OOTDs: Spain!

Last Day, Barcelona, at Playa de Sant Sebastia

Hi, all!  Hola! 

I am glad to be back from Spain, I did have a lovely time, and I really do want to get back (especially to see the finished Sagrada Familia in 2026), but I was beat by the time we got home.  :-)  I have more travel type photos to share later, but since this is more an "ootd" kind of blog, I know those can wait.  (I know, I know, I haven't really been all that great at the ootd lately.  Ha.  But I am trying to get back! Hand on heart!)

Okay, so though I started with the above image (one of my favorites from the trip), I am going in order from the first day traveling on the plane (from Philadelphia to Madrid), followed by Madrid, then Barcelona (and day trips), and finally the trip from Barcelona to Philadelphia.

I knew I would have to wear super comfortable clothing, but I also didn't want to wear clothing that was shlumpy, so I tried hard to meet my needs for cute and comfy right in the middle.  I did choose to use three main colors, a deep teal/aqua, grey, and black.  I only brought two pairs of shoes, and that turned out to be more than enough.  In fact I brought just enough, and we had room left over to bring back souvenirs (including the "top" from the top photo up there).  I bring more than this to my trips to Mississippi and Louisiana.  I think I am going to try this capsule kind of thing again. It was great!

Day: Monday-Tuesday, March 28-29, 2016.

Where:  Travel to Philadelphia from Alexandria, then the flight from Philadelphia to Madrid, and finally Madrid (with a nap for me at the hotel).

Ease of Wear: (5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) Made the tunic so I could wear it with the Madewell leggings without showing off my bum.  I did this so I could basically wear pjs in public.  LOL.  I barely slept on the plane, but still felt danged good because I wasn't pinched at all in the outfit.

Outfit Details: Coat, Anthropologie; Tunic, handmade (used New Look 6240); Shoes, Clarks (find them here at amazon.com); Sunglasses, J. Crew (here); Leggings, Madewell.

Anecdote of the Day: I had a sinus infection before leaving town (yep, that's my third illness of 2016, after the Pink Eye of January and the Strep Throat of February), so I had antibiotics and strong cough medicine to take with me on the plane.  I was very tempted to just go when we arrived in Madrid, but I heard the doctor in the back of my head reminding me to not overdo it, since that was likely what landed me with a third illness this year.  (She called it having a suppressed immune system, sigh.)  So while the rest of them went sightseeing, I slept for four hours instead.  I felt much better after waking up.

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Tuesday, March 29, 2016.

Where:  Madrid.  Mainly the Museo del Prado.  This was after I had my nap. 

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) Again, super comfortable.  Very few of these outfits, btw, are anything but comfortable.  One or two might be described as a bit less comfy, but nothing dramatically uncomfortable.

Outfit Details: Coat, Anthropologie; Top, J. Crew; Shoes, New Balance for J. Crew (they have this cute pair in gold and ivory right now); Pants, J. Crew; Sunglasses, Ray-Ban (I think these are the same from amazon.com); Necklace, Stella and Dot, Bag; Travelon (buy the same one from amazon.com).

Anecdote of the Day: The Museo del Prado had free hours between 5 and 7, if I am remembering correctly, and though I would have preferred to spend more time there, we got quite a bit more of the "must-sees" done in that time, so yay for small things.  I would have thought it would have been more crowded, and though there were a lot of people there, it didn't feel overwhelming. 

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Wednesday, March 30, 2016.

Where: Continued Madrid sightseeing, including the castle and the Museo Reina Sofia.

Ease of Wear: (5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) I made this dress a while back and I think I forgot to give you all the blog post I wrote on it for Fabric Mart.  Anyhow, the dress is wonderful and fits so well, plus the knit fabric (from Halston Heritage!) moves and drapes beautifully.  It also has pockets.  :-)

Outfit Details:  Dress, handmade (used Ottobre Magazine 05-2015, read more about it here); Shoes, Clarks (find them here at amazon.com); Sunglasses, Ray-Ban (I think these are the same from amazon.com); Tights, probably Spanx, but I can't remember; Necklace, Stella and Dot.

Anecdote of the Day: This was day one of MANY many miles walked in Spain.  Most days we walked 10-12 miles.  Angus was in his buggy or on my back for the most part, but the older two were forced into walking the whole amount.  That said, we ate and drank very well, so though I didn't lose any weight, I definitely didn't gain any (and I ate a lot of very high calorie foods and all my beverages were of the vino category).

Madrid, btw, is where my mom was born.  She is Spanish only by birth (she is German/American), but I know that your birthplace is still important, and it was nice to see the city she knew as a little girl.  I was quite taken with Madrid.  It is apparently a very big city, but it felt small, and that was appealing to me.

