One Week One Pattern Round Up

This was my first year participating in the One Week One Pattern challenge and I must say it was nice to wear some clothes that are not in my normal rotation. I chose to wear my Roza tops from Kate and Rose Patterns. I ended up wearing four blouses on five separate days.

Day 1 (Saturday 9/6) & Day 7 (Friday 9/12): I wore my University of South Carolina Roza. It is football season after all!

Day 2 (Monday 9/8): No Roza 😦

Day 3 (Monday 9/8): I wore my Gingham Embroidery Roza

Day 4 (Tuesday 9/9): I wore my Birthday Roza.

Day 5 (Wednesday 9/10): No Roza 😦

Day 6: (Thursday 9/11): I wore my Monogram Roza

This pattern is such a great starting point for all kinds of creativity. I recently developed an interest in smocking so I think my next Roza may incorporate that technique. Thanks Jane for coordinating the challenge. Can’t wait until next year!

MMM14 Week 2 Round Up

Week 2 of Me Made May reintroduced me to some garments I hadn’t worn in a while. Funny how this challenge makes you rethink your everyday wardrobe choices!

Thursday, May 7: Colette Mabel skirt, review here

Friday, May 9: Kate & Rose Roza Blouse in honor of JD Clowney from the University of South Carolina (my alma mater) being drafted #1 in the NFL draft, review here

Saturday, May 10: A repeat of my navy and white polka dot Mabel skirt

Sunday, May 11: Unfortunately I only wore RTW 😦

Monday, May 12: Jamie Christina Miz Mozelle dress, review here

Tuesday, May 13: Kay White Sew Serendipity dress, review here

Wednesday, May 14: Colette Sorbetto, review here

MMM14 Week 1 Round Up

One of my goals for this year’s MMM is to determine where there are gaps in my wardrobe and fix them so this week’s Me Made May (MMM14) round up is a mixture of old favorites and new patterns.

Thursday May 1st: Liesl knit sweater by Ysolda Teague, Ravelry notes here

Friday, May 2nd: Cabarita top by Cake Patterns,  review here

Saturday, May 3rd: Mabel skirt by Colette Patterns, review here

Sunday, May 4th: I spent a relaxing day reading and sewing so only wore PJ’s!

Monday, May 5th: Roza blouse by Kate & Rose Patterns,  review here

Tuesday, May 6th: Giselle dress by Kate & Rose Patterns, review here

Wednesday, May 7th: Afternoon Blouse by Jennifer Lauren Vintage, review here

 

Wednesday, May 7th:

Finished: Embroidered Roza Blouse

 Mary Corbet recently published a series of articles and tutorials on chicken scratch or gingham lace embroidery. I  made an apron a few years ago with this type of embroidery had never tried it on clothing. I was itching to make some summer tops and the Roza pattern was specifically designed for embroidery so I took the plunge.

Chicken scratch embroidery involves making cross stitch, double stitch and running stitches over gingham squares then running the thread through the top stitches to create ovals or circles which results in a lacy look. This type of embroidery is traditionally done using one color, usually white, but Mary took gingham lace embroidery to a new level by creating floral patterns in multiple colors. I took her lead and  combined white and green threads to create a lace border down my latest version of the Roza blouse.

I love how this turned out and already have another one using turquoise and red in the works. If you have never tried embroidering your clothes, chicken scratch is a great place start!

 

I’m Baaaccck!!

Sorry for being gone so long but I promise I was up to something worthwhile…mostly watching lots of high school and college football but I did manage to squeeze in a bit of sewing and knitting. First up is my third version of the Roza blouse. This time I embroidered a South Carolina Gamecock and used college specific fabric. I made the same modifications as my previous two by omitting the band around the sleeve but other than that it was straight from the pattern.

I even managed to wear it over a long sleeve black tee to the USC vs Kentucky game a few weeks back and cheered my team to victory!

This month has also brought a ton of knitting. I finished my Patterns and Notions Swap jacket for the The Monthly Stitch Vintage Pattern Challenge a few days late but was able to wear it once already and can tell it will get a lot of rotation in my wardrobe. The Charlotte Yarn Crawl was from September 27-October 6 and I was able to visit 11 of the 13 participating shops. Of course I couldn’t visit without getting some yarn so I’m now set for about a year! I have almost finished one sweater and cast on for a circle vest. Since it is starting to get chilly here in South Carolina, I am motivated to complete these projects quickly!

I’m going to the Stitch Craft Create Live convention here in Charlotte this weekend with some friends so I fully expect to blow both October and November’s fabric budget before Sunday. I also need to finish my dress for the Monthly Stitch Frocktober Challenge so my next few weeks are certainly filling up with stuff to create!

I’ve Been Busy…How About You?

I am usually a pretty organized crafter who tries to complete one project before starting the next but after losing my sewjo for a couple of weeks I am on fire! My projects took over the dining room this weekend and instead of home cooked meals on the table, we have this…

First up is my ALMOST completed cape for the Monthly Stitch August challenge. Forget that it is hotter than blue blazes at the moment, I must have a cape to parade about town this winter. More details to come on my cape next week.

Next up is a totally random project I started Saturday. While I was organizing my sewing cabinet (otherwise known as trying to find a way to jam even more stuff in without the door flying open!) I found a kit for a quilted Christmas apron that I picked up at a local craft fair nearly two years ago. Never mind that I don’t know how to quilt, it is over four months before Christmas and I have tons of other more pressing items in my sewing queue. Even so, I actually enjoyed stitching the blocks together and will definitely use it once I finish. Next I will have to consult you tube for visual aids to quilt and bind the apron. If anyone has suggestions for good quilting instruction sites, let me know.

