Ra- Ra- Rasputin (Burda 7381)

My son is SO skinny! It is hard to find pants that fit his 28 waist. And he is tall. I see now that elastic may just become one of his friends until I become confident enough to make a more tailored pair of pants for men. I tried to experiment on my husband but he wasn’t having it. Lol I find it kind of hard to certain garments for men - especially the picky ones in my life.

Burda patterns are said to be good patterns. I have quite a few of them and just had not the time to put any together until now.

 

Bradley saw this pattern while I was shopping one of Hancock’s famous sales. It was my first time even seeing these patterns on sale. (I have a few I had already bought off Ebay.) I do remember about five years ago I had asked the sales lady if they sold Burda’s here and she told me they had stopped a while back and didn’t know if they would start again. I had been stationed in Germany and fell in love with Burda, but I didn’t know the language that well and decided it really wasn’t worth paying that much for a pattern only to sew it blindly. But, whadaya’ know? Let there be Burda!

 

The description on the pattern pack says: Burda Young; Shorts; semi-fitted

 

And it fits US sizes 34 to 46. I cut the smallest -34. I really thought this was going to be huge on him. IT WAS NOT! Granted it’s a tad bit but not a whole lot like I thought it would be. I think it’s also because I did not do the elastic like the pattern calls. I did my own way.

 

He had originally asked for View B, the pair with the cargo pockets. Then he changed to wanting the pair the huge side patch pockets. Then went to wanting ALL the pockets on one pair! Naw, Buddy.

 

I used a medium weight khaki twill that I’d bought for $1.99 a yard from Hancock a WHILE ago. Another stash buster item. I still about 4 more yards left. What else can I make? Not sure, but I did run across Simplicity 2648. I may just redo this one again. Here’s the first go around. I love LOVE it. The Anniversary Dress 2010.

I lengthened the legs into pant length and inserted my elastic differently. These were the only two pattern deviations that I’d done.

I love that this pattern is really simple and easy to make. There is no fly opening. You just pulled them on and off.

It’s kind of hard to get my boys to take photos so I am happy to deal with the ones I have.

I put a good good crease in these pants.

He looks like Rasputin to me in this shot.

He said he had swag....

Now he says he’s the Thinking Man.

 

Now back to the Rasputin shot. It was derived from the Wii game Just Dance 2.

I love to see my son do that dance. Lol. I think he looks like him in this pose. So, here’s to you Rasputin. I wish I could sneak a video of Bradley doing it. But since he hasn’t let that happen, here’s what you get.

Until the next project. I think I have three more. Fish sticks and potato wedges. Chow.

~~Scheryka

Might As Well...

...post this to the blog since I made it.

I wasn’t going to post this but my daughter said, “Why not, Ma? You made it.” Oh, what the heck. It’s not much just a top so that she didn’t wear spaghetti straps to school. It is:

 

The t-shirt, not shown on the front, but it’s on the line drawings on the back.

View E

I believe she just wanted her fame in lights, so she gets it:

                  

Nothing spectacular... the top, not my baby. She IS spectacular! I’d sewn it quick so she can get to school and not be sent to the nurse’s station to call me to bring her another top.

I left the ends surged and unturned. It’s made in a brown slub knit from the stash. I’m stash shopping with most of my future projects because, right now, it’s the most economical means for me.

Here are her “portfolio” photos. Lol She’s a character.

    

After school shots. We had no time before school.

That’s all, until next time, ya’ll.

Cold tacos and hot milk - yuk!

The Mermaid Dress? (McCalls 6271)

     I b-back! (In my Mario voice)

      This dress has been in request from my daughter since April and I finally got around to putting it together. Since life has its way of throwing curve balls (because your way is not God’s will), I have been out of commission for a hot minute. But, hey, I’m shattered, but I’m not broken and certainly not dead. So that, in itself, is something to thank God for. How-be-ever, the Mermaid Dress has evolved from being a dress-up costume to becoming McCalls 6271.

                            

     Nii saw the pattern in my stash and said it was the Mermaid dress she was talking about. Well, um, ok. And so it came to pass. I grabbed the pattern,

Description: Lola Lou Easy; Children’s/Girls’ Pullover Halter Top and Dress, and Shorts. The top and dress is self lined with an elastic back. There are no buttons and no zipper. (So Evoni, you CAN do this!)

     The sizes are 2 to 8. I made the five and ummm, let us just say Nii is 3 and a 1/2 and she will NOT be wearing it come Spring. She is really tall for her age and her weight is right along with it! But had I made the 5 for a five year old, I’d say it’s true to size.

     I took out the stash boxes upon boxes of fabric and she chose a fabric I was saving for a maxi. Darn. But, hey, she’s one of my munchkins and I’d do anything for her - except help send her to hell. This is the fabric.

Fabric: It’s like a slightly stretch poplin. I don’t know. Woven? Feel good though.

                    

     I sent a picture to my sister and she kindly said to take another shot because that one wasn’t cutting. Well, actually, the first thing she texted back was “curtains?” I refolded the fabric and sent her this shot:

                           

     Then, how ‘bout Lil Sista had the nerves to tell me it was still ugly?! But listen, she was the one who chose it for me to make my maxi! Uh huh, have me looking like walking custom-made drapery from Grandma’s house! I still like it though I won’t make a maxi, I’ll just do a simple pencil skirt. That’ll be better. At least I’ll look like tailored drapery. Lol is that possible? Tailored drapes? Prob not. But oh, well.

     This is the contrast Chenii chose. Dang, another save I had in the stash! I guess she said she’ll use it since I hadn’t.

