Hello YELLOW!

I started catching the yellow bug last year, there were several garments that caught my eye. My summer wardrobe for about four years had been in shades of turquoise and orange/melon. I needed a change. Welcome change:


First, I really don't plan on ever wearing the first outfit like that. It's a little LOUD. I already had the skirt on and wanted a new picture of the top. I posted a review on PR for the yellow blouse (McCall's 5803) but the review shot is before I tamed the wild ruffles. This picture shows the tamed, yes, I said tamed ruffles. You can click on the sidebar or here if you want to read the review. I really haven't written that many reviews lately...mostly because my sewing hasn't been anything to write about!

The best garment this week was this yellow skirt (recently OOP Vogue 7857) but if you enlarge the picture you’ll see something funky going on underneath the button at the waistband. Oh, and if you look at the back you’ll notice that the belt loops are not quite evenly-spaced. I just can't seem to keep track of these things when I get interrupted every 10-15 minutes. I did find a simple solution to a big problem (for me) in this skirt. Care to guess? It’s the vent! And there are two in this pattern, no way was I going to manage a perfectly lined vent...twice. The skirt has lining that acts as underlining so it’s attached to the outer fabric like underlining everywhere except the hem. Recently, I read on someone’s site about how to deal with the lining underneath a vent. I am frequently frustrated by this, especially in skirts because I like to make straight skirts. Remember that I’m a picture person? Well, I never get the pattern instructions right when I see how to finish the lining at the vent – I blame it on dyslexia. The rs/ws and r/l are always backwards in my version. In Nancy Zieman’s method you just draw a curve on the lining between the vent opening and the hem. Voila! Edges are finished, lining is effective, but no one can see it.

This dress (OOP Vogue 2412) is from the Liz Claiborne fabrics at EOS. I had intended to make a pencil skirt a la Marji, Lindsayt, Cidell and Carolyn but when I got the fabric I realized that it didn’t have enough body for a skirt. Finally decided on this Vogue pattern and loved it…in my head. I pretty much love the finished version too. It’s just that, as I was getting to the pin-fitting part the bust was waaay too tight! Like 3” too tight, and I knew I had adjusted the pattern. Then the waist seemed really tight (finally realized that I had intended to eliminate one set of darts rather than add more at the side seams). I figured out the mistakes I made with the bust area too and after sewing a ripping for about 45 minutes, well, it’s better than it was. I didn’t use the back facing or bias strips on the armholes as instructed, just lined the whole thing.

(Can you tell these pieces have been worn? Hmmm, the wrinkled linen was a giveaway? I don't stress out about the wrinkles, ever. Wore that outfit yesterday. I wore the dress, w/shorts underneath, this morning as the kids and I rode bikes to their respective camps. It's actually fun to bike in a skirt!)

Comments

Tamara said…
I love yellow. It is such a fresh and fun color. All your garments are very cute!
Lisa said…
Looks good! Nice job.
gwensews said…
I love your yello garments. They are just wonderful. I like a nice, bright yellow in the winter also.
Shannon said…
Lovely yellow! What a bunch of fun and sunny pieces!
Cennetta said…
I really like the sunshine wardrobe. The dress is super cute and the taming of the ruffle is excellent.
Summerset said…
These are wonderful summer pieces! The yellow is great and a differen splash of color.
Meg said…
How bad am I: I still have not worn that pencil skirt! I love your ensemble.