Month: January 2018

Boyshort Panties

~ Michelle ~ 8 Comments

Beverly Johnson has a new class on Craftsy. Lingerie Essentials: Boyshort Panty Styles. It is a great class!As soon as it came out, I signed up. I love Beverly’s classes. I have them all and have watched them all too, which I can’t say for all my Craftsy classes.

A few people have told me they saw the above image and thought the class was about making briefs. They weren’t interested in making briefs. Don’t be fooled! Those are boyshorts. They’re a combo brief boyshort. You can see more on them later in this post. I made a pair of these.

Great Fit

I was planning to make boyshorts to go with my January BMS Challenge submission. Before I cut into the very pretty lilac cotton Lycra I had, I decide to make a muslin. My muslin fit so well, I decided they weren’t going to just be a muslin, I had to get some nice lace out and make them into wearable boyshorts. Here they are on my new display. I’ll share more about this display soon.In the first photo the shorts are pinned. In the second photo they’re unpinned. I definitely have more going on in the hip and thigh than this display!

Here they are from the back.Again, pinned and unpinned.

When I held these up, I loved the shape! They reminded me of ’50s shorts. I know they’re higher-waisted than most boyshorts, but they were just too cute to change. They also reminded me of these high-waisted Ooh Lulu Betty panties.I’ve always loved this shape.

I was so happy with these, I did make a pair to go with my bra for the Bra-Makers Supply Challenge. I made the combo brief/boyshort lace-backed pattern Beverly teaches in the class. The combo brief/boyshort is the one shown in the photo for the class too.

 Lavender Set with Matching Boyshorts

Here’s the lilac set I made for the BMS January Challenge. I drafted the bra using the information in Beverly’s Bra-makers Manual Vol. 2, and I drafted the panties from Beverly’s new Craftsy class.I LOVE lilac! I don’t know why I haven’t had a lilac bra and panty set before.

I did decide to alter these panties though. They fit and were fun being high-waisted, but I wanted them to be more traditional boyshort style to see how they would fit. Boyshort styles usually gape at the back on me.

I lowered the waist and finished them with some lilac lace trim. And… they fit.  Below, on this side view, you can just begin to get a peek of the back. This is the combo panty I mentioned earlier. It looks like a brief from the front, but a boyshort from the back.Here’s the full back view of the bra and panty.

Oh! All that lace! This is my favorite set I’ve made!

TNT

 I made a second pair of panties to match this bra using my self-drafted pattern for the panties. I am so happy with these lovely sets and am looking forward to the next BMS Challenge.

Happy creating!

Ultimate Bra-Makers Challenge

~ Michelle ~ 10 Comments

I had it all planned out. I bought some lovely ivory duoplex and power net to make both my tester bra and my first bra once the ‘final’ draft was completed.

Then something fun happened.

The Ultimate Bra-Makers Challenge

  Beverly, from Bra-Makers Supply, announced the Ultimate Bra-Makers Challenge starting in January 2018. Have you seen it? Here’s a blurb from the BMS site:

“Our idea is simple – each month starting on January 1, we will give you a theme with a challenge to complete by the end of the month. The challenge will be to use a new fabric or a new pattern chosen from Bra-makers Supply (yes, we will discount those items!) You can submit photos of the finished project to enter the challenge. Tag us on Instagram and Facebook @bramakerssupply and use the hashtag #bramakerschallenge2018… Each monthly winner will receive a $25 gift certificate from Bra-makers Supply. How easy is that?”

January’s challenge is the Pantone color of the year: Ultra Violet. SO pretty! I just happen to have a lilac kit from my trip to Ontario two years ago. I was saving it for when I got my draft just right.

The kit is one my hubby picked out. It had the paler lace that is on top in the photo. Something I’ve learned about myself in this bra-sewing journey is I prefer tone-on-tone bras. So if I’m going for red, I want all the tones to be close to the same shade. So I wasn’t over-the-top in love with the paler lace. I dug into my stash and found this darker purple, which was really nice. Then I saw this  lilac one on the BMS website. Love. That was the lace to go with my kit.

Pattern

I’m using my self-drafted pattern for this bra. I am so happy. This fits perfectly, and I love the color!

I used Beverly’s CD Designer Bras by You to create my own Shelley-style pattern from my draft.

Here’s the side view: Even though I’m drafting the pattern so there shouldn’t be any difference between the cups and cradle, I still find I’m having a tiny bit of a length difference. A quick little gathering stitch running along the bottom of the cup, and it fits in just fine. Also, there are no wrinkles on me, but a few on Catherine.

Here’s the back of the bra.When I was taking the photos for this, I noticed I missed catching the very bottom edge of the strap elastic under the eyes. I’ll have to take that back to the machine and tack  it down.

I love the lace detail on the back.

