Mikaela asked me to make her this skirt. This is McCall's 7392.

I'd previously made view A for her summer of 2016. I cut the size 6 in a stretch denim. I topstitched with silver contrasting thread and used silver snaps. She has worn this skirt so much in the last year and a half that she asked me to make her a similar version with a straight edge in corduroy.

This version is done in a 100% cotton goldenrod corduroy. How 1970s does this look? Very! I still used the size 6. This version is basically view C, but in the same length as view A. And I left off the belt loops.

I also used buttons and matching thread for topstitching.

I made a slight 3/4" full butt adjustment. Last year when I made a muslin of this skirt, it was hiking up a bit in the back. And that small alteration fixed that. 

This is such a perfect wardrobe addition for fall and she loves it already.

It's comfy pajama season! Mikaela requested for the Thanksgiving holiday that I make her some pajamas. We were in Joann and she found this pattern, McCall's 7518 in the catalog. So, I promised her that I'd have them made by the time she got home yesterday.

For the fabric, she wanted plaid. She first selected a flannel shirting in a similar colorway. The fabric was only 41" wide and it was really lightweight with no 'give'. I explained why it wouldn't work. I told her to think about the same fabric that baby blanket sleepers  are made in. I found this Blizzard Fleece Red Green and Navy Fabric and most importantly, it's 58".

I made the adult small and it was the perfect size right out of the envelope. It's always a win when I don't have to make any alterations.

Especially since I took the time to match the plaid at all of the seams. 

This is really a quick sew. It took longer to cut it out than it did to actually sew it all together.

I typically like for the dominant print (in this instance it's the red) to go down the center. But, primarily the center back -- it nips in at the waist. So I put the dominant color down the princess lines.

I omitted all of the extra topstitching that was suggested down the center of the hood and around the neckline.

It also has a center front lapped zipper. 

For the cuffs, I used a navy blue ponte from my stash that was leftover from my Vogue 1522 pants.

This was an absolute success and she's loving it. I'll make another one in more of a red plaid for Christmas, because she's going to wear this one to death!

So, it's been a while since I've sewn anything for Mikaela. We've both been super busy. But I was determined to get her something made before she left for school. We're going to call this dress a birthday present since her birthday was at the end of July. Can y'all believe my sweet baby girl is 20 years old?! Where has time gone?

I wanted to make her something girly, cute, youthful and perfect for these last summer days.

I was inspired by this Caroline Constas Apollonia Dress which retails for $495.

For this dress, I used McCall's 7563 as my base pattern. I only needed 2 pattern pieces, the front/back and the sleeve of view D. Shirring creates stretch, which creates shrinkage. So you pattern should be 1.5 times your normal size. For example, Mikaela has a bust size of 34". So the pattern's bust size should be 51".

I found that 20 rows of stitching was enough to cover the bust area for an empire waist. If you're smaller than her, maybe 15 rows and if you're larger 25 (or more).

I created 20 rows of stitching also for the sleeves.

I also modified the sleeve by created a tiered effect and finishing with a minuscule narrow hem, using my BERNINA Narrow Straight Stitch Hemmer #62.

I love the way the sleeves turned out.

I finished the neckline simply by serging.

And hemmed the dress with a 5/8" hem.

The fabric is Cotton Seersucker from Joann Fabrics.

This was such a fulfilling unselfish-sewing project, because she is so in love with this dress!

I've written a How to Create Shirring with Elastic Thread Tutorial on BERNINA's We All Sew Blog. Go see how to do it!

I've been embellishing garments with eyelets for a while now, and I thought it would look really cool and interesting to play with larger sizes. And while we're here, are eyelets and grommets the same thing? I had to do research and this is the article that I found.

So basically, I guess you can say that the two terms can be use interchangeably depending on what they're being used for.

I was inspired by the Ellery Utopian V-Neck Dress. For my version, I needed to make some adjustments to the style to make it work for me.

My starting point for this look was Simplicity 8094, view C.  I cut the size 12. 

I changed the neckline into a v-neck. I kept it low enough to have some nice décolletage, but without the possible nip-slippage plunging neckline. 

Here is how I finished the neckline with seam binding.

On the original dress, the sides are completely open exposing lots of side-boobage with laces holding the sides together. I'm not a prude by any means, nor am I uncomfortable with the condition of my 45 year old body. I work HARD maintaining. But since this is just something I wanted to wear and not for a special sexy-night-out occasion, I needed for mine to be "bra-friendly", so I stitched the sides right below the horizontal bust darts.

With that adjustment, I only needed to add two sets of eyelets on each side.

My fabric is a white ponte knit.  I also used 1/2" wide single fold bias tape.  My grommets are from Joanns.  These were extremely quick and easy because there were no special tools needed or hammering.

And also, this View C of Simplicity 8094 is long! So if you're not as tall as me, you may want to take that into consideration. It measures approximately 56" from the base of the neck. I wore the tunic over my New Look 6459.

I made this little tunic dress for Mikaela so that she would have cute little dresses to take back to school with her this fall. It's so short and so cute and the perfect length for long-legged sassy 19 year old (her birthday is Friday!).

This dress was inspired by the BCBG Max Azria Tonya Lace-Up Tunic Dress.

I used New Look 6803, View D.

I cut the smallest size and it was fine right out of the envelope.  The only changes I made was the addition of the large eyelets and the ties.

It's so amazing how the eyelets can give the garment an entirely different look.

Such a perfect minimal look. Only thing needed is earrings and strappy sandals!

If you sew for others, I promise you that this is the type of experience that you want to have.  I bought this fabulous Terracotta Tie-Dye Cotton Gauze from Mood Fabrics.  I picked it with a cotton maxi dress for me in mind.  Mikaela spotted it as I was unboxing.  She grabbed that fabric quicker than I could get a good look at it.  She wrapped it around herself and started prancing and spinning around like it was love at first sight.  Because it was!

She began her own pattern search on what I could make for her! LOL  She received a quick lesson on stretch vs. wovens.  She decided that she wanted this Simplicity 1108, view A kimono.

This kimono is sized from XXS-XXL.  I cut the XS because she wanted it oversized.  And it's indeed roomy.  I could wear this -- if I could pry it from her hands!  Oh, and this fabric is 100% cotton.  Always remember to prewash or dry clean your fabric FIRST before you cut into it.  I washed this in hot water and dried it on high.  I needed to make sure I got all of the shrinkage out of it because I was handing this off to a teenager.  And we know they care nothing about sorting out laundry.  EVERYTHING in the wash on cold!

I had to press the fabric so that I could evenly cut it out.  The pressing removed a lot of the character from the gauze, but I had to so that the fabric way lay flat.  I used a very lightweight knit fusible interfacing for the bands.  Finding the right weight is extremely important because you don't want it to be too stiff and take away from the fabric's natural drape.

After attaching the bands, here is how I sewed the non-interfaced pieces which are facings.  The seam allowance is turned under and press.  This can be sewn by hand for the most impeccable finish.  But I chose to do an as-neat-as-possible ditch stitch.  You want to make sure that the finish on the inside is "clean" because as you see, it will show.

View A has cut in sleeves, so this kimono is basically back, front and the bands.  The back has a center seam and has slight gathering at the neckline.

I finished the seams with my serger and the seams are pressed to one side.  I created a narrow hem for sleeves.

This is probably one of the most perfect fabric for a kimono on this style... if you like that relaxed, carefree, heading-to-a-music-festival look.

If you can't tell, she loves piece and I'm sure she'll wear it to shreds!