More BWOF 4-2009-122 Pics

As promised, here are more pictures of the BWOF blouse I made.

You can also check out on pattern review here.

A New Toy !

I just picked up a new toy that I have to tell you all about. It's called The Knit Kit.

If you don't have one of these, you need to get one. Let me tell you, I wish I had one when I left for vacation last week. It takes up so much less room. This lovely kit can basically just about lay in the palm of your hand. I purchased mine over at Rosie's Yarn Cellar.

Butterick 4810

Hey There!! I hope all of you are doing well and crafting up a storm. Mr. D and I were on vacation for the past week, and had a blast. The week flew by fast and we weren't ready to come back home. Our first stop was Savannah, GA for a few days and then we moved on to Fort Lauderdale, FL to visit my dad for a few days. The weather was just beautiful. I'll be sharing some photos soon, but to start off, I want to show you my sewing FO first. I wanted to make my whole wardrobe for my trip, but since time is a fleeting thing for me, I figured what gets done gets done. Butterick 4810 was almost the outfit that wasn't. I finished the pants in no time at all. I did View E. I shortened the pant leg so that they were a little bit highter than my ankle. Are they called peddle pushers when they are that high? I'm not sure. I also had to shorten the waistline. When I followed the instructions and prepared to do the waistband the Butterick way, the material was coming up past my belly button. This is a problem that I have been facing a lot when I make pants. I'm still learning how to tweak it though.

For the top I did View B. I pretty much had everything done on the top except for a few things. I had the zipper basted in, I still had to stitch the straps on to the front of the bodice, top stitch and hem it. I completed everything the morning of my flight. Let me tell you, there's nothing like waking up at 5 am, the alarm was set for 7 am. I had enough time to finish my top and get myself to the airport for a 9:30 am flight.

I did a review on this pattern over at pattern review. You can find it here. Overall this pattern is very easy and great for a beginner. I also think it's a great wardrobe builder. I'd definitely make it again. The outfit is very comfortable and the fabric wears well.

BWOF 4-2009-122

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and a rest filled weekend. I spent Saturday at my sewing machine working on Burda 4-2009-122. Can I just tell you right off that I LOVE THIS TOP!!!!

I read the directions on how to put this top together twice, but in the end, only used the technical drawing as a guide. I had also checked to see if anyone else had made it on pattern review. There were 2, and they didn't follow the directions either. This top is very basic and the pattern is great for a beginner.

I would have liked to try french seams on this, but since I had already cut my fabric, allowing only for a 3/4 seam allowance, that was not an option. There is always next time, and I know I will be making this top again. I made one slight change. The pattern called for 2 button holes in the front. Thanks to Dawn, I followed her lead. Instead of making 2 button holes I inserted 2 grommets with this lovely tool.

To make the casing on the inside of the blouse, I used Double fold bias tape. I unfolded the tape and ironed out the center crease. For the facing I cut from the leftover fabric. No fuss no muss.

Sorry about the pictures being a little dark. They were taken with my phone. I'll be posing for pictures later this week hopefully with a more full review for pattern review.

In other news, I also worked on the Butterick pattern 4810. I don't have any pictures yet. The pants are completely done and the top is almost finished. The zipper is basted in, but I'm not sure I like it. I'll be tweaking it tonight along with finishing up some hemming.

Weekend Update

I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine wasn't bad at all. I picked up fabric at JoAnn's Friday after work for a BWOF and Butterick pattern. I then went and hung out with my band mates. Sat. morning I started working on BWOF pattern 4-2009-122.


Yes, I have officially started a Burda pattern, can you believe it? I still can't. I'll talk more about that in a bit. I finished Saturday off by getting my hair done, hanging out with my mom and then watched the last episode of ER on Hulu. Sunday I spent the morning in church, it was Palm Sunday, and did a little shoe shopping. I wanted these Keds Hampton Oxfords. I also have them in a mule style as well.To finish out the night I watched the last 2 episodes of Lost. Just when I thought they couldn't do anything else with this show. It just blows my mind that it's still keeping my interest. It's really good.

In knitting news, I worked on Victoria a little, I pretty much am on the border portion of the skirt right now. I have one more pattern repeat to go. I hope to finish that off this week so that I can block it over the weekend. I also got a chance to work on my latest design while on the train going to and from work yesterday.

As I said earlier in this post, I started working on BWOF 4-2009-122. I understood the directions after reading them twice. I think the problem was that there weren't any pictures for examples, but I proceeded forward anyway. I figured if I started with an easy enough pattern, I should be okay whether there were instructions or not. It also helps that they have numbers in the corners where each pattern piece should go together. I traced the pattern pieces out on Saturday morning and added the seam allowances Sunday night using this compass which I found at Staples a couple of months ago. I like it because it has a dull point instead of a needle, so I can easily drag it along the lines already traced, and it doesn't bore any holes. The paper I'm using for my pattern pieces is Canson White Sketch/Tracing paper 24 in x 50 yds, which I purchased at Dick Blick. I love this stuff and it was pretty inexpensive.

Since I was in the cutting out mood, I also cut out the pattern pieces for Butterick 4810. I'm doing view B & E (top left hand corner). I washed and ironed all of the fabric that I want to use last night. Boy was that a chore, but if there is any shrinkage going on, it should be taken care of. I plan on cutting everything out tonight and possibly start sewing, but we'll see how far we get. ( I have to make a trip to JoAnn's tonight. I realized last night that half of the stuff I bought on Sunday to use for 2 projects is missing.) I'm feeling a little weird about cutting the pieces up for view B on the Butterick pattern as it also serves as the pattern pieces for the longer version top and dress, so I might just trace view B out on some of my tracing paper. Let me tell you, tracing patterns isn't as bad as I thought it would be. It kind of made me feel like a real designer. Mr. D came out into the living room and thought he was in a fabric mill/design house.

Except for the crazy rain, hail and cold weather ( I still can't believe it was warm on Sunday. I didn't even need to wear a jacket.), that's pretty much it for what's going on at the couture house of Andrea, What's are you all up to?