M6394 - Epic FAIL

Peace Good People……

This weekend was Cray Cray! I worked all day on Friday; which I only do once a month. And I had a girls night out afterward. I finished my “Pam Grier: Friday Foster” skirt. I started a new class for girl babies on Saturday. More on that later in my “Serenity’s Cipher” blog. I attended a ghetto memorial service. Yes it was ghetto, but it was good ghetto. And I made M6394…. Out of all the things I did this weekend. M6394 sucked it, the hardest.

1st…. I need to accept that I lost weight. You see those people on “What Not to Wear” and they lose truck loads of weight yet still dress frumpy. I have always wondered why they do that. I would show off weight loss. But I ALWAYS cut the biggest size. I also measure, but always the biggest size. I learned with a that I don’t have to do that. But I’m always thinking bigger is better than smaller because I’ll be able to take it in. M6394 is not that dress.

2nd… I could only find 1 review of the dress. Not even on patternreview.com. And the dress looked horrendous on the author of the blog. She freely admitted it as well. Sometimes we sewists make ugly clothes because of the fabric we choose. So I chose something reserved like cream/brown. I chose the brown for the sides because I thought it would be slimming.

3rd… There are like a bazillion pieces to this pattern. It took an entire evening to get everything cut out. (An entire evening for me is 2 hours. 2 hours from the time I get home, I’m in bed asleep. And that includes cooking dinner!) If I had to cut it out the old way, I would not have tried to sew it up the same day. But thanks to my new toys, I was able to get it all cut out before breakfast. After the breakfast dishes were in the washer, the clothes were in the washing machine and the God was parked in front of the TV for Sunday football, I adjourned to the “sweatshop” to have my personal time.

4th… Because of the 2 different colors, it required a lot of thread/bobbin changes. I wanted to do this right. So I was changing them out with each panel. I actually wanted to wear M6394 to the ghetto memorial service. I was on the program. But…. That didn’t happen.

It turned out too big. Way too big. I cut a 20 (the biggest size). I also cut a D-cup. I have big boobies. Really big. The bodice for a D-cup was waaaaaay to plunging. Who does plunging for the buxom anyway? More proof the pattern is flawed. I didn’t do a FBA because I was (a) using a D-cup and (b) I made the dress out of knit. I followed the directions to a tee. I had too. I kept the pattern pieces with the cut out pieces just to make sure I was using the right piece at the right time. The directions gave no information about properly finishing the wide neckline. I, also, lengthened it 3 inches. Glad I did that because it would have been too short. LOL! And I’m short! It’s not like I’m going to wear it anyway. I won’t even put it on because it looks indecent. It looks better on the hanger than it does on me. Maybe I should have made it in an 18? Maybe a different fabric? I don’t know.

I doubt I will adjust it since I KNOW I’m not going to wear it. Thankfully I used knits that where in my stash. I don’t keep a big stash. But I had 1.5 yards of brown and 1.5 yards of cream fabric. My “stash” is really, “I changed my mind” fabric.

So there you have it…. A wadder… a failure that I dedicated 6 hours to. I ain’t mad. Lesson learned. All those different pieces were a challenge to assemble; like a puzzle. But I did it.

http://mccallpattern.mccall.com/m6394-products-14657.php?page_id=108

Peace

Concrete Gray 101

Peace,

This is my 1st time building on my nails. But I just love the polish so much I had to share…..

A month or so ago, I was watching HSN. Queen Latifah was showing her “Queen Collection.” I watched the entire 2 hours. Not because I wanted any of that stuff (I don’t), but because I fell mesmerized by the color on her nails. I was a gray that was creamy, not mat, not dark not light. I had never seen a color like it. It’s all I could talk about while it was on. I was even trying to snap pictures of it. I still have about a half an hour still on the DVR. Precise thinks I am crazy.

I set out to find that polish. My nail shop does not carry colors I like. And I usually bring my own polish in there unless I’m doing an American manicure. I wasn’t disappointed to find they didn’t have it. What completely shocked me was that I did manage to find the gray color but it was an OPI brand. That joint was $8.99. I ain’t paying that for nail polish. The nail tech heard my rant on the price and said…. If I went ahead and bought it, she would take the price off my service if I left it there. Unfortunately, we had a parting of company before I could take her up on that offer. I only want the manager to do my nails and if she is busy I am unwilling to let the other folks do them. They take too long and do a poor job. So…….

