Maxi dress

May 17, 2012 – 5:00 am

I have been wanting one of those comfy knit maxi dresses, but most of the styles in the store don’t do anything for me.  I finally figured out a design that would be flattering AND comfy for me.

I used two different jersey knit fabrics, a faux leather and lacework appliqué I bought at the fabric warehouse, and 3″ elastic on this dress.  I knew I didn’t have enough of the gray/black stripe to do a dress, but luckily I had another piece of a complementary jersey.  It wasn’t a very big piece, but I worked everything together so they all flowed.

This style has a fitted top of the skirt, with a 3″ wide elastic waist to hold in the tum.  I wanted a blousey top so it would be comfortable and not all form fitting.  This would be a great dress for lounging on the deck with a glass of wine. :)

Here are the pattern pieces.  Note that for the top, I used the same piece for the front and the back.  I just cut a neckline for the front and leave about an inch that I can fold back.  This saves me from having to trace another piece just for a different neckline.  It works on simple tops like this.

 

After cutting out the skirt, there wasn’t enough left of the fabric to be able to cut the front on the fold.  I had to cut two pieces of both the front and the back and attach them down the middle.

The hardest part was putting on the appliqué.  As this is a faux leather, I used the Teflon foot on my machine to sew it.  It would stick, otherwise.  Then my threads kept breaking.  This took A LOT longer than I would have liked.  In the end I really like how this turned out. The holes in the back are a bit risqué for some events, so I can wear a tank top underneath for those.  Otherwise, the extra ventilation will be nice in the summertime.

It doesn’t look like much on the hanger, but worn on a human body is much better!

 

Construction:

Cut 2 pieces of the top (front and back), 2 pieces for the skirt and 4 pieces for the waist.  In drafting this dress, I figured out where I wanted the waist to land, and then drafted everything based on that measurement.  You could easily take a tank top from your closet and trace it out for the top, just adding or subtracting from the width based on how blousey you want it.  My skirt portion was 37 inches long starting at 9″ wide (on the fold) at the top and tapering down to 15″ wide at the bottom, the waist 4″ x 15″, and the tank was  wider than the waistband (for the blousey-ness) and has probably 3-4 inches longer than it would need to be if completely fitted with no extra.

- Sew up the side seams on the skirt

- Sew up the side seams on one of the waist pieces.  On the second, inside, waist piece, sew up one side completely, and then on the other side only sew about an inch on the top and the bottom.  This is going to be left open so you can thread the elastic through it.

- Sew up the top (side seams, shoulder seams and finish the neck and arm holes.  I just turned the hem and used a double needle.  Keep the bottom unfinished)

- Sandwich the bottom hem of the shirt in between the two waist pieces.  They will be right sides together.  Make sure the waist piece with the hole in the seam is right side to wrong side of the top.  This will be on the inside of the dress.  Sew all the way around.  Now the waist piece seams are enclosed with the top’s hem.

- Attach the skirt to the waist pieces.  You won’t be able to enclose the hems on this one.

- Cut your elastic to a comfortable length and thread it through the channel.  When the end is on the other side, zigzag stitch the ends together.  Get it back in the channel.

- Topstitch down the side seams of the waist pieces.  Make sure the elastic is evenly distributed, first.  The topstitching should close the open channel on the inside and it also keeps the elastic from shifting around.

Done!

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I have another piece of fabric that I am going to use to make another dress like this.  I got it from Germany, and it is really nice quality.  That is not on the top of my “to-do” list, though.  I have some things to make for Kai and for a Haiti project that the deadline for mailing is looming!

Ah procrastination…it seems like such a good idea at the time and then it kicks you in the butt later!

By Stacy | Posted in Creativity, Sewing, Sewing for me | 3 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment

Copying a designer swimsuit

May 12, 2012 – 7:50 am

Last year, I got a bit punchy after trying on swimsuits at the local retailers, so went to the overpriced department store.   I knew they would sock it to me, but I just wanted a swimsuit that would fit!  Is that so much to ask?

Apparently, the question is cheap, but the suit is not.  I got myself a Ralph Lauren swimsuit that I loved and wasn’t ashamed to be in whilst paradin’ around poolside or lakeside.

I will not spend that much on another swimsuit.  Instead…it was time to copy it, so I can have more than one swimsuit that fits.

Here is the all important inside of the original swimsuit.

It has swimcups, powermesh and lining.  I tried to find some “non-pointy-I’m-not-friggin-Eighty” swimcups at Joann’s…or really anywhere local…no dice.  I ordered them online from here, and their sizing was pretty good as long as you understand cup sizing vs. bra sizing (ex: I am a 34D, which is the same cup size as a 36C or 32DD…it’s the band and the width between the cups that differs).

There were several pattern pieces, but it wasn’t too difficult to construct.

I used my last bit of the cup fabric on this suit.  I have made two swimsuits for Anya previously out of it.  Then I had a black/white stripe that worked pretty well, too.  Again, I took pictures during the creation, but I’m not going to do a tutorial on it.  Hopefully, you can get the gist from the pictures.

