McCalls 7127 (altered)

So I never post here, as you can tell by my numerous *sorry I never post* blogs.  I have been sewing, I usually have to time it, I practice my routines, get my sets built and whatever time I have leftover becomes focus on sewing.
I have sewed McCalls 7127 several times, I have sewed it enough that I bought the pattern 2 more times. I can cut and sew it within 2-3 hours (depending on the back I chose). I decided to do something a little different this time around. I traced the pattern and then cut out a front panel.

The middle panel of fabric was one that I had previously used to make view A of this pattern (go figure).  This time I was making view B. The only other difference in the top is I used spare material to bind the back rather than making a 5/8" hem.

 The front half of the shirt, Zinnia approves and needs attention.

The back half with the cutout and binding. ps-it's a white tank top not my bra.

Someday I would like to post the other incarnations of this top, if I can get a good hair day.

The dress that almost wasn't, but then was.

This starts out as a happy tale, that gets sad, and then happy again.
So My hubby tells me we are invited to a Margarita Ball, which was an invite only-black tie event. I have never been, but my first thought was "crap now I have to get dolled up". I immediately went pattern shopping and gave myself a few to choose from. Well Halloween rolled around so I couldn't start the dress until after that, but eventually I chose simplicity 1415. I picked view B, but did it without sleeves, and chose a stretchy blue taffeta with a navy blue chiffon overlay. I measured myself and cut out the right size...or so I thought. All through the sewing I would try the dress on, but because the zipper wasn't in yet, I couldn't tell how much the dress wasn't actually fitting. I finally get to that last step and lo and behold, it won't zip, it's too tight. I sat on the couched and sulked for the rest of the night, and immediately took it apart.
I bought another dress the next day, so I had a back up. I had 3 days before this ball and I had some determination, I took the skirt off the bodice, and unpicked the seams halfway up (and down on the skirt). I took out the pleats and the darts, and started to rebuild. Luckily I left a seam allowance and this is where I got lucky. I sewed about 1/4 of an inch (pretty much where the serger had stitched), and left the darts of the bodice. I also turned the pleats into gathers (pleats made my ass look bigger than it needed to). I sewed it back together, and put the zipper in, and holy shit, it fit.
I made the bow to hide the mess of the gathers at the waist, and then I was done.
I was able to wear it AND return the other dress (so, money saved there I guess!). Besides, I saw 2 other lovely ladies wearing the same dress, so I guess I was lucky there.

Anyway, here is the dress.

Whoops!

Last time I blogged about sewing was almost 2 YEARS ago.  Yikes. Needless to say I have been sewing, just have not been blogging, I have a lot of catching up to do.  First and foremost, I finished my friends quilt. That was about 2 weeks ago (whoops, slacker!!!)  I didn't take a picture of it myself, so the one I am posting is from her facebook page.
The hesitation to finish it came from it not being "perfect".  I would work on it for a few days, get bored, move on, etc.  Then it came time to top stitch it. I used a Twin Needle, which kept skipping, which was annoying. So I had a choice, keep sewing with it or stop.  I stopped.  Then in October I bought a Coverstitch Machine (oh how I have always wanted one).  It solved the problem of skipping stitches and finally gave it the look I was hoping for.  The next snag was when I layed everything down to stitch the back to the front.  It was wonky, not even, I wanted to cry.  I texted my friend and she said "don't worry about it, I wouldn't have done any of this, even If i had been given 2 years".  So I sew it together.

So there it is, the finished quilt in its glory.  I learned a LOT from this.  Even though it wasn't perfect, my friend loved it, and that's what mattered the most.
I have started saving all the cute shirts my kids wear and those will eventually be turned into quilts, now that I know what is possible.

Where am I and what am I doing?

If you do for some reason follow this blog (there are 7 of you I believe), you may wonder, where are you? what are you working on? why even bother having a sewing blog if you aren't going to write in it?

Well I can answer all of these questions.

