Zadie Jumpsuit from Paper Theory Patterns

If you had told me two years ago that I would be making and wearing a jumpsuit I would have said "not in a million years". And yet here I am, wearing this jumpsuit, and teaching a class this weekend on this very pattern. After this pattern came out and I saw so many great versions on IG and blogs I came to the conclusion that it's a pattern that's both simple and stylish, quick to sew, actually easy to get on and off, and it looks great in so many different fabrics. This is the Zadie jumpsuit from Paper Theory Patterns. 



I wanted to take photos and do this blog post this week, so I was outside as the light was fading around 7pm. On the positive side - I had just come home from getting my haircut so I figured bright lipstick, dash out and take my photos. That spot on my patio has a nice blank wall but the light is limited due to the angle and the patio cover. I'm still contemplating painting a section in a nice light color. Oh the things we do for photos these days, right?

This fabric is a polyester crepe ? kind of a textured fabric with a very slight stretch, which I bought around New Years time at Joann's on one of their super sale days. I loved the color but didn't really have any need for some poly, however when I was thinking about this jumpsuit I saw it in my stash. I still have about 1.5 yards remaining so I think that will be a dress. Because now I'm sold on this color :)

Super duper fabric closeup so you can see the texture. Which is a nice feature - it presses perfectly but no wrinkles! And you can see one small change I made which was to add belt loops.




If you've been living under a rock for the past few months and haven't seen this pattern here is the tech drawing.




I did make a couple of fitting adjustments, as I made a sample version which is hanging on the wall at Hello Stitch, in my size 10 and which I thought the overall fit was nice the crotch was very low, to me it felt awkward. I decided to raise it up on this version and then if it turned out too high I could always stitch it lower.  Here's the change I made, raising both the front and back crotch curve by 2 inches. That turned out to be perfect and I left it that way after I basted it to try on.






The slight drawback of raising the crotch curve is that it is now shorter in the body, so slightly more wriggling to get it on since the length of the opening is now shorter, but it is by no means too short and I think the back looks better than on the test version that I made. (In this post if you scroll down you can see the test version that I made).




The other notable change is the length, I added 6 inches to the length, and then ended up hemming up about 2.5-3 inches as I wanted it to be full length, I don't think the crop length looks good on me at all.

This jumpsuit is very cleverly designed in that there are no closures other than the tie belt, but it is really like a wrap dress, so the fronts overlap and provide very good coverage. It's one of the type of garment that probably doesn't look all that great on the hanger if you were to see it in a store but once you put it on then it looks fantastic.






I might have gone a little overboard with the belt loops but that is one criticism of the pattern, or the wearability. Most all of them that I see have the tie belt wrapped but the waist seam tends to slide down below it, and sometimes it looks a bit baggy in the backside. I almost wonder if it would look OK and be comfortable to have a casing with elastic just across the back waist. Might try that sometime in the future.

One other little adjustment was to add to the front edge of the bodice, where the wraps overlap at the center front. This is another of my "I will add a little bit here and if I don't like it when I sew it together and try on then I can always remove it" adjustments. But I left it as it. By adding that small amount on a wrap dress or top you are raising the point where the overlaps intersect. Often this is the difference between a pretty and comfortable neckline and a slightly too revealing wrap neckline.
I wrote an article on the Craftsy blog in the past which is now on the Bluprint site, so it may be helpful when fitting a wrap neckline,



One other place when I decided to go off the instructions was in the binding of the opening. This fabric was a bit spongy and it didn't look great with topstitching as a linen or cotton would, so I hand stitched the bias binding around the neck.
It did take a few minutes but the thread really disappeared into the texture of the fabric and allowed me to get the binding even all the way around. Plus a bit of hand sewing is fine when it's SHARK WEEK on Discovery channel. Any other shark week fans out there? It's silly, it's bombastic and yet I find it so mesmerizing. Also as someone who loves to swim in the ocean, I find it both educational and nightmare inducing. But I love anything ocean related so it's really interesting.





So that's the scoop on my Zadie jumpsuit. This Saturday I have a class on this pattern which is full, however we are offering it again in September and I think there are some spots still open, but I think they will fill up.

What else? I'm sneaking in a few new summer dresses here and there in my sewing time, as I have a vacation coming up. We have a jean jacket class on the calendar at Hello Stitch in October - that will be fun and it's such a great item for our bay area weather. There is one spot that opened up in my Jacket Tailoring class in mid-Sept. I just started on a Jasika blazer this week as I wanted to try out the pattern so I will post some progress on my IG story. Also we're planning a capsule wardrobe class so more details on that soon.


