Simplicity 2444

We decided to have our daughter's first birthday at Waioli Tea Room in Manoa.
It's based on pink theme with fire place and old piano and everything.
It's so cute, that I was really happy to find it.

I decided to make it a tea party theme - and thought about making a matching dress for myself and my daughter in blue, sorta like Alice in Woderland.
(My hubby wanted to wear a hat like a mad hatter...)
I picked Simplicity 2444.

I ordered Valori Wells Wrenly Voile Wildfield Cobalt

and use Kona Cotton Ocean as a ribbon.


I don't usually buy fabrics over $10/yd.
When I do, I like to make a muslin so I have a perfect fitting and don't waste the precious fabric.

So for this pattern, I decided to make a wearable muslin using plum satin polyester fabric that I had in my stash.
Everything is pretty good, except the waist was too tight.
My sizing should've been 12-18-12, but since this pattern was available only in 6-12 or 12-21, I didn't have the pattern to extend the waist to 18.
I figured I'll just make 12 and see how it goes.

It turned out that the sizing wasn't that bad.
It was just a little snug around the waist, but it's not like I couldn't zip it up or anything.
So I think I'm just gonna expand the waist by 1/2 inch or so next time.

As for this wearable plum muslin...
It turned out really nice, but with this material (too hot for Hawaii!) and style, I would probably never wear it.
The only time I might wear it is for someone's wedding, but I don't know of any wedding coming up.
And if I do go to a wedding, I'll probably make another dress!

I seriously thought about giving it away on this blog.
But my cousin so happened to be visiting from Japan, and she was a perfect fit for this dress.
We had a pretty much same size, except her waist was a lot slimmer. :p
I asked her if she wants the dress, and she said yes so I decided to give it to her.

Simplicity 2892 Review

This is a dress I made using Simplicity 2892 long time ago... Maybe about 2 years ago, before I was pregnant with my second one.
It's a pattern for tops, but lengthened the bottom to make it a dress.
I don't remember the small details, but I just remember how this pattern just doesn't have much shape.
From the bust, it just goes straight down.
And probably because it doesn't have any darts or anything, there's a little "pouch" around the belly.
I took in few cm around the waist to get a shape, but it still didn't fix the pouch problem, and I'm not good enough to draft my own darts.
It just looks like I'm pregnant in my first trimester. LOL.
So the only solution was to have a belt or a sash.

I think it's the fabric that made this dress though.
I got it from a seller from etsy, I think it was called Fabricana, from India.
I just love their paisley.

I did line this dress with another cotton, since the fabric is thin white cotton, and you can just see through the dress.

If you look at the picture really close, you can actually see how this dress is still not finished... I haven't hemed!! Haha
I like the red border at the end, and since it'll disappear if I try to hem it, so I left it alone... and I was just too lazy to hem the inside liner, so you can kinda see it peeking.

Would I make it again? Maybe.
It's a simple pattern that will probably give lots of different looks depending on a fabric you use.
But I wish I knew how to fix the pouch problem.

McCall 6069

Recently I watched a Japanese TV show recommended by my mom.
It's about a 30-year-old mom, who's too busy to dress up, decides to become a model after being turned down by her husband.
It was actually a sad show (to me) because they ended up getting a divorce for her to pursue her modeling career.
But watching this TV show kinda motivated me to fix up a bit...
I've been too comfortable wearing baggy clothes. (Even though they're pretty maxi dress, it's just too casual looking)

I had this knit jersey fabric that I bought from www.fabric.com when it was on sale for about $3/yd.
I was planning to make another comfy shirt with it, but decided to make it into a nice dress, and picked McCall 6069.
(It's been awhile since I actually bought a pattern!)

This was a pretty easy pattern, considering how trendy it is.
I love the cowl neck.
Few things I didn't really like were how low the neck is, and the elastic band.
The neck is so low that I need to wear a tanktop underneath.
If you bend down a little bit, you can see down the shirt.
Living in Hawaii and it's so hot, I don't really like layering too much.
And the elastic...
I didn't read the instruction really well, so I probably didn't do it right.
It just don't feel right.

Anyways I still like this style. It makes me want to straighten my back and walk like a model. Haha.
I have another knit, I'm planning to make another one, but this time as a top (since I don't have enough yardage) without an elastic.

Simplicity 3935 Pajama pants

After seeing some posts on www.sewing.patternreview.com, I decided to make pajama pants for some people for x'mas.
I found Simplicity 3935, and thought it's a deal since it includes the pattern for both adults & kids. (and I got it on ebay for $6.99!)

I started off with making size M in adults for my sister-in-law.
The fabric is flannel, Indian Summer in creme from www.fabric.com.
She's size M but around the same height as myself (4'11"), so I used my own PJ pants to estimate to shorten crotch/length.
For some reason, this crotch seems to be so long!!!
I looked at my PJ pants, and I guess all PJs are like that...
You wear it like a long-john (goes below-bust?) but as you wear it, it just falls to your waist for comfort.

This is such an easy pattern - other than the crotch, everything is just straight.
After making one I even remember the order.
Sew inseam, crotch, sides, then waist/hem.
The worst part is waist/hem, because it involves pressing. :p

I added buttonholes on the waistband and made it a drawstring pants.
Since I don't really know their true size, I figured I'll make the elastic very loose and add the drawstring so they have more control over the fit.

I also made pants for her 10 months-old daughter.
I used a pattern from Japanese book in 80cm.
I think it's so cute to be able to wear a matching clothes with your daughter!!

I'm planning to make one for my other sister-in-law and her daughter.
Same fabric, different color.
I found a flannel fabric in skull print, so I'm planning to make one for her husband/2 sons.

It's so easy & straight forward, that I can make one a day!