Pattern Review Sewing Bee – Round 1 Entry

So I decided to enter the PR sewing bee this year – YIKES! I think (hope) it might be fun and we’ll see how far I get.

The first round required us to make a blouse using woven material, set-in sleeves, some type of closure, etc. So I made Vogue 8772. It’s a blouse with a tie neck/collar.

I made View B. I figured this would be perfect for Fall (and it’s very on-trend right now). I used a silky polyester fabric that is very soft and smooth.

This type of paisley print is one of my favorites. I used brown buttons with red buttonholes because I really like the contrast.

I also like the shirt-tail hem of the blouse. This is something I can see making again. Anyway, I’ll see how far I get in the competition. In any case, I have a great blouse that I never would have made this fast if not for the sewing bee!

Closet clean out & Fall sewing plan

The other day I decided to clean out my closet in order to reorganize and make room for new stuff. When you sew as much as I do, and I’m sure many of you have experienced this as well, you can easily run out of room to store the new things you’ve made. So I decided it was time to purge.

I ended up with about three bags of clothing and purses to donate and only a few things to trash. I also found a few things that need fixing in some way (hemming, etc.).

I thought this would be a good way to get me to start thinking about sewing for the next season. It’s a little difficult since temps are still in the 90’s and summer is in full effect here. But I thought I’d at least try a sewing plan. The clean up did help me to see what I’m lacking and what I would like to have.

The next step will be to write out what I’d like to make and maybe add some pattern options for those garments. I should also add color options as well. Then, when I really sit down to sew for Fall, I can forget about everything I had planned and buy new patterns like I always do – Ha Ha!

That’s all for now.

Another skirt…

Initially I wasn’t going to blog about this skirt, but then I thought, “why not?” So here it is. It is one of my favorite patterns – McCall’s 3341. This is a very easy pattern for an A-line skirt which is flattering on just about anyone. This can be made in a few hours (yes it really is that easy). Honestly, it took me a few days because I got distracted – LOL!

This is made from a wine-colored corduroy. I didn’t make any changes to the pattern (which can be made in 5 lengths, by the way) but I did use an invisible zipper since that’s what I had and the color matched perfectly. There was a time, not too long ago, when I dreaded using invisible zippers because they were so difficult for me to get right. Now, I can hardly remember how to insert a regular zipper (I actually had to look it up). Practice makes progress as some people like to say.

The blouse in the picture is another McCall’s pattern – 2094. It may be OOP, but it’s a great basic blouse pattern with different sleeve lengths.

Anyway, that’s all for now. Happy sewing everyone!