Inside -

The powernet in the middle really helps to control the tum, and getting your correct cup size is a pretty good idea, too.  It all went together much smoother than I expected…so I made more.

This next one did not turn out quite as well as the first swimsuit.  The problem was the stretch ratio differences on the two swimsuits.  The first one is made of thick, less stretchy fabric.  The second one was made of thinner fabric with a lot more give to it.  This meant that the swimsuit turned out to be too big.  I had to resew some of the seams (a few times) to get it to have a decent fit.

I used some of this fabric on a suit for Anya, so we can be matchy matchy some time!

 

The next one I wanted to make a bit different, so no ruching in the middle.  I just cut a plain middle, but with the insets at the side.  The insets are supposed to be an optical illusion thing, where it makes your waist look slimmer.  Not sure if it works, but I like the fit on this one.

 

I have a bunch more swimsuit material, so I may make more.  Now that I have a pattern that fits, it is pretty nice to be able to sew up some suits that actually fit!  I want to make a tankini with shorts next.  Those look like pretty comfy swimsuits and they have more coverage on the bum.

For right now, I am good, though.  I have a swimsuit for each day I am in Vegas with my girlfriends!

 

By Stacy | Posted in Creativity, Sewing, Sewing for me | 2 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment

Barbacoa pork muffins

May 11, 2012 – 5:40 am

I made this recipe for crockpot barbacoa pork a few months ago.  Like most crockpot recipes that take a huge chunk of meat…we had leftovers.  I froze enough for another meal and promptly forgot about it.  I came across the package this weekend, and then saw this recipe on Pinterest.  I have a box of Bisquik that needs to be used up, so three cheers for a quickly prepared Monday night meal!

Recipe:
1 – 1 1/2 cups Barbacoa pork
1 cup frozen corn
1 diced red pepper
1 cup cheese (or more if you like cheese…we do!)

1.5 cups Biquick
1.5 cups milk
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix the pork, corn and cheese.  Mix up the Bisquick mixture in a separate bowl.  Spray two large muffin pans with Pam or Olive Oil.  Add half the Bisquick mixture to the bottom of the cups.  Add the pork mixture and top with the rest of the Bisquick.  Mix it around a little bit to get everything covered.

Put in the preheated oven and cook for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, dice up some avocados and tomatoes to garnish them when they are done.

Easy peasy!

By Stacy | Posted in Recipes | 2 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment

And then she turned 7

May 10, 2012 – 7:25 am

She’s a firecracker, this one!

Last week when we were on the zoo trip, a few of the moms and I were talking about the hormonal 7 year old girls.  I had to concur!  Somedays she is great and then there are days when every little thing is an affront to her and it is THE WORST DAY EVER.  Like yesterday. *sigh*

Tonight she will have her dinner choice of Kraft Mac & Cheese, strawberries and fruit dip.  She really wanted those Bella Ballerina shoes that have the disk on the sole for spinning.  I told her I wasn’t paying that much for a pair of shoes unless it was for her birthday, so not much of a surprise for her present.

They have Book Day today at school today, so she gets an extra special outing on her BIRTHDAY.  She was very excited about that.  Daddy is even coming, too.

Happy birthday little one!

By Stacy | Posted in Princess Anya | 3 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment

Gratitude – Week 16

May 8, 2012 – 9:54 am

Grateful that I could take the day off of work to go on the zoo fieldtrip with Anya.  Her class has a great group of parents, as there were 10 of us that went along on the trip.  That meant we each got our kid plus one other and the teacher took the group of three.

The little girl that went along with Anya was very sweet and kept wanting to hold hands on our walk.  It was only near the end of the day, where I had to keep calling her back as we headed near the entrance.  Anya knows when Mommy says stay here, you STAY HERE.  At least I only had to run after one kid.  Luckily, I wasn’t the mom that briefly lost one of the boys. I felt for her.  They were constantly running, running, so she thought he had ran ahead of her, but he didn’t.  She found him right away, at least.

Oh, and there was the thunderstorm.  When we got on the bus, I was monitoring the weather with my Android smartphone.  I’m just starting to figure out the aps on smartphones, and I downloaded a weather one from a local newstation.  It was pretty much red and yellow.  When we got there, one class had to go out to the farm exhibit for a presentation.  It’s a good 10 minute walk, and the storm was about 5 minutes away from hitting.  Yeah, if I was a parent chaperone for that class, I would have kept my kid back.  “Y’all go ahead, and get struck by lightning and hail…I think we will be sitting this one out.  I’ve caught a case of Common Sense!”

 

Then, baseball started this week! I am grateful that Kailan is on a team with his little friend, Tommy.  Tommy’s mom enrolled him in a choice school in our district and an opening came up, so he left Kai’s class.  He is such a nice little guy, that it is a bummer they won’t be in the same school anymore.

Then…I’m just grateful for Spring.  Even though it has been raining pretty constant here, I know it is good.  The lack of snow this winter needs to be made up somehow.

 

By Stacy | Posted in Family, Gratitude project | 1 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment
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