Tag Archives: pajamas

2015 catch up

Here we are, almost halfway through February, and I still have not posted about all the things I made in the tail end of 2015.  Let’s take care of that now before 2016 comes to a close and I am in the same spot again.  In the last two months of 2015 I used 40.5 yards of fabric for my own projects.  This total doesn’t include the fabric I used from the Bristol Opera House to make costumes for one of their productions.  Those 40.5 yards made up 15 new garments for myself and others, none of which have been blogged about.

What did I make?

I made another version of McCall’s 6744 back in August. This time I made view C, the short faux wrap version out of a purple floral ITY I got at a fabric sale we had at work over the summer.  This version and the first version both remain unphotographed as I am never going to wear them in public as dresses. The amount of ease in the pattern makes them so incredibly unflattering on my body. This is one of the three baggy fitting dresses I made in 2015.   I will wear them as swimsuit cover ups for when we next go to Dale Hollow Lake, but that is it.  It is just not something I can wear and feel confident in.

I made a couple of Halloween costumes in October for Eric and my niece.  My niece requested a Wonder Woman costume way back in March, so of course I put it off until October.  I used a Jalie 2792 to make it.  I am going to write a  tutorial for October about converting this pattern because it is so versatile.  What Wonder Woman costume wouldn’t be complete without a cape?  I drafted a simple cape to go with her Leotard.  I also made Eric a costume for our annual Halloween party.  We went with a carnival theme this year and he was the carnival barker.  That meant he needed a great tail jacket.  I had some iridescent red/black shantung that had been languishing in my stash for ages.  I used McCall’s 6143, which I have used before, and it turned out perfectly.  Between both costumes I used a bunch of scraps and 3 yards of stashed fabrics.   I tried to take some pics but they turned out pretty bad, too dark, kinda blurry, just all around not great on my part.  So I do not have anything that I am willing to share for these.  Although you can see the Wonder Woman leotard in my Instagram feed.

Musings of a Seamstress - summer concert tee

I started November off by making another Dixie DIY’s Summer Concert Tee. This is my fifth version of this tee.  Goodness, I love this pattern and for good reason!  It is such a quick easy make with only three pattern pieces, four if you use the sleeve bands.  The pattern hack options are virtually endless too.   It is super flattering when worn belted at the midsection too.  For this version I used two yards of a super soft jersey knit from one of the Girl Charlee Knitfix bags.  I call this tee secret pajamas because it is so incredibly soft and comfy.  You can check out a few of my previous versions here and here.

Musings of a Seamstress - PJ pants

Between the end of November and December I made nine pairs of pajama pants, one of which is not pictured above. Four of the pairs are for myself, two are for Eric and three are for gifts.  I used 12 yards of stash flannel and 10.5 yards of new flannel that I purchased on Black Friday from Jo-Ann Fabrics.  One of the pairs I made for myself is even sewing themed!  I love making pajama pants because they are quick, easy and a great stashbuster.  I am wearing the pink fox print pair right now and they are super comfy.

I even squeezed in two new vests for Eric, but have not managed to photograph either one. One is a brown plaid with a little bit of orange in it.  The other is a gray and black plaid.  These have been on my to do list for at least a year now since he has been asking for a brown vest after I made the very first one.  I am glad I finally got around to making them.  I, of course, used my TNT vest pattern, Simplicity’s Project Runway 2870. This pattern is sadly now out of print, but if you have it in your stash I recommend it.  I have lost count of how many versions of this pattern I have made.  They are definitely a staple in Eric’s work wardrobe.  Most of the fabrics for these came from the stash, since they have been on the to do list for awhile.   Between the two vests I used up 3 more yards of stash fabric.  I only had to purchase 1.5 yards of lining for one of them, which I used all of.

I did end 2015 with six UFO’s!  I am not pleased about having any UFO’s, but six isn’t too bad when I look at the total of what I did complete.  Sadly, one of the UFO’s just needs a rolled hem and it is done.  A couple of them are undergarments for my next renaissance costume, so those are definitely going to get done this year.  The others are summer garments that I hope to get too in the spring.  I am not feeling motivated to sew the swimsuit muslin and subsequently the actual suit when there is snow on the ground and icicles hanging from my gutters.  To be fair though, I am also not motivated to sew the winter coat I want to make either since it has been a much milder winter.  What can I say, I am a fickle sewist!

