New Look 6097

If this fabric looks familiar, its because it is :) ! I had recently used it for a version of Vogue 1314  I was so in love with this fabric, I decided to get more and use it for New Look 6097. Although, I'm decently pleased with the outcome,  I won't be sewing this pattern up again anytime soon. My review on PR here.

I am just *smitten* with this fabric! I can see myself being lame and buying more to make yet
*another* dress :)

Chewfoot on my fabric. He likes it too :)

Correction, I won't be sewing the *top* part of this pattern anytime soon. I really like the skirt with the great pocket detail (I highly recommend including the pockets :).

I had originally planned to sew this dress without the pockets but after reading so many favorable reviews on PR, I decided to include them. I'm so very glad I did, because they were one of the few redeeming qualities of this pattern. The pockets went together pretty well, though it took a bit of extra time for me, reading over the instructions carefully and taking my good 'ol time constructing the pockets to make sure I was doing it right.

A few reviewers noted that the bodice took some adjusting, but there were plenty that found it "perfect". I rather naively assumed I would fall in the majority and would have little altering to do.

Boy was I wrong ...wrong, wrong, wrong! (Did I mention wrong?). I've *never* been so frustrated with a bodice pattern! I figured at most, I would have to take in the side seams, but unfortunately, it wasn't that  simple :( . I decided to forego the cuffs and narrow the sleeves (that were quite baggy) and make them 3/4 length.

 I really should have made a muslin first, of the bodice at the very least. The skirt was fine, though I did end up taking it in 1/2" on each side seam which was a very easy adjustment. I can definitely see myself using the skirt pattern again and using a different bodice pattern with it. I'll adjust the skirt tissue piece for next time.

I'm not completely satisfied with the crossover of the bodice, and anyone getting a close look would notice how imperfect the side-seams are as well. The resulting neckline is a bit lower than I'd like. If I wasn't so smitten with this fabric, I would have been tempted to scrap it. 

After so many great reviews of New Look 6097, I'm disappointed that I had so much grief with it. But hey, it happens! Just because a pattern works for a lot of people, doesn't mean it'll work for everybody. I'm sure there are patterns I've loved that have caused headaches for other sewers!

I wouldn't tell anyone to "not" try this pattern, considering how many women have loved it (and I honestly intend to use the skirt/pockets pattern on another project. I will give a "proceed-with-caution" warning. And do yourself a favor and make a muslin first (especially of the bodice). It'll save you a lot of frustration :)

Boris, helping to keep up my morale as I sewed :)

***Update, April 29, 2013***

Last week when I wore this dress to church, I used a safety pin to hold the wrap bodice in place. It was better than nothing, but not ideal, as the pin kept shifting around, and was visible at times, ugh.

Before wearing it out again, I decided on a much better solution: sewing in a snap closure. I'm sure I'm not the first one to think of using tailor's tack's to mark the area for snaps, but in case there are those who maybe hadn't thought of it, I figured it would be helpful :)

Please note, I am a rookie trying to give directions here. I did my best to explain, but you can probably tell what to do by merely observing the photos. My apologies if I'm less than clear :)

I have to be honest, I took these photos *after" actually sewing on my snap (I was in a rush to sew it on so I could wear it to church yesterday morning) so I decided to do a "mock-up".

#1 First of all, try on dress (not shown) and pin bodice in place for desired coverage :). I inserted a pin next to where I wanted the snap to be.

#2: Next, push a threaded needle through both bodice sections at the exact spot where you would like the snap to be (it would probably be more accurate if you did this while wearing the dress, be careful not to poke yourself! :)

 I think I used about a 18" length and knotted the ends together, doubling the thread.

#3 Next I cut the threads to take the needle off,
and knotted the thread ends together. Here, I'm pulling the loop up  so when I cut the length in
 half, I have long thread tails. Cut thread length in half.

So now each side of the bodice has a tailor's tack marker so you can easily tell where to place
 each side of the snap to sew in place :)

Step #4 Sew each snap on facing bodice sections. See more below...

I tried to place the snaps a little further away from the neckline, so they would be less likely to show while wearing.

I don't know if it matters which side of the snap goes where, but I placed the socket side on the front of the left bodice section and the ball side on the inside of the right bodice section.

And voila!

This simple little snap made such a HUGE difference! I was so comfortable wearing this dress :) No fear of any mishaps, and my modesty is kept intact! :)

Vogue 1314, Take 2 :)

Yes, I've done it again! Sewn Vogue pattern 1314, that is :) I was particularly inspired by another PR member, mimig. Her version made me want a summery dress in a floral print. I was at Fabricville a few weeks ago and this gorgeous fabric had just come out as part of their Spring line.

