70s Styled Denim

I can now confirm that another jean skirt was a wonderful addition to my closet.

And to think that I was not sure about purchasing this vintage pattern at an estate sale a few years back.

I am also pleased to have finally found the right pairing for this rayon blouse.

And I have to say that this skirt has been a popular choice this Summer.  It's been worn numerous times, just as I had hoped.

I keep finding more and more tops that work perfectly with a knee length jean skirt.

Dare I say that I could even use another?!

But for now I am going to enjoy wearing this one.

And hopefully we have a few more weeks of nice weather before the cold sets in, although this skirt will definitely be great for Fall as well.  I think I need more denim in my life . . . just not pants!

Blouse:  Made by me, "Honor Roll Top"
Skirt:  Made by me, Vogue 9249
Earrings:  Nicky Bulter
Shoes:  Kate Spade

A Rayon Floral Print

I am always looking for great blouse patterns, so when Charm Patterns released this design, I thought that I would give it a try.  It's a basic blouse with short sleeves and a front and back v-neck, with the option to add a collar.

I have quite a few rayons stashed away, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to use one of them.

The pattern goes together easily, although the neckline is prone to stretching (especially in an extremely drapey fabric).  My first thought was not to add the collar, but I had plenty of yardage, and I thought I might as well give it a try.  In the end, I think that it adds a nice bit of detail, so I am glad that I went ahead and added it.

The sleeves are self-lined, which works in a lightweight fabric, but I might re-think that choice if I were to use a heavier fabric for this pattern in the future.  It would be easy enough to finish the sleeve hemline on its own, so I will keep that in mind if the fabric calls for it.

Hello there, Archie!  (He is very "helpful" with my sewing endeavors and likes to be part of the action.)

I finished my raw edges with rayon seam binding, which surprises no one at this point.

And I decided to hand stitch the hemline into place just for fun.

Overall, this is a great basic pattern.  It does use a side zipper which is not always ideal in a lightweight drapey fabric, but worked fine this time around.  My only real gripe is that this isn't an ideal scrap buster since the front and back pieces are rather large and eliminates the possibility of using remnants from other projects unless there is quite a big chunk of yardage left.  And so I think that the leftover navy polka dotted rayon that I had plans to make into another version of this pattern is probably not going to work.  But as far as complaints go, it could be a lot worse!  

Cheerful Florals

The answer to did I need another Anna Dress in the closet is most definitely a yes!

Is it a fabric hog?  Yes.  Is the drafting perfect?  No.  But I have worked through those issues and have a handy torn apart muslin that I kept so that solved the fitting issues.

And would it have been nice to be more thoughtful about pattern placement?  Perhaps, yes.  But it's rare that there is a wealth of yardage to play with, and such was the case with this fabric remnant. 

In the end, it's an extremely comfortable, easy to throw on and go dress that has already had quite a bit of wear this Summer.  And I would call that a success!

The only real issue is that I obviously cannot get rid of this pattern because I may want to make another in the future.  Which doesn't help to get my large pattern collection under control.

Then again, it is always fun to revisit an old pattern.

I have quite a few multiple use patterns that have served me well.

But I also enjoy the thrill of working with a new design to see what secrets they may have hidden in their drafting or instructions (I'm looking at you, vintage patterns!).

So I will be stashing this particular pattern for now, and next up is deciding what to tackle next.

And as far as that goes, I am a bit stuck because there are too many choices.  Which is perhaps a sign to take a break and clean up the sewing room . . . but where's the fun in that?!

Dress:  Made by me, Anna Dress 
Shoes:  Remix "Miranda"
Earrings:  Kate Spade

Blue Jean

I have quite an extensive wardrobe, but there are certain items that get repeated wear.  One of those garments is a blue knee length denim skirt.  Another is the lavender denim skirt that I made from a vintage pattern. 

When I picked up some denim recently, my first thought was that I should make another classic blue denim skirt.  And since the lavender version was so successful, I thought I might as well make another in a different color.

The skirt front is pleated, which isn't always my favorite silhouette, but I do like the look on this particular design.

The wide waistband is interfaced and has seam binding applied to both long edges to stabilize it.  Love these extra steps that are included with vintage pattern instructions!

The pockets are constructed with two shaped pieces and a cutout in the front skirt.  They aren't the deepest of pockets, but honestly, I don't carry around a lot of stuff in pockets, so it's more of a design feature for me.

I also decided that I would attempt to make my jean skirt look more factory made with the addition of gold top-stitching (a classic jean detail).

I even purchased some classic gold top-stitching thread to make sure that I would go through with the process.

And honestly, I am very pleased with my choice to add the detail.

Will I be making my own jeans in the future now that I have embraced contrasting top-stitching?  Extremely unlikely as I don't own a single pair and I haven't missed owning a pair of jeans in 20+ years.  But I am now convinced that I have overcome my fear of top-stitching.  It's probably never going to be my favorite thing to do, but I feel comfortable enough at this point to add it to just about any project.

I went with the instructions and installed a centered zipper, so for the center back seam, there are two lines of the top-stitching from waist to hem which doesn't follow a classic felled seam look. 

But in this case, I think it was the right choice.

My machine was not thrilled with some of the more bulky areas, but she got through it.

I even managed to avoid wonky stitches with a little help from this funny looking contraption.

Because I wanted the hemline to match the proportions of all of the other top-stitching, I cut off a bit of length from the skirt.

With the flared skirt, it was much easier to deal with a narrow fold instead of creating a wider hem.

And I think it looks quite nice.

So another jean skirt has been added to the wardrobe.

And if I'm being honest with myself, it probably won't be the last!  Because some things are classics for good reason.

Sunflowers

While trying to figure out the best project for this cheerful sunflower printed quilting cotton, I was reminded how much I love my cotton Anna Dress.  It is one of my favorite, easy to wear garments for warm weather days, and it's beginning to show it's age.

So it seemed like as good a time as any to make myself another.  This print, that was originally slated for a 1990s inspired spaghetti strap dress in my mind, became an obvious choice for another Summer dress.

I stabilized the neckline with some seam binding to keep the v-neck from stretching before beginning the construction of the dress.

Since I have multiple versions of this dress and I am familiar with the process, the pattern went together easily.

I did add some length to the sleeves which I have done before.

And while I did have a limited amount of yardage, I was able to get a pretty good match at center back for the bodice (the skirt was a different story).

One thing to note is that this pattern is drafted extremely long.  Well, the bodice is drafted for a short-waisted person, and the skirt for someone over 6 feet tall!  I shortened the skirt considerably due to yardage restrictions, but I still ended up with a decent amount of length.

I like to reinforce cut-in-one sleeves with top-stitching and a strip of seam binding on the inside.  With a busy print, the top-stitching is barely visible.  And this technique stabilizes an area that has to be clipped and trimmed quite a bit to release the inner curve of the sleeve.

Raw edges were also finished with rayon seam binding.

I have a complicated relationship with invisible zippers, but I decided to go ahead and use one since the pattern calls for it, I had a good color match, and I have used them for this pattern on previous versions.  Seeing as my cotton wasn't too thick, and there was only one horizontal seam to contend with, I went ahead with the invisible zip.  And it all worked out in the end.

The sleeve and skirt hems were hand stitched into place.  I do love my hand stitching!

And that's about it for this dress.

This is my fifth version of the Anna Dress, and I believe this version will be a welcome addition to the collection. 

The sunflower print makes this the perfect easy to wear sundress and the colorway even allows it to be a Fall appropriate choice!