Another Flock of Cranes - Simplicity 8014 - Hacked Little Summer Shirt

The flocking cranes continue.  I purchased enough of the crane cotton voile to make my darling daughter a shirt too.

I'm making her a dress, using Simplicity 8014.  So I decided to use the same pattern for a shirt.  This was a super easy pattern hack.  I simply cut the dress pattern the desired length for a button down shirt.  Simple.

My previous review of the dress really says it all as fair as the sewing process is concerned.  My only other changes for her shirt were a small FBA and I did French seams for the sleeve and side seams.  I used the short sleeve instead of the long one.

I came close to matching the cranes on the pocket to the ones on the shirt

So this shirt was easier to make than the dress, which had a lot of steps to finish the sleeve and cuff.

That's it.  Thanks for always stopping by!

Happy Sewing!
C

Navy, Red and White Crane Print Cotton Voile - Vogue 1247 Top

Cotton Voile is light weight and the perfect fabric to wear in the summer.  I purchased a few cotton voile to beef up my summer "easy wear" tops collection.  Today's review is on this Navy, Red, and White Crane Print Cotton Voile.  It's light weight and airy, easy to care for, and pretty.  It's available in three colorways.  Simply lovely and I had to have it.

In my previous post, I gave some details on the sewing process.  I used Vogue 1247, which is perfect for this top.  Those details are here.

On the sewing table now, is a shirt for my DD using this very same fabric.

I wanted to include a few pictures of the inside job of this top.  There are all french seams; no serging.

Happy Sewing!
C

Summer Jumpsuit Brown, Black and White Striped Rayon Twill - Vogue 9260

Summer time sewing! 
 I was so happy when the rain stopped. Being so anxious to show you my latest sewing project, I quickly got ready to take a few pictures outdoors.  

This jumpsuit was half finished for about two weeks.  Friday evening I was determined to finish it.  This lovely brown, black, and white striped rayon twill was purchased several months ago from Mood online store.  It's still available.  It has a smooth hand and it's floaty.  Perfect for the summer time comfortable.  This new jumpsuit is perfect vacation sportswear.  Of course, it's good to wear for Saturday lunch with the girls or a nice stroll in the park with your better half.  Rayon is easy to press, but does wrinkle a bit.  No worries with this fabric.  The stripes makes them barely noticeable.

The pattern that I used to make it is Vogue's very easy 9260, copyright 2017.  I think I bought it last year, but I hadn't decided on how I would style it.

The description is very brief:  very loose-fitting pull on romper and jumpsuit have cold should and length variations.  The "cold shoulder" description shoulder be "cold arm" instead.  It comes in two size groupings:  XS-S-M and L, XL,XXL.  The second grouping was the only copy at the Orland Park JoAnn's. So I just bought it with the thought of adjusting it as needed. So I used the large and scaled it down.  I guess somewhere between a medium and large.  As the large was much too big for me.  This pattern has a lot of style ease.  The finished bust is 48.5 inches and the finished hips is 50 inches.  Both well above my measurements. I scaled it back at least 4 inches in both areas.

My finished jumpsuit looks similar to the drawing.  I don't think the "cropped" pants is quite the look for me.  So I lengthened the pants by several inches so that the hem falls around the heel of my shoes.  Outside of that it does look like the drawing.

The instructions were a piece of cake.  Nothing difficult or confusing.  (It seems like I always say that. ;-) )

I like the style of it.  The drawstring, the cold arm, and the wide pant leg.  No real dislikes.

I did make a few more changes in the construction of it.

• Instead of purchasing cording, I made my own.  Cutting the fabric on the bias about an inch wide, two pieces 12 inches long for the loops and one piece 20 inches long for the drawstring.   Plus it is a perfect match for the jumpsuit.
• I added 1.5 inches to the length of the bodice.
• The raw edges were serged.  To finish the cold arm opening I only turned the cloth once.  So you can see the serged edges.
• The instructions say to cut the elastic the measure of your waist plus an inch.  I cut it 5 inches smaller.

I will make it again.  I think I will use the bodice and make a skirt waist dress instead of a jumpsuit.  I do recommend this fabric and the pattern to others.  The fabric is perfect for those fun floaty summer projects that you might be planning.  The pattern is very easy and does not take long to sew.  

Side Note- I was a little worried about how the photos would turn out.  I had a chemical facial peel and laser hair removal less than 24 hours before the pictures were taken.  I'm glad that they were publishable as I didn't want to wait another day before posting something to the Mood Sewing Network blog and my own blog.

Happy to be back sharing my sewing adventures and hope to post again soon.  

Have a great one!

C 

New York, New York!

By now, many of you know that I was in  New York to meet up with a few of my east coast friends.  Carolyn posted about our meet up and shopping day last week. I had a great weekend, but a few days later I came down with a very bad head cold. Today I am still not 100 percent but feeling much better.

When I arrived at the hotel on Friday night (1-13-17), I joined Andrea, Gaylen, and Carolyn for dinner.  We had a wonderful visit and discussed how we would shop the Garment Center on Saturday.  Of course, our first stop would be Mood Fabrics.

This was my first shopping experience in the physical store.  Let me tell you, it is huge.  If your in NY, you should check it out.  My fabric haul was heavy.  So I just had them ship it to me.  Our mini shopping spree also included stops at:  SIL Threads, Chic, Pracific Trimming, and Spandex House were I purchased more fabric and other sewing goodies.  It was a fun day of shopping.  There were many, many stores in the area, but too many to stop by in a short period of time.  Carolyn was so good about mapping out some great spots to hit during our day of shopping.

After a very hard day of work, I mean shopping, we  went to Rosa Mexicano for dinner.  A few more ladies join us:  Sheila and Olgalyn.  We had a fantastic time and I couldn't believe the weekend was nearly over.  I wanted to stay for at least two more days.

We made the trek back to the hotel.  Most of the sewing ladies headed back to the homes.  Andrea and I spent one more night at the hotel.

Then on Sunday morning we palled around New York city.  Andrea and parted our ways as I got into the taxi to head for the airport.  I smiled and chuckled as I reflected on the great time I had with my friends.  A special group of friends that I would have never known.  I first met most of them on the internet through blogging and social media.  A lot of bad can be say about the internet and social media, but there is also a lot of good to be say as well.  What I know for sure, these things have made it possible to establish friendships across vast bodies of water hundreds, thousands of miles away.

Parting Shot:  Me pictured with Eric owner of Mood.  Great Guy!

Happy Sewing!
C