Where am I?
 I am at home, sewing.  Mostly for others, I have been experiencing "sew-ers block" if you will.  Everytime I walk into the sewing room all I do is look at patterns and touch fabrics, and think about what I would LIKE to sew, but then have to find material to go with that pattern.  You know the story "if you give a mouse a cookie"? That's my sewing habit. I sewed a pair of shorts for my son, and then 2 pairs for my daughter (so she can wear skirts but not show off her diaper)  I have been fixing my friends clothes, and cloth diapers.  After that I started on this....

What are you working on?
My friend asked me if I could sew her a t-shirt quilt, I said yes, because I've always wanted to sew one, but was too afraid.  The opportunity came up to work on one that isn't for me, so the pressure was off me to figure out what I wanted to do.  While it is slightly stressful to not screw it up she also said she doesn't care as long as it gets done (because she couldn't do it).  So when the front is all sewn up I will take another picture to post my progress, and eventually the "end result".

why even bother having a sewing blog if you aren't going to write in it?

Shut up, that's why.  Just kidding, I am the worst for updating my blogs, and even I still don't know how to internet properly.  Maybe someday I will have a fabulous blog like all the other crafty ladies out there.

Butterick 5497

Before I actually bought this pattern, I kept hesitating on it.  I would pick it up, have it in my cart and then put it back.  I really didnt think it would look good after being sewn up, finally one day I decided to bite the bullet and buy it because it was on sale.
I also googled it to see other peoples versions of the patterns and they all looked awesome so I figured I would give it a shot.

 The top is loose but the gathering looks nice and is quite flattering.  I cant wait to actually wear it out somewhere.

I loved the back of this shirt, I will have to wear it with a tank top as the low back shows off bras.

I used some spare black material I had, I wanted to make sure that I actually liked the style before I tried making it with some of my good fabric.
And....fin.

Finished Colour Block Shirt (with sleeves)

I know the pictures to this are sort of terrible, but since losing my "sewing area" and now sharing it with my hubbys office, it's cramed quarters, and nowhere to take pictures. So here it goes.

Here is the front section cut out but not sewn together.  I decided to put my purple colour in the middle to break up the blue/green I had going on

 Here is the top sewn together (but not pressed).  At this point it was that I realised that I made a good choice in the colour scheme (and happy I had to use brown instead of navy blue material). 

 

 Next I cut out sleeves.  I sort of "franken-patterned" this top.  I dug into my pattern stash and grabbed the first one that I saw had sleeves I had sewn before. Simplicity 4076 (which is apparently still in print)

I cut out the back and the sleeve at the same time.

 Sewed the shoulders together

 Then sewed on the sleeves (after that I forgot to take pictures).  I sewed up the side seams, and hemmed the bottom of the shirt with a twin needle.

I ended up cutting out bands to go around the sleeves because they weren't long enough, as well as making a make-shift neckband for the collar of my shirt. It doesn't look "perfect" on the dummy, but I am really happy with how it turned out.  however I really do need to get my serger in to be looked at, it's not running like it should be.

A tutorial of sorts...

I had a commenter on my blog ask me for a tutorial of my "colour block top".  I said I would get it on my blog soon, and then I took too long, and for that I am sorry.  I still haven't created a top with sleeves, and this is why

 I cannot get past the 3 colours and what to pair them with.  I wanted navy blue but couldn't find the type of jersey knit I wanted in navy blue.  I settled on brown, but I'm not sure about all 3 colours with brown, and I don't want to do another black top.
Instead I will show everyone what I did.  First I started with this pattern Simplicity 4699 (it is out of print).  But you could use any t-shirt pattern (for jersey knits) that you would like

 I traced view A

Then I cut it into 5 different sections (I made sure I labeled them so I wouldn't screw it up)

 

I had also added length to the front of the shirt, so I made sure to add it to the back as well.

Once I figure out my colour scheme I will post a proper tutorial, and I do apologize for the lack of explanation.
I'm so sorry.
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