New Look 6314

& May Wrap Up! :-p

This month I sewed NL6314! LOL!!!! I sewed 1 yard of fabric. I purchased NO NEW FABRIC and 3 new patterns.

YTD Total yards IN: 28.75
YTD Total yards OUT: 24

New Look 6314 was made once before. Again, I had 1 yard of a well-liked piece of fabric and figured this pattern would be a great fit for this fabric and our mild early summer weather.

These ASOS jeans are about a half size too big. If there was a size 33, that would have been a better fit...but I love the style SO MUCH that I don't care. The next time I have something to take to the tailor (because alterations? No thank you), I will bring them to see what she thinks about taking them in.

The only change I made from last time was to sew the bands with a smaller seam allowance. They were quite wimpy for the full sleeves. I used a 1/4" seam allowance which gave a bit of length on the sleeve too...but I like the wider bands.

The fabric is a distressed french terry from Fabric Mart and twill tape from SR Harris. The smaller location has a nice range of trims available and I almost always buy 5 yards of twill tape when I'm there :) It's usually $0.40-50 per yard so it's worth it to keep some basic colors on hand. This was a straight serger/coverstitch project aside from the buttonholes for the ties. I still had to cut it out over the course of 2 days. But I'm looking forward to getting in the sewing room a bit more now that I have the surgeon's blessing.

I think I'll get a TON of wear out of this right on through fall!

Another Me Made May in the books!

Sunday I was on the road from Memphis to Chicago so no handmades that day.

In reverse order...again...

Monday: I was on road from Chicago to home. I had on my S2061 lounge pants and a tee. Baby cat was so happy to see me :)

Tuesday: Back to work and in one of my favorite handmade garments ever - Vogue 1323.

Wednesday: An oldie but goodie; the dress from now OOP wardrobe pattern M5890. 

Thursday: RTW top (that I love and fixed once with a needle and embroidery thread!) and M7392 denim skirt

Friday: TNT tee M6964 with thrifted jeans

This year, I didn't make any specific MMM pledge. I just got dressed for the day (hence so many random pics or last minute selfies). But it is still a fun challenge for me each year! 

In non-sewing news, I've picked up a new hobby (skill)! :) I have wanted to learn to make bread for forever. We bbq'd the other day and I decided TODAY IS THE DAY! Because that's how I roll. 

Well...I was clueless about the whole 'dough rising for forever and ever' thing :) So it was pretty late Thursday when I finished and they did not turn out well. They smelled very 'yeasty' and were super dense. I did a bunch of reading/research and decided I would try again Friday (because that's how I roll!).  It worked!

Left: attempt #1

Right: attempt #2

Things I learned in between batch #1 and batch #2:

The 1st recipe was fine but did not give any of the tips, hints and potential pitfalls that a beginner would be unaware of. Also, it was suggested to turn the oven on for a minute, turn it back off, and let the dough rise in the oven. Yeah, no. Maybe if your house is super cold, but that was too warm.

That first batch of dough was wrong. LOL! I used the paddle on my KitchenAid when I should have used the dough hook. And slightly sticky is okay but this was sticking to everything. 

We don't drink milk but it didn't need much so I figured no big deal. I think I forgot the sugar too. I don't remember.

It's hilarious to me, with cooking and baking, how a little bit of time makes a huge difference. With batch #2, I kneaded the dough for the specified amount of time but it didn't seem right so I did it for about 90 more seconds - perfect! 

I bought milk! I bought a thermometer! (the water is supposed to be a set temp). I bought a scale! Several sources said the flour should be weighed. Now, I do bake cookies, cakes, etc so I know not to scoop the flour with the intended measuring cup as it can be compacted. But weighing it worked well.  Also, the scale ensured equal sized buns. 

I was SO excited about how they turned out and we had burgers on Saturday! 

(This is the recipe I used.)

Giveaway Winners! And January Wrap-Up

I love this part!!

I printed out all of the comments -- THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE! I loved hearing everyone share about patterns and fabric and bits about their own sewing journey! -- I then sorted by the preferred prize pack and did each drawing separately.

