Circle Skirt Bonanza Part2!!!!!!!!!!

This is the second circle skirt that I made for Missy Xiu using my simplicity pattern. I bought this fabric and wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, only that it screamed my daughters name!!!! I am a sucker for polka dots and these bright hot colors are perfect for my daughter with her dark skin. I styled her a bit retro today with a piece of the fabric tied up in her hair which is my favorite way to dress up my ponytails. I used the same fabric to bind the hem. The pattern actually comes with a piece to make the binding. The instructions to make the binding out of this piece were a bit difficult. In theory it should have been easy. Match the notches and the lines and cut in a spiral after sewing the block into a tube. It didn't go together well. I ended up cuting the pieces along  the lines while the block was still flat and sewing each piece together into a long piece of binding. There is a fabulous tutorial on Prudent Baby on how to properly make bias tape binding. I am just going to use this method next time, as the lines and the notches of the piece  in my pattern did not seem to line up this well. Maybe I just had a bad moment and it will work out right the next time.

Besos!!!!!!!

CIrcle Skirt Bonanza!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                    

With Circle skirts on the brain I dug out my simplicity pattern 2356 and got to work. I made Missy Xiu 2 circle skirts, the other will be up shortly. This is the first, a black fabric with dark grey paisley. She needed a simple black skirt to match all her t-shirts. It worked out so well. This pattern was so quick and easy to make!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is required sewing for us girls with little girls of our own. It has a casing for elastic in the waist and the pattern calls for binding for the hem but I just narrow hemmed this one and it worked out well. The way that I narrow hem is that I first serge the whole hem and then just double fold that right under my presser foot as I go along. It is so easy!!!! This would work for any circle skirt, even adult ones. This pattern also comes with a slip pattern which is really like a tulle petticoat. I can't wait to make one of those, which can be used under the circle skirt or as a stand alone skirt.

Twirling!

September is national sewing month, so let's sew up all we can. My schedule has been crazy with school starting again, hence, less blogging recently. I hope to get back on track though and keep sewing as much as I can. I am still working on school clothes and fall clothes for me will start soon.
Has anybody started Halloween sewing yet, or thinking about it? I am planning costumes and will be posting soon on what the costumes will be. I hope to post once a week through out October about Halloween costumes in general and progress of the ones I am making. So look out for that!!! I hope everyone has a great long weekend!!!!!!!!
Besos!!!!!!!

Casey's Elegant Musings Circle Skirt Sew Along!!!!

The Lovely Casey of the blog Elegant Musings is hosting a sew along!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not just any sew along, a circle skirt sew along!!!!! I am very excited and can't wait to sew mine up. Won't you all join me? Every vintage inclined girl should have a few of these skirts in her wardrobe. Every non vintage inclined girl for that matter! So head on over to Casey's blog and check it out, and plan to join along!!!!!! Besos!!!!!

Decievingly Simple.

Do you ever start on a project thinking, psst, this will be cake! Only to dive into it and get stuck at every step! Not because the pattern is hard, per say, but because the universe and the sewing Gods have decided to have fun at your expense and laugh at you while you fumble around your sewing room in a fabric induced stupor. This was the case with my project this week. I cut out this fabric on Friday and started it on Saturday, but only worked on it for about an hour. I finished it Monday and Tuesday morning. I guess it wasn't that bad, 3 hrs of sewing is pretty quick. I made this dress for Missy Xiu, as part of her back to school clothes. It seemed simple enough, but cute still. It fought me, this dress, with every stitch. I have the worst time with this neck line. I have attempted it a few times in the past on other dresses and it never comes out right! I always have to hack off length or width to get it to fit right. This time was no different. The steps go as follows, first you need to attach the pockets. This step was easy enough, they went in without a hitch. The only issue with them was my sewing machine, not the patterns fault at all. It did get me thinking that I need to get my machine serviced though. I cleaned all the fabric lint from under my throat plate and continued. Next step is to sew up the side seams and the back seam half way to where the bottom of the zipper will be. I attach the sleeves after hemming them with a narrow hem and i bind the under arms. Fine. Seems fine, but I know that the challenge has yet to come. The challenge is that neck line!!!!!!!!!! I have to gather all around the neck line first, sleeves and all. I gather it using my gathering foot and start trying to line up the neck band. Of course it is too long. I try to adjust the gathers to make the neck line longer, after this, it is still not fitting together, I decide that If I pull out the gathers any more, that the neck line and sleeves will basically not be gathered at all. So I have no choice but to rip up the neck band and make it smaller length wise. I hate using my seam ripper. I make it small enough to fit finally and get it in with a little bit of struggle. I attach the neck band facing and sew it down, success. Even though, it is not a total success because the neck band is to fat, it comes up higher on her neck than it does on the picture. I have already sewn down the facing and decide that this is an imperfection I can live with. I rather like the way the neck looks coming up higher, it makes the dress look edgier. I know now though about the issue and can correct it with a bigger seam allowance next time. The zipper also fought me, I got it in though it is not my best work. This dress, umph!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My daughter was happy with it in the end. The pockets were exciting for her. She could put her lip balm in them. I styled her with a tiger print bangle bracelet and a leather like bow head band. She is the fiercest 2nd grader in town.

