I love Clothes!

I love clothes.  I am tall and often have a hard time finding things long enough.  Personal sewing to the rescue!

As in my last few posts, I have been doing more clothing sewing.  

This pattern is Butterick B4238.  

I bought some exceptional wrinkle-free cotton shirting from Fabric Mart.  Here is the first pass at this pattern with that.

I read about this top on Pattern Review and many said it was way too low cut for them.  So before I did anything, I altered the curve of the front to come up higher.  Glad I did.  

I got the fit better on this top than the last one, and am overall quite happy with the finished product.  It does gape a bit, so a camisole is a necessity.  

For the second top, I used a cotton lawn fabric from Fabric Mart.  Just for fun, I added extra fabric at the sides starting at the underarm and going to the hem.  Very fun!  This version hasn't been worn yet.  It's still a little too cool here, and I live in the south!

Overall I am happy with this pattern as well.  But how many of these can one use?!

On to the next pattern...

Personal Sewing and Other Stuff...

A note on personal sewing...

I know I have a number of quilt loving followers.  I like to quilt.  But lately I've been into sewing clothes - mainly out of necessity!  Anyone ever have fit issues...

Anyway, here is a top I did after the lined plaid jacket.  

It is Vogue pattern V8856.  

The butter yellow knit is from Mood Fabrics. 

I measured and followed the size according to the pattern envelope.  Unfortunately, it's a little bit big.  I'm not very good at sizing anyway, but I know I could take some fabric out!

It does have a neat loose neck and flounces on the bottom front and backs.  

Very creative!

So while I was fresh with this pattern, I made a second one too!

This fabric is a slinky poly that is very comfy to wear.  

If I make this again, I will go down a size (or two).

As for the lack of posts lately...

Here is my dog Lucy when we were at the vet last week.  She has another bladder stone and has already had surgery 2 times for this same thing - and she is 6 years old.  Poor little thing.  We are trying to dissolve the stone with special food and antibiotics.  She is now wearing diapers all the time while this situation hopefully works itself out.  Taking care of her has filled my days.  

Then Saturday my favorite middle daughter graduated with her Masters degree!  One about to be off the parental payroll!

Happy Creating everyone!

Seeing Red Stars

As you can see, I've added some stronger reds in the stars and it now has a cohesion it didn't have before.  Also, the dark red vertical strips are half the width of the stars.  Making the strips different widths adds to the interest overall. 

 Also, I've added some half-square triangles at the bottom.  They are made from the scraps I cut away when making the stars.  They add interest, but I'm not sure if they work with my overall vision.  

One smart person suggested small stars for the corners where the sashing meets.  I like that idea a lot.  Perhaps even do the smaller stars in the less strong colors.  I think we're on to something here.    Hmmm...  

Linking up with the talented quilters at Freshly Pieced Work In Progress Wednesday - check it out!

Happy Creating.

Seeing Stars

Recently I went back to my purchased Craftsy Class - Quilting Quickly II - and watched for some inspiration.  I could hardly get through one lesson and I was in my sewing Realm cutting fabric to play with!  Jenny Doan makes it so simple to put together quilts quickly.  No kidding.  This is why I have only watched about 5 of the lessons and a quilt has come from each one!  For me, who only came to the quilting world about 2 1/2 years ago, this class has been great.  

This time I watched the lesson on Stripped Stars.  The 4 solid stars are what I did the afternoon I watched the video.  I really like them and they are super fast and easy.  However, I am not a fan of solid fabrics, and this seemed kinda flat to me.  

Enter prints!

I recently purchased some reds & aquas in the Henry Glass fabric line.  Here is the sneak peek I blogged about recently.  

So I made this star with a printed fabric.  It was OK.  

Well, then I started playing with the star points and got this.

More play got this!

I think it's a little much...

So I went back to the 2 color stars.  Here's what I have so far.  

I'm not in love with it, unfortunately.  As you can see I've laid red strips down to see if I'll like it better with some kind of sashing.  I think it needs something to standardize the wacky stars.

Any ideas? 

Linking to Nina Marie's Friday party : )

Turning on a Little Charm

I recently discovered these mini charm packs - all 42 fabrics in 2 1/2" squares!  

They are an inexpensive way to experience a line of fabrics.  I realize that they are actually more expensive than a regular charm pack if you figure square inches, but I'm not talking value right now.

They are so cute!

There are 2 of these about 12" squares.  They will likely become the front and back of a new small pillow for the living room!  This is the Marmalade fabric.  

Then I tried a different idea with the Noteworthy fabric.  Noteworthy's color is softer and I do think that  altering the squares this way took the color down to a very pale level.  It is calling for a little more umph so there are plans...stay tuned!

Also today, strips got cut for another quilting idea.  Reds & aqua anyone?  These are mainly Henry Glass fabrics.  Love them!

This is what I'm up to this week - how about you?  

Be sure to check out the great things others are doing on WIP wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Happy Creating!