Dress for a holiday par-tay!

We've been going to the Google Holiday party for over a decade--this year was actually our 12th!  We had just moved out to California from New York for the job a month prior to the first party and I was so desperate to go that I willingly handed off my 3 month old baby to a friend-of-a-friend in San Francisco.  At the time, I wore whatever I had brought with me (a strapless black cotton dress from the Gap, which thankfully fit!), but each year since, the annual holiday party has been a really good excuse to buy a fabulous new frock.

Well, I just wasn't feeling it this year.  The dress I planned to wear wasn't fitting just right, so I pulled out this lace fabric and spent the day before the party sewing!

I used this pattern (the same one as this dress), but with some modifications.  First up, I added fish-eye darts to the back.  The fit still isn't great, but it was significantly frumpier without them.  I also added piping around the neckline, mostly because I was so impressed that the package of piping I had in my stash was an exact perfect match.

The dress is really just a shell--no lining at all.  I'm wearing a nude slip underneath, which worked fabulously.  

I used the lace edge for the hem and sleeves, doing my best to match scallops with a reasonable amount of success.

So, it wasn't the most spectacular dress at the party, but I was comfortable (bonus, considering all the tasty food) and happy knowing I had made it.  I was bummed I didn't have the opportunity to brag to anyone that I had sewn it, but I guess I'm doing that now, eh?  :)  

 I paired it with these amazing shoes, which I think modernized the whole [otherwise rather matronly] look a bit.

 Anyone else sew their holiday dress this year?

Astoria top + swishy skirt (take 2)

After sewing this version of the Astoria top with a swishy skirt, I knew I had to make more.  MORE! Alas, I only made this one more (despite my dreams of a closet full of them).  

The overall style works well--cropped 50s inspired top with a voluminous skirt--and I like how it works with my shape (hiding the bottom of the pear nicely!).  

There are so many fabric options for each piece!  For this version of the Astoria, I went with a navy rayon French terry.  The fabric weight is nice for this top and is warmer than a regular knit for the fall.  

I used my double-needle coverstitch machine to finish the neckline.  Yes that's a beetle.  I have a thing for biology-related brooches.

For the skirt, I splurged and bought some silk/cotton Liberty voile.  It's lovely and Fall-like, but very sheer, so I added a lining of cream colored silk/cotton voile.

The pattern is the Brumby skirt (Megan Nielsen), cut down in length a bit.  The waistband is curved, but it sits like it's a straight band, which is fine for this overall look, but isn't very comfortable for me. 

I'm still kicking myself that I didn't add pockets.  Seriously.  Why have I not learned my lesson to just put pockets in everything?  And I would go back to add them after the fact, except that I sewed the entire thing (lining and all!) with French seams.  

I hoped this style (cute cropped top with dirndl skirt) would have been more of a "uniform" this Fall, but I didn't quite get around to making any more versions.  Regardless, I love this look and I can see it transitioning into a Spring uniform :)

Ms. Frizzle dress!

So with most of my school work and teaching wrapping up for the semester,  I'm slowly working through documenting my backlog of projects.  First up; my Halloween costume!  Admittedly, Halloween is not my favorite holiday, so I haven't been too excited about making costumes for myself or the kids.  Until this year :)

In case you're new to my blog, my [very part-time] day job is as a Biology instructor at a local community college.  I've been teaching for over 9 years and each Fall, I worriedly scan through my schedule to see if I have to teach on Halloween.  Somehow, I've managed to avoid it all years except this one.  However, I had this curly red wig and I just couldn't resist....it was time to break out Ms. Frizzle!  For those unfamiliar with this children's book character, Ms. Frizzle is an elementary school teacher who drives a shape-shifting school bus to take extraordinary field trips.  Most importantly (to me, anyway), her dress print changes for each topic.  As it happened, I was teaching the skeletal system (for real, guys) and I busted this beauty out the day before class.

The pattern is self-drafted from a personal block and the fabric was purchased at Hart's (out of stock).  The best part is that the bones are labeled, and appear to be accurate!  I actually used my dress to point out the name of the bones of the wrist for a student in lab :)

I carefully positioned the vertebral column in the correct location (and the arm bones too, but I didn't photo that).

Second best part of the fabric is that it glows in the dark! This is the best shot I could get, but you get the picture.

