Thursday, August 30, 2018

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!

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

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.

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

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.

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

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.

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

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.


Wednesday, August 1, 2018

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.