McPattern Dress

After my success with my first McPattern, how could I stop myself from making another? I wanted to make a big circle tank dress. I started off similar to my tank McPattern. It took a bit to figure out how tight I wanted the dress to my neck and how wide to make the straps. I did the same arc to figure out the curve on the bottom of the dress.

I sewed up the neck and shoulders of the dress first. Immediately I knew I was wrong. The straps were much farther from my neck and the neck scooped to low. I pulled the straps up and pinned them up to where the neckline hit my neck. I used chalk to mark a new line from the outer strap width down into the arm.

After my adjustments, I finished the neckline, arms and sides. It fit so much better! The problem I had now was the extra length I pulled up to move up the neckline made the dress short! Too short!

To remedy this issue, I picked up lace to trim the edge. That did it! It was light enough to keep the float of the rest of the fabric. I sergered the lace to the bottom and topstitched the edge for a clean finish.

This is ridiculously comfortable and surprisingly flattering. I’ve realized that anything with a lot of fabric at the bottom needs to be balanced with a more fitted top otherwise I end up looking like a potato.

BONUS:

I made another McPattern tank. This time in a knit! This was the last little bits of my $5 for 5 yds of grey fabric from Walmart. I made a maxi, dress and tank. There’s a few small pieces left that I would need to mix with something else to make anything. Talk about a deal!

I did topstitch both sides of the straps which I didn’t on the others. I felt that if I didn’t, the strap wouldn’t stay nice and flat.

Up next, I’m back to project: #sewmystyle!

Bomb Diggity Denim

I’m so disappointed in myself! I was on such a roll with my #2017makenine at the beginning of the year and then things happened and my “let’s do this!” energy has run out of steam. I have three more items to complete. This post will knock one of them off my to-do list. I finally decided to tackle another pair of jeans. My Jamie Jeans came out beautifully last year. That should have encouraged me to complete my Burda jeans but it so didn’t. I have not been in the mood to tackle pants. I think the reason is that I was trying to adjust the fit on a muslin version of the Thurlow pattern and it’s not coming out right. I’ve been focusing all my energy on anything that’s not bottoms.

One day I decided to sit down and at least look at the Burda 7050 pattern. Well that’s all it took. I compared the pattern to my Jamie Jeans pattern to make sure the tooshie would fit properly. I took a bit off here and there. I went ahead and cut the fabric too. I can’t remember if I started sewing the same day or the next before I was off and running. I referred to the instructions very little but there were a few reasons for this.

• I’ve made jeans/pants before

• The Burda instructions were horrid and if you have never made jeans before I would not suggest using a Burda pattern.

• I wanted to try out the industrial style way of putting in a zip fly. I used this tutorial from the Last Stitch. Amazeballs btw…

This was my first go with a Burda pattern. If all the instructions are so sparse, it might be best not to try to tackle unfamiliar articles of clothing. I also did not make a muslin for this pattern. Living the wild life as usual. For some strange reason, I felt the sewing force coursing through me. I am one with the force and the force is with me.

Who can make an awesome pair of jeans out the gate!?! Oh yeah… THIS GIRL! Needless to say I’m happy with how they turned out. There are a few things here and there I would like to change for future versions.

The pockets are a little strange. Checking out my RTW jeans the pocket is fully cotton. This has a denim back with a cotton front. It makes it a little thick in the thigh region. Not a biggie but just an unusual detail.

The flare could start a bit higher up on my leg. I did make the flare the width of the biggest size and adjusted the leg going up. I could handle it being bigger. I also thought I would have more fabric at the bottom to make a big hem. I like the vintage style ones that have about a 2-3” hem at the bottom.

The belt loop pattern piece is too short. There’s no way that a belt could have fit through the little loops it wanted me to make. I recut this piece and made it almost 1 ½ times the length. I over shot by a bit but not much.

The only true complaint I have about this pattern is the waist. I mucked it up a bit. I should have made it smaller but I always worrying about the small thing known as breathing. I thought I had it snug and it was more of just touching my skin. I want a slight squeeze!

Making jeans takes a lot of time for me. The topstitching has to be perfect. I took my time with each piece. There’s no point to rushing because those mistakes will stare you in the face every day and you won’t want to wear the jeans.

Totally knocked it out of the park with these!  I may be slow as shit but it’s worth it. Here’s a look at my #2017makenine.