McCalls 6886, Double-Take

"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise."

Galatians 3:26-29

    Hey my lovely friends!:) What have you stylish sewers been up to lately? Soon it'll be time for Fall sewing, wow! Gotta get a few more Summer projects in before then!

After my recent swimsuit challenge (took a little over two weeks), I needed an instant gratification project (or two, lol). I had a daisy print dress (fabric from my stash) on the brain when I ran out to Fabricville to get some more swimwear elastic & spotted the Hawaiian-print cotton knit which was on sale!! Regularly $16.99/metre and I got it for $4.99 a metre! I've since gotten a bit more so I can make a little skirt and another dress of some kind! Not often I come across a Hawaiian print cotton knit so I took advantage, lol:)

      I made these pretty much like my last Tribal-print dress (used a slightly smaller seam allowance on the side seams). I didn't make any adjustments to the pattern because I was dying to make something quick, lol. I also wanted them done for my weekend away with my husband:)

   I did finish the necklines differently however. I made a neckband for the Daisy dress but decided I didn't like how a neckband was going to look on the Hawaiian dress. I had already trimmed the 5/8" off the neckline (like I usually do) so I didn't have much seam allowance to work with. The fabric isn't very opaque either, so I decided to make a facing for the neckband with the wrong side showing.
I cut a strip of 1.5'' (pretty sure it was 1.5":p)  wide fabric, cut to be 15% less the neck circumference. I should have cut it even shorter though because the neckline doesn't lie completely flat.  I under-stitched, then turned it inside, topstitched & pressed it to death to get it to lie flat.

I tried using a double-needle, but I was getting a lot of skipped stitches (I had used steam a seam, that may have been why. I used SAS because I was getting unsightly tunnelling, bah). Also, this particular print left tiny holes in flowered parts, yikes! Knits can be tricky to top-stitch, at least for me, lol. Oh well, it turned out all right in the end! I used a triple-stretch straight stitch and it looks...passable. The Hawaiian fabric gets wrinkled fairly easily so I pretty much have to press it before I wear it but thats ok. I love it! Plus I have enough fabric to make another dress if I need to;)

      Well, thats all for today. I wore the daisy print dress to church yesterday & loved it:) Feels dressy-casual (is that a term, lol?). Anyone moved on to Fall sewing? If so, what are you making? I'd love to hear:) I'd also love to hear if you're still on Summer stuff.

Have a fabulous week everyone!:)

Swimsuit Hack/ Sewing Stuff in PEI

"..But when the kindness of God our Saviour and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This is the Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs with the hope of eternal life. 

This saying is trustworthy. And I want you to emphasize these things, so that those who have believed God will take care to devote themselves to good deeds. These things are excellent and profitable for the people."

Titus 3:4-8

    Hello my lovely sewing (and non-sewing) friends!:) Anybody make some swimwear this season??:) Or perhaps in the process? This is only the second (wearable) suit I've made for myself  but I must say I do enjoy it! This project was more involved than my last basic one piece. I had a look in mind, this view from Butterick 5795. I had to hack up a basic tank suit (I used the pattern from the Kwik Sew swimwear book) to recreate the look since this pattern only comes in Plus sizes.

View D, Butterick 5795

  I studied the Butterick pattern and instructions to try figure out the best (and simplest way) to got about making a pattern that would fit me.

 First, I made a muslin of the basic tank style but drew the V neck on (from the Kwik Sew master pattern) to see if I liked the fit. I made a separate left and right side.

I marked "slash lines" starting from the waist up to almost at the bust. (this photo I hadn't added all the lines yet, I ended up drawing lines about 1" apart and spreading them 1"). After my second muslin, I added two more slash lines for a bit more gathering below the waist. I may add more next time (if I decide to do another one).

I added two more slash & spread lines below the waist after I took this photo.

Left front piece before sewing with crossover piece (out of thin white nylon/lycra)

    I used cups from an inexpensive bandeau-type strapless bra. I probably should have cut them in a more triangular shape :/ Seems to work ok though.

I ended up (carefully) cutting out the back lining and resewing at the crotch. The lower back ended up being a bit too tight and I thought removing the back lining might reduce some of the strain. It did help a bit, but next time I'll grade up a little in that area.


The side gathers aren't as taught as I intended (when I realized this I had already sewed the seam and it would have been too much unpicking:p). The print helps draw attention away from the saggy gathers, lol.

     

Beach in PEI 

  My husband and I were able to get away to PEI for a few days and I was able to test out my new suit at Brackley Beach! Held up great in the water:) I didn't get to go fabric shopping (drat), but I did get a couple of cool sewing-related photos! We visited the Ann of Green Gables Museum where they had an antique treadle machine used by Author Lucy Maud Montgomery. The shell-encrusted Folk Art Dress Form was at the Ripley's Believe it or Not Odditorium:) I'm wearing a new McCalls 6886 dress I finished the day we left!:)

Antique Treadle Sewing Machine at the Ann of Green Gables Museum

Folk Art Dress Form @ the Ripley's Odditorium

        Well thats all for today! I hope you all are having a great summer! Have you been sewing any swimwear this season? Have you ever stumbled across any cool sewing related items while on vacation? Do tell!:)

Til next time!