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

A short while before my job fizzled out, I started sewing a pencil skirt and blouse to wear to the office. I thought the combo channeled the funky secretary look. Unfortunately, I was too short on time to finish it before the job ended. Now that I’m unemployed, I have plenty of time. It may not make an appearance in an office, but this outfit is ready for going out on the town: perhaps to my kids’ piano recital tomorrow?

The blouse is based on one of my favorite patterns, Simplicity 2501. I used it once before to make a cotton top with shorter puffy sleeves and sans peplum. I wear it all the time during the warmer months. I was curious to see how the peplum version with the shirred sleeves would look in a silky type fabric.

The answer: it looks pretty good. I wish the print didn’t obscure the shirring so much, but that’s a minor complaint.

This fabric is a nicer quality polyester. I really like how it turned out; however, it was a pain in the you-know-what to sew. It frayed like crazy. I kept the damage to a minimum by serging all the pieces before handling them much. In addition to that, it resisted taking a crease. That may be good news on the unwanted wrinkle front, but it was a pain when I was trying to create the waistband and make the narrow hems neat.

The skirt is based on Simplicity 2452. It’s a nice basic pencil skirt. There are absolutely no frills to this design, but it fits great (after my typical waist and hip alterations). The pattern did not include any instructions on lining the skirt and I’m not all that clear on how the waistband was supposed to be finished. You’re supposed to do something magical with twill tape. I didn’t bother looking at the instructions all that closely, because I decided to add a lining and made a facing at the waistband for greater stability.

I followed the tutorial on A Fashionable Stitch for lining a skirt with a back vent. It seems complicated at first, but after a little practice, it turns out great. If you decide to do this, I recommend stitch up a sample first to work out any kinks. I ruined a piece of lining or two when seam ripping.

Isn’t that a pretty button? One of the things I love the most about sewing my own clothes is being able to add special details like that. RTW clothes rarely have those little extras!

Last, but not least, which should I wear with this outfit? The shoes or the booties?

I’ve sewn quite a bit in the past few months, but just haven’t blogged about it much. I’m going to try catching up, so bear with me. Let’s start with the Halloween costume I made for my daughter.

Claire LOVES penguins. Emperor penguins are her favorites, but she likes the Humboldts at the local zoo. Her favorite cartoon character is Pingu. Naturally, she wanted to dress up as a penguin for the holiday. Kwik Sew came to the rescue with a very cute pattern for a Penguin/chicken, No. 3630.

Pattern Description:

Penguin/Chicken Costume

Pattern Sizing:

XS(4-5) – S(6) – M(7-8) – L(10) – XL(12-14)

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?

Yes, except I forgot the bow tie. Oops

Were the instructions easy to follow?

Yes, the instructions were clearly written and easy to follow.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

It’s super cute and the size range is nice.

The only thing I did not like was how shallow the hood was. I suppose it was drafted that way to prevent to hood from falling forward and making it difficult for the wannabe penguin to see; however, it tended to fall backwards so the face wasn’t visible. If it were just a touch deeper, it would have been better.

Fabric Used:

Fleece. My kid was the warmest one in our trick-or-treating group. It was COLD outside.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

None.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

Sure! It’s super cute and she got a lot of compliments. Plus, she discovered you can store extra candy in the wings when her bucket started to overflow. haha

Conclusion:

Great costume; easy to make; a real winner!

I didn’t sew a costume for my son. He took on that challenge himself.

He designed and created a Wolverine costume all by himself. Mama is so proud.

While I was working, I had little time left for sewing, but that didn’t mean I gave up on fashion altogether. I decided to take a different approach. Instead of focusing on the skill-building in clothing construction, I focused on styling clothes. I thought it would be an easier task, but it’s proved challenging to style outfits in a way that was both modern and interesting.

I’ve found a lot of guidance on a fashion forum called You Look Fab. One of the inspiring members there, Ornella, sets up weekly challenges for herself, which help her figure out how she can work with certain elements in her wardrobe. A few of the YLF members, including myself, decided to play along during jacket week. Here’s the series of outfits I came up with. Most of the clothes were commercially made, except for the denim jacket, the grey t-shirt, the lime t-shirt, the red shell and the full black skirt.

Day 1: Knit jacket with belt.

Day 2: Black wrap front jacket over my new satin dress.

Day 3: Military-esque jacket over bright lime t-shirt and wool plaid skirt with ruffles.

