Adding to my wardrobe

Another week of skirts!

I like this style of skirt since it flatters my ruler type of body.  The skirts that I make in this style have stretchy material and elastic waists.  Pretty comfy.  This works well with a top that isn’t overly defining of the waist.    This skirt I made in December.  I haven’t worn it since, though (except to model it here, of course!  It matches the room!!).  I like the fabric and colors; however, it is super staticy.  I’d have to bring a can of anti-static spray with me whereever I go! It’s a stretch panne velvet with sparkles that tend to share the love in the washer (Sorry Brian…you did want sparkles on your clothes, right??).  I might try one more time, so we shall see.

I am onto another style that flatters me a bit more with my more-svelte-though-certainly-not-in-shape-and-flabby figure.  This skirt is similar to the one I made a few weeks ago.  I’ve had this design on my mind for quite a while and it’s pretty much what I intended when I bought the fabrics.  I love it when a plan comes together!

Don’t you love my dragonfly?  I”ve had this iron-on for quite a few years.  Finally, something to use it on!

I do have to say…it was a bit of a PITA to sew.  The fabric had quite a bit of stretch both ways, so it was a challenge.  I ended up cutting it against the grain to get the right amount of stretch in the right spots.  My serger was getting stuck on the seams…many, many times.  Hello Frustration! 

The pink strips are satin that I cut on the bias, so they would stretch with the grey fabric.  The pink satin in the kick pleat has fusible interfacing on the underside, since I knew if I didn’t it would be impossible.  Or at least extremely difficult and frustrating.  Wait…it was already frustrating, so I guess I would have just balled it all up and threw it in a corner.  The pleat probably took me more time in assemblage than the rest of the skirt.  That’s okay, though.  I was watching The Stand mini-series that I got in the mail that day, so I had that to divert my attention when the frustration hit.

It’s not entirely perfect, but it is a wearable creation.  I wouldn’t enter it into a sewing contest, but I doubt most people would see the flaws I had during its creation.  Hopefully.  Some of the satin bias strips are really not even in the seams, but most of the uneveness is near the waist, and I will just cover that up with a longer top.  Hide the flaws…that’s my motto!

The pleat thing would have looked better if I could have figured out how to make the hem not bulky.  I ended up using bias tape for the hem in a matching pink.  The making of it was more of an art and not science.  Cut, cut, sew, cut, swear, cut, sew, cut, cut…

Moving on…here’s a few shirts I made, too.  I used a pattern, but ended up adjusting, modifying and rejiggering, as per the usual.  The first is a bit of a tunic length and not quite as fitted as I would have liked.  I took it in once and then called it good.  It was late and I was tired.  Too tired to finish the seams, but I rather like it that way.

This is what is left of the fabric I used for a dress I made last summer.  I actually have a bit more, so Anya has requested I make her a dress.  Of course, she loves a good fabric with a pink explosion.  I think I’ve got enough left to pull off a dress for her.  Hey, maybe we can wear them at the same time!!  Well…hmmmm…maybe not. 😉

Okay, here is a special bonus for for you DSLR owners and sewers.  I had to make a new camera strap cover for my new Nikon D300s, so I did a tutorial on how I made it.  It’s certainly not rocket science, and pretty easy to do.  It has a pocket for the lens cap and 2 little slot pockets for memory cards.  I wouldn’t recommend using this fabric for those.  The cards are getting caught on the embroidery, but it works well enough.  I guess it gives me an excuse to make another one, right??

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I thought I would add a new feature to my regular Crafty Tuesday posts:  sharing some crafting/sewing blogs.  I love to see what is out there for inspiration, so here are few blogs to inspire in the grown up clothes category:

The Selfish Seamstress – She’s a stitch (hehehe) and has some great sewing projects that she has completed.

Gertie’s New Blog for Better Sewing – Great vintage inspired sewing style and she has some kick-ass tattoos.

That’s all for now.  Next week will be more tyke-sized clothing. I am SUPER excited about a new design I made for Anya.  Total cuteness!  You’ll just have to wait for next week on that, though.  I’m sure Kai is going to be feeling left out here soon, and will be sure to be bugging me to sew for him.  Not to worry…I have plenty of fabric for him, too.  I will be making him shorts with matching button down shirts for summer again.  I have yet to go through their clothes from last summer to see what still fits.  I know they have both seem to have grown…again.