I’ve finished my, how to sew from Japanese craft books, series on label-free. And here is the dress:

The only thing I’m not sure about is the belt. You can barely see it because of the pattern on the fabric but I widened it from 2″ to 4″.

Project Notes
Pattern: dress 7 from Japanese craft book ISBN-10: 4579111494 (ISBN-13: 978-4579111497)
Fabric: 100% cotton
Size: enlarged a size 13

I’ve been scarce around the internet, reading and writing.

On Thursday night my friend, Olinda, noticed my website was down. It happens sometimes. It’s the second time, that I know of, this year. It happened a handful of times last year. And a handful of times before that. It’s sort of frustrating. So I changed web hosts. Everything moved over without a glitch (I think).

Then on the weekends we’re usually out and about so posting is rare.

But the big monkey wrench in posting came when I was reading Mary at Confessions of a Craft Addict. She was saying her site had issues on Internet Explorer. So I opened up IE to take a look. And then being curious, I checked my site. CRAP. I knew my site wasn’t “up to code”. I just never fixed it before . But for some reason, now, I was determined to get it right. So that’s what I’ve been doing for days. DAYS! I’ve been looking at code so much, my head hurts. But I was determined to have it fixed. I couldn’t stop. Not even for a silly old thing like my head exploding.

But now it’s all fixed and it even validates! Well everything except the galleries. But I’ll fix that some other time.

So what’s that have to do with the picture of the shirt? That shirt is a prime example of how stubborn I can get when I’m determined to do something.

It was supposed to be a gift for my nephew. I bought organic fabric specifically for him. And I bought fabric paint. I had grand ideas for trying out freezer paper stenciling. But right away I knew I was on the wrong track and I should have stopped. But I didn’t, even with the obstacles in my way, I just barreled on through.

First of all the fabric is too stiff. I should have used a knit because the pattern is basically a t-shirt, except for where the snaps at the shoulder should be. But knowing this, I didn’t stop. I just kept going along.

And then I noticed I cut two fronts out instead of a front and a back. But…I kept going.

Then I thought the size seemed awfully small. But march, march, march. Must not stop now. I just figured, it was all screwed up, so why not just see how it comes out.

But I stopped at the snaps. I didn’t want to waste snaps on a hopeless shirt.

I then washed it a couple of times hoping that would soften it up and I don’t know…magically make the front piece into a back piece? I don’t know what I was thinking.

Project Notes
Pattern: shirt 5 from Japanese craft book ISBN 4418051244
Fabric: stiff as a board organic cotton
Size: 100cm

Oh and let me end with a random video of Isabelle because I know Olinda is missing Isabelle.

The video is from a couple of weekends ago. My friend, Lorraine, came down from Oregon and we went out to dinner. A whole bunch of us girls and Alan. There was live music and Isabelle was dancing and clapping. I couldn’t get any of the clapping on video but I did get a little dancing.

Which reminds me. I want to get a small teeny camera that does video as well (for when I always forget my big heavy camera). I’ve been looking at some super inexpensive ones that are 6 and 7 MP. Does anyone have any experience on how good the quality of the video looks like on those things?

I think I’m almost there, my perfect top for the summer. It’s nice, simple, AND I can wear a regular bra! Yay!

It’s pattern #12 from ISBN 4579110439 again (or 9784579110438, I never know what number to put anymore).

I automatically enlarged it knowing that size was an issue. And I also left the bow off. As usual, I started with a muslin. I got as far as finishing the neckline and one armhole. That’s when I decided I liked it enough to use real fabric. But when I finished it, I didn’t like it! I actually stood there, looking in the mirror, wondering if I was very tired when I had decided to make it.

But then after wearing it a bit, I changed my mind. So, yes, I think it’s almost perfect. The only problem: the neckline is a bit low. Or maybe it’s too wide. You can’t tell that from the picture though.

On the weekend I wore it out and found myself tugging it up because you could see a little bit of my bra cup near the straps. Maybe I enlarged the neckline too much? I’ll have to figure that out and then I see this in a more summery color.

This is another top from ISBN 9784579110438. It’s pattern #2, lengthened. I think it might be too long. I was thinking of making another altered version of this but I’ve changed my mind. I’ve moved onto something else.

Why? Because I’ve become a little obsessed with making the perfect top. And this top isn’t perfect. At my nephew’s 4th birthday party I realized it didn’t stay put. The gathering isn’t sewn down. It’s bunched around the tie. So as I was playing I realized it was moving around. It needed some fussing with to keep it looking the way I liked. I don’t like fussing. I just want to wear it and forget about it.

And yes, I want to make a top versus buying it. I don’t like it when I’m standing next to someone who’s wearing the same shirt as I am. Is that weird? And that won’t happen if I’m wearing something handmade. If it did, that would be sooooo twilight zone.

I have some criteria. I want something that looks good on me, is comfortable, and something I can wear a normal bra with. Though I do like these halter tops I can’t really wear a normal bra with it. I’ve tried a sticky bra with no straps on it but it’s just too strange. I wear it and it does work. But every time I wear it I wonder if my skin is absorbing some icky chemicals and who knows what. So yes, I’m on a mission to make the perfect top.

