Comic Con Recap

Right before I go to comic con, I always get a sense of Why am I doing this? Seriously? You're paying to go to this thing? because as I explain to people who aren't into movies, TV shows, books, comics, games, etc. it sounds :really: stupid. Yeah, you pay to get in the door, get a glimpse of famous people, pay for pictures with them, pay for art and nerd bling, stand shoulder to shoulder with a horde of people, wait in line for anything and everything... blah blah blah. But then I go, join forces with thousands of other nerds, listen to panels of topics that pique our interest, stand shoulder to shoulder with them (literally, the convention center was packed) to celebrate the things we love, soak in the geekyness all around me, and relish every moment. I probably float on that high for a week and then I crash from how much overstimulation the weekend actually is for my adrenal fatigued brain. :P 

My thought this year wasn't so much to participate in the cosplay part of things. It's been a long summer, and my primary goal was comfortable. I didn't want what I was wearing to become a hassle. I just wanted to be. So for the first day, I wore my :favorite: skirt with the map of Middle Earth printed on it. Subtle. Comfy. And I got to meet Karl Urban. 💓 

Sunday was pushing my friend in her Green Lion from Voltron wheel chair (her brother did incredible work on it!) around the convention. I was really glad that it wasn't as crowded on Sunday so that there was room to actually push a wheel chair around. Saturday was so packed, I'm not sure if we would have been able to do much of anything. 

With all that pushing, I was also very glad that I planned a simple outfit for the day which brings me to the sewing part of the post.
Phew that was a long intro. :P 

I found this really cool print last year during my birthday fabric shopping spree, and from the instant I saw it, I knew it was destined to be a skirt. With Comic Con looming on the calendar horizon, I knew I needed to get it done otherwise the project just wouldn't happen. I whipped out my tape measure, elastic, and rotary blade and went to work. 

It was done in less than 30 minutes. 

Granted, it was just a basic A-line with an elastic waist band. 

And it suited the job perfectly. 

But I still want to change it up a bit. 

Instead of just an elastic waistband, I'd like to smooth out the front by gathering the skirt into a flat band and then have elastic around the back with a zipper closure. It'll make it look like I put a little more thought and effort into it and it will look more finished. I just didn't have a zipper on hand that matched the color palette of the fabric.

So that will be on my docket for whenever I feel like it. In the meantime, I have a pretty cool new skirt. 😎

Until next time!

SG

Strawberry Sweetness

Well, this is long overdue in coming. Oops.

So you might remember the lemon dress that I made for one of my sisters. My other sister requested a strawberry dress around the same time, but we could not, for the life of us, find a strawberry print locally that wasn't, shall I say, kitschy? We were looking for a sweet print in colors that were softer with a vintage feel to it. I made sure to keep my eyes peeled for... something. Anything. 

And I finally found the perfect cotton while haunting a local quilting shop. 

ISN'T IT CUTE???!!! 

And it was begging to be used with this pattern. Sometimes fabrics talk very loudly like that. ;) 

But on the fabric shelf it sat (this is a very familiar tune for me). Once I finished school, I knew what my first project should be. Whipped out the dress in no time (since I've done this dress 3 times now it was all very familiar ground) and left it on my sister's bed for her to find. I think the first time she wore it was to church and then a date afterwards. I wasn't at that service, but apparently some people wanted dresses just like it. But doesn't that defeat the purpose of having a one-of-a-kind dress if others have the exact same dress? ;) 

I LOVE HOW IT TURNED OUT! 

Sorry, not sorry, about all the gushing. 

It's just a simple, comfy, easy-to-wear cotton dress that has already gotten a lot of use out of it this summer. 

Until next time! 

SG

1975, Tiny Foxes, and a Stash-Busting Dress

My unofficial New Year's resolution was to use fabric and sewing supplies that I already had and not buy any more unless it is absolutely necessary and it had an end project in sight. No buying for potential projects. No buying because it's pretty. Only if it is needed for a current project. It's high time for some serious stash-busting. 

This project took care of one of the many fabrics that I've had on the shelf. :chuckles: Only one. 

A few years ago, a friend and I were wandering around the local quilt shop just visiting and hanging out. I wasn't looking for any material in particular. Just browsing. This is the sort of outing that is most dangerous for the bank account. Then I spied it: a gorgeous grey with tiny foxes and vines scattered all over it. In a heart beat, three yards became mine.