For now it is back to February sewing and stashbusting.  How is your 2016 going so far?

Motivation Outfit and PJ’s

Butterick 5153

First pajamas!  I made three pairs today.  These two use B5153, my TNT pajama pattern.  The key pattern is a pair of shorts for myself using 1 1/4 yards of stash flannel that I got at Jo-Ann’s last November.  The Bears print is a pair of pants that I have had cut out since November.  I figured if I was making pajamas today I might as well finish a UFO while I was at it.  Yay for getting things out of my overly crowded sewing room.

Now, I did say that I made three pairs today, but I only have a picture of two.  Why?!?  Well the third pair was for Eric and he hijacked them as soon as I was done with them.  He won’t let me take a picture of him in them either.  Booooo!!  At any rate, for the third pair I used pattern B6837 and 2 yards of orange, white, and black plaid from the stash.

I feel like these are very boring sewing makes since they are so easy and there is nothing else to say about them than my fabric usage.  Even with that it is much needed, cake sewing that I am glad to do since it uses up my stash.

Musings of a Seamstress

This is something a little more fun!  I made this way way back at the beginning of April.  I used Butterick 6837 for the top and bottom.  This is one of Gertie’s patterns for Butterick.  I love it!  I really wanted to try cigarette pants, pastels, and vintage styles this spring/summer and this satisfied all three of those. It was very easy to construct.  The only change I made was to add four buttons to the top instead of the two it called for.  Before I get into the details of this outfit I want to share why I am not wearing it.

When I decided to make this I realized that this pattern went up to a size 20, and I normally wear a 22.  Now, I could have just sized the patterns up a bit to make it work for me , but I decided to make it at a size 18.  Crazy, right!?!  Clearly it isn’t going to fit…yet.  I am working to lose 40 lbs total by fall.  So far I have lost 10 lbs and in another 10 lbs this outfit should fit!  I figure if I was down 20 lbs I would feel more comfortable wearing this because of where the top hits. Ten more pounds!  Ten more pounds!  This is definitely motivation to keep going.  I want to wear this outfit!

Musings of a Seamstress

For the top I used 1 1/2 yards of a lilac purple linen from the stash.  I got this fabric in a mystery bundle from Fabric Mart at some point in the last two years but I don’t know exactly when.  I was originally going to give this fabric away because I thought I would never use it.  I am glad I didn’t.  My favorite detail about this top that I didn’t catch from the pattern envelope is the back of the collar.  I love that it dips up and over laps.  It is unique!  The only downside to this top is that because I used linen it is pretty much permanently wrinkled.  Win some, lose some.

Musings of a Seamstress

 For the cigarette pants I used 2 1/4 yards of floral print stretch twill from the stash.  This also came from a Fabric Mart mystery bundle.  I really really like the mystery bundles!  I remember that when I first pulled this fabric out of the bundle I new I wanted to make some sort of skinny jeans with it and then this pattern came along.  I knew immediately that this was the right fabric for these pants.  I love the pocket detail on these. It was one of the easiest pockets I have ever put in, but to be fair I haven’t really made a lot of pants.

I have never worn anything of this style or even floral printed pants so I have no idea if when I lose the weight this will work for me, but I so want it too.  This outfit is just fun.  One of the things I want to sew more of is pants and fun pants at that.  In the fall I pretty much only wear dark denim jeans and I want to change that this year by wearing more business like attire to work.  I have a few other fabric in my stash that I know I want to use for pants and I just bought the Sewaholic Thurlow Trouser pattern.

I am almost caught up with my blogging. I still have a couple of other projects I need to blog about, including my March of the Shieldmaiden dress.  Pretty sure I won’t blog about that one until I wear it to the ren faire in September though.  For the rest of tonight and tomorrow I will be making a fitting garment or two so that I can recover Broke Down Betty and make her fabulous!  That will be a whole post on it’s own to add to my blogging list.