I wasn't going to include this picture but I decided it needed a caption of this type "oh hello, welcome to my garden, where I flounce around in my elegant jumpsuit admiring my flowers, and I ignore the dry patch on the lawn where the sprinklers refuse to cooperate". Or something equally silly but you get the idea.



Happy Summer Sewing,
Beth

Today's garden photo, dahlias and a milkweed, which I happily planted to help the monarch butterflies. And I was thrilled this week to see some in my yard. Long live the monarch butterflies! 

Random Threads # 36: practice, being brave, and sewing indie

All weekend I've been meaning to sit down and write a blog post, but it's been a weird holiday around  here. In the sense that it doesn't feel like Memorial Day, the weather has been cold and rainy (more snow in Tahoe!) and every is a little bit grumpy waiting for summer to start.

So I thought I might have something seasonal (meaning springtime) to blog about but many things are in process and I'm not in the mood to do photos. However my notebook page for random threads has a number of entries so onward with that.

Ban the seam ripper! Is that crazy to say? It took me a while to comprehend that in the UK it's seems to be referred to as the unpicker, which maybe is a slightly gentler word. Below is an array of items I use to undo a seam, in descending order of use. I explain below the image.



Small scissors or thread snips will always be my implement of choice, I find that snipping the stitches, then gently pulling apart the two fabric pieces, then snipping again and so on is as fast as using a seam ripper and far less traumatic on the fabric. I unpick a lot of seams when I teach my classes, often helping people out after they are at their wit's end. I totally understand the frustration of making a sewing mistake and then having to remove, and then removing itself is a tricky operation so I like to help people out and get it over and done with so they can get back to the project itself.
Second choice and often first depending on the fabric is the razor blade, works great on denim and other stronger fabrics. It takes practice but once you get the hang of it then it's really quick. Third, I might use the curved blade thing, this works for small spaces where you are extracting just a few stitches. Lastly I might use the seam ripper but I find you have to pull too hard to break the threads and often can poke a hole in the fabric. Anyway - try to snip instead of rip and see how it goes :)

Practice makes.....proficient: You always hear the saying practice makes perfect, and it's understandable that has become a common phrase, but somewhere I read recently that practice doesn't necessarily make perfect but it makes you proficient, defined as competent or skilled. I like the thesaurus words even better: competent, masterly, adept, adroit, deft, dextrous. I think becoming adept at something is such a good goal, learning how to do something almost like second nature. Not having to think about it, and relying on yourself and your skill to do it right every time. Sewing has so many of these tasks to learn, and granted it does take time but one day you put in a zipper or sew a collar and didn't even think twice about it, you don't look at the instructions or stress about the outcome, you just do it and then perhaps realize you have become proficient at that skill. Such a good feeling!

Sew Brave - how do you define that? I really like reading the Sewcialists blog . Because of that I've come across people and ideas that I might not have encountered, and I'm really impressed with the way writers have shared their perspectives. The topic in May has been Sew Brave, to discuss pushing out of your comfort zone and talking about sewing a pattern, fabric or style that scares you. The various posts got me thinking about this and trying to come up with my own Sew Brave moment. I don't really have any things that might scare me about sewing, granted my sewing life started early and I got most of the scary things out of the way long ago, as my high school and college wardrobe would show if it had been documented on social media as it would be today. A lot of pattern/fabric pairing mistakes and misguided style choices along the way but as we alway (sarcastically) said in my family "it's a learning experience".  So my current Sew Brave moments might be when I cut into ultra-expensive fabrics. Almost always when sewing for someone else - those $ 400 pieces of fabric make you really measure twice before cutting once but after a while it just becomes another fabric. So far I've had great success, fingers crossed for luck, now that I've said it aloud I would not be surprised to make a big boo boo in the next year. Hope not!  This silk blouse and skirt pictured below are something I sewed for a client, she bought both fabrics in NY so not something you can just run back and get some more! Also that print placement was a challenge, blog post on that outfit is here.



Sewing Indie patterns: That's not something I do all that much, I always find things I want to sew in Vogue patterns, Simplicity, New Look, Burda Magazine etc. But recently I've been sewing up some samples as we mostly do classes at Hello Stitch Studio based around popular indie patterns. We've found that a lot of people already have the pattern, or have seen versions on IG etc so they want to make the same items, which is understandable. Plus all the patterns are available at Stone Mountain Fabrics which is nearby. I'm always looking for something complex or new to me so I tend to stick with Burda/Vogue etc. But it's been fun to make some of these patterns, and I've had both pleasant surprises and some small frustrations in doing so. On the plus side, some of the styles are unexpectedly appealing.