As mentioned, I'd love to get these in the mail by Saturday, 2/3 when I run my other errands. If you have ever awaited a mailed item from me, you want me to get to the PO right away also! :-p

Without further ado:

Prize A Winner: R Trittel

Prize B Winner: SewPaula

Prize C Winner: Linda C.

 

Prize D Winner: L

Prize E Winner: Regina Gee

You may contact me via the Blogger form on the right or at sewcraftychemist {{at}} gmail {{dot}} com!

Hopefully everyone enjoys their prize pack!!

Wrap-Up:

This month I made 9 items (I may have used one pattern 4 times. :-D) and sewed 15.75 yards.

• Burda 6853 dress - 3 5/8 yards
• black and black print suiting
• pongee lining
• Notions: invisible zipper, piping, bias binding, hem tape
• Burda 1/2018 #119 hoodie - 2 1/4 yards
• grey double knit
• athletic knit lining
• separating zipper, twill tape, bias binding, eyelets, cord stops
• New Look 6314 top - 1 yard
• floral fine French terry
• twill tape
• eyelets
• Butterick 6031 slip - 6 yards
• floral print ITY with black/white lace
• grey jersey with blue-grey lace
• black jersey with blue-grey lace
• black jersey with black lace
• lace, elastic, lingerie slides/rings
• Simplicity 8424 leggings - 1 3/8 yards
• black jersey
• elastic, Cricut HTV
• McCalls 6886 dress - 1.5 yards
• pink ponte

I'll do a combo review of my two additional nightgowns (yes, I love this pattern dearly, already!) and the leggings.

Favorite: C'mon! :-D B6031! I am pretty stoked with how each version turned out and how they all managed to be SO different! I am not sure I've slept in anything else aside from needing to do laundry and therefore being forced to choose! :)

FAILS: I made a rookie mistake (or two!) on my leggings but luckily they are an extra loungewear item so no harm, no foul.

I bought fabric this month. DOH! Soooo, what had happened was (LOL!!!!!!)...I am going to the Carriage Corner B&B Sew Camp in March. And that includes a trip to Fabric Mart (IN PERSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and I am going to PA by way of NYC so...my plan to not buy fabric until May 1? I am not going to even PRETEND like that will hold. So I will have to reassess that 2018 goal but I do not plan to go crazy.

I ordered some shirting during FMs 70% off sale - 7 yards total. I will call bringing in less than half of what I sewed a quasi-fail.

Accomplishment: Maybe I have to stop patting myself on the back for 'make it work' moments but *I* am surprised I did not toss Burda 6853 aside with all the grief it gave me!

Also, I PASSED MY CERTIFICATION EXAM! Woot woot!! And because I am the only 'me' I know how to be; I had my boss on.the.phone! to discuss my promotion within hours.  >>this girl<< is not shy about it!

Also, I did not buy ANY patterns this month. Yay! I did spend money I did not intend to spend though. A notions coupon got me...and then I placed a Wawak order that included 5 yards of hair canvas and various threads. BUT I have several outerwear projects planned so the hair canvas will carry me far.

Month 1 into my personal "Operation 365" challenge where I take daily outfit photos (for myself, rarely shared...)

My most worn items this month were:
Navy M6996 wool jersey cardigan (3 times)
RTW white sleeveless knit top (4 times)
RTW navy corduroy pants (4 times)
RTW denim button front shirt (3 times)

There were lots of items worn twice and  I repeated one outfit completely: M6996 + NL6301

I wore pants a lot; but it is January in MN...And I wore topper+top+bottom 3 pieces 13 times. It is SO my go-to. Soon it'll be light enough in the morning for non mirror selfie pics :) And the lighting in my office is so weird with the yellow-brownish walls that I can only take pics of certain colors in there.

At any rate, here were my favorite combos from January:

• white B5678, green Burda 7107, RTW navy corduroys
• all RTW outfit: black cardigan, navy and black top, navy/black/gold pants
• black M6844 cardigan, RTW white sleeveless top, RTW teal skirt
• navy M6996 cardigan, NL6301 dress x2 (I wore this outfit on exam day :-D )
• RTW animal print cardigan, white tank, V9032 trousers
• M6886 dress
• RTW denim jacket, RTW white sleeveless top, M6654 skirt

February plans for now are:

• Burda 1/2018 hoodie for my daughter
• Closet Case Clare coat
• Butterick 6427 tee
• Butterick 5789 cardigan (I have this fleece-y type knit that may be awesome or may be a giant fail. We'll see!)

