Cropped Cardigan Simplicity8849

I’ve been meaning to make a cropped cardigan since I started sewing 3 years ago. I actually bought Butterick 5529 way back when for that exact purpose. I couldn’t quite place in my head what I wanted the crop cardigan to look like, I just knew all my long cardi’s looked a bit silly with my full skirts and dresses.

I wouldn’t say I’ve given up on trying that pattern but I was more drawn to Simplicity 8849 view A this time. I liked the clean look of the front and where the cropped ends. I wanted something a bit fitted as it’s meant to pair with something that has a full bottom.

There are a few things I don’t love about this make, if I’m being honest. It mostly boils down to the sleeves. I feel like there is too much fabric in the bicep area, giving off a baggy look. I also didn’t realize it was a cropped length, I thought it was a full long sleeve, so I added my standard 1.5″ length to the sleeves. I didn’t like it, so I folded up a cuff and tacked it down.  I’ve also come to the realization that I’m not a fan of raglan sleeves. I’ve actually made 2 things with raglan sleeves this month (one for Minerva coming to their blog in the new year). I’m not a fan of the dart at the top of the sleeve and I just think I prefer set-in sleeves.

This make will get a lot of wear in my wardrobe to pair with cami’s/full skirts to make work appropriate. I think this pattern has a really cute dress I’d like to try, but rather than making sleeve adjustments, I think I’d go with another pattern. I think I would hack the blackwood cardi into a cropped.

I did make a small bust adjustment. I’m not sure how necessary that was, but I do like the fit of the front. It is a one yard wonder. I only bought a yard of ponte and even had some leftover so it could be a good scrap buster.

Pattern: Simplicity 8849 View A

Size: 14

Fabric: Ponte De Roma from fabric.com

Alterations: small bust adjustment, 1.5″ length added to sleeve

Overall: It’s not a fail by any means but not a full on success. I would opt for a different pattern next time. I love the fabric.

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My Handmade Wedding Dress: Final Look

I can finally show you the full look. I got married July 28th, for those following along, I am no where near a procrastinator and finished my dress right at the end of December,  starting making it in October.

I’ve written several blog post over the construction and will link those here. I also have several highlights in my stories on instagram over the process.

Wedding Dress: Part 1 (planning)

Wedding Dress: Part 2 (Bodice Fitting)

Wedding Dress: Part 3 (The Skirt)

I was extremely happy with my dress. I think it looks so professional. I think I could have fitted the bodice a bit more, otherwise it was exactly my vision.

If you are considering making your own wedding dress and have questions feel free to reach out here or on insta. I’m always open to sharing anything.

All photos were taking by K&B Photos. If you are in the KC area, I highly recommend them.

Sewcial Mashup: Lucerne & S8601

You all know I love sewing challenges. They really help fuel my sewing drive. Inside the Hem (Lindsey) and Girls in the Garden (Lori) are hosting Sewcial Mashup throughout August. Sewcial mashup is based around combining 2 patterns. I am mashing up the Lucerne Blouse by Hey June Handmade and Simplicity 8601.

I’ve made both patterns before separtely. Lucerne here and here. Simplicity 8601 here.

I’ve made the Lucerne 3 times before, which I rarely duplicate patterns, so you know it’s a fav and has a stellar fit. Which is why I picked it for my base. I kept the V-neck and sleeve from the Lucerne and used the bottom of Simplicity 8601. I kept all the adjustments from my last Lucerne make.

I’m obsessed with tie knot shirts and I feel like button placket/tie knots are really in right now. This make is very inspired by RTW. Pattern Scout also has a pattern called the Hana tank that is very similar, but it doesn’t have sleeves and I already perfected the Lucerne fit.

If you want an in depth look at my changes/and process to hacking this bodice, I have some stories saved in my highlights under Sewcial mash up on instagram.

I got the buttons from a cute store in Chicago when I went there for New Year’s Eve and I’ve been waiting for the right garment to use them on.