Road Bumps Design Elements

I had fixed everything on my pattern, and had my bra cut out. The cups were sewn. The lace was sewn on the band. The band was attached to the cradle. It was time to get the elastics out of the little finding kit and sew them on the band. Then I realized I had drafted my pattern for the ‘soft’ elastics. The new elastics I had in my kit weren’t going to work for this band.

I wasn’t happy.

The bra went into a time out.

I’ll have to draft a new band and label both bands – one ‘soft elastics’ and one ‘firm elastics’. That will save any future frustrations.

The next morning I pulled out some elastics from my stash. I tried some beige elastics behind the band, and then some black.

I decided the black looked better. Those little picots were almost a shadow behind the band. To bring all the elements together, I added a black bow behind the lilac one at the front.  The Gothic arch looks wonky here, but that’s just on Catherine. I tried to get it to lay flat, but it just wouldn’t.

I’m still deciding on the strap bows. I think I like the depth the black adds to the bows. I’ve made another black bow, so sewing them on is next.

Next panties to match.

Happy creating!

That Dress Revisited Part 2

~ Michelle ~ 6 Comments

I’ve mentioned our dinner group that meets monthly. We’ve had some amazing dinners together, and the one we just had for Christmas is going to be one among the most amazing we’ve ever had.

Dressing Up

  We were told to dress up, and my hubby and I did dress up. I wore my beautiful new dress, and he wore his tux.  The little O Sew Easy scarf was the perfect accessory to my dress. Just enough to keep my arms and shoulders warm, but not too much. I also didn’t have to worry about it falling off. It can’t fall off.

As wonderful as it was to dress up, and as much as I love this dress. This post isn’t going to be about the dress. It’s going to be about an amazing dinner. The reason I got my beautiful dress. Let’s take a look at that dinner.

Our Menu

We were served a 12-course meal based on the song The Twelve Days of Christmas. It was incredible!

I’m not sure if it shows up very well, but the table runner is Twelve Days of Christmas themed too. Here were our place settings.

Here’s a photo of the whole table:It was beautiful and very welcoming.

Here’s a close-up of our menu so you can see what we had, but I will take you through each course.  It was really amazing!

Variations on a Theme

There were things I couldn’t have on the menu, so our host worked with me ahead of time so I could make things I could have – things that looked similar to what everyone else was having.

Let’s go through the menu.

1st Course

 Our first course was a Peartini to remind of us the partridge in a Pear tree.

2nd Course

For our 2nd course, we had a Poached quail egg in brie, with veal stock, chives and truffle oil, served with mouillettes. The quail egg was to remind us of the turtle doves. I don’t think turtle dove eggs are commonly found in any grocery store.

For mine, I used cashew cream in place of the brie, and Paleo almond bread for the mouillette.

3rd Course

Our third course was Coq au vin served in a tartlet. This is a more obvious connection to the French Hens in the song.

Mine was simply the Coq au vin without the tartlet.

   4th Course

Our fourth course came with a history lesson. What we commonly call Calling Birds are also called Collie Birds. Collie birds are a black bird. In order to represent these birds, our host used squid ink in a potato cake.

I had a slice of tomato, more cashew cream, and some dill.

5th Course

The five golden rings were represented by a golden ring of polenta, with chorizo sausage and shrimp.

Mine is cauliflower polenta and hot Italian sausage.

6th Course

The six geese a laying was represented by a quenelle (an egg-shaped) sorbet.

  7th Course

Our seventh course wasn’t swan. It was duck. Oven-roasted duck, with duck-fat potatoes on a bed of sautéed kale, drizzled with star-anise blueberry sauce.

8th Course

The eight maids a milking were represented by a cheese board. Everyone made up their own smaller cheese boards. There was even a cave-aged Gruyere there.

Mine was more cashew cream, pear slices, and Paleo almond bread.

   9th Course

The nine ladies dancing were represented in lady finger biscuits. This beautiful dessert was strawberry Charlotte Russe.

I had fresh strawberries with … more cashew cream. Cashew cream is very versatile.

The Last Three Courses

Courses 10, 11 and 12, were all represented here. Lords would commonly retire after dinner with a brandy or scotch. The pipers were chocolate covered marzipan sticks. Lastly, the Drummers were represented in assorted Keurig coffee pods.

It was an incredible dinner – delicious, creative, and memorable.

Happy creating!

That Dress Revisited Part 1

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

My hubby and I are part of a dinner group that meets once a month. We’ve been meeting for the better part of 10 years, and have a lot of fun. We’ve tried recipes from all over the globe. Sometimes we get dressed up, sometimes not. There was one PJ night; we all brought our favorite comfort food. Conversely, there was an Academy Award Night. Everyone wore black tie, and one couple arrived in a helicopter! Another special night you might remember was our Valentine Dinner almost two years ago.

