Author: Michelle

A Matching Table Runner

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

I finished my tree skirt and love it! The panel is Christmas Splendor by Color Principle for Henry Glass.I love the colors and the pattern so much on this. I knew I wanted to find a matching table runner. And I did.  And I was able to fit it into my sewing schedule and get it finished quickly too.

I didn’t have enough of the black fabric to back the table runner like on the skirt below.So for the table runner, I chose a fun bright green snowflake print.

Here it is all set up on my dinning room table.And one last photo. 

Happy Creating!

A Modified Josey

~ Michelle

For anyone who’s followed my blog for a while, you know my favorite RTW bra of all time. If you’re new to my blog, well, it’s the Prima Donna Milady.

Isn’t this pretty? It’s a lovely lace cup with a 3/4 inner foam cup. It’s comfortable, and gives great support and lift. But it never did fit me because the wires were too big.

It’s long been a desire of mine to clone it, but I just didn’t want to do all the work. By that I mean, clone a bra that doesn’t fit me, then do all the adjustments to modify it to fit me. It sounded like a lot of work I didn’t feel like doing.

Then I had an idea. Why not use my very well-fitting Josey bra pattern to make my own Milady. It turned out perfectly!I used this is from a lovely kit I found on BMS.I used the lace for the whole cup so it would look more similar style-wise to the PD Milady.I love how the lace details lined up on the cup pieces. Trust me, that was a happy accident. I didn’t have that much material for cutting them, so didn’t follow the Dogs on the pattern for cutting those cup pieces. What a happy occurrence.  Yes, I’m very very happy with how this turned out. I’m sure there will be more Josey Miladys soon.

One last photo since the foam really doesn’t show in the photos. Here’s one I took a photo of the inside of the bra.Oops, I see the channeling popped out from under the upper band elastic. I guess I’m not quite done this bra yet.

Happy creating!

The Sahaara Wireless Bra Pattern

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I was excited when the Sahaara wireless bra pattern became available. It reminded me of the Watson bra pattern, which is a pattern I think is charming. However, the Watson is not in my size range. The Sahaara is!

I was very excited to try it.  PDF Rubies Bras Sewing Pattern- Sahaara Bralette

However, what really made me want to make this pattern was seeing one made up on the Nellie Joans website. Mini Review ~ Sahaara Bra by Rubies Bras – Nellie JoansIsn’t this stunning? Just beautiful.

I had to make my own version. Having sewn bras for a few years now, I had most of what I needed for this. I did order a few other supplies, like the lovely lingerie satin from Bodil’s.

  I did use a different lace, but I think it has a similar enough look to it. I love this!This fabric combination is very elegant.

I found the pattern to fit well using my measurements. I didn’t have to change anything. I fall between two band sizes, so think next time I’ll make a half size version. I couldn’t resist. I’ve already purchased a soft tulle kit for this pattern.

Wirefree kits with Soft Bra Tulle for the Sahaara from Rubies Bras - 3 I have two wonderful kits on my sewing table, so can’t wait to share more with you soon.

Happy creating!

My First Stanton Hoodie Dress

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I really loved the look of the Stanton Hoodie Dress when I saw it. Since first seeing it, I’ve seen other hoodie dresses, but I don’t think they’re as nice.

I had this gorgeous cotton fleece I bought a few years ago from Fabricville. I’d been saving it to make a warm winter dress, and I knew I wanted it for my Stanton.I love this material!   I think this makes a lovely Stanton hoodie dress too. I decided for this one (I have others planned already) that I wanted it all one color with a pop of color for the lining.I actually didn’t have enough fabric to make the hood lining and the pocket lining the same color. I was using up some scraps. But seeing as the pocked will be laying flat most of the time, we’ll be the only ones who know.

As you can see here. The lining on the pocket really doesn’t show, so no one will notice those two different lining colors.I love this material for this and I decided to use it for the cuffs and hem instead of ribbing.

Here’s one cuff:

And here’s the hem:I’m very happy with how my Stanton turned out. It’s going to be wonderful on those really cold -30C winter days! Well, actually, I don’t go out much on those days. It’ll be lovely on the -20C days. (smile)

My DIL Em came over to take a few pictures of me wearing my Stanton. She loves it. She’s planning on getting material for her, and dropping hints that her mom would love it too!  

Happy creating!

Christmas Tree Skirt

~ Michelle

Two Christmases ago I found a gorgeous tree skirt panel and I loved it as soon as I saw it. My husband said to go ahead and get it so I could make it for next Christmas.

Well, the next Christmas it was packed away in a box somewhere. We’d just moved three weeks before. So although I did remember it, there was no way I was going to do anything about it.  It was an easy project. Just cut out the panel, cut out a backing, and cut out the layer of batting.We don’t have our tree set up yet, but I did have this little tree so I could take a quick photo and show all of you just how pretty this panel is when sewn up.

I found a cute mistletoe fabric for the back.

Here are a few close ups. I love all these motifs. It’s called Christmas Spendor by Color Principle for Henry Glass.

I’ve found a matching table runner from the same collection. That will be my next Christmas project.

Happy creating!

Hooded Baby Towel

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I was recently invited to a baby shower for a sweet little girl. I decided I’d make my TNT baby gift: a hooded towel I first saw on a Sewing With Nancy program.

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It’s been a while since I’ve made one, but our weather just turned cold and I thought it would keep that sweet little baby warm.

I didn’t add ribbon this time, but have in the past.

Nancy’s book is no longer available, but it’s not a difficult project to sew. Just add equal folds towards the center and sew them in place. Then narrow the top of the facecloth for the hood by sewing from the side where the folded facecloth meets up towards the top at a bit of an angle. Lastly, sew the hood to the body of the towel.

