New Year, New Blogging #lifegoals

I realized the other day that I have a lot of unblogged sewing makes from 2019! And I think it's time I posted about them.

Entire outfits were constructed, deconstructed, reconstructed, and tossed in the Goodwill pile. To be completely fair, I'm going to show you what worked AND what didn't. I'm also going to try to keep words to a minimum and let the sewing stand on its own.

Ok, so here we go!

the successes

T Shirts
Mods: Chose one size larger than my measurements would indicate (I learned this by first making one for a friend based on measurements and seeing how tight it was on her)

Ponte Pants
Pattern: Ginger Jeans
Mods: Size 8 with Full Butt Adjustment (standard for me), removed back yoke and added darts, took in the inseam to tighten around knees and calves and took up the inseam across the bottom of the crotch about a half inch. OH and I changed these to a faux fly, meaning a sewed the fronts together at center front, added a line of top-stitching in that curve shape, shortened the waistband (fitted it on my waist), and added 3/4" elastic( or was it 1" elastic?) to the top of the waistband. 

Bellavista Sweater
Fabric: Lacoste Wool Knit from Nature's Fabrics (not designer, in this case lacoste refers to the fabric type - fun fact! both the fabric and the brand are named for the discoverer of this type of knit)
Mods: I had to piece parts of my bodice and sleeve to get this out of the fabric available. 

Belladone 1 & 2
Fabric: Pink Floral Stretch Cotton Twill from Mood
Fabric: Green Stripe Stretch Cotton Poplin from... some place in Connecticut? It was either Discount Fabrics in West Haven or Affordable Fabrics in Rocky Hill
Mods: Deer and Doe usually fits perfectly straight outta the envelope! The pink one, therefore, had no mods. After seeing the first one, I took about 1/2-1 inch out of the center back of the bodice. 

Chardon Skirt
Fabric: Stretch Cotton Twill from JoAnn Fabrics
Mods: None

Crop Sweater
Fabric: Wacky thick not-very-stretchy knit from Fashion Fabrics Club
Mods: None

Linen Pull on Pants
Fabric: "Santa Fe" linen/cotton from Vogue Fabrics with active cotton for the waistband
Mods: None

Summer Skirt
Mods: None - this pattern is only available in French. I don't speak French, but lucky for me Google does.

Winter Wool Dress
Pattern: Mashup of Belladone and Boundless Style for bodice, with Marbella skirt
Fabric: Stretch wool suiting from Sewfisticated Fabrics (Somerville) (was labeled Brooks Bros...??)
Mods: I used the fit of the bust/waist from Belladone with the upper bodice/sleeve armscye from Billie (Boundless Style pattern). I tried to use the finished garment measurements from the three patterns to pick which size in each one, but although the waist seam matched well, the skirt pulled badly at the hip at first. I was able to squeeze a long triangle inset out of my remaining fabric to put into the skirt's back. It helps, not perfect, but makes it wearable. Oh and fun anecdote about the Boundless Style book! The book comes with a CD with the patterns on it, but, like probably most people now, I have absolutely NO way to access a CD rom. I emailed the owner and she was kind enough to send me the PDFs once I showed proof of purchase of the book! So cool!

Harry Potter Robes
Pattern: Simplicity 8723
Fabric: Wool Twill from Sewfisticated Fabrics (Somerville), Ambiance Bemberg lining from JoAnn Fabrics
Mods: The robes were swimmingly large per the envelope measurements chart. Just about everyone sized down a size or two.

Sleeveless Top
Fabric: Theory stretch cotton shirting from Mood
Mods: None

Ogden Cami 1 & 2
Fabric: Red rayon remnant from JoAnn Fabrics, Printed rayon also from JoAnn Fabrics (JoAnn getting 100% rayons in not terrible prints has been a highlight for me this year!)
Mods: The red one has a shorter than patterned facing because I was running out of my remnant. it seems to work ok though.

the fails

Mismatched pattern to Fabric
Fabric: Viscose Twill from Blackbird Fabrics
Mods: I'm sad. This pattern is beautiful and seeing other gorgeous makes, I was really excited. I picked fabric that wasn't light weight and drapey enough. Sigh.

Ponte Pants -1
Mods: Style Arc was a pleasure to work with. I originally ordered one color but changed my mind and was able to email them and ask them to change to black. I attempted a full butt adjustment on these pants. I don't know what went wrong, but these pants are just all wrong on me. I'm not even sure where to start.
Athletic Leggings
Fabric:  Ponte di Roma from Boho Fabrics
Mods: I've seen some awesome leggings from Greenstyle patterns, but these, well, they wouldn't even cover my bum. Pretty sure I picked THE WRONG fabric for this pattern.... yes, there's a theme here. And sewing just doesn't always work out the way you plan. It's a metaphor for life. One of these days, I'm going to make some legit super g's.

Summer Sundress
Fabric: Cotton Voile from Mood with Ambiance Bemberg lining 
Mods: Modified via this tutorial for a simple v-neckline. This is kind of a fail and kind of not. First I have to say I looooove this fabric. I stashed in a few years ago, not entirely sure what I'd do with it, but saving it for just the right thing. When it came to sewing, I did a decent job, but the bodice length just looked too short. I added a waistband to lengthen the bodice above the gathers - which somehow managed to look ok - and then it was just a little too tight on the bust. If I lose those 5 lbs it'll probably fit perfectly. We'll see.


(Don't) Love Notions Tessa Sheath
Pattern: Tessa by Love Notions
Fabric: Cotton Interlock - which I dyed... MYSELF
Mods: I was so stoked. I bought white cotton interlock, dyed it myself in the washing machine and made my dress. Boy was I sad to realize that without any spandex the fabric had basically NO recovery and just looked sloppy. It was another classic missmatch between fabric and pattern. Someday I will learn. ha. In the meantime, this one is headed to the thrift store.

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