I posted reviews (yes, I know about time!)...

Well I finally posted my reviews, can you believe it? See miracles do happen every day! First up we have a nightgown from Simplicity 3696 ~ so comfy and stylish!

Next up is a dress from Simplicity 3799 ~ this dress is shades of my late grandma, I just know she's love it (it's a wild & crazy print just like she always liked!).


And drumroll please, I finally got the reviews for my swimsuits up! I honestly can't believe I've posted myself in a swimsuit on the net - what am I thinking??? Look now before I change my mind and delete the pictures! LOL In the first pictures is the top from Kwik Sew 3063 and the skirted bottoms are from Kwik Sew 3330.

Then we have the same top from KS 3063 and the plain bottoms from Kwik Sew 3238 (this is the same pattern I was using that I was having lots of trouble with the top).

And last, but not least, we have Jack modeling a pair of his new pj's I made him ~ they are Kwik Sew 3234 (I made him three pair and he loves them - he's such a sweet boy!).

My next projects are most likly going to be school clothes. The kids start in about a month so I need to get cooking - thank goodness for Ottobre! The boys are in dire need of pants so that is probably where I'll start. Hattie does have stuff that fits here still so I'm trying to fill in the gaps and make things mix & match too. I still need to have the boys try on clothes and see where they stand on shirts. And then I'll work on stuff for Andy once the kids go back to school and it's just me & him. Busy busy!

Swimsuit Success!

At least for string bean DD there is! I took a break from all my fitting woes with my suit and worked on one for DD (aka beanpole). I used Kwik Sew 3165 and was very pleased with the pattern. So pleased I made DD another suit immediately after I got the first one done!

It amazes me how little fabric it takes to make a swimsuit, but what a huge price tag they come with - jeez, what a ripoff! Both fabrics I got for $1.99/yd and each took about 1/2 yard of fabric, so that is $1/suit, plus the cost of elastic and a little swimsuit lining. What a bargain! Here is my review on Pattern Review (you can see the other suit in the review as well as details on the alterations I made).

Since I'm still in a quandary about what I'm doing with my suit and what direction to go, I decided to give myself a break and work on a quick and easy project. DS #2 has been dinging me to death about making him a shirt with the M&M fabric I bought off eBay. The kids all love M&M's because Grammie collects them and each one has their own "color". Hattie is green (the girl of course), Jack is red, Will is yellow (suits his personality too!), and Andy is blue. Well I had originally planned to make them each t-shirts with the fabric and make the sleeves "their M&M color" (and I probably still will), but for now Will got a "muscle shirt" shirt instead. He informed me he loves it, but wants a t-shirt still too (kids are so thankful aren't they??? LOL). This pattern is Ottobre 2-2003-28 and can be made into a tank top/muscle shirt or a t-shirt by adding or leaving off the sleeves. For this shirt I used the M&M fabric on the front, solid orange cotton/lycra jersey on the back, and yellow ribbing for the trim. I also posted a review of this top on Pattern Review.

Speaking of Ottobre, the new issue is up and get a load of that super cute baby on the cover! I could just eat him up - chubby babies are just so yummy! :-) In case you don't know about Ottobre, it's a sewing magazine that is published in Finland which specializes in children and youth sewing patterns. I have almost every issue of Ottobre (even the foreign ones - it's now published in English as well as four other languages) and it's definitely the most bang for your buck if you're sewing for children. I can't speak highly enough about the patterns - they are just phenomenal (both in style and pattern drafting). Plus flipping through the magzines always provides me with a huge dose of inspration! I do buy a few other patterns, but mainly sew Ottobre for my children. The subscription costs 32.50 Euros for the four children's issues (they are published once per season) or you can subscribe to the four children's issues plus the two women's issues (I also highly recommend their women's pattern magazine) for 42.50 Euros. Yes, it's a little spendy, but well worth it in my opinion considering there are about 45 patterns in each kids issue.

Since the preview of the fall issue just came up today, it will be time to start stalking the mail lady later in the week. I suspect the magazine will arrive by next Saturday - yippee!

Swimsuit not going so well...

Well the bottoms have been done for a week now, but the top just isn't going too well. The first run of the top was done "as is" per the pattern instructions and I could not get the darts to be curved and nice. Instead I had a nice pointy Madonna cone boob! LOL

For try number two, I decided to cut the bust piece without the dart and gather it instead. My plan was to insert bra cups to help add a little oomph to my chest. I picked up some padded/gel filled sew-in swimsuit bra cups at Joann's. Well my end result was ridiculous looking boobs way out to the side! ROFL On to try number three ~ third time is the charm right????

Top number three is complete and per the advice of someone more experienced with swimsuit sewing, she suggested I just use removable cups and insert them between the lining. That way I could just use the same pair for multiple suits. Brilliant! I checked my RTW suits and had one that was designed this way so I figured this would be perfect. Well I got the top all done and it's HUGE in the chest!!! There is no way I can even be an "A" cup - I have to be negative (is there such a thing??? LOL). So I grabbed this dumb silicone bra inserts I bought at Joann's a while ago when the notions wall was half off and slipped them in between the lining and the fashion fabric. The pads definitely make it look better and fill out the cups, but I'm still not too sure. I'm to the "three strikes you're out" theory now and am thinking I'll just ditch this top. It's clearly made for someone with some boobs and that is something I just don't have without the help of my fantastic Victoria's Secret bras.

