The Case of the Missing Blogger

Hello Chickadees!

First of all, a big welcome to all of those stopping by from Jessica's blog, Chronically Vintage. I went on vacation to Penticton a while back and had a chance to meet up with her and do a little photo shoot while I was there. She even lovelier in person! If you haven't had a chance to see it yet, you can check it out HERE.

Second, I apologize for my lack of posts recently. There has been a lot of sewing, but my camera went on a little vacation, and I'm not entirely happy with the way that Iphone photos look. It is safely back in my possession, and I plan on having a marathon photo shoot this weekend. Stay tuned! If you really can't wait till then, follow me on Instagram to keep up to date on all the fun sewing things.

In the meantime, here's a slightly blurry picture of me making friends with some alpacas. They are seriously adorable, and someday I hope to own an alpaca farm. Until I can convince my husband, photos in front of alpacas in the barn will have to do.

Love,
Rachael

The Pants Project Part I

Hello Chickadees!

Until recently, sewing pants frightened me. There are so many more fitting issues to worry about!

 As soon as I saw Gertie's pants pattern, Butterick 5895, I fell in love. It was the exact style that I was looking for. High waisted. Fitted. Front pockets. Perfect. So pretty much all of my pants have been versions of this pattern.

My first pair of real pants (not pyjama pants. Nobody cares about fitting issues with pyjama pants) were made using a black ponte knit. I used it as sort of a wearable muslin, although I don't find them that flattering. I made them straight out of the envelope using a size 12.

The next pair were a pair of jeans. I made a couple alterations to the leg length and height at the waist, but otherwise didn't attempt any real fitting issues, because I had no idea how to tackle them at the time.

Then there were 2 unfortunate pairs of fitting disasters. They were so bad that I didn't even get a photo of them. I was kind of just hacking away at them without a clue of what actually needed to be fixed.

Now I've had a chance to sit down and actually do some reading about how pants work and fit.

Here are some of the changes I've made
-Graded from a 12 to a 10 at the waist
-Added width to the hips
-Reduced the crotch depth
-Increased the crotch length
-Added width to the thighs
-Lengthened to ankle length

Whoo. That is a lot of pattern adjustments. Let's see if this actually works out!

Do you have any projects or garment types that you consider "scary sewing"?

Rachael

The Bombshell

Hello chickadees!

Posting photos of myself in a swimsuit is never something I thought I would ever do! Blogging is great for pushing your boundaries, hey?

"Tell me I'm a bird!"

Here is my Bombshell swimsuit from Closet Case Files. Heather Lou did a magnificent job on this pattern! This is my second one, and this suit makes me feel like a pin-up princess, which is saying a lot! 

Excuse the little alfalfa bit. The wind was playing with my hair.

Here is the knitty gritty-

I made a size 10 graded to a size 12 in the hips. Horray for pear shapes!

I looked around for matte swimsuit Lycra, but the fabric stores in my area were lacking, so I just used the reverse side.

I added in moulded cups to add some support and modesty. Nobody wants to get nipply at the beach! 

My best Betty Grable impression

If I made this again I might lengthen it a bit. It's not uncomfortable as it is, but I feel like it might fit better. I would also reduce the width in the front crotch piece. I found that there was a little bit of extra fabric there that could be slightly unflattering. 

All in all I love this swimsuit. I felt uber confident and totally hot at the beach while wearing it, which is pretty big. And that wasn't just because of the 35° heat!

Hope you all are having a fantastic summer!

Rachael

Summer Sewing Plans

Hello Chickadees!

Now that summer is here,it is time to start planning my summer wardrobe. This year's summer sewing is especially exciting, because I will be able to spend a decent amount of time actually outside!

1) Finish the lobster playsuit
I still have oodles of lobster fabric left, and I plan on making Mrs. Depew's Beach Bustier and Shorts, and if there is fabric left over, possibly the blouse from Butterick 5895.

