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BWOF 11-2008-110 and V8543 progress report

I love my Vivenne Westwood inspired skirt.

I think the secret of this skirt is that it's basically a fitted sack, so for curvy girls like myself, my body adds the shaping required. 

 

Oh and I the fins, I am definitely making this one again.

On the sewing machine is still my vogue skirt.

I used my edgestitching foot to do the top stitching on it, which came as an after thought because I had it for the longest time but have never used it.

I always say I love the vogue curved seamed skirts because they go together so well but I am having a little set back with this one and maybe I'm reading to much into the instructions but I can't seem to wrap my mind around how they want me to finish the hem of the lining and the hem of the skirt with these pleats.

Well, if I can't figure it out I can always post for thoughts on PR. I would love to get a shirt that will match with this color lining.

LOVE IT.

and speaking about shirts, I have such a strong crush on this one

no progress on the jacket but if I can finish up this skirt this weekend I can start the muslin for the jacket next week.

 

more later...

BWOF 11-2008-110: Vivenne Westwood inspired skirt

I am loving making my skirts.

They are quick like my knit dresses but seeing that they are separates I will get much more wear out of them.

My next project came out of indecision.

I really didn't know what to do with this fabric and so, after days of going through all my BWOF magazines for inspiration, I finally made the decision to go with 11-2008-110, but I really didn't have my full heart into it until I saw:

 

and I completely came un-done. I was sold.

 

 

so its a GO!

and its almost done as I type, just the lining needs to get sewn it, do I need to say the fit is fantastic!

Its a true pencil skirt if ever there was one and I can't wait to show you guys what's up, but not until I can get some photos of me in it so you can see for yourself....

not like you don't trust me but still!

I have to tell you about my next big project sometime this week.

LBD Day 19:Ruffles and BWOF 10-2008-115

October is truly running away from me.

About the poll from yesterday, I say, YES!

Yes to the cape as outerwear with an LBD.

Even though I am very conservative especially with outerwear and don't yet own a cape, I love it.

Its not as trendy as you think, if you watch old hollywood movies you would see starlets wearing capes and capelets with full length gowns, what's old is new that's all.

I feel the biggest dilemma is Proportion to height and body shape.

I have a short torso and big hips so these things matter to me. I need shaping so I may need a version of this cape that is shorter or have a belted feature to accentuate my waist or I may end up looking like a BLOB. However, this is so city CHIC. Thanks for the great comments Ladies.

My mojo is staggering and waivering.

I am fighting it as much as I can, so when I woke up on Saturday morning and saw my October BWOF laying opened to 10-2008-115, a dress I wanted to make from the first time I saw the preview, I took this as a sign from God.

 

and the rest is history.

Previously, I wanted to make Vogue 8511, because its a classic design and seeing that this fabric is one of my more expensive pieces I wanted something that had staying power in my closet. However, I feel that designer fabrics deserve to "say something" so the BWOF dress seem to be the better match.

I did my usual alterations for my body, so I'm guessing if you don't do alterations, you should be fine. It was a quick sew project and the fit is awesome.

I highly recommend this pattern to the exponent degree.

More..

 

 

I will be working on 10-2008-114 for mom, its already cut out so tomorrow after work I will get started on sewing it up for her.

Today's LBD is JCrews Ruffle wrap dress.

 

 

Seeing that the post is a little long I will write the commentary tomorrow but the main question is

Day 19 Does a Ruffle empire waist dress have an adolescent look, so much that it is not sophisticated enough for mature women Yes NO view results

more on this later.

EOM Jet set: Photos and Progress update

My sewing and plan is the new ongoing lunch time topic, I must say, my coworkers have been a great source of motivation, pushing me and keeping me going through my planning and now, implementing of my first set of garments, its so much fun, and I'm still so excited, I can't even describe how I am loving this process.

So, as promised

and

In the beginning..........

Because of our Regional Staff, there is a lot of employee's that come in from out of state for major meetings. The concept of Jet Set came up when we were meeting at lunch, somehow the conversation of my inspiration of Morocco, turned into, how do you choose your clothes for a business trip in the summer months?

Good question!

Its hot, goodness knows how long its going to take you to get there, and I would think you would want to be very comfortable.

I said, I would do a black or navy pants,,, just to stay professional but with some stretch, a light cotton short sleeve top, not to stiff, with a print to show my creative side (after all, men do it with ties) and walk with a matching jacket or cardigan,,,, preferably cardigan, so my creative side don't overwhelm my professionalism, lol,, DONE!

Plus after the day is done, I can put on some jeans with my shirt and go out for a drink with my coworkers, which we do when they visit.

This was another aspect of my planning, making sure that everything can be multipurpose, I like to be able to use 60% of my closet for work and play, because it takes a lot of time and money to put together a pretty decent wardrobe and I want to get the most out of it.

