Cashmerette Randolph Skirt

I've been eagerly awaiting the release of Cashmerette/Jenny Rushmore's new book, Sewing the Curve, and it did not disappoint!

Henrietta Skirt

 This was a fun project!

The is the Spaghetti Western Sewing Henrietta Skirt. The Henrietta skirt is an easy-to-sew elastic waist skirt inspired by 18th-century pannier skirts with gathered panels on the hips.  You determine your own skirt length and using provided math formulas to calculate and cut fabric. 

Floral Frocktails Nicks Dress

Frocktails fun!

Leaf Peeper's Throwover Sweater

A seasonally appropriate sweater project with an inappropriate name.... you'll have to wait for it as there is some backstory. 

Batik Sanders Shirt

 Another shirt for Tim!

Elbe Textiles Homme Wrap Dress

 One more summer dress before summer ends...

Striped Halifax Hoodie

"Thank you for the presents, I really like my emo jacket, Auntie Meg!"

Plaid Linen Cuff Dress

Playing with plaid over here...

Birthday Suit

  A little birthday suit birthday gift for my sister. Fancy PJs!

Party Shirt

Tim needed a new party shirt, so he got a new party shirt.

Cottonwood Times Two

I've been accused in the past of being a bit of a new pattern junkie. This accusation has some truth to it... I do love a new pattern. 

Striped Ruby Overalls

My mom loved the overalls I made her for mother's day and I thought they looked great on her. So when she showed up at my house with a length of fabric from her stash and a plan to make another overalls pattern, one with a complicated tie closure that looked difficult for bathroom breaks, I convinced her that another pair of the Helen's Closet Ruby Overalls was a better bet. 

Cropped Cottonwood Tee

 It's been a while! 

Gilbert Top Three Ways

I made a round of Helen's Closet Gilbert Tops recently: one for my mom for mother's day and two for myself. 

Testing, testing: Cris Wood Sews Glow Dress

Feeling floaty and fancy in this dress. With a hint of a summer glow, perhaps?

Turquoise Ruby Overalls

Ack, my mom kills it in overalls.

Sunset Sweater

A couple months ago I was in a rush to pick a project to bring on a trip, and to have a sweater made for my sister-in-law before her birthday... this rush project just turned out beautiful!

Love Number Sweater

Another knit project finished! Poorly timed with summer approaching, but it's chilly today and I'm wearing it, so that's nice!

Block print Regalia Blouse

Game, blouses. 

Aqua Cameron Shirt

Another Cameron shirt cutie...

Viscose Linen Noil Fringe Dress

Feeling springy over here! Flowers are coming up and legs are bare again. We’ll probably have snow again next week, but I’m taking advantage of these opportunities. 

Fish Batik McCall's 6044

One more birthday gift for Tim: a fish shirt!

Chambray Sanders Buttonup

Why did I wait so long to sew up this pattern?!

Enid-style Granny Go Round Jumper

Loosely inspired by the cheerful and chunky knits worn by Enid, the roommate in Wednesday, and aiming to use up some yarn from my stash, I crocheted this fun sweater for my niece!

Sweater Knit Finlayson

It's Tim's birthday month, and I've promised him a bunch of hand-made gifts... here's the first one out of the gate!

Fibr and Cloth Studio Photinia Top

Sneaking in at the end of February with the project I sewed for the Black History Month Pattern Designers challenge (#BHMPatternDesigners on Instagram!).

Wool Daphne Jacket

I can't resist a cozy, oversized jacket pattern. This one is the Vivian Shao Chen's Daphne Jacket, a recent pattern release.

Abstract Cotton Jacquard Pietra Pants

After my recent success with the Closet Core Pietra Pants pattern, I decided to make another pair! 

Sew Fancy Pants: Seersucker Free Range Slacks

 One final #SewFancyPants project for the month. 

Sew Fancy Pants: Ginger Jeans

Ok, another project from the WIP pile! I got started on this project back in the fall, and then... it sat there. Thank you to #SewFancyPants2023 and the #JFFIChallenge2023 for the inspiration to just f*cking finish these pants!

Sew Fancy Pants: Wide Legged Wool Pietra Pants

Another Sew Fancy Pants make!

Sew Fancy Pants: Dani and Miller

I'm so thankful for the sewing community and the fun challenges that prompt me to tackle sewing tasks that are lingering on my to-do list. 

I've really been struggling with sizing these days. I'm bigger than I used to be, but sizing up has not been foolproof for me. Earlier this year I cut two pairs of pants my measurements and sewed them up.

But they both ended up turning out enormous for some reason! They've both been bunched up in a corner for many months... but happily Sew Fancy Pants, hosted by Nicole, and the #JFFIChallenge2023, hosted by Wyldwood Creative prompted me to dig them out and give them another try!

Dani Pant: This pair of pants has a tortured origin story even beyond the sizing issues. This is the True Bias Dani pant, which I originally cut out last year, maybe in the spring? 

This is view D, the tapered pant with the full elastic waistband. I skipped the side seam and back pockets out of laziness and a lack of fabric. 

The fabric is speckled Essex cotton linen in black. I love the multi-colored speckles and the texture they give the fabric! Of course you cannot see the speckles because my photography skills have failed yet again.

I first started with size 20 from the curvy range, which corresponded with my measurements, and, as I said, they were huge in the legs. Like comically so. I tried to to turn them inside out and sew up the side seams a bit, but it wasn't looking right, so I ultimately unpicked them. 

Remind me never to unpick a black garment with black serging. Ug. Once I had them taken apart, I cut down to a size 16, and got to re-sewing them.

 

But the torture didn't stop there... I somehow managed to sew and serge the two front legs together as well as the two back legs before I noticed. More unpicking. Sigh. 

Ultimately I made it through alive and with a pair of decently fitting pants, though! Now that I'm closer on the fit for the Dani pattern, I'd be up for trying the fly front view, and the shorts look pretty cute!

Miller Trouser: The second pair of too-big elastic waist pants. These are the Paper Theory Miller Trousers, a relaxed fit trouser that sits at the natural waist, has a pleat in the front leg and darts in the back waist. 

Like the Dani pants, I cut the Miller size that corresponded to my measurements, size 22. But they were enormous. I tried to re-cutting in a smaller size, but couldn't quite make it work the way the pockets are done. So to the bunched up corner they went for 6+ months.

When I took them out recently to try again, I opted to re-sew them, but with a 3/4 inch seam allowance on the side seams and inseams. I also sewed the crotch seam with a 3/4 inch seam allowance at both ends near the waist, but tapering to 3/8 inch at the bottom of the curve. This worked out pretty well!

The fabric is Ventana twill in ivy that I bought from Fancy Tiger Crafts a couple years back. Always on the hunt for the perfect olive green bottom weight.

In the end I'm fairly happy with my Miller Trousers. Oversized, but with my fit changes, no longer ridiculously so. I wish the waist was a little bit higher; I feel like these might be the type of pants I have to constantly tug up because they hit my belly at the widest point.

Anyway, hooray for Sew Fancy Pants for getting me to finish these long stashed, unfinished objects!

Orange You Glad It's Not Blue McCall's 6044

It's been over 6 months since my last McCall's 6044 for Tim. Time to make a new McCall's 6044 for Tim!

Striped Wool Jackson Sweater

Christmas gifts have been opened and are now slowly coming to the blog...