Butterick 4443 Princess Seam Dress

Over the weekend I made another dress!  I have a little story behind this fabric:  I went last month to get my hair done by a very special friend.  She had a cape of this beautiful shades of purple watercolor like fabric.  She told me a customer had made it for them.  So while sitting waiting for my coloring to finish, I worked my way around the outer seam of the cape and found a selvage spot!  Jo-Ann's fabric!  On my next visit to Jo-Ann's I found it in the quilting cotton section.  The fabric has a nice thickness to it and I thought it would still be ok to use for a dress.  The only thing was when I laid out the the pattern for the skirt I was about 6" too short along the selvage width!   I finally folded the fabric crosswise for the skirt so that the pattern went the same way for both the bodice and the skirt.  Perfect!  I had about 6" of fabric left!

Butterick 4443 Princess Seam Dress

Butterick 4443 Princess Seam Dress-Purple

I'm thinking of wearing it with a purple cardigan I already have or maybe a white one.  I also have some purple grosgrain ribbon to use as a waist tie.  I will try to get a photo of me wearing it too.

My next project is going to be a skirt.  I found McCall 8487.  It's a vintage skirt pattern in my drawer of patterns.  I'm going to have to enlarge the pattern (what else is new!).  I had to add 2.15" to the waist and 2.5" to the hips.  :(.  

Until next time......................

Bonnie

Butterick 5616 Spring Vest

I am a sucker for clothing magazines.  I love to tear out the pages and save pictures of clothing that I like, in hopes that maybe one day, I will make it. (Especially if I can make it cheaper!)

I found this picture in the www.womanwithin.com mailer.  It's SPRINGY, it's versatile and I think I can make it A LOT cheaper than $29.99!

Magazine Vest 

My Vest Idea

On my visit to Jo-Ann's I could not find a white background denim fabric.  I thought that this red, orange, white, purple & yellow stretch denim screamed SPRING!

I have made this pattern two other times.  I made a short sleeved cropped jacket in white denim and a 3/4 length sleeve jacket in brown floral from a curtain panel I bought at the thrift store.

Butterick 5616 Brown Floral Jacket 

Butterick 5616 White Denim Crop Jacket

I have wore both these jackets many times.  Over dresses or with a tank and jeans.  The pattern is easy to work with.  I always have a little trouble with the collar, but looks ok in the end.

Floral Butterick 5616 Spring Vest

Back view Butterick 5616 Vest

I think that this vest turned out just as I expected and I can't wait to wear it soon.  

The FedEx man just brought me a box from FabricMartFabrics.com!  I can't wait to dig in!

My next project is the Butterick 4443 dress with princess seams and full skirt.  I have to alter the pattern to fit my bust.  All those pieces........ wish me luck!

Until next time.......................

Bonnie

  

First Serger Project

I wanted to try out my new serger on making cloth napkins with a rolled hem.  I was a little nervous to change the dials on the machine.  Changing from a 4-thread stitch to a rolled hem was easy and I even changed thread color, then changed back to 4-thread stitch and thread color again.

EASY PEASY!

Rolled hem cloth napkins

I like to throw them in a basket in the dining room.  It makes me feel a little bit better for not using as much paper.  I just throw them in the washer when I do wash.

Basket of napkins

 I'm working on an apron project.  I have a favorite apron but I have been unable to find a pattern similar.  I decided to trace the apron out on paper and sew it up.  

Until next time.....

Bonnie

Something New!

Sorry for the absence, life sometimes gets in the way!

Well, I have something NEW to show you!

New Serger from the Dear Husband!

For my birthday this past week my wonderful husband told me to get a Serger!  I always hesitate about buying my own present, but I gave in since I knew deep down I REALLY REALLY wanted one!  

My old Serger, I found at a thrift store a few years ago.  It gave me more headache than three kids home on a rainy day from school!

Old Toyota Serger

I have sewn many items in the past 8 months while I have been away but I won't bore you with all that history.  I hope to be re-energized to continue posting.  

Until next time.......

Bonnie