RTW refashion

I am slightly obsessed with this fabric: I loooove the colors, the pattern, the feel, and the fact that it doesn't wrinkle!

I found it at Target a few years ago. It was a bit too long for me and lacked shaping, but I just had to buy it for the fabric. I knew I would have to adjust it a bit, but I just didn't know how. I thought about shortening it, but the thought of cutting off some of that lovely fabric didn't sit well with me. So I decided to add elastic to the sides. The elastic added interest and allowed me to shorten it without losing any of the fabric!

KwikSew 3887 - A shiny leo

The fabric for this biketard was picked by my kiddo. She calls it her Rapunzel leotard for the colors. It's so shiny, you need sunglasses.

This is KwikSew 3887. It was so much fun to sew! It was quite straightforward; the only fiddly part was the elastic application. The golden band added an element of fun to this otherwise fairly easy sew.

Pattern: KwikSew
View: B
Size: 7?
Fabric: Pink, purple, gold shiny dancewear spandex from JoAnn.
Things I learned: 
* I am starting to tame my coverstitch machine. :)

Tilly and the Buttons - Francoise dress

Ever since the Francoise dress came out, I knew I had to sew it up! I used to have two similar A-line dresses that had French darts, and I just loved wearing them. Francoise has the same silhouette, so I knew it would be a winner!

You see, at times, I used to fall in love with a pattern, only to find out that sewn up, it didn't really flatter my figure. The more I sew, the better I get about only buying patterns that I know will work for me, but every now and then I still make mistakes. I knew that Francoise would NOT be a mistake.

Going by my measurements, I thought I would need a size 4. When I sewed it up, it came out a bit big, so next time, I will go down to a size 3. (Later, when I made Coco, I also confirmed that size 3 allowed it to hang comfortably on my body but not be too baggy.)

For the fabric, I decided to go with this patchy looking stretch, medium-weight denim-like fabric. I bought it years ago, and I liked it so much at the time that I bought probably 5-6 yards of it total. It was also on sale. You can use both sides of it, and I chose to use the brighter, reverse side. Looking back at the fabric now, I am not nearly as in love. In fact, I am looking at it with "What was I thinking??"

What's interesting about this fabric is that it stretches lengthwise. And because it's very very very wide, I had no trouble cutting the Francoise out on the cross grain. This means that I have tons of fabric left over to experiment with other patterns. I figured worst case scenario it would be a toile, best case scenario a wearable toile that I can wear for running errands.

I also decided to add piping to the raglan sleeve line. That looked cute, but didn't turn out to be very comfortable. So next time, I will omit it.

I might fiddle with making the neckline a bit more open, but otherwise I just love this exaggerated A-line silhouette.

Just like the Coco, I can see myself making the Francoise over and over and over. It would look smashing in a little black dress version or in a brocade; any fabric that has some structure.

Pattern: Tilly and the Buttons - Francoise
View: Sleeveless view, without the front placket.
Size: 4, 3
Fabric: Pink patchy stretch fabric (kind of like medium-weight denim from JoAnn. Navy piping.
Things I learned: 
* I am now certain that size 3 is the highest I should go in Tilly and the Buttons patterns.
* I think next time, I will add 1 inch in length at the hem.
* Note to self: don't add piping.

Simplicity 8212 - Fleece leggings

Not fancy sewing, just something useful: I made fleece leggings to go along with the fleece dresses both for my Mom and myself. They keep us warm and cozy this winter.

I made a toile to test the fit for the leggings, and both for my Mom and myself, I had to make simple but quite a few adjustments (see below) in the pattern.

The dress and pants have become a winter staple in my wardrobe, and they are in constant rotation.

Pattern: Simplicity 8212
View: A (mid-rise)
Size: M, L
Fabric: black no-pill fleece

Things I learned:
* I had to make quite a few adjustment to the fit. This seems to be the case for me for Simplicity pants patterns: they tend to be too short in the center back and too high in the center front. I added 1 and 1/2 inches to the back and removed the same amount from the front, connecting both sides to the original side-seam length.

*I also used the size S cutting line at the bottom of the legs to shorten the length, because the toile that I had made was too long.

* Because the fleece is not quite as stretchy as the activewear fabrics this pattern was designed for, I decided to serge only a 1/4 inch seam allowance at the side seams of each leg and at the crotch seam. I left the 5/8 seam allowance where the waistband joins the pant legs. I probably could have gotten away with a little bit of a snugger fit, but I didn't want to risk them turning out not stretchy enough.

* I constructed these pants almost exclusively on the serger. I did use my sewing machine to hem the pants. I hemmed them flat. If there is one thing I really don't like fiddling with is hemming small circumferences in the round. And I sewed in the elastic with a zigzag stitch. (I don't know about you, but my sewing machine does not like zigzag stitches on stretchy things like elastic or swim- and activewear: it always skips stitches. I need to figure out why. I use stretch needles on those, which helps, but it's still not great....)