Cottesloe Swimsuit, The Second

 Sneaking one more summer project in here... another swimsuit!

Floral Cottesloe Swimsuit

Busting out all the photos and garments that make me mildly uncomfortable this week! First shorts, now a swimsuit... blame it on the heat.

Sew Twists and Ties: Megan Nielsen Giveaway

Another pattern giveaway for Sew Twists and Ties!

Sew Twists and Ties: Jarrah Sweater in Rib Knit

Ooooooh, my first finished Sew Twists and Ties project!

Floral Dove Blouse: The Sequel

My mom really loved the Megan Nielsen Dove Blouse we made her a few months ago, and I had a piece of cotton lawn purchased from Belleboo with her in mind, so the combination was a no-brainer.

Sewcation Outfit 3: Dove Blouse and Margaret Pant

My mom's third sewcation outfit will work perfectly for late spring and early summer...!

Megan Nielsen Dove Blouse

I was jonesing for Megan Nielsen's latest, the Dove blouse, from the first sneak peeks. 

That v-neck, the extreme curved hem (with a hem facing!), those pretty angled bust darts...

Anna + Veronika = Annonika?

I needed a dress to wear to a good friend's wedding recently (the same wedding for which I made my beach cover-up Mojave)...

Mustard Ponte Veronika

Can you believe I have never made or worn a circle skirt before now? 

How??!! Why??!!

Flamenco-esque Cascade Skirt

So, having made her Briar t-shirt, I was on a Megan Nielsen kick a few weeks ago and I sewed up her lovely Cascade skirt.   I love so many of the iterations of the Cascade that I saw online, including this one from Melissa Esplin and this one from Cut Cut Sew.  Problem is: I'm not sure that this pattern, like the Briar, is particularly flattering on me, despite how much I want it to be.  Sigh.

My Cascade is made from some deep red batik rayon that I bought here in Jakarta.  I thought it would work well with the Cascade, hopefully lending somewhat of a flamenco dancer feel to the flowy, cascading wrap skirt.  I made the third option for the waist band- the ties that wrap all the way around and tie in the front.

The skirt was super easy to put together and went very quickly thanks to me using the rolled hem option on my new serger (there are miles of hemming to be done on this skirt, which isn't difficult but could be time consuming).

While I like this skirt in theory and I think it came out pretty well, I'm not sure I'll get much wear out of it because I don't love how it looks on me.  I think it might be a smidge small, so that when I wrap it around my junk in the trunk, it pulls the fabric apart in the front such that it loses its cascadeyness (if that's a word).  Oh well.

Briar, Take 2

Told ya I'd be right back with another Briar t-shirt!  This one is the full length version and actually in my size, so there are better photos than my last Briar.

I made this one with some kelly green and white striped knit fabric I got from the Real Martha's stash of vintage/old fabric... it has a bit of an '80s feel to it.   It's a much more stable knit than the last fabric I used, which made it much easier to cut.  Pretty easy to sew, too, except the edges curled like a mofo.

Sewing this baby together was super simple except for a serger user-error on my part which caused my serger to eat up the neckline a bit.  So my neckline is wider than called for and the band narrower.  But in the end, I think it looks better this way! This time I included the pocket, which I cut it with the stripes running vertically (I did the same for the neckband).

Overall, I like the final result.  I am a little concerned that it is perhaps a bit too long in the back... it fully covers my butt.  Hmmm.  Also, I think next time I'll center the pocket a bit more... it's inching towards my armpit somewhat.

Briar Tee

After hand-carrying my new (to me, but really it's second hand, or third hand if you count the 8 months that the Real Martha used it in Springfield) serger literally across the world (Springfield --> NYC --> Frankfurt --> Singapore --> Jakarta), it was quite necessary to put it to work and make all that lugging around worthwhile.

Sergers and knits are pretty much made for one another, and both are something I have (needlessly) feared to this point.  In order to conquer those fears, I decided it was wise to start with a simple (but yet styley) pattern: Megan Nielsen's Briar t-shirt pattern.  I'd had my eye on it for a while since it's a cute and modern wardrobe staple, but was hesitant to try it before getting my serger ready to roll.  Well, no excuses now!