INSTAGRAM HERE.

SECOND INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Thursday, March 31, 2016.

Where:  Madrid to Barcelona, and then a lot of sightseeing in Barcelona (including a frightening funicular trip--my first of two terrifying rides up mountains while in Spain). 

Ease of Wear: (5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) These pants were made by me to fit extremely well and do well on travel, so it was a no-brainer I was going to bring them.  I wrote more about the process of making them here at this Fabric Mart post.

Outfit Details: Top, J. Crew; Shoes, New Balance for J. Crew (they have this cute pair in gold and ivory right now); Pants, handmade (used McCall's 6901); Sunglasses, Ray-Ban (I think these are the same from amazon.com); Bag; Travelon (buy the same one from amazon.com).

CW, by the way, is wearing one of my favorite mini Boden dresses ever, the Sweatshirt dress.  It is still available, but it is out of stock in most sizes in this color.

Anecdote of the Day: We walked so much that day, and I LOVE walking, but by 6:30 pm, I was done.  This is the first time in my life where I can remember actually wanting to stop.  We had to keep going, but at least we didn't head to another museum.  I think the kids and I would have revolted had we continued.

We ate dinner at a hole in the wall, and this British couple was sitting near us, and very quickly identified that we were from Virginia, based on our accent.  I was stunned.  People in Wisconsin think I am from the deep deep South, but people in Mississippi think I might as well be from the Bronx.  Turns out they had lived in Harrisonburg, VA, and knew the accent of "us" very well.  Yeah.  Good for them.  They may be the only people who can do it outside of Virginians.  :-) 

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Friday, April 1, 2016.

Where: Figueres, Spain, which is a small city outside of Barcelona fairly close to the French border.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  The pants are the same ones from the day before, and so still comfy, but stupid me only brought the rain jacket (not pictured, well except I am holding it in my hand in the courtyard at the Dali museum) and not the Anthropologie knit coat, so I was a touch cold all day.  I drank wine to make up for it.  Ha.

Outfit Details: Top, J. Crew; Shoes, New Balance for J. Crew (they have this cute pair in gold and ivory right now); Pants, handmade (used McCall's 6901); Glasses, Bebe eyewear; Scarf, MoMA (yep, it's Jackson Pollock inspired; apparently you can buy anything on amazon.com, including this).

CW's rainjacket is the Pack-Away Rain Mac from Boden.  It's wonderful, and does truly and easily pack away and was exactly the right layer for her that day and others.

Anecdote of the Day:  To get to Figueres, we ended up on the fast train to Paris.  I was very very tempted to see Paris, so I threatened to stay on the train with CW.  But I did want to see the Dali museum, and it was worth it.  There were hordes of French teenagers everywhere, too, so it kind of felt like I was in Paris, anyhow. 

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Saturday, April 2, 2016.

Where:  Barcelona (mainly Gaudi sites besides the Sagrada Familia) and La Rambla. 

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) The tunics CW and I are wearing are made by me, and they were super soft rayon knit from Joann's, so they felt wonderful, but mine kept riding up a bit on the jean leggings.  Ding down for that. 

Outfit Details: Tunic, handmade (used Kwik Sew 3463 for mine and Kwik Sew 3958 for hers; I wrote more on my original make of this pattern here); Shoes, New Balance for J. Crew (they have this cute pair in gold and ivory right now); Leggings, the grocery store...seriously; Bag; Travelon (buy the same one from amazon.com); Necklace, Stella and Dot.

Anecdote of the Day: I loved this day.  I was stoked to take it all in, and though the trip to get to the Park Guell was a bit of a bear, once we got there, it was very lovely, and I dug the mosaics everywhere.  The view was great, too.  We decided to walk (of course!) to the next Gaudi site, and it took us through these darling streets with cute shops and restaurants.  It was hard not to fall in love with Barcelona that day.

We ended up having to go to Zara to get the kids some shoes (they complained theirs were too small), so we found some there in the sale section, and because it is Spain, and it is Zara, of course I had to peek in the women's section, too.  I ended up with dos vestidos (two dresses--more like tunics on me, of course).  They were both on sale, and when I checked the American price, I realized the price I paid in Spain was much better.  Woo hoo!  The cashier was super handsome, too.  (Not that this matters, wink wink.) 

INSTAGRAM HERE.

SECOND INSTAGRAM HERE. 

THIRD INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Monday, April 4, 2016.

(There is something and an ootd for Sunday, but the dress is under wraps until late April as it is my April make for the Fabric Mart blog.  You can take a peek at it here at this instagram.)

