Nightgowns! Kwik Sew 3105 + Butterick 4005

I've been sewing up a storm lately, not that you can tell by my (lack of) blog posting.  Stuff for me, and a bunch of stuff for the girls.  Totes bustin' my stash, which feels good y'all.  Feels good.

In any event, the other night Charlie came out of her room in her "jammies" -- meaning a shirt that was roughly a bazillion sizes too small.  I rolled my eyes as hard as I could and then decided to make up some fancy nightgowns.  

I don't know about the rest of the world, but making nightgowns doesn't excite me that much.  It's like buying new towels or sheets: totally necessary, but boring and nothing that you're really ever going to be able to show off.  Oops, I guess my sewing ego is showing.

I originally wanted to make this Kwik Sew pattern (3105) (OMG SO ADORBS) but I couldn't find it in the store and I did NOT want to order the paper pattern online and pay shipping.  Yuck.  So I found this See and Sew (Butterick) 4005 in the store and made up 2, one for Phoebe and one for Charlie.

It's so cute, it has gathered sleeves with elastic, three box pleats on the front, easy peasy front/back facings, and a simple button closure in the back. (Do forgive the instagram photos. I have not been inspired to take regular camera shots.)  I made them both a size 6 even though they're closer to a 7 in RTW since I knew the nightgown would be boxy and a little big on them regardless.

Takes a lot of fabric, though, but I love the fullness.  Fabric for the middles' nightgowns was some $3/yard apple flannel I found at Joanns.  Fabric for Thea's was some flannel that I already had in my stash.  Woot!  Not pictured was some lace I had lying around that I used for the hem on Thea's nightgown.  

After making up the Butterick pattern, though, I wanted that Kwik Sew nightgown even more, so I bit the bullet and ended up ordering it online anyway.  Aw shucks.  I also ordered yards and yards and yards of lace trim from Deb's Lace and Trims online since I have literally nothing in my stash, and really, you can't make a nightgown without some sort of lace trim. 

YOU GUYS, that shop has such great trims, and really really cheap, and super fast shipping!  Don't bother paying $2-3 per yard for lace trims.  Go order some from Deb's.  You're welcome.  I used this one on Thea's nightgown (hello! 5 yards for $1.25!  yes please!)

Anywho, I whipped this up last night, yes, same owls from the other nightgown just in a blue color way.  I have a sickness, but at least I'm consistent.  

The pattern is easy -- front/back bodice, gathered skirt, then ruffle on the bottom.  No closure.  I chose View B (sleeveless).  The application of the lace trim was interesting, but it worked.  I hated to gather the ruffle on the bottom thinking it would take forever, but nope.  It went pretty quickly.  The lace is probably a little wide for the pattern, but I don't really care.  It's just the cutest thing ever, and she loved it, so everybody wins.

I have plans to make 2 more of the Kwik Sew nightgowns for the middles once I get back from my work trip (Ireland, aw yeah!) and I pinky swear to take real actual pictures and blog about it.  Pinky swear!

Megan Nielsen Briar. Can I get a what what?

Another game that I’m evidently late to: the Megan Nielsen Briar top. ZOMG WHERE HAS THIS PATTERN BEEN ALL MY LIFE?

ahem.

So, this is a fabulous shirt pattern with a high-low hem, that you can make as a crop top or regular length.  You can also choose short sleeves, 3/4 length, or long sleeves.  2 types of pockets.  And then I DIED.

I made the first as a muslin to test the fit, in this ugly ass green and orange striped knit that I bought (when I was on drugs? because someone was holding a gun to my head?) eleventy billion years ago and just clearly never hated anyone enough to use it on them.  I figured if the shirt turned out terribly then hell, it wasn’t like I was wasting the material or anything.

I didn’t have *quite* enough yardage to bind the neck with self fabric, so I found some tangerine tissue knit in my stash and at the last minute decided to use it for the pocket as well to make it look more intentional.  Don’t tell anyone that this was not intentional please and thank you.

I made the medium, and I feel like it’s too big.  Is it, or am I crazy?  

I had ordered some of this really beautiful fushia cotton/lycra knit to make another top, so I forged ahead and made the medium one there, as well.  I *still* think it’s too big.

Really easy construction, though, I made the longer version with short sleeves.  It’s super comfy, and very straightforward to make.  Love the hem, for serious.

