Simplicity 3673

A couple of weeks ago I made this dress. I still have to hem it, but don't know yet what length I like. It is a very nice pattern, and really easy to make. The only thing is it turned out to be just a tad too wide. I made the usual size 12, which normally fits me like a glove. I plan on wearing it in the winter with a white or black turtleneck.

 

I think wearing something underneath will fill out the room I have around the waistline. And one needs some room to breath and move, right?

The fabric is Queen of hearts velveteen by Anna Maria Horner

 

  

Only the bodice part of the dress is lined with Bemberg. If I should make this dress again I will line the skirt part too. 

Looking at this picture now I guess I also have to add a hook and eye above the zipper :)

This picture shows pretty good how much room the dress has around the waistline. We will see, maybe I will add another dart or two, if a sweater doesn't fill it out enough. But that will have to wait since I have to finish two skirts, a pair of pants, a jacket, a quilt, and a blouse.

Lisette Continental Blouse and Skirt

A couple of months back I bought this pattern at JoAnn's for $0.99. Great deal!

 I have six Lisette patterns, and I love the pictures on the front of all of them, but it seems that somehow they don't really work for me. It could of course be that I don't have the fitting right. Usually I can make a straight size 12 with all Simplicity patterns and they fit. But not these ones. It's just that they somehow turn out to look boxy on me. The blouses/tops that is. The two Lisette skirts I made so far are great.

The skirt is perfect and I like the seams on the front and back side. This time around I used a very simple cotton twill, but as you can see on the envelope front, the seams at the front and back side give a nice opportunity to play with prints. Next time I will take advantage of that. And there will be a next time for sure! It is such an easy and quick skirt project and the fit is perfect. I wish I could say the same about the top. The fabric is a cotton lawn from the Lisette collection at JoAnn's. It is so boxy, and even thou I used this very light cotton lawn, it sticks out at the back a lot. Maybe I just have to make it a size smaller.

 

Back view (obviously) 

Here is a close up of the gathers at the lower back.

Upgrade

A couple of weeks ago I upgraded on my sewing machine. In February I bought a very nice Bernina 140 Patchwork Edition. It is a very good machine in excellent shape, but since I am mostly sewing garments I started to really miss some of the utility stitches other machines have. And I wouldn't have mind some more decorative stitches as well. 

So I started to look around if I could maybe find another Bernina with more utility stitches. Bernina just came out with the new 7 series, which is absolutely out of my price range. But a girl is allowed to dream, yes?

I checked ebay for a couple of weeks to see for how much the machines usually sell. Until a couple of Bernina 430 caught my eye. I had three of them on my watching list. The first two sold for around $1.700, which again is out of my price range. But for some reason no one was interested in this one. Maybe because it didn't have the foot pedal? Who knows. I got it for just a little more than I paid for mine at the dealer. It arrived in very good shape and works perfectly. I am soooo happy about this machine. There are only two things I miss from my old one. 1.) I wish they would still cover the complete arm with stainless steel, and 2.) the small slide on boxes who work as an extension of the work space and hold all the accessories. The big slide on table is still something I have to get used to. I have the Free Hand System, but I don't care for it. So far I didn't feel the need to use it. I think I am good for a couple of years now before the next upgrade ;)

My first Sew-Along

Lauren from Lladybird is hosting a Thurlow Trousers sew-along and I will participate! I am very excited and  looking forward to my first sew-along. I already made two pairs of Thurlows. The first one was too small. The second one turned out pretty nice, only needs some little adjustment with the back crotch length. My skills of a cleaner finished inside of the pants still needs some fine tuning, which I am looking forward of improving with the help of Lauren and her sew-along.

I will post pictures of my two pairs of Thurlows soon. Instead two pictures of a skirt I made two weeks ago. It's really nothing special. I bought the fabric at a small local sewing supply store. A huge pile of all kinds of nice fabric for $3/pound. This seems to me to be some kind of moleskin fabric, but I am not sure. It is very soft with a nice drape. The idea for this skirt is from the book "Improv Sewing", which I absolutely love!!! The hem is three wavy lines of stitching, and fold over elastic around the waist. And some improv free motion drawing.

 Here a close up of the lines. It is a nice skirt for casual wear. It was really fun and quick to make . I am looking forward to more projects from the book.

Kyoko Dress by Modkid Patterns

I finished this dress a while ago, but didn't get around to take pictures. Now I finally photographed it. I don't feel like modeling my dresses right now. So my dress form has to do. 

The pattern front

My version, in Caravan knit kashmir tobacco by Valorie Wells. Here without the sash. The lighting isn't good, sorry about that.

 And here with the sash in matching solid fuchsia. I already worn the dress twice and it feels soooo comfortable. Like a soft sweater. One more go-to pattern in my stash!