McCall’s 6023

So Fun Sew Now: At least that is what the envelope said and I thought it would be as well because the model on the package looks happy go lucky. Now, I’m not going to mislead you, but even the outcome is good – it is NOT what I was expecting.

I made the pants on the envelope for my 7 year old. Who has decided that she all of a sudden wants to start putting some meat on her bones. The seven measured too small. The eight was right there. She may have been able to get about six months of wear, but I wanted to give a little more ‘growing room’. There was no size nine So, I had cut out the 10. She would grow into these for the next 3 years!

I used a denim I’d bought from Fabric.com a while ago. (I am using stash on just about everything I make until I get that fabric store out of my sewing area!) It was called Premium Italian Denim with Metallic Gold. Even though denim is a suggested fabric, I believe a more lightweight would have been more suitable for these pants that seem to be more trouser than jean pants.

I liked particularly the pocket area on the drawing. There are little ‘diamonds’ that make a girly-girl look. If I would say so, these make a perfect pattern for a sailor look.

My first alteration was done after I had assembled the pants. I cut off 2 and 1/ 2 inches from the hem because I forgot to do so at the lengthen/shorten line. I added glue-on ‘diamonds’ from the top of the pocket to the bottom then back up the side seam.

Sewn on a button. It’s not functional. Ann wanted a ‘diamond’ button so it’s there for looks. There is actually a hook for the closure.

The inside pockets and the waist facing is made from some left over cotton remnant.

I also trimmed the pockets with some left over bias tape from, yet another project. The inside looks so neat.

The outside leg seam is sewn like a jean. The top stitching is contrast denim thread.

There is also some elastic in the back waist in attempts to bring the waist in a bit. I really didn’t help so I’d sewn two pinches on the sides (seen in an above photo) and called it a day.

I am going to do Version A, the top,

and I hope it comes out decent. If not, I’ll just save the pattern until Ann gets to a size 10 in the pants. I can’t a photo of Ann in the pants because she says she looks like Urkle (?), from Family Matters! I don’t think so but hey, kids have their own style and a mind of their own, too.

Until, the skinnies she made a special request for that *may* come during the jean contest over at Pattern Review.

Schey and the Urkle pants.

Butterick 5026

This dress has been in the making for long time. I couldn’t decide on what I wanted to make and wear to our annual Christmas Banquet at church. I went from one list to a larger list, then ultimately decided on something with the help of Virginia’s Daughter aka God’s Girl T. I ended up making Butterick 5026.

It’s described as Easy on the envelope. Misses’ dress: Below knee dress has close-fitting self-lined bodice with casing, slightly flared skirt and back zipper. A has a purchased ribbon. B has contrast skirt front and purchased trim.

This dress took me through hell and high waters and guess what, I DIDN’T EVEN GET TO WEAR IT!!!!! More on that down the way.

The sizes for this 2007 oop pattern is 6 through 20. My pack includes the 14 through 20. I cute the 14.

Yes, I believe it does looks like the photo on the front and the line drawings on the back as well. But, of course, this is minus the bells and whistles (ribbon trim).

The instructions were easy to follow. But if you have ever put together a strapless bodice with boning, then you’ve put this one together as well. The skirt is mainly straight lines with a zipper. Easy – as it’s label says.

My fabric? Well, I am not 100% sure. Well, I am not sure at all what is. I bought it from Hancock a while ago along with a royal blue with the same paisley design. It may be a poly blend but that is just a wild guess.

Alterations or design changes? 1. I left out the boning. Why? Because I lost it. Or it lost itself because I know I sat it on the cutting table. Or at least I thought I did. But anyways, that is not the point here. I lost the black and the white boning! But get this, by the time I put in the dang hem - - yeap, I found it. But it wasn’t on the cutting table. Or any other table for that matter. I found it in the interfacing box! Both of them. Oh well, I was NOT going back into the dress and adding boning – NO WAY! 2. I didn’t use any ribbon trim because my accessories were to make the bells and whistles of this ensemble. I did however had planned to wear a single black rose clip at the waist. No clip since I was going to pick it up on the way. Here it is with my go-wit-everything-black-belt.

3. At first I put in a regular zipper because I thought I would like the idea of having that hint of black going down the back. Nope. Rip. I put in the invisible zipper that a. came of the tracks when I tried to zip it on Aloe (my dress form). b. came off the tracks when I tried it on and zipped it up.  and c. came off the tracks AGAIN for my final fitting! Each time I had to rip the zip off and open the clasp and pull the teeth through and close the clasp with a pair of needle nose pliers. That was probably a 30 minute task – each time. The first one took way longer than that because I didn’t know what I was doing!

I put in the invisible zipper with a regular zipper foot. It is doable but not quite perfect.

Last: I put in some black hem tape. Oh: The hem is 2 1/2 inches, too.

Would I sew it again? I don’t really know. I’m kind of stuck on the fence. Do I recommend? Yes, I do. There were no negatives about this dress. Just my mishaps. But you may wonder why I did not get to wear it. I started on this dress November 2. I finished it December 2. The Banquet was December 3. After putting in the zipper I slowed down. Way. Down. I would probably work on it for 15 minutes …every other day…. but by the time I was to put this dress on, IT FELL OFF OF ME! The bodice would NOT sit where it belonged. I tried a quick waist stay hoping that would kind of help. Nope.

Quick and ugly waist stay.

Even if the boning was in there it wouldn’t stay. I had lost 10.8 pounds! OMG  If I can give any words of wisdom, it is great to loose weight but not when it is due to diet and stress. It goes too fast. And I hadn’t paid any attention to it. (that was because of the stress part) But I am glad I lost the weight and I have not put it back on. I am trying NOT to put it back on. So, here’s to you Gods Girl (who helped direct my decision) and Aloe (who is modeling my dress for me).

