Thank you all so much for all your comments and suggestions on my post about my pants fitting struggles and seemingly endless cycle of muslins to try and fix the bagginess at the back of my thighs. I really appreciate your thoughts, helpful ideas, and commiseration. After my post, I mulled over all the suggestions, did more research, and started to try out some new adjustments on one of my previous muslins (the ugly ... Read more »
An outfit to walk to the zoo
On a recent weekend, Mel and I had a couple of errands to run in one of the neighborhoods in which I grew up. We weren't really planning to take any photos but as it happened we had along a little point-and-shoot camera. While my nicer DSLR takes much better photos, sometimes it's either take quick snapshots or nothing. And since we've gotten pretty lax about taking a camera (mainly because I often don't feel like lugging ... Read more »
Pants muslins and back of thigh wrinkles have nearly done me in
My sewing friends out there, I'm about to get all fitting saga on you. And it's about pants. I know. It's a really really really long post about pants. You've been warned. I kind of wish this were about the British use of the term pants, it would probably be more fun. Alternate post titles? How about "Fitting pants is a bitch". Or maybe "A tale of misguided adjustments". Or "I will get these pants right if it kills ... Read more »
A vintage-inspired Jenna cardigan… that I sewed!
I sewed a cardigan. Now there's a sentence I never expected to come out of my mouth in a million years. Being a knitter, cardigans are the domain of my knitting needles. Not my sewing machine or serger. The idea of actually sewing a cardigan was never something I had ever contemplated, although I readily admit I've complained plenty at the frustration of trying to find suitably vintage-appropriate lightweight ... Read more »
Seeing spots
Here's a post full of polka dots on a couple of projects for you! I finished up my first Lady Skater dress, a pattern by Amanda from Kitschy Coo, and I definitely understand why this is another knit dress I've seen all over the sewing blogosphere! This outfit ended up looking a bit twee with the polka dots, light shoes and hair bow, though I didn't mean to dial up the saccharine so much. Yak. Apparently I have a ... Read more »
Ten of hearts cardigan
This fall I've been on a knitting roll, which happens to a lot of us knitters when that season hits. I finished off one old project from the spring, I'm working on finishing another from the spring, and just this week I finished one from literally 4 and a half years ago. Seriously! But this one is all new! I bought the Ten of Hearts cardigan pattern from Bex's Etsy shop awhile back. I would guess it's from the ... Read more »
A turquoise Moneta dress
Stop the presses! I've sewn a dress in a knit fabric! Meet my first Colette Moneta. Okay it's not really that exciting, but hey, it's my first knit dress so cut me some slack. I'm psyched! Though there's one main issue with this dress that's entirely my fault. It's a bit too tight...I'm pretty much poured into this dress bodice (sleeves on the other hand are far too wide at the upper arm, and I'll pick your brains ... Read more »
A chunky cabled pullover 8 months later than planned
Back in March when I met Rochelle in D.C., I bought some yarn at Fibre Space, a great yarn shop in Alexandria, Virginia. I was mainly intending to window shop and enable help Rochelle pick some yarn, but then I saw a pattern booklet with the pullover Vashon on the cover, and suddenly it was absolutely imperative that I knit myself a chunky cabled pullover for our trip to Ireland in the spring. Except as the ... Read more »
A Coco and a Can-Can
Cross a major goal off my list this year: sewing with knits! Meet my very first Coco top, from Tilly and the Buttons. I'm excited. Can you tell?? When I set a goal earlier this fall to learn to sew with knits, I prepared by, well, reading everything under the sun about sewing with knits. The Colette Guide to Sewing Knits by Alyson Clair, the instructions for the three knit patterns I bought to start off ... Read more »
Pushing your (silhouette) boundaries
Hello, friends! My blogging energy has been zapped lately, I must admit, but I think it's bouncing back. And so today, I have a little story to tell! It all started with a print. A couple of months ago, I was obsessing over galaxy-themed prints. I managed to track down some galaxy fabric to sew a dress (no I still haven't sewn it yet!), and also found a ModCloth dress severely on sale. It was the very last one, and in ... Read more »
Sewtionary blog tour: 6 questions with Tasia the Sewaholic
I have a special treat for you today! If you sew clothing, you probably know of Tasia St. Germaine's pattern line, Sewaholic Patterns (that is, unless you've been living under a rock, in which case, please come out). Tasia has just released a book, and I'm thrilled to be a part of her blog tour for the release of The Sewtionary! Source: Copyright © Tasia St. Germaine, from The Sewtionary I have the utmost respect for ... Read more »
Daydreaming about autumn sewing and knitting
Hello hello! As you may recall, I haven't had a working sewing machine now for a few weeks. It's not that the shop is even far from our house—I've just literally not had the opportunity to take it in! But oddly, that's been kind of okay (well after I stopped being twitchy about it). Work has been particularly busy so I've had less time for anything, anyway. And in the meantime, I'm getting a lot of knitting, daydreaming ... Read more »
An outfit to get dyed for
Happy Friday, my friends! I'm off to the salon later this afternoon to get my hair color touched up (hence the corny post title). Can you believe it's been 6 weeks since I went red?! (I feel like it's not fair to call myself a redhead since it's not my natural color... will I get over this? Would I offend natural redheads by doing so? I'm probably over-thinking this, right?) (hair is clipped back and unset because ... Read more »
An Elisalex with feathers
I am sorely behind in posting about things I've sewn this summer. So much so that I may not even blog about it all—you might just have to see it show up in outfits at some point! And right now, my sewing machine is having issues so I'm going to have to take it in to get repaired. No sewing for me for awhile. So let's backup to a month ago when I finished this dress! This is my first Elisalex dress from By Hand ... Read more »
Triumphant return of cigarette pants (or, how I ate my words)
Maybe it's the unusually cool weather we've had lately, but my lust for pants has returned. A week or so ago I started hearing a niggling voice in the back of my head. It was telling me, "Pssst... remember those red cigarette pants you abandoned last spring? Butterick B5895? Maybe you should try them on." Against what I thought was my better judgment at the time, I went to my Sewing Corner of Shame (where I put failed ... Read more »
Creative necklines class and Craftsy discount
For my final collaboration post with Craftsy, I took one more techniques class, Patternmaking + Design: Creative Necklines, with Suzy Furrer. I actually started off with the intention of taking another dressmaking class, but I've come to realize that at this point in my sewing adventures, I'm really more interested in learning techniques, tips and drafting advice than following through an entire pattern! Source: ... Read more »