I recently sewed these to prepare for the upcoming classes. I made the straps wider on the Ogden cami as that was a request from a few people, and it's a pretty easy change to make I will detail in class. In all the samples I make I choose my size based on the pattern envelope info, just because it's easy to sew my size and then try on to see how they fit. (also selfish sewing) The pleasant surprise of the bunch is how much I like the Emerson pants, I will definitely be repeating those soon. The Mysotis dress is a good item for learning how to do darts, plus sleeves. It's not really my style but I have a few pattern hack ideas that I will try to do before the class.
And then, ta da! The Zadie jumpsuit, which I sewed in some free fabric that Stacey from the studio gave me and turns out I really like this pattern, along with a zillion other stitchers! Although I will do a few fit adjustments on my next version and I think I will make it sleeveless or some other changes. Stay tuned!  On the not so good side, I cannot get used to the variety of seam allowances on various indie patterns, I'm a 5/8" automaton and have to really concentrate not to use that.



It was absolutely pouring the day I ran outside to take these photos - where is our spring??

My sewing worktable - I keep saying that I will show more details on this homemade item which  me and Craftsman drill created it a few years ago. Here's a completely keeping it real view of part of my sewing space featuring a dress in progress for Heather (Vogue 8787 and fabric from Girl Charlee, will blog when finished).  Anyway - sewing table in the foreground, along with power strip cords, many fabric scraps that I let fall to the floor, and the more interesting detail in the background, my low-tech way of adjusting dress forms with strategically wrapped towels or padded bras to add circumference. Works find and costs nothing, score! Anyway, I will take some 360 video and post in my Instagram story this week.




So those are my random thoughts for today, and I already have a few jotted down for the next thrilling installment. Including my opinion on a very popular dress pattern, something about it really bugs me so stay tuned and see :)

Coming up at Hello Stitch Studio, the aforementioned classes on the Emerson Pants, Ogden Cami, Myosotis dress, and the Zadie Jumpsuit. I think the next Fit Lab class is full (spaces available in the morning session which is pattern adjustment skills) and my Jacket Workshop in September is almost full (yay!!!)  All my classes at Hello Stitch Studio in Berkeley can be found here. 

Up next, I started a denim skirt yesterday, from a recent Burda magazine and I can tell it will be a summer staple. Other than that I haven't been super motivated to sew for myself as the weather is so weird but hopefully summer shift dress season will arrive soon. ugh, how boring to talk about the weather but it really affects both mood and sewing mojo, right?

Happy Spring Sewing, Beth

today's garden photo, this coral color rose was a weakling in one spot, then I moved it to a better location and wow the shade of these roses are electric on a sunny day. This one was just about to open but I liked the sunshine streaking through the petal.

Ash Jeans again: 3rd pair in sparkly denim

This sewing project was one of those "I don't really need it but why not?" items where you are in a fabric store and see something slightly ridiculous and yet buy it anyway. For me it was this sparkly denim which I bought at Joann's one day, as it had a nice weight and suitable stretch, plus a subtle silver shimmer. Or can jeans that sparkle be considered subtle? Since you can't really see the shimmer in photos I will say yes.



I cut them out fully intending to make the cropped wide leg version on the pattern envelope, which is one of the 4 options on the Megan Nielsen Ash jeans. (the last view shown in the diagrams).



However I am tempted to say, in honor of May the 4th (Star Wars day) that THESE are not the wide leg jeans you are looking for. If you get it, you get it...and on a slightly meandering note, I saw the original movie as it opened that first summer in the theater. Try to imagine how thrilling that movie was before it was everywhere in our culture. It had everything, adventure, romance, good vs. evil, humor, inspiration and young Harrison Ford! And we had to wait 3 years! for each sequel to find out what happened next. I still love that original trilogy (and have never seen any of the subsequent ones :)

Back to sewing, I did cut these out using the pattern pieces for the wide leg version. And basted them together for a try-on. And decided noooooooooo. Everyone has their pet peeve about how things look on themselves, for me it is things that make me look extra short in the bottom half. As I'm not tall to begin with, and kind of short in the leg half, I don't need clothes that make my bum look even closer to the ground.
So I took out my pattern pieces from the slim leg Ash jeans and overlaid them on the legs and recut them to that shape. Below is the back pattern piece, you can see how much narrower the slim leg is. And not just in the outside seam, but also starting at the inner thigh and continuing down to the ankle.
I didn't get a photo that showed the whole pattern piece but you get the idea.



