SEWmuchKNITting

   

Realizing that the maxi dress continues to be a summer staple, I decided to jump on the bandwagon, using McCall's 6308. I had this very drapery black & cream rayon in my stash, and it was a perfect pairing of pattern + fabric. I now understand the popularity of the maxi dress....seriously, wearing this is like wearing pajamas, it's that comfortable! I made a few adjustments to the pattern: a smaller than usual FBA since the top has a lot of gathering, I raised the neckline by 1 inch, and also added 1 inch to the length. A quick and easy project yielding great results! The back neckline vee is cute, but was a little "fiddley" to get to lay right. Redrafting to a more rounded/scooped back neckline would be easier. Fun dress to wear on the perfect Father's Day Sunday in Michigan!  

I picked up this pattern a couple of years ago at a quilt shop near my home, after seeing the shop sample. The Rupert playmat is made with the quilt-as-you-go technique, using fleece as the top layer, cotton batting in the center, and quilting cotton for the backing.                               I think the detail in the face and paws (felt appliqued with a satin stitch),                                                               makes this so darn cute! (baby Thomas: 10 days old!) Cute little playmats like Rupert, and this one  and this one  are fun gifts for the new baby/parents, and have been well-received by the new families. I see more of them in my sewing future!

Vogue 8667 , View C (pink) without the sleeves: This bright, cheery, yellow fabric came out of my stash (again! I feel like I am making some headway sewing through the stash). It is a pique/waffle type of fabric, with a subtle white, shiny thread woven in. It is fairly "beefy", but I liked it for this pattern, and it was a pleasure to sew and is comfortable to wear. The full Bemberg lining of course feels wonderful. As you can see in the first pic, I did cut out the sleeves, then lined them and attached them to the dress. It just didn't look right... so, off they came! On my way to Easter Vigil Mass: This will be a great addition to my work wardrobe this summer, and the cheery color really lifts my mood!

I've been in search of the perfect button-up pattern for awhile now, and have collected a few. McCall's 6436 has had many favorable reviews, and has a lot of the qualities I was looking for: front and back darts, collar with stand, button placket and longer length. After reading in those reviews that this pattern ran big, I did not make my usual adjustments and sewed this gingham up as a test garment right out of the pattern envelope. I really want a gingham button down(!), so I'm glad I have more fabric as I need to tweak the pattern in some areas. Looks great on the dress form, yes?: Well....... Us usual, I'll need a little more room in the front: And we can all see those sway-back wrinkles: Garment details:  Black and white gingham from  Fabric.com PerfectFuse  sheer interfacing from Palmer/Pletsch Buttons from my collection The alterations needed next time: shorten sleeves 1", adjust for broad back, sway back, and FBA....

I love the way Erdem utilizes border prints, especially this one worn by the Duchess of Cambridge. This fabric has been in my stash for awhile, waiting it's turn. I was initially excited to order it, but as it sometimes happens with online fabric purchases I was a bit let down. It is a very thin, clingy knit.  Vogue 8731  was my pattern choice, since I had great success with it right out of the pattern envelope, as you can see  here . Unfortunately, I had to scrap my plans for the longer, tunic length due to this fabric's clingy nature. The sleeves are made using a thin, burn-out knit off of the Red Tag table at JoAnn's from a year or so ago, which I also used to bind the neckline. Too bad my inspired design fell short.....as is obvious below. This top does nothing for me! (Photo taken at the Saturday knitting group at the local Tim Horton's) Even with my disappointment, this top isn't a complete wadder, tho not sure I'll wear it out...

Simplicity 1796 ,view A, fabric from JoAnn: a poly crepe of some sort. I made this dress last August for my trip to Paris, and wore it out to dinner at Le Train Bleu . Boy, was it hot that evening.....much different than today's 14 degrees F! I haven't worn it since, as I needed to revisit those neckline gathers. So I ripped back some of the neckline binding, took out the gathers and resewed them. Much better :-) I love this pattern and the many creative options that are available with it. I've already pulled fabric for another version.....thinking Spring! Stay warm, all those in the Midwest!