SewBaby News

I have a treat for you today- I've found a pattern that I really, really love, and it is EASY!!  I mean, you cannot go wrong with this one, it is just that good- no fitting prowess required, about as easy to sew as you could ask for, and amazingly, it works as a dress, just as well as a top.  And I can prove it because I made it three times, with wildly different fabrics, and I think (IMHO) that they all look pretty darn good! The pattern is McCalls 7979.  It is a Palmer Pletsch design. I recently found this purple floral cotton interlock remnant at a thrift shop, and just had about 1 yard of it.  It was so, so nice!  But 1 yard isn't enough for a sleeved top in my size, so I decided to mix it up with another fabric.  I had a black sweater knit that I thought would be a nice contrast for it.   I added the kangaroo pocket- that wasn't part of the pattern, although it's certainly not hard to draft your own.  You could also insert side...

I've been a Burda magazine subscriber for over a dozen years now.  If you're not familiar with Burda, it's a sewing pattern magazine published in Germany.  Sometimes their designs seem a little wacky at first (and I'm the queen of wearing wacky things, so I can say that).  But, after a few years they start to grow on you, and before you know it, you wonder why you waited so long to make some of them!  That's the case with this dress from the May 2012 issue of Burda magazine, design #107.  It was so memorable, that it was always in the back of my mind for when I found the right fabric. Here is their version: And here is mine:  I used two colors of 100% linen from Fabric Mart.   I didn't originally intend to mix them, but when I got my package, I thought that the colors looked really good together!  This was a technically challenging dress because I had to do a full bust adjustment, which with that wacky front was a r...

It's the last day of September, but we're supposed to reach record breaking temps for the next 3 days.  And we're not alone, I heard that up to 50 cities are supposed to break records today.  Then the bottom drops out and our temps will drop 30 degrees.  So, I'm going to enjoy wearing some sleeveless dresses while I can. This is made from Butterick 6050.  I made it from an interesting cotton/lycra jersey with the print on the diagonal. I wanted a pattern that wouldn't have many seams to match that diagonal print.  While the front is rather basic, turn around, and the back is pretty cool with an open area and a twist!  Yes, the twist is supposed to be there.  When taking the photograph, my husband said- I think there's something wrong back there- it's twisted.  LOL!  That's the point!

Hello everyone!  I'm back after a long break, and boy does it feel good to be sewing again!  I really need to sew to keep myself balanced, just like sunshine and exercise.  I am starting my fall sewing with this little striped top in an unusual color combo of black, cream, clay and mint green.  This is one of the Milly fabrics from Fabric Mart, and it was lovely to work with!  Here's the back- I love how it moves:

It's summertime here in Illinois!  Even though I love to be outside and spend time in my garden, I also am quite concerned about preventing sun damage to my skin and covering up as much as is reasonably comfortable.  For that reason, I decided to make some shirtdresses that would be lightweight, breezy, yet, tightly woven fabric that would offer some degree of SPF protection, and cover at least my upper arms and shoulders.  I've heard that the most important thing for sun protective fabric is tightness of the weave.  RIT makes a wash-in sun protective powder that is supposed to last for up to 20 washes, but I haven't tried it yet.  I don't care for sunscreen- it tends to make me sweat and feel greasy, so I've been favoring blocking the rays more mechanically with hats and clothing.   In the photo on the left, it looks like I'm wearing a camisole- I'm not, that's just the line where the sun protection from my hat ends-guess I need to button...

For Mother's Day, my daughter sent me a mystery box of fabric from FabricMart!  It arrived a couple of weeks early, and of course I opened it up as soon as I could.  She then told me that I was supposed to wait until Mother's Day to open it.  Feeling a little guilty, I told her that since I had opened it early, that I would try to sew some of it up into some new outfits by Mother's Day!   As chance would have it, Patternreview.com was also having their Mini-Wardrobe contest, which had a deadline of May 15th, so I decided to enter it to give me a personal push.  I was able to use 4 of the fabrics from the package- this floral knit, the blue gingham, a solid cream jersey and a red floral voile, in the outfits.  I did supplement with a denim that I had, as I really needed another solid fabric to make the coordinates work.

Ahh, Spring!  It's been a long time coming this year, and when we took these photos a couple of weeks ago, the temperature was still in the 20's!  These are combination inside/outside pictures as I could only stay out so long pretending it was warmer!  Maybe more than ever, I've been in the mood for sewing a few separates in anticipation of warmer weather.  For my first item, I used a Melon Watercolor Floral Linen/Cotton Blend.   The weight is just perfect for a skirt with no lining- it has enough weight to drape nicely, and doesn't cling at all.  This particular print is large, which is great for a tall person like myself. I didn't want a complicated pattern, so I chose Kwik Sew 3233- it is an 8 panel skirt with an elastic waist.  It's basically just one pattern piece that you cut 8 times, but I did add in a rather large pocket, because I just have to carry my phone and keys with me all the time these days.  My phone is so heav...

I haven't had much time to sew lately, and when I'm not able to sew, I like to go through my old Burda magazines and get ideas.  My oldest Burdas are from 1969- not that I've been subscribing that long!  I bought almost the whole year of 1969 on Ebay a few years ago.   This is the March issue, so it's exactly 50 years old.  I've snapped some photos to share with you.  I don't speak German, so your guess is as good as mine as to what the text says, but the photos say a lot! This was the cover story.  Without the hat, I think you could wear this today! But with the hat, it  really feels like a stewardess uniform. I really like the giant houndstooth print of these dresses.  And take a look at those long pointed collars.  So many dresses were shown with neck scarves and belts too. They really liked showing pairs of models together in coordinating colors. In current issues, models are rarely shown together unless it's a wed...