                                            

It’s a stretch poplin. I still had the sticky on it.

     The instructions were right on point. Nothing to decipher and nothing left out. No head scratching or brow pulling. I am still sane. Don’t let the lines intimidate you. This dress is awesomely easy! The most time consuming part are the gathers where you have to gather the top and bottom portions of the skirt and lining.

     Here a two work in progress pictures.

several pins to hold up the bubble. She’d better listen and keep still! LOL

close up of the bodice.

     I made no adjustments or design changes. It’s made right out of the bag.

I certainly recommend this for anyone who wants the look of a time consuming project. Like they spent hours on it. But in actuality spent an evening. I would like to make it again, but if I don’t, there are several other patterns in the stash to choose from.

     Here are the final shots. I don’t know why she wanted those socks and no shoes but hey, that’s her fashion.

                                                                                                            

                                             

That is all for now. I have several reviews to post but time is not on my side. They’ll squeeze themselves in some how.

     Until later, Peace and Hair grease. Turtle Wax and Pressing Dax. LOL Bye ya’ll.

WTW is This!?

I’m participating in a baby clothes sew-a-long on Pattern Review. My first item(s) were the bibs and now I tried, for the first time, doing a one-piece romper with the feet. It is my muslin and will still be used because I did not waste my time on this thing! It will be used for sleep purposes only!

McCall’s 6103 is the pattern in reference.

It’s essentially an infant and preemie layette. There’s the romper, onesie, bootie, drawstring gown, pull-over t-shirt, diaper cover, cap, and a dress. I think I covered them all.

This pattern comes in sizes Preemie to Large which are measured by height and weight. I traced the Medium for later but used the Newborn for now.

It does look like the photo/drawing on the envelope. I didn’t finish it because I was not going to put the snaps on. I would much rather put those on the item that I am content with. So other than that…yes, it looks like.

The instructions were good until I got to the leg closure part. That’s another reason why there are no snaps. I do not understand how they are to actually look with these pieces on there.

I like the fact that this pattern had every piece a layette consists of. I do not like the fact that it seems to take the basic way out. There are no RTW features… like the neck bindings are just a turn and stitch function instead of actually attaching a pretty little binding.

I used a waffle-like knit fabric that I believe is a cotton poly blend. It might be like a thermal type? I’m not 100% sure; it’s been in the stash for maybe over a year.

There were no alterations because this is my first time doing such a pattern and I wanted to get the feel of what I was doing. I did add on a flower embroider. I used a dryer sheet for the stabilizer; which have actually worked…until now.

Oh, there is cloud on the left side because I was playing with embroidery and made the flower too close. I took out most of the other one but what’s left was just a head ache. Another reason why this is just a muslin.

Now, things I would do differently are:

1. Add an actual binding to the neck. Oh! The directions did include a decorative elastic version, so I may try that one, too.

2. Sew the arm hems BEFORE I sew the sleeves. They are really small and did not fit over my free arm. They were a job and a half to sew with the whole thing on top, too.

3. Next time, I will use an iron-on stabilizer if I embroider on this kind or similar fabric.

Yes, I am going to sew it again with hopes getting it right this time and using those previous changes. So far I recommend if you can get the closure part right.

The only conclusion I can give right now is that it has potential.

Until I get it right, Scheryka.

Every Baby NEEDS Baby Bibs

What is a need?

A need is something that one can not do without. For a baby that would include diapers, milk (of some kind), blankets, etc…, and bibs. Bibs are for dribs. And every baby dribble and slob, and spit up. It sometimes get to projectile shooting. That’s when you throw all the bibs out the window and just grab a garbage bag. Just kidding.

I was browsing the net and found some really cute bib patterns. I refuse to buy a pattern since I have some that were not given away or donated. I could use those as templates and make my own design. Right? Right. That’s called frugality. My definition? The reality of being frugal.

I happened upon more than a few sites that had some really cute (and some not so cute) bib ideas. Here are some of the bibs that caught my eye.

From Nested

From the PaperSeed

How cute are these? Very cute. I love Paisley and Butterflies! Taken from Creativekismet by Regina Lord.

Taken from Goingsewcrazy.

Looking through these websites and others, I remembered I have TONS of scraps from previous projects. But, in particular, the blocked bib three photos up (the one with the strawberries and dot), made me remember about some fabric I had bought a WHILE back from a store on Etsy. I said fabric but when I got them, I saw scraps! They are actually leftover saree fabrics. And when I say left over, I mean the sewist made a saree, used the leftover for a sleeve cuff or two, then made some fabric necklaces, wiped his (I say ‘his’ because it was a man that I’d them bought them from.) behind, and then sold me what was left! Or I bought what was left…

Don’t misunderstand me, the fabric (read: scraps) are beautiful pieces. I just wish there were more (much more) to them. But, I figured I could sew the scraps together and make a blocked bib or two. Here are the fabric scraps.

front

                               back

I don’t know how many I will be able to get out of them. Probably one front and back or 2 if I make the back out of terry or something.

In the mean time, here are some that I had made while procrastinating on the scrap-blocked bib(s).

I used a bib that I had saved for one of older girls as a template.

I traced it onto the fabric at first

because I wasn’t thinking to just tape two sheets of paper together to get a bigger size. Duh.

But once I came to my senses and done so, I cut a few different fabrics that was in the stash.

I played around with bias.

After I got a little feel of what I was doing, I finished each one just a bit different. The main difference is either the bias trim or sew and turn. Here are the finished bibs.

Just a little closer:

and

Until the next project before my mojo get up and go without me.

~~Scheryka.