New Patterns and Things I'm Working On

Hi!  I haven't totally disappeared.  I've just been up to my elbows in paint all week so I haven't gotten much sewing done.  Our downstairs bathroom was painted the darkest, angriest shade of red ever but now it is Beach White.  Behr Premium Plus Paint, I am shaking my fist at you!  Your commercials say you can cover red paint in one coat, so why did it take us three?  Nevertheless, it looks great and the paint itself smelled like eggnog.  It was making me hungry!

I am simultaneously working on two dresses and I've made good progress on both.  The first one is Simplicity 5891 again, this time in a white and blue polka dot cotton.



I intended to make view 1, but I ran into some bunching issues because my sewing machine doesn't have a sleeve arm, so I took them off and made the sleeveless version instead.  I think I'll like that better anyway - I can go sleeveless on warm Summer days, or add a cardigan for work and not have to deal with bunched-up sleeves underneath.  I have the bodice completely done, but I haven't started on the skirt.

My second project I am in the middle of is a frankenpattern of the bodice of Butterick 4304 and the skirt of Butterick Retro 5209.

I made a muslin and it turned out cute, so last night I cut into my real fabric. It's this crisp plaid cotton I got from a fabric.com $1.99 sale.

Matching plaids is hard! I got them to match on the bodice back and right underarm seam, but the left one is totally off. I don't know what happened there. I also purposely made the bodice and the skirt plaids going in different directions, so hopefully once it is all together it will look cute and not like a total mess. I have the skirt done, and the bodice mostly done except for facings. Then I just have to connect the skirt and the bodice, hem, and zipper! Maybe one of these days it will actually be warm enough to wear all these Summer dresses I'm sewing.

I've gone a little crazy with pattern and fabric buying lately, but I'm justifiying it by selling dresses on Etsy.  I'm using whatever money I make from sales to buy new things for myself!

I am super excited for this project, but also a little scared.  I have never tried an unprinted pattern before.  It doesn't seem too hard, though.  It's a simple wrap dress so it should be pretty straighforward.  I'm using this awesome pear print fabric I bought on eBay.



I also bought this blouse pattern (for $3!) because I am seriously lacking in tops and both views are adorable. I am going to make the square-neck version with this white cotton eyelet I bought from Etsy.

Lastly, I bought this pattern from Etsy. I love the sleeveless version on the bottom left, but wasn't so sure about the collar. Then I read the description, and the collar is detachable. Perfect! Sold. I have some fabric options saved in my eBay favorites, but I think I should finish up everything I've started on before I buy.

Have a great Easter, everyone!  I will leave you with a picture of a four-headed kitten pile.  I got to scoop and snuggle these babies last weekend!