I’ve heard from parent who were still using this for the four and five year old children because it was so warm.

Happy creating!

A Couple of Classic Bras

~ Michelle

Now that I have all my fitting bras sewn, I’m able to fit some friends and family who have been waiting for this.

My daughter-in-law is one of those people who has been waiting, so I got her fitted and she doesn’t have to wait any longer.

She’s a perfect 2.75 BCD, and I didn’t have to make any changes at all for her. Oh, how nice for her!

I let her pick a couple of kits she liked, and she picked a pink one and a beige one. Before you think how wonderful for her, she didn’t have pick from all my kits. No. there were a few I removed from the pile and said I wanted these for myself. She was still happy.

Here’s the beige bra she wanted.

I really do love this color. It’s not blah at all to me. To me it’s golden and shimmery. It is so pretty.Sewing these smaller sizes I learned that, yes, you can make a bra in a couple of hours. It was a new experience for me.

Here is the pink bra for Em.Now, I love beige, but not this pink. I know many who do love it, including Em. She grabbed this kit right away. It’s interesting to see, my mannequin is larger than a size 2.75. This barely fits her.  Em’s all taken care of for the time being. Next I need to sew some dog boots before the snow comes, and then I have a couple of Josey II bras waiting to be sewn and a new bra cup fabric too.

Happy creating!

A Vintage Kit and Pattern

~ Michelle

Over the years, I purchased a few vintage patterns, and even if I don’t make them up, I enjoy seeing how they’re made, and what things have changed over the years.

One day a few months ago, I saw a neat vintage lingerie kit on eBay. I couldn’t resist!I would have loved this if it had been the bra kit! However, this was the long leg girdle. It’s not anything I will make to wear myself, but still. As I said, I couldn’t resist it.Doesn’t this look amazing?

Even though I wasn’t planning on making this up, I was still excited to open it and look at everything. I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. It’s old. It’s discolored. It’s very stiff and rigid.

Here’s everything that was in the kit. The pattern and instructions are in great shape. But the fabrics leave a lot to be desired.The power net was the oddest part of the kit. It was so stiff and had no drape to it. It was also discolored from age.

  Can you see the discoloration at the bottom of this piece of power net? The whole folded side was this yellowish color.

The tricot that was included in the kit was still lovely. No age showing on it at all.

The lace  and elastics were stiff and aged as well. Other than the pattern and instructions, these girdle clips were the only good part of this vintage kit.

It was  a fun trip down the vintage lingerie lane, but for the most part I’ll stick to newer patterns and materials.

Happy creating!

Loungewear Cami

~ Michelle

I recently received the most gorgeous Black Leopard stretch lace and knew right away I wanted to use it to make a new camisole.   This lovely lace is from B,Wear (as you can see in this photo from their website). In the descriptions, it says it comes straight from France. Ooh la la!

As I said I knew I wanted to make a camisole with this, but the question was which pattern?

I looked at a few, and I didn’t want a lace border. It’s already lace. I looked at a lot of patterns, both patterns that I have, and sewing patterns available on the web.

I actually have a favorite RTW camisole, and wanted to find something similar. My favorite has bust darts, and a more rounded neckline. After looking for a bit, I decided the Style Arc Loungewear Cami was the closest to what I wanted.

One thing I changed is I made the neckline a touch rounder, but only on the front.

The pattern has a facing on the front and back, so if you follow the pattern, the top and back neckline seams are enclosed. I didn’t want to use the facing as I didn’t want anything to detract from this gorgeous lace pattern.

I finished the edges with some black fold-over elastic. If I were doing this again, I would use the FOE on the front the back necklines, sew the side seams, and then do a continuous strip of FOE along the underarm.

I love this lace!

On the back, I left the pattern in more of a V-neckline.

This is so very pretty. It’s a lovely soft lace with some stretch in one direction. I have just a bit left over, but I’m thinking it will be enough for some bra cups.

Happy creating!

No Sewing This Week

~ Michelle

I haven’t been sewing this week, nor last week. In fact, much of my summer sewing was all geared to getting ready for teaching classes. Yes, I’ve started holding bra sewing classes.

The whole time the Bra Bee was on I was sewing 22 fitting bras. The rest of the summer was spent finishing those bras and getting ready.

Twenty two bras! I learned to sew them assembly-line style.

My classes are at the same store where I took my professional classes: Central Sewing Machines.

However, I’m not at the same location. I’m teaching at the West End store.It’s a treat it is to teach in this store. They just had their grand opening at the end of June. It’s a beautiful new facility. One of the best features is the classroom is on the main floor. First thing when you enter the store, there’s a mannequin advertising the bra and panty classes wearing the tiniest bra and panty set.

At the back of the store is the classroom. The classroom was all set up and ready for us! We had our fittings there behind the screen.

I’m starting the classes with the PUG Classic pattern. It a basic pattern, so a good place for beginners to start.Four women signed up, and I was happy they all left with well-fitting bras.One woman was really having a problem with her fit. No matter what we did,  her bra wasn’t fitting. After two attempts with alterations both times,  and the end of the class nearing I suggested flexi-wires. Once we put the flexi-wires in her bra it fit her perfectly. It was amazing the difference the wires made in her bra fitting. 

Another woman was also having wire troubles. We shortened a wire for her, but it’s a lot of work to cut them, file them, and then put the heat shrink tubing on them. We also tried the flexi-wires for her. They fit into her bra perfectly, and she was happy with how comfortable her bra was.

I’m already looking forward to the next class!

Happy creating!