Sew Half Crazy

12/11/2017

DIY Christmas Wreath

Heather 12/11/2017 0 Comments

I meant to write this post a while ago, but man December is flying by! Christmas is two weeks away!

Well maybe you don't have a Christmas wreath up yet, or maybe this wreath will inspire you to make another wreath. That's what happened with me. I saw a fall wreath and I liked it, so I said I want to do something like that for Christmas.

I dismantled {THIS} wreath not too long ago and decided that I would reuse the rope wrapped wreath. I also decided that I would repurpose it as my Christmas wreath. Of course, I had no plan beyond that at the time.

Then while perusing Michael's app on my phone for ideas, I came across this fall wreath and I was smitten.

{Project Page}

So the first order of business was to actually get the supplies, so I took Small Fry out with me to Michael's because I had a 20% off your total purchase coupon and as luck would have it, Christmas picks were the doorbuster deal that day and they were 60% off! Score!

Then we spent the next 45 minutes or so looking at the same picks and decorations until we both agreed on something. I wanted something a little rustic and simple. Small Fry had his own ideas. Somehow we met in the middle.

So once we got home, all of the decorations sat until after Thanksgiving. I was really on the ball that way. So once I finally got around to making the wreath, I was on the phone with my sister and she got to help me lay everything out.

Thank goodness for technology. I'm talking to her on the phone and sending her pictures of the progress for her feedback. Teamwork!

I started with the rope wreath that I'd taken apart and then followed the directions for the wreath on the project page, and the wreath slowly came together.

I think the whole time I said I wasn't sure about the icy branch garland, but in the end, I'm glad Dana talked me into it.

Small Fry insisted on the star, and I wanted the owl. I love them both and it's simplistic and rustic enough for me.

I really love that owl!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

12/08/2017

Pattern Review - Simplicity 8448

Heather 12/08/2017 3 Comments

When we got the invitation to the hubs' Christmas party, I knew exactly what I wanted to wear. I'd seen this pattern while looking for Gold Cup patterns, and figured it was time that I made myself another sheath dress.

I generally dislike sheath dresses, but because I always have to alter them since I am not a one-size-fits-all girl. This pattern was no different and definitely the most difficult dress I have ever made. The sheer number of darts in this pattern was enough to make me groan, but then there was all the rest of it. Once you got past the bust instructions the dress went together just like any other dress, but that bust section. I'm still recovering from it.

It's not even that the bust is inherently hard, but with the straps crossing over like they do, it just means you're finagling a straight and flat piece of fabric around an area that is decidedly not straight or flat. I think there were 8 darts in the bust area alone.

The pattern's guide sheet does a good job of explaining everything and showing you how to construct it all, which is a bonus. Like I said above, once you get past the bust construction the dress goes together like any other. The pattern calls for a standard zipper, I decided to use an invisible zipper because I couldn't find a standard zipper that matched my fabric. Like the model on the pattern, I went with a magenta dupioni although mine was a polyester dupioni. Thank goodness for coupons at Jo-Ann's.

Before I could even cut out the dress, I had to completely remake three of the pattern pieces. Thank goodness for reference lines. And French curves. Thank you really to all of my rulers - without you this dress never would have fit. Remaking the pattern pieces was fairly straightforward if you take into account that only one piece had all of the reference lines marked. So simple. It wasn't. I'm lying. I'm so glad I took a class on making your own patterns. If I didn't have that knowledge then I'd have been lost.

Fitting the dress required help and that came in the form of my mom coming over and helping me place the straps. This was, of course, after I'd assembled most of the dress. I wish there'd been a good point during the construction of the front to do a fitting, but there just wasn't. By the time you get to the point where you're attaching the back, the dress is almost done. By the time we actually fitted the dress, it looked like I'd been poured into it. You could see everything. I was already wearing some body armor (read form sculpting undergarments), and we decided that taking out one set of darts in the back would help the overall fit of the dress. Mom was right on that call, and taking out the smaller set of darts in the back helped the dress loosen up a bit. She also got the straps placed and only stabbed me once. Yay Mom!

The only change I'd make to this pattern is making it a fully lined dress. It would require making 3 new pattern pieces to fit below the facings and you would have to remember to add seam allowances to the bottom of the facings, but I think the lay of the dress over your person would be dramatically improved as the dress only allows for a 1-1/2" of ease.

This dress is not for the faint of heart, and really should only be tackled by experienced sewers.

So I paired this dress with my favorite Jessica Simpson pumps. They're several years old, but oh so fun. I also nabbed some clearance finds at Charming Charlie. The earrings and the headband are from Charlie's. The headband was originally a choker, but it matched my stuff perfectly so I removed the clasp and chain from the back, then used some small black hair ties and whipped myself up a headband. I've had the brooch for some time now, and forget where it's from, but I think the whole outfit came together wonderfully, and I especially love my new lipstick. Rebel Pink by Maybelline.

I really need to get better at taking full-length pictures of myself, but I really can't end the post without sharing this fun goof. Please pay no mind to the stacks of laundry in my room. I promise I folded them all and put them away on Monday.