Inspiration...Knit Beanie

 This post is for the knitters.  While cruising through the new collection on Lafayette 148 NY, I found this beanie:

This is the KindCashmere Pique Knit Beanie.  Price tag: $248.00.  Details:  Pique Stitch with rib stitch, Cashmere, 5-ply.   

Here is a youtube on the Pique Knit Stitch. To recreate, I would do practice swatch and measure.  Compare to your favorite beanie pattern.  Look for a great wool.  Have fun!

Happy Stitching!

Inspiration...Long Sleeved Tiered Midi Dress

 I really do like the silhouettes that are showing up for fall this year.  I have a lot of love for this dress:

This is the Ascot Print Crinkled Georgette Printed Tie Mock Neck Long Sleeved Tiered Midi Dress from Lauren by Ralph Lauren.  Price tag: $155.00.   Details: a-line silhouette, mock neckline with self-tie accent, long blouson sleeves with smocked cuffs, forward shoulder seam, smocked waistband, shirring into cuffs and shoulder seams, fulled lined except sleeves, tiered skirt with shirring into seams, 52" length, pullover construction.

This dress reminds me a lot of a previous dress that I had as an inspiration here.  It is just a lovely dress.  I found many patterns with the tiered skirt but I was not able to find a pattern with the top detail.  Then I decided to look for top patterns that may work.  Here is what I found:

This is Butterick 6378 - gathered tops and tunic with neck ties.  I think view B will work as a starting point for the dress.  You would need to figure out the smocking and the tiered skirt.  Hope you are inspired to create some beautiful.

Happy Stitching!

Inspiration...Tweed Blazer

 Fall is definitely in the air.  Nights have cooled off and we are finally seeing days that are not 90F.  Fall calls for layers.  Here is a great little jacket:

This is the Akris Punto Double-Breasted Tweed Blazer.  Price tag: $1590.00.  Details:  decorative double-breasted front, fringe, concealed front closure, peaked lapels, long sleeves, slit cuff, side flap pockets, tailored fit, wool/nylon.

I really like the idea of a tweed blazer.  Not sure how I actually feel about the "decorative" double-breasted front.  That is a detail that I would probably leave off.  However the fringe is fun. I would style it differently also.  As for the pattern, there is so many to choose from.  Here are a couple to think about:

This is the Closet Core Patterns Jasika Blazer pattern.  It is close to the inspiration photo.  You might want to square off the from edges if you want to replicate the fringe.  It can be found here.  Here is another option:

This is Kwik Sew 3715.  I just received this pattern with the recently Kwik Sew purchase here. Again, you would need to square off the front edges for the fringing.  

I have no idea how to the hidden closure.  If anyone knows how to do this, let me know.  Hope you are inspired to create something beautiful.

Happy Stitching!

Newest Pattern...Foz Top

 I seem to be purchasing several patterns this fall.  This new one by Itch to Stitch (affiliate link) really caught my eye:

This is the Foz Top pattern.  You get two views - long sleeve and short sleeve.  Sizing from 00 to 40 with regular bust and full bust options.   This feels like a great layer piece along with just being a v-neck top.  

My stash has several sweater type knits in it that are begging to be used. Perhaps this is the year that they will come out.  There may be some other type of knits hanging out in there ready to be used.  I can see a short sleeved version for now and a long sleeved version for later.  This should be super simple to make once the fit is good.  There is only 4 pieces.

The Foz Top  (affiliate link) pattern is on sale through September 28, 2021.  Do not forget to check out the blog post on this top.  There are several beautiful tops to look at.

Happy Stitching!

(This post contains affiliate links.  If you purchase through my links, I get a small portion of the sale at no cost to you.  Thank you.)

Craft Bag...

 I decided that needed a largish bag to carry my crafty items between my house and my parent's house.  With this in mind, I started with the Kwik Sew pattern from my recent purchase (here). It is:

This is an Ellie Mae Designs pattern for Kwik Sew.  It is K118.  I am using stashed items mostly but I did purchase fabrics for side pockets because I could not find a match in the stash.  I even found the Peltex 70 hiding in the stash.  Here is the stash fabric:

I used these fabrics previously to make fabric boxes for CDs.  Here is the post where I created the boxes.  Here is the fabric that I purchased to coordinate:

The darker of the two coordinates with the dark color in the leaf print.  The lighter color would somewhat coordinate with the lighter colors in the prints.  Here is the finished bag:

In the first picture, you can see the little Featherweight that I used to make my bag.  I feel like I pushed this little machine almost to it's limits but I was able to complete the bag with it.  While stitching it, I wondered if it was going to be big enough to lug projects back and forth.  Now that it is finished, I think it is plenty big.  

I will be making organizing items for the inside in the future.  Hopefully, I have enough coordinating fabric to make them.  

Bags with stiff interfacing are my least favorite thing to do.  I think this project turned out well though.  Off to the next project.

Happy Stitching! 

Sneakers...