Look at the gorgeousness! With the lining (not so pretty but functional :)

As soon as I laid eyes on it, I knew I would be using it to make this pattern again. Not to sound like a cheap-skate, but I admit, I usually buy fabric on sale.  However, I was so gung-ho to make this dress, I couldn't wait! Well, I didn't buy it at *full* price since I have a membership card at Fabricville. Members get at least 20% off reg price, but I frequently take advantage of the buy 1m, get 2m free sales :) It's still winter here in Nova Scotia, Canada, but before you know it, it'll be time to break out the Summer wear! I'm ahead of the game :)

Not quite back-shot :)

I think I should have made the dress a touch longer, but oh well! I'll keep that in mind for the next project :)

Even though its sub-zero temperatures (as in Celsius, not Fahrenheit) :) at the moment, come summer brings,  well... summer weather! And around here in NS, it's not only hot, but hot and humid (some days, disgustingly so). Ugh, I could sweat just thinking about it! I knew if I was making a tight-fitting dress for summer, it had to have very short sleeves. I really liked the cap sleeves on McCalls 6243 (made earlier this year), so I adjusted Vogue 1314 to be similar.

Adjusted sleeve with the help of McCalls 6243.

To adjust the sleeve, I traced the sleeve curve of McCalls
6243 and kinda redrew where I thought the line should be on V 1314. This is the first time I've done an adjustment like this, and I'm not sure what the "proper" way of doing it is, but it worked OK for me :)

In the photo to the right, I have the re-drafted front top-half laid
underneath the Vogue front pattern piece. Can you tell I'm an amateur? :) And in case you're wondering, yes, those are hockey pucks that I'm using for pattern weights :) A *very* helpful tip I picked up from the "Tips" book put out by PatternReview.com. I despise pinning, so I almost always use hockey pucks and a rotary cutter.

Chewfoot on my lining :)

 Anyone else have cats that like to make themselves comfortable on your fabric and/or pattern tissue paper? This here is Chewfoot (yes Chewfoot, as a kitten he liked to chew on Dan and I's feet, hence the name :)

This here's the lining. It's called "power mesh". Likely meant for sports-wear I suppose. Chenille from PR used it for her dress, and I thought it would be perfect for warm weather :)

  For this dress I used clear elastic to do the gathers. ggf2005 on PR used it for hers, and I figured if its good enough for an expert, that's good enough for me :) There are great tutorials online on how to use clear elastic, so I won't elaborate. Below are photos taken during the process :)    

All pinned up :)

Elastic and fabric both marked with
reference points.

Stretching the elastic (but not the fashion fabric) whilst sewing.
Clear elastic makes it easy to see the markings on the fabric :)
P.S. I'm just using one hand here because the other is taking the photo.
I definitely used both hands while actually sewing :)

Resulting gathers with clear elastic :) So much easier than hand-gathering!

*Note* I probably should have gathered each side of the front and back separately (as per pattern instructions) to have the most even gathering, and it would have been easier to maneuver the elastic with one layer of fabric instead of two, but I was just a *little* impatient. I think it worked out alright, though I think I'll gather separately next time :)

 In the pattern directions, they want you to "stay" each side of the front and back piece separately with seam binding before sewing the front and back piece together, but since I didn't follow directions, I used a pretty (and non-bulky) lace seam binding on one side since I gathered the front and back as one unit.

Pretty lace "stay".

Caper curled up on my sewing desk :)

What can I say? I love my kitties :) Here is Caper (I named her Caper because I'm from Cape Breton, and I thought it was cute :) The cats like to keep me company while I sew.
    

Caper stole my chair while I was pinning the lining to my dress. 

Faded Ottawa Senator's puck :)

 The pattern has you bind the neckline, and I did the same for the armhole since I didn't want to use a narrow hem. I thought it would make a nicer finish, but it ended up being a bit too bulky for my taste. I'll have to think of a better way for next time, or maybe use a thinner fabric for binding.

I like to use hockey pucks to help set pressed seams. Hey, it works for me! :)






I under-stitched the armhole facings similar to what the directions have you to do to the neckline. I found it was easier to under-stitch from the inside as I trimmed the seams too much beforehand :(. The other arm was way worse! Turned out alright though in end :)

From the *wrong* side :p

Under-stitched armhole facing.

 I  mistakingly stretched a spot in back on the neckline while sewing on the neckband :( Its a little wobbly-looking, but once I pressed it and turned it to the inside, it wasn't as noticeable. It didn't bother me enough to take out all that stitching :/

I used steam a seam on the neckline, but it didn't turn out as good as I had hoped :( It wasn't laying flat enough, so I topstitched with a double needle, and it helped a lot.  It doesn't lie completely flat, but since its in the back, it stretches to lie flat over my upper back and my hair covers it too :)


Steam as seam was helpful for my lining hem however :)

I just love the look of topstitching with a double-needle. Gives it a more RTW look :)

Yay its done! I can see myself using this pattern again (and again, and again...)

