Holiday Sewing

I sewed up Amy Butler's Liverpool shirt this holiday weekend. Look for a pattern review and pictures posted at the Bolt Neighborhood Blog.

Rainy Day Project

I had been coveting a fedora from Anthropologie a while back (it's now out of stock and no longer on their website), but at $48, I thought it was a bit expensive. I found this cheaper alternative at Charlotte Russe, which was a steal for only $15! However, I didn't like the striped ribbon, so I replaced it with some Amy Butler fabric from my stash. The fabric flower is from the Amy Butler Anna Tunic pattern. Below is the before and after.

Anna Mini Dress

Here's the finished mini dress. I sewed on the buttons and hemmed it when I got home from work yesterday. The directions for the pattern were extremely clear and easy-to-follow and there were only four pattern pieces. The pattern also calls for a muslin lining, which I did add. There is some subtle shaping at the waist and I like that you can wear it with or without the belt.



I love the button detail on the back of the dress. Sometimes it's nice to have a different fastening method other than a zipper.

The only problem I encountered in the pattern was with the armholes. (Same issue Mariko was having.) They were REALLY small. And it's not like my arms are abnormally large. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a before picture, but here is an after photo. Prior to adding two inches to the depth to the armholes, they had been the same size as the armhole plate on the dress form. Before making the alteration, my arms were very restricted and the chest area was tight. Now the fit is perfect! I'll be wearing the dress this weekend.

When It Rains, It Pours

Last week, I had no specific craft projects lined up and now I've got a sewing project and a knitting project. I had bought this Amy Butler Anna Tunic pattern a while back and finally decided I needed to make the mini dress with all the good weather we've been having in Portland lately. I bought the fabric even longer ago from Bolt, but I'm not sure what designer it's from. I just love the combination of black, grey, and white with the leaves. It's so pretty. I cut all my fabric out last night and I'm ready to start sewing tonight.

Lotus Top

I finished the Lotus top last night. This was an easy pattern to follow. In fact, the directions are extremely clear and there are lots of illustrations. This was my second Amy Butler pattern (my first was the Cabo halter), and I had forgotten how detailed the instructions were. Things I really like about the pattern: the contrasting sections, especially the sleeve binding, the shaping, and the buttoned back.

PS For the locals...Fabric Depot has rearranged some stuff and now there's an entire wall holding rolls of the new Alexander Henry home dec fabrics by the north entrance. It's fabulous! I need to make something using some of that!

Stockinette Marathon

I finally finished the 16" of the Avast body on Saturday night while watching La Vie En Rose and 3:10 to Yuma. It didn't seem to take too long since I was occupied with the stories of the films (both thumbs ups!). Last night, I cut out the fabric for the Amy Butler Lotus top. I'm in the process of sewing that up right now.

Holiday Break Projects

After work on Friday, I headed over to Bolt to check out fabric and then to next door neighbor Close Knit to look for yarn for the Central Park Hoodie. Here are the great things I came away with. I got one of Amy Butler's new dress patterns, Lotus. I also wanted the Anna pattern, but the store didn't have it in stock yet. I plan to make the cami top with cap sleeves, with the main bodice in purple and the contrasting parts in orange. The fabric is the Loft 1800 Urban from Moda. I got some Cascade 220 in silver spruce heather. Since I'd been working on that plaid wool dress for a while, I decided to start with knitting first and cast on for the back of the CPH Friday night.

Knitted Pleats

Here's a picture of the pleats and waistband on the back of the blouson. I finished the front and the sleeves last night. Actually, I finished one of the sleeves and then ran out of yarn on the second sleeve with only four rows to go on the cuff. The waistbands and cuffs will be folded in half and tacked on to the hem on the inside of the sweater. I really like how the crossed stockinette fabric turned out.

I also managed to cut out my fabric for the jumper dress, but haven't progressed much further than that. The dress directions look pretty quick and easy, so maybe I can start sewing tonight and have a new dress before I go to bed!

Seeing Spots

I finished my short-sleeved Built by Wendy top tonight. I was pleasantly surprised at how cute it turned out. If I had thought about it more, I would have tried to match the dots on the center back seam. Even better would have been to cut the back on the fold as one piece instead of two. Oh well. The pattern calls for two back pieces because of the dress, which has a zipper. The only alteration I made was to shorten the length by about three inches. This was an easy project that could easily be completed in about two hours. I may have to make a few more for spring and summer!

Knitting and Sewing

I spent the weekend working a bit on the relief sweater sleeves and buying more fabric for yet another Built by Wendy top. I also bought a Simplicity 3833 retro pattern for a simple shift dress. I'd probably make the sleeveless version. The Amy Butler fabric is for the cute top with the elasticized neck and sleeves. The raindrop fabric is from the Follow Your Imagination line of Prints Charming fabrics for Free Spirit. I think I'd use this fabric for the dress, though I want a contrasting fabric for the bodice, like on the cover of the pattern.