Screenshot Frenzy Friday

I'm back with another Screenshot Frenzy Friday! 

 Sometimeswhen I shop for clothes, I want something simple but dramatic.  This dress is it.  Simple style but dramatic sleeve.  AND  denim.  I am in love.  You can't go wrong with this dress.

This dress is hot!  It's a ribbed sweater knit dress with gold buttons.  This dress reminds me of Mimi G's Simplicity 8334

Oh LaLa.  This is a Back Zipper Peplum.  I am in love with the sleeves!

 

This blouse from TBdress is hot!  I would love a pattern to make this top.

This pink  dress above is a Vogue pattern by Issac Mizrahi.  Vogue 1434

Great party dress here!

 

I love this dress. The handkerchief hem is one of my favorite looks. 

I love Eloquii.  Eloquii is a clothing company that sells garments for the plus size Ladies, like myself.  This blazer is killer.  The neck tie with peplum makes this blazer a head turner.

Floral Crepe Blazer-Another one from Eloquii.  Floral prints are a must have and have a floral print blazer is a game changer. 

Eloquii!!!  Blazer with killer sleeves.  This blazer can be worn with jeans, a skirt, or slacks. 

Eloquii--  They are changing the face of the basic blazer.  This blazer has sleeve ties.  This blazer is similar to Lekala 4542.  Add sleeve ties and you're good to go!

I hope you're inspired by at least one of these looks. 

Have a great weekend! Happy Sewing!!!

Screenshot Frenzy Friday

I'm back with another Screenshot Frenzy Friday! 

What were you up to this week?

 I haven't had much time to sew for myself  because I'm working on a birthday present for my daughter.  Have you ever envisioned something that you wanted to make it.  And it drives you crazy every night even in your sleep.  I want to make a gray jersey dress with some draping in the back but the front simple.  I have searched near and far looking for a pattern that achieve the Look that I am going for.  Nothing has come close to my ideal dress.  Oh woe is me!  I am not going to give up on this idea.  

Ok now We are going to end this week on the right foot!!!

Super cute dress.  Nordstorm you're going to stop my heart!!! Lol!  I love the crossover Look and the fabric used.  

Isn't this top hot!!!  This look is achievable with McCall 7627 and redrafting the sleeves.

Taraji P Henson is wearing this dress!!!  This is a photo from the Marie Claire magazine.

Turndown Collar Button Up Curved Dress from Linkshe.com.  I love the pleats!

One shoulder knit dress.  Hot! Hot! Hot!

Ralph Lauren Sheath Dress!  One word: Yes!!!

Ladder Cutout Sleeve top with matching skirt

Love the one shoulder with dramatic sleeves  Vogue 9243 can be used to make the sleeves (with some modifying of course) and then the one shoulder top modify Simplicity 8386

I found this sexy top at TBdress.com. 

Now this I definitely want to hack.  I have found the perfect pattern to achieve this look.  McCall 7328

I hope you're inspired by at least one of these looks. 

Have a great weekend! Happy Sewing!!!

Bohemian Style New Look 6516

I love skirts!  I am absolutely in love with this skirt.  I made this skirt last weekend, after prepping for Hurricane IrmA.  I have a Hurricane purse and a hurricane skirt.  I do not want anymore Hurricane items Lol!

This skirt is a great addition to my wardrobe.  I can throw this skirt on and run errands.  I was in line at Joanns when I took this photo.  Yeah Joanns!!!  I will have to take photos but I just wanted share this completed project with you.  My review of this skirt is below.

Were you wondering what patterns I picked up at Joanns?  I couldn't help it!  I had to get a few of the Fall McCall Patterns.  I didn't do to bad. 

Only three!  Aren't you proud of me!  On to my review.

 Sewing Pattern Review
 

Pattern Description:

Misses peasant skirt in two lengths with ruffle and fabric options. Skirts feature an elastic waist for easy sewing and comfortable fit with choice of ruffles or a side slits. Make them unique with contrasting ruffle.
 

Pattern Sizing:

6 to 18
 

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?

Yes.
 

Were the instructions easy to follow?

The instructions were very easy to follow.
 

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

This pattern was nicely made.  There was nothing to dislike.
 