And on my fabric shelf it sat (sound familiar?). Waiting for the perfect pattern to make it become the perfect dress. Somehow some vintage patterns came into my possession (either given to me or I found it antiquing). I didn't really put two and two together until I was cleaning out my pattern collection, and then the inspiration struck.  

I was :really: hoping that this pattern would work. It certainly would fit me, but someone in its past cut the pieces to the shirt length. I didn't have it in me to draw out the missing skirt, so back to the pattern collection I went finding this 1975 Simplicity gem. Similar, but this one is a button up front. Oh well. That's no biggie. 

 Looking at the measurements, I wasn't sure how things would fit, so a mock-up was made. In all of it's funky glory. I had an old flannel sheet that had started to shred for the material. It all went together rather swimmingly. Almost too easily. Since when does that happen with a new-to-me pattern? Once 'finished,' I showed my mom saying that I had finished the project. She turned around expecting the tiny foxes and instead there was this snazzy flannel shirt. 

Lousy selfie skills

Since there weren't any alterations needing to be made to the dress (yay for loose fitting clothes!), I was able to jump right into cutting the adorable fox fabric. The only cinch? The pattern calls for almost 4 yards of fabric and I only had three. And it has a nap (directional print). Each piece was carefully laid out and pinned to ensure that the essentials would be able to fit. The only things that I had to sacrifice was the matching belt and the 3/4 sleeves that I was wanting (short sleeves are fine by me). Not bad for cutting that much yardage from a pattern. 

Everything was sewing together just fine. Until I got to the pockets. For some reason I had to pick those seams several times before my brain could wrap around the concept (and these aren't my first pockets either). I'm going to blame spring fever for this one. The garden was beckoning, but it was raining. Again. 

Not how a pocket is supposed to look

Then I finished it! Well, almost. I still needed to do the button holes and sew on the buttons, but I didn't have enough of the same kinds of buttons for this project. So Lady Catherine modeled the dress until I was able to get to the craft store. 

 Once at the craft store, I was very underwhelmed with their selection. I'm not sure if it's because I went to a different store or if they were changing out the product. Either way... I wasn't ecstatic about what I found, but they sufficed.  

Now it was finished. And it looked like a mumu. A very comfy mumu, but a mumu nonetheless.

Selfie skillz I haz not

 But it's nothing that a belt can't fix! 

I'm a dork. 

 To finish my 1970's librarian look, I added a sweater and some vintage-inspired shoes that I found at the thrift store. 

I hope to get better pictures once the weather plays a little nicer. 

I still can't get over how adorable the tiny foxes are. 

The lo-down:

• Pattern: Vintage Simplicity 7050
• Fabric: 3 yards of OOP - Probably $10/yard
• Notions: 9-3/4" light grey buttons from Joann's - $6
• Time - Could easily have been a day project if I had all the supplies on hand

Until next time!

SG

The Year Ahead

To (hopefully) be better about getting my sewing to-do wish list completed this year, I'm assigning myself projects that will actually have an event that they will be destined for. 

First up, will be a red poppy dress. For some reason, I kept seeing red poppy dresses in stores and online this year, and I fell in love. I needed one but not badly enough to drop a pretty penny for it. Then, as I was meandering through the fabric store, I saw it. A gorgeous red poppy print! And ooh, look! Simplicity patterns were on sale too!  I had had my eye on this pattern for a while, so it was obviously meant to be. 

A friend of mine had a great idea: what if I wore it to the WWII/Peggy Carter/VE Day ball coming up in the spring? I think that it's brilliant. And it gives me a deadline. 

Next on the project list: what to wear to comic con in September? I hate to admit that it's something that I've been pondering since my sisters went last year. Almost completely out of the blue, I had an idea. What if I did a vintage inspired Chewbacca? It would be simple enough to be comfortable for the event, and I could wear the ensemble elsewhere (like church and school :P). Here's a quick sketch of what I had in mind. 

Please pardon the awful drawing skills. Certainly not my forte. It'll look better when it's made, I promise. ;) 

Next up is just a for-fun, no deadline in sight project. I'm hoping that this vintage pattern with fit (yay for mock-ups!), but if it doesn't, I'll use the same pattern that I used for the simple autumn dress. 

Isn't the tiny fox print just adorable?  I found it at a local fabric shop a couple years ago. 

Beyond these projects, I'm sure that I'll have more sewing to do for craft bazaars. If the muse strikes, I might try to squeeze in a regency dress and stays. But we shall see what actually comes to pass. 

Until next time!

