SewBaby News

For the past few months, Fabric Mart has had the most gorgeous array of Michael Kors Wool Blend Coatings that I have ever seen!  During COVID stay at home time, I've been letting my gray grow out, and I thought that even though some of the delicious sounding shades like apricot and apple green would be beautiful, the heathered gray shade would be the most flattering to my gray hair and the most versatile for a winter coat.  And it was one of the coatings that listed Cashmere as one of the fiber components, so I was curious as to how that would feel.

    Hello everyone. This linen dress is the first thing that I made after my husband passed away 2 months ago.  At first, it was a real struggle- I kept putting things together the wrong way and having to rip it out and do it over again.  I probably shouldn't have chosen an asymmetrical design with fabric that looks the same on both sides for my first project!  But as I finished, I felt a real sense of accomplishment!  I have to say that creating something unique and special was just what I needed to feel a little like myself again.  I used three coordinating pieces of linen- a deep coffee colored brown, a milky cream, and an abstract print with whipped cream, cloves, and cinnamon it- thus, my cafe au lait dress!    Linen is so wonderful to work with.  You do need to accept that wrinkles will be part of the look though, which I am fine with.  For the pattern, I used Vogue 1694 which is a Marcy Tilton design and the ...

It's almost the 4th of July! Even though there will be no fireworks this year where we live due to Covid 19, I still made a dress that would be something that I would wear on a typical 4th of July.  This is a shirtdress using McCalls 7351 for my pattern and  stretch poplin with a border that reminds me of a string of firecrackers! I used View C hem, and View D sleeves to get this combination. This is what the fabric looked like before I cut into it.  It had a solid red border on both sides, and a slight stretch.  I was perplexed as to how to use the solid red in such a way that it would accent the main fabric,  and decided to have one solid band down the front, at the sleeve hems, and the other solid band on the sides of the handkerchief hems. This meant turning the grain of the skirt pieces horizontally.  Here it is on my dress form in progress.  I would have loved to have made the collar in the solid red too, but just didn't have enough...

A few months ago, Fabric Mart had 50 meter spools of ribbon available for $2.50 and a bag of 30 beads for $1.  I don't usually sew with ribbon or beads, but on a whim, I bought a spool of ribbon in coral pink and a bag of beads.  I thought I would probably use them for my after school sewing club to make drawstring bags, but then Covid happened, and we haven't had a sewing club meeting since.  So, as I was walking by them multiple times a week, I started to get some ideas on how to use them in my own sewing! My first project was this handkerchief hem knit t-shirt from Vogue 8651.  This is an out of print pattern, but there are plenty of newer patterns with similar style lines.   I made View B out of a coral pink rayon knit. I decided to use the ribbon to make an attached necklace combined with some gold beads.  How I created this look was by taking three lengths of ribbon, and then spacing the gold beads on the ribbon until I had a ple...

Addendum 6/2/20.  I have to say that writing a blog post about sewing during this time of intense social upheaval feels very strange.  The photos of myself smiling for this post belie the fact that my heart is breaking for the black community and the injustice that they have had to endure.  I stand with the protesters and support change in our justice system and equality for all in our society. With Compassion, Ann **************************************** Today is my youngest daughter's 27th birthday.  Ahh, how time flies!  Unfortunately, we can't spend it with her because she lives in California, as does our middle daughter.  It was my plan to visit both of them this summer, but it looks like those plans are on hold until a vaccine is developed.  But, in my Illinois imagination, I have made this ocean blue watercolor like caftan, as what I envision a California mom would wear by the poolside to celebrate her adult daughter's birthday....

I've gone my whole life thinking that yellow was a color that I couldn't wear.  If you look through my decade of sewing blog history, you won't see me wearing yellow.  For some reason, now, I decided, I don't care anymore- I love yellow and I'm going to wear it! This cardigan and top were made using Simplicity 8141 for the cardigan and Vogue 1049 for the tank.  The cover doesn't show the shorter version of the cardigan, but that is the view that I made- View D.   The front is one piece that starts out with one shoulder on the bottom of the piece and one shoulder on the top, you narrow hem both sides, and then flip the shoulder seam up, creating this beautiful drape. I used a very sheer rayon knit from Fabric Mart.  The tank is two layers of the fabric, and the cardigan one layer.  This project was a fabric hog- I had 3-1/2 yards of fabric, and used it all for these two pieces.  For some reason, I don't think that 8141 was ever done...

It's been a few weeks since my last post, and oh, so much has happened!  I've been sheltering in place here in Illinois for the last 2 weeks, and am so concerned with the pandemic, that I've been spending most of my time on the phone with friends and family.  I've also been doing a LOT of sewing.  I'm so glad that I have something that can provide and enjoyable distraction during this high stress period.  I hope that you are staying safe, and if you are one of the essential workers during this time, thank you for all that you are doing! 

First of all, thank you for all of your kind words after my last post.  It really means a lot to me! If you like putting together puzzles, you'll love sewing tops with twists!  They are a bit of a brain teaser, as the end results looks nothing like the pattern pieces themselves.  I've recently tried out three relatively new top patterns with twists.  My first one was Butterick 6628 from a solid red cotton interlock.

Happy 2020 everyone!  This is my first post of the year, and I'm looking forward to a great sewing year.  I've got all kinds of plans!  I had been thinking about making some new turtleneck sweaters, when I saw the Talvikki Sweater pattern from the Finnish pattern company- Named.  It had some really interesting shaping darts at the neckline, and I liked how boxy it was.   So, I decided that it would be a fun take on a turtleneck and gave it a try- actually four tries!  This is a version that I made for my daughter from vintage velour.  I've actually been holding on to this piece of fabric since the 70's!!!!  Doesn't it look great on her?

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!