I want to make a few more (or a million more) but I really think I’m going to size down to a size small.  I also want to make the cropped version, maybe with long sleeves, to wear over my maxi dresses.  Because that’s my new favorite thing.

Go me!

Mission Maxi turned tank

Yeah, I decided to take the Maxi craze a step further and make myself a tank top.  Knit from Girl Charlee (obvies) that I got one million years ago with the intention of making the girls a dress or shirt or something.  Then I stole it for myself.

The material doesn’t have *that* much stretch to it, and I was worried that it would be a problem.  I made the size 10/12, and cut it off where the pattern indicates to make a tank.  

I have two issues with this:

1. The racerback construction shows my bra straps.  No, I don’t want to buy a new bra.  Blarg.

2. The construction of the dress flares out at the hips, so the tank flares out a little after the waist.  It’s not bad, but I don’t particularly like it.  

Also, I decided to twin needled the hem, which created some tunneling.  And I didn’t have enough self fabric to bind the neck or armholes, so I had to use a different knit entirely.  I’m actually fine with the binding, I think it looks great, but I’m not sure how I feel overall about this top.  I definitely don’t think I’ll make it again, but I’m not sure how often I’ll actually wear it, either.

These pictures are after wearing it and washing it, and the hem did not fare particularly well.  I draw the line at ironing a tank top you guys, so we’ll see how much play this bad boy will actually get.

Jamie Christina Mission Maxi x2

I’m late to the game with the maxis, I get that.  I saw this pattern and had pinned it to my sewing board, and then kept seeing it popping up all over the intarwebs.  It’s like someone was trying to tell me something, or something.  Kwim?

I ordered 2 yards of this knit from Girl Charlee and the pattern and decided to give it a go.  I made View A — originally traced out a size 8 based on my measurements, but graded out the waist to a size 10.  

The construction was dead-ass simple.  Front and back, with 3 pieces of binding for the neck and armholes.  Really easy.

The material was a literal dream to sew, and so soft.  The drape is amazing.  I knew instantly that it would show every lump and roll I have, though, so I thought maybe I wouldn’t wear it out, but then I saw a few ladies in the Flickr pool who wore shirts over their dresses. So. Dang. Smart.  And it looks really cute.

I love the comfort and style of the dress so much, in fact, that I ordered more fabric from Girl Charlee and then made up yet another maxi, this time in black.  This knit is less clingy (the drape isn’t as nice, though) and I did this in a 10 graded out to a 12, and it’s much looser.  Looser = more comfortable and I can actually breathe when I wear it.  

I have another 2 yards of this nautical print knit, which will end up being yet another maxi dress in the new and improved size.  It’s like I’m addicted or something, but 3 just may be the limit.

Sew Lisette Portfolio Tunic with Racing Stripes

Remember when I only used to sew clothes for my kids? Yeah, me either.  

So this dress.  I bought this medium weight grey suiting at the fabric store up the street from my work.  It was, like, $8 or something super cheap.  About 2 yards, 54” wide, and I knew immediately when I saw it that it wanted to be a Portfolio tunic.

I had this vague idea of using piping on it after seeing some of the photos in the Sew Lisette Flickr pool, but I was on the fence.  I didn’t want to screw it up, and I’d only used piping once before.  In the end, though, I really wanted to break up that grey without incorporating another fabric, and I had this hot pink piping lying around that was just begging to be used.

That piping turned out LIKE A BAWSE.  I’m so proud of it, if you can’t tell.  

I had intended for this to be a tunic top and not really so much a dress, but then I found these crazy tights and well, to hell with it.  I am, however, anti-flashing-my-ass so I whipped up some of these Colette bloomers to wear underneath.  Maybe I’ll blog about them separately, but you get the idea.  Satiny-black bloomers to hide my butt.  Pretty simple.  And you guys, it’s a free download, so you should snatch it up. Even if you don’t make yourself a ho-dress, you could still wear them as PJs.

I wanted to preserve as much length as possible on this bad boy, so I used some hot pink ribbon I had lying around to hem that sucker. Stroke. Of. Genius.  It gives some stability and weight to the hem and is a funky little detail that only I can see.

I have thoughts about making another Portfolio, with shorter sleeves and actually making it dress-length.  Once you’ve sewn it once, it’s sort of a breeze to do another one.  Simple construction FTW!