Butterick 5744

I just finished another dress that I absolutely love!  And it was really easy to put together (and more importantly it is super comfortable!).  I started with an inspiration from Anthropologie:

I love the way the fabric hangs, the ruffled neckline, and that it's a mock wrap (I think).  I love the fabric too, but I wasn't married to it as the absolute only option.  When I saw Butterick 5744 I waited for a sale and I snapped it up because it's perfect (not so much the model, but the drawings).

I like that this is a mock wrap dress because the real thing requires an ungodly amount of fabric (and I am a remnant shopper about 90% of the time; more than 2 yards is like finding the needle in a haystack). I did find some fabric that I liked on sale for like $2.50 per yard (score!) so I was on my way.

I only put a ruffle on the front wrap piece because a) I didn't want too much bulk where the pieces come together and b) I cut the other ruffle out wrong and didn't have enough fabric to fix it (so, basically the first reason was born from the second reason...but I like it this way better so no biggie).  It's kind of hard to see the ruffle because the print is pretty busy, but it's more obvious in person.

Here's the dress without the belt.  The seam allowance between the bodice and the skirt is closed in to create a casing for the elastic.  The elastic makes this dress easy to get over my head (the neckline makes this possible too) and it creates some shape at the waist.  I really like this method for putting in elastic because closing in the seam allowance is very simple as long as you make it large enough in the first place.  I know I'm improving in my sewing skills when I actually thought about that ahead of time and made sure to leave enough room to add elastic!  Go me!  No rookie mistakes here!

Warning: the hemline on the skirt is already quite short!  I usually have to hack off a few inches to get this length, but it was basically already there!  I had to create a very shallow hem by folding about 1/4 inch. and then folding again about 3/8 in. for a total of about 5/8in.

The bodice is completely lined, which gave a nice, neat finish to the neckline and the armholes.  I used a lightweight muslin for the lining because it's very breathable and light.  I tried to understitch as best as I could, but since you sew the neck and armholes at the same time and then turn rightside out, it's impossible to reach some of the seams.  Oh well, I have come to terms with pressing and not hating my iron (which I used to avoid like the plague), so I can press the seams after washing.

Speaking of pressing, this fabric hated it, so I used quite a bit of starch to iron it into submission.  I'm almost positive that it's polyester of some kind so the rebelliousness is not surprising.  It's also quite sheer, so the lining was necessary.  I didn't line the skirt because I ran out of muslin, but I can just wear a slip under it so not a big deal.

I'm really happy with how this dress turned out, especially because it really didn't take much time and it didn't cause me any problems.  It is sooooooo comfortable and fits great, so I think it will get a lot of wear.  I also like the color because I don't have a whole lot of red in my closet, but bright colors look good on me in general because my skin is like a blank, pasty canvas.

Simplicity 2449

I made this skirt back in April, and I was really happy with how it turned out!  I saw this beautiful embroidered linen/rayon blend fabric at Joann Fabrics and I knew that it would make a great skirt.  It has a nice weight to it and it flows nicely while still giving it structure.  I love the color (I seem to gravitate towards blue fabrics, it seems). The pattern was described as "easy to sew" so it only took me a few hours to make, even as a beginner!

I made view E with the cute tie in the front.  The tie is actually sewn into the side seams and only shows in the front so it's not meant to be functional.  I accidentally sewed one of the ties a bit too high so when I folded over the casing it pulled the top of the tie over too, but it's not really noticeable if you don't know about it. The skirt has an elastic waistband so it's very easy to put together (once I learned the ol' attach-a-safety-pin-to-the-elastic-and-guide-it-through-the-casing trick; that one is brilliant!).

The weird thing is I can't really remember much about making this skirt other than the fact that it was very quick to put together.  I cut out the paper pattern, the fabric, and put the whole thing together during the day on a Saturday and then wore it to dinner that night!  That's my kind of project!  I don't think I had any significant issues with it at all; because the waist is elastic, I could make it as tight as I needed so I didn't have any fit issues even though I think I was still in my making-size-12 phase.  This skirt probably set me back on my discovery of a 12 being too big since I was able to make it fit so well and it didn't occur to me until just now that the elastic is the reason why...this is why talking it out helps!  Thanks guys!  Blogging rocks!  Probably would have helped me back in April, huh?

I think this might have been the project when I first learned about the concept of finishing seams (ya know, just that little detail.  No biggie or anything).  I pinked all of the seams because I could tell this fabric would fray if left raw, and it's holding together just fine.  At the time, this was definitely the best thing I had made and it looked the most professional.  People at work would ask me if I made it and then when I said yes they were actually surprised and were like "no you didn't!"  Uh, yeah...I did.

I think I might actually bring the hem up another inch or two so that it hits right above my knee and not at the spot where my calves start.  Seeing it in picture form really helps me to see that even though I own a mirror and never really noticed that before.