Where: Barcelona, mainly the harbor/beach, and a very very long walk to the Sagrada Familia.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) This is one of the two dresses I bought from Zara.  I decided to wear it under the skirt as a top, but if I hadn't gone to Sagrada Familia that day, I would have been tempted to wear it on its own.  Sure it was short, but I *think* I can get away with it. 

Outfit Details:  Dress, Zara (here, I did buy it for about $23, btw, but it sold out here at the higher price, it is worth it, though the back button is a bit flimsy); Shoes, Clarks (find them here at amazon.com); Sunglasses, Ray-Ban (I think these are the same from amazon.com); Tights, Boden; Necklace, National Trust UK.

Anecdote of the Day: So that beach there that I am posing at?  It has a nudist beach there in the summer (though unofficially).  No nudists there while we were there, but that would have made for an interesting discussion with the kids had we ended up there by accident in the summer.  :-)  Angus is really vocal when he sees bare chests, declaring that those people are "naked, Momma," so I imagine he would have been very loudly exclaiming over the nakedness surrounding him had this been the case.  Instead we ended up nearly getting killed by an errant skateboarder who acted like we were the problem (yeah, no, you were skateboarding DOWN the stairs).  I would much rather see naked people.

The Sagrada Familia is certainly interesting from the exterior, but the interior was so beautiful, I nearly started crying upon entering.  I rarely have moments like those, but I felt the love and passion all the artisans had poured into its creation, and the fact that it was made for Catholics to worship in made it even more special and spiritual.  I just wish we could have gone to mass there.  (We went to Monserrat on Sunday instead, also a very spiritual place.)

INSTAGRAM HERE.

SECOND INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Tuesday, April 5, 2016.

Where: Barcelona to Philadelphia, and then the car drive to Alexandria.

Ease of Wear: (5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) The shorter length of the Gaudi top (purchased on the day we visited all the site) didn't ride up with the leggings the way the tunic did, so it was super comfortable.  And considering I was on a plane with three children for eight hours along with a very surly flight attendant crew (not surly to us, just surly/complainy in general), I was very relaxed and at ease in it.

Outfit Details:  Top, Gaudi inspired, made for the museums that showcase his work; Shoes, Clarks (find them here at amazon.com); Leggings, Harris Teeter.

Anecdote of the Day: I could have stayed a few extra days, but my body thanked me for returning to normal by insisting I sleep non-stop for days upon return.  I was going to bed at 8 every night for a week.  I am still very much hitting the hay as soon as I can.  I do want to try and get more walking in, even more than I already do, since I love the benefit of eating and drinking well in return.  :-)

Okay, that's it for now.  Thanks for reading.  :-)

BTW, Boden has both rolled out a collection for April and the Icons.  The Icons are nearly sold out, but the new stuff for April is still around and I have a code for 15% off below and in my sidebar.  I want to talk more about it, but I really wanted to get this post up instead.  I am sure Boden doesn't care which I do.  LOL.

Shop New Spring Arrivals Now With 15% Off Plus Free Shipping! Valid through 4/25 with code 8W5Q

Hola From Espana!

At the Dali Museum in Figueres, Spain.

At Park Guell in Barcelona, Spain.

(Done in the accent of my eldest with just a bit of a slight twang) "Hola, everybody!"

We've been out of the country for a week now, and I didn't even bother to tell anyone on the internet because I have been just that bad with keeping up with the blog writing.  To be fair, I did make a few of the pieces I brought with me to wear to Spain (including the two blue floral tunics CW and I are wearing above), so that took a bit of time.  I do teach, too, but really it's getting kind of ridiculous, this whole "where is Dina?"

I have kept up on Instagram, so check that out if you are interested in some daily shots I compiled from my phone.  

Literally at the same time we were leaving for Spain, Boden announced that they were adding 20% off to the mid-season sale, which I hadn't even had a chance to announce here, much less the 20% off.  I did add the links for the mid-season sale, but the 20% off, feh, yeah, right.  I hope that you all were able to enjoy either the mid-season sale or the 20% off mid-season sale.  I did get the Janie dress before the 20% off happened, and I am glad I did as the size I wanted was all gone by the time the extra % occurred.  Did any of you enjoy either sale?  Honestly, this was the only way I was going to buy anything from them this season (other than the beautiful Martha dress, of course).  The "meh" factor was high at the full price for most of this season's pieces, the "meh" goes down significantly when the prices go down.  ;-)

Anyhow, we've been having a great time here in this beautiful country.  We started in Madrid, took the fast train to Barcelona, and have had day trips to Figuerres and Montserrat.  There has been a ton of walking, so I actually can eat all the amazing food and drink without fearing weight gain.  When I say a lot of walking I mean between ten and twelve miles a day.  So, yeah, a lot.

