Cambie dress (cont....)

Well I've reach the part of sewing that I hate, ZIPPERS!!! I hate them so much, with a passion, and I try to avoid them whenever possible.  My Cambie dress pattern requires a DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN "INVISIBLE ZIPPER".  My least favourite word in zipper history.  I have never sewn with an invisible zipper before, so there was so much unknown to me.  First off, I need a whole other zipper for to install one.  Secondly, how am I going to find an Invisible Zipper at the fabric store, it's um...Invisible, duh?!?.  Just kidding, I'm not an idiot.
I got the zipper, got the sewing foot.  Misplaced the zipper, bought a new one, found the original after I bought the second one *grrrr* and I was on my way.

Oh, also, according to the internet, you need to "iron your invisible zipper down to get as close to the teeth as possible".
Ok, I did that too.
You know what, I will let the photos speak for themselves.

The back of the dress, do you see anything?

I don't see anything, but my seams are lined up.

BAM, THE ZIPPER WAS IN THE DRESS THE WHOLE TIME!

So, It took me 2 tries (I didn't get the seams lined up right the first time), but it wasn't horrible at all, and it looks really good.  So I am almost on my way to being finished.  HOORAY!

My future Cambie Dress

This is the back of the dress (sans Zipper).  Don't worry, the back will get sewn up eventually

Front of the dress.  I have yet to sew the lining on, so the straps on properly on their either

A close up of the fabric I used.  A teeny tiny sequins sits in the middle of all the flowers.

Booyah, I actually kept my promise (but I almost forgot at the same time).  I have made a skirt out of this fabric previously, but had enough to cut out View A of the Cambie dress.  I still have to have a crack at View B, but first I must finish this dress.  The lining of the dress is a bright magenta because I had a shit ton of it lying around, so why not?
Next, I have to get an invisible zipper foot for my machine, and then I will sew in the zipper, after that comes the lining, and then hemming the dress, aaaaand we're done after that.

The cambie Dress.

Le Sigh, still not sewing as much as I would like to, but on the plus side I have started cutting out my mock up Cambie dress for my friends wedding. I will take pictures for my blog tomorrow, but it is still just chilling on my Judy.  Firstly I need an invisible zipper foot to sew in my magical zipper (ugh, zippers no thanks please).  I've been reading up on hand-picking zippers, but I think at the end result the invisible zipper is the way to go.
That's my update for now, until tommorrow, when hopefully my slacker self get the pictures up.

My ReSEWlutions

Ah here we are, 4 days into the New Year, and I have not even written on EITHER of my blogs for a long time.  I know I said one of my resolutions this year would be to Sew more, and write on this blog more.  So I really need to stop slacking.  I started thinking this morning "Ok, you want to sew more, but what to you want to sew more of?".  It hit me that, much like writers block, I get sew-ers block.  I will sit down and be ready to sew something and then think F#*%, what do I want to sew?  I spend about a half hour humming and hawing and then before I know it, the babies are up from their naps.
Mind you my work-out schedule is about to change so I can probably sew more after hours if I get home from the gym by 7pm and not 9pm.  I need to start a list of things I want to sew and maybe the block won't seem so hards when it comes time to sit down and focus on my task at hand.
So here are things I want to get accomplished this year.

• Finish at least one UFO a month (I know it seems like a small task, but in the bigger picture, I have a ton of fabric that needs to get sewn)
• Make a mock up dress for my friends wedding (to see if the dress is appropriate attire for a bridesmaid to wear).
• Sew a skirt that I will actually wear out in public
•  Sew a shirt with more structure (vs. a jersey knit t-shirt)
• Start sewing "gift bags", and using scrap material as ribbon so I have them on hand for birthday parties for quick wrapping duties.
• Only buy patterns that I know I can and will use more than once
• Keep interfacing on hand at all times
• Focus more on sewing a garment properly than how quickly I can sew it.
• Learn more about my measurements and how to read a pattern and correctly cut out the right size

• Blog both my successes and failures in sewing (because it might appear that I'm not sewing, but I am. I'm just not proud of all of them)

So, there it is, my shortlist of things that I would like to achieve in the sewing world this year.

Another UFO finished.

I have finally finished a top that I previously blogged about.  The original top, even though unfinished was supposed to look like this

so smiley and happy and yellow that day.

 I decided that there was nothing redeeming about the top as it was so I changed it, only slightly.  You can't see it in the top picture but there was a white band that was suppose to go on the bottom.  It wasn't cute.  The shirt was too long and the white band just made it worse.
I took that off.  I also took off the white neckband and traded it for grey (the stars on the shirt are silver, so why not?).  I liked the crossed over look but it never sat right on me so I turned the shirt backwards, and created a scoopneck top instead.

Here is the back.

It's still a bit tight, but it's not as horrible as the top photo.  I will actually wear this out in public when the time is right....

Argyle Scoopneck

I ordered this Argyle fabric about 2 years ago from Mood Fabrics (I had a groupon).  I had been hesitating about what to make, and then I realised that the longer I hold on to this fabric, the more I will fret about what to make.  There is no perfect and ideal pattern for every single piece of fabric I buy and I always find myself hesitating to cut because I worry that there might be a better pattern down the line.  I finally decided "screw it" started cutting.

The pattern is from a previously loved top that I was no longer wearing.  I took it apart, traced it and viola!  The front is the argyle pattern and the sleeves and back is dark purple.

Somehow I was able to sew most of it during naptime, if it had not been for my machine acting up I would have finished all of it during naptime.

Quick "weight loss" fit

I bought this top online about 2 months ago from Rickis (damn I love that store), and I had a size large, colour purple sitting in my online shopping cart.  Well, Rickis played a cruel cruel joke on me, and when I checked out they said "oh, hey BTW the shirt colour and size you wanted are gone, your option is a XXL in grey/black".  I really liked the shirt, and it was a good deal, so I said "Since we are SUCH good friends, I WILL buy this shirt and I will take it in.

Without further ado, here is the before and after.

Before - big boxy, and shapeless

Oh hey, my "unimpressed face"

 After-fitted, and still long enough to suit me.

Oh, even better, my "pretend to smile" face

It was fairly quick, and I think in the end I took about 4-5 inches on each side, BAM.  The arms might not be completely matched underneath, but no one will be checking up in my business so it's ok.