Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Bubble Skirt

I have two girls and at all times must be fair to both and treat them equally :P.  At Christmas I made a three-tired skirt for my 3 year old and the eldest got jeans.   She needed them but she wondered when she was going to get a new skirt.  So for Valentines Day the youngest will get jeans while the 6 year old will get a skirt. 
The fabric is Crosshatch in Grey ordered from Hawthorne Threads. The name is misleading because it is definitely not grey!   More of a blue jean colour that looks good with the heart top I found on clearance at Gymboree before Christmas.
I looked for tutorials online but in the end just made it up myself.  It's basically a waistband piece with an outer skirt attached to an inner tube of knit to make it a bubble skirt (or pumpkin skirt as it was called when I wore one back in Grade 7!).  I think the shape is super cute and can't wait to see it on. 

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Honey Blouse - Take 2

I do really like the style of the Honey Blouse pattern by Make it Perfect.  I made it last fall and I like that version but it is a bit big.  This time I made a medium and I think it's better, especially in the shoulders.
The fabric is a really lightweight shirting and it's totally see through.  The whole time I was making it, I kept berrating myself for the choice because I might be too self conscious to wear it, even with a cami underneath.


Instead of following the directions for attaching the neck, sleeve and waist bands, I enclosed the seam allowances in the bands by topstitching.  Probably would have been more successful had I actually had the right colour thread but, hey, if I'd waited 'til I had the right colour, I might would never have finished it :). 

Although I like the style (and so does my husband!  That's saying something because he never makes comments about what I sew), the shoulders of this blouse are still bugging me.  I think it would look better with raglan sleeves or at the very least with the neckline gathers only in the front and back and not on the shoulders.  Next time?  I don't know if I'm done with this pattern yet -- I would like to try it in knit. 

Edited (June 2012): I think Vogue 8581 works better for me.  See it here in knit, I plan to try it in a woven, too. 

. . . .

totally unrelated, I ordered some Liberty cotton lawn the other day.  I saw it was on sale online, put it into my cart and then couldn't bring myself to actually order it.  When I woke up in the morning, I was still thinking about it and it was still available so I bought it: $65 for 2 1/2 yards  *gasp*.   Now to try to find something worthy of making.  Maybe a Jasmine?