We'll be back in Virginia in a couple of days.  More than likely if the mid-season happened right now that means Boden is going to drop some rollout or another soon, so be on the lookout.  I hope that the meh factor is gone, I am really missing the Boden of yore now.  (I love some of the Spanish retailers, btw, color/pattern/texture is very high on their list, and boring is out.  It's awesome!)

Talk with you all soon! Hope you all are having a great start to your April!

Below is the link for the sale at Boden, with the additional 20% off.  It lasts for another seven hours or so.  Use the code 8V9T.
Shop an extra 20% off sale AND get 20% off new full price styles with code 8V9T, valid 3/31-4/3

Made by Me Files: Floral Tunic Top and Shetland Wool Skirt. Kwik Sew 3463 and Simplicity 2152.

Before I begin, I wanted to give another shoutout to Katie, a blog friend of mine who is also a Stella and Dot consultant.  She wanted to let me know that the Black Friday special I mentioned in this post is extended and that there is a Cyber Monday special, where you can purchase the very chic Avalon Bracelet Clutch for $9.99 (retails for $49) when you spend $50 or more.  You can read more on that here at Katie's Stella and Dot page.  :-)

Okay, so the made by me files today you all have actually seen before, but I have not formally dissected their creation here at the blog. 

I am most excited to show off the Kwik Sew tunic because not only do I LURVE it, but it took so little time to create on my serger and my sewing machine, and I feel like I have beaten a hurdle that I wasn't so sure I was going to be able to successfully jump over.   (That hurdle being able to complete a knit project almost fully on a serger.  I was just so worried about destroying the fabric in the process.)

The skirt is great and all, but I have made skirts before, including lined skirts with a waistband, so the completion of that didn't seem like such a success to me, even if it did take longer to create (and by longer, I mean a lot longer).

Yes I did color my hair red.  It is a demi-permanent and will wash out very slowly.  Having fun wearing it, but it is very different, lol.

The way I styled the Kwik Sew tunic in the outfit I created for the Fabric Mart blog made the tunic look like a top, which I have done before with the Grainline Scout tee/top that I created for my first entry in their Fashion Challenge competition.  Clearly I have a thing for tunics that can also be worn as tops.  ;-)

This fabric is SO soft and cozy.  The colors are that vibrant in real life and though do read a bit early 90s, seem fresh enough that they don't completely seem outdated.  This fabric is from Joann's, and that surprises me as much as I am sure it does some of you all.  Joann's is really upping their fabric of late.  When I started sewing on my own a few years ago, it was very difficult to find nice, on-grain, well made fabric from them.  Now it seems every time I go in there I find another fabric to salivate over (I am even wearing some pants today made from a fabric that I randomly picked up two or three weeks ago). 

I was worried that handling the soft and thin rayon knit jersey would be a bear, but it cut easily enough, and required only a small amount of tweaking with the tensions on the serger*. 

*On my Brother 1034D, I usually have the needle tensions in the normal range but the looper tensions have to be super high on knit fabrics.  I find the average tensions on the 1034D work best with normal wovens, like cotton sateens and quilting cottons.

I chose to sew up a size small in Kwik Sew 3463, but I did grade out to a size medium at the hips.  The neckline is not super large, but I might have been able to start at an x-small.  I love how this tunic fits everywhere else.

The neckline was finished with a foldover elastic in a very pretty mid-pink shade that perfectly matches the fabric.  I sewed that on using a traditional zigzag stitch.  Next time I will cut it shorter than the neckline and slightly stretch the elastic as I sew since this neckline can gape if I am not careful.

The hem and the sleeves are finished with a process I learned watching Linda Lee's Sewing Fashion Knits at Craftsy, which is to take a fusible tricot interfacing, ironing it to the hem, folding up, and sewing the hems.  I chose not to do a twin needle finish since this fabric is so busy, instead doing a lightning bolt stitch, while slightly stretching the fabric as I sewed, to ensure a clean, stretchy finish to the tunic.  The lightning bolt stitch is not for the faint of heart, though, it takes a long time to sew, and if you make a mistake, it takes a long time to unpick. 

I laid out the fabric poorly when I started the project so I ended up having to do the back with two pieces instead of on the fold.  In the end it was a smart choice since I got to practice my serging more AND I was able to make the back pieces narrower, and on me, with my narrower back, it worked out well.

Detail shot of the neckline and floral fabric.  I really love how easy the foldover elastic was to work with and how nicely finished the project felt afterwards.  This tunic is close to ready to wear in the sense of how it is finished, all serged seams and no excessive facings, etc.  The hemlines are what give it away since I don't have a coverstitch machine to allow me to create that kind of hem.  (I imagine how fast it would be to make a project like this with access to one of those, lol.)

