McCalls 6886, with a twist:)

"Therefore The Lord Himself will give you a sign: the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel (translated: God with us)."

Isaiah 7:14 (written approximately 700 years before Jesus was born).

 

        Merry Christmas all!:) Man, its been awhile since I've posted anything! I've been busy with a few gifts (which I will blog about soon!). This cowl-neck dress was my second attempt at a dress for the holidays. My first was a red turtle-neck sweater dress (which was a fail, bah). I'm pretty happy with this modified version of McCall's 6886. I picked up the pattern some time ago but I knew I would have to make some kind of sway-back alteration. I used another pattern to help with the curve. I'm not entirely satisfied with it but it'll do! The belt really helps!:) I'll have to make another adjustment next time.

     

         For the "shifted cowl", I got the instructions from my "Singer Sewing with Knits" book. The cowl is a rectangle of fabric, the neck's width on the opening of whatever dress/top pattern you're using,  and 15" high, plus SA. The cowl piece ends up being a tube with a center-back seam. I folded the cowl wrong sides together, first lining up the CB seam, then "shifting"it a bit. The two white pins (below) are pinned at either side of the CB seam of the cowl. I didn't record how much I shifted the pieces, a few inches I guess. I tried it a few times, and put the cowl piece around my neck to see how I liked it, before basting the sides together. Once I get a chance I'll show some photos of my Singer Book. Describes it better than I can:p

       The fabric is some I got from my mother-in-law!:) Its a green knit that looks like terry-cloth on the right side, and feels like fleece on the inside. Its very stretchy and easy to sew with.  I erred on the side of cutting it on the bigger size (since my last attempt at a Christmas dress was too small). I think I cut a 12. I'd definitely size down next time. I sewed the sleeves in flat so I could take in the dress a bit at the side seams if I needed to. I'll remove the sleeve-cap ease next time as well, seems unnecessary. I may also shorten this dress a few inches, since I'll likely wear it with leggings anyway. I was in a rush, so I didn't really have time to make many adjustments before Christmas.

    

My little Jonny:)

 


   

All the best to everyone in the New Year!:)


*** This is the book I used. I *love* this series of books! I picked up some at thrift stores & others on amazon!:)

Bomber done & Receiving Blankets!:)

"I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time."

1 Timothy 2:1-6

     Hey y'all!:) I got around to lining my bomber jacket! I did it as per the McCalls blog instructions, but I won't do it this way again. I found it difficult attaching the lining after the main jacket was done, especially to the facing & at the top and bottom of the zipper. I have a bunch of things in the works, especially with Christmas coming up, so I doubt if I'll get around to my next jacket for a little while. When I do, I think I'll definitely use a different method. I'll also select a higher quality fabric for the lining. I picked up a couple meters of this inexpensive polyester lining that frays like *crazy* & it doesn't seem very durable. Ah, oh well, I hope it holds up for awhile, not looking forward to replacing the lining! For now it makes the insides look much better:)

      Now for the blankets... :)

     As I mentioned in my last blog, I planned to make a couple of these cozy flannel receiving blankets for a new friend's baby. Each blanket is just two 1m pieces. I straightened the fabric & placed the pieces RST and cut off the selvedges and cut them as wide as possible. I rounded the corners as well:)

   Using a 1/2" seam allowance, I sewed all the way around, leaving about 6" for turning.

I guess I didn't quite get all the selvedge off:p

   A microfibre needle was perfect! I used a 60 and it was like sewing butter! So smooth! I used yellow at first, to use up some thread I have a lot of but don't use often. After I turned the blanket out and pressed, I topstitched with white thread.

       The finished blankets!:) I've made *sooo* many of these over the last few years.  Its nice to have a quick project that is easily cut and sewn the same day! My son is almost 8 months old & I still use these kinds of blankets often. They're a great baby shower gift too!

 Have a great day all!:)

Bomber Jacket, almost done!!:)

"The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
John 1:14

       Hey y'all!:) I'm pretty pleased with how my jacket is coming along!:) I still need to line it, but I was too excited to wait til it was completed before taking some photos! I'm just going to use a brown polyester I recently added to my stash;) Seems like I have a million things on my plate. In addition to my jeans (which I still am planning to finish!), a new friend is about to have a baby, so I'm making her a couple of flannel receiving blankets. I also have a few plushies I'd like to make as Christmas gifts. So many ideas, so little time!

