Drum roll, please!

My Sis Boom Jamie dress is done! I had a minor setback while sewing the straps onto the dress. I jammed some thread up in my sewing machine so badly that my mom and I had to take it apart. Good times. BUT. It was fixed, reassembled and the dress is completed.

Wanna see it on a hanger? Why wouldn't you?!





Doesn't that hanger look so stylish? The dress really does make the hanger, to paraphrase the old saying.

You wanna see the dress on me? Alrighty then!









Ignore the empty CD rack on the right. That's our high-tech way of keeping Spongebob from ripping the cable wires out of the wall. Fug, but it works. :D

So there you have it. The first dress I've ever sewn and only my second sewing project EVAH. I am pretty danged proud of myself and think I did very well. Lightning told me I look beautiful and he wants me to wear the dress forever. Not exactly practical to do that, but it is the highest compliment from him. Princess is excited to get a Marissa dress soon. And I'll eventually crochet a shrug to go with it.

Thoughts on the pattern: It was really very, very easy to work from. Lots of pictures, which were very helpful for a beginner like me. The instructions were very clear as well. I liked that the pattern told you exactly how to print it so your pattern pieces would be to the proper scale and WHICH pages to print for each size so you don't have to figure it out or print a TON of unneeded pages. Very user-friendly pattern, two thumbs up from me!

I did size up to the large bodice and waistband, as previously mentioned, and I was glad I did. The skirt was WAY too big, though. FAR too many gathers. Now, part of that was my fault because I cut the skirt to the large dimensions instead of the medium. But even still, I ended up taking 10" off each skirt piece to get a look I was happy with. I definitely recommend starting with the correct width but gathering, pinning and trying on multiple times, trimming the width a bit at a time, to see how you like it. For reference, I am 5'5" and 134 lbs (and losing-to a goal of 125, but that's neither here nor there.)

Thanks to Sara at Sew Sweetness for hosting the sew-along, Lina and Carly for helping me pick my main dress fabric. This definitely will not be my last sewing project!

Sis Boom Jamie dress-back bodice

So I did get the back bodice put together and sewn to the front tonight. I also sewed the skirt together along the short edge and monkeyed with it for a while. Here's what I learned:

1. Sewing over a forgotten pin in fabric breaks sewing machine needles.

2. Don't bitch about buying 90/14 needles when you already had one on the machine.

3. Because you will break that one and be glad for the extras.

4. Do bitch about getting out of Hancock Fabrics without the brown thread.

5. Because your mom is right when she says that little spool doesn't have enough.

6. Do take your mom up on the offer to pick up some for you tomorrow so your lazy butt can stay home.

7. How to properly use the zigzag stitch on my machine. No, I didn't know. I figured it out. It's all good.

8. Believe some of the things you read online.

9. Especially about how big gathers make your butt look. I've never looked that big in my life when I wasn't pregnant, and this was an ALL OVER from the waist down big. Holy moley.

10. When you are frustrated at the hugeness of yourself in the pinned-up dress, put it up for the evening and go blog about it. Think about it tomorrow. Tomorrow is anothah day.

PICTURE TIME!

Sis Boom Jamie dress WIP

So I finally got my fabric. It went through something called FedEx Post, which is where FedEx picks it up, takes it somewhere, then USPS picks it up and takes it the rest of the way to you. I never heard of that before. But I got it Thursday, which was good because they originally said 4/18 and I know I couldn't sew a dress in 3 days. Seriously.

I went to Hancock Fabric and picked my waistband fabric that night so I could get going. I also picked up a zipper and some brown thread. I didn't know it, but I didn't make it out of Hancock's with the thread. But it wasn't on my receipt either, so I guess I didn't put it on the counter. Luckily, my mom had a small spool of matching thread. IDK why, but I'll take it. I had to go with a blue/teal zipper to match the waistband and print because apparently a 14" brown zipper is just not in demand. Who knew?

Of course, I forgot to get a thread to match the waistband, so I had to stop at Hobby Lobby on Friday to get that. But today I was ready to sew!

Wanna see what I got done? Of course you do!



See how it doesn't match up on the left (right side of picture?) IDK why it doesn't, but Sara at Sew Sweetness recommended sizing up on the bodice and waistband. So whatever extra fabric wouldn't be taken up by the zipper installation might be trimmed off beforehand anyway. I appear to not be the only one whose bodice didn't quite match up, so I feel better about that. Because everyone else's dresses are turning out lovely.