I did change up this neckline from the choices, which were to either have a crewneck or a very exaggerated boatneck.  I simply drew a curve in between the two on the front pattern piece and voila, a perfectly normal scoopneck.

I definitely am planning on taking this pattern and shortening it to a regular shirt length.  I had to trace the pattern since the pattern was an old school Kwik Sew type with the heavy white paper, so it should be relatively easy for me to shorten it.

This is how I wore the tunic a few days ago.  I brought it (and the pink skirt) in hopes of wearing the outfit as I presented it over at the Fabric Mart blog, but it has been quite warm down here in Mississippi, and is going to stay that way, so I am afraid that poor skirt came along for the ride and gets no action.  ;-)

I already spent quite a bit of time on this skirt at two separate places, so I am going to be brief in my description of the process of sewing this skirt up, but I do want to at least point out a few things about its completion over here.

For the best, most comprehensive review, check out the post at Fabric Mart.  I go into how I sewed it up with a fine tooth comb, focusing especially on how I managed to make this skirt from a very small remnant of Shetland wool.

For a brief, but still decent review, go to the Pattern Review post.  It speaks more about sizing, etc.

I thought I had made up the size 14 in Simplicity 2152, but I had made it up in the 12.  I chose that size because the upper hip/waist measurement most closely matched mine.  I think I will do the 14 next time, though, since my natural waist is SO high that it would benefit me to wear the skirt a bit lower, and a larger waist measurement would allow that to happen.

I love pockets, but this time I think I chose wrong.  I didn't have enough of the wool to add the pockets as they show on the pattern itself, so I added inseam pockets made from the polyester lining fabric.  They work great but gape a bit and so the poly fabric shows from the outside more than I would like.  Sigh.  I may just sew them up and deal with no pockets.

This is view D, and is a great length, not too short, and not too long.  This is a nice length for most women, so if you are thinking of this pattern, definitely try this view at least once out of a traditional, classic fabric like this.

Yes, that waistband facing material *is* the same as the tunic's fabric.  This fabric, though, is a very HEAVY stretch cotton stretch denim from Joann's that also happens to be double-sided.  I have plans to turn it into a dress and a skirt (the dress will be from the floral and the jacquard print will be for a pencil skirt). 

I felt like the exterior of the skirt took so much less time than the interior.  I can't believe how long it took me to sew up the lining, add the waistband facing, properly attach the two, hand sew the lining to the zipper, and hem the lining.  It is worth it because it does look quite nice (even if I am really bothered by a couple of things--but what sewer isn't annoyed by things in their projects?).  The lining also ensures the Shetland wool can last a long time and can go longer between drycleaning visits.

Okay, I know some of you are just dying to know more about the red hair.  LOL.  Here is another photo of it.  I had washed it one time by the time I took this photo with CW and it had already lightened a bit further to a mid-copper color.  My hope is that it fades down to a lighter copper color and stays there, but I don't know that will happen.  However, whichever shade of red I end up liking best I will try again since I quite enjoy being a redhead.  ;-) 

Alrighty, you all have a great day, and we'll talk soon.

OOTDs: Wearing Pretty Summer Sundresses.

Hey, all!  Happy Wednesday!

Before I start, I wanted to let you know that Boden has a special promotion going right now where if you refer a friend to receive 15% off, you will receive a $15 voucher to spend at Boden in the future. Sounds good to me.  Since I have referred a ton of people to Boden, maybe they can send me a big ole voucher? Just kidding (but only slightly!). Anyhow, I put that link and the coupon link (just in case you needed something before you received the voucher) at the bottom of this post so you can enjoy sending out the Boden love if you so desire.

Okay, onto the pretty summer sundresses!

Day: Saturday, August 30, 2014.

Where: Mass and dinner to an Indian restaurant.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I love this Boden Lovely Linen dress (here on sale) as much as I did when I first wore it (here).  Still fits really well, but because the linen shrinks up a bit after washing and drying, the bodice area was a touch tight upon first putting it on.  That wasn't that big of a deal, though, since it quickly loosened up and became much more comfortable.  (But bear that in mind if you carry your weight up top, you may want to size up for that very reason.)

The Dansko shoes were a gift from a friend who knows that I can't usually wear Danskos as they run wide in my shoe size.  These, though, run pretty narrow, and she got blisters every time she wore them, so she knew exactly who to give them to after she discovered the fit issue.  Danskos are so comfortable, just wish they fit my feet better.

Cool Factor: (3.75 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  I may be a fan of both the Lovely Linen dress and the Dansko shoes, but am not so sure I love them together that much.

