Did ya miss me? I can’t blame you if the answer is “no,” but I’ve missed you! It’s not so easy for me to indulge in my favorite hobbies like sewing and knitting because I’m working full-time and my children are going through some developmental phases that require lots of attention and TLC.

Nevertheless, I’ve fit in a little bit of sewing and knitting. If I were to be completely honest with you, I’d admit that my efforts have often produced wadders recently. I’m not too upset about that and let me explain why. Since I’ve been working, I’ve given myself permission to BUY clothes. I haven’t done that in years. I sewed or knit everything I wore. When I did that, I put a lot of pressure on myself to make wearable garments.

Since I didn’t have time to sew a brand new work wardrobe, I went shopping. That helped me fill in some sizeable holes in my wardrobe. With those holes filled, I decided I could sew only fun or interesting things instead of wardrobe basics. When those things don’t work out, oh well! I had fun along the way and got to try something new.

I’ve made doll clothes:

I made a blouse:

Simplicity 2501

I made this skirt, but got rid of it because it was too tight across the hips:

It was a good project though, because I took care over finishing details and managed to line it nicely, vent and all. I hope somebody found it at the thrift store and felt they scored!

I also made a crazy dress, which I like, but my husband has issues with. He doesn’t understand what the big “flappy” bits over my hips are. hee hee…That’s precisely what I like about it.

McCall’s 6321

What am I working on now?

I’m working on another version of 9668. The original version I made (pictured below) was too tight around the midriff. Hopefully, my alterations will be juuuust right. I like the style a lot.

I’ve also enrolled in Susan Khalje’s Couture Dress course at Craftsy. I’ve watched about half of the videos and have learned so much! It’s worth every. single. penny. I’ve also enrolled in Sew Retro’s Starlet Suit Jacket class, but haven’t yet watched any of the videos. I’m excited about that one, especially since I’ve been wearing a lot of jackets to work. It’ll be nice to make custom fitted ones instead of relying on the awkward fit of store-bought.

So, what have you been up to?

My daughter rarely asks for specific toys, but this year, she asked for an American Girl doll. Even though it was terribly expensive, I caved in and got it for her. Naturally, this has sent me and my mother into a frenzy of sewing, knitting and pseudo-carpentry.

I built a bed, roughly following the guidelines posted on Doll Clothes Patterns. The base is a rectangular basket, which I purchased at Michael’s. I cut out a piece of 1″ thick foam to fit, covered it with fabric and glued it to the basket’s bottom. Finally, I painted a pre-cut sign board white and had my husband screw the board to the basket to serve as a headboard.

At that point, the bed looked pretty good, but it was missing a good blanket and pillow. In a couple of afternoons, I stitched the quilt and the little pillow.

You know what’s really fantastic about making things for dolls? You get to use up a lot of odds and ends of things laying around.

Next up: a cabled & zippered doll sweater (only the best allowed) and a soccer uniform.

If unfettered bragging makes you want to throw up, you better turn away from this blog. I’m about to pull back the curtain on my conceitedness.

Behold the wonder that is Vogue 1051, an Alice and Olivia design: Slightly flair legged pants with contour waistband, fly front, and welt pockets, with optional turned cuffs.

With only the most minor of alterations (cut one size smaller at waist, 1/2″ added to crotch depth, a 1/2″ extension of thigh area on the front pattern piece and 2″ in length), I made some of the best fitting trousers I have ever owned. That’s right. EVER.

While I was trying to build my career wardrobe, I tried on a lot of pants. I tried pants at run-of-the-mill places and at nice department stores and at higher end boutiques. I tried on pants that cost $50 and pants that cost $250 (or more). I’m talking dozens of pants in dozens of different cuts. None of them fit. Many of them–even those in the nice department stores costing well over $100 weren’t lined. I cannot imagine why you’d want to waste money on unlined wool pants. They won’t last as long. They’ll bag out in places. They won’t drape as nicely. Some wool even itches–and if the fabric isn’t particularly scratchy, the serged seam allowances rub in all the wrong places. And then of those few that were lined, the lining itself was awful. It was clingy and built up static like crazy.

Pants shopping made me frustrated and then angry. My only option was to take matters into my own hands.

I’m thrilled–THRILLED with how these turned out. While the instructions didn’t explain how to add a lining, I winged it and they turned out nice. If you’d like to try a more scientifically sound method of lining pants, then check out the December 2011/January 2012 Threads magazine. It has an article thoroughly explaining how to line pants. Next time around, I’m going to try the Threads way.

The only thing I wasn’t crazy about was the method used to install the zipper. I don’t know what got into me, but I decided to abandon the tried and true Sandra Betzina method and tried the pattern’s method instead. It involved a heck of a lot more steps (none of them hard–just fiddly) and the zipper isn’t buried very deeply under the fly. It’s not exactly exposed, but I like my zippers hidden far under the extension–just in case I eat a vat of Ben and Jerry’s and my stomach bloats up like a beach ball, thus placing an inordinate amount of strain on my zipper area. I may end up looking like a wreck, but my zipper should still be concealed. You know what I mean?

They pass the boogie-woogie test. I haven’t yet had time or the necessary space to try the cartwheel test.

Behold! My first welt pockets!

If you don’t agree that these trousers kick a$$, I just may have to kick your a$$ to settle the matter. LOL