Fabric Used:

Black/Blue/Green/Multi 100% Poly Large Abstract Print Crinkle Gauze purchased at Fabric Mart
 

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

No alterations were made.
 

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

I would like to make View A in a solid. New Look 6516 is a New Look  "Easy" pattern.  This pattern does require an difficult skills.  However attaching the skirt together but be frustrating to a baby sewer.  So I would recommend this pattern to an "infant sewer (beginner sewer comfortable with basic sewing skills)"  not a "newborn sewer"(newborn sewer is very new to working with sewing patterns and not comfortable with basic sewing skills).
 

Conclusion: 

I decided to make View C.  I cut a size 18 and then had to take it in an inch.  Next time, I will cut a smaller size.  This pattern was pretty tricky.  This skirt requires a lot of fabric.  Gathering the middle and bottom was easy but attaching the middle to the top skirt required some hand basting and patience.  The bottom ruffle piece was Huge.  I felt like I was hemming for days.  It was definitely worth it.  

I gathered the front and back separately to avoid the thread breaking and having to start over.  I love this Look and how flowy it is.  

Progress Report 

Fall Sewing Plan:  Do you remember my goal?  30 projects in 90 days.  If not, then check out my post here. With all of the chaos from Hurricane Irma I have fallen behind schedule.  This is my first project.  I am not going to give up.  I am crossing off one skirt from my list.

29 more projects in 78 days

5 tops

3 skirts 2 more skirts

1 pair of pants or a jumpsuit (first time for everything 

8  dresses

1 cape

2 tops for my tween

2 shorts for my son

1 romper for my 3 year old

1 dress for my 3 year old 

2 dresses for my 6 year old 

2 rompers for my toddler

1 dress for my mom

And something for DH.

1 Year Blogiversary

😉Today's my Blogiversary!!! Woohoo!!!  Today marks the one year anniversary of my blog.  It's crazy how fast time flies.

Why blog:
This blog started as a way for me to document my projects.  I was hoping that my adventure as a baby sewer would help new sewers overcome problems they face along the way.  I envisioned experienced sewers and seamstress would offer tips and tricks of the trade.

First year thoughts:
I have enjoyed this first year.  Sometimes I get off track and sometimes I get overly excited and forget to add details to my reviews.  I will make an effort to post reviews with a lot of details.  Sometimes I forget to take photos of my projects.  Unfortunately, that leads to projects that have not been post d.  I have three complete projects that I made in July.  I will try to take photos this week.

There was a month or two where I pressured myself to make way to projects on a deadline.  That is not realistic.  Every project is different and require different skills.  I had to slow down  and enjoy the process.

Confession:
I thought that sewing would be easy and I would be a pro and that is not the case.  There's times where I want to throw my sewing machine out the window.  I haven't done that yet.   I have learned to step away from my sewing machine and sometimes I work on a different proj Ct.    It's okay to not be perfect.  Did I say that?  Yeah yes I did.  It's okay not to get it right the first time.  Try and try again.  Isn't that what we tell our children?  Patience is a virtue.  That is how we should do everything in life.  Do every task with patience and with passion.There's some skills that we have to practice before getting it right.

Where it began:
When I was 14 my mom sat me in front of a sewing machine and thought me how to make home decor.  Never did I think that 20 years later I would be sewing garments.  Mom thank you for having patience with me.  Here is a picture of my first garment.

I made this skirt following Mimi G's maxi skirt tutorial.  I was 7 months pregnant when I made this skirt.

I decided to compile a list of all of my favorite project from my first year.

 Favorite Projects from my First Year:

First Formal gown--actually the only formal gown but not the last!

Vogue 1520

First time working with Sequin 

My daughter's Valentine's day dance outfit New Look 6388

Favorite jacket Burda 7734

Favorite skirt McCall 7540

Favorite Outfit. Self drafted knit pencil skirt and Mimi G flutter top

Favorite Mommy and Me Outfits
Simpicity 1451 and Simplicity 8124

Favorite cold shoulder dress

Favorite Trendy

What I've learned:
-Patience lots of it!
-Start projects early. Working on last minute projects results in very little sleep, frustration, and mistakes
-Organizing projects
-Hoarding, I mean stashing. Lol! I have over 400 patterns and way too much fabric and notions.  I think I am addicted.
-Always do your research before starting your project.  Sometimes you have to look at a RTW garment for tricks.