Anecdote from the day:  Angus ate up all his Indian food he was given.  All of it, and then some more.  He got angry when they took his plate away because he could see remnants of the meal still on the plate.  He literally wanted to be part of the clean plate club. 

Day: Thursday, August 28, 2014.

Where: Harris Teeter.  Yeah, I know, I wore this outfit to Harris Teeter.  It's been too casual of a summer, I wanted to wear a dress!

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.) The only thing that was slightly uncomfortable about this look was the length of the dress, but it wasn't that short that I felt overexposed.  My hubby made a comment about it, though.  Whatever.

Cool Factor: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  Definitely an A outfit.  Solid 90%.  The Accessorize necklace was the big hit, though...every lady working at Harris Teeter complimented me on the necklace.

Anecdote from the day:  Well I told you both stories...that the ladies loved the necklace and my husband gave the side eye to the skirt length.  That's all I got.  ;-)

Before I finish this post up, I wanted to share with you the pair of shorts that I finished sewing up today.  As I mentioned to you all in my last post, I was chosen to be part of a eight person, six-week sewing competition that Fabric Mart is hosting (though I could be cut the first week, so keep that in mind).  Because of that, I need to get a whole bunch of sewing done when I can so I can free up time to make the items for the contest.  Anyhow, this is Kwik Sew 3614 and in addition to being excited that I have a great pair of shorts that fit me very well, I learned how to properly insert a fly front zipper.  So yay for small things.  Now if there is a need to insert a fly front zip in this challenge, I am set.  :-)

I tried them on for the photos, but plan on wearing them properly tomorrow as part of a SAHM outfit. 

Finally, regarding the Boden info I told you about above:

To refer your friend to the 15% off Boden page, check out this link.  All the info you need to refer your friend and receive the $15 voucher (after their first purchase) is there.

For those of you needing something before the voucher comes, the link below will get you 15% off with free shipping:
Shop New Arrivals for Autumn with 15% Off plus Free Shipping on ALL Orders!


Alrighty, you all have a great day!!!

Made by Me Files: Mini Wardrobe Pieces Four, Five, and Putting Them All Together.

I also could have entitled this post "I MADE LEGGINGS, you all!"

But that seems super lame, and unless you sew, you may not realize that making leggings is actually kind of a hurdle to pass through.  But more on that later.

First, before I begin, I wanted to let you know that a ton of great Boden reviews have been coming through the Boden Reviews tab here at the blog, I have seen some great reviews at other friend's blogs, and I have received a few messages, too, so I am very excited to get the next roundup started, tomorrow am.  Bright and Early.  The children willing, of course.  ;-)  CC, ever the best blog friend, commented on the last blog post and let us know that you could use the code 4Y4D to receive 20% off.  Thank you, CC, for the code.  If you have a review you want to send this way, you can email dinagideon AT aim DOT com or leave a review at the Boden Reviews tab, whichever is easier for you!

Okay, onto the mini wardrobe conclusion.  Reminder, the first post on this (pieces one, two, and three) is here.

I struggled a bit trying to figure out what the fifth and final piece of this mini wardrobe was going to be.  For a hot second I considered a cardigan or a scarf, but wasn't really feeling either of those since I really wanted this to be a true summer wardrobe. 

And although I don't make it a regular practice of mine to wear leggings in summer, because DC HOT/HUMID/UGH, but I also have been known to wear the shorter variety with a long tank or flowy linen blouse under the right circumstances.  So that's when it hit me, make the leggings. 

I knew that making them was on my bucket list of things to make since I love them, need them, and don't really love paying over $30 for the good ones at J. Crew, which only ever come in black/grey/navy, anyhow.  And the cute colorful ones at Target are (forgive me, Target) crap.

Thing about sewing leggings, or any fitted knitwear, is that you have to sew them sew that they fit with *negative* ease because they are meant to stretch.  That means the flat pattern is significantly smaller than my measurements and if I were to have sewn these up in a woven material, they may have fit CW well.  ;-)

Add to that the fact that while you can sew these up on a regular sewing machine (and bits of this were sewn up that way), it is really great to have the serger on hand to help with sewing the knits up as the way the stitches and loops are formed on it make the seams super stretchy and means that pulling these on and off your body won't bust the seams of the garment. 

Serging also makes this project super fast.  Of course if you *accidentally* sew up the front leg pieces to each other instead of sewing the front of the leg to the back, you will have a LOT of seam ripping to undo.  Not that I made that mistake, of course.  Cough, cough.

This is not necessarily a great first project for a first time sewer, but if you really are digging sewing, and want to make up some actual functional leggings that fit really well (even over my very curvy hips!), this Kwik Sew pattern (3636) is a wonderful jumping off point.  Every bit of the directions was excellent, and I did everything suggested by them. 

