Butterick 5313

Well if anyone is reading this it is obvious that the 52 weeks and 52 garments has been an epic fail.  Not to mention that Me Made May is not looking too good either!  This is the story of my life.  In fact my theme should be...hell is paved with a path of good intentions.  I always have good intentions but they just never, really, quite pan out.

Anywho, I made Butterick 5313 after much pondering.  I liked it but didn't love it and the reason that I didn't is because it had that extra seam right under the bust.  Great look for everyone else but for me just did not like it.  So I decided to attach the two pattern pieces using a 5/8 seam allowance, so I had one piece and then the flounce.  My other problem was the sleeves.  I don't like short sleeves because I am always cold, even in the summer and the 3/4 sleeves make me feel that I have on something that is too little.  So.....what's a girl to do?  Use a pattern with long sleeves.  This is something that I have never done before but I figured people "frankenpattern" all the time, why not me?  So I used Butterick 4914 sleeves and it worked great.  They fit in perfectly and I did not have to try and lengthen the sleeve pattern, a win-win.

Other than those two changes, this dress was easy-peasy! I highly recommend it to any and all.  I will definitely make it again or maybe two more times.  One of the reviews on PatternReview said it ran small, I didn't notice that.  I cut my normal size 6 but because of the warning I sewed all seams with 3/8 instead but really the standard 5/8 would have worked out just as well.

New Look 6298

Well I have not been doing to good at my 52 week 52 garment challenge.  I have been trying and I have even made a couple of things that I have not posted.  However, I have not made a garment every week.  This week I made New Look 6298.  I needed a top for a pair a brown leggings and have been unable to find one.  So I kept looking for the perfect pattern and after trying several patterns (muslins) I decided on the New Look pattern.  My only issue with New Look patterns is that too many of them start at a size 10-22.  I need a size 6 in patterns so I knew fit was going to be an issue.

 I made view D without the bottom band because I wanted it shorter.  I folded out the center back seam because I just thought I would like that better. I also remember reading in Sandra Betzina book that if a pattern is one size too big fold out 1/2 inch out of the pattern and two sizes too big fold out 1 inch.  So I folded out 1 inch and then removing the center back seam did help with the fit.  I also did this with the sleeve.  I will try that for other patterns (good tip) that are too big as well.

This was quick to sew once I made my alterations and was done within an hour.

Janome Decor Excel Sewing Machine $125.00 - Revised

I am selling this sewing machine because I just don't have the room for it.  I hope someone will give it a good home.  I just got it from a woman that is a physician (she bought it new), so it obviously did not get much use.  She said that she had big plans for it but just did not have the time.  I tried rearranging my sewing room several times but just can't make it work.  It is a beautiful machine.  It is quiet, makes great one-step buttonholes and sews through knits like a dream.

You can read more on www.patternreview.com under the classifieds.

A Day Late....

Well the saga continues as I continue the 52 week sewing challenge.  I now have completed 2 items in 2 weeks and only 50 more to go.  I don't feel quite as accomplished as I did last week, perhaps because I missed yesterday's deadline but unlike in the past I did not let that deter me.  The old Lisa would have said, "Well since you missed the deadline don't worry about it."  But I plugged on.  I used a pattern that I have used before, which is why I feel that I should have finished in time and I even had a Snow Day.  However, in my defense my downstairs was too cold to stay down there, which was the reason for the Snow Day (-25 Windchill, not snow).  I used Simplicity 2054 Cynthia Rowley and shortened it so that I could wear it with my leggings and boots.  It has been quite popular in the past on PatternReview with 26 reviews so there probably is not much more I need to say.  It's easy, fast and cute.  Perfect to wear shorter with leggings but it is also cute as a dress.  I have used this pattern before as a regular length dress and love it!  Hopefully, I will plan a little better for next week and will meet my deadline.  I also hope I will become fast enough that I will not be limited to knit tops/dresses for the next 50 weeks!!!

I Did It!

