Monde's Threads: 2015

Tis the Season

8:40 PM

It's the holiday season and without fail, all things sparkly and festive are here. I have kind of stayed away from working with sequin and glittery fabric because I am too scared to mess up such pretty fabric. I happened to go to the fabric store and spotted some shiny remnant fabric that I thought I could work with. I picked McCall's pattern M7047 and it was the perfect easy pattern to go with the fabric and it can be warn three different ways. I loved that added versatility. Sadly I have no red carpet, or fancy events to go to, so I will be dressing up to go no where LOL. Here is what I came up with. How did I do?

pattern give away

Surprise Winner

7:53 PM

So I feel like I never win anything. I have entered countless competitions, small and big and never get anything. Despite all of this, I still try. I decided to enter Simplicity's Sewlebrate pattern giveaway and all I had to do was name a pattern that I love to sew over and over and I could add a picture if I liked. Well I did that. You all know I enjoyed making my jumpsuits this summer and so Simplicity 1158 was clearly my favorite. Well surprise surprise!! Simplicity contacted me and told me I was selected as one of their two winners. I won.. me, me, me I won.

I love simplicity patterns and I have a good stash of patterns that am waiting to try. So what was the prize you ask???? More patterns (jumps in the air with elation). Things you can never get enough of; patterns and fabric. I am in now in eternal bliss.

I won !!

diy fashion

DIY Peplum Sweater. Product Review McCall M6844

4:38 PM

It's getting cold out here in the South. Nothing serious yet, but I decided I needed a few more sweaters in my wardrobe for fall/winter. I had bought some fabric last year that I hadn't gotten the chance to use but this year all kinds of ideas popped up to use them. I decided to try out McCall's M6844 Pattern which I got on sale from Hancock (remember...never buy at full price ;) )

Pattern Review

Pattern Description: Misses'/Miss Petite Cardigans McCall M6844 View C

Pattern Sizing: I cut the Large (16-18) But ended up readjusting it to small ( 8-10)

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? I feel it did

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, this was one of the easiest patterns to cut and sew with very minimal pieces.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I loved that it was easy with few pieces. I loved the touch of peplum. You can dress it up or dress it down. I wore it to church as soon as I was done

Fabric Used: I used a sweater knit as the pattern suggested

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I originally chose the larger size so had to resize to a small to medium.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Definitely!!!

African print

Dashiki Print

11:27 AM

I have been toying around with different ideas for Dashiki Fabric. This is another one of those commanding fabrics that was popular back in the day and has made a come back. Dashiki is also know as Angelina, or Miriam Makeba a South African Musician who was a trendsetter, and so made it popular. I don't have much history on it but Wikipedia seems to have some interesting information about it. (Not the best source of information though). Anyways, here are a few of my projects so far. More to come.

diy fashion

Fall Projects - Front Drape Blouse

2:29 PM

Finally completed the front drape blouse I had been working on. Inspired by the BCBG draped front blouse going for $158.

Pattern used, McCall's M6991 view B without the pocket. Loved the way it turned out and since its fall, figured I could add a sweater or a coat to it. Funny that I just realized this top was a hit for the summer in most of the sewing groups. Clearly I wasn't paying attention. On to the next project.

African print

Box Pleat Angola Print

11:05 AM

The Angola print is making another appearance in my life. This time as a box pleat skirt. Not much description needed.
.Available here

Size Small: Size 6-8 (waist size 26 - 29 inches) and 28 inches long from the waist to midi length. The skirt is made from African print fabric in 100% cotton.

Laundry direction, I suggest dry cleaning and steam ironing to preserve your pleats in place. Dry cleaning is preferred.
The skirts is flattering on any figure type.

Fall colors

Fall projects

9:16 PM

So fall is here and with season change comes fashion trend change. This year's color trends as described by Pantone color report says 2015 fall colors"display an umbrella of accord that weaves earthy neutrals with a range of bold color statements and patterns to reflect a landscape of hope, fun, fantasy and all things natural." Humph??? to be honest I am not one for fashion trends, but two colors that are trending that are growing on me are dried herb which to me is like an olive green or even army green and Marsala, close to a Wine or Merlot.

