Butterick 5889: Summer delight!

Don't forget to Enter June's Double Giveaway that ends on Wednesday!!

I went a few weeks ago and bought six patterns at Jo-Anns on sale. I though about what I wear all summer and it basically boils down to little cheap-o dresses from Forever 21 or Target that are all comfy and loose and casual. However, I never sew things like that for the summer and I need to change that. I picked up this knit there too; it is lightweight and stretchy with a cool print. The pattern is Butterick 5889 cut out in a small. The envelope made it look super meh, but I thought it had potential.

The back is just nice and drapey and the waist tie is super long. You can wrap it once with a big bow, or twice with a small bow. I made some sort of crazy braid bun for the restaurant.

 I think the combination of the hair and the sandals make it look very Ancient Greece, but it is very comfortable and delightful. I see this getting a ton of wear this summer!

I swear the hem is even, I just bunched it up in a weird way. 

The pattern itself is super easy to make with only four pieces. I cut the back off the fold because I didn't buy enough fabric, but I did everything else as directed. I don't have a zig-zag or serger though, so everything is just done "old school" with a ball point needle. 

Yay to summer, with only five days of school left!

I spent the whole year substituting at the public high school near my house. While it is sad that I still haven't found a permanent teaching job after two (!!) years here in Chicago, whatever, such is life. I'm happy I can pay my bills and my student loans and I have my restaurant job to fill in the gaps. Subbing at the same place every day is probably the best possible situation. Once you're not new, the kids treat you better and don't get really excited that they have a sub to torment, plus I get to walk to work and that is delightful!. So, if I don't find a permanent job this summer, I will definitely keep doing it next year as it's better than working a the restaurant! (That is for you, lady who gobbled down a whole order of calimari with her family and then complained to get it for free, which I did, and then left me a shitty tip. )

My BFF Stephanie and her husband are visiting, so I doubt I will have much more to post this week! Happy Summer!

Cleaning and Mending..ugh

 Sorry for the really awful blurry phone pictures, I think I need to delete some pictures from my phone. I think is taking really low quality ones to save storage space, as I have like 2500 pictures on there. Is that even a fact, or did I make that up?

Either way, I cleaned my sewing room yesterday as part of my spring cleaning rampage (yes, I am aware that it is summer). I got rid of some crap fabric scraps and bits and then sorted my fabric in the three drawers of my built in. Here's a picture of when we moved in two years ago. I didn't take any pictures, but it amounts to having about 100 yards of fabric hoarded up. Good god, what is wrong with me? I need to do a ton of sewing and reduce the number! I think I will list some fabric and notions on Etsy and see if I can lighten the load. I seem to sell about 1 pattern a month, but whatever!

After sorting my sewing stuff and my closet, I had a pile of me-made stuff that needed to be mended- mostly due to my shoddy craftsmanship! 

My new fingernail polish is an extra bonus. 

The red blouse and swirly skirt both lost their zipper tabs because I trimmed the bottoms off of long zippers to make them fit. I am a true genius, the tabs then fell off (shocking, right?) and I got to install two new ones. The mauve cardigan needed a button back on. The green silk handkerchief top  had a place where the hem band was separating and a big tear in the sleeve, from the really old, thin silk. I fixed up both of those. The white lump is a pillow case that needed a seam fixed. Bam!

I like to watch NCIS or Law &Order while I sew, since it's lots of yapping and I can half-listen while I do other things. Unfortunately, NCIS turned into "prime time" USA shows and they were hypnotically bad, so I kept watching. Royal Pains, which is about doctors in the Hamptons? and some terrible show about a sassy sports psychologist. That one featured the worst staged-tv-slap I have ever seen. I should maybe start listening to podcasts or something and become smarter, rather than stupider. 

Finally, I re-hemmed this dress. I only wore it to take pictures in and then never actually wore it. The length was too long and it just felt so incredibly frumpy and unflattering! 

I absolutely love that fabric and now that I turned it up about SIX inches, I will actually wear it an enjoy it, starting tomorrow for school. That's exciting! 

I also painted my nails. I waste more time than you need to know about on reddit and I have subscribed to reddit lacqueristas, which is all girls who are obsessed with fancy nail art. I am learning so many new tricks and tips. It is surprisingly fun!

I will leave you with my first attempt at "gradient" nails, where the polish fades from one color to another: 

I will post about this month's double giveaway later this week! 

