Wide Leg Wool Pants

I finished my pants, about which I am fairly happy. I wish I had had a bit more fabric and the pattern had pockets. What is the point of loose pants with no pockets? Stealing away my slouching fun!

 I thought I looked Mr. Burns in this picture and I was right! Picture from here.

This is my wool fabric up close and they are lined with a cheap poly lining from Jo-Ann in off-white.

They took 4-5 hours because lining things makes me annoyed, so I procrastinate and work more slowly.

 For notions I used a beige zipper from my Drawer of Zippers and Buttons.

 Yeah, I know my right crease is very off center. Whoops. Now, I rarely wear heels so I hemmed these for flats. See, the perfect length!

I had to make a lot of changes to this to get it to fit. I shortened the leg an inch, but then had to cut off another inch. The sides were wayyy to wide, so I took them in almost an inch on the inner and outer leg. The waist was outrageously high- as in, past my natural waist before the 3 inch waistband was added. I cut that down and re-fit the waistband so they are more semi-low-rise.

I doubt I will make this pattern again. I will find a better one with pockets, or I will trace off my favorite pants and try to copy them.

McCalls 6331- Adorable cuteness

Here is the pattern, which I picked up on a whim at a Jo-Ann pattern sale sometime in the spring. I liked the big scalloped skirt, which is not a feature any of my other patterns have. I doubted that the bustier style bodice would be flattering, so I opted for the fold down neckline. 

 My fabric is two pieces of 2.5 years each of Jo-Ann special style quilter cotton. It is super thin and nearly sheer, so I don't know what they mean by special. I bought the white with tiny purple and green flowers and then a matching purple thin stripe.

 My changes: I have no idea why none of the girls on the envelope have any contrast on the collar. It is so easy, as the bodice is meant to be fully lined. I made the entire outside of the flowers and then I made a fill lining out of the stripes. This had the added bonus of eliminating a narrow hem on the scalloped skirt. I hate narrow hems and mine always look like garbage on the inside, which would be visible in areas.

 The waist is nice and slim because you make inverted pleats over each section seam. It's not bulky like gathers would be.

Cost: I had a zipper and the fabric was 50% off, so it was about 12$.

Time: Maybe 3 hours, as the lining eliminated the need to hem!

 Just to show off the shape of the skirt.

 It's hard to see in these pictures, but as I walk the stripes peep out from underneath. It is too cute (not me, the dress!)

 I rarely show the inside of anything, since I don't finish seams or line things. This dress is practically reversible ! If you ignore the tag, some zipper visibility and where I had to piece two pieces of the skirt due to running out of fabric?!?

Sorry for the wrinkles, this was after I wore it all day.

Anyways, I strongly recommend doing the same thing if you make this pattern. It made it really easy!

Butterick 5599 complete!!

I finally finished this dress! I cut a size eight and only made a few changes. I would say this is an intermediate pattern. It has a ton of pieces, but is mostly easy to put together. I only had trouble with the top band connecting to that center black part because it makes an arrow shape. 

Andrew always calls my blog Molly's Ews as a joke. You know, since it's supposed to say Molly Sews. I thought I would add a Molly's Ews section for each garment I complete, if only to show that everybody makes mistakes. 

Molly's Ews:

1. Attached top band incorrectly. Had to stare at it for several days, decide it was too goofy to live with and tear it out and re-do it.

2. Rushed before we went to the beach and decided to just sew the bodice to the skirt with no basting! So I got the job of picking out 12 stitches to an inch size stitches and then reattaching it correctly.

3. Spent a long time trying to add bra pads into it and just couldn't get it to look right. I guess this dress wants me to be flat as a board; so be it!

On to the dress. We took these pictures around Tchoupitoulas Street near an electrical substation and some abandoned warehouses. 

Excellent graffiti.

Banksy style graffiti depicting our former mayor, the idiot Ray Nagin, wearing S&M gear. 

I look dumb, but how can you pass up the triple weenie graffiti?

Sorry, I was convince Andrew was cutting my head out of this one. He said "just the dress"

Overall, I am happy with this dress. I can either wear my strapless bra, or just be 10 yr old boy chested. Oh well, go with the flow! It's nice for the summer and pretty unique. I even did a decent job lining up all the black segments. I hand-picked the zipper and did the hem by hand as well. Oh, I also did not waste the time and effort lining it, too hot! Our New Orleans "spring" is already hitting the high 90s every day and the 80s at night.

Happy Monday! Feel free to share any thoughts or comments, I love comments!

New Vogue Patterns

I had a lot of sewing plans for today, but now I have a crushing headache. I just want to go to bed, but I'm not tired. Fun fun. I did manage to hem half of the bottom of my cape, so maybe one more hour of sewing and it's finally done! Yay!

I went to Hancock and bought these two Vogue patterns on 3.99 sale. I will never get over how expensive patterns are full price- it takes all the value (money-wise) out of sewing if you pay 27 bucks for the patterns alone!

Anyways, after watching Gertie make her whole coat step-by-step, I have realized that I have no interest in hand tailoring my coat. I hate boring hand sewing. That just seems like a way for me to never, ever finish my Vogue 755 coat. Which I haven't started... I saw these in the book of patterns a few weeks ago and was waiting for a sale. I got the last one left of both, and the only one in my size! What luck!

I have been wanting this pattern for a long time too, but Hancock was out of it, and I keep missing Vogue sales at Jo-Ann. So today my mom picked it up for me in Orgeon! Yay! Thanks, Mom!

Time to go sleep off this horrible headache. Maybe tomorrow I'll make more sewing progress!

Tweed Pencil Skirt

I made McCalls 5817 on the left, just the skirt. I wanted it because it had a curved waistband and double kick pleats on the back.

