Tropical #handmadesummerdress 2018/ Vogue Maternity Dress:)

"As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem."

Isaiah 66:13

  Hello sewing friends!:) I hope all you mothers out there had a wonderful day with your families:) We had a great service at church, then swung by the drive thru @ McDonald's (my youngest son conked out in his carseat so we thought it would be best to just grab something quick and eat home instead of going out to a restaurant). We all had a nice afternoon nap and later for an evening walk. Great that the weather is starting to feel more "Spring-like":)

     I finished this Ogden Cami dress for the #handmadesummerdress challenge a little while ago now, but just got some decent photos this morning. I was inspired by a hack on Instagram where the Odgen Cami was made into a dress by simply lengthening the cami by12"-14". I lengthened mine by 13". Its difficult to see the clear ruler, but I put it under the side seam at an angle to flare ever so slightly. I may have to adjust once I can actually try it on post-pregnancy, but I wanted to make sure I had sufficient walking room. I wanted to make a self-fabric belt (like my inspiration photo), but I didn't have enough fabric, so I just tied on a belt I have now (it really needs to be cinched in at the waist).

Front

Back

       This beautiful fabric is another tropical print crinkle rayon I purchased from Fabricville last year:) I just adore tropical prints! I'm very much looking forward to wearing it this Summer:)

We had a few very warm days so I decided to make a quick t-shirt dress from this amazing "denim-look" rayon knit from my stash. Its a fairly stable knit. I used the scoop neckline from M6886 and added a neckband (ended up being 1/2" wide). I wore it yesterday to church for Mother's Day:)

    Well, thats it for today!:) I'm currently working on a faux leather jacket! Very exciting:) Its a blueish grey and meant to be a wearable muslin. I definitely don't want to ruin my gorgeous brown faux leather (same fabric as the tie belt on my Ogden Cami dress:) You can find me on IG @rikkisews, and see more progress photos.

Till next time, thanks so much for reading and happy sewing!:) xo

Pink Lemonade "Mona" Jacket:)

"You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your Word."

Psalms 119:114

      Hello my friends!:) My latest make is this vibrant pink Motorcycle-style "Mona" jacket from the French pattern company "Wear Lemonade". You can download the pattern for free here. FYI, there are no instructions but there is a video tutorial on this blog page and on Youtube. If you don't know French I'd suggest using Google translate, I had a difficult time finding the PDF download link without doing so. I watched the sewalong video several times and took notes (which I highly recommend doing, it really helps understand the process). The pattern is also available for purchase (not certain if its a printed pattern or PDF, but it would surely come with instructions). Once I had the pattern pieces cut out and lengthened (the jacket is a bit cropped and several reviews that I read noted that they lengthened the jacket a bit (I added about 3" of length).

      The fabric I used is a gorgeous hot pink stretch denim from Fabricville. I had a Moto jacket on my 2018makenine, but originally intended to use a more involved Butterick pattern. The lovely Lisa from the Youtube channel "And Sew On" (@lisakisch on IG) had recently made up this Mona jacket pattern as part of a capsule wardrobe. She said this jacket was pretty quick and easy (and its unlined) so that sold me, lol. If you follow my Blog you know I'm going to have another baby very soon, so I'm trying to get as much sewing done as I can while I have the time. Quick and easy is a big plus:)

      I did a few things different, first adding a light interfacing to the two main facing pieces (the pattern only calls to interface the collar) and strips of interfacing to stabilize the zipper area (see photo in the collage above). I used knit interfacing for the zipper area but I wish I had used it for the facing pieces as well (instead of non-stretch interfacing).  I also added topstitching (which I probably should have done last) I have an unlined RTW Moto Jacket that I used as a reference. I shortened the zipper by pulling off the extra zipper teeth and reusing the old top-stop (I tried without it as the video shows, but I prefer the security of the top-stop). I bought a package of top-stops at some point but I couldn't find them, so trimmed the zipper tape right above the old top-stop and used the pliers to carefully squeeze between the prong and open it up and then put it back on (there are many Youtube videos that show how to shorten zippers, here is a good one:)

  I changed the construction order by batching tasks when I could (sewing straight seams, pressing, adding interfacing, finishing seams etc.). I'm fascinated by sewing industry techniques and practices, and that is one of them. I'm not a very fast sewist, so anything that helps me be more efficient, I'm all for it:)
     

 
      I made up a size 40 based on what I thought would be good post-baby, but after trying it on (unzipped of course:) and seeing it on my dress form, I wish I had cut the 38 at least. I may shape the side seams a bit to nip it in more at the waist. I had initially set the sleeves in as directed, but I found the sleeve cap was a bit too puffy (I had also adjusted the shoulder slope so that didn't help, lol) so ripped out the stitches of the sleeve head and arm, removed some ease and sewed the sleeves in flat. Next time I'll cut a smaller size  and sew the sleeves in flat again. I may not have to remove any ease, but if I do its easy enough to adjust later. I'm not crazy about how long and high the bust darts are, I may lower them next time.

 


   I found this dress on Pinterest, isn't it fab?? I can see me making a Mona jacket dress hack in the future. *Swoon*:)

   Well, thats all for today folks! I'm currently batch-sewing two Ogden Cami's and another lengthened to be a dress (the third is for the #handmadesummerdress challenge on IG). I'm almost done, so I'll hopefully do a blog post on it next week:)

Have a wonderful day everyone, thanks so much for reading:) xo