Clockwise from Upper Left: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

I'm purchasing the Bombshell Swimsuit pattern from Closet Case Files tomorrow and I've been scouring the internet for the perfect fabric. I'm actually going to take a day trip to Colorado Fabrics this weekend, but just in case I don't find anything there I'm probably going to buy one of fabrics listed above.

I was only planning on making one swimsuit, but I might have to make two if I can't decide between fabrics. I really like the matte wine colored spandex, but I also like the cool ink blot one and the stained glass fabric could make for a fun suit as well. Out of these five what are your favorites?

Clockwise from Upper Left: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

I'm purchasing the Bombshell Swimsuit pattern from Closet Case Files tomorrow and I've been scouring the internet for the perfect fabric. I'm actually going to take a day trip to Colorado Fabrics this weekend, but just in case I don't find anything there I'm probably going to buy one of fabrics listed above.

I was only planning on making one swimsuit, but I might have to make two if I can't decide between fabrics. I really like the matte wine colored spandex, but I also like the cool ink blot one and the stained glass fabric could make for a fun suit as well. Out of these five what are your favorites?

Self-Drafted Dress Disaster

Laughing at my roommate coming in the room, realizing I was taking a picture and jumping into the closet to hide

 

I tried to semi self-draft a summery knit dress this Saturday and it was a complete failure. Maybe not a complete failure because it doesn't look that bad in the picture above...but it just didn't turn out as expected.

 

I had this red knit fabric in my stash for awhile, and I wanted to make a nice flowy comfortably dress for the summer. I used the Renfrew top pattern to sketch out the top, and then just cut out four rectangles for the bottom and gathered them together. I like the way the top portion fits and the way the skirt portion fits as well, but it's the middle portion where the top and bottom meet that I'm unhappy with. I'm not sure if the gathers of the skirt make it too heavy, but it pulls down on the top. I wanted the seam to be right at my true waist and it's lower down around my belly button which isn't flattering on my figure. It's also too loose. When I made the gathers on the skirt I gathered to the size of my true waist, but I didn't gather the top and I'm wondering if that caused it too loosen up.

I'm not sure if it's worth trying to fix or not. I could possible slash it at the waist and re-sew the skirt onto the top 5 inches higher. I think the bottom hem might then be too short. Another option would be to just ditch the top and add a tighter waistband onto the skirt. What do you guys think? Have you ever had a self-drafting disaster?

Laughing at my roommate coming in the room, realizing I was taking a picture and jumping into the closet to hide

 

I tried to semi self-draft a summery knit dress this Saturday and it was a complete failure. Maybe not a complete failure because it doesn't look that bad in the picture above...but it just didn't turn out as expected.

 

I had this red knit fabric in my stash for awhile, and I wanted to make a nice flowy comfortably dress for the summer. I used the Renfrew top pattern to sketch out the top, and then just cut out four rectangles for the bottom and gathered them together. I like the way the top portion fits and the way the skirt portion fits as well, but it's the middle portion where the top and bottom meet that I'm unhappy with. I'm not sure if the gathers of the skirt make it too heavy, but it pulls down on the top. I wanted the seam to be right at my true waist and it's lower down around my belly button which isn't flattering on my figure. It's also too loose. When I made the gathers on the skirt I gathered to the size of my true waist, but I didn't gather the top and I'm wondering if that caused it too loosen up.

I'm not sure if it's worth trying to fix or not. I could possible slash it at the waist and re-sew the skirt onto the top 5 inches higher. I think the bottom hem might then be too short. Another option would be to just ditch the top and add a tighter waistband onto the skirt. What do you guys think? Have you ever had a self-drafting disaster?

Fabric - Swatch article #12276028

Brand - Robert Allen

Pattern - Frontier Ogee

Color - Henna

Bought From - JoAnn Fabrics online

 I finally finished one of the clutches I was working on. I've been ordering swatches of reupholstery fabric for the couch I'm planning on reupholstering, and so far I haven't liked anything I've ordered. The nice thing about these swatches is that they were about a square foot in size, and while that's too small to do a lot of things, it was the perfect size for a clutch.

Enough room to stack multiple cards in at once!

