Hacked Hacci Dress

I made Christmas dresses for my girls and they absolutely love them. Score! The pattern did not include good fabric requirements which I found a tad annoying. Or enraging. Same thing. I found a pretty hacci fabric on Girl Charlee and I was very lucky to find it on a black Friday sale for only $3 a yard, so I was okay with WAY overbuying. I kind of guessed that I'd need 3 yards on average but decided to round up to 4, and also to plan to make one for me. So I bought TWENTY yards. Yeah. Loads of fabric. But the dresses had circle ruffles, which took a lot of fabric, and, to be fair, this means four dress for $60, which is a huge steal anyway. 

As it turns out, I way overestimated on fabric even at 3 yards, so I have SO MUCH leftover. Making myself a dress didn't happen at Christmas because I had so much to do anyway, but I figured I'd get to it eventually.

It jumped up the list when my girls kept asking me to make one for myself so we could all match. I figured, if they want to match, I should make it happen sooner rather than later, especially since they'll eventually outgrow their dresses. 

But...the pattern wasn't available in women's sizing. So, I had to hack it. I used a t-shirt pattern for the bodice, but, like the original pattern, opted to line it instead of binding the neck, so I just cut two. The pattern used straight rectangles for the skirt and gathered them at the waist, so that was simple, and instead of using circle pieces for the flounces on the sleeves and bottom, I just gathered longer rectangles. I made the sleeves twice because I hadn't used long enough pieces to give it a good gather. 

But, since I hacked it, it definitely had tricky parts and it's not perfect. The pockets are WAY too low. I also had to sew the waist band three times. I just kinda guessed how long to make the bodice, and it was way too long. Plus, the fabric is heavy, so it stretches it longer than I expected. And, the t-shirt fits great as a t-shirt but I really needed it a bit more fitted. I didn't want to take it in, but after the second waist, I knew I had to. So I opened it up and took it in on both the front and the lining. That went better than I expected, I think. The third time I sewed it, it still wasn't perfect, but it's definitely wearable. I think it would really benefit from an elastic in the waist band, but it wouldn't be nearly as comfy like that. 

So, here's my hacked dress. Taking it apart and putting it together multiple times was not my favorite, but I'm kinda proud that I could wing a dress like this. 

Fabric Friday Week 14: January 27

I think I turn to the same fabrics over and over when I make a bundle for a Fabric Friday. I guess I really have my favorites. Or maybe it's just that those are the fabrics that are really good representations of the color I'm looking for...either way, I should probably try to branch out next week into some fabrics I haven't yet used in these weekly bundles. Because I'm pretty sure these ones have all made an appearance already. I guess this is a fabric combination I'm really into right now. *shrug*

I am a sucker for navy, though. And aqua and magenta are just perfection, in my mind, when paired with navy. What can I say, at least I'm consistent! :)

January Progress Report

I didn't really know what to title this blog post, and it's really just a what-I'm-working-on kinda post, so I guess this works. 

I got my Swoon top off to my quilter a couple of weeks ago and then decided what I REALLY wanted to do was finish up the All the Good quilt top I had started in the autumn. I bought the pattern at Quiltcon and then started it in the fall when it was next on my list, but I had to put it away when holiday sewing got in the way. I wasn't in love with my layout anyway so I packed it away, which I don't usually do when I'm mid-project, and so I was antsy to get back to it. I also had to be careful about when I laid it out because I knew it would have to stay on the floor for at least a few days while I mulled over the design and then picked it up piece by piece to sew it together. But, I got it laid out, and once it was laid out, the sewing was pretty quick. 

By quick, I mean several hours, but still...quicker than you think it would take given what it is. 

I meant to blog mid-project, so I have progress shots of my sewing room. My cutting table is covered with All the Good strips, partially pieced Christmas Shimmer blocks, and focal prints for an economy block quilt that is next on my quilting list. 

So here's my All the Good quilt top, pattern by Jittery Wings Quilts. 

Next on my actual list, though, is a dress for me. To match my girls' Christmas dresses. I overbought fabric by yards and yards and thought I might as well sew a matching dress for me since they've asked a few times. Hey, if they want me to match too, who am I to turn them down? :)

It's going together pretty quickly, but I don't have any pictures because it's just a pile of fabric right now and whenever I've been in there working on it, it's been dark and I don't think to take progress pictures. 

And then I might finish my Christmas Shimmer quilt because I really don't like putting WIPs away...and I have some other knit and apparel fabric that is languishing, including a really fun Chenille knit I bought from Girl Charlee on a great sale...it would be a shame to not get it sewn up before it's too warm to wear it. Hmm...

Fabric Friday Week 13: January 20

This week's stack isn't that groundbreaking, but I consciously omitted any red/orange/purple. It feels more springy than I expected, I expected it to come out really cool-toned, but I guess yellow isn't exactly a cool color, so I'm not sure why I thought that. I opted for more citrine yellow than creamy yellow and I really love it in this context. Citrine is not one of my go-tos, so I pulled out all the fabrics I had that were citrine. I really like the Alison Glass print especially. 

Maybe beachy is a better word than springy. And now that I say that, it makes me want to make a beach quilt in tribute to some of the fun beach vacations we've taken over the years!

