Lace tunic from Simplicity 2195

I cleaned my sewing room yesterday. This was no easy job. I'm a truly MESSY sewer, who goes from pattern to pattern, without ever putting away anything. If you ever wonder how I can whip out projects so fast, this is the reason- I just throw things over my shoulder and never look back.

Eventually I reach a point where I can't find something, and I say "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!", and I break down and pick stuff up. This happens about once a month. What a bad example I am. New sewists, please don't sew this way! Look how pretty my sewing room is when it is clean. I should keep it this way always.

Anyway, in the cleaning, I actually found a top that I made, but never wore from December! WOOHOO! At least I got some reward for cleaning!

This top is from Simplicity 2195, which is another Khaliah Ali pattern. I am a HUGE fan of her patterns. They always include multiple items and are trendy, but still flattering if you don't have *uhhum*"a perfect figure". For this one, I wanted to make the handkerchief hem tunic.

I had this really cool piece of striped black and cream lace fabric that I just couldn't quite figure out what to do with it. It was a little too scratchy to wear right next to my skin, so I decided to cut out the shirt pattern twice- once out of a black ITY knit for an underlayer, and once out of the lace. I just sewed them together at the neckline, and then turned one inside the other. Both of these fabrics are knit and won't ravel, so I decided to not hem either layer at all. (Talk about LAAAAZY!)

My cat Maddie studying the hem.

Because of the weight of the black ITY knit, it hangs a little longer than the lace one, which I like. I like the length of the top. It is actually quite heavy, which is good for now, as it is cold outside. I think that I'll have to cut out the black underlayer and just wear a cami with it if I want to wear it when it warms up.

I would like to make this pattern again in something with better drape. It isn't specifically designed for knits, and I think I'd like to use a silk charmeuse or chiffon next time. I'm also going to put the vest on my list- I think it is super cute.

Thanks for reading!

-Ann

What to Wear in Madagascar

To be honest, I have no idea what to wear in Madagascar, and this title may need to be changed to "what NOT to wear in Madagascar" in a few months. We will have to wait and see. My 22 year old daughter, Alyssa, left for the Peace Corps this week, and she will be stationed in Madagascar for the next 2 years and 3 months. Yes, you read that right- TWO YEARS and three months!!! We are very proud of her for wanting to help make the world a better place, and for being fearless in doing so, but it will be a looooong time for Mama and Papa back home. Not knowing anything about Madagascar, the first step in figuring out what to pack was to figure out the weather and the cultural norms. Madagascar is a very large island off the southeastern coast of Africa. It's very, very unique in it's ecosystem, and has many species that are not found anywhere else in the world- most famously lemurs. Right now, it is experiencing it's rainy season, as you can see by t...

Giveaway Day

The popular blog SewMamaSew is sponsoring a Giveaway Day! We are participating and would like to offer a prize of 3 SewBaby patterns! To enter, just comment about which SewBaby pattern you would like to win the most. We will ship internationally, and the prize winner will be selected randomly on December 6th. Make sure to leave a way for us to contact you if you are the winner! You will get to choose which three patterns are your prize!

Vogue 9305 Asymmetrical Tunics

It's April and we're expecting snow tonight. Have we switched hemispheres? Nevertheless, I am sewing with visions of warm sunny days. And for those warm sunny days to come, I imagine sitting in the shade with a light breeze flowing through the air, enjoying a light beverage with friends. Just close your eyes and you can imagine too. What would you be wearing? Well, I love a dramatic asymmetrical tunic made of the softest linen. As luck would have it, I found just the fabric in the "As Is" section in Fabric Mart's sales category. With just some irregular dye marks on the selvage, it was marked down, but still completely usable. It started out as a solid color, but I did an ombre dip dye process to get this look- more on that later! For my pattern, I chose Vogue 9305 , a tunic with a shaped hemline, and two styles of pants (I didn't make the pants). This pattern must be the biggest bang for your ti...

RachelJanuary 19, 2012 at 4:08 PM
Beautiful!! I love your entire outfit.
VanessaJanuary 19, 2012 at 4:15 PM
Yay! I love finding things I'd long forgotten about when I clean up my sewing room too! However, it would probably be great is I cleaned once a month, but I usually only do so 2-3 times a year!!
LoriJanuary 19, 2012 at 4:18 PM
Very pretty top. You will enjoy wearing it.
Stacie DavisJanuary 19, 2012 at 7:15 PM
I really like this. I wasn't attracted to the pattern by the envelope, but yours is beautiful.
JDayMinisJanuary 20, 2012 at 12:58 AM
Really like it! We used to have a cat that looked just like yours, so sweet, she had a camel and black face, one paw pad was pink and the other was black to match, your cat sure brings back lovely memories.
grammyJanuary 20, 2012 at 8:37 AM
Oh so lovely - you look great - I'm afraid I sew like you - I do have to get more organized! I guess I'm still a work in progress! Jan from frigid northern Wisconsin! (Wish I could spend the day sewing but I have made a commitment to go ice fishing - at least the hut is heated!)

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