Okay, more rambling as the time goes by

here is another sneek peak of things to come

While writing this post I got an email that my fabric for 06-2008-107 has shipped,, YAY, the Burda English Group is doing a sewalong to get everyone going with doing at least 1 bwof pattern this month, and I had to put it into my plan because I just had to be a good sport and join, lol.... I am a sucker I know, lol

So,,,,,

I will post my Fabric love portion of this post when I get the other piece.

As for my Progress, well, I am going to cut out and maybe start working on my Jalie 2806 tonight. This weekend will be about putting the finishing touches on my Vogue Safari suit so I can start on Phase 2 of my collection.

what can I say,, more later!

EOM Jet set: BWOF 06-2008-105 Cap Sleeve blouse with self fabric belt

Before I start the review, I just want to let you guys know that I will be posting a photo of me wearing it when I wear it to work this week, today is a pj's and movie day and I don't plan on even combing my hair, lol. Oh,, and some Fabric love.

This is my 4th Finished Garment for my EOM plan.

The fabric used on the models for this pattern in the June BWOF really sold me in the preview.

Love the preppy look of the blue on white stripe and the safari inspired combo in the other version. I made version A using buttons instead of snaps.

I cut out my regular bwof size 40.

I didn't do a sway back adjustment, because I totally forgot about it, I don't think I needed it anyway, if you look at the pattern its actually cut with a curve already.

The buttons, I spaced to my liking, I moved the Tie loop lower than recommended, it was up under my bust line which didn't look right because its not an empire waist blouse. Easy fix though, I recommend that you check for the position of the loops and buttons as you do with any other blouse.

I added more ease under the waistline, because I didn't do a muslin I wanted to be sure that I had enough room to be comfortable and I'm glad I did it, it added some more shaping which I always love.

I should have made the arm area lower because it was a little snug on my arm with I basted the pleats. another easy fix, I just made the pleat smaller, so the design is still there but the pleat itself is very small.

I always adjust for arms so I don't think it had anything to do with the pattern itself.

It came together very quickly, I cut it out one night,, then thrusday and friday of last week, I spent a couple of hours sewing it up, so I classify this one as beginner easy

and now for some photos.

oh, and about this print, the only reason why I got this fabric, which is a stretch lightweight cotton, is because it reminded me of scrapbook paper, lol, whimical doodling, I can't wait to wear it to work, it definiately makes for great conversation.

More photos, fabric love, planning and progress report to follow soon.

 

She's so pique-cular collection: Set 3 Pool Party and Recap

I made pants, I made pants everyone.. YAY!

LoL, remind me to take the photo before I go out and not after, woo hoo,, tired..

Okay...

Well it was bound to happen eventually , I couldn't really do a spring into summer collection without some shorts now can I?

I'm a true dark denim blue jeans kind of girl. I'm not adventurous when it comes to pants at all. I love them dark and bootcut.

But lately... which is due to all the magazines that have been sucking up my lunch breaks...I've been feeling the urge to get into some shorts.

That being said

Tell me, when did a good fitting pair of shorts become so hard to find?

Okay,, so clearly that is a general statement.

I should say, I absolutely couldn't find my Perfect Shorts anywhere.

My Perfect Shorts is straight leg with no tapering, I have to much hips for that, just regular straight leg will work fine for me.

I would also love them to fit the waist, hip and butt comfortably, which is like a myth with my proportions.

The fact that I couldn't find one had all the things going on at the same time became my inspiration for finding and adding a pair of shorts to my collection.

My Interpretation

For this set, I decided to use S2894 view E and BWOF 02-2008-123.

The Shorts.

My initial plans were to make this short in a white pique and use it  with the simplicity 2896 jacket as a set and use it with the other
pieces in this collection

BUT!

Seeing that the jacket plans got cancelled I decided to make it out of Black pique, a piece I had reserved for M5594 but lost the mojo for it. I need to work it out of my stash.

I made a muslin and two things I want to make note of… if you don't know you size in simplicity for pants, please make a muslin, you may want to check for the crotch depth because the yoke is very high. Don't say I didn't worn you!

I lowered the crotch by an inch and still took off and inch off the lenght of the waistband. I cut out a size 18 and added ease for my hipline after I matched up to the measurements from a Capri I have at home here that I like the fit off.

I hemmed this pant on hand, I didn't like the look of the machine hem once I started to do it. About from that, its great I love them and they are so comfortable, I will make another one in white for sure,, maybe white cotton twill.

The Top

Wow, this was a long time coming. When I got the February issue of BWOF, I traced out this pattern that day. I knew I wanted it but I didn't see any print in a knit that will work…..until I saw this one. I couldn't be more happy, check it out. It has:

Grey

Khaki

White

Black

Brown

Basically every neutral I would ever want to wear with it and of course I can do good old denim with it. I sewn it up one afternoon after work, no problems. You know I had to put in a fun printed knit in there somewhere.

