The UFO Robe - Done!

From her bedroom window, I took this from the front porch.

So I started making this robe over a year ago.  I think I cut it out about the same time I did Felicity's pajamas.  Its McCall's 4646. The thing I realized after cutting out the robe is that it is HUGE. She has more than enough room to grow.  Originally I had planned on putting piping on the pockets but I didn't feel like fiddling with it at the time.  After getting it mostly stitched up, though, the pockets were near invisible.

Near invisible pockets.

So, after looking at it for a while I decided to do a blanket stitch around them with silk buttonhole thread out of the huge box of vintage thread Mom gave me a few months before everything imploded. When Felicity saw me doing this she gave me a big hug and said "I love you!". I kinda melted.

Stitching in progress.

As you can see, the one on the left was the second and much neater attempt.

 Now noticeable pockets!

Felicity picked out probably the gaudiest of buttons, which is good because anything else would have been completely lost on this print. In going through all the photos I realize this was the case cause the only picture you really notice them on is this one:

Super Pout, and buttons.

 The robe is definitely long enough. I have an inch or so for the arms and the length of the robe before she'll be too big for it. So hopefully a couple years of love.  I did "faux French seams" on the inside and of course the yoke is completely enclosed. The only thing I didn't d this on is the armhole seams but I'm going to cover those with bias tape once I get her out of the thing.

After doing this little "photo shoot" with her I've decided I need to invest in a few reflectors and a slave-flash that I can bounce off the wall for extra light.  Still, after some super cropping and some playing in photoshop I got this one photo that made me go "WOW" and want to buy a shotgun.

70's Glamour

So that's it really. Don't expect much more out of me until after the New Year. Hope you had a Happy Solstice, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas and whatever else I might have missed!

I Totally Made Pants!

I'm leh tired.

Ok, I managed to salvage these babies.  Also, this is the knit blouse I made several weeks back that is a bit large.  But comfy! Its warm and as long as I wear a camisole underneath I can wear it to work. And taking photos of yourself with a self-timer is totally a pain in the butt.  The ones that are in focus and I like I ended up cutting off my head. So the top photo is so you know that I'm not going headless on ya'll. Seriously.

Oh yeah, did I mention I went dark red again?  Here's some photos of the pattern adjustments I made on the pants.  In case you're just jumping in these are the Clover Pants from Colette's fall line of patterns.

Pencil line is where I changed the crotch depth, the two parallel lines are the height I'll be removing in the next pair.

Here the yellow chalk is what i took out on the sides. You can also see where I did a full derriere adjustment.

Ok, so what did I do to the pants?  Well, first off I took in almost an 3/4 inch on the hips. And then I took the center back in about 1/4 of an inch (For a total of half an inch? Make sense?).  I also had to do some adjustments on the front crotch. On my next pair I'll be taking about almost an inch in height for the front because I keep getting that sag that makes you want to yank your pants up. Its annoying but not devastatingly so. This is why I'm dubbing them my wearable muslin.

Headless Photos:

Ok, so this one isn't really headless.

Both these pieces of clothing while not on the top of my list for good fit are probably the most well put together. All my seams are finished. The neck binding on the blouse I was super happy with. I used this burdastyle tutorial.  I highly recommend it if you want to venture into knits. When I make this blouse again I'm going down a size and bra cup (its one of those Vogue Custom Fit deals). When the reviews said it had tonnes of ease they weren't kidding. I had to take in the sides by an inch. I also cut apart the top and bottom halves, took about an inch on the top half off, regathered and then sewed it back together using clear elastic. It probably doesn't help its a ribbed double knit and tends to grow.

Probably the most fun I had was using one of the tailor's tools Mom gave me called "Tailor's Clapper". Which kinda sounds like it would give you an STD. Really its an oblong shaped piece of wood that is flat on top/bottom for pounding layers of wool flat after steaming them so you get a really good crease (I don't think that description helped with the snickering, did it? Ya'll got dirty minds).  I'll take more photo details later but I'm just so excited that I finally finished something and it didn't completely suck. I had to share!

DID I MENTION I MADE PANTS???

Polka Dot? Why not! (More Pictures Too)

Hi Again! Remember I said I had made several other garments including a polka-dot dress. Since I was all dolled up and we still had some light left I had my husband take pictures of all the other garments as well. You will see there's a theme here. Namely, polka-dots. I sent off to have a bow belt professionally made to match the dress. And really the blouse is one of my current favorites. I need to make a couple more long sleeve cowl necks because they go so well with the high-waist skirts. But first, I need to think about Christmas for the kids. Christmas. Bah. Humbug. ( I'm trying not to keep my lack of enthusiasm from spilling over to the children but its hard.)

PICTURES!

Dress + Belt + Hat = I should be at the Kentucky Derby

This Skirt I have dubbed "Charisma Bonus Skirt"

Booty, I has it.

Here's the dress paired with the Karen Cardigan from Burdastyle.com. Its too big, I'm going to do the non-plus size next time.

What I do like about the Karen Cardigan is that you can belt it with things other than the tie the instructions have you make. I think it makes the dress much more playful, and also gives me the ability to wear it in colder weather.


For those of you that grew up with Animaniacs, you probably can't hear about PolkaDots without thinking of this episode. Oh you don't? Well now you will! Stay fabulous!