McCall’s 6567, the Baby Bump, and the Many Turquoise Skirts

There are so many blue hues going on in the fashion world. I decided to get on board once I saw this pattern. First, I am a fan of the high-low skirt hems, the color Turquoise, and flowy fabric.

The Green version is what really caught my eye.

Check out EricaB’s Peacock Blue maxi skirt:
Here are some other Blue hues that are floating around in fashion.
 
 
All previous are taken from Pinterest.
DESCRIPTION: Misses’ skirt: very loose fitting skirts with various hem shapes, ruffles and a mock wrap version. *Easy*
As you read in the title “baby bump”. Yeah, there’s a bump and this skirt is still too loose. I read the descript and verified “very loose fitting”. I prefer it to be a tad…well a lot, tighter. I have the top tucked in so you can see how loose it is it’s falling off my rear.
 
My leg looks broke. And ALL of my heals lean to the side! Ugh!
So, since it’s a stretch and I really wanted to wear it now, I took it in BY A TOTAL OF FOUR INCHES! Now it looks great and feels great. Here it is on Aloe because I haven’t had the mojo to take more photos of it on myself.

Under normal circumstances I would most likely tuck in the top and wear with a belt.
SIZING: XS-MED in one pack and LG to XXL in another. I made the medium and according to my taste in this type of skirt I should have made the XS.
It does look like the drawing D even though I was going for the version C but I thought the skirt would look retarded and too busy with the many ruffles and the bottom ruffle, too.
I did not use the instructions because this is just a basic straight line skirt, a hem, and an elastic waistband.
I like the shape but not the extreme looseness. I like the mock wrap version which I *plan* to make if circumstances permit.
I used a very pretty and comfortable layered ruffled knit. I don’t remember the exact description but I bought it from Hancock while I was on Spring Break in NC with my Sis. I love the color.
I don’t remember too many alterations except I put the waistband on like the MimiG tute. It didn’t work too good because I was trying to measure for future bump growth. Honestly, I should have just left it as is and let the elastic grow by itself. I left off the bottom ruffle or I could simply say I made view D instead of C. I didn’t hem the bottom because the fabric doesn’t fray and I wasn’t bothering myself with hemming around the ruffle layers. I believe that’s it. Oh, and when I redone the waistband I simply cut off the whole old one and put a new one in. I was NOT going to unpick those stitches from that material with the ruffles…um no. Here’s the old band:

Yeah, it’s in my plans to make this one again and the mock wrap one in the near future. But I will have to see which way the wind will be blowing at that time. Sure, I recommend. Just keep in mind that this skirt is VERY loose fitting. Really.
I also made the tank to go with it. Last seen here:
                                 My youngest sister just claimed this one a few months ago. Now I have to myself another one.                    
                                and

                                 McCall’s 5853 – minus the ruffles.
Here it is, well, kind of:
   and   Topstitching. The waistband doesn’t look like this anymore. The white was tacky. I forgot to change the bobbin. It is now the same color as the fabric.
Sorry for the wrinkles. The fabric is really great to wear and soft but it’s a pain to iron.

Ok, this is it. I am running out of blogging patience right now.

*Lesson learned… again… do not sew tired or not feeling well – ever. You’ll get less than acceptable results.*

Until, another time. Stay blessed and not stressed, Scheryka.

McCall's 6074 Resurrection Dress

This dress was the easiest but most pain staking ever! It wasn't error of the pattern, fabric, nor myself. It was error of that thing of a Brother sewing machine. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I have had it since 1998, but it doesn't act bipolar all the time. It only cut up when ...well, when it wants to. I'm just going to call this condition electronic bipolarism.

My sister, Evoni, over at EvyLu's, and I made this dress together during Spring Break. We both had a helluva time with our machines. And I am not talking a good and loving time. I mean hell and high waters of a time! Let me see, there may have been a total of 2 broke needles, 2 bent needles, TONS of thread speghetti under the bobbin houses, clicking and ticking noises, fabric jams through the plate, and so many bobbin house moving in odd directions that we can shake a stick at! ( I wonder what that really mean, "...shake a stick at".) I used to always hear Momma say it and still don't know what it means.

