Not sure if I follow directions well | Handkerchief Dress

Hello again! This year, I have probably sewn fewer garments than I have any other year of blogging. It's crazy how different and busy life gets as we get older, that it seems like the things we used to be enamored with don't fit well into our ever-evolving lives. I really have to squeeze in time to sew these days, so I'm pretty proud that I was able to get a few things sewn this summer.

I saw this picture on Mimi G's Instagram back in July and fell in love! And I saw that she had made a free tutorial on it so I decided one of the lighter knits in my staff would be set aside for this cute handkerchief dress!

I followed the tutorial, making sure to add a few inches in length to my skirt and was hoping to be done in about an hour.... Imagine my surprise when I tried on the dress and it was literally falling off of me hahaha. The tank top I used to trace didn't have enough negative ease, so that threw off the measurements of the entire garment.

Abstract Maxi Skirt | McCall's 7682

Well, September has flown by like a leaf in the wind! Earlier this month, I went up to New York to hang with some family and friends, and I made sure to hit up my Sewing Auntie, Carolyn. We made plans to go to The Met so I decided that I was going to surprise her by making something out of some fabric she gave me the last time we got together!

My initial desire was to make a shirtdress because she has an extensive history with them, and it would be new for me. But after cutting out 95% of the dress and not being able to cut out the front bodice, I realized I had to switch gears quickly lol I was working on McCall's 7682 View D. Once I ran into the lack of fabric snafu, I decided that I would just make it a skirt.

My Italian Fabric Haul!

Ciao!! Thanks for coming back! This post is for all of the fabric lovers/hoarders/stashers lol

When I went to Italy back in May, I made sure to look up some fabric stores to stop at before I left.

Before I continue, be sure to take a look at my fabric haul VIDEO for details on all of the fabrics and to see their weights and how they drape!! I won't get too specific on this blog but I was very specific in the video!

Guest of an Italian Wedding | Vogue 9251

Ciao, good people! Today I'm bringing you the star piece of all the garments that I made for my Eurotrip back in May! I'm showing you what I made to wear to the wedding I went to Europe for.

This dress is Vogue 9251, mostly View A, in a size 12. When I was beginning to look for what pattern to sew, I wanted something a bit dramatic, but comfortable at the same time. If you follow my Instagram or my blog, you know that I LOVE wrap dresses and I feel great in them. They are super comfortable to me, and then the pockets on this pattern sold the comfortability for me. And for the dramatics, the sleeves and the hemline I was envisioning in my head allowed me to move forward.

Germany meets Italy | Simplicity 8265

Ciao, my people! Hope you're doing well and welcome back! Today's project is another garment I made to wear during my Eurotrip. This one was for Milan, Italy!

I made the Simplicity 8265, View C, in a size 14.

Matching the Colosseum | McCall's 7686

Ciao Ciao!! Welcome back! Today I'm talking about another piece that I made for my Eurotrip! I am so grateful that I got a chance to go to Rome! And the first stop was the Colosseum!

This is McCall's 7686, View A, in a size 12.

But what do I wear to the Eiffel??? | McCall's 7730

Bonjour!! Thanks for coming back! Back in May, I took a great Eurotrip and the first stop was Paris, France! We all know that one of the main attractions of Paris is the infamous Eiffel Tower and I knew that I wanted to get some great pics there. But what to wear???

I landed on a look that was sleek and Parisian (in my mind haha) and ran with it.

This jacket is McCall's 7730 in size 12 (D cup), but while I was making it, it was CLEAR that I should have gone with a 14... I'll get into that in a second. I made View C with the upper sleeve extended down to my wrists.

Waiting for Paris | McCall's 6886

Hello sewing friends!! Have you ever had a project that was supposed to be your palate cleanser just go WRONG?! That's how this project originally went for me. Let me start at the beginning...

I started this dress back in February while it was still winter and the DMV and I wanted to look cute in a sweater dress. Having made McCall's 6886 before, I already had it fitted and cut out, but I just wanted to change the length and neckline on this version.

The dress sewed up super quickly (a front, back, and sleeves), so I decided to add some interest, I would add leather to the hems and also make the neckline binding out of faux leather as well. I had never done a binding on a V-neck but thought "how hard can it be?!"

It was at this point that this project went from a one day sew, to a 3 month sew. SMH.

Problems started with the leather binding I created. I cut it with the stretch going in the wrong direction so it wouldn't stretch long enough to fit the neckline. Once I re-cut, I was having so many problems with sewing the faux leather band together to get it ready to attach. It kept sliding and moving and getting stuck under my presser foot. I tried to use tape underneath my presser foot, which has worked for me before, but no luck.  I even tried tissue paper on under the presser foot and on top of the feed dogs with no success. So then I went online and ordered a teflon presser foot... more waiting.

Once the teflon foot came in, I thought I'd be done soon... NOPE. It didn't even work. It still kept getting stuck on the leather. I was really frustrated and discouraged at this point, I just had to walk away again. I basically destroyed that band with all of the sewing and unpicking because, you know, faux leather shows each and every hole that the needle makes.

