My loud scrap busting sewing continues with the poodle top!
This was the leftovers of the blue squares blouse that was too loud… and I think I’ve transformed it into something else that is also… kind of loud
Here’s where we left off. I was finalizing the fit and it was SO MANY poodles!
This peplum used only a forward facing pleat and not a box pleat. That made it have a little less volume as a box pleat includes two pleats that face in toward each other.
From here, I sewed on the peplum and decided to drop the neckline into a v-neck. I think this makes the outfit a little less busy.
This also inspired me (who are we kidding? D totally said I should just make this) to make a basic black pencil skirt. I used the skirt block we developed at Mood U. That pattern is the ULTIMATE pencil skirt and I’m so happy with it.
I am so proud of D! One night we were talking and I asked if he would ever want to try to see how it worked and he agreed that it could be cool.
With that in mind, last night I started to make the poodle peplum to expand further my Carolina Herrera print wardrobe. At first I was working on all the bodice seams for the front and back panels. It then became time to attach them at the shoulder and when I looked at the very straight seam it occurred to me that D could do it!
I grabbed him from the other room and picked up a scrap of I folded in half. From there I showed him how the presser foot went down and then how to hand crack a few stitches forward. I also briefly lifted up the fabric to show how the shuttle circled around to pick up the thread. From there, it was pedal time! He did a great job going forward and then we backstitch a little!
It was time to try again on the final pass on the french seam! I had already sewn the inner seam and so we flipped it inside out and d sewed it down!! I’m so proud of him! See below for more bodice pictures.
After I made this first white blouse from Joannn’s by tracing a shirt from JCrew, I really liked it but when I made it I forgot to account for seam allowances. It was a little tight when it was done.
One day in Chicago it was so hot and humid and I started to go crazy. My sister in law let me borrow a tank top and when my shoulders were free I almost wanted to start buying all my clothes again (omg stretch fabrics are so comfy and I dont sew with them that often)
Something had to change with that white top. I still wear it all the time so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to make a second. I found a white cotton in the eyelet section of mood -it basically has little puffs of threads kind of in a polka dot pattern.
It was time to try and make a new – slightly bigger – shirt!
After working through a series of fabrics that I had accumulated in my summer fabric pile (the podcast I listen to calls it a fabric collection) I felt like I had gotten to a place where I could think about some transitional pieces for fall and winter and try to make some nicer work dresses with sleeves. I got a few things at mood… stay tuned.
First though, I also wanted to make a few more basic work tops that I could match with all of my skirts and continue to use all of my fabric as resourcefully as possible.
I try to bring some balance to my sewing with this approach too. So if I buy new fabric, I need to make sure I’ve used most of the earlier stuff. Similarly, I try to keep an eye on old fabrics and see if there are cute projects I can use for the leftovers.
A while ago, I had discovered that my blue poodle Carolina Herrera fabric seemed to match the blue squares. I had said I’d make a top. Before I dig into my new fabrics, I decided I needed to make this top so that I still had time to wear it in the summer. From there, I could make another blouse with something new.
DressSew had the largest selection of buttons I’ve seen yet! As well as many other sewing materials and fabrics. I wore my Kanye dress and my mom wore the new shirt I made her!
At Atex fabric my mom and I found this wonderful floral linen!
From there we met up with my dad for dinner and had a nice night!
Fresh off the sewing machine and ready for our summer weather! This is a new version of a boxy blouse that I bought in my old store-shopping-life from JCrew.
Paired here with the latest Carolina Herrera poodle print cotton pencil skirt. See more pics below!
Sometimes you finish a project and you look at it and know it’s not quite right. Most of the time I’ll get that feeling and know that I need to continue, but sometimes you want to take a little break. Today was raining so it was a good day to revisit three projects and modify them slightly.
I had made an orange polkadot dress last summer where I tried to create two darts for the bust but they didn’t meet in the right spots. Today I rounded them out into a princess seam.
I also edited my mom’s shirt further to make it a little nicer on the side seams.
I also added on the new tag from my Dad and sewed on a few logos!