Who Wears Short Shorts?

I’m still here... and sewing... I swear! I’ve had a busy week attempting to get my ducks in a row for graduate school. I raced around this week attempting to find roommates because my parents had informed me that it was inappropriate for me to be living by myself. Something about it being “too expensive.” Don’t worry though, I’m in the process of fixing myself a super nice cardboard box!

So what have I been sewing? Things... Pretty things... Oh fine, I’ll show you!

I’m in desperate need of shorts since I’m moving to a warmer climate. This is my first pair of shorts/pants/item that’s not a skirt or dress or top. I’m fairly proud of it, even if it’s a bit short for my mother’s taste. I got the nice, “that’ll cover our butt?” when I showed it to her. Yes, yes, it covers my ass! My only hang up with these is there are no pockets on the butt. I could always change that, but I didn't have enough fabric with these.

I had to modify the pattern some as the measurements I took didn’t yield the desired result. I had to cut the pattern out twice and even then I had to take the sides out a slight bit. I do enjoy the plaid on the hem and inside the pockets. The next time I make these suckers I’m not going to line the pocket with denim at all. I’ll just use some of my scrap fabric (which there is a lot of) for some awesome detail. And maybe, just maybe I’ll start on another quilt here since I have so much extra fabric and don’t know what else to do with it.

And yes, I do realize the pockets bulge a wee bit. I'm not sure how to change that and I'm going to go crazy if I have to take out another stitch from these! I think if I pulled the front fabric down a bit and resewed they'd be fine. I'm good with them for now. Next time they'll be better.

Gone Green

I attempted to find some spare time over my weekend to sew... Attempted. I had to work, volunteer, and hang out with friends I hadn’t seen in forever. Sewing sadly did not manage to squeeze its self anywhere in those topics, much to my dismay. I do believe my day needs about 6 more hours in it so I can have relaxing/sewing time. Not going to happen anytime soon.

I did manage to finish a dress I’ve been working on! I see your faces, you’re asking: another dress? Seriously Kat, another dress?? Hmph, would you rather I had sewed a tent? Oh, no, no you don’t like that idea? Good.

This dress gave me problems. We had a long battle, but I somehow manage to win (I may have cheated and threatened it with fire... but I WON!). The dress is from McCall's 6070 and I didn’t have to alter it in anyway, which made me happy. It was the freaken elastic that gave me problems! For part of the pattern elastic has to go around the horizontal panel, top and bottom. So I measure the elastic out and cut it to its specified length. All was good, it was great, then I fed the elastic through the tubes I made and there we ran into issues.

Did I sew the channels to narrow you ask? YES.... I can hear your laughter and your mocking, to which I glare. I got very friendly with my seam ripper and fixed my narrow channels, no problems the second time around. So you’re thinking I’m good to go right? NOPE. The elastic was too long. I pinned the elastic together and tried the freaking thing on to attempt to pull the loops of elastic that were sticking out of the channels, think that did any good? Noooo! I had to cut 9 inches of elastic off each piece!! NINE INCHES!!!!

After figuring that out, swearing, and sewing things togther it went great. I had to cut some of the length off so I didn’t look too short (I’m 5’4” just at the petit cut off) and then hem. The dress doesn’t technically have sleeves which makes it great for when I’m moving down south, I can stay cool and look cute.

Along with zippers, elastic has made its way onto my “EVIL NOTIONS LIST.” ENL for short. Stupid elastic...

Remnant Dress

I don’t know about where ya’ll are from but it’s been way too hot where I am. I have another dress to show you, this one is the same pattern as the last one and it was made in September. It's no where near as formal so I can wear it out a little more often, or at least I can wear it to work. I fished through the remnants to find the fabric and purchased them on a whim, thinking “I’ll find something to turn this into!” And something I did turn it into.

I modified the bodice a whole bunch as the pattern was waaaay to large for my girls. The zipper was taken out no less than five times so I could mess with the bodice and attempt to line things up, which didn’t exactly happen. I do wear this one with something covering my shoulders as most of the time I’m too lazy to drag out my strapless bra. So it all works out in the end. I don’t have to wear an uncomfortable bra and I can hide my mistake in lining this up!