Now for the Recap

The Plan: Three sets of garments using a spring/summer color palette for daytime events

 

The Result

Set One: Tea Party

Set Two: Garden Party

Set Three: Pool party 

Pecular tidbit

I am a Lint Brush a holic.

I have them everywhere and I lint off everything. I don't know when this obsession started but I am not alone, lol.

I guess when you sew, thread gets on everything, I mean, even if it just got off the sewing machine it shouldn't have to LOOK like it just got off the sewing machine right?

Okay, so I know, this post is very long and drawn out but I will not be posting for a little while, my MIL will be in town for about 2 weeks so that equals no sewing for me.

So what's Next?

My Full summer wardrobe collection, its called Essaouria of Morocco,, yeah,, good stuff!

 

 

She's so pique-culiar Collection: Set One

WOW,, thanks for all the comments on my dress everyone, I am planning on making another sheath style dress now that see it works for me,, more on this later.

Okay...

I decided to do something interesting for Lulu's tag.

So for each Collection related post I will also have a "peculiar tidbit" about myself at the end.

When I saw Sara Campbell's show on QVC a few weeks ago, I was really impressed, I recorded and watched it over and over again until my dh deleted by "accident"..... yeah right!

Seeing that Sara used Pique so much in her collection,when I found some cute pique to make my skirts, I decided to do a collection featuring sets which would include one or more thing made with pique.

Set One: At the Tea Party

Cute and comfortable, if you ever wanted to prove your feminine side, nothing says it louder than pink, florals and a tie bow.

Obviously I didn't make a knock off of this dress, lol

What I took from it is the main color, Pink, the full skirt for the bottom piece, the bow on the side in the form of the tie bow on the top and short cap style sleeves.

The Interpretation

The Skirt

can be found here

The Top

I used BWOF 05-2008-103 with Sleeves from 05-2008-116. Its on the same page for it wasn't a hassle. I used a medium weight white jersey and a lighter weight for the lining.

I had some problems with the drape, when I sewn up the sides it drooped, so I had to pull it taut and restitch it on the (big side) and the little side, the front piece had to much excess so I had cut off some of the excess for it. I will say this must be due to my hip and waist, my waist is much smaller than my hip so I'm thinking I had to much ease at the waistline that made the drape, droop and then the opposite for my hip.

The Neckline is very low, I may even have to wear a very thin Cami under it because I didn't raise the neckline, which I should have because i know BWOF is not really into modesty, lol.

I won't recommend lengthening it if you are not compensating for your height. Its very generous if you make sure to add your hem Allowance.

Apart from that, I should have done a SBA, I didn't even think about it until it was done.

So Photos.

Tie Bow

Back

Inside Front

   

lining

Peculiar Tidbit: I once hypnotize myself to sleep to excape from watching a scary movie.

Yep, I can do the fastest, steepest, rolla-coasters but absolutely no scary movies, I've always been terrified of them. My dh, friend and I went to see Texas Chainsaw Massacre.... I was bullied into it.... and five minutes into the movie I couldn't take it any more. A few months before I got hypnotized at a conference for my job and it worked so I redid everything I could remember the doctor doing to me... next thing I knew, my dh was waking me up. Looking at me incredulously, he said, "I can't believe you fell asleep on the movie",,,,,, imagine the shock on my face. I said after recalling what happened, "I can't believe it either." Let me tell you, it was one of the best naps I've ever had.

I'm already working on Set two, can't wait to show you!

BWOF 04-2008-116: Complete

Its done

Before I continue, I just wanted to shout out Piroutte from Krustallos and Narcissaqtpie from Sewl Sista#1 for hooking me up with the E for Excellence Blog award, just knowing you thought of me like that, really made me happy,, so right back at your ladies and to all the other blogs I comment on,,, the same applies.

I was sitting down at the computer just looking at this dress, it looks good but if I could do it again, I would change a couple of things.

Do you do that?

You get to the finish line, you are happy with the results but you a NOT COMPLETELY overjoyed with the whole execution.

For this, it will be the fabric choice.

This one is very light and very stretchy,,, and even though it works for the dress, for the neckline,,,, not so much. I think I needed something with a little more body overall. But I should have also made a whole facing, because that would have given it more support. I didn't do that.

And the sleeves....

I went back and forth in whether or not I was actually going to put them on. When I first saw this design, I loved the look of the capped sleeves, but when I was finished with the neckline, the sleeveless looked pretty good too.... I added the sleeves, lets just say I wanted to keep the integrity of the design for this one.

Would I make it again?

Gosh,,, I don't know if I would, it was easy once I resolved my mistake but I don't know if I want a bunch of these hanging in my closet, but I would say,,,, the color block version is very tempting.