Mommie and I went shopping and I wanted to stop at this new beauty supply store. The store used to be a former JCP. I thought they would only be using a part of the store. Nope. They used the whole damned building!!!!! And it’s packed with more weave than I have ever seen in my life in one place. And I have seen a LOT of weave in my day. They had a big nail polish selection (how could they not?). And guess what I found? Yeah baby!!!! Kleancolor’s Concrete gray101. I’m happy as a fat kid with cake!

Why did the new nail tech try to steal my polish?




Peace!

M6438

Peace.

What? You feeling spoiled? I don’t post on the weekends. But that’s normally when I can do the work. Then when I get back to work, I post my thoughts. Who new I was going to have so many thoughts today?

We all know that you should never drive while drunk or even tipsy. You shouldn’t text while driving too. But did you know you shouldn’t sew while dieting?

Ok…. In the last build, I said I had been dieting. I lost 22lbs on the hCg diet. You can see it too. That was the promise of the diet. Weight loss you can see. Anywho…. The sewing urge got too strong to resist. I wanted to make something for me. M6438 fit the build.

Let me give you the back story on this…. I was watching some Pam Grier movie. And she was wearing a full circle beige skirt, a beige jacket, a green shirt with a pussy bow and some brown boots. Pam kicked ass in that outfit in that movie (I cannot remember which one, but I remember the outfit!). I want to kick ass too. I already own a beige corduroy jacket and the boots. I made the green blouse last year. All I need is the circle skirt. (Am I the only one that watches movies with a sketch pad?) That is where M6438 came in.

Now for the Bull….. I measured myself around the waist. That is the part that would determine size for me. Even though it broke my heart, I needed to add 10 inches to the waist for the garment to fit… ACORDING TO THE JACK LEGGED DIRECTIONS!!!!! And with tears in my eyes, I did. Size ain’t nothing but a number, right? Also, the dress needed to be cut on the bias. More Bull. I had 4 yards of 45” beige corduroy. This shouldn’t be a problem for 1 skirt right? AND I shortened the dress 10”. I’m not tall but I needed the skirt to still be appropriately long. Y’all know I have rules and regulations with regards to my dress.

I ran out of fabric. It was that bias cutting. That was a complete waste of fabric. The quilt pile is lousy with beige corduroy now. ***Deep Breath*** I get another yard and a ½ (y’all lucky I had a coupon!) and finish cutting my dress.

I have never had a garment come together so easily. I did not have to pull out “oh ye seam ripper” once. It went together in 30 minutes. I let is hang overnight before I hemmed it. I don’t really know why. But somewhere, sometime, someone told me to do that. I hemmed it in the morning. I wanted to wear my Pam Grier outfit to the Parliament. The easiest machine hem I ever did. Once all the way around. I never even ran out of bobbin thread. Even the button holes were ez-pz.

Guess what. The damn skirt is too big. By about 10 inches! Now I know I lost 22lbs. But I know I didn’t lose 22lb from my waist. I took before and after measurements. My waist went down about 5”. And I cut that skirt while dieting; not before. That joker should have fit. You know what that tells me? That the envelope lies. If the envelope lies then why even bother with it? I suppose they are in cohoots with the fabric industry forcing folks to do muslins or get wadders. I could have cut it as is at the biggest size and been fine…. Busters! Now I’m a have to take my dress completely apart, cut 8” off of it and re sew it. All that easiness I experienced will in vain.

My plan is to take the waistband off, then cut the middle seam 4”. That saves me from having to rip the front and back and remove the zipper. That’s where I added the extra in the 1st place. The waist band will have to be recut. Shortening it will throw off the dimensions. Good thing I have all that extra fabric.

Y’all know I have recently in the last few years come around to patterns. They aren’t free and they aren’t cheap. They need to not lie. If it says it fits a waist of a certain inch, them damnit it should fit that! I ain’t happy. I should have been able to wear this outfit this week. It literally falls off when I put it on. And that is the reason why there is no picture of said skirt on me.

All in all.... I don't hate the design of the skirt. Now that I know how it does me, I will make the needed adjustments. I actually want a loose skirt in jersey knit for a road trip I'm planning in the future.



Peace

Man Sewing

Peace.