Fabric Friday Week 12: January 13

I've got just a quick color scheme for today, my week has gotten away from me! This is a color scheme I've been digging for a while, and the color doesn't come through perfectly in the picture, but I think you get the idea. I've got coral (that's the chip that really got skewed in the photo for some reason), mustard, navy, and aqua. It's similar to my current leaders and enders scrap project, and I really like it. I've used more general pinks than just corals in it, because I didn't have enough scraps to limit it to coral. :-)

Have a great weekend!

Palais Royale

 I like designing my own quilts and trying to create something out of the box that’s me and unique. This project is one of those, inspired by my travels. 

In 2019, we took our oldest two girls to France to attend a wedding. The wedding was in the south, so we started our trip there and ended in Paris. One of our stops in Paris was the courtyard at the Palais royale where we relaxed for a bit before dinner one day. In the courtyard, they have some permanent modern art installations, including fountains with a pyramid of stacked metal balls, and rows of striped pillars. Some are only inches tall and others are nearly as tall as I am. I’m sure there is a method to the order but it’s not immediately discernible. We spend a while walking around them, taking pictures on and with them, and enjoying our evening. 

One day while I was brainstorming quilt ideas, I thought of these pillars and started playing around with a design. This is where I landed. It’s really big, but it was tricky to get the blocks smaller with the same proportions, and I like big quilts anyway, so it’s okay.

Fabric Friday Week 11: January 6

Once Christmas is over, winter really loses its appeal, which is sad because we have two more months of winter, at least, before we can expect spring. I'm planning to finish up a Christmas quilt I started sometimes soon, just because I don't love having WIPS kick around, or maybe I'll try it for once and leave it until I feel like sewing something Christmasy? I'm not sure. In any case, winter is not my favorite. I dislike being cold, and while the mountains covered in snow are lovely to look at, I'd prefer to not deal with snow in my yard. Specifically my driveway, lol. 

So, since winter isn't my favorite, I get anxious for spring, and I think this bundle I've got is a spring-y bundle. Bright, florals, also out of my normal range. But that's why I do these posts, to exercise my creative color muscles. 

This was inspired by the art gallery floral and I haven't really found a way to use it yet, and this was a great exercise for that. 

Brand New Year

This time of year is always a great time to reflect on the past year and plan ahead for next year. I don’t love or even really do New Years resolutions because I’ll often try to do self reflection and course correction throughout the year, but I love looking back at what I accomplished and what I’d like to do the next year, especially in regards to my hobbies and interests. So, here’s how 2022 stacked up:

I went on four trips:

• Spring break with the family on Caribbean cruise

• London and Cotswolds with DH for his work trip 

• Boston and New Hampshire for my birthday with DH

• Fall break with the family to Beaver Creek in Colorado

These are the quilts I sewed:

• Come Fly With Me BOM

• Swoon 16

• Hidden Stars

• Scrap Stash Plus

• Bridges Mini Quilt

• Halloween Squared

• Parisian Summer Blooms

• Seattle

• Following the Leader

• Florentine Sunset

• Home for the Holidays

I made these clothes for my girls:

• Tiered dress for 12YO

• 4 flamingo t shirts

• Stella dress for 10YO

• Stella dress for 6YO

• Pajama pants for 12YO

• Shorts for 6YO

• Library dress for 6YO

• Terrace dress for 12YO

• Halloween: 1 elastic waist skirt, 2 simple witch dresses, 1 cowgirl dress

• 4 sets of Christmas pajamas

• 4 Callie dresses for Christmas 

I made these clothes for me:

• 2 pairs of seaforth joggers in linen

• 1 pair of seaforth joggers wide leg in chambray

• Mykonos shorts in linen

• metro t shirt

• 1 Isidro t shirt

• Phoenix top with embroidery 

• Knit dress with cowl neck

• Burnside bibs

• Boatneck t shirt

• Evergreen jacket

• Christmas Pajamas

Other sewing completed

• Scrap pouf from Closet core

• 5 embroidered linen towels

• Christmas banner

Current WIPs

• Palais Royale (needs to be bound)

• All the good quilt (pieces assembled, need to layout and sew together)

• Shimmer in Christmas fabric (blocks in progress)

• Swoon (finished top, will drop off to quilter this week. 

  See pics below for progress)

  
  

Phew! That’s a lot of sewing!

So here’s some tentative thinking ahead for next year.Just some things I'd definitely like to do. I don't want to box myself in too much, so these are projects I've already been wanting to do. The apparel is especially anemic, mostly because I have loads of apparel fabric, some with tentative plans, but I really have to be in the mood, so I'm not sure what the year will hold for apparel. There's also the seasonality of clothing...it's hard to want to sew winter appropriate clothing in late February because the season is almost over...so I've only listed goals apparel goals that are goals, like hard and things I really want to accomplish, not just finish. Make sense? Hope so...

Quilting Goals

• All the Good

• Christmas Shimmer

• Swoon

• Rifle paper stack

• Little Women economy block

• Undetermined Scrap project

• Low volume star with dark solid background (maybe like the scrappy one I made a few years back)

• Start a travel sampler

Apparel Goals

• Button dress for me

• Vintage pattern blouse