        Would you believe I bought another cut of fabric similar to this tree print but with a turquoise background? The tree print is a bit more sharp as well. There was a sale @ Fabricville recently and I noticed a few other colours in this print. Turquoise, pink, purple, hunter orange, green too I think. Wow, I could make a jacket in every colour, lol! I exercised self-control and just bought one though, difficult sometimes not to get carried away, ha;) I think my beautiful sister-in-law, Leanne, who sews (and hunts with her dad!), would look great in this kind of jacket! I thought of her right away when I noticed the print in pink! What do you think Leanne?:)

     

  

  

      Pendant shot!:) My wonderful husband got for me from Etsy. Its an old-school Singer sewing machine. It looks a lot like the one my Grannie had, the kind with the foot peddle. 

      Well, that's all for today. Have a great day everyone!:)

Starting my mccalls Bomber:)

"When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." "But what about you?" He asked. "Who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."

-Matthew 16:13-18

The shell is coming along!:)

        So, yeah, I've put my jeans aside for the time being! I was just too excited about starting my jacket:)! I had originally planned to just cut out the fabric, but once I cut it out I wanted to get at it right away! Ha. Most of the shell of the jacket is done. I will line it for sure, the inside seams are not pretty, lol. Plus a lining will make it look much more "finished".

Boris:)

       I made some rookie mistakes with the pockets at first and now I'm like, "how did I not know this to begin with??". I did learn through the FB group though, that the pattern illustrations are not shaded correctly, and they posted the updated instructions. I just shaded the illustrations on my instructions (and I still did the pockets wrong at first, lol!). The pockets are sewn in like normal side-seam pockets but with a welt. I made it a lot more complicated than it needed to be! I'm going to share some photos since when I googled for help with them, I couldn't find anything at the time. Maybe it'll help someone else:)

 This is how the pockets are placed at first, over the welt in Step 6.

    This is how the fronts look after being pressed ( Step 6). Its difficult to see the welt, but its still facing the same direction after pressing the pocket.

The pattern illustrations show the fronts from the inside in this step. I thought the instructions after this were pretty good, and was able to figure them out fine from here. I did sew down the right welt (edge stitching in Step 10) in the wrong direction though, but I think this was due to me being in a rush trying to play catch up, not because I couldn't understand the instructions. I hadn't basted the pocket along the bottom at that point in Step 9 (yeah, I forgot to do that, oops). I had a bit of a panic moment until I realized it was easily fixed. Just had to rip out the topstitching and re-stitch it in the opposite direction. *Sigh of relief*.

      Really starting to look like a jacket! I will hopefully get some more done tonight after the kiddies are in dreamland:)

Jeans Progress & Bomber Jacket Plans!:)

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Ephesians 2:8-10

       Hey y'all:) Got some more done on my jeans. The zipper, topstitching over the zipper, some toptstitching on the back pockets They're coming along, just have to resist the urge to do the rest too quickly because I'm itching to start my next project! Ever do that? Start something and want it done yesterday because you have a dozen other things on the brain? I'm certain I'm not the only one, lol!  I have plenty of projects in mind, but especially the McCalls Bomber Jacket! There's a Sewalong on Facebook that I joined. The Sewalong is actually over now but they're keeping the group up for another month or so. That'll give me time to finish my jeans and do my jacket.

Still one more row of topstitching to go. I sewed some basting for pressing lines.

       

      I think I need some suggestions for the fabric combination. The tree print is for the body of the jacket for sure. I was inspired by another members jacket. The brown fabric is a double knit that my mother-in-law gave me (so great of her to support my sewing habit, lol!:). The beige (khaki?) fabric is a water-resistant woven gifted by my Aunt Kelly's relative who was getting rid of her fabric stash.

I'm thinking of using the brown in place of the ribbing and perhaps the sleeves. I'm considering using the khaki for the sleeves instead of the brown. Any suggestions my fellow sewers?:)

          I will hopefully get some more sewing done this evening. I'd love to finish my jeans this week then start my jacket! Always takes me longer than expected:)

#TheSeamstressTag:)

Hollie from Holllie Sews, Youtube Channel, started this great "Seamstress Tag" which is 12 questions about you and your sewing! A lot of girls made videos, and I was  going to, but in the end, writing a post was easier. I've enjoyed watching everyone else's Tags:) If you'd like to participate please do! Whether by video, blog, FB post, whatever! It's so much fun!:)



The Seamstress Tag Questions:


1) Who are you?

