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!

 

Tribal Print McCalls:)

"First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered on behalf of all men for kings and all those in authority, so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity. This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth."

"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all-the testimony that was given at just the right time."

1 Timothy 2:1-5

     Happy Monday all!:) My latest McCalls 6886 is a wearable muslin in a cotton knit that I started for my American Flag Dress. P.S. I  was picked as one of the three winners in the random draw! Yay! I received a free pattern from Dressy Talk Patterns!:)

I used this particular fabric because it had a horizontal print. I quickly sewed it together using a basting stitch to check the fit and then set is aside until my flag dress was done.

 I initially intended to dye it since I thought the white & black was a little boring. I've worn it so much already though & the print is really growing on me! I love the fit of it (perfect length & not too tight, I think I must have used a slightly smaller seam allowance). I did a sway-back adjustment using Nancy Zieman's "slide & pivot" method. I'm already planning another version in a daisy print (bought it at the same time as this black and white tribal print (or aztec print??). I'm going to adjust it a tiny more to make it fit even better at the lower back.

My sewing machine pendant Dan bought for me for Mother's Day last year:)

  I wish I would have taken more care to ensure the print lined up on the sides, lol. I was mostly concerned that the stripes on my Flag Dress would line up alright on the sides & they did!:) Overall I love this dress!:) Have a great week everyone!


 

2017 Flags of the World Dress Project:)/McCalls 6886 Pattern Hack Challenge

"May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth!"

-Psalm 72:8

   Happy Independence Day to all my American friends!! Some lovely sewing Vloggers decided to host a "Flags of the world dress project" this year! You could pick your own countries flag, or choose whichever flag you wanted! I've made a Canada Day dress before, so I thought it would be fun to do an American flag theme this year! I am so excited about this project!! I actually joined Instagram so I could participate, lol:) Lots of modelling pics, then some progress photos at the bottom!:)

These ladies all co-hosted this challenge! 
(Renata) Running N Style https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfU4...
Akram's Ideas https://goo.gl/NeiGkO
Judith Dee's World https://goo.gl/sEKTiJ
(Bianca) Vintage On Tap https://goo.gl/22JrCC

   The fabrics are all french terry from Fabricville. Stars are also french terry.

    I figured the easiest way for me to go about this was sewing strips of red & white together first, then cutting the top and bottoms separately.

I used a rotary cutter (fresh blade makes such a difference!). Making marks along the sides and taping the pattern pieces to both fabric and pattern was a big help.

  I used a 1" wide strip cut 15% less the neckline circumference (half red, half navy blue), butted the ends together and used steam a seam on the back (thin white knit underneath) to reduce bulk). Sewn like a typical facing. I topstitched with a double-needle. I used thread to match the different shades of the neckline. I kept the same navy bobbin thread.

  For the stars, I used Heat n Bond "Stretch". Quite a new product, there wasn't much online that I could find! I cut a loose-leaf size sheet of heat n bond to a piece of paper to put through the printer (maybe it wasn't necessary but I didn't want to take any chances:).  Not sure if this was the best way to add stars (similar star fabric was none to be found in store). I hope they hold up for a while:D

My husband Dan, was a big help in laying out the stars! <3 He always takes my blog photos too:)

    I tried to be as accurate as possible in cutting & matched the sides as best I could. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!:) I used the same pattern pieces, flipped, for the navy blue fabric.








Well, thats it for today!!:) I hope all my American friends have a wonderful Independence Day!

God Bless America! :) <3

An Unintended Hack Job. McCalls 7531

Jesus answered, "I AM the way, the truth and the life. No one come to the Father except through Me."

-John 14:6

"It is by grace you have been saved, through faith. And that, not of yourself, it is the gift of God. Not by works so that no man can boast."

-Ephesians 2:8-9

         Hi friends!:) My latest make was intended to be another body-con dress. I just adore my tropical version and I wanted another in this *stunning* floral print! $5 a metre at Fabricville!!!! The bolt says "unknown fibres" but it seems like a type of scuba knit. Not overly stretchy though. Its kind of structured and not enough stretch for a body-con dress :( I should have given it more thought but I just assumed it would be fine! I was sadly mistaken, but I managed to salvage the bottom and make a skirt out of it!:) I used a Nancy Zieman method for applying the elastic waist (photos below). I wore it to church yesterday with this basic black t-shirt and loved it!:) I'd still like to make a fitted dress of some kind out of it, but I'll have to pick a different pattern. I purchased enough to make a couple more items. This fabric would make an absolutely gorgeous jacket!

I used 2" wide elastic cut about an inch less than what my waist measured where I wanted the skirt to sit. I butted the elastic ends together with a piece of woven fabric underneath (this is Lightning McQueen flannel, lol:)

 
    I topstitched the side seams (seam allowance finger pressed towards the back).

   The elastic is sewn, zigzagged to the wrong side of the waist of the skirt, then turned under  and stitched in the ditch of the side seams and centre back seam.

        I found this through googling, but its from Nancy Zieman's book, "The Absolute Easiest Way to Sew" (which is on my to-get book list!). Here is the method. I'm currently reading her biography, "Seams Unlikely", which is fantastic! I remember my mom watching her on TV back in the day & its cool to learn more of her story.

   
        Well, that's all for today. Thanks for reading:)!