This is all I got done tonight, for several reasons. One, I am a novice seamstress and so this took a while to do. Two, my helpers broke my concentration. Princess had a million questions and Lightning kept asking for banana bread. He loves banana bread SO MUCH. His master plan is to ask me to buy bananas, then not eat them til they're so overripe that it's banana bread time. I've seen the plan in action, but pretend I don't know so he can feel like a sneaky boy. Spongebob slept through it all, bless him. And three, I had other stuff to do today.

So tomorrow I'll get at least the back bodice done. Anything more than that...well, I don't know. I have other stuff to do tomorrow. But my sewing machine and ironing board can't live on the kitchen table forever. (I don't have a full size ironing board, just an over-the-door number whose over-the-door hooks got lost in some move somewhere. They may be in New Mexico. Who knows.) And I only have til the 21st to finish to be eligible for FABULOUS PRIZES! I luffs prizes. :D

I can haz shrug?

If you listen to Mr. Snarky, I in fact have no blood. He has said those very words to me, specifically on a car ride home from my Granny's house one day that was warm enough for me to wear shorts. It went like this:

Me: Wow, it's getting chilly. Feel my leg.
Him: *feels leg* OMG it is FREEZING. What is WRONG with you? You have no blood.

At least I won't have sparkly vampires chasing me. Ew. But he does make a good point...I get cold really, really easily. You'd think I grew up in the tropics. So since the Sis Boom Jamie dress for the sew-along hosted by Sew Sweetness is not only the cutest. thing. EVAH. but also is sleeveless, my arms will get cold at some point.

Kim turned the Jamie dress into a super cute tunic and modeled it wearing a cardigan. This got the wheels turning. Because I am thrifty, nay, because I am cheap, I went looking for free shrug/cardigan/arm warmer patterns. I like this one posted by a lady named Melissa, but as it isn't an actual pattern but guidelines only, I'll have to monkey with it. This one is really cute but may be too frou-frou for the Jamie dress. Plus it's short sleeved.

Now, I am more experienced at crocheting than sewing. I've made a baby blanket (in the back loops only, DOH! But my daughter loves its airiness), a Care Bear, a Strawberry Shortcake, a duckie, and a granny square here and there. I think I can handle a shrug, but that will be a project for AFTER the sew-along.

I can haz dress?

So check it out. Over there:

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There is a shiny new button on my blog, which I figured out how to do all by myself. Sometimes I rock. I feel all techno-accomplished, too. Sara at Sew Sweetness made it super easy by providing the code, though. It's a sew-along!

Yes, folks, I think I can sew. Those of you who know me know that I am a cross stitcher. Many moons ago, I asked Mr. Snarky for a handheld sewing machine for my birthday. To make cross stitch projects into small simple things, like pillows, wall hangings, etc. You know, for when I actually FINISHED a project? I just wanted one of those infomercial ones that you can hem a skirt with at your desk or repair a torn curtain while it's hanging (call NOW!) But Mr. Snarky went above and beyond and got me a real, honest-to-goodness sewing machine. Talk about overwhelmed. My mom used to work in a sewing factory and made some of my clothes when I was little, but I had never touched a sewing machine. Ever.

So I really didn't do much with it because I didn't know how and I was severely intimidated. The machine got put in the closet, where it couldn't silently mock me on a daily basis. Then last Halloween, I found an AWESOME Tinkerbell costume that my daughter just HAD to have at Make it and Love it. I used fleece because it was all I could find in time and didn't make it an actual onesie type of deal because I had no bathing suit that fit her for a pattern, but a regular top and skirt instead. Despite this, I think it turned out pretty well, especially for my first sewing project.

Now I think I know how to sew. My friend Lina, who not only sews but is also the best baker EVAH, posted about the Sew Sweetness Jamie Dress Sew-along and I said what the heck. It has an actual pattern, which my mom claims makes it easy. I found a great deal on fabric too-I'm just waiting for it to get here so I can take it to Hobby Lobby and choose a coordinating waistband fabric. Wanna see my fabric? Of course you do! Chosen with Lina and Carly's help, here it is:




Pretty, huh? So I'm gonna give it a go. And if I succeed, I can make cute girly things for my daughter and I won't have a big old paperweight any longer, but an actual sewing machine. :D

You can join in, too! Click the button for all the details, including where to buy the pattern and a suggested Etsy shop for fabric. You know you want to.