I ended up having to re-cut the band AGAIN out of a completely different faux leather that I had on hand, turns out, I had ZERO issue sewing this band together. No teflon foot.... not tape under the presser foot. *RAGE* lol At least I would be able to finally finish, RIGHT?!

I was looking at the pattern instructions on how to complete the v-neck binding and was a bit confused. I had a small inkling that I should just look it up on YouTube, but then decided I can figure it out. I pinned the binding to the neckline, sewed, and then realized I could flip the binding in properly. *eye roll emoji*. Right then, I got on YouTube and within 3 minutes, I found out what I had done wrong and how to properly do it. SMH. Not only had I done it wrong, but I had also clipped into the fabric and basically messed it up. I would have to cut the neckline shorter now. Time to walk away...

I put it to rest for some time until I began to think of what garments I wanted to make for the Eurotrip I had coming up. Looking at the weather for Paris and Italy in May, I saw that it was going to be a bit cold and rainy. I looked over to my WIP pile and decided I would conquer this sweater dress for Paris. Maybe it was waiting for Paris all along!

Like I said, this is McCall's 6886, View B&E, in a size 12.

Eurotrip Sewing Plans update

Hola! I'm back with a quick update! I told you guys in this post all of the things I wanted to make for my upcoming May Eurotrip. Well, it's less than two weeks away... how far have I gotten so far? lol


I did mention that I had already completed the berets. Here are some pics of those:

The one on top is a brighter burgundy color than in this photo. I'm REALLY pleased with how they came out. Of course I'll do a proper blog post when I get some pics on location!

Out of the 5 garments, so far I was able to complete 3 of them! Wedding guest dress included!

I really like all of the small details I put into these pieces! You'll have to wait for the blog posts for those deets thouggghhhhh.

I have the lightweight jacket and the purple off the shoulder top left. I'm hoping to have the jacket done before the weekend is over. I know the knit top won't take me long at all, so I'm not stressing to much about a timeline for it. As long as it's before I leave, I'm good lol.

But to my trip! If you are in Paris or Italy, hit me up! Let's get food, go fabric shopping, see the sites! Email me at thetelltaletasha@gmail.com so we can plan a meet up!

Hopefully my next update will be great news :-D

xoxo,
Tasha

Eurotrip 2018 Sewing Plans

Hellllloooooo friends!!  I'm back with a few sewing plans that I have for my Eurotrip next month! I'll be going to Paris, Italy and Amsterdam and I want some new pieces so I can serve some LOOKS lol

Fabric Shopping in Panama!

In December I went back to Panama to spend the holidays with my family there! Since 2014, every year that I go, I make sure to do some fabric shopping at some point. This year I happened to VLOG the whole experience!

So sit back, and see what kind of fabric Panama is working with and where you can get the things you like! I have pics below of the things that I bought!

Old Me-mades vs. New | How long do you keep the old?

Hola! Welcome back! As I've been purging my closet, I've gotten a chance to get a good look at some of the garments that I've made and reflect on how I feel when I wear them. What I realized was that I was more apt to keep older me-mades that had mistakes as long as they looked good on me. I also got a chance to look at the things that I've made more recently and noticed how I make much less mistakes and how professional they look as opposed to the older garments.

newer me-mades

Quick tangent: You know that feeling you get when someone finds out that you've made the garment you're wearing? How proud you are? How you want to show off a little? How you don't mind them inspecting it?

It got me thinking: Knowing my ability now, and how I can make things look (inside and out), I get nervous about people asking me if I've made an older me-made because I know that they can see the rough mistakes that have been made. I'm much prouder when people ask me about my Kelly Anorak or my leather-trimmed Poncho because those came out almost perfect. But when they start looking closely at the bindings on the bodice of my First Dress or the insides of my First pair of pants, I kind of want to give a disclaimer that "I made them years ago!"

older me-mades

Let's take a look at some of the pieces I still have now:

How often do you alter your RTW??

Happy February, Friends! So far 2018 has been a bit of a whirlwind so I don't have any finished projects to show, BUT there are a few things I have been thinking about that I wanted to discuss on the blog. I don't want to just be a show-and-tell blog, I want to interact as well!

One of the things I was thinking about relate to the RTW clothes we still have in the closet. I notice that with the things I've made, I will refashion them and repair them until I can't anymore, THEN I decide to do away with them. But when it comes to RTW, as soon as it stops fitting or a closure stops working, I tend to hop at the chance to donate it or give it away.

Fresh Start | From 2017 to 2018

Another year has flown by and I feel like I'm still trying to keep up lol

2017 was quite the year. I took some amazing trips, made some solid garments, lost loved ones, welcomed new family additions, met some awesome new people and reconnected with friends from the past. It was a whirlwind of adventure and I'm grateful for every moment and memory that I've walked out with.

Starting with my top sewing hits:

poncho \ off the shoulder \ anorak
romper \ polleras \ cold shoulder
plaid wrap \ kielo \ multicolor wrap