Girl M Blue Floral Jersey Maxi Dress

I surprised Girl M with a new dress.  Well, she's not surprised about a new dress, but I'm surprised when she likes it!

She Loved this one!  Jersey knit, tank style, maxi length and a perfect fit.

Jersey Knit Floral tank maxi dress

Jersey knit fabric always seems to give me a fit but this one behaved.  The fabric sewed up easily and finishing the bottom hem with 1/2" allowance was perfect.  An easy, quick sew.

Girl M.

Back View

Whose the Mamma?  This gal!

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

Bonnie

McCall 6074 TNT Summer Dresses

My camera didn't like focusing on the print of this dress.  After about 10 tries, I just picked the best of the worse!

This ITY knit was thin and made the perfect Summer dress from my TNT McCall 6074 pattern.  I made the V-neck and added a little cap sleeve.  Easy Summer dressing.

McCall 6074 ITY Knit Dress

Cap Sleeve

Back View

View on Me

$7.20 Dress

The second version I made the 43" length, cap sleeves and v-neck.  This ITY knit is a little thicker but has a nice feel to it.

McCall 6074 ITY Knit Dresss

McCall 6074 ITY Knit Dress

Back View

$9.99 Dress

One last dress I was able to sew up in a few hours.

Purple Gray Black palm print ITY Knit McCall 6074

I've been working on a pattern for Girl M.  Knit, elastic waist, pull-on shorts.  I hate fitting pants/shorts!  I've having an issue with the crotch being too tight.  I think I need to scoop out the crotch deeper.  But it's giving me a headache, why can't she just wear a skirt?

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

Bonnie

McCall 6074 TNT Jersey Knit Summer Dresses

I really want to shop for fabric but I've been good using up what's in my stash.  I sewed two jersey knit dresses from my favorite McCall 6074 TNT dress pattern.  

This version has a scoop neck, midi length and sleeveless.  I LOVE this dress!  My sewing machine didn't like sewing with a twin needle on the bottom hem, but I forged ahead and made it work.  

McCall 6074 Jersey Knit Dress

Scoop neck cut on fold

McCall 6074 Jersey Knit Dress

$6.00 Dress!

The second version is the same pattern, neckline and sleeveless but has such a different look to it.  I should be by the pool wearing this dress!

McCall 6074 Jersey Knit Dress

$12.00 Dress

I did have a little of this fabric left over and made Girl M. a tank top with it.  She loved the top so much she wore it to school this morning and I didn't even get a photo! 

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

Bonnie

Bubblegum Pink Ponte Knit Skirt

I purchased this polka dot top a few months back but didn't have a skirt to wear with it except a black ponte knit one.  I wanted something with a little POP of color.

Purchased polka dot top

Bubblegum pink ponte knit skirt to spice it up a little!

BubbleGum Pink Ponte Knit Skirt

I used my Sure-Fit Design TNT Knit skirt pattern.  I did have to take in about 1" at the hip side seams.  Wow, those squats are paying off!

Sure-Fit Design Knit skirt

$4.79 Knit skirt

I also have a denim button up shirt I fixed the hemline of a few months back that will work great with this skirt.

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

Bonnie

Knit Cardigans with Shoulder Pleats

This pattern hack  is the McCall 6844 I've had in my stash for years.  I don't know why it's taken me so long to sew up this pattern again.  I am in need of some simple cardigans to wear over sleeveless dresses.  I love the shoulder pleats on this pattern.  I made the sleeves 3/4 length.

I used 1-1/2 yards of a poly/lycra/cotton ITY Knit Maggie Longon from Fabric Mart Fabric that was in my stash.  $6.00 cardigan!  The fabric has a polyester crepe feel.  It's ok but I prefer a softer & stretchier ITY knit.

Knit Cardigan with Shoulder Pleats

Side View

Back

I cut strips of the Pellon EK130 interfacing 1/2" and ironed on along the edges.  I turned and top-stitched to finish the cardigan.

Close-up

Shoulder Pleats

I did have white ITY knit in my stash for this version.  $6.60 for this short sleeve version.  Since the fabric is thin, I layed the front and back pattern pieces so that there was no side seam.  Which meant I had to sew the sleeves in round.  I usually sew my knit sleeves in flat.  But they went in easily and look very nice.

White ITY Knit Cardigan

See, no side seams!

Side view

Side

Back View

Overall I'm very happy with my cardigan hacks.  I think they will become a wardrobe staple.

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

Bonnie

McCall 6073 Dress

I'm trying out a new pattern!  The McCall 6073 crossover top dress. 

McCall 6073

I'm getting low on knit fabric in my stash to use for a muslin.  I used 2 yards of a mesh type ITY knit and 1/2 yard of a scrap piece for the bodice back.  I read the reviews on the waistband only being in the front. 

I cut out a straight size 18 and I wasn't disappointed with the fit.   The overall pattern is great.  It sews together easily and all the notches and pattern pieces match up.  I give this pattern a B. The only thing I didn't really like was the V in the back and the way the binding looked.  But the binding looks good on the front.

I wanted to make this pattern muslin in a solid fabric so that I could see the fit better than with a print.  Boy what an eye opener!  The crossover isn't bad, it doesn't reveal too much but it could use a dart pinched out at center front to make it a little tighter to the chest.  The crossover makes the girls look a little low. 

