Quick post

After the craft fair letdown (see last post), I decided to focus on making things for ME (acting very much like The Selfish Seamstress) and not worry about trying to make things to sell/make things that people want to buy.

But then the other day on Twitter, Tia (of http://christopherandtia.blogspot.com/) said she was looking for someone to make some binky (pacifier) leashes for her ADORABLE kids. (Yes, adorable needed to be in caps.) I said I could make them for her and for a low cost (mostly because I need a morale boost over here and because I have a huuuuge fabric stash that I need to start paring down).

She choose 7 different fabrics from my stash and I whipped them up yesterday:

yesterday.

setup:

not too bad, right?

yeah, didn't sell anything.

I'm gonna stop sewing for potential customers and just focus on things that I want to make for myself.

[[ for more pics of what I was attempting to sell, click here ]]

done!

Simplicity 2648

Pattern Description:
Misses dress with individual pattern pieces for slim, average and curvy fit and for A, B, C, or D cup sizes. This pattern has either a round or v-neck, short sleeves, cap sleeves, or no sleeves and princess seams.

Pattern Sizing:
I bought the 16-24 envelope. I cut View C, size 16, but I think a 14 would have been better. I cut the C-cup for the top and definitely used the "curvy" pieces for my curvy bottom.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes. In the picture I show of my finished garment I don't have the little tab at the waist but after wearing it today, I decided it definitely needs an embellishment at the waist.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
I'm a stubborn engineer... I don't follow directions. ;D

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I definitely liked the different sizing options (cup size and hip/butt adjustments). Even though I usually just throw the directions back in the envelope, I kept these out to check every once in a while to make sure I was on track... it's been a while since I've made a dress for myself! I noticed that they wanted you to sew the side seams wrong sides together to help fit the dress better (before sewing the final side seams). This seemed a little weird to me and of course I didn't do that because it wasn't one of the steps in my made-up directions.

Fabric Used:
I used stuff I had in my stash. I honestly don't know what it is... some sort of cotton blend. The lining was cheap stuff from Jo-Anns that I also already had in my stash.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
I did the petite alterations (the ones already in the pattern).

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I think I will sew it again if it's not going to be too obvious that it's the same dress - perhaps next time I'll do the other sleeve option. And I think I would bring the front up a bit - it didn't seem to sit as flat against me as I'd like and if I bring the front up into the shoulder seam a little more it would sit better.

Conclusion:
I like it - and it's a great pattern to have for wardrobe building!

More pictures on my Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kcroteau/sets/72157624843610186

Oh! And I almost forgot! I was in the Etsy Finds email on Tuesday - it was one of my mason jar pincushions. I've sold a few of those since the email, so that was a nice surprise. :)

woo hoo! sewing room has been relocated! :)

Previous sewing room location: basement.

New location: what used to be the office (on the first floor!).

I love the new location. A few more pictures can be found here.

One of the cutting tables had to stay downstairs and as a result, I had to downsize on the size cutting mat I can use (unless I put the ginormous one on the dining room table). But everything else fit rather well into the room. I would have made it work no matter what - I wanted a first floor room!

After the new pictures were taken, we took a trip to Ikea to find some suitable chairs/stools. My desk is bar-height and I wanted something ~18" tall for the sewing table.

Desk chair:

... and stool for the sewing table (before & after):

Ikea really wanted me to buy one of their covers since the stool already came with the foam & interfacing-type covering stapled to it. It also already had the scratchy side of velcro on the undersides... I knew I could pull something out of my stash to make a cover so that's what I did.

The current work-in-progress:

Which will be Simplicity 2648 when it's done.

I have high hopes for this pattern since its got different fits - different bust sizes and different hip shapes (slim, average, curvy). Mine will be black - I had the cloth in my stash for a looong time so I have no idea what it really is or where it came from. It's kind of like a heavyweight linen, if that makes sense.

And one more work-in-progress:

We also picked up one of these benches at Ikea to go at the end of our bed. We know we (and by we, I really mean me) want to cover the top. The Mr. didn't think two layers of quilt batting was enough of a cushion for his cute little bottom, so at some point I have to go to Jo-Anns and get some foam. And figure out what I'm going to cover it with...

I'm going to try...

...to be better at updating this. And after reading everyone else's sewing blogs, I'm going to try to put more sewing stuff on here.

What I'm currently working on:

Its a trial of what I'll hopefully be selling at shows this fall/winter.