Boris doesn't like to co-operate with the camera! But I love him just the same :)

Receiving Blankets :)

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,  your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

Psalm 139:13-16

Feb 18th


So, this coming weekend, Dan and I are going to a Baby Shower for some friends from church. They mentioned they needed some receiving blankets. I admit, I didn't know what a receiving blanket was! Off to my good friend google for an explanation and tutorial for a possible sewing project :)

Turns out, a receiving blanket is just a small, lightweight baby blanket, that you wrap an infant in, (especially after a bath, according to Marriam-Webster Dictionary :)

I googled a bunch of tutorials, and receiving blankets are super-easy to make. Bonus! Hense my next sewing project! The next morning I was off to Fabricville to find some "Baby-themed" flannelette.

Fabricville had the perfect fabric for some baby-themed blankets. At 50% off, you can't get much better than that :) So I got enough for two decent-size blankets in prints that are neither too girly or boyish, as we will all be surprised to find out the gender of the new baby :)

Assortment of baby-themed flannel. What cute :)

A word about flannel, it pills something awful  (I pre-shrunk it in warm water and dried on low heat, as per care instructions).  Not that that my cats seemed to mind! I had the stack of flannel folded on the table and Caper kept trying to make it into a bed for herself! As I was writing this, I saw Boris eyeing the stack as well, I shooed him off before he made himself comfortable.
Bad kitties!

And in case you're wondering, *No*, I don't allow my cats on the table! Apparently they can spot cozy fabric a mile a way! I'll have to warn Dana not to leave them unattended, or her cats will make a furry mess of them :)

I found plenty of tutorials, but this one was my favorite :)
Snips & Spice: The Flannel Receiving Blanket

I'm so excited to make these! :)


Feb 21-26th

When I bought the fabric, I washed and dried it the same day, cut out and sewed them the next. I had to learn how to "straighten" fabric and "square" it. I won't bother getting into that explanation Google and youtube are great for that :)

After ironing the fleece, I cut it to be approximately 34''x 38". Placed wrong sides of coordinating fabric together, and pinned around.

To make rounded corners, I traced around a bowl and cut with a rotary cutter. You don't *need* a rotary cutter, but they make it sooo much easier! Whenever I cut out fabric, I always use a rotary cutter wherever possible. I usually only use scissors when I can't use a rotary cutter.

 I just have to include a few photos with the kitties :) Actually Boris was the most interested...in the fabric, that is. Hard to resist, that flannel :)

This is as far as I let Boris get before shooing him off.

Ever the observant kitty :)

Before sewing around the perimeter of the blanket, I marked a 6" space along one of the sides (doesn't matter where, as long as its not in a corner) for turning the blanket right-side-out (RSO) once sewn.

6" space marked for turning

Once the seam was sewn all the way around (minus the gap of course) from the wrong side, I trimmed the seams around the corners to about 1/4" and made small snips so they would lay flat once the blanket was turned RSO.

Trimmed to 1/4"

Small snips

Before turning the blanket RSO, I pressed the fabric down along the 6" gap I had left unsewn. The seam allowance along the blanket was 5/8", so that's what I pressed down over the area.

Pressed down gap

Turning blanket RSO (ever so gently) through the 6" gap. I just love the blue and green printed "baby" fabric. The co-ordinating blue fabric had white and green hearts on it. :)

After the blanket was turned RSO, I finger-pressed the edges down and pinned all the way around.  Then pressed all the way around with my iron.

Note: next time I will make sure I do all the corners first, and then pressing down the sides. You don't have to, but its easier not to stab yourself with pins on the inside (for me anyway, you might not be as clumsy :)

Fusible web strip.

To seal the open gap, I fused a strip of fusible web between the blanket layers. I suppose this isn't really necessary, but I wanted the added security :)

Pressing the area with lots of steam and heat :)

Fusible web has become a great sewing companion of mine. I find so many uses for this stuff! Whenever I think I can use it, I usually do! :)

Ironing, under the watchful eye of my sewing buddy :)

Ironing the fabric before sewing, I forgot to put this in earlier but am now, just because Boris is in  the photo :)

Scalloped-edge stitching with a 1/4" seam allowance.

To finish off the blankets, I simply stitched all the way around with a 1/4" seam allowance. I used a decorative wide scalloped stich with white thread.

 Although decorative, its not very visible. I suppose I could have used contrasting thread, but one benefit of using the white, is that mistakes are not so apparent :) The thread broke at a couple of points, and since I was using white thread, I didn't have to unpick any stitches or worry about matching up the curved stitching lines exactly :)

The finished blankets are ready to go :) This was such an easy project. And when I say "easy", I mean "beginner-friendly-easy". A lot of times I'll see an "easy" project, and its confusing. This project is very easy and quick.

It's basically cutting out two rectangles (or squares, however you want to make them), sewing them right sides together, turning them right-side-out and stitching along the edges!



I'll probably sew a ton of these in the future when we have our first baby on the way (to any friends or relatives: no, not anytime in the next 9 months :)

The finished blankets :)

 Note: the blue & baby-print blanket, I cut shorter than the other because there was a snag in the blue fabric, that I didn't notice until I was ready to cut it. I had to take off a few inches, so its not as wide as the other one :/ Oh well!