June's Double Giveaway!!

Unfortunately, I completely forgot to do a May giveaway! So for June, I am going to do a double-giveaway to make up for it.

There are two sets of patterns, four in each set. If you want to enter, for either or both, just leave a comment by Wednesday at midnight and make sure you say which set you would like. I will mail the patterns anywhere, even internationally.

Giveaway May: (Bust 34)
I call this 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s since you get one pattern from each decade. Simplicity 2407 is from the 50s, featuring a full or pencil skirted dress with a little bolero jacket. Simplicity 8498 is from the 60s with a long or short dress with interesting bodice seaming. The 1970s give us Simplicity 5588 with a skirt or pants and a safari style tunic shirt with many pockets. For the 80s, you get a loose and blousey dress-shirt thing with big patch pockets.

 Giveaway June:  (Bust 32)
These are all quite random, but can meet the sewing needs of a very interesting lady. Simplicity 5315 is a nice lounge-tunic. I made the Vogue version of this for Mardi Gras and it is quite comfy and awesome. Simplicity 4524, for all those times you really NEED a beanbag and a football pillow. Simplicity 2980 is for that 40s style suit that you need for a job interview at an antiques mall. Simplicity 8411 is for all those times you need some casual sports wear.. in a jiffy!

Anyways, if any of those strike your fancy, leave a comment to enter. You can enter for both if you want!

A Spring Blouse: Vogue 6910

 I made this blouse a few weeks ago and then every weekend I would try to take pictures and it would get all grey and rainy. Just to spite me, I'm sure. No one else in the Chicago area enjoys nice weather on their weekends. . . Point is, I finally got Andrew to take some very bright pictures in the sun today.

I made this blouse from Vogue 6910 which looks like it's from the 60s or so. I made a combination of views B and D. It has the short sleeves and the little vents at the waist.

I used a little piece of (I think) vintage polyester from that pile of loot I got a few months ago. It is blue and green in a big floral print. It is nice and spring-y to celebrate the warm weather.

Since it's for a 34 bust it is a little loose, but the shoulders fit appropriately. The looseness allowed to leave out the center back zipper that the pattern called for, as I think that sounds really uncomfortable. This picture is more for an "outfit" look. I wore it to school a week or two ago and it was nice and comfortable. The school is old and currently without a/c, so it was bearable in this blouse on a 80 degree day.

 I pulled it on to take pictures on the dog-walk/buy delicious pastries walk and did not realize how wrinkly it is. Oops. I had to wait outside with the dog and T-Rex of course had to go insane barking at a pitbull that was walking by. He is such an embarrassment.

 The vents go up about 3 inches or so and give me a little more ease of movement for the fabric has no stretch. The back is just loose:

 So it's a little shapeless and loose, but that is fine for hot weather in the summer.

I really like the colors and I can see myself wearing this a lot.

We spent this Saturday and last Saturday doing "Spring Cleaning" and I got rid of SOOOO many clothes. Even crap I have made, which I usually second-guess myself on getting rid of. I put all my winter stuff up in the top of my closet and brought down warmer-weather clothes. I really tried to be objective about if I wore some of the stuff, so in the end a big box of shoes and eight bags of clothes/stuff went sailing off the the Village Thrift. Yay to not hoarding me-made stuff that didn't work out!

My pottery class is basically over, so I hope to be producing some sewing projects soon! Thanks to anyone who still reads after months of lazy and sporadic posting!!

Pattern testing: Tofino PJ Pants

I was lucky enough to be a pattern tester for another of Tasia's patterns, the Tofino pants/shorts. It was still cold here in Chicago when testing took place, so I made the pants and they are an absolute delight! I have worn them so much in the 6 weeks or so that I have had them!

Here is the pattern:

 Since I am not really "pear-shaped," they body type the patterns are designed for, I made a 0 and they fit nicely. Don't worry about them being too short for all you normal height folks, I had to cut off quite a few inches on the hem.

 I used some cute cotton from the haul Alicia gave me a few months ago. It is salmon and teal and off-white print. I stongly suggest making your own piping, which Tasia provides pieces and instructions for. I bought some piping in a "contrast" color from the shitty selection at Jo-Ann and after I sewed it on relaized it look atrocious. So I ripped it off and ended up with no piping, which is such a cute detail! Sadz. I will be making more pairs, though.