SG

Simple Autumn Dress

As I was going through pictures on my phone, I realized that I had completely forgotten to share with you a dress that I finished back in October! :slaps wrist: 

I found the material (read: bed sheet) at the thrift store. Since there was a burn in the corner, I was able to tell what material it was (cotton!) as well as get a discount on it since it was damaged. Score! 

I didn't exactly know what sort of dress I wanted to turn it into, so onto the fabric shelf it went! And there it sat, and waited, and collected dust, probably forgotten a time or two. Until I found this pattern.

Source

 And then I just knew what I had to do. That lovely sheet sitting on the shelf finally had a purpose in life! And for taking up shelf space. 

The pattern itself was simple, straightforward, and came together in an afternoon. No zippers, no buttons, no bias or draping. Just cut the pieces, sew them together, add in elastic, hem everything, and voila! All done. Brand new dress, for next to nothing. Since the weather was getting nippy, I paired it with a sweater, but kept the sandal heels because reasons. 

Now I'm remembering why I never did an 'official' post sooner - I didn't have nice pictures of the completed project. :P Oh well, maybe someday! 

I definitely will be making more dresses from this pattern though! I love how it fits and how quickly it went together. 

Until next time! 

SG

Christmas Skirts

...Or the same fabric three ways. 

I was haunting the thrift store, when I came across hangers and hangers of plaid fabric. It looked like someone had cleared out their fabric stash and donated it. Honestly, I could have bought it all, but I restrained myself and showed self-control and only purchased one length. 

I had 6 yards of 60" fabric for only $11.99 and it has a gorgeous feel and drape. 

See what I mean when I say that I showed some serious self-control in not buying ALL of the fabric?

There was enough material that I could make 3 skirts - one for each of my sisters and myself. But we didn't want to have a matchy-matchy, we're-related-and-the-fabric-was-on-sale look if we should happen to all wear our skirts at the same time.  So we each decided on a different skirt pattern. 

The taller sister wanted a pencil skirt. No problem! I have a pattern for that! Except... the pattern wasn't in her size. Drats. So we found a different pattern. It was a wrap skirt that screamed 90's. Nope. Not going to happen. So we landed on a simple A-line made from a giant rectangle gathered at the waist with elastic. No pattern needed, sewing it up was easy (so was lining up the plaid). 

The skirt for my other sister is a circle skirt. From the get-go she wanted a circle, but I wasn't sure if I would have enough fabric. So her skirt was made last. :P Just to make sure. Her skirt was also made without a pattern. You simply fold the fabric into quarters (much like the first steps of any origami creation) and the magic radius' measured and marked. Put in a zipper, add a waist band, and voila! Another skirt done. 

Look at that gorgeously lined up plaid! :swoons:

 My skirt was also rather simple - just a reproduction pattern from the 70's. A-line, no gathers or pleats, and a button up front. 

 And the only seam I had to rip in this entire adventure was in this skirt. :fist pump: 

The goal was to have them all finished for the Christmas dinner at church. That almost happened. I just had a hem to finish, but then it was bitterly cold and we each decided on a warmer outfit for the evening. 

I'll have to see if I can convince certain sisters of mine that we need to get a group picture with the three of us in our skirts. We'll see if that actually happens though. :P 

Until next time! 

SG

Summery Lemon Dress

I'M BACK! 

And I have time to sew again. This past summer has been spent at work, farm stuffs, school, and an internship at school. Between all those things, I've been thoroughly whooped with little down time, so the time that I did have was spent sleeping or doing homework. ;) But now, I'm on summer break. And I have grand plans for these short, precious weeks. At least, plans that my adrenals can handle.

First on the sewing to-do list was a cheery lemon dress inspired by on designed by Kate Spade for her 2014 spring (or was it summer?) line. The price tag was a bit steep, but my sister adored that beautiful dress. Lemons. The dress had lemons. Vintage lemons. And it was adorable. That dress had a lot going for it. 

After much searching of the fabric stores and web, we finally found some fabric that suited her taste. 

And it sat on the fabric shelf. 

For a very long time. 

Until I finally sat down and told myself that no other project would be touched until that one was finished. (See what it takes to motivate myself?) Two afternoons of focused sewing time, and the dress was done. Seriously? That's all it took? Why did I procrastinate this long?! Oh well. At least we have some nice weather still in the forecast so my sister can wear it before inclement weather sets in. 

Pattern: Simplicity 2591

The only thing I probably would add to it would be a small yellow bow on the waistline. But besides that, it's ready to wear. The bow probably won't be added for another few years. :P 

Until next time! 

SG