Simplicity 8126 or... Sometimes I Shouldn't Sew at Night

I sewed up Simplicity 8126 yesterday! I used an old cotton fabric that I had from an 1860 skirt I made four or five years ago but is too short now. I've really wanted a great wrap around skirt so I was excited for this one!

I left the pleat out because I didn't think a large pleat on my stomach would be too flattering and instead just gathered the whole thing. When attaching it to the waistband the gathers had to be really spread out almost to the point of no gathers and I thought it was weird but I just kept going. I finished it up then left it to try on today.

I tried it on today and the first thing I notice is, it barely fits around and gaps in the back if I'm not standing straight and still. At first I thought it was because I didn't put the pleat in and then slowly I realized it was because I only cut out one panel for the skirt...  I should have stopped when I was sitting there unpicking my third mistake last night! I should never ever sew tired!

So today after picking apart the whole thing, I finally had my skirt! It ended up looking better on my mannequin then on me. Not that it's awful, but just a little too full of a skirt with the pleat in it also (which I ended up putting it back in, while remaking it just to be safe). I also added a button hole in the waistband to pull one of the ties through. The instructions had them just crisscrossing in the back and I liked this way better.

I like it but it's not my favorite. I would maybe make it again but I think I'd rather have a less full wrap skirt. Plus, I still don't love that pleat in the front!

Simplicity 8107

A while back I used Simplicity 8107 to make a dress for a christmas party. It was a dress up type party so I was trying to be a 'christmas tree', hence the green corduroy and gold trim.

I actually really liked this pattern a lot! I changed the neckline to a V because the rounded one looked odd on me, but that was simple to do! I also really liked that this was fully lined. I would definitely make this dress again, even in corduroy, though a different color I think. 

The few pictures I managed to take were just horrible but I found one that shows only some of the dress but does at least show the headband I made. My friend, who was a reindeer, mostly blocked the view of the dress but you can see the gold belt I put with it. Unfortunately I managed to have the cheesiest smile in the only good picture of the dress *sigh* 

The headband I made from just a plain gold headband and then I found a star and some gold sparkly twisty things that I used to hold the star on and twist around the headband. That was all I did for that. 

In other news: The Pink Rose 1860 dress is done! or just about... some last minute hand sewing adjustments and the hem and then it will be. Here's a sneak peak of that -

Other News..

So I have a couple projects i'm working on at the moment. My first that I'm really excited about is my new Etsy Shop! I've wanted to start a vintage shop for a while but I finally got around too it!

This is a 1970's lounge dress/ house dress. The tag inside says it's from Neiman Marcus.

I just finished repairing a tear in the sleeve and now it's ready to go in the shop!

It's such a great 70's print and of course I love wrap dresses!

Lately I've been really interested in 1970s.

My other project is this "Snoozy Kitten" stuffed animal cat. It's either a 1950 or 1940 pattern. I found the pattern a while ago but it sold before I could buy it. I searched and searched for it and eventually found a reproduction of the pattern so I got it. The first one I made was for my friend. The picture is the cat not quite completed, there were still the ears to put on and other things!

Right now I'm working on another kitty for myself. It's in the same fabric as my friend so that ours are matching.

And in other news im still making progress on the graduation dress. I'm waiting on the buttons I ordered still. I'm frustrated because I order them 7 days ago now and i've heard nothing at all from them since the day I ordered them. I have to have it done by next friday so I'm a little nervous. Worst case though, I can do the beading or embroidery or whatever I decide for the collar later. The collar may not be done for the picture day but at least it would be done for graduation.