My first iteration was made from some up-cycled fabric, a slinky rayon knit that was the bottom half of a Target maxi-dress that I never wear anymore.  I cut the dress in half so I could still wear the top part as a tank, and cut the cropped, short-sleeved Briar out of the skirt.  This little cropped bugger will be gifted to someone skinnier than me because I couldn't fit my size (or the full-length version) on the fabric, but I squeezed myself into it for a blurry selfie nonetheless.  Future recipient, whoever you may be: don't be skerred, the cropped/hi-low top looks cute layered over a normal length shirt or dress!

Dudes: sergers + knits = awesomely simple!  While difficult to cut (see: slinky, slippery rayon), this fabric is super forgiving when sewn.  And I lurve my serger!  I just have to remember to sew confidently, because once that knife hits fabric, that's it, buddies.  No going back.

Expect more knits and serged items in the near future... it will only take me as long as it takes for my washing machine to prep the fabric before I am back with another Briar, I guarantee it.

Craftin': In Progress, In the Scrap Pile, In the Queue

In progress:

1. Knitbot's Spring Ribbed Cardigan (here's the Ravelry page) in Cascade Yarns Cotton Rich DK bought at Webs during their post-Christmas blow-out sale:

2. Colette Peony, perhaps in a beautiful blue Balinese ikat once I get the bodice fit right on this one-sleeved muslin (made from an old Ikea duvet cover, below).  I think I need to raise the waist a half inch, shift the bust darts slightly and take out a wedge of fabric from the back, as I am getting a massive bulge along the seam... I think it's called a swayback adjustment?

3. Diane Kimono Dress by Sew Serendipity: I have a muslin of this one made out of some crazy fabric from Martha... the top part only (below).  I'm having a little bit of a gap problem at the neckline, hate the facings, which keep popping out, and am finding the waistband to be entirely too fiddly.  When I make the tunic/beach cover-up version I am planning to make from some batik, I may skip the waistband and just sew some elastic on the inside.  We'll see.

4. Darling Ranges Dress by Megan Nielsen: I have a muslin in the works, but the bust darts are giving me a headache.  Trying figure out a) what changes I need to make and b) how to make them. 

5. Crochet wire and bead necklaces for the Jenneth wedding party... drafted, but still awaiting final instructions: 

In the scrap pile:

1. Ug, Butterick 5561, I shake my fist at you!  I'm not sure why I thought this top would be flattering, and maybe I made a poor fabric choice, but what I ended up with looked unfortunately like a hospital gown, both in shape and color.  What a waste of a pretty fabric (Lisette lawn, to be specific)!  I tried to salvage it by changing out the ill-fitting facings with some bias tape and gathering the front... no dice, neckline still wonky.  Then I decided give the waist some shirring for some shape.  That helped a little, but it still looks like a maternity shirt.  I did learn how to use elastic thread for shirring, though, which is exciting!

2. I started this "1 hour dress" well over a year ago, but it was a hot, lumpy mess for me...  I may try to turn the material into a pencil skirt a la Mimi G?

In the queue: 

1. Bubble Pocket Shorts and Ruffle Top from Elegance and Elephants... for Zoe, of course.
2. Jersey Knit Dress as seen on Prudent Baby (free pattern!), maybe from from an old t-shirt?
2. Layer Cake Skirt, also from Prudent Baby, a good use of scraps from other projects
3. High-Low Gathered Back Shirt from Cotton&Curls... maybe a modified Grainline Scout Tee or a Tiny Pocket Tank?
4.  Newcastle Cardigan from Thread Theory when it's released, maybe?  A cute hipster cardigan for Tim, a follow-up to his Negroni.
5. Victory Patterns Nicola: Perhaps using some batik rayon challis I have in my stash... 
6. Simplicity 2684: Batik ruffle pants and tank for Miss Zoe?  Or perhaps Miss Anna! Thanks for the pattern, Chazay
7. Ella Raglan Blouse from I Think Sew: simple and cute.

8. Many, many others!