Caroline Party Dress & McCall's 6914 Mash Up

Sometimes sewing is so much more than sewing. It's therapy, right? It's a way to do something useful but also a way to escape, to spend time alone (if you're lucky), and to be in the moment. Writing blog posts is also more than just the facts about patterns and fabrics and techniques. Sometimes it's a way of remembering and recording.

I made a modified Caroline Party Dress from Mouse House Creations. I've had this pattern for a year and love the design. I've been meaning to try it but I wasn't sure about what size to make so I kept putting it off.

I had a great friend in college. Her name was Caroline, just like this dress, and she played guitar.We sat on our front porch playing and singing, mostly John Denver for some reason. I had never felt comfortable singing in front of people before but Caroline convinced me I could and that no one would laugh. Or maybe a couple of drinks convinced me (it was college after all), but we had fun. I made Elena her own cardboard guitar to play with.

Caroline liked strong colors. In fact, her bedroom was painted black. Even though she hated pastels, I think she would like this dress's colors because they are strong and fun.Caroline was all about fun. She could make everything fun. The fabric is a fine wale corduroy from Joann's at least a year ago. The bodice only is lined in some pastel pink cotton. Sorry Caroline, Elena doesn't hate pastels.

Back to sewing facts, the Caroline Party dress bodice married the pleated skirt of McCall's 6914 which I used to make Elena's Christmas dress. A match made in heaven because the bodices were the exact same width making the skirt an easy swap. I added the Caroline side seam pockets back in for fun. The bodice is a 3T and so is the skirt width. I went with the 4 for length because the McCalls hits at the waist whereas the Caroline is a higher waist/empire top. I love the length of it and hope it lasts us a couple of months. This girl has grown one whole inch in the last month alone!

My friend Caroline was not only fun and a talented artist and musician, she was kind beyond words. She put people at ease and made them feel special. She accepted people as they were, appreciated people for being different, and opened herself up to people too. She taught me a lot and I am better for having known her. I do wish it had been for longer though. She would have been an amazing mom I'm sure. She passed away in a car accident on her way to work one snowy January morning 14 years ago. I will never forget her though.

Just a few more pics to finish up and to show you my zipper. I know zippers aren't really all that hard but they still stress me out big time. I thought this one went in pretty well with the pattern almost matching up. I was worried about using this fabric to make a dress with a pleated skirt and a separate bodice. There is just no way to match the stripes from top to bottom and I thought it would bother my symmetry-loving brain, but it doesn't bother me at all when viewed as a whole. (It does bother me in the close-up picture below though.)

We are pretty well in the late winter to spring dress category now so we'll have to think about what to sew next. Probably something for the Project Run & Play challenge.

More Hanami Improvisational Pleats

Elena now has another pleated Hanami. This time I went with the adorable crossed back and skirt length. The previous one was pretty and dainty so this time I wanted to make one that was more colorful and fun for my girl that never stops moving. (Please ignore her silly Princess shoes. Pick your battles, I always say.)

I had scraps of this novelty sea creature fabric left from a Halloween costume 12 years ago and I finally found a use for it. The orange polka dots is leftover from this recent dress and purchased at Joann’s in March. The pleated piece at the center front was made to mimic the fins on the sea horse’s back. At first it bothered me that it wasn’t symmetrical – I have a thing about symmetry. But now, I’m good with it because it’s relaxed, playful, and carefree – all qualities I could use more of. I cut the flutter sleeves, but I pleated them instead of gathering to create more fins. The lining is white with orange polka dots from my mom's stash passed on to me.

I love the peek of the seahorse fabric on the back too. In fact, I got a lot of pictures of her back because like I said, this girl never stops moving for long.

This dress suits Elena’s personality so well! The size 2 again fits her perfectly. I didn't modify one thing when cutting and that is rare for me.  This is a pattern I’ll be getting a lot of use out of for many more years to come. 

I can't resist posting one more funny picture. Elena has a serious issue with bugs all of a sudden. Here she is giving her best regards to one.

I am linking up to An's contest.

Hanami Love - Improvisational Pleats

I have wanted the Hanami pattern since the day it came out. StraightGrain was one of the first blogs I came across a year ago when I discovered this incredible online sewing world. I was pretty sure that my little Elena would look great in any of An's patterns because she is built just like her daughter - rather slight, very feminine little body and face. I didn't buy until recently as part of the Perfect Pattern Parcel #2. This one's being in the parcel clinched the deal.

And then if I wasn't happy enough already just to get the pattern, An came out with a contest to use her improvisational pleating techniques. Oh, I love a good contest. I am way too competitive sometimes. I will be linking up later in May when the time comes. You can read all about it here.

This top is just beautiful, inside and out. I added the improvisational pleats to the bodice - no measuring or pre-planning. I hope they're irregular enough to look intentional and not just wonky. I was not drinking, I promise. I wanted the top third of the entire top to be pleated. The fabrics are things from my mom's old stash. All very lightweight cottons. I went with the zipper back (but not an invisible zip), the peplum length, the peter pan collar, and the tulip sleeves. Too much cuteness.

