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Meet my new Fourth of July uniform, let's call her "Forever The Fourth" – Simplicity 3773. I was desperately putting this thing together Wednesday night to wear to a parade on Thursday. There are no zippers, or buttons, and it isn’t lined. I have my zoom zoom so it should easily be done in two hours. Well, that didn’t happen. It ended up we skipped the parade too so I was able to finish it under less-stressful conditions.
You may not be able to tell, but I added piping to the outer edges and facings at the armholes to enclose the seams. I would have piped the pockets too but I ran out. I added 1-1/2” to the shoulder seam to make sure my bra straps would stay hidden. My only problem with fit is the right collar. I pressed it to death to get it to look somewhat acceptable but it really wants to stand away from my body by about ½”. Yea, I can live with that.

Now meet my two most recent waders. Number one I’m calling “How Do You Take Everyone’s Favorite Pattern And Make It Look Bad?” I bought the pattern after seeing it on PR’s top ten list last spring. I bought the fabric from JoAnn’s. Last summer I made a top using a similar fabric. This is a knit fabric with some sort of clear coating stamped on in a print design – but the coating doesn’t melt!? Anyway, I had a fit with the top, my machine hated that fabric. So the pink dress, all cut out and ready to sew, sat in a holding drawer for an entire year. I either needed to dump it or make it and for some unknown reason, when I’m still feeling pressed for sewing time, I decided to sew it. Well, I’m happy to report that my zoom zoom had nooooo problem with the fabric. The big problem is that the fabric has no stretch. Ugh. Even if it looks okay on the picture, it feels horrible! I don’t like the length either! Yuk, it’s already in the donation bag.

And number two, “I Knew It Was Wrong Before I Even Bought The Pattern.” Vogue 8552. I don’t know if I’ll ever outgrow this habit. In my quest to try something new I picked out something that I knew deep down wasn't going to work. But, I refused to listen to my little voice and found some lightweight linen from my stash. I don’t have too many pieces in my stash that are more than two years old, but this was one of them. I didn’t make any changes to the pattern but the detail that really convinced me it wouldn’t look good, was the neckline. It’s too low. The necklace helps but… I think the other disaster factor is the color. Never should have ever purchased fabric that color. This pattern goes in the “it’s just not me” file and the dress joins pinky in the donation bag.

This dress almost didn’t make it. It’s vintage Simplicity, #6499 . I thought it would be so cool to match a boring old shift pattern with a funky print. (I just love all the cotton prints that are out there and am constantly looking for something besides a craft project to make with them.) At first I was looking to the Amy Butler fabrics, but then I found this fabric in my stash. It’s a Michael Miller print that, I think, I bought it a JoAnn’s last year. I didn’t even try to match the pattern in the front because I didn’t have any fabric to spare. The reason it almost didn’t make it was the neckline. I think I used the wrong SA’s, I mean I didn’t sew the same width that I cut. I used to cut every single neckline with a 3/8” SA no matter what the pattern called for. I’m not sure why, but I gotten away from that. Well, I think t’s because I started forgetting to sew them that width. Anyway, if the zipper is open too far the entire collar stands away from my neck. I was going to just remove the collar, but a day came when I was desperately looking for something besides shorts and a t-shirt to wear. I played around with it a bit and decided it would work just fine as it is.




I thought my schedule would slow down a little but I decided to take a class. (Instrument repair – and it is the BEST class I’ve every taken! The first day we completely took a clarinet apart! Yes, we did manage to put them back together and they are playable ;)) One more week of trying to manage all the summer schedules, learn something fun, and do lots of driving (it’s about an hour’s drive one way to my class). Then the real summer sewing will begin :) Happy sewing to all!