Although most of my information on this pattern is at the review at Pattern review (link at bottom of this post), I highly recommend checking out this link as this sewing blogger has a good review of how she made her leggings.  Here, a fabric store in Australia wrote up a great post on the waistband application that is pretty much the same as what Kwik Sew wants you to do.  I did as asked, and it sewed up very well.

This is a button-up loose fit blouse that I sewed up using a vintage (kind of) pattern from 1979, Vogue 7088.  I was gifted this pattern by a sewing teacher, and was waiting for the right fabric to sew it up in (well, I have some Liberty tana lawn, but wanted to wait until I had tried it on something less expensive first).  Anyhow, knowing that I would want to use the Tropical Print Rayon Challis I bought from Fabric Mart, I also needed a pattern that would look equally good with shorts, leggings, and a dress.  I knew that if the top was too tight, then I couldn't wear it over the dress, and it would be comical with the leggings.  I also knew that buttoning up the blouse would help with wardrobing options (layered over a cami gives it a different look that buttoning it up).  So that is why I chose this one, it is long enough and loose enough to wear with leggings, breezy enough to wear with shorts, and versatile enough to not look super silly with a dress in the same pattern.

This blouse probably took me the longest to sew up of all five pieces since the pattern has two front pieces with self facings, a button placket, a collar, a yoke (with a facing, too), and a back.  The front and back pieces have gathered bits, too.

Surprisingly none of this was especially hard.  It may have helped that I sewed up a little boy's version of a Hawaiian shirt before this (for Rex from this Butterick pattern), and a lot of what I had to do for his shirt, I had to do for mine.  So good practice and all.

I really like how flowy it is and the gathering at the yoke looks really pretty.  Next time I will add a square shoulder adjustment since I can see the side bits of the sleeves poking up instead of hanging down.  I should just recognize that and do it every time since clearly I am thinking patterns will magically do it for me or something.

Here is the shirt inside out.  The yoke facing and collar nicely attach to one another.  Provided I take care of this blouse, it should last a long time.  Considering how much I have seen women's Hawaiian shirts retail for, I feel like I did well at around $7 for fabric, $1.50 for buttons, $3 for thread, free interfacing, time consumed (have no idea what to rater $$ for my time), and a free pattern.  :-)

I definitely became besties with my serger with this shirt and the leggings.  I managed to break one of the threads in the looper when attaching the elastic to the leggings, but considering how much I have used it, I would say that is some success.  Yay!

 

Here are nine possible combinations using these five pieces.  Admittedly # 3 and 6 are similar, as are #4 and 9, but even discounting those, there are seven solid combos here.  I may just bring these five pieces with me on a vacation next year to see if I can actually make this happen for real and under actual strict limitations.  I have worn all five pieces out and about, with the shorts being in the number one spot for most use so far.  I think the leggings will end up winning since I can probably get away with wearing them in the winter here (well most winters here, anyhow, not last winter's freeze fest).

Here are the five patterns I used. 

Okay, that's all for now.  I am off to go watch other people sew on Project Runway.

Review of the Kwik Sew 3636 leggings is here at Pattern Review.

Review of Vogue 7088 loose fit blouse is here at Pattern Review.

Review of all five pieces together for my contest entry is here at Pattern Review.

Have a great night!

Made by Me Files: McCall's 6519 Top, Burda Magazine 02/2013 Shorts (Again!), and Kwik Sew 3905 Girls' Dress.

Hey, all...obviously I have been busy here in the "real" world, both CW and Rex started school again (Rex--Monday; CW--today, kindergarten!), so I have been a bit unavailable.  Tomorrow Angus and I are headed to CA for my cousin's wedding, so (big ole knock on wood) I may have a few moments to get some junk done in my "virtual" world, too.  Ahhh, vacation (even if one of my rugrats is with me, lol)...

Last week I finished an outfit that I made with the intent of wearing together, the top made from a beautiful quilting cotton called " Tree of Life" by Free Spirit that I received as part of a remnant assortment from Fabric.com and the shorts from a multi-tonal chambray from Robert Kaufmann (a little pink is mixed in the weave of the purple) ( similar color here, my shade is nearly sold out).

I had known the chambray would become shorts, but when I received the quilting cotton in the bundle (you never know what you will receive, but most of the time there are three yards I can use for something for me, and around four yards for projects for the kids), I was stumped.  I knew one yard wouldn't cut it for a skirt, but I wasn't sure if any top pattern I owned would work either since most women's top patterns are cut long and with a ton of ease.  Then I realized my McCall's 6519 pattern had a top pattern in it that could be made for my smaller pattern size (10) as long as I shortened it for my shorter torso.  As long as I did both of those things, I could just squeeze this yard onto those pattern sheets.  (It took me nearly as long to lay out the pattern on the cotton as it did to sew the darn thing up, ha.)