Sometimes I get fabric on sale. Actually a lot of times. And I think the fact that it’s on sale makes me a little color blind. That is, of course, how I end up with some of the clothes I’ve made. For example: the bright green ick tank top, this bright green skirt, and that orange smock for Isabelle. They aren’t necessarily colors I would normally pick. But I guess that’s not such a bad thing…sometimes.

And that’s how I come to have this pink candy top in linen. (It’s pattern 2 again from ISBN 9784579110438. I just added a band at the bottom.) Well the color isn’t really called pink candy. That’s what it reminds me of. I think the color is actually coral. I wouldn’t regularly choose this color. But it was on sale…

And it makes me look HOT! And not in the “I’m so fine, I blow your mind” way. More like hot as in hot to the touch. I think the blinding brightness of the top is reflected in my face. Ha ha ha! I’m just joking…a little. I do think it is a tad bright. Just a bit.

And now I leave you with a picture that includes Isabelle.

Doesn’t her pose look familiar?

I’ve been sewing and ripping like mad. That’s because after the hot weather we had last week, I was determined to make some clothes for the summer.

So I tried this top again, pattern 18 from ISBN 9784579110438. I was hoping the problems with it would be solved by using a knit. I used the original pattern without altering it. I thought, “oh it’s a knit. It’ll just stretch everywhere.” Well no. It didn’t stretch everywhere as much as needed. It’s a rib knit so it stretched horizontally but not as much vertically. Which meant it wasn’t too tight anymore but the waist still sat too high, all the way in the boob area.

So rip, rip, rip. Cut, cut, cut. Some more sewing and I made it again with the alterations from before. Well then it seemed the waist sat too low. Accck how frustrating! So I cut away some of the top piece to lift the waist area and ended up with this.

Oh my gawd I reworked this a gazillion times and I DON’T love it. I give up!

So, onto the next thing. Pattern 2 from the same book in muslin. Guess how many times I had to make this.

TWO, damn it! I had a total brain fart and didn’t think about the sizing much. I just thought, “it looks gathered. There must be enough room there for the girls.” Ah…NO. It turned out just a bit tight and shorter than I liked. Thank goodness for muslin. And thank goodness this was so easy to make.

So I altered it and also lengthened it by 1.5 inches. The 1.5 inches was an arbitrary amount based on how much paper was left at the bottom of the pattern piece. Because I am a GOOBER.

So opinions on pattern 2? Worth making with real fabric? I think so. But maybe longer…

Oh and don’t you love how Isabelle inserted herself into the picture. I think she was saying “cheese!”

I’m having one of those days where I didn’t get much done. I thought about doing a lot but that’s about as far as I got, the thinking part. BUT I DID scan in the pictures from ISBN 9784579110438.

Here’s the picture from the book of the tank top I showed yesterday. I’ve altered it since then and…it’s so depressing, I’ll write about it tomorrow.

No. Actually, I’ll write about it now. The test tank top in muslin (thank goodness I made a muslin) as I mentioned before was pushing down on my boobs.

The empire style (is that what it’s called) part of it was sitting in the wrong area. It’s supposed to sit right under my boob but my damn boobs are so big I had to mush them in and it wasn’t fitting. The bottom half puffed out unattractively making me look pregnant. I didn’t take pictures of a side view because, oh my gawd, the horror! The picture, from yesterday, didn’t look that bad but in person, YIKES! So I altered it.

I thought I would add three more inches to the top half so there would be more room for the girls. Well it doesn’t smoosh my boobs down anymore. And it doesn’t make me look 8 months pregnant. But it’s still a little tight, just a tad. Then it dawned on me, to measure my chest. That’s when I realized, I’ve gained weight since I first purchased the book. Or to be more accurate, I’ve gotten bigger.

That’s why it’s so depressing. That’s why it doesn’t fit! I made the largest size, 13, and it still doesn’t fit!! Aaaarrrgggh!!!

So now I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if I should alter it more to actually give me more inches around or just give up and try a different pattern.

But what’s the point? Maybe all the patterns from this book won’t fit since the largest size is 13. I really wanted to make pattern #13, the one above on the left, but it doesn’t look like there’s a lot of room in the chest area.

Maybe pattern #10, the one above on the right, has more room? I don’t know. Maybe I should measure the patterns.

Man, I’m bummed. I look at pictures of myself and am sometimes surprised that I look bigger than I imagined. Is that a weird thing to say? Well turns out I am bigger.

So yeah…don’t know what to do now. Oh I almost forgot the whole reason for my post. I got distracted by lamenting about my weight. Here’s what I meant to link to, the rest of the pictures from the book.

Oh I hate being pathetic. I had to give myself a laugh. I looked up “I’m too sexy” on youtube and sang “I’m too big for my shirt, too big for my shirt…” with a little head shake and everything. Yes I’m a goober, a big fat goober.