Chasing Coco

One area where I struggle with sewing is in the efficiency gained by making the same pattern several times. For me it is much more exciting to make something totally new and different, but that is also more time consuming. I am trying to be more practical in my sewing and make items that I need in my wardrobe rather than sewing whatever tickles my fancy, as I have been the last few years. Ok, maybe a little of what tickles my fancy thrown in! Really, I want to reduce my reliance on RTW clothes, and do that, I need to sew what I need to wear. With this is in mind I set out to make McCall's 7313 for the first time, thinking it could become a "tried and true" (TNT) pattern for me. Yes, I see the irony of making something for the first time with the goal of repeating patterns more often! I was attracted to this pattern because it 1) looked simple 2) I liked the general A-line shape 3) it had two necklines and several sleeve options 4) knit dresses are quick & e...

I am very happy with the results of Simplicity 8380! I wanted a quick sew for a black-tie optional wedding that I was attending with my husband but I only had a month to put something together and I sew very slowly! I also wanted something that wasn't so fancy that I wouldn't be able to wear it again. How many black-tie events are you going to? I think this was my first one ever! I was glad to be able to lean into the "optional" a little bit, hopefully without being under-dressed. Since I wanted something fast but simple, I set out to find a one shoulder dress that was for a knit pattern. One shoulder seems fancy, right? Right?!? To make the dress, I chose a black on black cheetah print from Cali Fabrics . I had ordered from them recently and loved everything but I was disappointed when this fabric arrived. The cheetah print was much more pronounced looking online, whereas it was basically a slightly textured black when it arrived. Oh well. I used it anyw...

I first encountered the lady hood rockers pattern from Mammahooch2 in a Facebook sewing group. I love seeing other people's makes, it gives so much inspiration. Since I speak German I thought it would be a fun challenge to sew a German pattern! This one was so simple to put together and with so many pictures, you can easily sew it up based on those and a little help from Google translate if needed :) Originally, I wanted to make the hoodie version, Lady Hood Rockers but realized that I didn't have enough fabric for a hood. I also inadvertently made it the full dress length, not realizing the hoodie was an add on to the previous dress version . I'm sure this would have been clear if my German was better. I leaned it to this and finished the neckline with a band and made it a dress. Sometimes I try to make a top and get a dress, it happens. A little bit of an '80s vibe! I made it with this fun feather print from fabric.com . The white turned out to be a little tra...

Zip pouches make simple quick gifts and are a great way to use scraps of woven fabric. I recently made several quilts for gifts and a really cute owl pillowcase, which has left me with a lot of large scraps of woven fabrics. I'm seriously in love with this owl fabric and I wanted to use up every last little piece! Sadly it's out of stock now but they still have it in other colors . Zip pouches are good scrap busters because they can be made almost any size. I have a small one, which was the first zipper I every installed (in a sewing class called "fearless zippers!") that I use when traveling to put earrings in so they don't get lost in my bag. Larger ones hold makeup or even bigger ones to hold an iPad or laptop! You can use these same directions to make a pouch of any size based on size of scraps you have and what you want to use it for. Materials needed: Strips of scraps (or scraps you can make into strips) Matching thread Zipper ( mine was 9 inches,...

This was the first jumpsuit pattern ( Simplicity 1355 view A)  I have ever made, and honestly, before this I'd only made one wearable pair of pants. I had made 2 pair of pants and 2 pair of shorts but 3 of the 4 were a disaster! Since I wasn't sure about the fitting, I did make a muslin. Which I don't like doing but seemed necessary in this case. The fabric I chose was a rayon challis. It's very soft and drapes lovely but man, it wrinkles like crazy. I had to iron it like crazy after I took it out of the dryer! The color is also fabulous, so it's worth it. Isn't it pretty? I read in some other reviews that the back was really low, too low to avoid showing your bra so I raised the back piece about an inch, starting below the seam allowance and slanting out to the end of the piece. I didn't raise it too much because you need space to fit into the jumpsuit since there is no zipper. I raised about an inch and if I made this view again, I'...

I was feeling a little like I needed a sewing palate cleanser. I was in the middle of making a jumpsuit (pattern review coming soon!) and just couldn’t bring myself to work on it. Rather than sew nothing, I thought I’d make myself a simple raglan shirt. Basics aren’t always the most exciting thing to sew but we all need them in our wardrobe. I had pinned the raglan tee from It’s Always Autumn some time ago. It is a free pattern and only available in a size large, which happens to be my size. If it’s not yours, you can grade up/down but it’s probably easier in this case to find a raglan pattern that’s size appropriate (raglans are quite simple, it's easy to find a pattern/tutorial). Since, it’s a free pattern it’s not the same as a commercial pattern. If you are used to that, you might be disappointed (but it’s FREE). I had a little trouble putting the PDF pages together, because I didn’t have the website up at the time to see the overall image of the pattern and there aren’t a...