The yokes were already sewn on the backs and the pockets and zipper were all done in the front, so it was a quick bit of work to unbaste and then restitch after I had trimmed them down to the slim leg.



Not the best looking photo but I wanted you to see how high these jeans come up on me. I did raise the waist all the way around 1/2" since I'm long in the rise. I bought the Dawn jeans pattern which is described as a high-rise jean so I'll be interested to see how the rise is on that.




The whole time I was sewing these I thought the denim was black with a bit of sparkle, and I used black thread for both construction and topstitching.

I like the pockets to continue all across the center front of the jeans, I think some call this a waist stay, or I in RTW jeans I've seen it called tummy control. Whatever it is I think it keeps the front from stretching out, and also it keeps the pocket bags from creeping out which drives me crazy.

I'll be showing how to do this in my Jeans class at Hello Stitch Studio which is coming up in June, it's two Saturdays June 1 and June 8. I think this Ash jeans pattern is so good, the fit and shaping are really nice. As I mentioned before I made the first pair back in January and I used my hip measurement to choose the size. I took them in at the waist but the rest of the jeans are according to the pattern and I really am happy with the fit. This is probably the most suitable denim I've used, as the other two versions were sewn with denim I got at fabric swaps and a little skimpy on the stretch amount although they worked out ok.



You can see that I rummaged around in my scrap box for some cottons to use as the pocket bags and the waistband inside. I don't really get too worked up about the insides and don't care if they match. They don't show! use up scraps!  I put plain woven cotton for the inside waistband instead of the denim as I felt it was the tiniest bit rough and also got quite hot when I ironed it, possibly due to the metallic component. So I didn't want that touching my skin around the waist. Also using a non-stretch for the waistband seems to work well for me.

And here's how I realized these jeans were actually blue and not black.



I put them on with this silk top which is a black/white/green print. And took some photos. Staring at the pictures it was obvious that the denim was blue. Oh well. And the silver loafers are maybe too much with the sparkle jeans....Funny how you see things in photos that you don't notice in the mirror.

Close up view and the sparkles are evident?  Also looks like black denim, right? This is in my super bright in the daytime sewing room.






So that's the latest on my Ash jeans. I probably have about 10 pairs of blue denim RTW jeans in my closet, various other colors also and now 3 pairs of Ash jeans. I fully intend to make the Dawn jeans and them it's time to make some shorts maybe? No more jeans for a while. Plus once our summer heat kicks in I rarely even put ON jeans until sometimes mid-Sept or even later.

For May I have a bit of a break in my schedule of teaching classes, as this month has a lot of weekend holidays and other stuff on the calendar so we don't have as many classes. Although we just did a weekday class last Thursday and it sold out immediately so based on that we have a couple more weekday classes now scheduled (Wrap dress and Lander pants classes).

Instead of listing my upcoming classes, here's a screen grab to show you what's on the calendar for June - Aug. There are just a couple of spots remaining in the Fitting class on June 22 and we won't have another scheduled until the fall so if you are interested jump on that. Here's the link to the class page.

Register or see more information for my 
Garment Sewing Classes at Hello Stitch Studio



Did you see what class is there in the last image? Yes, the Zadie jumpsuit! I'm very excited to make that, I just got the pattern and will be sewing up a sample in the next month or so. And I didn't think it would work on a height-challenged person :) but I ran into Kristin at the Stone Mountain Fabrics 38th Anniversary party on Friday night.



Kristin, who I met in a few of my classes, said her Zadie was hot off the sewing machine, just finished the night before. It looks so cute on her! so now I'm ready to try one for myself. It looks like
we are the only ones there but the place was packed with so many stitchers - a really fun event and great to see everyone. The sewing community in the bay area is really lively!

And looking ahead to August and September, check this out. I'm doing another beginner series based around the new Wiksten dress pattern (which I believe is going to be back in stock in the next month or so) and then my Jacket Weekend workshop is official. The class registration is live on the Hello Stitch Website.

