High Waist Skater Girl Skirt by Special Request.

I recently had a custom order to make a skirt that was inspired by my African Print Maxi Skirt. My customer wanted a skater length skirt, but with a wide removable belt. She wanted  the option to have it worn belted to give a high-waist look. The trick with this project was that she lives states away and I had to make it based on her self reported measurements. I have heard it said, "Never lie to your seamstress about your size of you doctor about your symptoms". Luckily, she reported her measurements accurately and I got to work.

She choose a cotton tropical print fabric from choices from my stash. I used Mccalls 5631 view "C" and omitted the border.

Here are photos of the completed skirt on my custom dress form and on the owner!

Un-belted Skirt

High Waist belted.

Belted Back

Worn by my happy customer.

Here is a review of the pattern:

Pattern Description: Pattern Description: Flared mid-knee skirts have self or contrast yoke, contour waistline, side zipper.

Pattern Sizing: 6-20

Did it look like the photo envelope once you were done sewing with it? I think it does

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes they were.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I loved the fullness of the skirt. It is made using pleats first and gathers after. I disliked the sizing on this one, I found it ran small. My customer is a size 4 RTW and based on the measurements, needed to cut the 12.

Fabric Used: A cotton print from my stash.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: This was a custom order that was inspired by my African Print Maxi Skirt.. She wanted a skater length skirt, but with a belt. I added a 5 foot long belt, so it could be worn to give a high-waist look.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I have no plans to make it again, but I am not opposed to it. Because of the sizing issue, I hesitate to recommend this one.

Conclusion: My customer loved it! She said it is perfect for Salsa dancing. She liked the removable belt and fullness of the skirt. I think she looks great in it. I am very proud of the fit considering all communication was virtual. She is a fit size 4, so it would have been hard to mess this up.

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Days!

It's Giveaway Days on Sew Mama Sew!  After looking at all of the wonderful participants, I decided to get in on the action! I am hosting a giveaway for two PDF instruction booklets to make your own Custom Dress Form. This giveaway is open internationally and will close on May 16th 5pm PST. The winners will be announced on this post and on the Facebook page. When you like the page, be sure to opt to get notifications so you do not miss it.

Enter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway  

Welcome new friends and thank you for visiting!

*** Update since opening the giveaway***

The comment question for an added entry point is: What is your most challenging fit issue. I am so intrigued by all of the answers listed. There are issues and concerns that I have never considered. With such a small sample size it is amazing to see the varied responses. Thanks for sharing and educating me and others.

I made my dress form, B.I.R.A (my Body Image Realignment Aid), because I lost 30 lbs (dietary changes and losing baby weight) and did not know my body anymore. I was still sewing for my old body which had gone through so many changes in the year post delivery. Nothing fit correctly and it took a great deal of time to correct the fit problems in the garments I made.  I needed to stop wasting time and money on garments that did not fit. Since making B.I.R.A my sewing has improved, became more efficient, and gotten more adventurous. Many comments I have received on Pattern Review have referred to the impeccable fit I get in my garments. I own it all to my form.

For those of you with arm and sleeve concerns. The instructions advise against going any lower than the length pictured. Any longer poses a problem when fitting garments with no closures. You may want to make an additional form that is a half torso from center front with a longer arm. 

I believe the other issues can be addressed with a Custom Dress Form.

Good Luck in the giveaway!
Bianca
  

"Happy" Mother's Day!

"Happy" Mother's Day! I am the proud mama of two darling little ones. Today, I am celebrating a restful hug filled day with my family. In recent months, we have watched Despicable Me 2 many, many ,many times. We love the movie, but the lingering good feelings from the film come from the theme song "Happy" by Pharrell Williams. It has a great message, is catchy and is so fun for dancing!

This song was the inspiration for a recent hand-sewing project of mine. For this project, I made a stencil, painted the purple fabric with yellow paint and reverse appliqued it with white thread.

Twice stitched and felled seams.

Herringbone Stitch

I made the tee using the same basic techniques as on my trapunto tee. I took this tee with me to PR Weekend Austin and got most of the stitching done during down time.

                              

I even got a little help :)

This tee was very fast to make and fun to wear. I wore it last week and got many smiles from strangers. I could just see them playing the song in their heads as they read the word "Happy".

Here is the finished tank! You can make your own, with my DIY kit or have me make one for you as a ready made order! Visit my Etsy store.

"Happy" Sewing,
Bianca

My first Pattern Review Weekend!

I have returned from Austin and my first Pattern Review Weekend and it was a blast! I met some wonderful people, ate great food, saw Austin Fashion Week and Project Runway Live runway shows. 

                

I have been described as "hard to meet, but easy to get to know." I am not a fan of small talk and would rather get to the heart of issues in conversations. Events like this makes me nervous because I default to solitude and do not want to be perceived as standoffish.  I road-tripped and roomed with another local PR member. We met on the drive up and had such a good time. She was awesome and made my new people apprehension go away and reassured me that this was a welcoming group. 

