Cotton Lawn Tunic

With all these tunic posts I've been coming across lately I decided to see what all of the fuss is about and make one for myself.

I opted for Simplicity 1461 view D. It is offered in misses' and plus sizes. I love the length of tunics and am already thinking about others I can make.

I need to look up reviews for A, B, and C because they just seem like they would be really revealing...

I love how this pattern has different pattern pieces for bust sizes. I'm lucky and rarely need bust adjustments on patterns. But for those who need to make adjustments all of the time this can be very time saving.

I do unfortunately still need to make adjustments for my hips. So I sewed my standard size 12 top and graded to a size 14 for my hips.

I love the fabric I used. It is called The Hit Parade Lawns Unicorn Hunt Orange and you can find it at Fabric.com. It is a combed 100% cotton lawn.

The only thing I would do differently is fix the placement of the unicorn. I really did not mean for it to end up on my stomach. Lower left/right would have been better. But oh well. 

Cotton lawn does wrinkle easily. I did iron it before the pictures. Me iron? I know, shocking. But I did. But after sitting it looks like this. Probably won't be a top I put in my suitcase for my cruise...

The sleeves were simple and turned out well. On these I did purposely place the unicorn on them.

This is the stitching looking at it inside out. I do like how on the tunics they are stitched a second time about an inch or so in. Not only does it give the top a higher end look, it keeps that darn interfacing from being able to pop out.

Overall I really like the top. I think next time I will try it with higher end soft material like a silk or something. I'll have to do some more peaking around blogs to get ideas. It is definitely a pattern I'll keep around.

Simplicity 2372 - A work top

I still need more tops for work. This one seemed easy, boy was I in for a surprise.

I decided to try Simplicity 2372 view C.

I should have noticed all of the pleats. The ones at the top were fine, I think I have those down okay. But they also have them on the sleeves. And darts on the sleeves. Also, although you can see it if you look closely, the front and back total 4 pieces, not 2 like I expected. A lot of things for a newbie like me. It made for a longer process than expected.

The fabric I used is called Whitecap Gray Floral Printed Silk Crepe de Chine and I bought it from Mood Fabrics online. Sadly, it is now sold out. But it is on their website still, maybe they will restock?

I did pre-wash the fabric in my washing machine with cold water. Mood recommends dry cleaning all silk fabrics but, ain't nobody got time for that.

If you look at the front you can see it pulls up in the middle. Yep, that's because I failed to line up the bottom when I connected the front right with the front left. If this would have been one piece it never would have happened. Luckily though when I'm moving around and wearing it it's only noticeable if you're looking for it.

I lined up the back better than the front. It's just wrinkled. There I am being lazy with the ironing again.

All that time spent making the pleats and with this fabric it is barely noticeable. If I were to do it again I would skip pleating the sleeves for sure. Might even skip pleating the front too. To me it just makes it seem wrinkled. 

Overall I do like the shirt. Even with my screw up in the front. But I doubt I would ever make it again. There are other tops I've made that were easier that I would wear just as often. But of course I'll keep the pattern around, because maybe once I have more sewing under my belt I'll think this was easy.

Seriously? Another t-shirt?

I know. It's another t-shirt. But what can I say? I like me some t-shirts. They are comfy! Plus, this is what I really needed. But soon you will see me tackling some new things. Especially now that it's warming up outside. 73 degrees today!

My first time attempting a Butterick pattern. Butterick 5354 Fast & Easy to be exact. I used my standard size 12 top and graded it out to a 14 for my hips.

I decided to make the short sleeve (green) version.

I have to say, if you are beginner and you are doing one of your very first patterns do not start with Butterick. Start with Simplicity or McCall's. Not that this was very difficult, they just don't explain things as thoroughly in the pattern instructions as Simplicity or McCall's. They expect you to know more and have some experience.

For example, this is an instruction from Butterick on how to fuse and finish a neck facing:

And here is an instruction from a standard Simplicity pattern on how to fuse and finish a neck facing:

And lastly, here is an instruction from a McCall's "Learn to Sew" pattern on how to finish a neck facing:

So as you can see, depending on the pattern company, instructions on how to do the exact same thing can differ. I'm sure there are many other detailed instructions, and lacking instructions out there.

And now hopefully you can save yourself some stress. And for those people who roll their eyes because this is sewing 101, sorry, let's move on to my top!

This is what I get for having my husband take the pictures. He didn't tell me to fix the shirt! Also, sorry for the wrinkles. I hate to iron.

Since it was too dark to go out and re-take the picture here is it up close on my dress form.

I like how the sleeves are sewn on. I have never done them this way before. For some reason it reminded me of a flower. On the bottom (in the arm pit) the result is this..