I have a bunch of pictures and a some 'how to' steps so if you want to see the whole construction, click the link below.

Fabric - Swatch article #12276028

Brand - Robert Allen

Pattern - Frontier Ogee

Color - Henna

Bought From - JoAnn Fabrics online

 I finally finished one of the clutches I was working on. I've been ordering swatches of reupholstery fabric for the couch I'm planning on reupholstering, and so far I haven't liked anything I've ordered. The nice thing about these swatches is that they were about a square foot in size, and while that's too small to do a lot of things, it was the perfect size for a clutch.

Enough room to stack multiple cards in at once!

I have a bunch of pictures and a some 'how to' steps so if you want to see the whole construction, click the link below.

Goats, Gardens, and Getting a New Laptop

T-bone in the background and Moosetracks in the foreground - taken by my friend Eliott

It has been a non-stop past couple of weeks. My roommate had 2 pregnant Nigerian Dwarf goats, and I say had even though we still have them, because they're no longer pregnant anymore. The first set of twins came on St. Patricks day, and last week Wednesday the two in the picture up top decided they wanted to be born even though we weren't expecting them for another two weeks!

Malarkey                                         Shenanigans

Luckily we were all home, but that was the day I planned to start working on my clutches that I was planning to make. 

This weekend was spent camping and getting our garden started. Since we have the goats in the backyard we're doing a huge front yard garden. Saturday we rolled all of the sod up and Sunday we rota-tilled. I'm extremely lucky because one of my roommates parents are vegetable farmers, so I've been getting gardening 101.

            Smoking a bunch of chicken thighs                                                                    The giant garden

After the busy weekend I was finally able to start working on making those clutches. I should have a post updated by this weekend! In other news my laptop decided to die on Monday so I had to go out and buy a new one. I'm typing this post up from my new one, and so far I'm liking it. Unfortunately I had to spend a lot of money, which means I may not end up buying some of the patterns I was thinking of buying this month. Making clothes can be expensive, and sometimes I wonder why I even bother because it's not as if me-made things end up being cheaper than store bought... This also pushes me one more month out from buying reupholstering supplies. At this point I almost feel like I'm never going to get a chance to buy them. I had a horrible day on Monday when I realized that my computer was done for. It's been a frustrating few months to say the least, especially since every time I have big plans to buy something for a project or for my own personal satisfaction something big comes up. Yay, for being an adult (groans). Keep your fingers crossed that I stumble across some money, until then I'll just keep on sewing.

T-bone in the background and Moosetracks in the foreground - taken by my friend Eliott

It has been a non-stop past couple of weeks. My roommate had 2 pregnant Nigerian Dwarf goats, and I say had even though we still have them, because they're no longer pregnant anymore. The first set of twins came on St. Patricks day, and last week Wednesday the two in the picture up top decided they wanted to be born even though we weren't expecting them for another two weeks!

Malarkey                                         Shenanigans

Luckily we were all home, but that was the day I planned to start working on my clutches that I was planning to make. 

This weekend was spent camping and getting our garden started. Since we have the goats in the backyard we're doing a huge front yard garden. Saturday we rolled all of the sod up and Sunday we rota-tilled. I'm extremely lucky because one of my roommates parents are vegetable farmers, so I've been getting gardening 101.

            Smoking a bunch of chicken thighs                                                                    The giant garden

After the busy weekend I was finally able to start working on making those clutches. I should have a post updated by this weekend! In other news my laptop decided to die on Monday so I had to go out and buy a new one. I'm typing this post up from my new one, and so far I'm liking it. Unfortunately I had to spend a lot of money, which means I may not end up buying some of the patterns I was thinking of buying this month. Making clothes can be expensive, and sometimes I wonder why I even bother because it's not as if me-made things end up being cheaper than store bought... This also pushes me one more month out from buying reupholstering supplies. At this point I almost feel like I'm never going to get a chance to buy them. I had a horrible day on Monday when I realized that my computer was done for. It's been a frustrating few months to say the least, especially since every time I have big plans to buy something for a project or for my own personal satisfaction something big comes up. Yay, for being an adult (groans). Keep your fingers crossed that I stumble across some money, until then I'll just keep on sewing.