February is a busy, busy month. I have something going on like 12 of the 28 days. I'm exhausted thinking about it! We will see what gets accomplished this month!

WHEW! Well, that wraps up an epic post of epicness! :-p Until later!!

New Look 6314 and a modified McCall's 6886

I have maintained my Pattern Review membership primarily for managing my pattern stash. And every now and then I realize something is missing and then its 'woe is me I have to audit my entire collection now'. Since my paid membership expired, I haven't renewed, and my collection is out of control. I keep finding stuff or unfortunately, NOT finding things! Oy!! I have to either clean it up and pay for the membership or find another solution which is NOT appealing because it's well over 600 patterns. WHEW.

All that to say, I didn't know I had NL6314 in stash. LOL!

It's now OOP

I was into the shorter view with drawstring immediately and I'd found a 1 yard cut of fine French Terry in a pretty floral at Cali Fabrics. I knew I could squeeze this top from the yard of fabric even though it called for 1 1/4.

I cut a size 14 neckline and graded to a 16 for the rest, typical for me. I made a pivot and slide FBA and no other fitting adjustments.

It is NOT hi-low and it isn't riding up; I have terrible posture. TERRIBLE!

I love the length and the easy-wearing style. The neck binding went in perfectly and I like the tie - mostly. It's a pretty wide hem and then the tie is just free floating in there. I used eyelets vs buttonholes and my twill tape is a bit short; I'd bought it for something else but it matched this color perfectly.

I don't like the sleeve bands, they're kind of wimpy. I'd make them wider if I made this pattern again.

I held my breath the entire time while coverstitching that neckline! LOL!!!!

Then I wanted to use this rose-colored ponte for a coordinating dress. I wanted to use M7430 but I COULDN'T FIND IT! Blergh. I wish I'd used my recently made NL6530 neckline/collar but I tried to DIY the adjustment on M6886 and I don't love it. But I also do not love this fabric. I think I got it from SR Harris and it feels...weird. I can't explain it. It is a ponte that washed up quite nicely. It has great stretch and recovery but something is just a little off in the feel of it. I also don't love the color. I wish it were a bit more muted. Lastly, I thought about it but then forgot to adjust the armholes. I've never made this pattern without sleeves and should have raised the armhole/brought it in a bit.

So the dress is meh. Not bad, will probably get worn, but not good. And I don't like them together. I wouldn't wear dress boots with the combo though, so I did take that into account...it would definitely be a more casual/sporty pairing...

I've always made the scoop neck version of this dress. I wanted to attach a collar and traced the crew neck onto my fabric. I think this neckline is too high (other patterns with a collar seem to sit a little lower) and the collar is too big around not my neck but not big enough to slouch. And it's too tall to stand as one layer but a little too short to fold down nicely.

Pairing it with a denim jacket didn't even make me love it.

Now, I will admit that I was having a super, horrible, crappy day when I took the pics. Yes, I know I look like I'm ready to murder someone (I didn't!). So I gave it another shot and still...meh.

Top - winner. Dress - a little less so. It happens!

My mojo has been absent. I have my daughter's Burda sweatshirt cut out and will get that done this weekend. And I ordered this African print cotton (IDK if it's actual Ankara??) from Michael Levine and plan to make a fun pair of pants to pair with my new RTW/DIY Black Panther hooded top.

 

 

The HTV is "Vegas Gold" from Expressions Vinyl (affiliate link in sidebar)

The image came from Divas Craft Too on Etsy (NAYY)

I was going to make high-waist pants and a fitted tee but found this hoodie on clearance at Target for $5 and decided to go sporty. I may add carriers and a tie/belt to the pants. The drawstring on the top obscures T'Challa and must go!! :) Or someone made a great suggestion to do a Celtic knot to secure them. I gambled that these metallics would match!! We'll see!