Another Swimsuit - Kwik Sew 3503

I got this floral swimsuit fabric in my stash for a while. I bought it before I made my first ever swimsuit (see here). The large floral pattern is a bit loud for me. However, it was in the cheapy bin and I thought it would be a great fabric for swimsuit muslins. I also had Kwik Sew 3505 in my stash. I bought it when I also bought Kwik Sew 2906, which I made 2 swimsuits with (see here and here).

I got restless and decided to make another swimsuit for myself. This material stretches more than the solid colour lycra fabric that I have. I first made size Medium but then after trying it on, I had to ripped the seams apart and resize it to XS! Even then I think I should have made it even smaller than XS because once the suit is in the water, it will stretch out even more.

I added straps to suit because I wanted the suit to be secure. I'm actually using this for swimming - not just posing out of water! LOL! I decided to be 'crafty' and crossed the ties at the back and then tie it in the front just under the bust. I don't know if this is going to make the suit more secure. I'll have to swim in it to see how it works. If it is too cumbersome then I'll just sew the straps down at the back of the suit.

This is how the suit looks on me:

I'm not in love with it. I think the loud floral make me look bigger. But I'm glad that I have made a  muslin from this pattern. I think one can make many design adjustments to this suit to suit their needs (e.g. adding straps, colour-blocking, etc). I'm certainly going to make this again in a not-so-loud fabric.

My Pattern Review can be found here.

MAGAM July Romper done!

I followed the Threads Magazine instructions to draft the romper based on my tried and true shorts pattern - Butterick 5044. It came together really quickly. However, due to my short stature and short waist, the upper body length was too long. I also realized that I don't look good in garments that have a droopy elastic waist - it makes me look wider and more shapeless. So I cut off a good 4.5 inches off the top length and use a belt to gather the waist. I'm not sure if I like this strapless romper on me:

The front 'seemed' to be okay except that I think I gathered the top elastic too much (the chest bulging under the elastic). The back just made my broad back look even wider! This muslin is okay to wear in the house but I don't think I'll wear it outside.

Perhaps with a more drapey fabric (e.g. ponte knit) and a darker colour, this romper would be less offensive to my eyes. I'm not sure if I want to waste my fabric stash on this romper though. What do you think? Should I give it another go with a darker, drapier fabric?

MAGAM July Plan - A Romper!

The July Theme for Make A Garment A Month is Sewing Books. Since I don't own any sewing books with patterns in it, I decided I would just draft the Strapless Jumpsuit pattern based on the Sept 2015 Threads Magazine. I have never owned or worn a jumpsuit or romper before so this should be interesting!

I found more remnants of the thrifted green striped cotton bedsheet (see shorts made from these sheets). I have just enough to make a romper, not a jumpsuit.

Let's see how this strapless romper muslin will look on my weirdly shaped body!

Bedsheet Remnant to Shorts - Butterick 5044 again

I have been wearing shorts frequently this summer so I thought I would make another pair. I thrifted quite a few used bedsheets from my local  Thrift Store last year when I was making my wedding dress. I found the remnants of this white/green stripes bedsheet in my stash. It had just enough yardage for the tried and true Butterick 5044 shorts pattern. The bedsheet is 100% medium weight cotton which would make a good material for shorts.

The shorts came together in about an hour - from cutting to finishing the waistband. I used the sheets finished top edge as the bottom hem of the shorts. I added a back pocket to the right back side. And this is how it looks:

And this is how it looks on me:

I'm pretty happy with these shorts considering it only took me an hour to make them, using stash remnants and a stash pattern. Yipee!

More scrap busting - Girl Hat New Look 6579

My daughter has outgrown her summer hat. She asked me to make her a new one. She actually went through my fabric scraps box and chose these remnants for her hat. The pink metallic denim was used for her birthday dress (see here). It was the first time I had sewn in front of her. Usually I would have waited until she had gone to bed before I start sewing. However, she seemed to be interested in my sewing so I decided to show her the whole process.

First, I showed my daughter the pattern - a thrifted New Look 6579, which I had used the dress pieces to make the birthday dress for her (see here). I cut the fabric and sewed the entire hat while she watched intently. The hat went together very quickly (I didn't do the lining). The fit was fine except that it is a very 'shallow' hat. If I make it again I will need to add more 'depth' to the crown pieces. I added an elastic strap so that it doesn't come of her head too easily.

My daughter is very pleased with the hat and wore it through dinner until it was her bedtime. I'm happy she liked it! I like the mix of candy colours for the hat. Another quick and satisfying scrap busting project.

My first Maxi Dress - McCall's 6612

I will admit it: I am clumsy. I am a hazard to myself. So when the maxi dress fashion trend started a few years ago, I didn't partake it. I was afraid I was going to trip over the long hem while chasing after 2 young kids.

Since the June theme for MAGAM (Make A Garment A Month) challenge was 'stash busting', I had been going through my enormous fabric stash and found many interesting but forgotten fabrics. One of them is this nice stretchy polyester knit that has black and white small oval print on it. When I picked it out of the storage, it instantly said 'maxi dress' to me. I thought I would make a maxi dress for myself for this summer with the condition that I only wear it while hubby is out with me helping to 'catch' the 2 kids.