So on that note, I'm looking at picking up Kwik Sew 3063 ~ I emailed the reviewer and she said this top is great for flat chested gals since the gathers camouflage the fact. I'm pondering just running out and grabbing it now. I know I could get it online for cheaper than full price at my local independent sewing store, but part of me feels it's my duty to support the local business people, plus it's instant gratification (I really want to get a swimsuit top made pronto), I can get more 3/8" elastic and swimsuit lining, oh and maybe I should grab a take & bake pizza while I'm out too since DH is working late tonight. Thoughts to ponder.... LOL!

I will post pictures when I have some I'm willing to share, I'm a little leery about the fit of this suit right now. Keep your fingers crossed and hopefully good results will follow soon.

Presenting Vogue 8386!!!

I know it's hard to see the dress because it's black, but I did my best to lighten the picture up without making me look like Frankenstein. I'm very pleased with how the dress turned out, tho it's slightly different from the pattern envelope picture because it's meant for people with more boobs than I have. I just posted my review on Pattern Review for your reading pleasure and have an additional picture of the bodice up close.

The wedding was very fun and we (DH, my sister, my brother-in-law, and myself) shut the place down! I haven't been out past midnight in eons and it was so fun. When I woke up this morning I told DH I was so glad I wasn't one of the people who was drunk last night because I can't even imagine the hangover some of them have ~ yuck! It was an all Diet Pepsi night for me, plus I find it hilarious to see how stupid drunk people are! LOL No offense if you like to get drunk, but seriously people can make some complete fools of themselves. Oh well, it gave us all a good laugh!

My next project is a swim suit. I have never made a swim suit, but got some really pretty swimwear fabrics when my family went to Disneyland this spring. On the recommendation of my sweet PR friend Vonne, I went to M&L fabrics in Anaheim. I probably could have spent all day there, but I only had a few hours before we had to checkout of our hotel so I went on my way and counted my blessings that I was even able to go (DH thought it was ridiculous I wanted to go fabric shopping while we were on vacation ~ obviously he doesn't understand how important it is to explore your resources, huh?). Vonne told me that M&L had a huge back room of flat folds where everything was super cheap. I got several cuts of swimwear fabric for only $1.98/yd! For the first suit tho, I'm using a fabric I got for $1.99/yd from Fabric.com - it's a Chez Ami fabric overrun they had that is super cute. I'm using Kwik Sew 3238 ~ the bottoms are the skimpier ones from view A, but the top is from view B. I got the bottoms made the other night and they fit perfectly! I'm not sure if I'll get to work on the top today, but should have it done in the next day or so. I plan to make DD swimsuit using the same fabric too using Kwik Sew 3165 ~ view C for hers.

Swim Trunks are Finished & A Dress for Mama!

Nothing makes you feel better than getting a project off your table - well at least that is the case with me. I was so happy when the swim trunk sewing project was finished. Honestly, my heart just wasn't into it. I had other things I wanted to sew for me, but I knew the boys were going to need swimming trunks very soon. I'm glad I bit the bullet and got it over with. It didn't help that the fabric was a royal pain to work with (at least in my opinion). Oh well, all is forgotten now that the swimsuits are done. Above is a photo of a pair on my middle son and below is a close up of one of the patches I added to the leg to give it a more RTW appearance and then two more pairs (there is actually four total that I made). You can see a detailed review at Pattern Review.

Well mama really wanted a new dress and had picked up this pattern Simplicity 3867 at Joann's over the weekend when they were $.99. I saw a review on Pattern Review for this pattern done in a navy eyelet. It was just beautiful and I wanted one too. Well the eyelet was on sale at Joann's for $8.99/yd, but I just couldn't justify spending that much money (it takes three yards), when I wasn't sure how well I'd like the dress. Instead, I got some polyester silky fabric for $4.50/yd and make one to try it out. I really like the dress and think it turned out great. It's going to be a great piece to have in my closet on hot summer days. I posted a review of this dress on Pattern Review too!

So what's next you might wonder? Good question ~ stay tuned to find out!

Happy Memorial Day & Swimming Trunks

First off, Happy Memorial Day to all! And my most sincere *thank you* goes out to all the members of the armed forces who have served our country in the past and the present. Your dedication to our country is most appreciated!

In sewing news, I'm working on swimming trunks for my youngest two boys. I picked up Kwik Sew 3430 the other day and some Supplex (nylon) fabric at my local independent fabric store. Her selection of colors were limited, so I had to make due with a few drab choices (one wanted orange - no such luck!). I finished the first pair (a picture will come shortly) and it turned out well, tho I did make some modifications to the pattern (ie no pockets - those just seem to balloon up in the water, omitted the mock fly, and inserted the elastic using my own method because their method was like wresting an alligator!). On the first pair I did a little color blocking, but that proved to be a pain so I am just making solid colored ones for now - both boys will have 2 pairs when I'm finished. DH was very impressed and thought they looked like RTW - they even have the white netted undies on the inside. All in all, I'm happy with this pattern, I just really am into making swimming trunks right now. I have stuff I want to sew for me, but the hot weather is coming this week and I hope to take the kids to the river so they need some new swim trunks desperately.

I did hit Joann's yesterday and grabbed a few patterns - dresses for me, I'll share those as I get to them.