If I made it again with a similar fabric, I might consider adding a lining because it is a little bit scratchy.  It's not really that bad, but I can imagine how nice a lining might feel against my legs.  I'd like to make some of the other views of this pattern, especially the gathered version because that looks fun!

4th of July Dress - Simplicity 2444

I feel like I've been living in the past on this blog so far (I mean, way back like 4 months ago when I was a wee sewing newbie as opposed to the vastly wiser sewing beginner that I am now).  So even though I have like a gajillion (more like 15) pre-blog projects to chronicle here, I thought I would show something I just completed so that you know how much better I have gotten and will hopefully continue reading this blog.  I'm better, I promise!  I make more than aprons and purses!

This pattern is everywhere!  I have seen so many completed versions of it and they are all beautiful!  I was inspired by Cynthia's version at Dapper Duds because it really caught my eye with the Chevron stripes and involved the right amount of "let-me-take-a-simple-pattern-and-make-my-life-more-difficult" that I seem to gravitate towards recently. (I did the same thing with the McCalls tank maxi dress that is everywhere because why make something that is only two pieces when you can turn it into 5 AND mess up and run out of fabric thus making it not a maxi but a mini?  Blog post coming eventually...)  I cut out a size 6 and I think that was probably the best choice because although it was a bit snug without a zipper (since it was all bias cut, it was just stretchy enough to wiggle into without one, SCORE!), I just made 3/8 seam allowances instead of 5/8 and it is fine so I think an 8 would have been a bit big.

Sidenote: I have really gone through quite a sizing journey over the last few months.  Packaging said I should be a 12, but after making a couple of things in that size I could have fit 2 of me in there, so I started using the finished measurements and usually fit somewhere between a 6 and an 8. I have a couple of things that fit at a 10, so really what I'm saying is I still have no idea about sizing.  Don't listen to me.  This was a wasted sidenote.

I found this fake silk fabric on clearance at Hancock Fabrics and I knew that this was the right project for the stripes (AND it could be patriotic!  Go USA!  Or whatever).

I really like the way this dress turned out and the pattern (if unmodified) seems like a really simple, tried-and-true dress that I will probably make again.  I butchered the hell out of it though and I didn't even use the instructions a single time (what a daredevil I am, taking so many risks) so I have no idea how clear they were.  I basically cut out each piece on a single layer, none of them on the fold, painstakingly trying to match the stripes to make the V shape, and then I immediately sewed each new piece as I went along.

I think I did a pretty good job (pat myself on the back).  I already knew after reading Cynthia's blog post that the darts and pleats kind of mess up the stripes, but I honestly had no idea how to plan for that so it is what it is.  It really doesn't bug me that much, especially since I was able to match pretty well everywhere else.  This fabric really didn't have very good long-term memory for pressing, so hemming was a beast.  I tried to do a blind hem, which is always kind of hit or miss for me anyway, and it didn't really turn out how I wanted it to, but I actually kind of like the contrast that I got along the bottom.  Am I crazy?  Does it not look good?  Am I just trying to convince myself that I like it so that I don't feel compelled to rip it out and try again (I must be doing a great job because I really think I like it!).  The one area I am not thrilled with is the neck because I made it into a V-neck (which I like!) and that made it more difficult to finish.  I used bias tape as a binding and it's a little wonky in spots, but maybe I should have drafted a facing?  I don't know.  I'm trying to ignore it.

I love how full the skirt is!  It also passes the spinning test and is very flowy (when I was little, I used to call dresses "stick out dresses" if I could spin and they would twirl nicely).  I really liked the fabric and aside from how easily it frayed it was easy to sew if I used a thin needle (80/11 as opposed to 90/14...I point this out because I am notorious for not thinking about those little details).  Cutting so many pieces on the bias also helped keep the fraying at bay.

I highly recommend this pattern!  It's so versatile because you make it as is or it provides a really good jumping-off point for other ideas.

Butterick 5474

My first skirt didn't quite inspire a high level of sewing confidence, so I thought I would attempt some smaller projects to build up my skills.  (Note: not all objects that seem easy, or are labeled as "easy" are in fact easy.  Just like when I tell my mother that doing something involving an electronic device is "easy" only to end up teaching her the first step for all eternity, like click on "send" to send that email).  Thankfully, aprons are actually fairly simple, but I was sooooooo wrong about making purses (blog post coming soon).

Enter Butterick 5474, an apron.  Aprons have to be easy, right?  And totally useful as something that I forget to actually use until after I'm covered in sauce or grease.  I did actually remember to use it last week when I was pitting cherries (score 1 for me, about 500 for food splatters), so i can vouch for its clothes-protecting skills.

I also want to point out that this was my first experience at a pattern sale at Joann Fabrics.  O. M. G.!!!  I officially have a problem now and need some kind of therapy for overbuying patterns, but from all of the blogs I read I have noticed that others also have this problem, so therefore I have decided it is NOT a problem because that many people can't be wrong!  Right?  Right.  (Don't mess with us. Our hobby involves sharp objects).