The fabric is a Rayon Challis from Fabric.com. It’s a beautiful emerald color. It’s lightweight with some drape which works well with the knot front and keeps it super comfortable.

Pattern: Lucerne and S8601

Size: meshed size 8 Lucerne with Size 12 s8601

Fabric: Rayon Challis

Alterations: Button Placket added, meshed 2 patterns together, added a wedge of fabric near the knot part.

Overall: The Lucerne is definately one of my top patterns of all time.  Such a great base to mesh with other patterns. I’ve worn this garment a few times and I’m so happy with it everytime. It’s casual, comfortable, but stlll cute.

Taos Top Review

I’m a married woman, back from my honeymoon. I’ve been in full force school mode trying to prep 2 classrooms for the school year. Despite being busyier as ever, I slid in some morning sewing sessions to make a Taos top.

I had 3 big reasons for sewing this pattern.

1. I won the pattern in Mia from SewNorth giveaway on instagram. It was a pattern I had wanted to sew but being a simple tank, I hadn’t quite justified buying the pattern yet. I also got the Frisco in the giveaway so hopefully that’ll make it on my to-sew list soon,
2.  Leslie aka Threadbare Garments is from Kansas City, where I am from too. We had plans to meet up and I wanted to wear her pattern when we met up. Our meetup got delayed but hopefully soon.
3. I had leftover fabric from making my first Givre top making this a free garment to make. I was in-between projects, waiting for some Minerva fabric to come up (there was a mix up, so it’ll be awhile till I have some Minerva fabric).

First off, Let’s talk fabric. I would not recommend a lightweight spandex jersey for this pattern. It worked fine for the Givre, as I was sewing to a slightly sturdier fabric. I had so many issues with my machine eating my fabric. I used so much tissue paper at the start of seams, did not backstitch. It was rough. I’m really happy with my finished product and the pattern, but the fabric gave me all kinds of issues. It makes a great activewear top, but in the future, I would use the fabrics that Leslie recommends.

I debated about using the wrong side of the fabric for the contrast panels. I think I was ended up deciding to keep it all right side and then when I went to sew it, got mixed up and sewed the wrong sides. At that point, I decided to go with it. I really like the slightly darker look of the side panels.

Pattern: Taos Top by ThreadBare Garments

Size: 4 graded to 6 at side seams waist

Fabric: Lightweight spandex jersey

Alterations: none

Overall: I really love the end result even if the journey was a bit rough. I would really like to make this pattern in a sweater knit.

 

S8228 White Set

Do you sew bra/undie sets or seperate bras? TBH, I’ve made several bras but they’ve been all seperates. I did try a matching set for my first watson but I wasn’t happy with the undies. This is my first, well-fitting me-made matching set.

I sewed up view A and C. I have sewn up view A before which you can find –>Bra Making Adventures

My best friend actually purchased this pattern and some white lace for my bachelorette party. I didn’t quite make it in time for my honeymoon, but I wanted to make it for August Sewmystyle anyways.

This lace was from Joann’s by the yard, so there is no scalloped edge.  This pattern was drafted with the scallop edge in mind so I did have to make some adjustments for that. I used fold over elastic for the halter edges, and picot elastic for the bottom band elastic. I should have added some width to the back band to compensate for the fabric turned under for the picot elastic, so the hook/eye and a tad bigger than the strap.

I used the one bra cut of powernet from Bwear . I got most of my notions from there after hearing Liz from LizSews on youtube mention it.  I did need 2 pieces of power net due to the length of the halter part. I also cut the center front in half  and added seam allowance for a seam. The length of the powernet wasn’t long enough for the full band otherwise.

One last note on the bra. The first time I made this I added 2″ to the length of the straps due to reviews I read. It was way too much and I took a lot of that off. This time I only added 1/2″ and it seems a good amount.

Let’s talk undies.  I’m not a fan of high waisted undies, as all my pants are mid to low rise, and it bothers me to have the underwear sit above my pants. So I took 3″ off of the pattern. It was mostly pretty straight forward to shorten it. The back was the tricky part, since the lace sits above the whole piece. So I ended up taping the pieces together to mark the 3″ down and then pulling apart and adjusting. The way I did it, the lace doesn’t touch the whole back like the pattern shows, I could have adjusted the angles but I didn’t want to.

