Always Wear Clothes You Can Paint In

What does one do when she shows up where her dad is working at a rental property with ice cream for him, in her nice church clothes, and he asks her to help him paint? Wanting to help her father, this nice daughter (who comes bearing ice cream, after all) figures out a way to protect her pretty clothes. She searches behind the seat of her truck and finds a sweatshirt to protect her newly made blouse. Then she constructs an apron out of some shop rags found in her dad's truck toolbox. Once the apron is held together by a couple knots and half a dozen straight pins found in the depths of her purse, she is ready to paint!!

And paint I did! My apron and sweatshirt worked admirably, not a speck of paint made its way onto my skirt and blouse. What skirt and blouse, you ask? These:

Look at that pretty, newly painted outside wall behind me! It looks great with the green tin roof!

Over a year ago, my grandma gave me two yards of this light blue floral striped quilting cotton I'd been admiring in her sewing room.

I've been hoarding the fabric ever since, trying to figure out the perfect shirt design for it. I've come up with a few ideas, but nothing that could actually induce me to cut into this fabric. I really wanted to make sure I didn't waste my pretty fabric!

Finally, I came to the conclusion that perfect doesn't really exist and I'd get a whole lot more enjoyment out of actually wearing the fabric rather than just seeing it sitting in my stash, so I picked a pattern and went with it. 

I decided to use Butterick B6217. When I first saw this pattern I wasn't too impressed by it. Then I saw a couple versions other people had made and it grew on me. So I bought it, then it sat waiting to be used. I wondered if I would actually like the finished blouse. Finally, I decided to just go with it and hoped for the best.

Now, the pattern called for 2 yards of fabric and it used every bit of that due to those large pattern pieces for the bias-cut bust ties. It has been my experience that patterns don't usually actually require the full yardage listed, but that was not so with this one. Good thing I had the full 2 yards rather than just a yard and a half. Even with the right amount of fabric, I made a minor cutting mistake and I didn't have enough fabric left to fix it.

I accidentally cut both of the front facing pieces the same rather than opposite each other. So, in the finished shirt one facing piece is wrong side out. Oops! At least it can't be seen when the shirt is worn!

I got the shirt sewn together in one afternoon and I love the finished product for several reasons.

First, I often have to adjust arm holes or they gape due to my bust size. No adjustments were required for me on these armscyes (aka armholes)! Now, the armscye is rather small so I read in several reviews that people had to make them bigger for the shirt to be comfortable. For me though the smaller armscye was a good thing, no gaping and an excellent range of motion!

Second, I have wide shoulders and typically forget to adjust patterns to accommodate that. This time I remembered to add an extra inch of width to the shoulders. The fit is wonderful and makes the shirt so much more comfortable that it otherwise would have been! 

Third, the shape. The shirt is fitted with 8 darts total. It's easy to slightly adjust those darts to make the shirt fit different individuals perfectly. For example, I just had to take the front darts in an extra 1/4 inch each to prevent the shirt from being baggy.

And finally, this shirt is just plain pretty The shape, combined with details like the neckline shape, petal sleeves, and the bust ties, combined with the materials I chose to use, results in one very pretty shirt.  I decided to use pearl snaps down the front of the shirt rather than buttons because I loved how they paired with my fabric. 

I do have one complaint though, I accidentally overlapped the petal sleeves to the back rather than the front. Uhgg, I need to take time to fix that one of these days.  

Before I even got around to making the blouse I knew exactly which shirt in my closet I would pair it with; the navy linen maxi skirt I made back in June, right before I went to El Salvador.

In May I came across this skirt on Pinterest and decided to replicate it, with a few adjustments.

My best friend's mom had recently found several yards of navy blue linen at a garage sale. So, she bought it and gave it to me. As soon as I found this skirt I knew what that navy linen would become.

I decided to use McCall's M6993, a reprint of a 1933 pattern, because I liked the overall shape of the skirt, especially the high waist. I used the yoke of view A and the non-pleated shape of view B. I cut the hem into a point at the front and back, then drafted my pattern pieces for the lace band and the bottom ruffle.

A friend had recently given me a lace sundress she didn't wear anymore, so I cut the lace band out of the skirt. I cut matching bands out of my linen to go under the lace.

If course, I added pockets (though they don't lay quite as well as I would like). The skirt closes with a lapped zipper in the center back.