We're off to start year 2 of this blog!  I can't wait to see where this adventure takes me!!!

Happy Sewing!

South Florida Hurricane Irma

Good morning all.
Thank you for all of your prayers.
I hope all is well.  South Floridians had a rough weekend.  Last Saturday a category 5 Hurricane 400 miles wide) was on a direct path to hit South Florida.  By Saturday night it was a Category 4 storm.  Surprisingly Hurricane Irma shifted to the west.  We were not directly hit but we experienced the "dirty" side of the storm.

We've lived in South Florida for 11 years and this was our first time experiencing a hurricane.  I feel like this was a bad dream.  Until I step outside an see fallen trees, tarps on houses covering damage rooftops, and flooded roads.    We did not get much sleep and we lost electricity.  Actually 6.2 million homes lost power.  Like I said earlier, we had a rough weekend.

Fallen trees 

Sunday morning- Tornado activity outside my window

The dirty side of the hurricane has a lot of tornado activity.

Waterspout near the beach

Every area hit by the storm experienced some sort of damage.  I don't want to go into too much detail because you have probably hear a lot about the storm in the News.  I will leave it at this; there's still a lot of cleaning to do. 

We are alive!  Thank you for your prayers.  

There's a lot of people who lost everything during Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey.  If you would like to help, CBSnews has provided a list of every organization providing urgent relief

 Please help those in need.  Every little thing helps!  Have a terrific weekend!

Hurricane Irma

Good Afternoon all,

I will not be able to post any completed projects for a few days. I live in beautiful South Florida.

This is a video of Fort Lauderdale beach before the storm

We are preparing for Hurricane Irma and will probably evacuate.. Right now Hurricane Irma is a Category five hurricane and we are expecting the worst. Please keep us in your prayers. And We will be praying for everyone in Irma's path. I will post again after the storm.

Have a safe weekend!

Vogue 1531 getting there

I'm making progress.  I wore my birthday dress on my birthday.  Since I was going to church I decided to wear it with a blazer.  The blazer hid the two issues that I mention below.

Here's the front:  It does not look bad.

Here's the back: 

I could not find a zipper to match the color of my fabric.  But I hate how the white zipper looks.

Bodice: Puckering of the side

 

 

My zipper looks like a snake.

 

 

v4000

 

McCall Fall Patterns 2017

Shame on me!I forgot that McCall had not released their fall patterns.  In my mind, I had convinced myself that the Pre-fall release was the Fall release.  In one of the Facebook sewing groups, one of the members mentioned a pattern from the fall release and I did not recognize the photo that was attached to the post.  So I moseyed  on over to the McCall website to surprise McCall released their fall pattern.  I have to admit I am very impressed with what they have designed.

McCall 7648If you've been reading my blog for a while you know that I have four daughters so this pattern is perfect.  I can use one pattern to achieve five adorable looks.   This is a must have in my list!

McCall 7651: Too hot to handle! I love this look!  I have to make view B and maybe view C.  This is a Look that I want to try.

McCall 7652: I've never made a dress with side panels nor have I ever worn a dress with side panels.  I am in love with view D.

McCall 7653: I have been looking for a pattern like this for a while now. I'm in love with every style. I will definitely be picking up this pattern and I am in love with View C and D

McCall 7654:Too hot to handle! The dress  at the model is wearing his hat I am I am in love with all four views

View C is great Look!  Do I need another dress?  No.  But I really really want this one.

I want every view!   I foresee this pattern being very popular in the sewing community.

Wow!  Need I say more.

Now for this pattern I love view B and see how also Lakeview a I like how it's the like the high empire waist and I think that would look great especially with my large bust and do you see the sleeves!

Love! Love! Love! I love this looks great and making this patt me in a sweater knit was brilliant.

I've never made a pair of pants but I love this pattern in this pattern might be the pattern that I use for my first pair pants I am in love with a view C and D

What do you think about McCalls fall release?