I had to wear this (along with my wig) for the entire class, then go directly to Fashion class where I had to give a presentation.  Eek!  I couldn't stand wearing that wig again for my "studio" photos, so here's a selfie of me from Halloween, taken in my lab with our class mascot:

I might have to make this a new tradition... :)

A dress to match a necklace

Yep, it's been a while!  After returning from Alaska (and purchasing even more land!), school started for the boys, then it started for me (for the classes I take) and a month later school started again (for the classes I teach).  Somewhere in there, we did a major remodel in our house and then painted and replaced carpeting in half the house.  Sewing has been low on the priority list!  Note: this has not kept me from amassing more and more fabric in the wild hopes that I will eventually have time and access to my sewing room again :)  

Even though I haven't been sewing a lot, but I do have a few completed projects to document.  First up is this dress sewn back in July, and solely made to coordinate with the necklace made by my brother's girlfriend (thank you, Olivia!):

The fabric is a ponte knit (from Harts Fabric), with a nice weight.  I liked the "scratch plaid" pattern and it played well with the variegation of the stones in the necklace.  

The pattern is a simple, 60s style shift from Burda Style. (B7031)  I love, love, love the French darts, but it makes me laugh that the description says the dress has "unsophisticated style lines".  Huh? Perhaps lost in translation?

I omitted the back zipper since the neckline is wide enough and the fabric has enough stretch.

The dress is amazingly comfortable, yet stylish enough to wear to work.  While I wore it with pointy toed black flats this fall, I'll definitely pair it with boots and tights when the weather gets colder.  

More Fall looks to follow!

Alaskan fireweed cowl

My family and I just returned from a 2.5 week vacation in Homer, Alaska visiting my in-laws.  I always lament that I can't sew while on vacation, so while traveling I tend to gravitate to small knitting projects.  I'm not much of a knitter--truthfully, it is a craft of last resort for me--but I can't be without a project of some kind for that long!

This project was a small cowl, made with lovely hand-dyed yarn purchased 2 years ago in Homer.  The colorway is called "Fireweed", which represents a gorgeous flowering plant all over the fields and hills in Alaska.  Here's a (rather unrepresentative) close up of the plant.  In real life, when completely carpeting a field, it's stunning.  By the time I got out into the fields to take photos, the fireweed was almost completely bloomed out (waaaay early, thanks to a warm summer).  

The pattern is lacework (Estonian Leaf Cowl--it's free!) and while I'm not the best knitter, the pattern was doable and the mistakes are not too obvious because the yarn is nicely variegated.  

My cast-on stitches are okay, but I made some mistakes binding off, so that edge rolls all over the place when I wear it.  Anyone have a good bind-off that is stretchy, but doesn't roll?  It's a bummer.

Anyhow, this was intended to be a 'practice run' for some extra-special yarn, but I don't love the shape of the cowl--it kind of slumps down when I wear it--so I'm back to square one.  However, I'm pleased I finally used this lovely yarn (and created something while on vacation!).  Actually, I purchased another hank of yarn and managed to knit a really simple open-work infinity scarf the night before our flight home, but I've not yet taken any photos to show it off :)  

Pacific leggings (for all that exercising I do)

So I'm not the most regular exerciser, and if I do anything these days it's either walking or cycling.  I might not bother making "performance wear" (quotes required to indicate my decidedly lack of performance while wearing anything), particularly leggings, if it weren't for for a buy-one-get-one pattern sale at Sewaholic a while back, and recently purchasing too much dri-fit performance knit from Mood.  Tack on that I'm anticipating doing some serious hiking this weekend at Big Trees State Park and in a couple of weeks in Alaska, and this project skipped to the head of the queue.

Okay, wow.  First off, I made leggings!  Second, they are awesome!  The pattern (Pacific leggings by Sewaholic) is easy and interesting, with the seam that wraps around the leg and the optional back pocket for your phone, chapstick, or FitBit.  I went with view C, with the pocket from B.  The main body of the leggings are size 0, grading up to 2-4 at the waistband. They might be a touch tight, but I guess that's what keeps them up!

The wide waistband makes the waist pretty comfortable, with an extra layer to hold stuff in.  In the future, I might lengthen the rise of the tights, since I'm an old lady.  However, these leggings are yet another stellar pattern from Tasia at Sewaholic.

Back pocket!  Brilliant.  It perfectly fits my moderately sized phone, and while it's a bit bulky back there, the blame can fall squarely on the phone.

For the construction, I wanted the look of decorative topstitching on the seams, but I'm not sure my coverstitch machine would do it properly.  So, I sewed all the seams on my serger, wrong sides together.  Then, I pressed the serged edge to one side and stitched it down with with a straight stitch.

It's important to be symmetrical with the direction in which you press the seams, since it's so visible!

Here's an inside shot of the crotch gusset (above).  I was able to serge the edges in two passes, which worked well.  Since all of the seams are sewn with the seam allowance on the outside, the inside seams are super smooth and lovely (see below)!

 I might have to go out and actually exercise in these babies!