 Sneakers...are they something you wear daily? or occasionally? I try really hard not to wear them daily but it seems my wardrobe of sneakers has expanded over the last year or so.  Last year, I discovered Rothy's.  Last year, I really wanted the navy sneaker but that color was never returned to stock.  I ended up ordering the Loafer in navy.  I like that shoe.  It is not a "I'm going to a 2-mile walk shoe" but it is comfortable.  This year, I finally saw a color of the sneaker that I liked - Anchor:

This shoe was worth the wait.  I have worn them with everything - pants, skirts, dresses. So comfortable that I would like every color and could go for a "2-mile walk".  However, my budget does not allow for that.  I wanted to share that Rothy's has increase the discount for new customers for the month of the September from $20 to $30.  That is a nice discount. Just leave me a message with your email and I will send you the discount code. I will not publish your email.   These shoes are machine washable as well.    Just so you know if you get a discount from me, I will also get the equivalent amount.  

Back to stitching!

Happy Stitching!

Inspiration...Ankle Pants

 As summer continues to march toward fall, I have started looking for fall/winter items to either purchase or attempt to make.  Here is a great pair of pants that fits the bill:

This is the Lafayette 148 Gramercy Acclaim-Stretch Pants. Price tag: $398.00.  Details: Approximate measurements: 29-inch inseam, 36-in outseam, 13-inch leg opening; sits at mid-rise high on hip, front/back pintuck seams, cropped at ankle, straight legs, cotton/elastin fabric.  

You can see a summer version of these pants with pattern suggestions here. Since that post was written, I have found this pattern:

This is Simplicity 9376.  This pattern comes with two pant variations - one is pleated, the other is pintucked.  Unfortunately, there is not a back pintuck but you could probably add one if you really wanted to add it.  Remember to add a little bit of width for the tuck.

I am planning on using a recently fitted pant to help with the fit on this pattern.  It should save some time.  At least, I hope it does.  Hope you are inspired to create something beautiful.

Happy Stitching!

Kwik Sew Patterns...

 It seems that the demise of Kwik Sew is on the horizon.  When I got the email about a warehouse sale, I could not resist.  I purchased too many but with any luck they will get used and not just collected.  Here were my picks:

This is an Ellie Mae Designs tote pattern for crafts.  I decided that it might be good for me as I am always hauling things back and forth from my parents.  With luck, everything needed for it will already be in the stash.

This is a pajama pattern that will for work for the majority of the year.  There is not much to say about it. It is a basic pattern which is something that Kwik Sew excels at.

This is a basic jacket pattern.  It seems a little oversized like a boyfriend jacket.

This is a basic men's short pattern.  I thought I might give a try at making shorts for my son.  He is almost 6'5" and it is hard to locate shorts with an inseam he is happy with. 

This pattern is all about organization.  I thought this might come in handy for myself and/or my niece. 

This is another basic men's pattern with pants and shorts this time.  It is highly likely that the short pattern is not any different than the shorts pattern above.  Purchased for the same reasons.

  Another basic men's pattern for robe and pjs.  I do make pjs for my guys from time to time.

I decided to get this as I thought it might come in handy in the future.  Everyone likes to carry things with them and if you need a walker, it is hard to carry a bag.

I picked this one up because it is fun.  I do know people with young kids and this kind of thing is fun.  My son spent hours with his grill making food.  The battery never ran down.  This is much quieter than the electronics.

Casserole covers, pie carrier, and double oven mitt.  Again, basics that are useful.

Hopefully, none of these will end up buried in the pattern stash and will actually be used.  I tend to over plan both with pattern purchases and fabric/notion purchases.  By the way, I did purchase both Simplicity patterns from Fall Pattern Roundup.  The pattern stash just keeps growing.

Did you get involved with the Kwik Sew warehouse clearance? 

Happy Sewing!

Fall Pattern Roundup...

 I have less than enthused with the Big 4 pattern offering in the last couple of years but this fall it is looking a bit better.  We will start with McCall's:

McCall's 8241.  This is called a poncho top.  I will definitely be purchasing this pattern.  I just love the idea of this and would wear it as a second layer.

McCall's 8248. This is called a pleated school skirt and it comes in  three lengths.  I really like the long one.

Overall, I thought this McCall's release was a home run.  There were several other patterns that I really liked but I do need to be realistic with how many I might actually make.  Next, let's go to Butterick:

Butterick 6855. Blouse with center front pleat, gathers at front/back yoke, sleeve variations.  I like the look of this blouse.  I think I have something very similar so I might not invest in this but it is cute.

There are other patterns in the fall release that are nice but many are very similar to things that are already in my pattern stash.  I discovered that I purchase a lot of the same designs so I am attempting to cut back.  On to Simplicity:

Simplicity 9375. Faux wrap skirt with a twist.  Variation with faux flat wrap front.  I really like the knee length and longer skirts.  This pattern is definitely coming to the pattern stash.  I need to dig through the fabric stash and see what fabric is available.  

Simplicity 9376.  This is a pull on pleated or pintucked pant.  I like the idea of these pants.  I have similar patterns but really like the look of these.  Not sure how I actually feel about pleated pants returning to fashion.  They are a little harder to fit because it is easy to overfit and have a gapping pleat instead of a flat pleat.

Surprisingly, there are a lot of crafty type patterns in the Simplicity release and a couple in the McCall's release.  It is nice to see this happening again.  McCall's use to have some of the best instruction of home dec.

There was not anything in the Vogue fall release that interested me.  It did seem to contain much of high fashion but I guess with the events of the last couple of years fashion has gotten even simpler.

Hope you enjoyed looking at my picks from the new fall releases.  I have little time to sew these days but certainly do a lot of dreaming, planning, and purchasing.  What are your picks from these releases?

Happy Sewing!