First day of sewing - Butterick 5383

Ok so I gathered my courage and put my (skinny size 60) needle to fabric.

I started with the darts; back and front.

 

 Inside of the back dart

 

Outside of the back dart

 

Outside of the front dart

Then I sewed the 2 back panels together

 

 

Not too bad so far. The only "snag" I have run into thus far is what ever material this is, the edges are fraying pretty bad and at one point while sewing the back panels together, the fuzzies got caught up with the thread in the needle and the top thread broke. So I remedied the jam, re-threaded and continued.

Next I put 2 gather stitches on each side of the front panel and also stay stitched the bottom of the V neck area. (Sorry no pictures of that... kinda routine/boring/normal. But how about a scanned pic :) )

 

And lastly I pulled the right front side gather stitch and then stitched it to the right back side.

 

  

  

And that is what I have done so far. The only thing I am not too trilled with is the gather. Mine is not as rouchy (sp?) as I could like it to be, nor as what the photo and direction pictures look like... but other than that still trucking along.

Although I have glanced ahead on the directions and I am not really sure what the next step (step 6) means. (It says; "to stay left side opening edge, cut seam binding using back Patter Tissue [2] as guide. Cut seam binding the length of seamline between small circles, plus 1/2".)

Anyone have any clues?

My first grown-up article of clothing.... aka a sewing adventure....yikes!!

Ok, so I have decided to blog through my first clothes sewing adventure. I hope I have not gone in over my head with this first one. We will all find out!!

So here is the dress I am making... Butterick 5383

  

This is the fabric I chose, and I hope it works because it was not one of the fabrics recommended on the pattern. Butterick recommended Stretch Wovens, Ponte Knits and Jersey. All of which I have no idea what they are! (I suppose I better learn these things if I am going to start sewing my own clothes!!) (Side note, I have been reading Dawn for many weeks now and hope to make beautiful clothes like hers one day!!)

So I have done a tissue fitting just like Gertie has instructed me to! 

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

(And P.S. I can only hope that someone who knows how to sew is reading this because then they can stop me at every point and say "WAIT!! You are making a huge mistake doing A... It is supposed to be done in manner B." So if you are out there and reading please speak up and offer all sorts of advice and knowledge!)

Here is what I found out during my tissue fitting. I definitely need to move into the real world and just buy the pattern based on what the measurements say on the flap!! I am a buying clothes size 12, but definitely not a size 12 is sewing measurements! So here is what I changed;

1. I added 2 inches to the shoulder length because the arm opening was squeezing the life out of my armpit.

 

 

 

2. I added 2 inches to the front and back because I should have bought a larger pattern size!! Which automatically added 1.5 inches to the neck line. (I don't know how I would have been able to prevent this.....)

 

  

3. Since I lengthened the shoulder strap on the dress by 2 inches I also added 2 inches in the neck binding. And I also added 1.5 inches because I lengthened the neck when I widened the dress. (This part threw me for a loop for a long while and I starred at this pattern piece for a long time before I cut and decided what to do with it!!)

 

 

4. Finally I added the adjustments to the inside lining pieces as well.

 

So after all this I measured many many times and then cut the fabric... I was a little nervous I must admit! (I know the bottom hem is not straight, but I actually didn't cut it, I left it from the original fabric in case I need more hem. I am going with the longer B version of the dress because I am so tall, it actually hits me at the knee. So I left the crocked bottom just in case :) )

 

 

So I think that's all so far! I am going to go into my sewing room and stare at my cut outs and try to get the courage up for putting a needle in them!! (Reminder to self..... change the huge needle in your machine from 90 to 60...)

Here I go...

3 Column Confusion.... Help!

***EDIT***

Ok well I have figured out the 3 column thing! But now it won't let me use the banner I made in the header. I have it uploaded in the layout widget and it loads on the widget page, but it doesn't show up on my blog page.... any suggestions? I have never had this problem before....

This is what I am trying to use....

__________________________________________________________________________________
I have been fussing with all the blogger templates and I just can't seem to figure out how to make my blog a 3 column layout.

Can anyone help me with this?

Here are some examples of blogs I read on blogspot that have 3 columns.

Here

Here

Here

Here

Best breakdancing ever

The kid in the orange shirt, he is AWESOME!

Best breakdancing ever.

What I did today...

So it's the day after the birthday soiree and I have many much moosen things to do! Yesterday was just and average day, but it was still wonderful none the less. I did regular morning things and then went to work in the afternoon, but it was the hanging out with the people I love in the evening that made it joyous. I ate cake (it was yum!) and we sang worship and there was craft gifts involved :) But today my list is long a drawn out.
Here is what I had to do this morning....

 

Phew! I am so glad that is out of the way! It was the most important item on today's list. I suppose now I can go relax with peace of mind until lunch and then it's off to work!

P.S. Any suggestions for future faces? Send me a description. Or better yet a photo of you doing it yourself!

Birthday Sale!!!

I decided since this is the week of birthdays at our house, that I would have a week of sales at the Etsy shop! So go look around and save! :)

Decoupage Out of Control!!!

I love making boring everyday things, unboring and un-everyday :) I am slowly transforming the things in my house to reflect that :) Here is my latest decoupage project;

I think I probably have Kristen to thank because she was the one who first introduced me to the wonderful bliss of Mod Podge in college! Then I found this site and the creative projects just took off!

I started by cleaning the whole cabinet and taking out the drawers. I also took off the handles, but unfortunately no amount of unscrewing and hand tools could get the lock out, so I just left it on :( The I measured and cut my fabric. After that easy breezy, paint down your decoupage and then lay your fabric over it. I also coated the outside with another layer of Mod Podge.

While I was at it I figured I would make a matching light switch cover too! :)