It might be just a little too dainty for Elena. As pretty as it is, if you know Elena, she is much more of a firecracker than this top would suggest. It is light and comfy so she isn't complaining at all, but she would probably prefer one in a brighter color. I'm thinking of some orange with tiny white polka dots I have leftover from this dress. I think I'll try the crossback and the flutter sleeves. That will be more her style.

The leggings are homemade too out of cotton lycra knit from Girl Charlee last year. I used elastic to ruche the sides a bit. They match the zipper.

Do you know what she is doing in the above picture? She is counting how many marshmallows she is going to get for these photos. Ah, the cost of doing business with a 2 year old.

L is for Lace Refashion

I am sewing along with Katy of No Big Dill and her Sew All 26 Series. The thing I like about this is that it helps me narrow down the choices. When given all the possibilities, I can get overwhelmed and not know how to decide. But when given a parameter, like it has to start with L, then I can make up my mind much easier. "L" was an easy one.

L is for Lace Refashion

I

My wonderful parents have been married for 51 years. My mom gave me her wedding dress a couple of years ago in hopes that I would make use of it. It wasn't doing anyone any good sitting in a box in the closet. I gingerly cut one row of lace off the bottom and put it away for a while. This week I really went at it, and removed all of the lace and the 5 rosettes.

I was so happy to make some very special t-shirts for my girls, but they were not happy to pose for me. Ugh. Really took the wind out of my sails. They like the shirts very well, just not the camera.

So Elena got a cream colored tee with a button placket in the back and a pleated peplum. It is made from a nice soft interlock and is very comfy. She's wearing it here with skinny jeans and boots, but I also see it with ruched leggings I already made from the same fabric for another outfit in September. An all-off white look for the holidays. I also sewed one of the rosettes to a clip and she would not wear it or even hold it. Geez. So not fun.

She would not take any pictures today.

  

Olivia is 15. A wonderful young lady in so many ways, but not in front of a camera. Her shirt is made from an olive green sweater knit from Joann's. Ridiculously soft. I basted the pieces together, she put it on, and then we had fun experimenting with how to add the lace to hers and how to cut the neckline. That part was fun. There was laughter and silliness. Some of the options were downright Puritan and others were quite Army chic. A thin band turned out to be the only option. She really likes it and will actually wear it, I think. I hope. At least to Nana's house once, please, and with a smile.

And since those pictures stink, I had to resort to these:



And even those aren't good. Oh well. I really tried, Mom. I hope you like what I've done with your dress so far.



The BBC Vest

     I grew up going to the fabric store with my mom and looking through those pattern books. I thought it was so fun and so inspiring. Once she settled on a pattern, I wanted to be the one to go find it in the rows of file cabinets. That envelope held all the creative possibilities.

     Fast forward 30 plus years and the world of patterns has changed. I still buy patterns sometimes at Joann's when they are 70 cents or $1 each, but I find them to be kind of basic. I have trouble with the sizing and the directions sometimes leave me scratching my head or looking for a bottle of wine. Sometimes I have to just put the directions away and look at the project and do what makes sense to me. But I will say that I have learned a lot and I find them very useful as basic pieces to mix and match into something more interesting. You know, frankensteining.

     The PDF patterns are very new to me. I purchased the Sew Fab bundle recently, but the first one I bought was the ShwinDesigns BBC vest. I was inspired by this one by Craftiness is not Optional and this one by girl.Inspired. I finally sewed one up yesterday for my little Elena.



     The fabric choice is a little busy for me but I LOVE the shape of this vest. The racer back and the peplum are adorable. Based on the measurements given, my tall, thin girl required the 12-18 month size in width and a 2T in length. But oh yikes, it is hard to tell with this pattern what is the width and what is the length on those collar pieces. Things were not matching up, but I eventually figured it out and it all worked out perfectly. It fits her sooooo nicely. But next time, I think I'd pick one size and just go with it.

     Did you see what I said? Next time. I guess that means I'm considering making more of these. This one was a little bit like giving birth. It was pretty tough for me to get through but in the end, it was so beautiful, I fell in love and forgot all the pain. I can hardly even remember it now. I mean, look how cute it is. Those pleats in the peplum are to die for.

 

     We are having such a nice fall around here. We had a great time down at the beach today. No wind, no waves, mid 60's. When I suggested we go to the beach, she went and grabbed a swim suit and added it to the diaper bag. She had to settle for throwing rocks into the water.

 



       

 

   

     I was very lucky to inherit a large amount of my mom's stash of buttons, trims, fabric, etc. when she did some recent purging. She is pretty excited that I'm using so much of it. That's where I found this button.

 

     Overall, I liked the BBC Vest pattern very much. It really makes a beautiful product in the end. I could see a fancy one being part of Elena's Christmas outfit this year.