SW Reunion Project Planning

I went diving in the stash last night and I found a few fabric contenders.  First I have this emerald green cotton from Nicaragua.  (White fabric is because the stupid camera was adjusting the color incorrectly.)

I think it's a good match for this emerald.  Don't you?

 

 

 

I found this poly/rayon blend I picked on clearance somewhere.  It's got quite of bit of stretch (duh) and shine.  Again, not a bad match to the Vivacious below!

 

 

 

I also found a small amount of cotton gauze.  This was a bolt-end I purchased intending to make a shirred beach cover-up.  I think I paid $2.50 for about 1.5 yards.  This could work as a deep lichen, don't you think?

 

 

 

I am loving all the amazing mood boards I've seen on the internet relating to these colors.  I feel like most of the fall palette is my palette.  That's nice!  I'm even in love with the spring palette.  Thanks Pantone!

 

What's your color palette?  Are you participating in the sew weekly reunion?  Let me know in the comments below!  Have a great weekend and happy sewing,

~elle



 

 

 

Sewing biweekly update: blue silk dress

I didn't reach my goal of getting eight items listed in my etsy shop.  I'm trying to finesse the patterns I'm going to use and that just takes so much time getting the prototypes together and then making up the inventory items.  So much work!  My lineup so far includes a cute fabric purse, those ditty bags I posted last week (in 3-4 sizes), and a basket tote.

My blue silk dress is in time out right now.  The bust dart ended up in the wrong place on my boob when I made the shoulder adjustment.  Lame!  The dress is over in the corner thinking about what it's done.  I'm going to draft a muslin of just this piece and recut the left front bodice piece if I can't make the changes on the one I've already cut. 

I really need to get something finished soon.  I hate the weeks when it seems like you work and work and work on a project and don't have anything to show for your efforts.

Have a great week everyone!
~elle

Sew Bi-Weekly Update and Souvenir Fabric

It's Monday again and time for another update on my sew bi-weekly progress.  I decided that I'm not going to do the red challenge for February 11th.  The whole point was something red for Valentine's Day.  I just made a red skirt.  I don't have any more red fabric in the stash.  I decided my time was much better spent making my blue silk dress truly fabulous.  There are portions of the dress that I couldn't reach with my sewing machine when I was understitching, so I am going to go back and hand stitch those areas.  If I don't understitch those sections, the lining will poke up from the silk and I really don't want that happening.  I'm using a smoky grey bemberg rayon to line a bright turquoise dress.  It just won't look right!  I'm also trying to create something couture in a way.  The fabric was quite expensive and I don't want to waste it by creating a sub-par garment.  So--onward!

I also want to share with you all the fabric goodies I brought home with me from Nicaragua!  I looked for fabric shops in every country I was in and Nicaragua was like Mecca.  There were fabric shops everywhere I looked!  I picked up bunches of fabric.  Let me show you all of it!


This is the first fabric that caught my eye in Granada.  The store I bought it from has ready-made dresses (mostly for children) that people can purchase.  I was walking towards the market in Granada and BAM!  fabric store.  The fabric is an embroidered cotton.  I picked up 2.5  yards for 65C per yard, so that's about $6.75 total.  Bargain!  I think I'm going to make a fun summer dress using the borders as my hem and bodice top.  Maybe.  Do you have any pattern suggestions for me? 



I found this embroidered cotton at the same shop.  It just has a subtle allover circle pattern embroidered on it.  I only picked up 2 yards of this fabric because it was quite expensive at 100C per yard, or $8.25.  This fabric is destined to be a summer dress.  (I live in Florida.  I'm allowed to have a bazillionty dresses!)



The last fabric I picked up at that shop is this poly/rayon/cotton mystery blend.  I'll have to do the burn test on this guy.  I think it's a poly/cotton blend, but I'm not certain.  The blue is actually a bit deeper than the color my camera picked up.  This will probably be a summer dress too.  :D I bought two yards at 50C per yard, or $4.25 total.  Even though I didn't make it to Costa Rica, I still managed to bring something home from there--this fabric!