The jacket workshop will be a 3-day class (afternoon on Friday and then Sat/Sun). The new Jasika Blazer pattern is a good option but if you already have a jacket or coat pattern that you want to do that's fine with me. I will be showing a lot of techniques and demonstrations on how I do things, including what parts of the instructions I ignore and go my own way :) all my thoughts on interfacings and a faster way to make the lining. Plus whatever else I think of in the next few months. While this class isn't until Sept. we have had registrations the day it was listed so I think we will have a great group. If you have any questions on this please email me. 

That's the latest on my Ash jeans, now onward to some summer dresses. I have a couple of things picked out from the last two Burdas and I need to get going on those. 

Happy Spring Sewing, Beth

Today's garden photo, I was so pleased with these bicolor tulips that I planted in the fall and promptly forgot were there. They've finished blooming now but the colors were so pretty. 

Flared Dress BurdaStyle #117 April 2019

As soon as I saw the preview of the April issue of the BurdaStyle magazine I knew I wanted to make this dress. The version shown in the magazine is a nice polka dot and I looked around for some fabric like that. As it happened I received a big bag of free fabric that yielded just the right one. Hello Stitch had a fabric swap day a while back and after it was over they gave me what remained to use for making samples for classes. So far it has supplied the fabric for my sample Myosotis dress and my first Zadie jumpsuit - so not a bad haul.

But the one that catches my eye will always be the jewel tone, in this case a purple mystery fabric, probably a poly crepe. I am really happy with the result, although there are a few small things I can gripe about. But on the whole I like it - and have worn it already.



Mostly it's the length!  I am on the smaller side, 5'3" maybe a half inch more if I stand up straight :) and I think the skirt length looks better on me if it's just at mid-knee. So about 2 inches shorter on this one would have been nice. Although I realize it's supposed to be this length and I decided to just go with it instead of fiddling with shortening which would have been a pain with the asymmetrical skirt pieces.
And dress lengths seem to be getting longer again. Fashion - always doing this to us, right?


A change I did make is to lower the neckline a bit in the center front, it was a higher cut, more of a boat neck (where did that name come from?). Anyway - those necklines always feel a bit uncomfortable on me so I rounded it a bit at the center from lowering about 1/2".



That twisty waist sash was a total puzzler and thank goodness for this very thin fabric. It is probably impossible to see but the larger side twists and is caught in the skirt under where the ruffle starts, and then the smaller side loops around that and is caught in the seam between bodice and skirt. At least that is what I gleaned from the Burda instructions and looking closely at the example for many minutes.



I think the best thing about this pattern is the skirt and it would be easy to use the skirt portion with a different Burda dress bodice, or just as a skirt alone.




I treated this dress as a combo of fancy sewing and speed sewing. In that I took my time with the fit and yet I used some super quick sewing techniques in certain areas. Like the hem for the ruffle. This fabric was super unravel-ly which is not fun, so I just serged the edge of all the ruffle and turned, pressed and machine stitched for the hem. Which is pretty much what the instructions said. But for the neckline and armholes it said to finish with bias tape. Nope - I have an aversion to bias tape. At least the packaged stuff. Far too stiff for most garment sewing.
I could have made a facing for the neck and armhole and almost did that when I was thinking of lining the whole dress, but then I decided to go speed sewing on that and skipped the lining. Although I'm wearing a knit slip I sewed a while ago (for wearing under knit dresses) - which is the perfect layer for this one as well.




Actually I'm really liking the fit in the back. Maybe I should make this one again? I cut out a size 38 at the neck and shoulders, and then graded out about 1-2 inches larger at waist and hip. The waist twisty sash thing is cut on the bias, and I cut it the same as the pattern and based it on, then later I had to open up parts of the side seam at the top and bottom of the sash as it was too loose there. So basically tightening up the sash so that it would lay flat against the body.










There's the tech drawing and the magazine photo. I really like the proportions of the ruffle. The skirt is not an overlap but is two pieces with a curved seam joining them and the ruffle sandwiched in between. Also maybe  I need a hat???  (nope)




Attempting a better pose for photos here - trying to emulate my friend Laura Mae who I think has master the art of blog photo poses (which I have not :)

What about the inside? Well since I decided not to line it then the neck and armholes needed finishing. I cut bias strips from a scrap of bemberg rayon lining, about 1.24 inches wide, and pressed one edge under by 1/4". Then I stitched it on at the 5/8" seam line, trimmed and clipped that, pressed inside and then hand stitched the bias to enclose the edges. I'm a pretty quick hand sewer so it was probably faster than making a facing pattern piece and dealing with that. You can see the grey basting thread on my zipper - I machine baste invisible zippers in, and typically use a contrast thread color so I can see the basting. And no need to take it out - it's on the inside of the garment so I don't care.



