FO: LACEY LAUREL

shades of grandma's upholstery....

and a velvet ribbon I've been lovingly hiding for >10 years

it's my pullover lacey laurel!

I lowered the dart! good job, lady. Then cut the front in a 6 ish, and the back in a 0. I meant to leave out the center seam but forgot.

action shots to come...i expect i'll be rocking this number a bunch in the big ME MADE month of MAY!

simple banded hem and collar because the velvet was hecka hard, and has zero give...I didn't want to stretch and mangle the neckline fighting with ribbon.

woooooooo.

xo

Voila la BellaDarling (Darlingdone?)

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted!! Guess what I made?  It's a challis thing. hahaha i love challis.



I mish mashed the bust flattering Darling Ranges bodice and the pockets and coolio flair of the Belladone.

you could totally see my bra if my arm weren't there. wah wah.

It was a massive pain, the skirt is off center, and the dress is, well, kind of dumpy in the rear. :(

hi low hem? why not. 

that is Olive the Benefit dog. love her. 

but it is verrry comfortable....

where is my waist? ?? ? can you find it? 

and it is eaassssy to play in!  i even dressed it up tonight with some heel-ish sandals and lipstick for a glass of wine with my new favorite sewing neighbor Meg!

So i think it's a win, but, as she and I discussed, different fabrics do yield very different results. So my lightweight, but my crisper poplin-like Belladone looks like a distant cousin to this super drapey rayon challis version.

That is the way it goes, chickens.

catch! 

NOW FOR SOME BUSINESS. It's almost
 !!!!

soooooo

I, Rebecca G of the superstardom at superstarbecca, pledge to wear me made goodies 4 times a week. I want to make it 5, or everyday, but seeing more seasoned sewists pledge so sensibly makes me think I might  be served to listen to their wisdom. Four days a week! I hope to wear more than unders, but me-made unders will do in a pinch.

Yippee! No flakeys like last year- I had just gotten a crazy sewing bug, and then had to abandon ship almost immediately when "life" and a career change intervened. I'm looking forward to success this year!

xoxox
bex

kids clothing week: airplanes!

i shoulda used my new machine for this shirt. the applique and the neckline are pretty horrible.

eek!!

BUT! Little man helped me design the plane, the colors, and the number of placement of the engines. He could tell you what kind of planes these "are", I forgot. :(

Purple fabric is organic ribbed cotton from fabric.com, with contrast bits and bobs from the East Bay Center for Creative Reuse. The grey is not so nice, but it came pre-hemmed! pattern essentials are from Rae's flashback skinny tee.

what's your secret for pretty applique? do you always interface? tell me more!

dance it out, little man.

Kids clothing week: puppy jacket (?!?)

I used primp fabric from Girl Charlee, which is SOOOO SOFT with some disco spandex for contrast trim. There is no such thing (i think?) as sparkly ribbed trim, so i went all the way to discoland.

I made one for her sister last year, and improved a couple of things this time.

Firstly, if you use this pattern, SHORTEN THE CUFFS. they are like 10 inches long (for a kid's 5 inch hand? whuh?)!

the thumb hole is an awesome feature, but it gets awkward with the extra length on each side. I cut 2" from the top and bottom of the pattern piece, and pinched another inch from the center (see below). that's muuuuch. better.

another change I made was to eliminate the facing. who likes facings? for kids, too?? seriously. instead I just included a ribbon trim all the way along the seam where the hood meets the body of the jacket. Of course you could also use twill tape, if you happen to have enough in a complementary or contrasting color.

Include a lil hanging hook while you're at it!

Then, all of our "store bought" hoodies seem to have fabric tabs on their zippers, so i may add that too. What do you think??
 xobex

Laurel draft and black and white submission cause why not?

Yall, i made a Laurel. it's a top, it's modest, it's challis. It's pretty dope but the darts are a little high. I am writing this blog while i preview videos for my teaching performance portfolio and I am having terror about if my students read this. whatever, they'd be bored quickly enough, right?

musing, dreamy, excess headroom 

here she is: Laurel test case, shown here with my atrocious photos and various efforts at styling, posing, and editing. aaahh!

casual, businesslike. meta. 

 friends, the dart is too high for my full mom boobs. can you tell? go ahead, stare below.

crazed picmonkey makeup and text!

 the back fits soooo nicely. and no fasteners OR stretch fabric required?! sarai did some magic on this one. 

fancy: the dual purpose fabric close up and back shot.

I was going to make 800 dresses and tops when I first saw the pattern. Then i saw this and got obsessed with lace. and underwear....

avante garde high contrast!

short story: I AM STUCK about what other versions to make. I need a meetup. Maybe a fabric swap to get the inspiration moving again...are you in!?

xo 

bex 

dream job- for the treats.

Do you read Ohh Lulu? Does a girl like lingerie, I should ask. or Does my bf enjoy iPad racing games? (YES.)

that's my man. 

Anyway, reading about Lulu setting up her office with her buddy this month has made me think about how much I would like to write and offer my services to her- or someone like her. I love that kind of job, where someone else is the boss and is really cool and creative, and I have to do all of the little things to make the business run better, then I get paid :). I suppose Holly is also that person...is there some small creative company in the Bay that needs a Girl Friday? Because I am available Fridays, and could use the extra cash!

I've actually been working like this, freelance, catch as catch can (is that right? what a strange phrase) for another business in town, for almost 10 years now. It's great, I work a little bit here and there and it keeps me in cute shoes, for the most part. And my boss is great, and I work with a tiny network of other creative people freelancing for extra bucks, and it's a cool connection.

much femme-ier in real life. leather like butter. 

Sure would be cool to link that to the sewing crafting making world. Because as much as I can make all of my workout clothes and underpanties and t shirts for my kid, the thing about sewing, is that you still need shoes. In fact, you need cute shoes to bring your cool outfits together. Like the World's Simplest Maxi, which I'm sorry but I still have not photographed but am wearing right this second, is lovely. it is flattering and stylish and sexy without being skeeezer, and it needs nice shoes to bring it to adulthood.

for instance, oxfords. 

Anyway. just a quick meditation on the dream job, and the life that allows a 2-day a week "job" to be enough working for a mom and a creative type. 

I've been sewing bunches, but am getting more self conscious about my crappy photos...we'll see if the man will help with some shots manana. He does such a good job, doesn't he ?

And if you're in the Bay and need a little bookeeping/organization/order fulfillment, do give a holler! 

xo 

bex