The finished skirt is more tailored, ruffly, and just more "me" than the inspiration skirt. I fully intend to bring this and my new blouse on the World Race next year.

I love the completed outfit. It looks great and rather tailored, but it doesn't restrict movement or get in the way of doing various activities. As it is, it can be worn to church, and to climb trees. Also, with an apron (made out of shop rages) and a sweatshirt, it can even be worn for painting!

Yep, it's a pretty versatile outfit, perfectly suited to my life! (As it should be since, after all, I did make it for myself.)

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, between my dad, brothers, and me, we got that house completely painted that Sunday afternoon. You can't beat family working together!

What am I going to do without these guys next year?

Black, Brown, Lace, and Frost

There has been frost on the ground the past 2 mornings! The weather is finally changing!

Now, don't get me wrong, I really do like warm weather, but I love having four seasons. Currently the grass is still green, some trees still have their leaves, and some flowers are blooming like it's spring. That's not what late fall is supposed to look and feel like. Next year I'm going to be in warm climates all year long, so right now cool weather makes me very happy. Along with the fact that I love fall, I've made some chilly weather garments (such as my jean jacket, my capelet, and this sweater) which I'd really like to get some more wear out of before I leave. This skirt is one such garment.

Last winter my grandma gave me a yard and a half of this brown, satin backed fabric with a faux suede texture. She said she thought I could make a skirt out of it. So, I started brainstorming ideas for said skirt. One evening I came up with an idea, so I pulled out the fabric and my trusty skirt pattern, Simplicity 1500.

I would be making the skirt with the handkerchief hem, view E, with some alterations. 

I cut out the back of the skirt just as the pattern dictated, then came the fun part, the front.

  

I cut the front piece on the fold, then cut it into two sections, one about 1/3rd the total width, and the other about 2/3rds the total width. Between those two sections I added an extra panel of fabric, some brown poly crepe with an overlay of black lace (left over from this refashion).
At this point I'd run out of my satin backed suede fabric so I made the waistband out of a scrap of the brown crepe. The back waistband I made as usual, the front waistband I made extra long to fit onto the extra wide skirt front, then I added buttons.

Eight mismatched black buttons, four sets of two. The skirt waistband fastens in one of my favorite methods (used on this skirt, and these skirts), it folds over itself and buttons closed. This makes 4 pleats in the lace panel.

Of course, I added pockets to this skirt, just as with everything else I make. Where would I be without pockets? I finished the hem by pinking it, then added a ruffle of 4"wide black lace. (I had decided an actual hem would be too bulky, and this fabric doesn't really fray.)

I fell in love with the finished product. I don't usually wear black and brown together, but with this skirt, it just worked. The combination of the two colors means it can be worn with quite a few of my shirts.

All in all, though, this is very much a winter skirt. The fabric is too warm (being a rather heavy polyester) to be comfortable during the warm seasons. (I learned this the hard way when I wore the skirt one day in El Salvador over the summer)

So, I finished this skirt last winter and wore it plenty! I just never got around to getting pictures of it. Then, at the beginning of this week, I needed a dark skirt to wear and I decided to was a cool enough evening that I could wear this one. 

Thus, as soon as I got dressed for the evening I dragged my youngest brother outside to get these pictures. Photographically documenting both this skirt and my red hair for the first time ever.

I rather like both. Thank you, Gram, for the fabric and the suggestion of what to make with it!

"What Did I Just Do?!?!?"

Over the weekend I did two rather strange things. First off, I bought a dress.

Yep, I went into a store, that wasn't a fabric store or a thrift store, found a dress on the rack, tried it on, and bought it. This was strange because I don't buy dresses (unless I'm going to refashion them), I make dresses. This dress though, it was cute (those sleeves, that lace yoke. . .), it fit well, it was clearanced at a great price, and I kind of needed a little black dress to add to my wardrobe. So, yes, I bought a dress.

So, that dress came home with me and then the second strange thing happened, you may have already noticed it. That's right, I dyed my hair! 

I've kind of wanted red hair for a few years now. I've been halfway considering dying my hair red for a couple months. Finally last week I decided "why not?" So, not wanting to chemically dye (and damage) my hair, I bought some henna and used it to dye my hair Saturday night.

The results are taking some getting used to, but the overall verdict is I like it! I look in the mirror, and after a quick double take (it's only been about 2 days after all), I get excited again! I'm a redhead now! Just like my mom, my grandma, and one of my favorite book heroines, Anne of Green Gables. 

