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!