I rummaged through my pattern stash and found McCall's 6612. I like the slight A-line look of View D. It was obviously going to be a very easy and quick dress to make. I used size 14 on the top and narrow it to size 12 at the hips. I omitted the cowl neck because it would be too hot for the summer. I also made my usual short waist adjustment. I added a centre back seam to allow for my sway back adjustment but it wasn't necessary since the weight of the fabric was pulling the dress down so it didn't bunch up at the back. I also shortened the hem by 6cm because of my short stature. The neckline was finished with a clear elastic sewn to the seam allowance and then folded to the wrong side (I learned that from watching 'Sewing with Nancy'). The only thing that bothers me a bit is that the armhole gapes a little when my arms rest a certain way (you can see that gaping in the photo below at my right arm). I will need to figure out if that has anything to do with my barrel chest or my sloping shoulders.

I am quite pleased with the result. It's very comfortable to wear. The print of the fabric helps camouflage my mommy tummy a bit. Even hubby said I looked good in it. Usually he would either say 'it's okay' or 'no good'. I do have to watch my steps so that I don't step on it. I certainly don't think I can run after the kids in this dress. I think it's one of those dresses that I can go to the beach or dress it up for a dinner date. Since it's knit, it won't wrinkle and it's travel friendly. Another quick and easy summer dress!

My review for this pattern can be found on PatternReview.com.

A Linen Tank top for the summer - New Look 6752

I needed some summer tops that are not the usual long sleeves tunics. I searched through my fabric stash and found this black linen remnants from making my linen shorts and jackets (see the jacket and shorts here). I had just enough for a tank top. I decided that I would make a loose tank top with New Look 6752 in my stash. I had used this pattern to make 2 dresses before (here and here).

This is a super easy and quick to make pullover top. I made the this in hip length and added a curved hem in the front only. I wanted it to disguise my mommy tummy. I used a black satin binding to bind the neckline to make it more dressy. However, it doesn`t really show well in the photos:

I`m hoping I`ll wear it a lot this summer!

Refashion: More Denim Scraps creations!

I had lots of old men's jeans given to me by family members. I used lots of them for making jeans for my son. But then I was left with all these denim scraps.

As the school year was ending, I thought I would make some upcycled denim bags for the teachers as thank you gifts. It was quite fun to try to figure out how to put the pieces together! Here are the results:

I hope the teachers found them useful!

Refashion: So-so dress to Useful top

I have decided to refashion the so-so Pink Silk Noil dress to something more useful - a summery top! To make the top a bit more interesting, I cut a shirttail for the bottom hem.

Now I think this top will be quite useful for this summer! Another quick and easy refashion!

June MAGAM project done - Simplicity 3532 Pink Silk Noil Dress

The June MAGAM pink silk noil dress is done! It was quick and easy to do. However, to be honest, I'm not in love with it. I know from the pattern envelope that it's supposed to be very loose but I think it's too loose on me and make me look bigger than I actually am. I tried wearing a belt with it but it was worse.

I need to salvage this dress somehow. What do you think? Should I narrow the dress a bit from the side seams? Should I turn it into a top?

MAGAM June Plan - Pink Silk Noil dress - Simplicity 3532

The June theme for the Make A Garment a Month is 'Stashbuster'. I mostly sew with Stash Fabrics and Stash Patterns already so this is an easy one for me. I have had this Pink Silk Noil fabric in my stash for a good 6 years. It has a slight drape, a nubby texture and it is similar to a lightweight denim in terms of weight. As for the pattern, I am going to give this Simplicity 3532 pattern another go. The last try wasn't exactly successful. But I thought it may work better with a more drapey fabric like this silk noil.

Me Made May2015 - May 25 to 31

This is the last of the Me Made may 2015 outfits. I had great fun with this challenge again. Thanks to Zoe Edwards of the 'SoZo' blog for organizing this again this year!

May 25:
Me Refashioned tank from a men's shirt
Me Made linen shorts

May 26:
Me Refashioned denim shirt
Me Made floral cotton shorts
Me Made coral and metal necklace

May 27:
Me Made cotton voile dress (Simplicity 3742)
Me Refashioned cotton cardigan
Me Made coral and wood necklace

May 28:
Me Made ponte knit faux wrap top (New Look 6729)
Me Made linen pants
Me Made turquoise and tiger eye necklace

May 29:
Me Made pink floral cotton voile peasant top
Me Made stretch cotton shorts (Vogue 8041)

May 30:
Me Made quilting cotton tunic
Me Made linen shorts

May 31:
Me refashioned cotton cardigan
Me Made red stretch lace dress

I'm still feeling a bit guilty about the amount of Me Made and Me Refashioned clothing in my wardrobe. I still have more Spring/Summer stuff that I made that I haven't worn this month! Not to mention all the Me Made Winter and Autumn clothes! Perhaps I should set up one of those 'Shop my Closet' links on my blog to streamline my wardrobe and to give them a good home?! ;-)