My name is Rikki & I live in Nova Scotia, Canada with my husband and our two sons.


2) When and Why did you start sewing?

Sewing is definitely my creative outlet now. I learned to sew when I was a kid. My mom and my grandmother on my dad's side both sewed. I remember taking my mom's sewing machine over to my Grannie's and I'd make clothes for a doll that she had over there for us kids. Grannie had an old peddle sewing machine that she used as long as she was able to sew. She used to say I was going to be a seamstress:) Betty from Archie Comics made her own clothes, which I thought was really cool. I knew when I got older I'd like to make my own clothes. My dad had an upholstery buisness when I was little. When I was in Grade 6, dad covered a computer chair for a Christmas gift. He had given up upholstery at that point so I thought it was great that he did that for me:) 

This isn't Grannies but I think this is exactly what hers looked like:)

3) What is your favourite or proudest make?

Probably my second Minoru jacket from Sewaholic Patterns! I was very proud of my first one since it was my first jacket, and it was after my son was born in 2014, but I like my second version even better. Its a gorgeous dark bluish purple (gifted from my Aunt Kelly's relative who gave up sewing), with an amazing floral silk/cotton blend lining (thanks mom!:). I added exposed zippered pockets on the front, lined the hood in the same silk/cotton print too. The hem is a bit wonky but this jacket is still my favourite! I wear it a lot:) These photos don't do it justice, I'll try to get better photos to post! I blogged about it here. 

4) What is your most disastrous make?

The most disastrous make that stands out was my first attempt at a dress when I really ventured into apparel sewing about 6 years ago. The pattern was a basic sheath dress but my dress was a total sewing fail, lol! I used a cute Hawaiian-print cotton that was intended to replace a great RTW dress that just wore out. I didn't know what I was doing, didn't have a clue on how to fit the pattern to my body, etc. After that I turned to knits, which are SO much easier to fit! 


5) Where is your favourite place to go fabric shopping?

Fabricville for sure! They have great apparel fabrics & they always have sales. I also check for fabrics at thrift stores. My Mother-in-law volunteers at a thrift store and she let me pick out several when we were visiting for Thanksgiving! Late Birthday gift, yay fabric!:)


6) What is your most used pattern?

Hands down, Vogue 1314. I've made it several times as-is, I made a strapless version this past summer with a matching shrug, I've made a maternity version and as a base for a mermaid costume! I think I need another copy, as my pattern is getting pretty ratty, lol!:) 

Line drawing.

"Under the Sea Family";)

Maternity

Summer versions, 2016:)

7) Your most dreaded sewing task is...

Probably fitting wovens and making a muslin. There are far less fitting issues with knits and making a muslin seems like a waste of time (I know, I know, shame on me). If I think I can get away without making a mock-up, I'll skip it!


8) And your favourite sewing task? 

Is shopping for fabric a sewing task, lol? There are so many things I love about sewing, but the process of planning a project, matching fabric to a pattern is probably my favourite task! I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment when a project is done, then being able to blog about it here, and write a review on patternreview.com. 

I do enjoy topstitching as far as actual "sewing" goes:)



9) What is your favourite 'sewing entertainment'?

I like listening to Youtube videos. I have an IPad mini, so its convenient to take it from the cutting mat, to the sewing machine, to the ironing board. If I'm doing something that requires a lot of concentration I'll leave the videos off so I don't mess up (*don't mess up as often*, lol).


10) Printed or PDF?

 Printed! I love being able to just cut out my size (I rarely trace). I have gotten a couple PDF's but I like having a pattern & I like having it in a pretty little envelope:) Plus I like finding old patterns at thrift stores!


11) What sewing machine do you use?

A Computerized Brother ES 2000 which I LOVE!! I first heard of Brother from my Aunt Jillian. I was having tension issues with my Singer (I was tempted to throw it out of my apartment window on several occasions, lol). I heard she got an inexpensive model and really liked it, so I went out and bought the one I still use now. Totally recommend Brother!


12) Do you have any other hobbies?


I have two boys under 3 so they keep me pretty busy. I love to read, I enjoy DIY projects, I like Pinterest (also a place where I get some of my sewing inspiration). I like to cook and bake. 