So I spotted a few clothing items I loved, but as usual can't afford. A draped front blouse in Merlot by BCBG for $158.

and a similar version for On Neiman and Marcus for 275. They can keep those prices.

My version less than $20 for fabric and pattern and still working on this project but this is the pattern I am working with. McCalls 6991 and of course I already have my fabric lined up in a Merlot tone.

Project to be revealed when I am done. Dried herb color project to follow in next post.

African print circle skirt

Date Night Look: African Print Circle Skirt

2:10 PM

So in the many sewing groups that I find myself in, there is always that one person that posts their work and says "My outfit for church, made it this morning" or This just took me an hour". This kinda leaves me wondering why it takes me longer than and hour. What techniques are they using? How did they do that?

Anyways, I can officially say I have graduated and made my skirt in about 2 hours. Yes two whole hours. Now the circle skirt is supposed to be one of those easy skirts to make but the thing that will get you is the waist measurement. I am telling you this because I have made a few circle skirts that were either too big or too small on my waist and I gave up. This is what I am talking about on the waist measurements.

Wiki how explains it like this: Work out your waist radius. (I can already tell that radius will throw people off. ) You'll need a little math here (Math?? We all know people hate math right?), but you can use a calculator!

Measure around your waist or hips (the point where the skirt will eventually sit when sewn together).
Divide this number by 3.14 (pi).
Divide the resulting number by 2. This is the waist radius

See what I mean? Let me make your life easy. I was going through circle skirt tutorials and came across one on YouTube by Rachael Dixon, and she happened to find an app that helps you do all the calculations. Here is the app By Hand London. All you have to do is put in all the measurements you want and voila it calculates everything for you. Genius!!!

Ok so once you have all you need, get sewing. I know I did and yes it took me 2 hours. And later on I rocked my African print skirt for date night for a friends birthday. I loved it!!

Finally, If you still need help on how to make circle skirts, please google circle skirt tutorials, there are plenty to choose from.

Happy Sewing!!!

A nail polish love

Don't make me wine

3:27 PM

So I may have a bit of a nail polish obsession. Every time I go into a store, if it has a nail polish section, I will make sure I stop there. Doesn't matter what I am in the store for I will make sure I stop by that section to see what they have. I don't know what it is, it just makes me happy. I usually get the cheap polish and if I splurge lol which is never lol my top splurge brand is Essie and occasionally OPI, but I never pay full price for it.

I recently tried China glaze and I am not too sure why I had avoided it, but I am totally loving it's smooth application and glossy finish. And the cherry on the cake is their website has a feature called try me, where you pick your color, your skin tone, your nail length and see how the color looks on you. Genius!!!! Try it. OPI has a version of this too and I just love that you get to see what the nail polish looks like on your tone before you actually buy it.

OK enough about all that. So what did I get? My store trip led me to the nail section in Tj maxx, I was in search of something fall inspired and I found material girl by Essie which is a deep burgundy $3.99, bend over backwards by China glaze a coppery orange tone $2.99 and what I decided to wear, don't make me wine by China glaze $2.99 now that was a steal and my nails are happy.

African print

African Print Maxi Skirt

3:39 PM

It seems the African print maxi skirt will continue to be trending for a while. These are gathered skirts that go all the way to your feet or slightly past the ankle. They also go by several names like the regal maxi, queen maxi or just maxi skirt. I tried my hand at a few and made some for some friends. Loved the way they turned out and will definitely be making more.

For my friend Bupe's look I used about 2 1/2 yards of wax print fabric and an elastic band for the back which is optional. You could use a zipper instead. I used this tutorial by cotton and curls and it came out great. Bupe absolutely looked gorgeous, but of course I am bias.