I chose to make the full-length option with the bias-tape around the edge, which brings me to my first lesson that I learned in the making of this apron: there is something called bias tape.  And if you google it, you find many links to tutorials for how to make bias tape, but you don't really find a whole lot that says "hey, you can buy this for super cheap at a craft store so you don't have to spend hours making it yourself."  Nope, must have missed those links because I thought bias tape was something I had to actually make.  So make I did out of some fabric that I thought was very complimentary to my main fabric.

Now I know that I could have spent about a buck and a half on plain black bias tape.  (*breathe, go to your happy place*).  I'm so grateful for the learning experience of making my own bias tape so that I appreciate more how it works when I buy it at the store in bulk now.  It's kind of a shame that I used this technique on an apron that I mostly forget to even use, but I know how to do it if I need a more unique touch on something I make (*cough won't happen cough*).

All in all, this was actually a pretty easy project after all and maybe if I leave post-it notes on all of my cookbooks saying "WEAR AN APRON, DUMMY!!" I will remember to use it more often.  Probably not though as I have a bad habit of ignoring things once I get used to them being there.  C'est la vie!

Simplicity 2184

For my first *real* project (not that a bag isn't a real, tangible object, although boring), I thought that a skirt might be a good place to start because I didn't want to pick something so challenging that I would fail miserably and never sew again (and my machine would become the overpriced dust collector that my parents assumed it would end up being; they cannot be proven right!).  This is the pattern I chose:

I learned many things from this project, even before leaving the store!  I learned how to look through the catalogue and then figure out where the hell the pattern actually is in the store (although first I was just hopelessly looking through the cabinets thinking "do I have to do this every time I want a pattern?? Why is there a dress, followed by baby pajamas, followed by a some purses, followed by doll clothes?!  Organization, people!!!")

I also learned how much fabric to request and that there is a difference between apparel cotton and quilting cotton (but that quilting cottons have better prints!) so this skirt is a bit on the stiff side.  But you know what; if I see a print in quilting cotton that would be perfect for something I have pictured in my mind, I'm going for it.  That's right, I said it!  Sewing elitists be warned! (You can say "I told you so" when I complain about the way it feels on future projects).

I think the most important lesson I learned has to do with sizing (and this lesson ends up being the lesson that keeps on teaching for quite awhile!).  For those of you experienced sewists out there, you know exactly where I am going with this.  I saw that this pattern started at a size 6 and I think I might have actually scoffed out loud (probably sounded a bit more like a pig snort than a super-cool "hrmph").  I thought that I would be swimming in a size 6 seeing as I generally buy a 2 in a ready-to-wear garment. "I guess I'll just cut a little bit more inside the line for the size 6" thought the clueless, newby clothesmaker.  (Of course, I also believed the envelope when it said "2 hours"  Oh, I had so much to learn...)

So here is the finished product:

Not terrible!  (That was my first thought, and was enough to keep me going).  However, it is a bit like a Picasso: good from far away and a mess up close.  So...let's stay far away, shall we.  I had absolutely no idea what "bias" skirt meant or that extra planning was involved to make it come out the way it's supposed to.  You mean I can't just fold the fabric, cut two of the pieces and have them magically match up perfectly??  (The answer is "no."  You can't do that.)  Of course I didn't have enough fabric left to cut more pieces, so I just made do with that I had.  The first time I sewed up the seams in the front and back I didn't even think about how it would match up and it was a total disaster!  (From a glass half-full perspective, I got to learn how to use my seam-ripper!)  The lines really don't match up perfectly on the front or the back, but I had to decide which side to match up better and I chose the front.

It was also TINY!  Like "OMG, I can't even get this further up than mid-thigh!" I was really confused by that, but thankfully I was able to make the smallest seam-allowances possible to keep from having a wardrobe malfunction, and it fits (barely...if I haven't had a big meal yet).  I did some internet research on the issue (now I know that's a good thing to do BEFORE starting something), and I realize now that pattern sizing is crazy!  (ok, not crazy; more like closer to how clothes used to be sized before vanity sizing got out of control)  According to the envelope, I would be between a size 10 and 12!  (stay tuned for my lesson about "ease" on a later blog post)


To be perfectly honest, I don't wear the skirt.  I kind of doubt it's strength to stay in one piece and I know so much more now that I didn't know to do then (i.e. finishing seams, how to correctly attach a waistband so the inside doesn't look all frayed, what interfacing is, etc).  It was a really good way to get started and learn basic skirt construction, and now that I have an outfit that works I might put it in the rotation.  I do recommend the pattern though, but if you're not advanced it will take longer than 2 hours.


I made another version of this skirt as well (the longest one), and I'll have a post about that one soon.