Well I did it! I completed the first of the 52 Week Sewing challenge.  I am truly proud of myself.  I know that it is not much but it is something that I did see through, at least the first week.  Now the real struggle will be to balance both my daytime job with my nighttime hobby (since I go back to work tomorrow). 
I started with something easy, I made Vogue 8939 View D.  This is the Vogue Wardrobe that is known for the cute four piece dress.  I highly recommend it even though my ended up a little short.  I am only 5' 2" and I only put a 1 inch hem in it but the next one I make, and there will be another one or two, or three I will add at least 4 inches.  Right now the length is almost perfect to wear with leggings and boots, maybe just take 1 or 2 more inches off.  I made it with a very nice Ponte Knit but my hubby said the length is not the problem (even though he said it may be too short for work) but the color is not a good one for me.  He may be right but the price and quality were too good to pass up.  So many decisions to make when sewing...the right pattern, the right fabric, the right color.  Decisions, decisions, decisions. 
Nevertheless, again I am proud of myself and hope this is the beginning of something big!

Out With the Old and In With the New (I Hope)!

Well so much for my great ideas about if I started blogging I would sew more.  That did not work out as planned.  However, a new year is starting tomorrow or has already started (depending on where you live or when you read this).  So I am going to try this again.  My husband has tried reverse psychology on me stating that I must not really like sewing, that I shouldn't buy another pattern and/or fabric until I do something with what I already have....blah blah blah.  I still keep buying and I insist that I love it, to the point that it really is all I want to do and yet I never do it.  Is it fear of failure that holds me back?  I do have a Type A personality (at least that is what I have been told).  At the beginning of each year for at least about the last 5 years I have had so many great ideas, or are they delusions of grandeur of what I will make?  And they never happen.

Now don't get me wrong I do sew things but not nearly as many as I think I should and definitely not enough to justify my stash.  I don't do reviews on PatternReview.  I enter contest and fall off the wagon after a week or two.  I entered the Me-Made-Mondays on PatternReview and only completed two weeks.  Now in my defense I did not find out about it until it was almost over and then the last week I was on Christmas Break and could not figure out what to put on.  I mean I have a lot of me-made dresses and skirts but really on Christmas Break when I really could care less what I put on? So again another failure under my belt.  Now I am not proud that I have entered the fabric stash and the pattern stash, and fell off.  I have tried Me-Made-May three years in a row, only to discover I don't have enough me-made clothes to complete a month, so what's a girl to do but drop out.  Don't get me wrong being a Type A kind of girl failure is never good but in the cyber world it just doesn't seem quite as bad as it would if I had to face "real" people.

Earlier this evening I just read about someone starting a 52 week sewing challenge, where you create an item each week (starting on Sunday and complete it by the following Saturday) on Instagram.  Sounds great, sounds like something I want to do, but can I?  I guess there really is only one way to find out but maybe I should start out with a 26 week challenge?  Or as I remind my first graders, reach for the moon and even if you fail you will land among the stars.  So hope/plan for 52 items and just see what happens?  I'm going for it.  I mean after all what do I have to lose?  What will I gain if this works?  A better looking blog, sewing experience, and hopefully enough clothes for Me-Made-May!

Thursday, May 1, 2014 - Me-Made-May 2014

I have always wanted to participate in a Me-Made month.  Don't ask me why because I am pretty sure I don't have enough me-made items to fill a whole month, probably not even a whole week but hey you have to start somewhere.  So I figured if I sign up and commit to at least three items a week maybe, just maybe I will become more motivated to at least make a shirt or two to get me through the month.  It may not work but I don't think there will be any type of punishment if I am not successful.  So today I wore one of the easiest things I have ever made and that is McCall 6844.  Now let me warn you, you may get tired of seeing this, it is my favorite and because I am always cold it is quite functional too.  I also, made one in leopard, however, it is not quite as versatile!  I will also try and do better with the pictures but my husband was at work and I was afraid that if I didn't start today I may back out.