Some of you have probably guessed my color palette by now.  I bought this at one of three (three!) fabric shops along a three block stretch on the main street in Masaya.  I was told that it is hard for the shops to get natural fibers.  You will see lots and lots of polyester (which I think is pretty icky) and very little cotton.  However, I managed to snag 2 yards of this for 60C per yard, or $5.

I saw this dark blue denim at another fabric shop in Masaya.  I passed on it the first time because it was 75C per yard and only 75% cotton (at least that's what I heard).  I thought about it overnight and decided that I wouldn't be able to find denim anywhere in the states for that cheap and this would be good for practicing making jeans with.  I just purchased (for 19.99!) and started watching the Craftsy class Jean-ius.  It looks so complicated, but I have such a hard time finding jeans that fit and my favorites are getting worn out.  I bought 4 yards of denim from that store for a total of $11.50.  The denim ended up only being 70C per yard.  They might have given me a discount because I bought so much of this next fabric.

This is 5 yards of a deep, dark blue suiting.  I love the slight texture it has.  It claims to be wool, but I don't know I believe that.  I'm pretty sure it is just a nice polyester (again with the ick!, but I'll line it with bemberg and be okay with this).  I'm shooting for a jacket and pants with the 5 yards I purchased for 100C per yard, or $20.  Ouch!

That's what I did on my vacation.  Fun times and fabric shopping!  Using today's exchange rate, I spent $56.43 on fabric.  Don't even ask me how I managed to get all this fabric back home.  That is a whole different story.  It involved lots of prayers and shifting things around in and between my backpacks (I bought a small one in Belize to use as a daypack).

Can you believe another month is almost gone?  I think I'm on three months of blogging now. Hopefully I won't run out of things to say!  That will probably never happen.  I talk to everyone like my best friend.  If you ever meet me, you will find that out pretty quickly!  I'm off to work for a bit now and then thread the needle.  I need to get this silk dress finished up.  It is looking fantastic!  I can't wait to show you guys.  Have a great week!

~elle

FO: Red Skirt (Sew Biweekly Challenge)

I'm a week late, but I finished my skirt for my first sew biweekly challenge!  I had 30" and some random pieces of a red cotton sateen I picked up last summer.  It's a nice fabric to work with.  It's got a little stretch to it, but not too much where it's annoying.  I really think the fabric turned out a polished finished object and I look forward to wearing it when it warms up outside.  Stupid cold weather!

Pattern:  Simplicity 2451, View C, $1
Fabric:  Red cotton sateen from JoAnn's, $5/yard and I guess I used a yard total

Misc Notions:  zipper, $2 and thread, $1

Here's the front with my shirt untucked (probably how I'll wear it)



I may be blurry, but at least I have pockets!



Still too short to be a supermodel?  Darn!

Reason 682 I love being able to sew my own clothes:  I often have a higher hem in the back than in the front on ready-made garments.  This is because I have a butt that is kinda out there.  The hem difference was significant on this project.  I ended up grading (is that the right word--I'm not sure) up the hem about 3/4" on the front, so my hem is 1.25" on the back and almost 2" on the front.  Now my skirt looks fabulous!

I'm glad I did this project.  It had so much hand sewing, but I really love the way it turned out and I think I'm going to add hand-stitched hems to a lot more projects in the future.  It just looks so clean.  I can see where I got more comfortable with my hand sewing because my stitches became more even along the hem.  I think I'll get it perfect in time!  (Excuse my dirty wall.  My dog lays right there all the time and I'm at the point where I've washed that wall so often I'm rubbing the paint off!)  I had to get pictures of my shoes on this post too.  They are probably my favorite pair of shoes and it shows.  They remind me of the old style Prada shoes.  I love them!  They will be worn with this skirt a lot.

Now I have to get working on my next challenge project.  Eeep!  I think I'm going to try to finish up the turquoise silk dress.  A hand-stitched hem is in order.  :)