Tag Archives: sew-along

FESA 2014: Hmmm, the Mock Wrap Dress

Posted in 2014 Sewing, Finished Projects by

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Hi, all! Hope you had a nice Halloween/weekend. I’m here to start November off with a little number I wish I could say I was happier with, but it’s just a bit “meh” for me. Oh well, have to have those every so often.

This is one of my FESA creations, the first of a few unblogged projects from the past two months. Despite my infrequent blogging I’ve been on a sewing roll so I look forward to sharing stuff with you!

This is McCall’s 6884, a mock wrap dress pattern. Though I’m very happy with my Vogue pattern I figure you can’t have enough of something that you really like, and I do like me some wrap dresses! The mock design kind of defeats the purpose of a wrap – and I know some of you agree – but I thought I’d try it for one big reason: wind control factor. You see, between walking in the city and standing on subway platforms there are definite opportunities for a wrap dress to go flying all over the place. When I saw this mock design I thought it’d be neat to get the look without that worry.

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Fall Essentials Sew Along 2014

Posted in Sewing Ideas by

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Riding on the “yay, I’ve successfully made it through two group challenges this year!” wave, I’ve signed on for yet another: the Fall Essentials Sew Along (FESA) hosted by Sarah and Lisette.

Cold weather clothes have always been a struggle for me, even when I was buying them in stores. In my first few years of sewing I only wanted to sew summer sundresses, but in the past couple of years I’ve been – dare I say it – excited to fill some major gaps in my fall and winter wardrobe. What can I say, it just gets a little tiring to wear the same three cardigans to winterize most of my clothes!

I’m going to keep my FESA plan simple (even so, it’ll be interesting to see what I can get done by November 30th). I find that the following patterns are essentials that fit my lifestyle, which is certainly a motivator.

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OAL 2014: I Made A Cardigan!!!

Posted in Finished Projects, Knitting & Crafts by

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I knit my very first sweater! The Myrna cardigan by Andi Satterlund of Untangling Knots. Woohoo!

This was completed as part of the Outfit-Along, as I mentioned in a previous post. I did sew a dress in the challenge time frame (my peach dress that I shared last week), but I didn’t originally intend to wear them together. It just happened to be the dress I was making at the time and since the summer has been so busy I never got around to making the pencil skirt I had planned.

In any case, I was just so thrilled to have finished this cardigan by the deadline that I wore it with the peach dress and shared them in the OAL thread on Ravelry. A few days later, these photos were taken in Bryant Park and I’m much happier with how this cardigan pairs color-wise with my Colette Parfait dress from two years ago.

The yarn I used was Worsted Cotton by Blue Sky Alpacas. The color is Mediterranean, which is perfect since it reminded me of crystal blue water when I spotted it at Downtown Yarns at Avenue A and East 3rd Street. This yarn may be a bit heavier than what’s recommended, but I think it worked out all in all. The one issue I noticed is that it shed on my white dress. Little blue furries lightly sprinkled over the fabric. Hmm, was that supposed to happen?

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OAL 2014: Give Me Fabric and Give Me Yarn

Posted in Knitting & Crafts by

aardmanknits

Babs and Gromit, two knitting greats.

Happy Friday, all! This is quite a late post, but I’m kinda sorta joining the Outfit-Along currently being hosted by Lauren of Lladybird and Andi of Untangling Knots. I say kinda sorta because I’m not 100% sure I’ll finish in time, but I’m totally using this as the push I need to fulfill my dream of knitting a cropped cardigan (it’s the little things).

outfitalongI’m working on a dress right now that would look great with such a cardigan, but I’ll have to see if I like the color combo together. The dress features a Sewaholic Lonsdale skirt with a Sewaholic Cambie bodice and Vogue 2902‘s neckline (I’ll explain the whole random combo thing in the finished project post).

Yeah, so back to the knitting part. Knitting and me go way back, but it’s been an iffy relationship. Sure, there’s half of that boring scarf I started, um, 10 years ago maybe? And the squares that my friends and I were going to knit into a baby blanket for a classmate’s newborn that, oh, just turned nine.

But, hey, I did start to get on the right track with the snood seen round the world thanks to Karen of Did You Make That? fame. Clearly I’m on the up and up!

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The Red Hot “Charmbie” Dress

Posted in 2014 Sewing, Finished Projects by

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Another completed project to share – victory! This one is my official contribution to the Sew Sexy Sew-Along hosted by Lisette, Wanette and Clio. Here are the details…

  • Pattern: Sewaholic Cambie (bodice) and By Hand London Charlotte (skirt)
  • Size: 4 bust transitioning to 6 waist/hip
  • Fabric:  Silk dupioni shell (Mulberry Fabrics), silk organza underlining, and China silk lining (both from B & J Fabrics)
  • Notions: 20″ zipper, stay tape at hem
  • Alterations: Cambie – shortened bodice 1/2″ and went down to a size 4 bust (I went with a size 6 last time); Charlotte – changes same as last time

I decided some time ago that I wanted to combine these two patterns so I could have myself a Charmbie dress. And I absolutely love how it turned out! I had this dress in mind before the sew-along was announced, but I’m so thrilled I joined because it gave me a deadline to finish this one. Plus, it’s been great seeing what everyone else has come up with!

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