The one drawback to the combo of this lightweight fabric and no interfacing around the neckline is that it is a bit limp and you can see some ripples when I wear it, but I can live with that.



So that's my latest Burda magazine sewing, with a few new things traced out and ready to go when I find a minute.
But this is not the last of a skirt flounce this summer - my other finished project also has this feature. It's the summer of ruffles  - they are everywhere.





Happy Summer Sewing,
Beth

and today's garden photos, it has to be these purple beauties. Right now I have a wall of hydrangeas across the back of the yard and I couldn't be happier every time I look out.

BurdaStyle 04-2019-113: Another contender the for best ever skirt pattern

Many of us have sewn multiple versions of what I have always called the best ever skirt pattern, which was Vogue 1247 that I recently sewed in faux suede.  I think that was my fifth version of that pattern, but now I think there is a new contender for champion. Jumping right to my conclusion, I love this skirt!

This is from the April 2019 Burda Magazine, #113 which is called Skirt with Belt Bag, as you will see below. Although mine doesn't have a belt bag.



While I might like to have made the belt bag - I was down to small scraps since I found this nice denim remnant in my stash and it was JUST enough to make this skirt. I started with Burda size 42 which matches my hip measurement with a little extra wiggle room, but it turned out to be a lot of extra room, so I took in the skirt after stitching it up.




And let's take a minute to appreciate that clever detail, which has the belt going through the seaming of the front panel instead of belt loops, just on the one side. I think it add something interesting to an otherwise simple skirt.



It has a facing around the waist edge, and the belt loops are sewn into that seam. I used white topstitching (regular thread, not topstitch thread) and navy blue in the bobbin, which I think sometimes gives the white thread a chance to really show. I had the D-rings in my stash, as well as a navy blue invisible zipper so all in all this was such a rewarding project - you know the feeling when it all comes together so nicely!




Even the length was just right, I turned up the hem 1.5" and stitched it in blue.

Better look at the right side where the seam openings take the place of 2 belt loops. This fabric is a slightly stretch denim, it may be a leftover piece from these Ash jeans.






So once I sewed it up, including topstitching everywhere, but before I put on the waistband I tried it on and decided it was way too big, so I took out about 3 inches total from the two seams either side of the zipper. Which meant I had to remove the topstitching. That only took a quick minute as I had used 4.0 stitch length and it was worthwhile to get the fit right. Plus now I have adjusted the paper pattern pieces so hopefully next version will be even quicker.

Note the white t-shirt - I never wear white tops :) I know they are popular but I always feel so blah in a white t-shirt, however when going through my closet for something to pair with this I realized it looked nice with the white - so I might even wear this outfit as is, a surprise to me!

I brightened this photo so you can see the details better.



And oh yeah, a requisite for any good skirt pattern, pockets, right? This is where paying attention to the Burda instructions did pay off, as it's necessary to sew in a particular order to get the pockets topstitched and not sewed shut.




Here's the magazine view, including the belt bag. I have some almost matching but not quite the same denim and I might give it a go just for fun. It won't matter if it doesn't match exactly, probably I'm the only one that could even distinguish the fabric difference.







This skirt could be worn with a different belt. I made the belt according to the specs in the pattern and its a bit long for me, I might go back and shorten it about 4 inches.

That white t-shirt is something I bought maybe 5 years ago, I needed a white t-shirt for something. It has cotton eyelet over knit in the front and then the rest is knit. An idea I might have to copy as I have eyelet in turquoise and bright pink in my stash right now.




This might just be my new summer outfit! Now I want one in other colors.




Up next, I'm deciding between two different dress patterns. I will make both but not sure which will be first. One is Vogue 9357 . I just got some nice gingham so that might get made in that as shown on the pattern envelope. The other dress is a Burda with a ruffle hem, as I have to join in with the ruffle trend.

Sewing classes at Hello Stitch Studio : most of my summer classes are filling up. Some just have 1 or 2 spots available so sign up if you are interested. I think there is 1 spot left in the Zadie jumpsuit class - I knew that would be popular :) and I plan to make one for myself soon.

Tomorrow it's supposed to be beautiful and sunny, so it's an outside day (not a sewing room day). The garden needs something this time of year.

Happy Sewing, Beth

This yellow snapdragon survived the winter and it loved all that rain. It's now done with it's first bloom but I've trimmed it and hope for a few more flowers in the next month.