Also on my table is another Roza blouse (my 3rd!). Football season starts next week and I am a huge South Carolina Gamecocks fan. The University of SC is my alma mater and only an hour from my house. We often go to the games or watch them on television with friends so I decided to create a one of a kind blouse to wear. I did the embroidery of the USC mascot while watching TV last week and plan to stitch up the blouse this weekend. This version also uses up some of my stash so I get brownie points for stashbusting!

And if that wasn’t enough I also have two items in process for the Sew Weekly Reunion. One is my first version of the By Hand London Anna dress for the Pantone Color Challenge. I am almost finished and hope to have a proper pattern review written next week but if you haven’t tried this pattern, you must get it to the top of your sewing queue stat!

The other is for the Patterns and Notions Swap Challenge. If you recall from a previous post, my partner Amanda sent me two vintage patterns along with a cool set of buttons and a vintage tape measure. One of the sewing patterns included a knitted jacket pattern so I am feverishly knitting in the hopes of finishing it before September 1st. I would love to win the huge set of buttons offered as the prize.

With all this positive creative energy flowing, what could be better than a gift in the mail? I recently won the Annette Tierette’s blogaversary giveaway and Anneke sent me a beautiful length of wax cotton fabric and lovely note all the way from Belgium. If you haven’t ever checked out her blog you definitely should. She makes cute clothing and always photographs her makes in cool industrial kinds of places which make her posts exceedingly more interesting!

That’s what I’ve been up to this past week. Would love to hear about what you have on your sewing table!

A Little Embroidery and a Lot of Stashbusting

I am a hot/cold type of person, especially when it comes to my hobbies. I will often spend hours obsessing over a newly learned technique, pattern company, or fabric  to the exclusion of all else…until I get burnt out and toss it to the side for the “next new thing”. While this is great for becoming accomplished at a specific skill, this behavior leads to a lot of UFOs and an ever growing stash.

This past week has proved to be the best of both worlds. First my recent love of embroidered clothing has resulted in two additional garments. The first is a restyled version of a basic Old Navy v-neck tee. The design is from Anna Maria Horner’s Needleworks Notebook which is a great book for anyone who loves Anna Maria’s style. She offers many different crosstitch, needlepoint, embroidery and crewel designs and I plan to incorporate a few of them into future projects. This was my first time using waste canvas and won’t be my last as it makes the stitches more even and the embroidery easier.

The second embroidered garment finished this week was another Roza blouse. This Kate and Rose blouse is my new TNT pattern when I want to combine hand stitching with sewing. On this version, I used the Hungarian redwork pattern I found on NeedleNThread along with some fabric my daughter, Caitlin, had given me for my birthday back in May. The fabric is a quilting cotton so the final blouse is more structured and less flowing than the voile version but I still love it!

And if those two weren’t enough, I also finally finished my pink gingham Sorbetto which has been languishing in the UFO pile for months. Nothing much to say about this one except I learned how to do an FBA during construction and added two buttons from the clearance aisle at Hobby Lobby for embellishments. Sorbetto is definitely a great stashbusting project!

My final item for the past week was a super quick skirt for Caitlin made from a houndstooth fabric that has been in my stash since I first started sewing in 2011! I initially made the mistake of buying a bunch of quilting cotton that really wasn’t the best for apparel sewing but it looks cute on her and helped reduce my stash.

My sewing mojo is in full swing so I am going to take advantage of it. What’s going on in your sewing room these days?

Kate and Rose Roza Blouse Pattern Review

I am definitely on an embroidery kick lately and my wardrobe has grown by two garments this past week. The first is the Roza blouse from Kata of Kate and Rose.  I originally found her through the Colette patterns flickr group when she posted an embroidered Sorbetto. After checking out Kata’s blog and trying her free embroidery pattern (originally discussed here) this indie pattern designer is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

The Roza pattern is sold through Kata’s etsy store and is available in both paper and pdf versions. I bought the pdf version because I wanted to wear this blouse to my son’s graduation party last Saturday with my Hummingbird skirt and I didn’t have time to wait for the pattern to be mailed. The pattern is a basic raglan sleeve with several options to allow for customization.

• View A is a long sleeve, gathered front top
• View B is a short sleeve flat front top with a high-low hem
• View C is a short sleeve flat front dress

I actually mixed and matched the views to make my blouse. First I had to grade up the pattern in the bust and hips since the XL was still a bit smaller than my measurements.  I chose the flat front short sleeve version but decided on a straight hem.  Luckily the sleeves were large enough so no modifications were necessary to the raglan portion. The sleeves actually have a band and are supposed to be gathered but I prefer the look of plain sleeves so I simply used a small hem instead. I also blind hem stitched the bottom hem by hand.

The fabric is from Joel Dewberry’s Notting Hill collection and is a cotton voile Pristine Poppy in Citron. Not only is the perfect weight for our hot and humid South Carolina summers, it was also part of my stashbusting sewalong pledge! For the embroidery, I knew I wanted a swirly monogram so after searching MANY monograms, I chose a free font called Monogram KK. I then used a tutorial from Project Wedding to intertwine my initials. I printed the monogram, traced it onto a piece of white linen using my light box then stitched it by hand using three strands of DMC embroidery floss. I love the result!

Since I was short on time, I did not make a muslin (who am I kidding, I never make a muslin!) but next time I will probably not grade up the sides as much as I did on this version. The blouse hangs a bit in the front as you can see in the photo below but not enough to make me want to go back and modify anything this time around. Overall I am very pleased with this pattern and already have another one planned using the Hungarian braided chain stitch and this embroidery pattern for the front panel. If you haven’t ever incorporated embroidery into your garment sewing, you should definitely give it a try!