Pattern: S8228 View A and C

Size: 34B and Medium

Fabric: Lace from Joanns, powernet/cotton jersey/ and notions from Bwear

Alterations: 1/2″ strap length, fold-over elastic to finish bra edges, added center front seam, picot for bottom band, lowered undies 3′

Overall: I wear my 1st version all the time so I was excited to add a second version. I feel like View B gets the most love from people, but view A is much more my style. I probably should have stabalized the fold-over elastic with clear elastic first, it’s a bit wavy, but if I adjust the bra right, it goes away. I’m really happy with the undies, they are very comfortable.

Bridesmaids gift: Clam up bags

I can finally share my bridesmaids gifts now that they have been gifted. I used the Clam up pattern from byannie.com. I first heard about this pattern from inside the hem in this video.

I have a million Ipsy bags, but the makeup bag that gets the most use is a bigger bag I got from Ulta that is a similar size and shape to the clam up bag. I thought it would be perfect for my bridesmaids.

The pattern comes with several sizes, but I made all of these in a size Large. My wedding colors are silver and blue, so the outsides are those colors and the insides are their favorite color. You can find the main fabric I used here. The insides were all from JoAnn’s fabric quarters.

The pattern recommends a double sided zipper, but I just used a one-sided.

This sewed up really quick and easy. Which I needed since I sewed up 7, including one for myself.

For all the supplies, it cost about 130, so 20 a bag, that’s including the cricut supplies.  One package of Annie’s soft and stable went about 5 bags. The laminate lasted for 6 bags.

Pattern: Clam up pattern

Size: Large

Alterations: single sided zip

Overall: I’m so excited about these. I really think the girls will get some good use out of them.

Beginner T-Shirt Quilt

I recently moved to a new apartment. As I was preparing to move, I was looking at a big stack of memory shirts. The kind that you don’t wear anymore but you can’t really get rid of. I didn’t really want to move this stack of t-shirts to the new place to continue sitting in non-use. So despite never quilting in my life,  I decided to make a t-shirt quilt.

Pinterest was my best friend. I read up a bunch on there, as well as got help from some insta friends. So none of the steps I’m telling you about is my own ideas, just how I took the info I found and created my quilt.

I started by cutting the t shirt’s at the side seams and shoulders so that I had front and backs separate. I divided out what parts I actually wanted in the quilt. I had about 25 shirts. However, a bit into making I decided there were some t-shirt parts I didn’t love and edited it down to 20.

I used SF101 interfacing to back the t-shirts. You need a whole lot of interfacing. For 20 shirts, I needed about 6 yards of interfacing. Joann’s coupons and sales. Most of the cost of making this quilt is spent on interfacing, that and batting.

It’s a 5×4 quilt. I sewed all the rows together and then the rows to each other. The squares are 13″.

I snagged some batting from Joann’s on clearance for $20, a wool/poly blend.

To attach the sandwich of bed sheet/batting/tshirts together, I first sewed all the squares in the ditch. The batting recommends quilting lines to be no more than 5″ apart. I decided I wanted to try free motion quilting. It took quite a bit of thread and time but I enjoyed the quilting part. I just moved it around whichever way I felt organically, no pattern.

It’s most certainly not perfect. I did pin the quilt all over the place but I still had some spot that the bedsheet didn’t spread out with no bumps. It wasn’t enough to upset me, especially for my first quilt. It’s still very cozy.

Ultimately, I didn’t love quilting. It took a lot of time. I could’ve made several garments in the time it took me to sew this. It also was expensive with the batting and interfacing, despite the bedsheet and t shirts being free.

Don’t wait around to see more quilting. I’ll jump right back into garment sewing. There are lot of bloggers for quilting, I won’t be one of them. But I’m happy to be able to say I made a quilt.