Sixteen years ago today, God blessed Michael and I with this spectacular child... our last little baby!  She has truly been a blessing.  I know a lot of parents are biased, but this beautiful little girl has yet to give us a moments trouble or worry.  She's not a perfect child, by ANY means.  She still has her moments as a pouty-faced, brooding teenage girl.   But she is truly a joy!

Per usual, I made her a birthday outfit.

The top is McCall's 6751.  And it literally took under an hour from cutting table to final pressing!  Three pieces is all.  I cut the smallest size -- the extra small.  She told to me leave off the pocket.  And instead of bias binding, I just serged the raw edges and used a 5/8" hem.  The hemming was really easy, because once you start, the entire thing is continuous.  I used a lightweight 100% cotton chambray from my stash.  

I thought the back was so cute.  Almost like an adult version of the little crossover tops that baby girls wear. And the way the straps are set, it's bra friendly.  If I had made this for myself, I'd probably tack the back to make sure it stayed in place. 

And once again, I pulled out her "TNT" shorts pattern, McCall's 6756 and used a shortened version of view B.  I used this lovely fuchsia brocade from Mood Fabrics.com.  

And since it has absolutely no stretch, I cut the size 8 instead of a size 6.  

Happy Birthday to my Sweet Sixteen Year Old!

So... how was that Super Bowl?  Go RAVENS!

And speaking of the World Champion Baltimore Ravens... Remember that movie, "The Coalition" that I worked on?  Well... it's being released on DVD and Blu-Ray today!  

I couldn't be more excited and proud of my friend Monica Mingo, who wrote her dream down and made it happen!  And you have to know that Terrell Suggs is on cloud 9, after winning the Vince Lombardi trophy on Sunday night and today his first feature film is being released.  Sounds like a great week to me!

Here is the movie site -- The Coalition.  So if you're interested in seeing it, it's available at Wal-Mart and Target, in-store and online.  And also Amazon.com.  If you see, let me know what you think about the wardrobe!  Oh... and the movie! ;-)

Wearing:  Pea coat:  Vogue 2873; striped top:  McCall's 6355; brocade moto jeans:  Vogue 2973;  sunnies:  Karen Walker; pumps:  Sam Edelman.

Fancy jeans has been a really big trend this season.  And my favorite way to follow a trend and come in under budget, is to sew a garment myself. 

Sources one, two and three.

This is Vogue 2973, an out-of-print pattern by Montana from 2007.  Yes, I'm still reaching in the filing cabinet for old patterns.  I've been intending to sew this pattern since I bought it 5 years ago... but I was always waiting for the perfect fabric for the jacket.  

For the pants, I used a black damask printed Italian denim (cotton 85%/polyester 13%/lycra 2%).  When I first ran across this fabric, I knew it had to become a pair of jeans. 

While researching reviews of this pattern, I was surprised to see there were only two reviews for the pants.  I thought they were pretty great looking on the envelope which is sometimes a rarity with the pattern companies.  So when I read and reviewed the images, I saw why.  This pattern has an enormous amount of ease.  I wouldn't want to wear jeans with the type of "relaxed fit" that this pattern would yield IF I'd stuck to my proper measurements.  Which leads me to wonder, why the pattern didn't produce a garment that looked like the designer sample in the envelope photo?!  Could it be a case of a poorly drafted pattern?

So instead, I cut the size 14.  I still had to sew them and nip/tuck as I went along.  The leg was not originally as tapered as I wanted them to be.  I didn't want a "skinny" skinny jean... but more of a grown up straight-legged style.  For my pants/jeans, I try to keep in mind my hip to leg-opening ratio.  I'm not trying to look like an ice cream cone.  So I based my measurements on favorite pants in my closet.

Even though with the print, you can't see it, but there is a lot of topstitching and edge stitching.  I felt that gave them a good RTW look... that is when given a close-up inspection.  

And I didn't follow the instruction very much.  I know the order in which I like putting pants together.  Plus, I always use this method for fly-front zipper installation.

My favorite detail of this project was the welt zippers and the topstitching on the waistband.

This is a cool pattern that fit the bill for what I'd envisioned.  But please be warned, this pattern is not for the rank beginner.  It's for someone that knows how to take the pieces given and modify them into what they actually want.

Go me, it's my birthday!!!

Another trend I decided to embrace this season is the "Baroque & Brocade" trend.  This isn't my first time creating a brocade garment.  Remember Vogue 8333, that I made 2 years ago?  That blazer will definitely be in rotation this season!

I saw this brocade fabric in Jo-Anns and decided that it had to come home with me.  And all week long, my mojo was pretty depleted.  So I needed an "instant gratification" project to get the juices flowing.  And what better than a pencil skirt.  

I decided to use New Look 6107.  I had decided that I wanted to add colorful pencil skirts (a la J. Crew No. 2) to my wardrobe.  So I took this pattern and tweaked it to my specifications.

I cut view D, and added an inch to the length.  I also pegged the hem of the skirt by removing an four inches (an inch per seam allowance).  The rule I followed is that the hem should be 4 inches less than the widest point of the hip.  

Such a great and simple project!