I know I have been telling you guys that I have been sewing. But I have offered no proof of it! I have been on the hCg diet for the last month and some change so I haven’t been trying to sew for myself. I did a bunch of alterations for the God and made him a few goodies.

Every time I go near a thrift shop, I feel compelled to stop. Not for clothes (though sometimes). But for patterns. I like vintage patterns but I am unwilling to pay more than what I’d pay for a new pattern. Folks kill me with that isht. They inherit grandma’s old patterns for free and want to get rich or die trying to make a profit. I’m not saying give them away, but don’t gouge folks either. All the vintage patterns I own came from the thrift store for 10 cents a pieces (where did the cents icon go on keyboards?). When I teach people how to sew, I encourage them to buy thrift store patterns and sheets to get started. And I won’t teach another person who doesn’t have their own machine. You aren’t serious without one. But I digress….

So I picked up M4223. I’m thinking it might be OOP, because it’s from 1974. So technically it’s either vintage or retro. The pattern is nearly 40 years old! All the pieces were present. and I LOVE that it was already cut in the size I wanted! XL! Now, the God is not a wide dude; actually he is very skinny if you saw him sans clothes. But he is a tall and long. He is 6’5” and has freakishly long arms and legs and wide shoulders. He is VERY lucky I sew. I have wanted to make clothes for him but (a) he doesn’t really need any, (b) he puts the flag on EVERYTHING I ever make for him (reminds me of Laverne and Shirley and that “L”) and (c) he and I don’t have the same esthetic. Everything he wants, earns the fisheye from me and vice versa. But he liked M4223.

I had just enough navy blue stretch corduroy in my stash to make it. I’m also concerned about where that fabric came from in the 1st place. I cannibalized a zipper from an old pair of pants I use as a muslin for his long legs. (The man is skinny! But don’t tell him that. He thinks he’s sexy). I went on and made him the top to satisfy the sick sewing craving. When he looked at the finished garment, he was so excited he made plans for future projects. He said that he was afraid of me sewing for him because he thought the finished items would look homemade. I asked him if my clothes looked homemade. He said some of them. (WTF?) Turns out, it’s not the start to finish garments but the re-fashions. I can live with that. I don’t do many re-fashions anymore. I converted a lot of pants to skirts when I stopped wearing pants.

Not the best image. But I was snapping pictures on my cell at 5:30 am before leaving the house for work. Cut me some slack please. And that is a small flag.

After the blue M4223 was made. My HoneyDo surprised me with 6 yards of camouflage fleece to make an entire outfit. Camouflage fleece? Really? I made another M4223 and then made NL 6634 pants. I put elastic at the bottom because he wanted sweatpants and deleted the cargo pocket. I suppose I removed the pocket because I have an aversion to cargo pants. You would too if you owned my hips. But now I’m thinking I maybe should have left them. These pants aren’t for me; he wouldn’t look hippy with cargo pockets. I did add regular pockets to the pants. I suppose cargo pants would have been more him. Oh well it’s done now and he is happy as a pig in poop. Of course he added 3 flags to the camo outfit. SMH. I am a little annoyed because he used all the big flags. I wanted one for a denim jacket I have. I was waiting to borrow my friend’s bedazzler. The elder God who sold me the flags is now back in Now Why. Oh well…

The pants are on the left of the screen and the top is on the right. Those are the bigger flags.


Peace

You ain't NUDE!!!!!

Peace Y’all,

It’s time build on one of my pet peeves. It’s a trend that is mad popular right now. NUDE. I suppose this is a PSA making knowledge Born to folks who don’t quite get it. I made a comment on another person's blog that she wasn't NUDE in complexion and received more hate than I was prepared for. Well this is my blog. I do as I please. So follow me on this and examine if this applies to you.

When I was child, my mother used to buy NUDE pantyhose in the egg. I often wondered why she bought pantyhose in that color because it wasn’t a color match to her legs. It was too light. In my youth I made the assumption that that was all that was offered to the grown ladies, since I was only given the option of white pantyhose. I assumed that I would grow up and be forced to wear those light stockings that all the women I ever saw in church wear.

Another thing older folks can bear witness too is Band-Aids. Band-Aids come NUDE as well. And where as you may not see Band-Aids on some people; you will see Band-Aids on me and other folks. The individual that came up with clear Band-Aids needs to win a Nobel prize for the peaceful inclusion of folks into the Band-Aid ciphers.