All of the PR members I met were really great. I am sure for many of us, it is a bit surreal to be known for the garments we make. It was the ultimate ice-breaker to admire what someone was wearing and hear about their process. It was one of the few places I have been where upon meeting, people stroke, touch and closely inspect what I am wearing. It was a bit overwhelming, all positive, and I adjusted.

Here are some highlights from the weekend. 

Bill Miller Bar-b-q! They have the most juicy fried chicken EVER! There are no Houston locations so, I get some whenever I can.

Yes, I ate it all. I even got some on the way out of town.

I was fully fueled to dive into my goodie bag swag: Deer and Doe Jacket pattern; Style Arc Gore Skirt Pattern; Apples and Oranges Sewing Kit.

Bags that need no description :)

Knit fabric and mini sewing kit.

Here is a group of us at the Austin Fashion Week red carpet. 

Photo Credit: Couturesmith via Flickr

Here I am hamming it up for the camera. You can read about this dress in my review here.

We had great seats for the Austin Fashion Runway Show. That is Melissa Fleis from Project Runway across the aisle from me.

The second day was jam packed with wonderful talks and activities. Look at all the wonderful patterns laid out for the pattern swap! I am very proud to say, I brought more patterns to swap with me than I left with.

Here are the gems I nabbed in the completely civilized "take what you want" swap.

There were some moments of down time where I and others, multi-tasked listening while doing hand-work of our choosing. Here I am working on a shirt that I kept in my purse for moments like these. Deepika (PR founder), even got in on it by practicing some running stitches.

Photo Credit: Couturesmith via Flickr

Photo Credit: Couturesmith via Flickr

We enjoyed a workshop with Project Runaway and Project Runway All Stars contestant Daniel Esquivel.

After a fun-filled day, it was off to Project Runway Live. Here I am on the red carpet in a dress I made and reviewed here.

It was a fun time with great collections filled with sewing inspirations and aspirations. My favorites of the night were the collections of Daniel Esquivel and Korto Momolu. (Sorry for the lack of quality photos; my "good camera" is huge so I left it at home.)

Day three was filled with shopping and an embroidered buttons class for me. I am very proud to say, I curbed my shopping drive and purchased only a few items. We went to The Common Thread where I bought the blue and white fabrics below.

The princess fabric was purchased at Form and Fabric along with the Clara Dress pattern for the Sew News Sew-along, for which I am woefully late in participating. Both of these stores were so welcoming to our group and gave us awesome discounts on our purchases!

The embroidered button class was taught at Stitch Lab. It is what my sewing room in heaven will look like, I am sure. It is located in a quaint little converted home and is completely adorable.

Deepika is welcoming us in.

Look at all of the woven goodness.

Look at the shelf supports made from thread spools!

I seriously have that fabric and those shades on my to-do list for my sewing room! I need to get to work.

Too cute!

Sigh

Rah rah rah!

I love the class projects hanging on the wall.

Love this!

Embroidery hoop wall.

Don't I know it!

I know how to embroider, but there was a class offered at Stitch Lab. I took it because, well, you can always learn something new. It was a small class (something I appreciated) and Lesley gave individual attention to everyone.

Lesley was a kind, generous, and friendly instructor.

Here is my simple class project. Embroidered covered buttons I made into hair ties for my daughter.

After class, I opted to skip more shopping. I had a delicious pizza lunch with local PR member Margret. We had good (hilarious) conversations about sexism in nursing, the fashion of Mad Men, and other great television like Orphan Black. After lunch, we window shopped along South Congress ending at Uncommon Objects an antique mall a friend insisted I visit.

Photo credit: The Guardian

We returned to the hotel to end the day with a PR cocktail party. There was a fabric show and tell, door prize giveaways, Bernina demo machines, wine and delightful frivolity.  

After chatting with Deepika and other PR members about hand-sewing, we had an opportunity for a crash course. Here she is concentrating on her stitches for reverse applique on a stenciled panel. She is a quick study and I am excited to see what she makes in time.

The final day ended with a couple of PR members and me tooling around. They 
 preferred not to attend the scheduled Gospel Brunch and since I had my car we grabbed a meal at The Blue Dahlia. It is a quaint European Bistro we stumbled upon. My companions enjoyed their meal and I enjoyed my beverage. (I did not eat there. I knew I would grab some Bill Miller's on the way out of town :p ).

From there we shopped for more fabric at Form and Fabric. Everyone in my party was thrilled to have one last chance to support this shop. My roommate got luscious Liberty of London (I think) silk at 25% off! It is so soft you just want to swaddle yourself in it and go to bed. I got the princess fabric and Clara Dress pattern I mentioned earlier. 

I really enjoyed my first PR weekend. It was great meeting people I have only known virtually or for the first time. I feel that four days were not enough. There are people I did not get to meet or with whom I spent too little time. Maybe next year!

Would I do it again and recommend it to others? Yes and yes!

You can read about other PR members experiences here.

Happy Sewing,
Bianca