I’m currently working on another dress, but I’m having some small issue with the elastic I’m using on it. Hopefully I’ll have things worked out soon so I can get pictures in that. Then those pesky shorts should be to follow.

All Dressed Up and No Place to Go

I did a little bit of organizing in my closet today and managed to stumble across one of my dresses that got me back into sewing. The black dress was made my junior year of college, so only 3 years ago. Yikes, it’s been that long? Doesn't seem like it's been 3 years...

I made the dress for formal recruitment at my college, I was part of a sorority and we needed to have black dresses. Mind you, the year before we had to have RED dresses, which I still have, but our Headquarters changed what color all chapters had to have. Ever so kind of them... I spent the whole summer trying to find a black, strapless dress, that fit me well. Oh, and the dress had to be knee length. I came up empty handed for 2 months, so I gave up searching and went to JoAnns for a pattern and some fabric.

Aside from some minor holes due to sewing over misplaced fabric I love how this turned out! I added the black ribbon in the middle to cover the awkward seam that appeared. It was also my first time using boning, that was a very interesting experience. What I used was some type of plastic boning that JoAnns no longer sells.

I’ve worn this dress twice, yes twice. It’s too nice of a dress to wear to church or anywhere casually. I’d love to find someplace to where this to in order to get some more wear out of it, that probably won’t happen anytime soon, but at least I know I have a killer dress resting in the back of my closet.

The Blues Got Me

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I've made the Hope Wrap dress before. I haven't had time to get a picture of it because it's been sitting in the back of my closet. I haven't worn it since I finished it in, oh March? The dark blue color makes me think it's more of a fall/winter/early spring deal. Although, I tend to ignore what I should wear in what season, so this might make an appearance sometime this summer if it gets cool enough.

I think this dress turned out a bit better than my white one. There isn't as much problem in my chest area, I still chose to wear a cami under it though. I can't get away with not wearing one at work or church. This fabric was something I found on clearance, and of course I have extra. And this time the hem isn't as horrid! If I fiddled with the back of the dress it would hang straight, but I don't have a full length mirror in my room so I just threw the dress on to get a picture not thinking about the back of it.

Speaking of backs of dresses... A little amusement from my work. I had to work in the dress department of the store that I am employed in, not too odd. But a lady came up to return a dress I had just sold to her because "the back of the dress was longer in the back." My knee jerk reaction was noooo, reaallly?? You don't have a butt to cover? And then I realized the back of the dress was about 4 inches longer than the front, to which the lady responded she couldn't be bothered to hem the dress... At least my work keeps my entertained.

Hold Me Tight

So remember the fabric about a month ago that was just sitting by my sewing machine? Well something finally got done with it! Actually, I've been done with it... I made a lovely wrap dress out of the fabric!

I still need to fiddle around with the dress a bit more as it doesn't like to stay put in important places. It only looks slightly shorter in the the back, I didn't adjust it properly when I went to take pictures of it. The dress is so simple to make, it's the Hope Wrap Dress pattern found on Burda. I just need to remember to make it a slight bit bigger so it covers my chest a wee bit more.

Overall, I'm happy with the result, not matter how it hangs at the moment, I can always adjust things, which I have to do anyway. This is my second Hope Wrap dress, yes I like it that much. And when I saw this fabric I knew the pattern was perfect for it. I do have some fabric left over, which I'm thinking is going to get turned into a shirt... One of these days I'm going to get around to drafting some patterns out of clothes I already have.

Heat Wave!

Even though a lovely heat wave filled with 90 degree weather has been lingering around Ohio the past few days I've managed to be productive with my sewing! Take that heat. Below is the start of a pair of shorts, or well was the start. I finished them today only to discover I made them a size too small. Grr...

So I've retraced the pattern saving what I could (the pockets and belt loops) so I could use them on the next size up. I just hope this size fits properly or else I'm out of the denim fabric I found on clearance. I spent about an hour ripping seams trying meticulously not to rip any fabric. Great fun that was, but it'll be well worth it to reuse the fabric, especially since I lined the insides of the pocket with a lovely plaid remnant that I had found months earlier.