My red hair makes quite the contrast with that store-bought black dress. Of course, after I bought the dress I needed to add a couple of things to make it mine. First it needed a belt or sash, the dress was a little shapeless without one, and I don't like shapeless.

I brought the dress home and started considering my options for making this belt. I knew I wanted it to be a color (no white, black, ivory, grey, tan, etc.), and I knew I wanted lace on it. Then I took into account my new red hair, and what color nearly always looks good on redheads? Green. Thus, green my belt will be.

From my stash I pulled a scrap of green taffeta and some pastel green lace. I cut the taffeta into 3 bias strips, each 5 inches wide.

I then sewed the 3 strips together with tiny french seams to make one long strip. Down the middle of the strip I sewed two rows of lace, leaving long tails of lace at either end, with 5 rows of stitching. A zigzag stitch between the two rows, a straight stitch down the middle of each row, and a straight stitch on the outer edge of each row.

Next I carefully cut only the taffeta, not the lace, right between those outer two rows of stitching.

Then I folded over the taffeta and stitched it down so that it was no longer visible through the lace in those two places. I also hemmed the outer edges of the taffeta so that they would be finished.

Finally I folded the very long lace and taffeta strip in half and sewed it straight down the middle again, starting about 2 inches from the folded end and ending about 5 inches from the other end with the tails of lace. This effectively hid the not as pretty wrong side of the belt, and it served a practical purpose as well.

Now the belt can be tied by threading the end with the tails through the loop the folded end made.

Belt finished, shape and color added to the dress, it was time to address the other issue this dress had. For some strange, infuriating, reason, clothing companies can't seem to grasp the fact that pockets are required in all -ALL- skirts, dresses, and pants. What am I supposed to do with my pocket knife, cell phone, keys, and spare change if I have no pockets?!?!? Yep, this dress had no pockets. I refuse to wear a dress with no pockets. So, I fixed that problem. (I really wish I hadn't needed to. Darned clothing companies.)

I cut two pockets from a scrap of black knit left over from a previous refashion.

Black and black does not make for an easily decipherable picture, sorry!

Next, I sewed the pockets in. The main fabric of the dress is chiffon, not very sturdy, thus not ideal to hang pockets from. So, I attached the pockets as patch pockets at the side seams of the sturdier lining.

White fabric added for a clearer picture, it's not actually part of the dress.

Finally I opened up the side seams about 6 inches so that my pockets would be accessible.

Pockets finished, belt added, and my store bought dress was officially wearable!  I'm pretty pleased with both it and my newly colored red hair!

The Long Red Vest

The idea came to me months ago. The materials came to me about a year ago. It was a quick and easy project to get me back in the swing of sewing things after training camp. 

Last Thanksgiving my aunt gave me this dress to do something with. She'd bought it and decided against it but couldn't return it so she thought I might be able to use it for something. It has sat in my refashion bin for nearly a year now, waiting for that something.

The dress fit me great, it just wasn't my style at all.

Back in February, when my brother, mom, and I went to Indianapolis I saw a woman walking around downtown wearing a long, semi-fitted, vest. I loved it and immediately started considering what fabric I could used to make one. Then I remembered the red dress.
Thus, this project has been in the back of my mind for 8-ish months now.
Last week I decided I really wanted that vest so I pulled out the red dress and got started.

The original construction of the dress made this refashion really easy. There was a center front seam that ran uninterrupted from neck to hem. I pulled out my seam ripper and made short work of that seam. As a design feature that seam had been top stitched open so there was no hemming required! I just had to hand sew down the edges of the hem and neckline facing.

Now, after that little bit of hand sewing, my vest could have been done. It certainly looked done, but I decided it wasn't.

There had been a zipper down the back of the dress. My new vest had no need of a zipper, so I ripped it out and sewed up the back seam.

This was easy-peasy and gave the finished product a much more professional, less homemade, look.

In no time at all the vest was done and ready to be worn as part of my fall wardrobe!

Now if only fall temperatures would arrive to make layering comfortable!

Here we are at the beginning of November, most of the trees have lost their leaves, and we still haven't had a frost! Heck, some days the temp gets up into the 80's yet.

The mornings and evenings at least are distinctly fall-ish, making me very pleased to have this vest to throw on for a little extra insulation, and a lot of extra style!

Not at all baggy, but still a little flow-y. I'm thrilled to have finally turned this dress into something I enjoy wearing!