Simplicity 8014 - Denim shirtdress w/ white topstitching

When this pattern came out last year I knew that I wanted the EXACT same dress as the example on the envelope. I chose a nice weighty denim from my stash which I have no idea where I bought it from nor what project it was purchased for. It has a good bit of stretch which I thought would be great for a somewhat fitted casual dress.

I cut a size 10 through the bust, tapering out to a 12 at the hips and through the shoulders. I also added 2 inches to the hemline. Probably I could have gotten away without the extra length since the top offers so much coverage.

I left off the in-seam pockets and folded the back into an inverted pleat instead of having gathers per the instructions. In this thick of a fabric I was worried the gathers might look funny and not lay flat.

I decided to add an elastic casing to the waist to give the dress even gathering distribution.

Dressform pictures:

I topstitched with white thread. The sleeve treatment is really interesting. That's a topstitched tuck instead of a bottom sleeve band, and the way it's sewn together there's no need to finish the edge or sew an invisible hem. 

The elastic waist casing was stitched with navy thread so that it disappears under the fabric belt. The buttons I purchased at JoAnn's.

Back inverted pleat:

Because my denim was so thick, I decided to use a contrasting fabric in various areas to cut down on bulk. I made a dress out of this fabric years ago and saved the remnant because I thought it was so cute.

Here you can see the contrast fabric at the inside yoke, waist casing and hem facing.

It's too hot to wear this dress currently - it's more of a fall outfit. I'm not sure why I decided to make it in the middle of July, but now I have a fun new outfit for when the weather turns slightly cooler.

Here's a photo bomb by my baby girl. She's nearly 6 years old and will start kindergarten in three weeks. Time is flying by with these kiddos!

Burda 6771 - Wrap shorts in kitty border print

I try to steer clear of juvenile fabrics since I'm in my *cough* late 30's and don't want to appear like I'm desperately hanging on to my youth, but this fabric just begged me to buy it. It's a purple and red cat print bamboo twill from Moodfabric.com, and is still available as of this morning. Mood labeled it as being a "Famous Designer" fabric but I'll just spill the beans and tell you it's from Anna Sui. It's long and thin with a border of maroon and red stripes and I had no idea what I was going to do with it. Inspiration hit while perusing the Burdastyle pattern book and I settled on a wrap shorts style, 6771.

I ended up needing all three of the panels I bought. These are a few inches shorter then the original design due to the narrowness of the print. I cut a size 38/12 and made no adjustments for fit. I finished the edges and pre-washed my fabric so that I could wear these guilt free during the hot Texas summer. This bamboo twill is thin and mostly opaque. I'm living dangerously and will have to avoid getting my picture taken with bright flashes but I really didn't want to add a lining or underlining. Time will tell if I regret my decision.

I had to carefully line up the cats at the center front and back seams, but there are no side seams to worry about so that was nice. These kitties do like to change their direction from time to time.

I used an invisible zipper at the back and cut my facings from a remnant of lavender lining. All exposed edges were finished with the overlocking stitch on my sewing machine. The hems are all narrow and topstitched carefully.

Mood has a yellow color way of this exact print that I was tempted to get instead (as I love all things yellow) but I am trying to branch out and add other colors to my closet. I'm proud of myself for finding a way to use this unusual fabric, but I can't tell you how many interesting border prints I have in my stash that I'm still scratching my head about how to use. I have a hard time passing up unique fabrics.

Note: This fabric was purchased with my Mood fabrics monthly allowance, as part of my participation in the Mood Sewing Network.

Burda 6906 - Green + ivory rose print palazzo pants

This project started from my desire to add a pair of wide leg palazzo pants to my wardrobe. I wanted something fitted at the waist that was still flowy and comfortable, and settled on Burda 6906. I really liked the yoke of this design - somewhat unusual on a pair of pants - and the piping on the top and bottom. I'm always on the lookout for those little something extras. The pattern suggested viscose or rayon crepe, so I went cruising through Mood Fabric's selection of rayon crepes. I knew I wanted a print for these pants, and chose this green and ivory artistic rose stretch rayon crepe, now sadly sold out.

The care for this fabric was hand wash in cold water and line dry or dry clean. I do dry clean on occasion but not typically for casual clothing, which these pants were intended to be. However, after putting the fabric through my machine's delicate cycle and hanging up to drip dry, the black dye started to run into the ivory and it looked terrible. I figured it wouldn't be useable to me that way and I had very little to lose by drying it in the dryer, so that's what I did (after washing on delicate again.) It came out exactly like it went in, and if I lost any of my original 2.5 yards to shrinking, it wasn't evident when I was cutting out the pattern pieces.

The fit of these pants is just perfect right out of the envelope. I flat measured the waist since that measurement was not included the pattern paper and went with the 10 instead of my typical woven size 12. I wasn't much worried about the hip measurement as this fabric has a good amount of stretch and they are pretty roomy through the hips as drafted.

I did try to match the roses on the print as best as I could, particularly at the center front and center back. The sides look okay - maybe not as perfect as I would like (especially on the right side) but really who is going to notice on these busy pants? I am always my own worse critic. Who was it that said a little imperfection keeps things interesting? That needs to be my new mantra.

The pattern directions only instruct you to put piping along the bottom of the yoke, but that didn't make much sense to me, so I stitched it to the top and bottom as per the envelope example.

I used knit interfacing on the yoke and yoke facing to give the pants some stability but still allow them to be stretchy and comfortable. The piping along the top acts like a waist stay and prevents that seam from stretching out. The back is closed with an invisible zipper.

This was a really fun project. I got the exact look I was going for, had no fit issues to speak of, enjoyed working with the fabric and my zipper went in perfectly the very first time (which pretty much never happens to me.) Definitely expect to see this pattern again soon, maybe the shorts view in a stretch denim chambray.

Note: This fabric was purchased with my Mood Fabrics monthly allowance, as part of my participation in the Mood Sewing Network.