See my zigzag stitch? Yeah, I still need a new sewing machine. Just have to decide which one to get and how much I am willing to spend.

The fabric used was from my very first order from Mood Fabrics. Yay! The fabric is dark pink medium-weight cotton jersey. You can find it here. It's very comfortable. I probably won't wear it when its 100 degrees outside, but it is wonderful in this weather.

A top for work - Simplicity 8061

Tops. Lots and lots of tops. Preferably ones that I can wear to work. That's kind of what I am focused on. But now that the weather is warming I think it may change. Because dresses. Yes, I need to make me some for my vacation this summer. Woohoo.

I actually finished this top last weekend. It wasn't a difficult one at all. But I wound up getting sick during the week and today was the first day I had the energy to dress and put on makeup for pictures. I'm still not 100% but this is what you get.

So anyway, on to the top! For this one I used Simplicity 8061. I used my standard size 12 for tops. However, because of what happened on my last top, I graded it out to a size 14 for my hips. Oh the joys of being pear shaped... Is their a better name than pear shaped? It's not really attractive..

I like this pattern because of all the different variations. Super easy to make so many different tops. Really perfect for work wear. I went with view C because I don't have any tops in RTW that are squared off at the top.

And the result was...

That's my dog in the bottom corner. He wanted to hang out for this photo shoot. It was so beautiful outside! Almost 70 degrees.

The neckline is a little crooked but I think that has to do more with how I was standing and moving then what the pattern ends up looking like. It is usually straight.

My one problem was the sleeves. Why are they poofing out on top? Does anyone know? Please help!

None of my other shirts seem to have the poofy problem.

The shirt also has this detailing on the side. I don't think my camera picked it up well though for the picture. But you get the idea.

I haven't quite perfected the turning of the stitch up top there. But I did much better this time than I have on other shirts I have attempted it on.

Typically I would wear this shirt with slacks to work. But being sick and all I just threw the top on with some jeans.

The fabric is from Hancock Fabrics and you can find it here. It is called Rayon Challis Blurred Floral Natural Rayon Fabric. Whew! What a name. It is 100% Rayon and sooooo comfortable. I can't get over how soft it is. But I found a flaw on it while I was sewing. I'm so sad. Looks like something got caught on it and there is a run. So I recommend inspecting it, and other fabrics, before you buy.

Knit t-shirts, gotta love them.

A good old fashioned t-shirt. Who doesn't love them? Comfy and cozy. Good for cold, warm, and hot weather. You can wear them out, you can wear them in. You get my point.

Taking the same McCalls 6964 pattern I used on my long sleeve knit t-shirt I made this short sleeve one. I actually intended to make another long sleeve but I didn't have enough fabric to pull it off.

I found this fabric at Joann's yesterday in the clearance section. And on top of that they had 50% off all of their red dot clearance. I think this ended up costing me $4/yard. No too shabby.

It took some work to keep the stripes together when sewing. This side is better than my other side. But I'm still proud.

And as I mentioned before, I need a new sewing machine! Mine is a simple one. Almost like a featherweight machine. It has no stretch stitch options and a twin needle doesn't work. All I have is the zig zag to work with. I put my machine on the smallest one and just hope it works and my clothes don't fall apart on me. Because I do like wearing these knits! But I'm stuck with this being visible. It just screams homemade... I'll survive.

Time for a cardigan!

My job requires me to wear a lot of cardigans. A LOT of cardigans. During the winter it isn't such a big deal. It's cold, cardigans are comfy. But during the summer... forget about it!

After being so incredibly jealous of my co-workers who have sleeveless, or short sleeve cardigans I finally decided to just make my own. This is the first, and biggest, reason I decided to re-learn how to sew.

So here I am. After making some fun beginner projects I finally made my first cardigan.

I decided to attempt McCalls Pattern 6084.

It's considered easy. And the package says sew time is only one hour! A beginner like me should do just fine right??

Well, not really. This cardigan gave me one night of complete frustration until I quit. I don't know what it is about these instructions but I was just soooo confused. I'm sure you would laugh thinking I was confused by something so simple.

The next day I went back at it. I pretty much just made up some steps to get by. I think it turned out all right though. I think I probably spent 8 hours sewing this 1 hour pattern...

I used a size large for the pattern. I usually use a medium. But dumb me, I bought patterns before I actually started sewing and didn't realize each package didn't have all the sizes. Oops. Won't make that mistake again. So, I made the smallest size in the package. I am definitely going to make the sleeves smaller. They are huge. The rest I can deal with wearing.

I used just some simple black knit fabric I found at Joann's. It's slightly heavier than ideal for summer, but very comfortable.

Boy do my bangs need trimmed! :)