Hmm, could have used a mirror...some ironing, or andrew telling me my slip is hanging out...but it shows the shaping seams and the kick pleats. Let's try to ignore how all of my stripes are ever so slightly off. I tried!
Side, nice and sleek.
This was my "oops I didn't cut it on the fold" waistband. At least the plaid is on an angle. The first one wasn't and it looked really weird, like noticeable to someone who knows nothing about sewing.

Kick pleats with my slip I made recently.
Overall, pretty happy with it.
I already cut it out again in black wool, but I haven't put it together yet. I might buy some black Bemberg and line it and buy some extra for whatever jacket I end up making.

Although I made this a 10, and then had to take some in on the sides. After the 8 shorts were insanely tight? So I guess I don't know what size I am in McCalls...

Summer Outfit with pictures

Here's the whole outfit. Nice and summery. Read on for why this outfit is an epic fail...

The halter top was made using Butterick 6956, a 1950s pattern. I made it with the leftover fabric from my blue dress I made a few weeks ago. I made it when Andrew was out of town.

Here is a close-up; the neckline is crooked because my shoulder are on an angle.

Both pieces are failures, but I though I would share them anyways. The top is definitely meant for a 50s style figure, possibly with a girdle or something. I feel like a sausage in it, with the exception of the bust, which is super loose. It's not a great summer top if you have to wear a strapless bra with it. Ugh. Oh well, I only wasted money on the zipper for it.

Here's the whole outfit. It looks cute from a distance, but the comfort level is a negative 10. It is all waaaayyyy too tight, and none of the fabric has any stretch. Painful.

This is my pattern for the shorts. I hadn't made a modern McCalls yet, so I cut an 8, but the shorts are tragically tight.

But they look so cute! you say.

I had the old gaping waistband problem, so I added a dart. It is obviously off center, but by that point I knew these were a lost cause.

Ewww. Now do you see? Waaayyy too tight. Andrew was like "You can see your underwear." Ugh, obviously. Because the shorts want to burst open like a water balloon.

Here's the inside. I used a metal zip from a bag I picked up last summer at an estate sale. I cut out all my pieces with pinking shears, so that is how I finish seams. I am always amazed a people who actually finish their seams. Bleh. I'm not that patient. I'm the only one who'll see it, and I definitely would rather spend that time making a new project.

Anyways, the shorts cost about 3 bucks, so it's not the end of the world. I made them yesterday in about 2 hours, too, so I think I will just go back to Hancock, buy the same fabric and make them ever so slightly bigger. I really like the style, and it was my VERY FIRST SHORTS EVER! So be kind.

I do want to share my failures with you guys too. Not everything turns out nicely, but live and learn! Now I know how to make shorts, and my next version will be great!

Luke's vest- McCall's 2447

Here is the pattern I used to make my brother Luke's vest. It was on sale for 99 cents.

Here is my finished product, welt pockets and all. Luke liked it, said the tweed looked like a sofa, and was kind enough to be posted on the interwebs.
The scotch was Andrew's graduation present for him, so he had to pose with both.
It fits pretty close, but not to the point of being uncomfortable. Decent enough for a vest made in a different state. Now he works for a publishing company in Portland, but he is still my baby brother. Isn't he cute?

It's a jungle out there! Butterick 5350

This is my pattern, one of my 1.99 sale patterns:

I made the blue version, minus the contrast waist. I cut out an 8, which fits like a glove. You can also note my pattern storage technique- freezer size ziplock bags, so that I don't have to refold the pieces I ironed out flat. Well for vintage patterns, I iron them. My theory is that I shouldn't zip them all the way closed because it is too humid here, what if they started to mildew in their plastic baggies? Then I would cry and whine, whine and cry.

Forced photo shoot on the way home from sushi in front of a statue on Esplanade. I don't have a tail, that is my sweater.
The back is nice, just a scoop neck. It covers up the bra straps, so I'm happy. I really like the fabric. The print is so random that you can't tell that the skirt is eight little pieces to give it the floaty bell shape.
Oh, the fabric is rayon. I like rayon! Super easy to work with!
Overall, it is very pretty, floaty and summery. I really like it. I had to add some darts coming down from the neckline because of the outrageous gaping at the front. But now the right side look fine, but my left side is going for a nice pointy cone-boob look. Any suggestions on how to fix that? It's tacky. I guess I will just pick out the dart and reposition it until it looks ok?

Overall, I am happy.

Blue dress pictures! Butterick 5455

This is my pattern:

Here's my discussion of the pattern, here. Mainly my only issue is that my hips and butt are not a 6. Operator error.

This one is funny because the dog literally did not notice the duck. My yellow lab growing up would have been in the water swimming after it in seconds.

Side view.
Front.

See, there are pockets, they just aren't super obvious.

I would definitely make this again, probably in black. It's cute dress and it fits well.

Extra bonus:

Yesterday, I decided we are going to have a fondue dinner sometime soon, so we needed to go to goodwill to find a set. Andrew was skeptical that we could just waltz in and find one. However, waltz in we did, and there were THREE to choose from.

For some reason, the line was insanely long and as we were standing there what do I spy? The fraternal twin (not an identical twin, but very twin-like!) ottoman to the one in the living room!

This is the new one:
Rectangular, slightly taller.

Here is the original:
Square, with little tabs on the side (that have dog tooth marks)

It was a sign! According to the tag, it had just been put out that same day! Andrew was mocking me and said I was wasting my money, but who is sitting on it today playing video games? Mmm hmmm.

But let's not make Andrew out to be bad. He is sweet; I love him, my mom loves him, the weenie dog loves him (the most, sadly. My dog prefers him over me) He happily listens to my sewing and blog updates and takes my pictures on increasingly conspicuous city-wide photoshoots. LOL. And he is a ginger. :)

I still have three projects to take pictures of, so stay tuned!