Simplicity 8379: I need at least 5 more of these dresses.

This dress came out of nowhere! Honestly, I stumbled across the pattern on sale and then turned around and bought some green spandex knit jersey. It wasn’t on my list of things to make at all. 3 hours later I had a dress I am madly in love with. I have had it for 2 weeks and have worn it 3 times.

Oh yeah, and when I put this bolt of fabric on the counter to be cut I said something like, “I just love that color!” The lady cutting it replied, “Well, I hate it. I think green is hideous.” Hahaha! What do you even say to that? I love it when things like that happen. You know what’s great about sewing is that it has boosted my self-confidence enough that I didn’t care that she thought I was making something hideous. Who cares? Not me!

June 28, 2017June 28, 2017 by SomedaySewing Categories: sewingTags: blogging, diy, fabric, handmade, knit, memade, sewing, sewing blogger, Simplicity Patterns 39 Comments

Sew House Seven: Toaster Sweater #1 aka Turtle Sweater

Oh man, all through November and December I had a cough that I could not shake! I have been looking at all the cozy coats and sweaters that people have been making and I decided I needed one of my own. I have had my eye on the Toaster Sweater #1 from Sew House Seven for a while. I finally decided to take the plunge and bought the pattern. It looks like the warmest sweater and it is a little edgy with that neck piece!

Of course I knew that the model would have a MUCH longer neck than I do, but it’s been so cold I took a chance on it anyway. Let me tell you, this sweater went through about 3 weeks of tweaking and altering to get it to fit! I think it works on me and most importantly it is very warm!

January 11, 2017June 14, 2017 by SomedaySewing Categories: sewingTags: blogging, handmade, knit, pattern review, sewing 11 Comments

I made my own pattern: Grey Window Pane Pants

I worked at Lane Bryant for many, many years so I have a lot of their clothes that were really made to last. Every winter they used to sell 4 or 5 colors of ponte knit pants that fit so amazingly! I am down to my last pair and I decided I would try to recreate them by making a pattern from them without taking them apart. They are a really simple shaped pant with a thick elastic waist band that doesn’t look frumpy! Sadly, they do not have pockets, but I think I can fix that!

 

So first I traced the pants on both sides with a front leg and a back leg.

December 1, 2016November 30, 2016 by SomedaySewing Categories: sewingTags: blogging, diy, handmade, knit, sewing, sewist 10 Comments

McCall’s M7313 Part 1: Always a Grooms Maid, never a Groom.

Love the color. Never wore it again.

In late May I will be a “grooms maid” in an old friend’s wedding. He and his fiance are perfect for each other, especially in that they are both very thoughtful people. They decided that the wedding party dresses could be any black dress. Since I’ve bought my fair share of David’s Bridal “one-time wearables”, and then donated them, I think this is an extremely thoughtful move! No strapless, flouncy, or “bridesmaidsy” requirements! Plus, If you are a weekend sewist like me, a black dress will hide a lot of sewing sins! (Argh! Why didn’t I name this blog, “Sewing Sins?” What an amazing name!)

I looked for a pattern with a similar fit as some of my favorite RTW dresses and I finally settled on McCall’s M7313 flared, pull-over dress. Admittedly, I am not ready to face zippers. Instead, I am going to bank heavily on my black, neoprene “scuba” fabric and stretch lace to allow me to pull it on over my head. The pattern is really good for a knit beginner. There are only 4 simple pattern pieces and 6 pieces of fabric to put together the dress. If you want more shape you are going to have to add it. This should be a pretty easy-to-alter little pattern! My vision is a simple black lace overlay dress with the sleeves as sheer black lace only. I chose the D versions with a lower neckline and 3/4 sleeves. That should work for a May wedding in St. Louis!

May 18, 2016May 18, 2016 by SomedaySewing Categories: sewingTags: blogging, knit, McCalls, McCalls M7313, sewing, sewist 4 Comments

The one hour top: Remnants to the rescue!

While I was looking for the least-intimidating, first time knit project to start I stumbled across Fancy Tiger Craft’s One Hour Top. It’s a free, two-piece pattern so I thought it would be worth a shot. It was! I can see how this pattern will be super handy in the future! It has larger, dolman-style sleeves and simple twin needle finishes on the neck and sleeves.

I did do some rogue pattern altering because my hips were outside of the XL/XXL finished size of 47 inches. I just cut down the middle line on the pattern and worked it until there were 14 inches across at the bottom of both the front and the back pieces. That way the hips would end up at about 55 inches after sewing. I had already purchased some black ITY knit with a 40% stretch in one direction and 20% stretch in the other. I made sure to set my pattern pieces where the 40% stretch went across the hips. In hindsight I could have made the sleeves a little larger for the dolman look.

April 8, 2016April 8, 2016 by SomedaySewing Categories: sewingTags: blogging, knit, one hour top, pattern review, sewing, sewist 4 Comments