So I blog. 😛

Firstly, studying is going surprisingly well! I cannot believe it, so I’m not (believing it, that is). I’m continually second guessing myself. Maybe that way I’ll be over prepared when I go take the test. (I doubt it.) I got Mama to order the REA Humanities study guide for me, but it hasn’t arrived yet. We’ll see how confident I feel when that gets here. 🙂

Second, I ordered spandex the other day. From New York. Weird? Yep. I get to test a swimsuit pattern a friend wrote up! I’ve never really worked with stretchy fabric, so we’ll see how that goes. I’m really looking forward to starting it. If the picture on the site is any indication, I LOVE the fabric I got, and I’ve got so many ideas for the swimsuit itself! I can’t wait until the fabric gets here! That might put somewhat of a pause on my study though. Oh well! Sewing is SO much more fun! 😀

Speaking of sewing, I cut out another denim skirt the other day. I haven’t had a chance to sew it though; Mama’s been using the machine that will actually work on heavy fabrics. It’ll only take me a couple or three hours to sew if I can ever get started on it.

Third… Fourth? Whatever. Next! and on to the fun stuff! Well, for those of us girls who like to peek into each others sewing nooks anyway. I thought I’d show y’all what my pattern box is full of, or some of it… I recently got one of THESE boxes for my patterns (they were $3 or so at Joann’s the other day!), and it’s working really well right now. It’s not full… yet, but, with McCall’s, Butterick, Simplicity, and Vogue continually putting out new patterns and between Joann’s, Hancock’s, and Hobby Lobby having $1-$4 pattern sales, I’m sure it won’t be too long before it is full. With that rather long intro here’s some of my patterns:

McCall's 4369

Oh, boy. I remember this one. I’ve had the pattern for a while now. I tried making a shirt with this pattern. It didn’t work for me, and it was probably just me. I’m a nightmare to fit. I mean, how do you cut something out for someone with size 12 shoulders and a size 4 waist?!! I think I still have the shirt I attempted, and I may work with it sometime in the future, but for now I’m letting it slide.

Vogue 8536

This is one of my newest patterns, and I haven’t sewn it yet. In fact, I bought my first piece of knit Saturday afternoon! I’m nervous about knit, but looking forward to conquering it.

Butterick 4790

I’ve actually made this one! It was a fun project too, but the way it wraps causes the arm… spaces(?) to gape some. I use those wonderful things: safety pins, to keep it modest.

Butterick 6816

I’ve had this one for a while actually, but I only got it to help put together a different dress. I used the bodice and sleeves, I think. I’ve only done it once, and it was a while ago, so I don’t remember really.

Simplicity 4270

It truly was love at first sight with this pattern! It was about $3 on sale at Sir’s, so I got it. 🙂 I found some really pretty satin-y fabric to make it out of too! It wasn’t terribly difficult, and turned out very lovely, in my opinion. It was having some trouble laying correctly in the center front where it comes up to a point, so I added my cameo pin, and fixed the problem! I love how this dress flows, but I can’t see it in anything other than satin, so I doubt I’ll make it often.

Simplicity 2498

I just made this one, and I LOVE it! I think it turned out gorgeous! The bodice turned out strangely big for me, but I added a couple of darts, and fixed that issue. That was the first time I’ve ever drafted darts completely from scratch. Thankfully my fabric was very forgiving and hid the darts well. Otherwise, I doubt I would have fixed it that way; don’t know what I would have done in that situation…

Simplicity 2996

This was a wonderful pattern! Or, it would have been had out buttonholer not decided to quit working properly about halfway though the 12+ buttonholes I was doing… at 10pm. 😛 I raised the waist seam to be at my natural waist, but I actually think that’s the only think I changed! Unbelievable. If I had to guess, I’d say I’ll probably make this one again.

Butterick 4225

New-ish pattern. Like the style, but I haven’t made it yet.

Simplicity 2888

I tried to do the halter-like style (adding sleeves, of course) from this one. It ended up as a jumper. I like it a lot still, but I think I would have liked it more had I been able to add the sleeves and make it a dress.

Well, that get’s the shirts and dresses I have. Sort of. There were two or three other patterns that were so out of print I couldn’t even find a picture of them! They didn’t get included here. I know that’s a HUGE disappointment. 😛 Anyway, check back at some later date for the bag/tote and skirt installment; I reckon it’s time for me to get back to studying. **EDIT** I have absolutely NO idea why the last 3 caption box things are like that. Believe me, it’s driving me crazy too, but I’ve been working on this post too long already!**