The fabric is cool, the pattern flowed continuously even with the seams.

Hopefully the next outfit will not be an epic battle of thread and needle.

I hope you all are having fun sewing for fall or school!

Besos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fall Sewing and Back to School Growing pains

Well the children started school this week, sigh. Bash brother #1 won't start until ? Monday, that's how kindergarten works out here I guess. It is always hard for me when they go back to school. I get into a little funk the first couple of weeks. I love having my children home with me and when they go to school I can't help but to wander around feeling a little lost. Of course I will still have Bash Brother #2 and Baby Boy home with me, not to mention Lil Boo while my sister is still staying with us. But even still, it feels like something is missing whenever one of them is not home. I am a helicopter mom, meaning I hover over my children. I know that we must let our little birds fly at some point but that's not easy!!!!!!!!! Especially when your children have trouble in school either academically or socially, like mine tend to have, it causes a knot in my throat every day. So far Little Man seems to be enjoying school this year, he has a good friend of his in his class. So while Little Man sometimes has issues socializing because of the fact that he has Aspergers Syndrome, he seems to be doing fine this year. I think it is better to have one good friend than a lot of not so good ones. But the case is quite different for Missy Xiu. I think that my daughter socializes beautifully. She is sweet and considerate and not very shy. So you could imagine my surprise when I discovered that she is being shunned and picked on by some of the girls on the bus. I don't know what the reason for it is, but like most mean things that happen, I'd say that there is no good reason behind it. Since Missy Xiu has no sisters she is very eager to have girlfriends but sadly, it has not worked out so far. I will talk to the bus driver about the situation, but it is important that my daughter learn how to handle it as well, I'm just not sure how to help her stand her ground in this situation. Any advice out there?
Well to distract ourselves from knots in throats and pains in the pits of our stomachs, we sew. With fall rapidly approaching, I would like to get on the ball with some fall sewing. I have a bit of catching up to do, because our trip to New Mexico got me a little behind on my to do list. The pattern above is one I have mentioned before, but I think that it is perfect for fall and winter for the boys!!!!! The vest is supposed to be done in fleece, which is always nice and warm in our cold Colorado winters!!!!!!!!!

I love a good pinafore style dress for my daughter, and this pattern includes the leggings!!!!!!!!!!!! I love simplicity patterns, I would have to say that they are one of my favorites. Simplicity and Burda are usually what I sew with the most.

This pattern is super cute!!!!! I would love to sew up this as well. I usually choose things that can be layered. That way, when they get to school they can just add or remove layers to be comfortable indoors or out.

For myself, I have a few things planned. I love the vintage pattern below, but I have not been able to find it to purchase. So maybe I can adapt the Burdastyle pattern above to recreate the style.

I will also be making this blazer. I already have the fabric, a beautiful textured black stretch twill. I have a feeling that this will be a wardrobe staple!!!! I love the peplum! I will line it with a red fabric with a white pin dot.

I will also be making a pair of high waisted skinny jeans, hopefully that end up looking like the picture below. I have fabric for this as well, a very dark blue, almost black Italian stretch denim. This will be the first pair of jeans that I make, so I hope it goes well. I will be using a Burdastyle pattern for this as well, the one pictured below. I may have to do some fitting adjustments, but I am looking forward to the challenge!!!!! I will be omitting the pockets in the front and may be adding some in the back.

So readers, what are you all excited about sewing for fall? Do you as well have a hard time sending your children of to school? Any advice for my daughters dilemma? Thanks for stopping by and reading! Besos!!!!!

Featured!!

My fiesta dress was featured on the Burdastyle homepage today!!!!!!!!!!!!! Always an honor to be recognized for your work!!!! Thank you Burdastyle!

The Land of Enchantment

Well, be prepared, there a lot of pictures!!! We went to New Mexico, to Gallup, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe. Here is a photo chronicle of our adventure. We stayed at the historic El Rancho Hotel while we were in Gallup. This was the place to stay in the 50's when Hollywood invaded small town Gallup to shoot western films.

Lucille Ball stayed here, in this room.

Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial.

Kachina Dolls.

So Much inspiration in the costumes!

Beautiful red rocks!

With the ceremonial Princess.

I want to bite those feet!!!

A pin up girl on one of the billboards for route 66 casino and hotel. Love anything with pin up girls!

Santa Fe.

Santuario de Guadalupe. The oldest sanctuary to our lady of guadalupe in the united states.

Beautiful.

The straps of my dress are criss crossed in the back.

I kinda let the pictures do the talking here. The trip was fabulous, and helped me to find parts of my heart that were hiding from me with all of the every day hussle and bussle that comes with the busy modern life that we live. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well!

Besos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!