The waistband is nice but I feel it's a little too wide, it wants to fold over itself.  The skirt length was perfect.  I'm not a fan of the skirt gathers concentrating at the center front and back.  Maybe distributing the gather over the entire skirt would look better on me.

McCall 6073 Dress

Side View

The back is probably the worse part.  I'm not a fan of the back V.  You can see my spare tire!  The bodice back needs about 1" removed from the center pinched out to bring the skirt up a little.  

Back View

Back close up

I may make the pattern adjustments and re-make this in a print to help camouflage my lumps and bumps.  But overall the pattern isn't bad I just need to work out!  But that takes away sewing time!  LOL!

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

Bonnie

Butterick 5649 Denim Skirts

Can a girl really have too many denim skirts?  I sewed my TNT Butterick 5649 View C again.  I really should look into view B, but I don't know about the button front and my hips/thighs pulling.  I'm afraid I'll be flashing everyone all the time.

I really like the fit of this skirt.  I've had to remove 1" from the side seams at the hip area for a closer fit.  It's an easy sew and I can finish this skirt in an afternoon.  A+ pattern for a satisfying sew!

Dark stretch denim fabric that loves to leave my fingertips blue!  I've washed this fabric two times before sewing the skirt up and three times after and it still rubs off on my hands.  It will get better.

Butterick 5649 Denim Skirt

Back View

This khaki stretch twill had only a little stretch.  It's a slimmer feeling fit but I do like it. 

Butterick 5649 Khaki Twill Skirt

I would NEVER wear my shirt tucked into my skirt out in public.  This is for your eyes only!  This purple skirt looks like I need more  circumference in my tummy area but the fabric has a lot of stretch.  I've made this skirt before in this same fabric but it's too big now. 

Butterick 5649 Purple Stretch Denim Skirt

Back View

I am hoping to get back to sewing dresses soon, maybe even try a NEW pattern.

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

Bonnie

Cap Sleeve Jersey Knit T-Shirt

I need a few more tops to wear with skirts.  I used my TNT cap sleeve t-shirt pattern and a piece of leftover jersey fabric to sew up this quick top. 

I really need to re-draft this pattern because it's a little too big on me too.  But I'm going to wear it anyways.

Cap Sleeve Jersey Knit T-Shirt

Cap Sleeve 

Jersey knit fabric is not one of my favorite knits to sew with.  I prefer jersey knit with elastane to help with recovery.  ITY knit is my most favorite but sometimes it's not casual enough for a denim skirt.

I'm off to sew something wonderful!

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

Bonnie

Silhouette Pattern #4009 (A Waste of 6 Yards of Fabric)

Don't you just hate it when you have high hopes for a pattern and it turns out disappointing?  I should have known better with this Silhouette Pattern.  I've tried to sew up Silhouette Patters' shirt/blouse patterns in the past and have never had a good result.  I don't know why this dress pattern would have been any different.

I thought this would be a cool, airy dress for summer.  Dress it up or dress it down.  Hoping that it would be an easy sew to add to my TNT collection.

Silhouette Pattern #4009

To start with I HATE that the measurements on the back of the package are garment finished size.  She tells you to measure a item you already have and compare.  The problem is that I don't have a dress similar to this in my closet.  

Silhouette Pattern #4009 Moroco's Dress

Looking at the garment sizes, I decided to cut out a size 4.  That's in the middle of the sizing range.  I don't think I am a plus anymore but I still have 52" hips.

The dress was HUGE!  The Size 4 gives me 12" of bust ease, 30" of waist ease and 30" of hip ease.  This is for a knit!  The front scoop is cut VERY low.  I had to take 1-1/2" from the shoulder seams and re-scoop the back neck.  I also used my armhole template and I'm glad I did because it brought the lower part of the armhole up 3"!

Warning:  This dress pattern takes 6 yards of fabric!  I used jersey knit that I had in my stash.  The dress feels like it weighs 5 pounds!  Maybe a lighter type knit should be used but it doesn't state that. 

I think the print fabric I chose makes the dress look more like a nightgown to me.

Side View

Back View

Side slit

Button at lower side slit

I had to close the slit up and move the button about 6" so that the sleeve wasn't so long on me.

I used a piece of elastic to make the loop.  It's in a weird spot and you can see it when you don't wear the dress sides up.  I re-read the instructions thinking I misplaced the loop but I think it's in the correct spot.

Armhole

This is what happens...........

You can wear it with just one side up or both sides............Or NOT at all!  Maybe just to bed but I think all this fabric would swallow me up while I was sleeping!

One side up

Both sides up

For some reason I think that both sides up looks like Dorothy from Golden Girls!

The Golden Girls

Not happening!

Should I try the size 1 (the smallest size), giving myself 3" of bust ease, 22" of waist ease and 24" of hip ease?  It still seems like too much ease for a knit.

I really didn't want to post these photos but for the sake of sewing I'll let you see them.  I look like I'm the size of an elephant!

Even after letting the dress hang for almost a week it keeps growing.  The back and sides are now longer, again!

 This is after wearing the dress for about 20 minutes!  The neckline is getting lower and lower.  It's a no for me!

The growing dress!

Maybe I should go shopping for some thin knit fabric to try again.................But do I want to try this pattern again?

Pondering the purchase of this Silhouette Pattern!

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

Bonnie