Simplicity 1613 - Pattern Review

I actually made this top months ago, I just didn't blog about it.  I had made it for the Girl Charlee chevron fabric contest and as part of the sew-a-long for Project Sewn (but I didn't complete my outfit in time to enter it in the sew-a-long competition).

When I first saw Simplicity 1613 I loved the design of the top and based on the picture of the model I thought the cut out placement wouldn't be too low...but I was wrong!  I was pregnant when I made the top so I didn't get to try it on until recently and the cut out is too sexy for me.  I think this top would be more flattering on a woman with "C" cups or smaller, but that's just my two cents.

Now on to the review...the pattern was straight forward and easy to follow but very time consuming.  I managed to get the criss-cross part done one evening while Nik took a 4 hour nap.  The top part does call for lining so that also took some time.  I like the pattern (I wish it worked for me), I would say my only critique is that it is time consuming and the length is a little too long.




  

Riley Blake Chevron Challenge (PR&P Week 2)

I managed to finish my project for the PR&P week one challenge and I was overjoyed at the wonderful response my Starry Night dress received!!!  Thank you to everyone who stopped by and left a comment, it really meant a lot to me!

For PR&P week two, the Riley Blake Chevron Challenge, I hadn't planned to participate because I didn't actually own any Riley Blake fabric from the chevron collection (and I was trying to avoid buying more fabric).  However after talking to my husband about the challenge, he was very supportive of me participating and he even gave me some feedback on my sketches.  Which almost never happens...most of the time I get a blank look when I start talking about sewing.

After throwing around a few ideas I decided that I'd participate in the challenge!  So with less than a week left, I contacted every fabric store within 50 miles of me (that are listed on the Riley Blake website as vendors) to try and locate some chevron print fabric.  Most of the stores around me were sold out and there was no way I'd be able to get an online order by the time I needed it...I was almost in despair until I called Beverly's.  Their website didn't list any Riley Blake chevron fabric but they were my last hope and to my surprise they actually had some!  I rushed over to Beverly's right after work and bought 2 yards of fabric and when I got to the counter I found out that the fabric was 50% off...score!!!

I made a little dress, size 12 months, for our baby girl who is supposed to make her appearance in July 2013.  The dress was based off this pattern but I made a few changes to the design and added some topstitching details with silver thread.  I really love this gray glitter fabric that I found at Joann Fabrics, I'm sure I'll find more projects to use it for.  I also made a matching chevron print headband (but I should have made the bow bigger).

p.s. - Happy 2nd Birthday to my son, Nik!!!  

Just in case you're wondering how I find time to sew...the truth is that I do my projects while I'm making dinner.  Which means I multitask like nobody's business and only get about 15-20 mins of sewing time in a day.          

Art Inspired

...So there's this blog that I've been following for a few years now, called Project Run and Play.  If you haven't heard of it, I recommend you check it out!  They have so many creative bloggers that compete.  During the last two years I've hoped to join in the sew-a-long competition but I never managed to finish my project by the deadline, until now.

Currently Project Run and Play is hosting an All-Star competition and the first week's challenge is to create an art inspired piece. I may have been a bit literal with their theme but I like the way the dress came out.  I wanted to focus on the main parts of Van Gogh's painting, which are the swirls, the cypress and the moon/stars.

The dress was made using this pattern and with some supplies from my stash.  I'm hoping to participate in a few other PR&P challenges, let's hope I have the time!

Starry Night Inspired Dress

I'm not sure if you can see but I used gold thread to make
swirls for the stars and brown thread to define some parts of the cypress.