So, what did I end up wearing? I wore a dress I had not worn since 2006! I didn’t make it. But I looked and felt like a million bucks!

Cheers!

Stay blessed and not stressed!

Schey.

Hair Pretties

While taking a break from sewing for the Mt. Pleasant Annual Christmas Banquet, I wanted to do something with the girls because they have been neglected. Well, not entirely, because I was indeed sewing for them. I put my dress on hold because I FORGOT that if I don’t sew their dresses as well, then it might be a huge chance they would not have anything to wear. But those are a separate story.

I ran across this site From an Igloo by Christine who made the most adorable hair barrettes. I had to make the girls some. Before I went a bought any extra supplies we used what was on hand to see how easy this actually was. Let me tell, IT IS EASY.

The supplies you need (taken from Christine’s page) are:

You will need:
- Glue gun/glue
- Yarn (We used thick embroidery thread)
- Beads- (size was small not sure of a measurement)
- Thread/needle
- A piece of cording (Used some scrap small rope from last year’s Christmas gifts)
- Alligator clips or barrettes (The silver clasp barrettes works too)
- Scraps of fabric and –embellishments like ribbon and buttons.

Oh, and don’t forget the sharpie because your dolly needs a face.

I don’t have any in-process photos because working with an anxious 2 year old kind of makes it hard to work with hot glue and take photos. I do have the finished product which came out pretty well.

Ann wanted to wear hers today to church. I know the real reason. Every third Sunday is children’s church and she just had to have something to talk about. I can imagine how the conversation went. “Me and Mom made pretty dolls for my hair and I want to thank God for letting my Mom need a break from sewing because now I have something new for my hair.” Sounds like something she would say.

Here is a close-up: Ann made her dolly’s hair extra long because she says it reminded her that needs to not play in her hair again and I want to cut it to make it grow again. Lol. Kids. They really do listen and learn.

Here is the one I helped to make with Nii. I had to get this photo while she was sleeping. She had to get an after service nap because crankiness is not an option! Just go to sleep if you are sleepy… so Mom can get a photo of your ”pretty haaiirrr”. That is how Nii says it while rubbing her hands down the side of her face and head. You get the picture. But here is this one I had to sneak. She kept turning her head back so one is all I got.

You should give it a try if you have little ones or little grands. They are fast and easy and you can use different things to get different looks. I may make a few more because the girls have some brown see through beads that I want to play around with and see how they come out.

Until the Banquet items,

Schey

MPCB Part 2

Part 1     Part 1a    

Finally …narrowing things down here.

I don’t like to be traditional nor predictable. Sometimes my thought on putting together an outfit comes totally on how I am feeling at the moment. And if I feel happy – cheerful colors are in order like orange and turquoise. If I feel sad and utterly heart broken – out comes brown and dull gray. Sexy brings out red and dark pinks.

I would expect members to show up in traditional colors such green, red, black, and white. Not too much white because some folks are stuck on “no white after Labor Day”, not me. I wear white when I want to. Of course that would have to coincidently fall on a day that there are no kids around!

Anyways, I went through (not nearly even 1/4) my stash and found a few fabrics. To go with the pattern choices.

Vogue 1208

Three fabric choices for this pattern are:

 This a white poly crinkle that was supposed to have been a white button down blouse that I haven’t gotten around to, yet.

 A forest green poly that has been in the stash for YEARS. It looks kind of turquoise-y on my computer but it is a forest green.

 This one is a silver poly crepe. I love this fabric and it feels very soft. The sheen says Holiday and it is not red nor green.

Butterick 5026

I like the flowered version although I would not make a flowered dress for the event. I have two fabric choices for this one.

 This material here is more of a dark teal and feels like it would be a great fit for the dress. It is not too flow-y nor too stiff. I don’t know the content but I do remember this one being a Walmart fabric. 

 I don’t know the content of this one but I bought it from Hancock a hot minute ago. I also bought a royal blue in the same design. Paisley has always been a love of mine.

So, I am going to go do some mandatory house cleaning and hopefully I will have made, yet, another decision.

Until later, Schey.

MPCB - Part 1a

MPCB Part 1     Part 2
This should actually be Part 2 but I had to go back and revise because I received some great feedback from Virginia’s Daughter, God’s Girl T. She recommended V1208 which I had a choice because of its simplicity.

She also recommended that I take a look at V1195 and V1196.
1195 and  1196
1195 I had actually considered but couldn’t think of what was in the stash for it. 1196? I couldn’t fathom the thought of looking like a mass door prize. The dress is pretty, it’s just not for me.
She also told me to look at 8766 with specific instructions to NOT look at the dress on the model, instead look at the line drawings. I had actually passed this pattern up a hundred times because the model is in an all over lace dress that reminds me of Lucille Ball. Also, if I wore that dress next to my husband I might have some xplainin’ to do! Lol I did look at the line drawings as instructed and the dress has some very pretty lines.


Cute, huh? I think so.
Fast forward: I take a ride out to Hancock and they are out of 1195 and 8766. I have 1208 in the stash. I find
McCall’s 4440 and Butterick 5026 that I can probably substitute for V8766.
          and        
Seeming as though I am moving away from Vogue Designer, I decided I might as well consider other stash patterns. Boy, do I have P-LENTY.
I pulled out:
B5519 B4914 B5314
                             B5385
                        I have two recent purchases:
B5674          and           V1267
See, I am supposed to be narrowing things down and they grew! That is why I named this blog Part 1a because I am back at square 1 the second time.
Ok, this one’s for you, God’s Girl. Gimme some input.
Until a decision, Schey.