Mother's Day Sewing Weekend

It seems to me that Mother's Day should allow mothers to do whatever they want on their ONE day. That's what I try to do. Since my kids are grown and gone, I do whatever I want any time I want. Since tomorrow's Mother's Day, I have planned to sew for myself, by myself, to satisfy myself. (Totally selfish, but what the heck--with two daughters, I earned it!!)

This morning I cut out 3 outfits:  a pair of pink, knit capris, a pink leopard t-shirt, and a red/salmon sleeveless knit dress. I finished the dress in a little over an hour. Here's the first product:

 Since I took my own picture, the details are lost because my arms are in the way. It's sleeveless with a scoop neck. I made a size 14 with alterations for sloped shoulders and sway back. I still need to hem it, but I think it looks pretty good and will make a great foundation garment for my trip to Charlotte, NC in June. I am allowed to put in a 5/8" hem, but I think I will go for a 1" hem since I am probably a little shorter than the pattern is made for.

I am trying to think of a jacket that will go with the dress and flatter the curves without creating bulk or look boxy. I may need to work on that in my head for awhile BEFORE laying scissors to fabric. I don't like wasting fabric or time, and I really hate making items that I won't ever wear.

Shorts

I made the first pair of shorts EVER that fit, look polished, and were made from scraps and cost me next to nothing. I really like them. I used a cotton plaid from my stash as a muslin and sewed them over a couple of weeks. It wasn't that they are that hard, but I really was putting in crazy hours at work and had to do what I could do in the time I had available to do it. I think they look pretty good. I have a royal t-shirt that works perfectly with the plaid.

The pattern:  Simplicity 1808.

My First Teddy Bear

I joined an online site called Pattern Review. Sewers of all levels share their love of sewing from all over the world. It is amazing to me how much so many different people have in common. I am quickly becoming addicted to the website.

Anyway, they are currently running a contest titled One Yard Challenge. The idea is to sew an item using more than 1/2 and no more than 1 yard of fabric. I decided to make a teddy bear though I have never made a stuffed anything in my life. Here's my final result:

I used fabric scraps from my scrap bag. I had 1 piece 22" x almost 45" and a second double scrap of 7" x 12". The free downloadable pattern came from an online website. I chose to not add the 1/4" seam allowances, making a slightly smaller bear than the pattern was designed for. When I almost had him completely done, I realized that I ran out of fiberfill. To stay with the" use up the scraps" theme, I took apart an old pillow to have some of the fiberfill.

I think he needs something else, but I can't figure out what that something is. A bow tie, t-shirt, or vest might be a nice added touch. I can't decide. So I put him up on the top of my plant shelf to watch him for awhile. I know the right accessory with come to me, I just need to step away and quit thinking about it.

I wore my tunic today!

Here's my Butterick 5644 tunic. We went to an outdoor wedding today and I decided this would be a perfect look. Very comfortable and causal.

Currently, I am having a horrible time. I started a pair of shorts using Simplicity 1808. To start, the pattern was improperly printed and very difficult to make any sense out of. Second, I had to make several adjustments. I used a size 14 to fit my hips properly (based on the finished measurements) but that made the waist too small. Rather than adjust the waist and leave the pleats in, I opted to take the pleats out. Unfortunately, I forgot to make the same adjustment on the belt and the facing. I cannot believe how totally stupid I can be sometimes!! Then, when I finally got to the part where I could put in the elastic and actually do some fitting, I didn't have the right size elastic. I had every size you could think of, but not 3/4".

So, I opted to begin a teddy bear made of scraps. I finished the head last night and started on the body today. The arms were really difficult, but I finally figured them out. I started to stuff the body and realized I didn't have enough polyester fiberfill to complete the project. I'm going to have to go back to Joann's tomorrow and get some more fiberfill.

Maybe, now that I have the elastic I could at least run it through the casing a call it quits for tonight.