Anyhow's, I am only 5'3" and the patternis obviously made for the usual models who are at least 6 feet something in the higher inches. We were doing View C which is the longest of all the views and we both had to cut it to the length of View D, and the dress is right were it lands on the model for View C. Yeah, we're short people.

DESCRIPTION: Misses' 1 hour puul-over dresses in 3 lengths with deep v front neck line.

SIZES: The pattern comes in sizes A5 (6 to 14) and FF (16 to 22) I believe we cut on the 14. It could have been the 12. I am not with the envelope to makek sure.

DID IT LOOK LIKE THE PHOTO OR DRAWING ON THE ENVELOPE WHEN I WAS DONE: Well, yes it did. It is too easy for it not to look like it.

WERE THE INSTRUCTIONS EASY TO FOLLOW: What instructions? I don't believe we really used them until it was time to put in the elastic and its casing in the front bust area.

WHAT DID I PARTICULARLY LIKE OR DISLIKE: I liked that there are only 2 pattern pieces minus the elastic casing and that it is one the easiest patterns out there. One could easily make an assembly line worth of these bad babies in a matter or a few hours or so. There are no dislikes.

FABRIC USED: I used a black, white, and grey striped knit from Hancock Fabrics.

PATTERN ALTERATIONS OR DESIGN CHANGES: Aside from what what is already mentioned above...none. However, next time I make this dress I would like to do a facing for the neck and arms. Turning and sewing does not look very well finished to me.

WOULD YOU SEW IT AGAIN? RECOMMEND?: Yes and yes!

CONCLUSION: This is the pattern for all your spring and summer maxi dreams. Go get it and sew it up. I see cut, copy and paste (modifications) all over this dress to get the high-low effect, short, long, asymmetrical, tiered, you name it. And it is great for beginner sewers, too. Give it a try.

Sorry there are no photos. It seems as though photos are stuck on my sister's hard drive and I have not had time to photo any more. Once they become available, I'll provide them for you. In the mean time you can enjoy EvyLu's dress.

Jean Contest - J. Stern 0037 AKA Operation: Owl Eyes

I have entered another contest despite the fact that life tries to throw curve balls. This one is the Jean Contest. After making a few pairs of pants out of the box, I wanted to make a pair that are ‘me’. I mean, after all, is not that the reason why we sew? I didn’t want another “I look just the other one” pair of jeans.

This is my second time making the J. Stern jeans. Here’s the first go at it.

The description taken from J. Stern’s website: Fitted jeans featuring classic 5-pocket styling
w/ optional back flap pockets, easy front fly zipper, boot leg hem and topstitching. Finished inseam 34”. Also, the waistline can be adjusted to sit at your natural waist. The boot cut leg can also be modified to the flare of your liking.

The pattern comes in sizes 6 to 16. I used the size 8 line. This corresponds to a 31 1/2 low waist and 38 1/2 full hip.

My final product does not look like the pattern photos because I made some very custom modifications to fit the bill of what I saw in my head. Had I made them right out of the box, they would have. Even though I have made them only once they are a TNT because they fit so well.

I didn’t use the instructions because I have made jeans before. I did however want to see if I could understand J. Stern’s fly and zip instructions again. I thought I would have understood them this time. Not so. I am pretty sure it’s my brain working on s-l-o-w. Other than that, the instructions are great.

What I like most is everything. The shaping, pieces, instructions, and the coin pocket. I also like how the pockets go all the way to the zipper. I learned that this is called ‘tummy control’ because the pockets are made from a woven and does not allow for any stretching of the pooch area. What I disliked is that the back rise is short for those of use with a little meat on the backside. I wrote on the pack that I needed to lengthen that area from the previous version but I forgot to do that. But that does not justify me to not like the pattern. I love it.

