Hello Random

Working on bits and pieces of this and that. So here is an update on some random projects I have been working on.

Costumes for Miss Adams Morgan Pageant, a drag queen show here in D.C. I made several outfits for one of the contestants, but stupidly only took one picture the whole time I was there. DOH! I'm the short one. :-P



I made my hat, loosely based on one of the Vintage Vogue hat patterns. My dress is the Decades of Style Button dress. I also made her dress, which was a mash up of draping and several different patterns. I wish I had a picture of the looooong skirt that also went with this dress. It had yards and yards and yards of ruffles trimming it. How much do I love my automatic ruffling foot--A LOT!!!!!!!!!!

Here is a little Dancing Buddha embroidered doorstop that I finished just in time for it to be too cold to open the doors. Yay Me!



And finally, now that it is getting dark so early, I needed some reflective patches to wear when I run at night. Aliens and robots make me happy. I think I will make a squirrel too.

There was a reason I bought those patterns in the first place....

I did an amazing thing. I actually looked through the patterns I already own and choose something from the pattern stash for the upcoming wedding. SHOCKER! I am using OOP Vogue 2784.



I don't think I have suitable fabric in the stash, so I still need to go shopping. I have it in my head that I want to wear these shoes, but I ALWAYS am trying to match these shoes and haven't managed successfully yet....



Is a purple dress with lime green accents too much, too out there? Probably....

Open to suggestions for fabrics. I tromped around Joann's but am too cranky about fabric quality to have much luck there anymore. I went to G Street but am WAY too cheap to buy most of their stuff.

I'm a Little Teapot

Trying to break free from my Knit Shirt Frenzy, I decided to do something a little different. I wanted to bring some funk into the wardrobe, so the skirt from Vogue 8561 seemed to fit the bill.



And here is what I ended up with (sorry for the lousy dress form pics. The fabric is hard to photograph and my dress form is WAY smaller than me).....



Pattern Review

Pattern Description from Vogue: Skirt has asymmetrical seams, patch pocket and flap, back-lapped zipper, back darts, contoured waistband and topstitching.

Fabric Used: Bargain cotton twill from Joann's. It has a subtle stripe which I thought would show off the fun bias bits of the skirt but would not drive me crazy with trying to match the stripes at every seam. I did the topstitching in red, mostly because I had it handy.

How were the instructions? Um, I guess they would have been ok if the pattern itself had actually been right. See below.

Construction Notes: When I was putting this bad boy together, I kept running into all sorts of problems. None of the pieces really seemed to match up as they should. I double checked the pattern pieces, the instructions, my sanity level, etc, but it was still not working. I wondered if the bias pieces just stretched out freaky-like but they hadn't seemed to when I compared them to the original pattern pieces. Eventually I just gave up and forced it to fit together any which way I could.

Of course, AFTER I finished the skirt, I found this post by Sew What that said the pattern was all wackadoodle and that Vogue was going to reprint it. So I am sane after all (HA! At least as far as this skirt is concerned!).

I did like the way the instructions did the pocket. It had you cut out an oaktag version of the finished pocket pattern, then sandwich the fabric between the oaktag and a larger piece of tissue paper. Then by tightening the tissue paper around the oaktag and pressing the fabric through the tissue, it makes the fabric have a really nice sharp pocket outline . The actual instructions say this better. I was skeptical, but I tried it and durn it if I didn't have a perfect pocket as a result.



Likes/Dislikes: I like the design of the skirt. I do. However, this wasn't really a good choice for me and my body type. I am short and stout (hence the name of this post) which does not make for flattering lines when I wear long skirts. But it really is super cute, so I wore it anyways. I love the pocket detail, although I would put that buttonhole a little lower if I were to do it again.

Would you do it again? Would you recommend it? I have no need for two funky skirts that are not so flattering to my short stubby self. But for anyone without my figure issues, I would absolutely recommend it.

Conclusion: A cute pattern that might have been easy to put together if Vogue hadn't screwed up the pattern. Fun topstiching. Fun (though not entirely practical) pocket.

I actually USE all these machines

I do love Jalie patterns. Here is a dress that I made for a co-worker using Jalie 2793. The fabric, of course, is from Gorgeous Fabrics.





It was soooo simple to make this tunic into a dress....just add on some length and voila! It turned out so cute I may need to make one for me.

I used the coverstitch machine for the first time on this dress to hem it and I am in LOVE! How did I ever work without one?!?!? I made a couple other dresses for co-workers, but didn't get shots of them before they left me.

On the cutting table right now is a new skirt, Vogue 8561. It is very different for me as I am usually not into the Marcy Tilton patterns, but this one is just funky enough without being too funky. I like long skirts, even though I really am too short to wear them.

So far it is going....ok. A bunch of the notches are not matching up, but I am not sure if that is the pattern, the fact that so many pieces are on the bias and are getting out of whack before I sew them, or just me being a blockhead. But I am forcing it to go together without notch matching and it seems to be working so far... I hope to finish it tonight and hopefully post pictures this weekend.