Made in the US of A

So Happy Fourth of July all. Today I present to you something I'm actually wearing today! I hear that gasp of surprise. Me, actually posting another picture of an article of clothing I made? Yes sirree, here's a dress I made based on Simplicity 2884. I originally made the dress with fabric remnants, but this started out with a lovely liliac skirt part and the light blue bodice which we see here. My mother pointed out the colors didn't go together. With that comment I set the dress aside for months and months and months.

Back in May I happened to be looking through the scraps of fabric again (or should I say as ususal) and stumbled upon some light blue fabric that I though would look great with the halter dress I had started to make back in, oh December. What I was doing making a halter dress back when it was snowing is another issue in and of itself. It just so happened that the fabrics matched perfectly and the remnant I bought was the right length for a skirt!

I swear the skirt's not crocked, it just looks funky because of me rushing in front of my camera... At least that's the story I'm sticking with, I could also blame it on my awkward posture, but we'll put part of the blame on the camera. I have to go into work yet again hence the cardigan.

I did have some troubles with the zipper and bodice. I'm not sure who Simplicity thinks will fit into their dress, the measurements fit my waist, but not my boobs. I took a lot of time attempting to fix the fit on top, which meant taking the zipper out and putting it back in about 5 or 6 times. I hate zippers... So the side looks like this:

Overall, a little rumply from the sides and the back, but it's wearable, especially with the cardigan over it. The next time I make this (and there will be a next time pattern, watch out) I'll spend some decent time measuring my chest and making adjustments to the pattern. I'm not sure who has such a tiny waist and such big boobs, but it's definitely not me.

And from this last picture it does look like I need to take some of the length off part of the midriff. Hm... Do I really want to take out the zipper again?

New Fabric and Aprons

So, I haven't been up to nothing. Work has pretty much held me hostage for the past few days. Who wants to work 7-8 hour days when working for minimum wage? Certaintly not I, but that's the schedule I'm stuck with and I am greatful for the money. Without my job I wouldn't be able to fund my sewing addiction/hobby. There's always that blasted give and take to everything isn't there? Now, don't get me wrong, I like my job, I just wish I didn't have to work as often and got paid more. Hence why I'm going to graduate school, to get a "grown up" job.

I have been tampering with my sewing machine and fabric these past few days. I had this lovely apron (pardon the akward picture, the sunlight hasn't been working with me to get decent pictures) half finished for a few months now. And I got around to dragging out the iron and ironing board so I could finish it! I quite like it with the pink and black, I feel I could have added a bit of black detail to the bottom and at least one pocket, but oh well, it's finally finished and I'm not tampering with it anymore...

Aside from sewing I've revisted my local fabric store (JoAnns) and dug through the remnant section. Remnants are how I justify my mass quanitiy of fabric. If it only cost $4 a yard (or so) and the object only cost $5 to make.... I'm slowly, slowly adding more handmade garments to my closet. Mainly dresses, which I hadn't worn much in previous years. I've found that dresses keep me cooler and with the AC going out a lot at work, it's not worth it to wear pants.

The lovely pink and yellow popsicle fabric is for bags. A free pattern for Charlie reusable bags can be found at Burda. I've modified the pattern a slight bit for most of the bags I've made (pictures will show up later). The pink fabric is actually going to be made into a bag for one of my friends. I have to draft a pattern for that, not especially hard with grocery-like bags.

There was a sale this weekend, or rather is a sale, for patterns. How could I pass up $0.99 patterns?? Answer: I couldn't. I caved and bought 3 patterns, one for shorts which I desperately need. I can't find shorts the right length! I'm a bit too small for the misses sizes and I don't want to look like a hoe in junior's sizes. Making my own just seems logical. I also have a pattern for a dress and cardigans. I need to stop buying patterns though and start sewing more!

And lastly here's a picture of some lovely clearance fabric, everything was on sale for $6 or less, and since I didn't buy more than 1.25 yards of anything, I was pleased. Fabric and patterns all for under $12, now that's a steal.

Hopefully I'll get around to more sewing this weekend, but I never know. My old computer's hard drive bit the dust and I still have files (and pictures) that I need to get off of it. Evil technology, attempting to rui

n my weekend by making me retype things as opposed to working fine and allowing me to sew.