I used the same fabric from the last pair. I must like it because I ordered more from Fabric.com soon after I made the last pair. It is a black stretch denim that looks a little pre-faded. For the pocket bags I used some trash remnants from another project. It is a cotton shirting. I also used some embossed vinyl for the ‘leather’ parts.

There were tons of alterations and design changes. Where do I start?

1. I modified the front pockets to dip lower. That meant I had to change all three pieces. I made the pocket bag a tad bigger, too. Not that I use my pockets much but when I do, (like walking in the park) I want to be able to fit my license, cell phone, and a set of keys in there.

                                               

2. As I did on the last pair, I finished the pocket bags with bias binding. This gives such a neat finish. It’s not bulky either.

 

3. I changed the back pocket because I did not want a normal shape. I wanted something else.

4. I changed the flap. I made the point off-centered. To me, it’s to give contour detail to the rearview.

5. I did try and put in the zipper per instructions but once again I had bad results. In fact, I don’t know what kind of results I got this time. So, not wanting to deal with the pain and to get over that hill I decided to use the Jalie 2908 method. But by now I had already cut off the extra piece on the right side fly that’s instructed. I had to redraft it snd give it seam allowances and sew it right back on. I put the zipper tape to the line and not the zipper teeth. This hid the zipper well under the flap. Although it works, there is something that is just not quite right.

6. I used the waistband from Simplicity 9825. I love how it sits on my body and there is no problem with it gapping back there.

I didn’t want the normal thin band that are found on regular jeans. I wanted a wide band. This remedied the low back rise, too. 

At first I was going to make the waistband in the same vinyl embossed ‘leather’ but that meant a few big fat seams because it is kind of thick. I should have used it to make a covered headboard instead. I would have went ahead and tried it but I cut the pieces without seam allowances by mistake and they were too small. I took them apart and tried to sew them lapped, but they were still too short.

                                  

So, I ultimately decided not waste anymore pleather and cut the band in the denim and lined it with a blue cotton with butterfly designs I had originally supposed to use for my daughter’s sundress.

7. Last, I tapered the wide flare to more of a straight look. Well, they are not totally straight. At the hem, there was a total of 2 inches on each side taken off. So, front and back leg both sides is a total of 8 inches. I was going for the skinny at first but changed my mind right before I’d cut them. This was the easiest change in the whole process.

Oh, 8. I forgot about this one. I had sewn the center seam off to the right about (eyeballed)halfway of 5/8. When I topstitched, I topstitched to the left. I did this so that my topstitching could be on the center and not off to whatever side my topstitching ended on.

                                      

I have seen (in fact, I own a pair) jeans off-centered like this and it irks me. And 8a. I put my back pockets on last because I wanted to make sure they were centered and properly placed. Not too far up, down, close, apart. Angled correctly… Then I sewed the inseam. That made it easier to sew the back pockets.

                                                

and 9. I cut off 2 1/2 inches from the hem and hemmed them 1 inch. It was a double turn, 1/2 each.  

Of course, I would sew it again and of course, I recommend! Why wouldn’t I when I get such great results?

I had to make a quick dash and get a right now photo:  

 

Here are more photos that I could not figure out to place them in the blog.

Almost forgot to change the shape.

Glue became a friend because the pockets kept moving.

Do I want the pocket flaps this way….

Or this way?

This?

This?

With or with out a tab?

I guess it’s without the tab.

With or without the yoke and wide band?

Placement here?

Or here? Many decisions.

Trimming to seam allowance.

Ready for the flaps.

I was supposed to wear this top with my jeans but that did not happen.

This is how I wore my new jeans.

      

The top is McCall’s 56651 Last seen here.

       

Me and my husband, Chad. I don’t like this photo. Let’s take another one…

Ok, it’s better but not the best. I think it’s the sun. (Boy, does my head stand out! LOL)

No gaposis. And the buttons aren’t functional. I couldn’t get the buttonhole to work so I put a snap just under the tip to keep the flaps down.

       

Operation: Owl Eyes was adopted because my youngest son said my back pockets look like owl eyes.

Conclusion Great, great, great!!!

Be encouraged and keep sewing, Scheryka