Well that's it:) Thank you for reading! Please join in if this interests you. Whether by Blog, video, FB post, whatever! I wasn't tagged, I just asked Hollie if I could do it, lol:)



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Jeans Progress & info about #The Seamstress Tag:D

 "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." 

Colossians 3:17

Boris photo-bombing my progress photo!:)

     Yay, finally got around to working on my jeans! I did all this yesterday. I was able to get a start on it yesterday afternoon while my oldest son napped. My youngest son co-operated long enough so that I got the pocket facing sewn and under stitched, added the yoke to the back pieces, finished the edge of the fly facing and sewed the fly piece. After the kids went to bed, I did some pressing, topstitching, and finished the front pockets!:) Btw, in the above photo the yoke is cut from a bigger size than I intended. I realized that after the fact:/ I'll trim it later.

 

       I noticed in a review that the fly facing wasn't long enough, so I cut out a much longer piece and will trim it later!:)

My pocket fabric!:)

The pattern called for this piece to be all the denim, but I changed it a bit to mimic my RTW jeans:)  The fabric is a cute sewing themed print! I got it from my Aunt's relative who used to sew.
 

   










        So thats it for today:) This is Thanksgiving weekend coming up here in Canada so I probably won't get at anymore sewing until next week! I don't have a Youtube channel, but there's a really cool  #Seamstresstag going around, started by the lovely Hollie of Hollie Sews! She gives a list of questions for us to answer, all about sewing. A bunch of people have participated & I've watched a bunch of them already! Very fun idea to get to know each other a bit better:) I'll definitely be doing a blog post about it but I think it would be fun to do a video as well!:)

Sorry, I need to add a video bar but until then, here is the link to watch Hollie's Video:)

Tackling My First Jeans:) Intro

"Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them."

Ephesians 5:11

            My current project-in-progress is a pair of jeans! So excited!! I've been wanting to make some jeans for a while now. It's a little intimidating but I could use a challenge. I recently stumbled across a Mimi G sewalong that she's doing for her Simplicity jeans pattern. Mimi G is awesome! She's so inspiring, and is the first person I really noticed and started following on patternreview.com. I'm really happy to see her recruited for Simplicity and modelling her own line (even if Simplicity no longer distributes their patterns to Canadian stores, bah!). She's been doing a lot of "sewalong" videos to go with her own patterns, as well as other patterns she's made. I think thats so helpful, because learning to sew and trying to understand written pattern instructions can be frustrating, lol. So even though this isn't her pattern I'm sewing, it'll be handy to refer to her videos.


        Here is a link to Mimi G's Jeans intro. I usually only blog about a project after I'm done, but in case it takes me awhile, it'll be nice to blog about it in stages, lol:) My fabric is washed in Coca Cola (tip I heard from a denim sewing video on Youtube, used a full bottle with little water and no soap, then washed again as usual) & I cut out the tissue pieces and will hopefully get the fabric cut out tonight. I chose view D which is the flare leg.

   Well, thats all for today. Hopefully will have more to blog about next week!:)
   

Fall Sewing, Renfew #1

"The Heavens declare the Glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words;

no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world."

Psalm 19:1-6

      Hey all! Just finished my first sewing project of the Fall! I was hoping to have a pair of leggings to wear with this top, but the fabric I chose didn't have enough stretch so I could barely get them on, lol! Hopefully I'll have a pair soon! I have some leather-looking stretch fabric in my stash. The last fabric I used was a leather-look scuba knit, but not nearly enough stretch. It was more like a woven. Bah. I got leather on the brain, ha.

      The last Renfrew I made was a maternity version (I used a combination of the Renfrew and another pattern that was a maternity top). I disliked the seam in the cowl neck so I tried to cut out the pattern piece in such a way that I eliminated that seam. I folded the tissue as shown and just flipped over the pattern piece.

      I cut a straight size 6, but should have graded to a 0 in the hips. Sewaholic patterns are designed for the "Pear-Shaped" woman, which I am not, lol. I probably could have cut an 8 in the shoulders:p Ah well, a 6 works.

          I will definitely sew up this pattern again. Probably at least twice more this Fall/Winter. The fabric I used is a soft rayon/polyester knit. Its so cozy and warm. My only beef with it is it gets worn-looking a little more quickly than I'd like. I picked up a few different prints of this fabric last year, as it was in the previous years collection, then in the clearance section. Hard to resist those $2.99/m cuts!;) Til next time!