Day 4: Chanel-style boxy jacket. I intended to wear this with a pencil skirt, but I couldn’t finish sewing it in time. I’m not crazy about the fuller skirt with this, but thought it was worth a try.

Day 5: The plan was I would wear my home-sewn denim jacket with skinnies and a scarf; however, I wasn’t sold on this dark denim with black pants. Not to mention it was seriously cold and rainy outside, so I opted for a sweater.

And, oh yes, I chopped off all my hair. My husband isn’t exactly smitten with it, but I am enjoying the change.

More sewing will be forthcoming since I’ve unexpectedly found myself with more free time. For some time at least, I’ll keep posting “what I wore” type pieces as I explore new ways to style my garments. Suggestions are always welcome!

Hi everyone! Life is pretty good, but I haven’t had a whole lot of time for sewing and knitting lately. Instead, I’m doing more shopping. *gasp!* I know.

But I need to get my work wardrobe up to snuff more quickly than I can create things on my own. While I feel a little like a traitor to the sewing world for buying clothes, it’s been an interesting experience. I’m learning a lot about what looks good on me, what’s iffy and what’s just plain bad. In the end, I’m sure this will help my sewing too.

Here’s what I wore to work so far this week:

Tuesday:

I sewed the red skirt, which I quite like; unfortunately, it’s prone to wrinkling. Some day, I’d like to find a better red fabric and re-create it. The top is by Vince Camuto. In the store, I was quite taken by the fun print and the interesting draping. I must confess that I’m a little iffy on how the top looks on me. I worry that the interesting drapery makes my upper half look droopy.

The boots are by Clarks. I like them, but they’re not the most comfortable Clarks I’ve ever had. I’m still searching for the perfect boot. My coat is something I found a handful of years ago. Apparently faux fur is in this year, so I shook the cobwebs off and brought it back into rotation.

Wednesday

Wednesday’s outfit was very comfortable and included some of my favorite colors! The cardigan is hand-knit and it has seen better days, but I still like it so it got a day out on the town. The top I’m wearing under it has a pretty butterfly print and twists across the midriff.

My pants are thrifted and a bit too short, but they’ll have to do until I can either sew or buy a better alternative.

Thursday

I wore my crazy batwing sweater dress, which I found at TJ Maxx the other day. It’s terrific! Very cozy. Very trendy. I hope I don’t look ridiculous in it.

I wasn’t sure how to style it. It looked a little shapeless from the front, so I added the belt. I wish I had a larger selection of belts to choose from. This one isn’t quite right. Jewelry was hard to choose too. The collar made it tricky with both earrings and necklaces. I’m going to play with this dress more to see if I can inject the look with more color next time.

Recently, Hancock Fabrics had a sale on Butterick patterns and I immediately went for 5559, a Maggie London design. I loved the creative placement of the tucks.

Underneath many of those tucks are the darts that give the pieces a nice shape. It’s very clever!

My first version turned out ok:

It’s very, very snug, even after I let it out as much as I could with the seam allowances I had. If I decide to do it again, I’m going to add extra wide side seam allowances to allow me to tweak the fit better.

I had a difficult time lining up the tucks along the sides, but through much seam ripping and re-sewing, achieved a tolerable result:

Job-related exhaustion left me in no state to wrangle with lots of pattern alterations, so I didn’t bother to do my usual petite adjustment for the bodice. I’m fairly sure that would have cleaned up the mess in the back fit:

However, since this is such a body-conscious dress, I will almost always wear a cardigan or jacket over it at work, so that fit issue isn’t one I’m going to fret over right now. Maybe next time!

Knit dresses are great for work. They are almost as comfortable as pajamas and don’t wrinkle. You’ve got to love that.

I would have paired this with heels, but I had hurt my toe pretty badly the night before and could barely walk. Comfy shoes were the order of the day.

I miss reading blogs and sewing! I hope I get back into the swing of things as I adjust to my new schedule.

Thanks for all of your supportive comments in response to my last post. I also appreciated all the suggestions you gave me for creating a work wardrobe. Keep the suggestions coming! Love them.

I’m still reeling from how crazy last week was. On the same day I sent the kids back to school, I had to figure out daycare issues; find transportation to and from work; schedule soccer practices, piano lessons, PTA meetings, my husband’s social and work commitments…and how to put dinner on the table in a timely fashion.

I want to bury my head in the sand.

I’m sure things will get easier with time. If not, I’m running off to Antarctica to huddle on the ice with penguins.