As you can see, shortening the top had no ill effect, in fact, it allows me to wear the smaller size since had I kept the length to its original length (an extra two inches), the hem would have been right on my mid-hip, which is where I am widest.  Having the hem fall so much shorter means the 39.5 inch hip measurement is more than adequate ease for my frame at that part of my hip.  I also get to show off the darling shape of the shorts.

The shorts should look familiar if you are following my sewing journey, these are the same ones as I showed off here at this post (from the February 2013 Burda Magazine).  I changed up a couple of things, I made the pleats in the front smaller and facing out to the pockets (that was a mistake, oops), and I shortened the waistband so the shorts would fit a touch better.

My dad loved this outfit because he said it reminded him of 1950s "mom" wear.  :-)  There is definitely a retro feel to the look, especially if I tuck the top in, which I only did for the photos to show of the shorts shape.  In reality the top's cotton was a bit too thick to wear tucked in and didn't lie as well as when I had it untucked.  I do plan to tuck tops into the shorts, but the material of the top needs to be a bit thinner.

Side view.  I think I won't stop making either pattern because both work well for my body.  The top doesn't constrict me in the armholes, since the holes were made deep enough on the pattern that I don't need to adjust anything for my square shoulder shape, but the top still fits closely to my body, not overwhelming my rather "underwhelming" bustline.

The shorts feature the "Burda Crotch Curve," which apparently is a big deal in the sewing world, since many of the American designed patterns are far too shallow and/or not angled properly for the true shape of many women's lower half.  And so you all know, it isn't even big-bottomed women who need the "Burda Crotch Curve," since I have read that some flat-bottomed and small-bottomed ladies like it, too.  Hmmm.  I have made pants and shorts from other companies, and I have noticed that the area down there is a bit more *enclosed*, so maybe we do need to give the Germans some credit.

Rear shot.  I had to take a bit of the back seam in to make the waistband fit properly (the waistband is a size smaller than the hips).  I should have just made a dart and sewn it flat, but since I am still fairly new, it didn't even occur to me to try that.  Oh, well, next time.

I properly sewed in an invisible zip (thank you, invisible zipper foot!).

All in all, I spent about three hours total on the top, and about three hours on the shorts.  I suspect those times will be dwindling down as I make more from these patterns.

I spent the good majority of my weekend making this dress for CW.  I had cut the ADORABLE Riley Black Little Red Riding Hood fabric ( main fabric here and similar contrast fabric here here) a bit before sewing it up last weekend, I like to cut all at once and then sew all at once, I cut a darling romper for Angus at the same time that I am also entering in the contest (still have to publish those photos).

I knew that I wanted to give her this Kwik Sew dress before she went to school so she could wear it to her teacher's meeting with her, but I also knew I wanted to enter it in the sewingpatternreview.com "Sewing for Children" contest, now that I am a member of that website.  I don't have a chance in h-e-double hockey sticks of winning, but maybe I will grab a few votes?  ;-)  I think it looks pretty darn cute, anyhow.

The back features floral buttons that I machine sewed on...killing two needles in the process.  Whoopsie.  I forgot that if you want to machine sew a button on, you need to slowly turn the handwheel and make sure the needle goes in the hole, then measure the zigzag length by doing the same process with the hole right next to it.  By the fourth button, I got it, but not before my darn machine was getting mad at me (I should treat her better!).  I used this tutorial to teach me how to sew the button (I used my open toe embroidery foot to hold the button down), but forgot to re-check the simple details first.  Don't follow my example!

Here is another set of pleats that look okay but weren't the way they were supposed to be.  LOL.  Oh, well, guess that makes this dress "extra-special."

I heard from someone that the Amish like to have mistakes in their quilts to show they are handmade.  We'll go with that on this dress, too.
 

I ADORE this shot.  I think I might print it out and frame it.

The dress was very easy to sew up, but because of the buttons and buttonholes (both my first real attempt at them), the dress took about two hours longer than it should have to sew up.  The Kwik Sew pattern and instructions are very beginner-friendly, and this particular pattern is great if you have a little girl.  (Especially one who owns an American Girl doll, since there is a pattern for a matching dress for her, too.  Yes, I will make CW's American Girl doll a matching dress.  No buttons, though!)

Okay, you all have a great day.  No news of a Boden sale for Labor Day, but I will be keeping my eyes open for you all. 

Talk soon!