Blue Akita

I finally whipped up a Seamwork Akita blouse! I used a cotton voile that I bought at Jo-Ann's, a couple years ago, for my first Colette Laurel dress. I'm trying to get better about using the fabric I have, rather than buying the shiny new fabric  :)  It's so hard though - fabric shopping is fun!

Pretty blue bias tape

The Akita pattern is really simple and fast to put together. Only having to cut one pattern piece is amazing!! I usually wear size 2 tops, since this is a looser blouse I cut in-between size 0 & 2. Overall, I'm very happy with the fit. It's bunches a little at my hips, so I think next time I'll make the side slits a little taller.

It was a beautiful 75 degree weekend in Richmond. Josh and I went hiking at Pocahontas State Park and took these pictures  :) It's December and I was warm hiking in a short sleeve shirt - crazy!

caught in the air!

Yesterday I started cutting out aluminum and brass triangles for a new necklace  :)  After I finish that, I'm planning to start cutting a Pauline Alice Malvarosa dress!

Christmas came early

My sisters and I were all home at my parent's house for Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful time, full of yummy food, family time, and even my friend's lovely wedding! Since none of us girls will be home for Christmas, we decided to celebrate early.

I've been busy the last month sewing up gifts for my Mom and sisters. I made my Mom a Seamwork Astoria sweater and my sisters the Seamwork Mesa dress. After worrying for weeks that none of the pieces would fit, I was astounded and overjoyed when they all fit perfectly! They all wore their me-makes the next day at our Thanksgiving party, and they all looked adorable  :)

Family Time!

I made pants!

Long time no post, but I've got some exciting news to share with you - I made my first pair of pants!!! The Colette Clover pants. Spoiler alert: they did not turn out perfectly, but hey they're my first pair of pants so I'm going to wear them proudly anyways.

I finished my seams with teal bias tape  :)

I made a big mistake early on with these pants. I bought the pattern when it came out and didn't look at it again when I ordered my fabric. I saw this cute boucle fabric on sale at Mood and thought I was finally ready to try making pants. When I finally looked at the Clover pattern, I saw it required fabric with up to 3% spandex... this beautiful boucle has noooo stretch. 

Rather than get new fabric and save the boucle for something else, I decided to try making a larger size pant  :)  Maybe not the best idea, but I figured it was worth a shot.  I made a muslin version and they didn't fit terrible, a little slouchy but not bad. I probably should have made some adjustments to the pattern for a more perfect fit. I also planned on adding zippers to the ankles, so I could get the pants over my feet without stretchy fabric. The zippers turned out adorable, I need to add more decorative zippers to my makes!

 

Overall, the Clover pattern was very simple to put together. I can't wait to try it again someday with the correct type of fabric  :)  For now, I'm happy with my slightly ill-fitting pants because... Yay -I made pants!





Flannel Alder Shirtdress

About two weeks ago I finished my first Grainline Studio Alder Shirtdress - it will definitely not be my last! Josh was in Mexico for a week, so we didn't have time to take photos until today. I love this pattern!! It was simple to put together and the sew-along on Grainline's website is sooo helpful! Also, as a Midwesterner (at heart) I was really excited to try out a Grainline Studio pattern  :)

This is a practice version - I eventually want to make the Alder in a floral chambray I have. Even for a practice version, this ended up very wearable! I used a wool flannel that I've had in my stash since I started sewing almost 5 years ago! I bought it second-hand from a shop in Iowa City  :)  It is very warm - perfect for these upcoming chilly months. I jazzed it up by cutting the pockets and back yoke on the bias, and making a chambray collar  :)  I'm 5'4" about 125 lbs and I cut in-between size 2 & 4, overall it fits pretty well. For future versions, I might lengthen it slightly - maybe I'll make the shoulders a bit wider too.

It's layer season!

Like I said, Grainline's sew-along is very helpful. They give you step-by-step instructions with photos for each step right on their website! Love it! The most difficult part for me, was inserting the gathered skirt into the dress. I didn't get the front corners perfect, so they ended up looking a little wonky. It's still super wearable - so I'm not too worried about it - I'll just try to get that better next time  :)  I highly recommend this pattern. Check out my instagram account (https://instagram.com/craft_rambler/)  for more in-progress photos!

My next sewing project is a pair of Colette Clover pants. I'm almost finished with my muslin version, so I'll know soon if they are close to fitting right! Aside from my sewing, Josh and I have been experimenting with making homemade cider with our friends! We've fermented regular cider, cider mixed with farmer's market peaches, and apple cider mixed with blueberries, ginger, and cinnamon! Experimenting with different flavor mixtures and fermenting times has been really interesting and delicious  :)

Brewing!

Treasures From Mexico

Beautiful Blouse From Mexico

Josh just got back from a week long trip to Mexico! He said it was one of his favorite places he's ever been to. He didn't forget about me on his trip - he came back with this lovely blouse and yards, and yards of beautiful fabric for me! I'm a lucky lady  :)

Can't wait to make some pretty things with all this lovely fabric! While Josh was gone I finished a flannel Grainline Studios Alder Shirtdress. I put some photos up on Instagram, but haven't taken proper photos yet. I'll have photos up on the blog this weekend :)

It's Still Summer In Richmond!

I did it folks... I made my first swimsuit!!! I'm thrilled, I was very apprehensive about working with the spandex and the tiny pattern pieces - but it all worked out  :)  This is the Reno/Dakota retro swimsuit from the August edition of Seamwork Magazine. I'm not going to sugarcoat it, there was some seam-ripping, but overall it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be.

I've been wanting to make a swimsuit all summer, so I was thrilled when Seamwork offered this one. Although the instructions were really helpful, I struggled with putting the top together. My biggest issues were adding foam cups (which isn't required) and being able to tell all my little pieces apart (which they warn you about in the pattern).  I followed the cup instructions in Seamwork's Swimwear Basics article. The instructions were straightforward, but I started with cups that were bigger than my lining pieces (I found them randomly in my dresser). The first time I cut the cups smaller and sewed them in, I didn't leave enough room around them to stitch my lining to my outer fabric, so I ended up having to recut my lining pieces and cut the cups even smaller and then they worked fine. I also put them in upside-down the first time (oops!).

Pinning my cups to my lining (the first time - see how they're too close to the edges?) #mycupsrunover

My bright cobalt fabric is from the sale section at Jo-ann's. A few weeks after I bought it, I decided to color-block the suit - so I picked up this dark blue fabric. I'm really happy with the mixing of blues. I think they make the suit really pop! I made a size XS for the top and a M for the bottoms. The top fits pretty great, but the bottoms are very loose around my waist. At first I thought I cut the waist elastic too long, so I seam-ripped it out, cut it smaller, and sewed it back in. It still ended up too loose, so I should have graded down to a S at the top of the waist. Live and learn! At some point I'll seam-rip the waist again and cut it smaller, for now I'm just going to enjoy my new swimsuit  :)

Have you all tried making swimwear yet? Really, it's not as scary as you might think! The fabric is actually pretty fun to work with  :)  After this, I'm gearing up for fall - there's a Grainline Studio Alder Shirtdress in my future!

If you want to see more in-progress photos, check out my Instagram pics! https://instagram.com/craft_rambler