Giveaway Dress- still needs home!

Hey all, my winner never claimed her prize, and I would like someone to be enjoying this dress. Email me at mollysewsblog (at) gmail (dot) com and give me your address and a nice sob story as to why you would like it. 34-28-loose

I want to mail it away and be done with it!! :)

A little weekend sewing...

Garden update:

These are in the beds in the backyard. The far row is zucchini (courgettes) and the near row is pumpkin! This bed gets the most sun, so they are doing the best. I don't know if it's the birds or the stinging caterpillars, but all but 3 of my watermelon sprouts are gone! I should go buy some more seeds tomorrow!

T-Rex got his nails clipped today; the vet tech said he was a very good boy.
Here's some more progress on my next dress:
If you look at the last post, I have made the skirt too. I went back and picked out the seams and added the pockets.

The ties are so long because they cross in front and tie in a bow in the back. (Let's ignore my heap of sewing stuff on the floor- yikes)

Hopefully, I will get more done this weekend, but I also want to relax, clean out my car, etc, get all my school stuff ready for Monday..... if only the weekend was a little longer! :)

Striped Dress and Veggie Tuesday

Look how big my lemons are!!!

I finally got my color card from Vogue Fabrics. It's all 57 colors of Ambiance bemberg lining. So in the future, I can decide on my color and order it online without worrying that it might be off! Yay!
I put together the skirt of my dress without really reading the directions. After the fact, I noticed that I did not put in the pockets. Boo! So now I have made extra work for myself by rushing- you would think that someday, far, far into the future, I will learn my lesson. As for right now, not so much.
I also didn't cut the front piece on the fold. oopsie doopsie!

Modern Patterns- Help me!!

I spent much of the morning looking at other people's sewing blogs like http://asewnwardrobe.blogspot.com/ and http://esther-fromthesticks.blogspot.com/ Both of those are cool, you should go take a look a be inspired. ASW actually makes muslins and practices fitting, which I admire, but rarely practice. Esther is only 15 and sews! I wish I had spent all of high school becoming an awesome sewer, imagine the things I could be making now!

But that brings me to my point: Big 4 patterns just don't fit me. In high school we still had super-slow dial up (lol), I had never bought anything on ebay, and I didn't know vintage patterns existed. All that helps to explain why, plus the fact I didn't want my clothes to look "home made." The last modern pattern I made had so much ease, it fit like a potato sack and probably would have fit someone with 4-6 inch larger measurements. It is very discouraging to sew up a whole garment and then have it not fit- or worse, have to grade down every pattern I buy in MY size. Waaahhhh.

Looking at all the pattern options and things people make with modern patterns makes me feel wistful.

Are there any other tiny people out there who know some pattern lines that actually fit accurately and go down to small sizes??? All help is appreciated!!

PS- This is a pattern size 6!

Cape update and a new project

This is my next project:

It's the blue and white stripe my mom sent me and a Claire McCardell reproduction pattern by Eva Dress. There's a link there in the bar on the left- they have a cool variety of modern reproductions of vintage patterns. I am making the short sleeve view in a 12. All I have done so far is to cut out the pattern pieces, but I can say it is printed on real, white paper so it will be sturdy. It was like cutting wrapping paper, that is to say, very easy.
Here is one baby tomato. The garden is thriving. It is windy and cloudy, so there should be a thunderstorm tonight. Last storm all the plants grew about 3 inches overnight. I like results!

I finally figured out my collar mental block. The neck facing was really only the back neck facing. The U shaped part that wrapped up to the opposite shoulder on each front piece needed to be folded under as the front facing. Once I figured that out, I slapped the collar on in about 5 minutes- I didn't even baste it! Bwa ha ha ha.

I also finished the lining, which you can see peeping out the bottom. After going to Joann to get pink thread, I am so glad I bought that lining online. Their lining was also 6.99/yard, but it was terribly cheap, stiff polyester. Ick. Totally worth the shipping cost from ordering online.

All that's left on the cape:

1. Tacking down the collar facing and the sleeve facings.

2. Hemming it by hand.

3. Making buttonholes and sewing on buttons.

4. Somehow figuring out welt pockets....

5. Sewing in the lining by hand.

Well, I wanted a challenge and I got one! I am going to take a break and make the wrap dress. This will be my practice muslin, because I want to make it in a nice silk or satin as a dinner dress.

Any advice on making welt pockets?

Winner!

I used a random number generator and even had Andrew click the button! Totally fair and unbiased, lol.

The winner is.... Rachel!

You can visit her blog here - it looks like the dress will be heading to Australia!

Rachel, you can email me at mollysewsblog (at) gmail (dot) com and give me your address!

New Fabrics

My mom sent me the fabric on the left. It is a tiny blue and white stripe Oxford cloth. She sent me a lot, at least 4 yards. I think she found it at a thrift store? I will use it to make up a test pattern for something that requires a lot of yardage, but I haven't decided what yet.

The pink is my lining for my cape that I bought from Vogue Fabrics online. It's bemberg lining in "blossom." It's very pretty pale pink and is exactly what I pictured in my mind.

Here it is next to the cape. I wanted it to be light and somewhat neutral, but still pretty.

Well, now I have something to work on since the welt pockets and collar have given me a mental block/ scared to *&^ it up. Yay!