2) Blouses
I have a blouse pattern that I half hacked from Gertie's shirtdress pattern that makes for gloriously fitted blouses. I want to stitch up a few more in breezy cotton to go with my shorts and skirts in the summer months.

3) MOAR GATHERED SKIRTS
When the weather gets warm, I want to live in gathered skirts. They are a sure-fire way to feel feminine and graceful without getting too warm. Plus I like that they take almost zero brainpower to sew.

4)Bombshell Swimsuit
I'm sure most of you have seen somebody in the blogosphere stitch up a Bombshell. This suit has the magical ability to make whoever sews it look like a pin-up goddess. It's fantastic. I have red and navy swimsuit lycra and will be stitching up several versions of this beauty!

Source: Closet Case Files

5) Tiki dress
When I think of summer, I picture my honeymoon in Hawaii. Since we don't have the money to fly to Hawaii all the time (oh, if only that were the case!), I'll settle for a tasty drink in a tiki bar. There are a few cool ones around here, and a cool tiki bar calls for a hot Shaheen-style tiki dress! I'll be using Gertie's fabulous pattern, Butterick 6019 with this awesome blue tropical/tiki print fabric that I found at a local thrift store.

Hopefully I'll get around to getting all of this stitched up! Wish me luck!

What do you guys have planned for summer sewing? Let me know in the comments!

Love,

Rachael 

The Beach Dress

Hello Chickadees!

As promised, I'm back with a real blog post today. Things have been a wee bit crazy over here!

A great big thank you to my brother for these photos. We managed to sneak away to shoot while on vacation.

This dress is my perfect summer dress. It's easy to dress up or down, depending on how you style it. It's light and breezy. And it's comfy, but still makes me look put together. I adore it. And I love the lower neckline in the back. It makes me feel very glamorous!

This dress is a super frankenpattern. I took the bodice from Simplicity 2648, lengthened it by about 5/8ths of an inch, and adjusted the neckline in front and back. The skirt is a basic gathered skirt. I really hate sewing them because my machine HATES gathers, but they are the best to wear. They have the perfect amount of spin factor, without worrying about having your skirt go flying!

My favourite part of this dress is telling people that I made it out of a bed sheet. Sometimes you can find great fabric in the bedding section of the thrift store.

Bonus model shot. This is the photo that my mom loved the most from the shoot. I look so serious, and I'm fairly certain my brother and I were in the middle of a conversation at this moment.

I hope you are all having a lovely summer!

Love,

Rachael

Silence...

Hello Chickadees

I am sorry for the silence on the blog front recently! I've been sewing a lot of muslins, and most of them have been waders. Womp womp... On top of that, my poor machine is out to get me. Hopefully I'll be able to find my sewing mojo!

There are a few projects that have yet to be blogged, but next week will be a photo shoot marathon! I promise there are some good outfits coming your way soon. Stay tuned!

Love,
Rachael

Anniversary Dress Reveal!

Drumroll please!

Here is the dress you've all been waiting for. I finally managed to get some pictures!

This dress is so fun to wear, because it is so full and swishy! I had to resist the urge to spin in circles all night. Everybody needs a swishy dress in their wardrobe.

 

Does anybody else feel really awkward when they pose like this? I get super nervous that I'm going to accidentally flash some poor passerby. 

The beading is my favourite part of this dress. After the first time I wore it, I looked at a photo and realized that the beading was totally underwhelming. I went back and added more beads, and I think it looks so much better now.

Also, can we take a moment to talk about how great my hair looks? My hair is usually stubborn, and it takes a long long time to brush my set into a decent style. This one only took about fifteen minutes. And it lasted two whole days. Go hair! Also, hair flowers cover a multitude of sins.

  

I'm fairly certain that this dress stretched out on the hanger. The first time I wore it, the straps stayed put, and there were hardly any wrinkles in the bodice. Maybe I should have sewn in some of those ribbon hanging loops. Live and learn, I suppose?

Love,

Rachael

P.S. Special thanks to Dara for taking some of these photos and putting up with my mega awkwardness.