Chasing Coco

Does anyone else feel like all they are wearing these days is lounge wear? I have been working from home just shy of a year and while I sometimes wear a cute outfit or a nice top for video conference my day to day wardrobe involves a lot of comfortable clothes, including a lot of athletic apparel. With all the cute bras I plan to make from the new Switch it Up pattern , I want some open-back exercise shirts and thankfully, I have several options in my pattern stash. The first one I decided to make was the Good Sport from Ellie and Mac . I actually did a hack similar to this one a while back from their free tank pattern but I wasn't 100% happy with my hack so I grabbed the Good Sport. I chose this pattern to go first because I have made quite a few E&M patterns and am pretty reliably a large graded to an XL hip and I had this adorable bee print fabric from LA Finch Fabrics that I didn't want to ruin (see a close up of the fabric below, it's really cute!). I also didn...

Well somehow we have made it to summer and while a lot of the pools are closed, I know two little girls who are living their best summer life right now. Quarantining with their grandparents, who live next to a river, where there are plenty of swimming opportunities. Meanwhile my neighborhood pool is closed and my husband offered to spray me with the hose as I run around the yard. So, plenty of swimwear needs all around! So this cute lobster print seemed destined to become Cape Cod swimsuit  from Ellie and Mac for both of them (affiliate link). The fabric came from LA Finch Fabrics and I have a lot of it, so you'll be seeing something else made from it in the future! These were supposed to be 4 of July gifts...that's not a thing but I am a gifting Aunt and it was around the 4th of July. However, due to some COVID related complications, I haven't had a chance to hand these suits off yet! Which means, I don't know how well they will fit them yet. Lately they have been fitt...

The Sweetie Pie  is a super simple dress pattern, you can easily sew this up in a few hours including cutting it out! I have made both the women's and kid's version of this pattern (pattern links are affiliate links). It's really simple and twirly. The silhouette is classic, it's basically a circle skirt cut right on the bodice. Since it's cut on and has the full skirt, it's a little bit of a fabric hog, there will be a big shape next to the bodice that isn't used - but it will be a big scrap so you can use it for something else! Maybe a color blocked tee? Panties? Lots of options. The pattern even has some cute patch pockets, however, neither of my fabrics lended well to these so I didn't use them. Next time! For my niece, she measures right on the edge of 4T/5T so I made her a 6T. It fit her pretty good and is just a smidgen too big in the bodice. Just what I'm looking for in a kid's dress, so she can wear it as long as possible. One of the dr...

As my sewing efforts have evolved, I have aimed to sew what I need to wear more and less to learn new things about sewing and garment construction (though it still sometimes happens). This has led me to sew things like underwear and cardigans which I used to always buy. I am a person who is cold 90% of the time, so I am a person who needs cardigans! I have made a couple of M6996 this year and the Chapman cardigan from Ellie & Mac is somewhat similar but it doesn't have a fold down neck and it has pockets❣❣❣ Otherwise and for the construction, they are not that different. I used an animal print rayon spandex from Olga's closet for the main fabric and the black is a lovely thick double brushed poly from LA Finch Fabrics. Changes I made As normal, I graded from a large bust to an XL waist/hip. I made the longer tunic length cardigan with long-sleeves for this first version. Of course, I also used the optional pockets. The only thing I really changed was, I ...

Hello sewing friends! I have been sewing up a storm but blogging about it has taken a back seat, I have a lot of new projects and some past ones, that I can update with more photos of new versions. Stay tuned for more! Today, I'm going to give you the low-down on Ellie and Mac's popular South Shore Romper . I was really slow to warm to this pattern, despite it looking cute on everyone! I made it last year for the first time with a lot of enthusiasm but I HATED the outcome of mine but people kept posting cute ones online over and over again so I finally decided to give it another try. It might not have happened if we hadn't been under a shelter-in-place order for the last month because of the COVID-19 outbreak; it's amazing how much sewing I can get done when basically all socializing is cut off. When I go back to work, I will probably have a month's worth of new outfits to wear. So this was my horrible version from last year...sorry for the bathroom mirror s...

I am trying to motivate myself to exercise more by making myself some cute active wear! Another bonus is I get to use my newish coverstitch machine on the finishing. I'm also finding out there are not a lot of cute active wear patterns! First I made Simplicity 8338, which was in my stash and then I was looking around also at some of the indie designers and just couldn't find what I was really looking for. I almost *gasp* bought some new workout tops but as I was looking at the ones I liked, I though, "hell I can hack that from a tank top pattern." And so I set out to do just that! Here was my inspiration pic. I didn't like the curved lower edge but I quite liked the shape of the opening. In thinking this through, I decided I could use a tank pattern with a back seam and as way to make the finishing around the back cut out easier, I decided I did not want to do binding (I avoid binding like the plague) and I thought I could do a band or coverstitch arou...

The Ellie & Mac Around the Block Hoodie is definitely a fan favorite and I can totally see why, it is a really elevated hoodie look. Here is the scoop on my experience making my first one! Inspector Pikachu makes sure I have the right pieces. Alterations I made very few alterations, really just grading for size. I measure a Large bust and XL waist/hip but based on my experience in making the E&M Lucky Girl and it having more tummy ease that I wanted, I looked at the size of the pattern pieces and decided to make a straight Large for the body. It's more of a fitted hoodie look than a big comfy hoodie. I may or may not grade to an XL next time depending on what I'm going for. I also graded the sleeve to an XL from the Large size because I have larger arms and feel like the sleeves on my E&M Going Home Sweater are too tight. I am really happy with the sleeve changes but next time I'm going to grade the armhole up too. Maybe I should just be making ...

I have been wearing my scrap panties for a while now and I have come to the conclusion that the leg elastic is often too tight so I decided I would experiment with using leg bands instead of elastic. I had a new pattern to test out too, the Ellie and Mac Feel Frisky Panties  (Afflink). Like the Megan Nielson Acacia pattern I made previously, they are a brief style panty. I haven't found a cheeky panty pattern but I have experimented a little with making my own, it still needs some fine tuning before I share it however. Fabric was DBP from Cali Fabrics. The Frisky panties come in 3 rises - low, medium and high. I made the low rise version. Alterations I made The only thing I really changed was to use leg bands instead of leg elastic. I measured the leg holes to be 28" (size XL) and cut my bands at 27 x 1.5" (used .25" seam allowance to sew bands together). I serged the bands on and the coverstiched them. Next time around I might make the bands an inch short...