NewLook 6936

 "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."  Ephesians 4:30-32

       Hello sewing (and non-sewing;) friends!:) I finally have another project to share, New Look 6936 in view A. Although this pattern is rated "Easy, 2 hour", it took me a lot longer than 2 hours (oh, I wish I could crank out projects that quickly!) Maybe if I didn't have a now 2 month-old to take care of I may have sewn it faster. My hat (if I had one) goes off to any and every mom out there who is juggling parenthood with hobbies (and all the other stuff we do on a daily basis:)

        Isaac is sleeping peacefully at the moment, so yay, I can do some blogging along with coffee-sipping (household stuff can wait!:)

Mommy & me:)

       The fabric I used is a beautiful rayon jersey from, where else, Fabricville!:) I love their end-of-season sales where you buy 1 meter and get 2 free! I almost always get 1 & 1/2 of two different fabrics and therefore have material for two different projects! Yay:)

     

Pattern photo.

   

       Here to the right is New Look 6936. I've sewn it once before in view D, pictured below and reviewed here. My current dress reviewed here.

New Look 6936, summer of 2012:)

   
      I didn't take photos of the construction part because, well, this is such a simple pattern that it isn't really necessary. I suppose the only thing that may have been helpful was the sewing of the neck binding (I *loathe* narrow hems at the neckline, especially when the fabric is lightweight, as is this rayon). I just winged it, and cut a strip of fabric for the neck (like a t-shirt binding), and ended up with less than a 1/2" widthwise neck binding. I found that any wider looked a bit too sporty (IMO) for the this print of fabric. I also used Steam A Seam lite 2 to the sleeve and skirt hem to help avoid unsightly puckers.


More photos...:)

        So there you have it! If you're looking for an easy-to-sew summer dress, this is one pattern that is worth trying. Bye for now & happy sewing!:)

When life gives you lemons...

... or in my case, when you mess up what was supposed to be a simple sewing project, and in the end, it turns out better than you thought, that's what I call "lemonade";)

       Let me elaborate:) So I had this great rayon/polyester/spandex tropical print fabric from, where else, Fabricville. It was a great deal @ $5/metre. I've had somewhat of an obsession with Hawaiian/Tropical prints lately and was *dying* to make some kind of summery item with it. I was torn between making a skirt or a dress. In the end I decided to make a mermaid style skirt from a tutorial on youtube. I was in somewhat of a rush to make something quick (my last project, a Minoru jacket took a few weeks to do). I was in too much of a panic, and botched it up. Also, I don't think my fabric was stable enough for the intended project. Very sad face:(

     I vented to Dan and he, being the encouraging husband he is, suggested that maybe it would turn out better than I thought. I was tempted to trash my skirt, but decided to sleep on it. Next morning, I googled "easy summer dress to sew", for some ideas for another project and stumbled across this, the "Two Become One Dress"!.

My inspiration!:)

This lovely lady provides a free pattern, and though I hadn't used her free pattern (yet!) it was the perfect fix to my botched-up skirt! I had a black maternity shirt that was damaged, so I cut it across the midriff and sewed it to the skirt at the waistband seam and voila, I then had my new favourite summer dress!! I can't tell you how much I adore this dress! I want more!:) I wore it to church yesterday and received many wonderful compliments:)

      This is not so much a tutorial, but this is what I did to make this cute summer dress: :)
First of all, I laid my fabric out (folded), and cut around a pair of jeans with the knees folded up to make a pencil skirt of sorts. For the waistband, I winged it, and made a waistband that's the casual fold-over style you find on some workout pants.

 

My soon-to-be-hacked maternity top!

    I had to cut and re-sew the side seams to fit my non-pregnant midsection:) and then try on the top with the skirt to figure out where to cut my top before sewing it to the waist seam. Again, just winging it!:)

    Here, hopefully you can see that the waistband remains free. Not perfect, I have to adjust the waistband "gathers" whenever I put it on, but hey it works! The top is now sewn to the waistband/skirt seam and is ready to wear!:)

I didn't even hem the skirt! I just cut it across with my beloved rotary cutter and I was good to go!:) I like the longer length, I think it's rather sophisticated;)


      Here are some more photos....

And for your viewing pleasure!:)

 

Thanks for reading and happy sewing!:D