Everything I haven't blogged

I've wanted to come back to this blog for a long time, but I allowed myself to put things off and then I allowed myself to be stymied by all the things I had wanted to write about, but hadn't. I've done a lot of sewing over the past couple of years, and my body has changed enough that I can't even wear some of those beloved items.

Anyway, I thought I might briefly recap my favorites from the past couple of years, just in case someone is looking for information about any of these patterns. So many photos ahead!

First up is my plaid flannel tuxedo shirt. This shirt is everything. It was so worth the effort I put into it. It felt good to wear and always looked sharp in a quirky casual way. This was the Burda envelope pattern 7136. It's a reasonably decent pattern, which I wrote about previously. 

This is the Carolyn & Cassie Perth Dress, which I made in a blue eyelet. I loved the look of this dress, but I found it difficult to sit in. I have retraced this pattern in my current size and have made a few other changes to make it more comfortable when seated.

I made this shift dress from my trusty vintage pattern. It's Simplicity 8854. I played with the pattern pieces to make a front yoke this time. The vaguely floral-feeling paint splotch fabric is a lightweight stretch cotton.

Here's my Seamwork Amber sundress (with the A-line skirt) that I made for the first Portland Frocktails! This was comfortable in this mid-heavy very stretchy cotton twill.

This rainbow cat print top got lots of unsolicited compliments when I was out and about. Even at the grocery store! I used the Grainline Alder pattern for this one. The print is very fun, but the fabric is a quilting cotton and I find it to be a little scratchy. You can see here that originally I had two chest pockets, but even though I had measured correctly, they were not evenly balanced. Rather than forcing the two to work, I just removed one.

This Jasper Sweater still gets a lot of wear, but I remember really struggling with this pattern. There was something difficult about lining up the hood/yoke to the body. I also made the project more complicated by lining the hood. The fabric is a French terry, and is nice to wear when a light layer is needed.

This rayon pull-over blouse is made from the bones of that Burda 7136 shirt pattern. There are definitely things that are wrong with my drafting on this, but it is great to wear at the office. It is warm, but breathable and not static-prone.

I look forward to wearing my zebra print Jalie Yoko turtleneck when the weather gets cooler. I remember that on this one I cut the collar in two pieces so there is a seam along the top edge instead of a fold. This allowed me to use the wrong side of the fabric against my neck. The zebras printed on this fabric have a bit of a texture that I thought I might find unpleasant on my neck.

I made these wide-leg pants from another vintage pattern McCalls 5197. These red pants are made from a thrifted IKEA cotton curtain. I love these so much that I made another pair in a light beige heavy linen-rayon. They are a little tight around the waist now, but still wearable.

I made this cute top from the Tessuti Bondi Dress pattern. I found a remnant of embroidered white cotton at a charity event and I lined it with a soft white cotton sheet. It's still breezy, but not translucent. This one I have a difficult time wearing, because it is astoundingly difficult to find a racer-back bra in my size. I am on the hunt, though.

This dress is a mash-up of the Style Arc Toni Designer Dress and the Tessuti Lily Linen Dress. I loved the collar but not the body of the Toni, so I put it on the Lily, which has simpler lines. The pockets on the Lily should be avoided, though. The construction is odd and difficult to make look nice after washing. I made this out of an ikat I purchased from Bolt Fabrics and I underlined the fabric with a sheer cotton shirting from Mill End. The underlining provides stability and strength to the loose weave of this ikat.

For the second Portland Frocktails I made the Tessuti Lois dress out of a rayon that had been in my stash for many years. This one is fun to wear: light and swishy with a dramatic neckline.

I made the Victory Patterns Lola Sweatshirt Dress and while it is comfortable to wear, it is a huge fabric hog due to the pocket design. This one needs some sneaky pockets sewn inside the GIANT pockets to keep anything I put in there from sliding to the back and becoming unreachable. I have since modified the pattern pieces to avoid this in the future, should I ever find sweatshirt material that I like. 

And finally, I made this sweater dress from a piece of knit boucle. It is underlined with a cotton interlock. I love this dress, but the seam allowances are mildly itchy and the biceps are a little tight. I traced this pattern off a thrifted cowl-necked sweater dress, but I changed the neckline to something simpler that would fit nicely under coats and work with scarves. Maybe I can hand-stitch some rayon bias tape over the seam allowances to make this less itchy.