Seeing Spring Purple

In an attempt to find a nice piecce of jersey fabric for a spring top I took my regular stroll around Joann’s. Unable to find a color that “jumped out” at me I had an idea to dye a white piece of knit jersey fabric sitting in my ever growing stash. Although I didn’t end up with the original color on the Rit Dye Chart the color I did end up with turned out to be a very pretty spring purple. It reminds me of the Pantone Spring color African Violet (16-3520).

I used Simplicity 1916 for this project. I’m still learning to fit my larger than the average “B” size bust and so far it is coming along. In my determination to make sure the “girls” were properly fitted I did not follow the pattern directions and some how ended up with the gathers on the wrong side (I’m still trying to figure out how that happened). But to my surprise the “girls” were nicely placed within the top and with ample fabric cover them, but somewhere in making the alterations the sides of the top no longer drape as it should. I haven’t given up on the blouse because I love the color so I will make an attempt to redesign the top into something I will feel comfortable in wearing.

I still have a little work to do with the arm and breast area, but I’m hoping to get it together soon. I will keep you posted on my progress.

Time for a movie

Today I am dusting off my sewing machine instructional videos and sitting down with a cup of coffee to actually take a look at them. I haven’t actually watched them since the machines were purchased .  .  . and as you can see it has been awhile (considering they are on VHS). But during the last couple of projects I have pulled out some attachments I never thought I would use. And I am sure there will be a few techniques demonstrated in the videos that I never thought I would use or just never paid attention to.  I am just really happy that I have a small “hoarding” problem and never discarded the videos long with compulsion for gadgets and picked them up along the way.

T-Shirt Time

This is my first completed T-shirt from the Craftsy.com sewing with knits course. I really like the way it turned out. I made a small adjustment with the sleeves that I didn’t need to make so next time I will eliminate that. (I thought because of the size of my arms I would need to add a little more width, but that only made the sleeve look a little off).

The fabric is from a stash I purchased from a friend awhile ago, so I’m really not sure of what the content is. I do like the feel and thickness of the knit. It seems as if most knits from the big box fabric stores today are very thin.

I did make an adjustment to the bust area. I my recently acquired book “The Complete Photo Guide to Perfect Fitting” mentioned that most patterns are made for standard bust sizes and if your bust do not fall within this measurement adjustments are necessary. I still need a little practice in this area, but I am sure with my dependence on T-shirts I will be making this one again.

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Craftsy.com Pant Project Complete

Well it has taken me awhile, but I have finally completed the “Pant Fitting Technique” project from Craftsy.com.  I must say I was a little distracted with a few other projects but I wanted to get this finished before I move on to the next project

The pants fit pretty good, but there are some additional adjustment I will need to make to get them to fit “GOOD”. I am not sure I will make this pattern again, but I am going to find another pattern so that I can get the fit right on a pattern I can use a few times.

My Emerald Green Dress :-)

So this is the finished project. The pattern is a very easy Vogue. The fabric is a Ponte Knit from JoAnns. The fabric started out as white but in my attempt to dye it an emerald green it turned out this green color (the Rit Dye instructions said to use an evening blue but I used navy instead). I did realize there are several lessons learned in this project. 1) Some Very Easy Vogues are not very easy 2) Now that I know my bust cup size is not what I thought it was it is going to be very important for me to learn how to make the proper pattern adjustments in the bust area. 3) When choosing to dye my fabric make sure to dye all of the necessary pieces together so that I get a constant color. I am going to try this dress again in another color and with a few adjustments.

Taking it to the Rit

So, this is going to take a little practice. I was torn between bubblegum pink and emerald green. With one of the spring colors being Emerald green I thought I’d try for that one. The Rit color formula guide recommended evening blue and lemon yellow to get a deep emerald green. I couldn’t find the evening blue so silly me thought I’d try navy blue instead. . . I’m not sure what color I’ve ended up with but I think it is some type of green, it surely isn’t emerald nor grayed jade. I guess through this process I will also learn to follow instructions. . . it least I can dream Rit dye is planning to have the formulas available for the spring colors by the end of the month.

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My First Draft

Can you guess what this is?

When I first started my year long sewing challenge I hadn’t planned on making the under portions (ie. panties, bras, slips, etc.), but the more I am learning about the proper fit and how really inexpensive it is to make them I am now looking forward to it. During my web surfing I came across this site that shows you how to actually draft your bra from start to finish. What could be a better way to learn how to construct a bra than starting from the beginning. Yeap . . . you guessed it . . . this is the beginning draft for a bra.

Now I have another thing to add to my long and getting longer list of things to do and learn . . . Pattern Drafting!

Setting The Foundation

The Bra Sew Along is coming along nicely. I can’t believe how much I am learning about the proper fit for my foundation pieces.

This is the third try for these pieces. The Rosy Ladyshorts had three testers before this pair materialized. I needed to make a few adjustments the cover the back side because I do have “back” and because I do have a tummy adjustments were made to make sure it stayed up and don’t roll under the tummy The Rosy Ladyshorts are a free pattern that is downloadable on www.clothhabit.com and takes less than an hour to complete. The bra pattern is Kwik Sew #3300. Several adjustments were made before this one was made, but I am getting closer to a proper fitting bra.

By the way the fabric for this set was purchased from Hobby Lobby on March Lane at a cost of $4.54 for the one yard of fabric (this includes the tax), not bad for both the bra and panties. When I get the sizing correct my silk fabric from Moods Fabrics waiting for my first set of silk foundations.