White Jeans (Jalie 2908)

The Jalie 2908 stretch jean pattern is one of the hot patterns at PR. I wanted a pair of white jeans this spring and found a nice white stretch twill at Denver Fabrics. I made a practice pair first in some lightweight stretch denim and thank goodness I did - I cut and sewed a size T, which is actually larger than my measurements and they were way too tight. A handful of the reviews said they thought the pattern ran small but not enough that I considered going up a size. Based on my muslin, I cut TWO sizes bigger (a V) and they fit fine. Perhaps could have been a tiny bit tighter in the butt but overall, I like the fit. My twill had lots of stretch so I'm not sure why the sizing worked as it did.

I wore them yesterday to a family birthday celebration with my recently completed top (McCalls 6078) and was thrilled to receive some unsolicited compliments, including from my daughter:

Daughter: I thought you said you were making a pair of white jeans.
Me: I DID. I finished these yesterday.
Daughter: You MADE those? WOW, they are really good.

Smiles smiles smiles....

Derby Dress 2012 (S2588)

Every year, our good friends host a Derby party. The ladies get into the spirit and tend to dress up as if we are actually at the Derby, hats and all. I wore the same black hat as last year but forgot to include it in the photo.

This year I chose a Simplicity Project Runway design that allowed me to pick and choose elements of the dress to get what I wanted - straight or full skirt, sleeves or sleeveless, skinny neck band or yoke, belt or tabs or no trim. (Simplicity 2588 (straight skirt, skinny neckband and sleeveless) It was a little difficult to determine how much fabric was needed because of the options. My dress used approx. 1 3/4 yd (60" width).

The fabric is a satin twill I purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics about a year ago, intending to make a flowy skirt. The fabric ended up having a little heavier hand than I expected so I decided it wouldn't be suitable for the skirt I had in mind. But it worked beautifully for this dress. I trimmed the waist with a braided piping purchased from Rainbow Fabrics in Chicago.

Pattern sizing was true. I had to make my typical adjustments for small upper body. Overall, the dress ranged anywhere from a size 10 (through the shoulders and bust) to a 12-14 (lower bodice to waist) to a size 14-16 (at the hips)!

Prior year Derby dresses:

2007 Dress
Not sure what I wore in 2008
2009 Dress


2010 Dress
2011 Dress

Missoni-ish Top (B5527)

I'm finding all kinds of unfinished posts. Pictured above is a top (Butterick 5527) I made back in October or November. I purchased the knit from Banasch Fabric in Cincinnati and wore it to the PR Anniversary weekend in Austin last November. Imagine my surpirse when I walked into a fabric store in Austin and saw my fabric on the rack and made into a dress. Too funny!

To be honest, I didn't love this top. I don't think the peasant style is flattering on my body, makes me look larger than I am. The top has since been donated to Goodwill.

Baby & Big Brother Goodies

I thought I had posted this before but I guess I didn't! Mark's son and daughter-in-law had their second baby in January, a baby brother to their four year old son. I made the baby some goodies including the duck bathrobe above, dinosaur cuddly fleece blanket and knit blanket shown here. Big brother fell in love with the ultra soft dinosaur blanket and claimed it for his own. I told him I would make him a matching bathrobe out of the fabric but JoAnn's had sold out. Instead I purchase a cute monster print and made him the robe shown below. I gave it to him about a month ago and found out yesterday that he wears all the time when he's home.