So, not much sewing was accomplished. I laundered some fabrics. I traced off a pattern. I did finish one dress though and love it!

This is Simplicity 4074. It’s a great pattern. I’ve made a knit skirt once last year and decided to try the dress. It worked out great! I’m contemplating another. The only problem with it is it requires more yardage than I typically buy for knits. So, while I have a ton of knit fabric on my hands, I can’t use much of it for this dress. I’ll have to go shopping. Bummer…not!

What’s next? I have no flipping idea. I can’t decide whether a better use of my time would be to make dresses or to work on separates. I could use both. Right now, I’m just going to (try to) take a deep breath, relax and work when inspiration hits.

One thing is for certain. Life is never dull…and it’s expensive. I’m contemplating going back to work to help out with all the expenses, but of course I have to consider the cost of childcare and updating my wardrobe. At one time, I had little to no casual clothing. Then, I quit my job and my wardrobe gradually changed from office-y wools and silks to home-y cottons and denims.

I may have found temporary employment starting about a week from now, which means I either have to go shopping (ick) or sew like a mad woman (preferable). The ironic thing is I had decided not to join Self-Stitched September, because I didn’t want to feel pressured with my sewing. I wanted to take things slower and work on special details and more complicated patterns. Now, I’m trying to figure out how I can crank out office-appropriate wear in a short time frame.

Here’s my current plan:

1. Simple dress using Simplicity 2703.

Simplicity 2703

I have some nice polyester (that’s not an oxymoron in this case) shantung, which might work nicely for this.

polyester shantung

2. Next up would be a pair of black gabardine pants using Vogue 1051.

Vogue 1051

3. I’d also like to make a classic wrap dress using some Anne Klein knit fabric I picked up yesterday.

Simplicity 4074

Anne Klein knit fabric

I seriously doubt I’ll make ALL of this before I start, but perhaps I could alter the patterns and have them cut out so I can work on them during the weekends or days off.

I’ve been silent because it’s been hot and sunny here (yay!) and I’ve been sitting out on the back patio reading and relaxing. I’m going to enjoy every minute of this gorgeous weather while it lasts!

In addition to trashy adventure novels, I’ve been devouring books on fashion. Tim Gunn is my new hero. Not only does he have an impeccable personal style, he knows how to behave decently to his fellow human beings–and he’s articulate on on that subject. I particularly liked reading Gunn’s Golden Rules: Life’s Little Lessons in Making it Work.

His narrative style is chatty but refined at the same time. He obviously draws from a broad and deep education–both the academic sort and the school of hard knocks sort. I agree with so much he has to say about etiquette and like the glimpses he provides into a world I’ll never be part of. I only wish there were some NICE way to gift this to the few people in my life who need a little schooling in manners.

I’ve also read Nina Garcia’s The Little Black Book of Style, which is interesting, particularly the introduction where she discusses how her parents influenced her. I personally would rather hear a lot more about that than what follows in the rest of the book: good, but basic fashion advice, which could be found on any number of websites or in magazines. She seems like a fascinating person–and, as she says, “beauty is not all that interesting [...] but when a confident woman walks into a room, it is entrancing.” I am “entranced” by the author, but not so much by the book.

Finally, I’ve been skimming through an e-version of Christian Sirriano’s book, Fierce Style: How to Be Your Most Fabulous Self, on my blackberry. It’s definitely not the best way to enjoy this book. I’m having trouble seeing the pictures, since they break up between one screen in the next. However, his lively voice comes through. What a FIERCE personality and brilliant designer! I love his enthusiasm for fashion and his encouragement to revel in what makes you special–a similar message to Nina Garcia’s but delivered in his unique colloquial style. Sirriano is far more taken with designer labels than I will be or ever could afford to be–just like he does, I admire the fabulous styles and high quality materials and craftsmanship, but unless I win the lottery, they’ll never be part of my life.

I haven’t been doing all that much sewing, with the exception of working a bit on a denim jacket. I’m making slow progress due to the heat, but also because I have some misgivings about how it will turn out. For starters, the bust darts are giving me fits. Ideally, I should have divided them into two sets of darts, horizontal and vertical, since that would distribute the fabric more evenly, but didn’t want to change the look of the jacket too much by adding extra darts. That was probably a mistake. So, now there area under the front appliques are puffier than I’d like.

The other thing that’s making me worried is the fabric. It’s really stretchy…almost like a rubber band. I don’t know what possessed me to buy it in the first place, but I’m trying to “Make it work.” Wish me luck!