 The bow is cute and the elastic waist is comfy.

 i have been wearing them constantly for about 6 weeks now. I need to make another pair just to give these guys some relief.

The true sadness was right after we took the pictures to send to Tasia, I was rummaging through my makeup, which is on the shelf by the bathroom window. I knocked off a bottle of neon orange nail polish, which then shattered on the floor and exploded EVERYWHERE including on my first-time-worn pants, the wall and the tile. Witness:

I have still been wearing them though. That was the first time in my life I had broken a bottle of nail polish and then in the same WEEK, I broke a bottle of gold polish in the same way in the same spot. Clearly, I am learning...I did jump backwards in time to save my clothes and some acetone fixed the floors and wall. 

Sorry I have been posting so infrequently, I have been gardening and doing pottery and being lazy and I have been sewing, but I need to take pictures of my projects!

if you want some cute pj pants, you can buy the pattern here!

More Molly-made pottery

After my five week class ended, I signed up for the ten week class. It's a lot of fun and slowly my projects have been getting much better. First, they had us make cylinders to practice pulling shapes and then shaping cylinders into vases and things.

I have made a ton of things, but these are the only four finished objects I have now. four cylinders that I decided should be small flowerpots. They still aren't perfect, but they are much better than anything  I made in the first class!!!

After bisque firing

Glazed and finished: spodumene, iron red, josh blue and celadon green.

I planted my tiny seedlings in them with a layer of rocks in the bottom for drainage. Lavender and three mints. 

 For scale, the biggest one (blue) is about five inches tall. I have ten more vases and things that are being glaze-fired right now and i'll post about them soon. This class has been taking up most of my free time that I usually sew during. The class is three hours on Wednesday nights, but then I go in after school another day or two to trim, glaze or throw more pots.

The weather is getting nicer ad that makes me want to sew summer clothes, plus there's only three weeks left of my class so expect more sewing soon!

An Epic Fail, or why I need a walking foot

I got that big piece of velvet in seafoam green color with all of that free fabric from Alicia. My original thought was "om nom nom" and I knew I would make a jacket out of it, a Cordova jacket! I wanted to do a trial run with the pattern and this fabric would be perfect!

Andrew saw the fabric and said ew. I ignored him. 

 Sadly, he was right. Just for the record, I didn't even finish it. After I put in the zipper, I could tell it was a lost cause. So it is not hemmed at all.

Problem one: Velvet. I was like "No, man, I got this." I made a velvet dress before, it'll be fine... Yeah, thinking back, I rush-made a really shoddy red dress for the last day of school before Xmas break. Seriously, go look at it. Such a turd. So since that was my sum total of velvet experience...

Solution: I need a walking foot for my machine. I tried my best, but the pieces would get fed through at different paces and every. single. piece. was. off. I did find a picture online and looked through all of my miscellaneous feet, but I don't have one. Sooo.....something to buy soon.

Oh lawd!

 Problem two: Style + fabric, use some logic please.

The Cordova pattern is for a nice, slim jacket with some detailing and a zipper front. There have been some very good versions that I have seen around the interwebs. Trisha made nice purple one and Tasia made nice tweed one. Everything about the fabric, color and style is all wrong; the sleeves look absurd. It looks like some poorly done costume for an un-researched movie set in the 1800s, minus the not-yet-invented zipper. I am frowning just looking at the pictures. Sooooo ugly.

Solution: Sometimes it is necessary to sit down and actually think about if a pattern and a fabric will

LOL I know!

 Problem three: the zipper. Seriously, if you can't find a zipper that matches (which was impossible at Jo-Ann, the only place I looked) you should not use a random, white, separating one from your stash. Plus it was a little too long, so I cut an inch off the top. The top. So now there is no metal stopper, and the tab can just shoot off into the atmosphere. When I realized this, after I had sewn it in (unevenly, due to no walking foot), I just quit. We're done here, folks.

Solution: Find a damn zipper that matches!

Saggy McDroopertons

Plus,I think the fit is too baggy in general even though I made my usual size 2. It will definitely need some sizing down if I make it again.

Now that it's finally starting to feel like Spring, who cares about jackets!

Feel free to say whatever mean things you like about this wad of crap! I have zero attachment to it and it will be going in my freecycle fabric scrap bag. Oh no wait, I already did that. Haha!