So onward and upward with fantasy sewing.

Did you see the new Lucky Magazine?

The colors on the magazine's cover itself has seeped into my subconscious, all week I have just been adding more and more swatches of neutrals on my table.

So, In my daydreams, I can imagine myself in a white pima cotton version of M5522

in View A

I would use that khaki on white circle dot print cotton sateen to make M5591

and using a Taupe Shantaug, I would love to make 04-2008-101

love it

and maybe another wrap dress

that's if I had more time in my day, lol

photos will follow,,,of course

have a great weekend.

BWOF 04-2008-116: not quiet a catatrophe,,, yet

so what do we have now?

Well

Yesterday was a time of reflection for me. I always say to my non crafty friends that my hobbies keep me grounded because it doesn't matter how much I learn, something always happens and I have to humble myself, lick my wounds and keep it going.

and I know what you are thinking,, its not that bad.

Maybe its not but I did feel kind of disoriented and clueless yesterday when I was thinking of what I did wrong, trying to figure it out.

Linda wrote: " I agree that as long as the dress fits well it shouldn't matter where the shoulder seam lies. But still it is baffling. When I find mistakes like this I start back at square one - namely the pattern Burda gave you. Did you inadvertently trace the wrong line? Was it drafted like that? Quite possibly the error is Burda and not your mistake"

Allison wrote: "It doesn't look like you have enough seam allowance to move it forward, the only fix I can think of if you really can't stand it is to take a tiny tuck the same distance away from your shoulder towards the front so it kind of looks like a separate section on top of the shoulder. Or just wear a little wrap or shrug over it and make this your wearable muslin"

Lashell wrote:"Maybe you can put some fabric in between the seams so you will have two seams instead of one. One seam will be on the back shoulder and the other will be in the front"

I figured I would use Allison's and Lashell's advice as the last resort, I didn't even think of it so I would have to put a NOTE TO FILE on that for further use, lol.

What Linda wrote really got me thinking though,, going back to the pattern to see what I did from the jump seemed like the best place to start.

Don't worry, its not Burda's fault, my bodice front was miraculously at least an inch longer than the traced pattern, but the back (minus SA) was accurate.......

Weird right?

I know I cut out the pattern exactly to the measurements I traced, but this is my theory, I think I must have cut it off grain a bit and stretched it out when I was stitching down the front bodice because it looked like I stretched it out.

So, I ripped out the seams to check out my theory,, check this mess out.

I machine baste it where it would be if the excess was not there before I actually cut it out so I can try it on and see what was the verdict.

and this is what you saw on the table on me,,, the excess fabric from the back is up tout now.

After that I was convinced, to just eliminate that extra length in the front, and add some elastic tape to the neckline to kinda,,,, and hopefully prevent anymore stretching,, this fabric is beyond stretchy.

An this is the result

as I try to keep my arms as natural as possible,,, this is a split before and after because my previous photos didn't show the defect good.

in the before pic, the seam in the wrong place with excess sag in the back, the after is much better,, I will not say perfect but I can deal..

Thanks for the advice ladies, because of all your words I was able to get the wheels in my head spinning with a few possibilities.

I have to do the sleeves now so hopefully that goes much more smoothly.

BWOF 04-2008-116: Gathered front dress

I must have lost my bwof skills......

04-2008-116

Progress shots

Front bodice

Do you see that?

My red arrow is pointing to the shoulder seam, I tried to put my arms where it will fall as naturally as possible.

I cut out a size 38, and as you can see from the front, its good on the side and bust,, but what is going on with that shoulder seam?

Where did I go wrong?

I am mystified!

I don't like this turned down neckline either, they said to stabilize it with a strip of interfacing or something like that, but somehow I felt like I should have done a whole bodice facing for the front and just stablized between the two layers..... Jeez,,

I should have done a muslin,, just for the top to make sure it was going to work out,,,,,,, no turning back now I guess.

wrong side of the bodice

Excess of shoulder seam

I have to figure out how to fix this mess before I throw this one in the trash.

Just a few days ago, I was talking to one of my friends about taking photos of your knitting and sewing so you can evaluate what is going on with your project with your own two eyes, on the computer screen as how someone else will see it on your blog or website.

Photos have a way of showing you things your mind will otherwise convince you that its really no big deal.

If you don't do it.... please consider it, the online community is about support  and help,,, if you ask for it, its a rear occasion when someone will risk being cursed out to say,,,,, "girl, your stuff is messed up" without you asking for open opinions.

In other news

Colorblock is on my mind,, Ladies, I love that red, orange and brown combo.

and if you do have any ideas on how to fix this problem or how it looks let me know, I am trying to figure out the best way to do it, so the floor is yours, I will take it with a grain of salt,,,,, and sugar, lol

be well!