So now that the NUDE trend is back, I really need to explain how that works for people of color….. Don’t call shoes NUDE if they don’t match you skin color. If they don’t match, then they are just beige. And don’t think that you can get away with matching these beige shoes with any outfit. You can’t if you aren’t beige. Why is this not self explanatory?

You want to wear NUDE footwear or hosiery? Then find one that is a skin color match to you. Me, personally, I’m ‘French Coffee.” When I would wear those hose to church, my mother would come and touch my legs to make sure I had hose on. (I am so glad those days are gone!!!!) She couldn’t understand why I would chose to have my legs be the color they are. Folks wouldn’t be sure if I had pantyhose one and talk behind my back. If that was all they had to talk about, then I was in good shape. Mommie would even suggest I bleach said pantyhose so that I wouldn’t waste my money. I retaliated by wearing the loudest pantyhose I could find. Striped, leopard, fluorescent colors….. That way everyone and my mother would know I had pantyhose on. After a season of that, I never had that conversation with any of the old church ladies again.

And if I was to get some shoes that match me, they would be BROWN!!!!

Doesn't work!!! This ain't a trend for her.

White women wearing NUDE shoes... It works because it was designed for white women.



Peace

Good Morning People!

I said that a lot cheerier than I feel. I was up late fooling with the house and food for tomorrow because even though I live with a grown man, that is women's work! But I am writing this from my non at home work so you gotta love the logic. Anywho.......

2 week ago was my Born Day. Yay!!!!! And what I asked for was a self healing mat, a rotary blade, a blade sharpener and one of those acrylic things to hold them down. Yes, I'm sleep deprived. The God was kind enough to buy them for me.

Let me tell you something. This addition has energized my sewing. I love sewing. Not so much cutting the fabric out. I have moved from cutting on the floor to cutting on a table to now cutting with my new apparatus. It is making all the difference in the world. The efficacy of cutting the old way would take so long, the scissors depended on how sharp the were. I would just be like, it's not worth it. But now.... I have sewn more in 2 weeks than I did all summer. I can cut a Vogue pattern in 30 minutes while watching TV. I adore my new team of toys.

Yay! Bootzey!!!!! Yay!!!!!



Peace

PS.. My cat saw me whip out the camera and insisted that he be in the picture.

B5569: A Topper!

Peace!

I have been sewing! I just haven’t been taking pictures of it. And I have been sewing a lot for my God. He deserves some attention. Not that he's busted; but he sees me laboring in the sweatshop and usually nothing comes out of it for him. I made him a couple of tops and some pants. I will get to those later. When they get photographed I’ll build on them. For some reason he must put our flag on everything!

Well I just learned something new today. I guess all the blogs I follow is finally paying off! I made a topper! A topper is a woman’s short lightweight coat. And that is what B5569 is. I saw a woman walking in my building this past spring wearing a ¾ denim jacket. I was instant love and followed her so I could determine the root of my fascination. It was the color, the length and the fact that it had clean crisp lines. I decided that I would make one for myself. I got B5569 on sale and found the perfect fabric with just a bit of stretch for $4/yard. I adore the coat/jacket. And it was so easy to put together. It actually came together in 2 evenings.

The only problem I had was deciding on the length. Cutter’s remorse. I was certain I wanted a mid length coat. That's what the inspiration was. So the middle view made complete sense. But after I cut it I decided I wanted the longer version. The whole time I was sewing it up, I was trying to figure out how I was going to attach the extra length at the bottom. I had enough left over denim. But once it was done I was happy with it.


Pattern: B5569

Description: Misses petite jacket/coat

Size: I cut a 24W for my boobs. Turns out I didn’t need it this big. I figure I might wear a sweater under it or something.

Did it look like the pattern envelope when you were done sewing it? Yep, though I didn't find it all that petite. Maybe I'm just short.

Fabric: Dark blue denim

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? The arm didn’t go on as easily as I would have liked and pocket placement was very confusing. I figured it out, but I could have been done with it in 1 sitting.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made? None

Would you sew it again? Maybe. I can’t see a reason to need 2 coats like this and the only difference between the views is the length

Would you recommend it to others?
I would. It’s a really cute coat

Peace!!!!