A little trip to Cali

Well, it's been a while since my last post. Life has been a bit crazy - but I'm hoping to get my sewing time back soon!  In the meantime, I'm in California, celebrating my sister's 25th wedding anniversary.  It is pretty special to see two people with an amazing marriage renew their vows.  I was lucky enough to be there the first time too!

I made my dress for the event.  The lesson learned for me in this make:

1.  It's worth saving fabric in your stash for the right pattern

2.  Don't be afraid to try different patterns together to get something you are going to like.

What do you mean, Tommie?  Well, the original pattern called for a gathered waist skirt.  The picture looked great on the model, but my readers, you already know about my rectangle shape issue, right?  Not so good on me - you know chunky monkey belly is not cute.  For the first time ever, I modified one pattern to work with another.  The top is from See and Sew B5307.  I actually attached the skirt as called for in the pattern and HATED it.  So I ripped it off and re-cut the skirt from the Selfish Seamstress' Coffee Date dress.  Much better!

And, here it is!

I'm glad I didn't give up and I made it into a dress I would actually wear.  It's a little low cut, but the hubs likes it!  Ha!

Oh yeah!  How great is this fabric?  I loved it when I saw it & knew I wanted a summer dress.  I'm happy I picked up three yards.  That circle skirt took a bit of fabric. I also an quite proud of the stripy mid drift section.  A nice design touch, if I do say so myself.

Fabric Hoarding...

So, every seamstress who has been sewing for any period of time has an arsenal of fabric just waiting to be sewn up.  We use cute phrases, like "stash busting" to lessen our guilt over these sometimes hidden, always present, fabric hoards.  I am, sadly, no different.

This little piece of fabric has been in my hoard for about a year now.  

I loved it when I saw it, and it was made all that more enticing by the fact it was in the remnant bin at 70% off.  I had grand plans for this fabric - perhaps a bag or a pair of shorts.  Ultimately, it became at skirt.  New Look 6106 in size 12 to be exact.

After tracing out my pattern (which for me, is the absolute worst part of sewing), I finally cut into my oh so treasured fabric.  Now, I can't really explain why I love it so...probably because I think that the camo is a little rock and roll and I want to still be a little cool.

Here's a little pic of my pattern tracing.

The sewing came together quickly and was finished over the weekend.  The good news is that this is an easy pattern and I fit this all in between a 7.5 mile run, an 11 mile bike ride and back to school shopping with the girls (that about put me over the edge, but I'll save that story for another day).  The only modifications I made were to insert an invisible zipper vs. a lapped one and to bias bind the waistband facing.  I love how the skirt looks (though, my waist is always an issue and it's a little snug).  Next time, I will add bit of room on the waist and take out a little of the A-line.

See the bias binding?  I love finishing waistbands this way.

Did I mention that the skirt has pockets?  Lovely, utilitarian ones.  Great for holding one's phone while back to school shopping.

And, a few photos of my photogenic self (not!).  

I'm happy I finally cut into my camo fabric...so much better to wear than hoard!