottoms.  It was nice to have multiple bottoms, although it probably wasn't necessary.  Oh well.  Best to have clean underwear in case of an emergency, right?  

Mexico sewing done!

Here are all my finished bathing suits.  All of this is hot off the press, except for the flame tankini top, which is about 9 years old.  I'm very happy with how it all turned out.  

I even managed to get my 3 tank tops done!  Yay!  Normally, with last-minute sewing, stuff like this doesn't get done.  This time, I was a champion, and sewed for 10 1/2 hours on Thursday and Friday.  That even included a 2-hour alteration job that I had to finish for a lady from choir practice.  

We're leaving tomorrow morning at 6:00 am.  When I get back, I'll post the rest of my sewing pictures, and a bunch of Mexico pictures.  


Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go on vacation!!!  See ya'll when I get back!

Quilting Bee, Bathing Suits, and Tank Tops!

This morning, I went to a quilting bee at our church to help make blankets for Mission 2 Mexico.  There are tons of quilt tops ready to go, so we just set up tables and clamps, and layer a flat sheet on the bottom, followed by some polyester batting, and then the quilt top.  We tie them with coloured yarn, and then trim the sheet and fold it over to make a nice, neat 'binding'.  

They go very fast!  Today, four of us managed to get 5 done in about 2 hours.  It's a lot of fun!  I volunteered to sew all the binding, since I have an industrial machine.

Tonight, I sewed together my 4 pairs of blue bathing suit bottoms.  They took me about 2 hours.  Cutting is the most time consuming, and I got that all done last weekend.

This is how I feed the clear elastic into my serger.  I love it when you rediscover a technique that changes the way you think about sewing.  The possibilities are endless!

Seeing as I'm running out of time to get things sewn for Mexico, I decided not to make the reversible knit dress.  I'm not sure how long it would take me, but I'm guessing at my speed, it will be at least an 8 hour project.  Last weekend, while I was discovering how much fun it is to work with clear elastic, I was inspired to make some racer-back tank tops.  I was planning on making some from this pattern anyway, but with the clear elastic method, I won't have to use binding for the neck and armholes.  They should whip up very quickly.

Simplicity 5000

These are the first 3 fabrics I picked from my stash.  The dark grey will go with my orange camouflage pants, as will the light grey, and the pink will go with my beige RTW capris.  

I'm not sure how many of these I will manage to get done.  I only have part of Sunday and part of Thursday to make 2 blue bathing suit halter tops, and possibly these tank tops.  Wish me luck!


In exactly a week, my husband and I will be enjoying the live entertainment at the resort for our first night there!  I'm getting excited!!!