 That Dress

My dress-shopping-friend is part of our dinner group, and after trying on all those gorgeous dresses, I suggested we dress up for our Christmas dinner. She was hosting, and said no. She had too much work to do to get everything ready. I understood.

I found out I wasn’t the only one who wanted to dress up. One of the husbands in our group requested we dress up too. My friend decided since a few of us wanted to dress up, we’d dress up.

I was hoping to make the McCall’s 7684, but by time this was announced, I had less than a week to make it! I still tried.

The Pattern

I’ve already shared a bit about how closely this pattern matches the dress I saw and loved.  Here they are side-by-side. That’s the same skirt, same tie, same pockets, same zip in the back. The top is a little different, but that’s it. What a wonderful pattern!

My Materials

 I got the pattern. I bought some gorgeous materials too. I bought a lovely stretch velour for the top, which is closer to the original dress’ design which is a knit top. I also bought a gorgeous rich black and red brocade for the skirt.

 Pattern Hack

The first thing I had to deal with is the pattern has a dart in it and I know I’m going to need a Full Bust Adjustment (FBA). That’s fine. I’ve done FBAs before, but never on a waist dart. I think I drew it out four or five times, and still wasn’t sure. I didn’t have time to make a muslin either. By time I was ready to cut, it was three days until the party.

I decided to change the pattern. I pulled out my hallå Agnes pattern and traced off the top. I’ve used it to make a few tops. It’s designed for a knit, and my material is knit. I’d decided it would work.

First Attempts

Well, it was a sad, stressful day of sewing. The first top I cut out of the stretch velour was a bit tighter than I wanted. The stretch velour didn’t have the same amount of stretch as the cotton Lycra I’d used in the summer, and in my rush, I didn’t even check how much stretch the velour had.

I added a little more seam allowance to the pattern and cut out a second top from the remainder of my fabric. This second one was just fine.

Then, I messed up the neckband.

I didn’t think about the direction of stretch when I cut the band. I only had a little bit of material left, and I was rushing and feeling stressed. There was only one direction I could cut the bands for the neck and arms, and it was the wrong direction.

I only realized it was the wrong direction after trying to serge it to the neckline.

My Hubby

I called my hubby and told him I’d messed up the top. Twice. By this time I only had one day left to make the whole dress. Not one to give up, I ask him, ‘Should I go buy more material for the top?’

He didn’t think I should – at least not to try to make the dress for the party. He suggested I buy more material and make a muslin, and in the meantime we go dress shopping. What a sweet hubby!

Guess what I found on sale? My dress! The dress I loved from first look, and made me feel beautiful when wearing it.

I think you know what I wore to my Christmas dinner. Next week I’ll share all about our dinner.

Plans

I am not giving up on sewing myself the McCall’s dress though. I have some new material for the top, and it’s one of my projects I have planned for this year.

Happy creating!

Pirose or O Sew Easy Scarf

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

A few years ago I worked in a little boutique, and I saw many lovely clothing items. I got a discount too, so some of those lovelies made it home with me.

One of those items was a Reno Rose Pirose scarf. A few of these came home with me.

They’re lovely to dress up an outfit and also give a little more coverage. Unfortunately, they no longer seem to be available.

Sewing with Nancy

I knew I’d seen a similar scarf on an episode of Sewing with Nancy. She made a scarf that is the same shape and style as the Pirose scarf – the O Sew Easy Scarf.

It’s the first scarf she shows in the video below.

I’m still so very sad when I think of Nancy being gone. I’m trying to just be thankful for all the years she was here and how much she imparted, but am mostly still sad.

Making the Scarf

The Pirose scarf came in three sizes. Small, Medium, and Long. I found the Medium worked best for me. The Long dwarfed me, and the small, although a good size for my frame, is probably better suited to someone smaller busted.

I used one of my Pirose scarves to trace off a pattern. After I cleaned up the edges of my new pattern, I followed along with Nancy’s video to make my scarf. Nancy Notions does have a great-looking book with the pattern in it, and many other scarf patterns too. I sent a hint about the book to my hubby.

My Scarf

I found a lovely chiffon in the clearance section, and scooped it up right away. I love a great deal!

I wanted sheer black, but I was happy enough to find this slightly textured chiffon. Again, the price was right.  The scarf is longer on one side than the other, so I can wear it with the shorter side at the front, or at the back. I can even wear it on a diagonal. Each way I wear it gives a bit of a different look.I’m so happy with this.

Here are a few different ways I can wear it. I have a pin that clips on, so will wear that with my scarf. I’m looking for some patterns to make a few more of these pins as I bought this one with one of my scarves. Like the scarves, the clips no longer seem to be available. Here’s a video showing a bunch of ways to tie a Pirose scarf, all of which would apply to the O Sew Easy scarf as well.

 Happy creating!