Wednesday, August 7, 2013

still sewing

With our move coming at me like a freight train, I am still sewing. I have found I need it to keep my sanity. I will sew until they take my pins and scissors from my hands and put them on that moving truck ;)

I love cardigans and other ways to transform my Summer clothes into Winter clothes, but I was wanting a more structured option and having seen so many cute blazer style fitted jackets out there recently, I decided to make my own. I used McCall's 6711 and just love how it turned out!
 The best part: I had this awesome black and white camera cotton in my stash. I got it at JoAnn because it just made me grin and I could not resist it! The jacket lining was the perfect use for it, don't you agree? I wanted to keep it neutral for when it does peek out, but more than that, I wanted to know there was a cute print inside my jacket :)
 The outside fabric is a cotton twill from Denver Fabrics with a little bit of stretch. I'd made this pattern once before in a suiting from a thrift store with zero stretch and the sleeves were just too uncomfortable when I bent my arms. So in this version, besides using a fabric with some give, which helped, I cut the sleeves a size bigger, lowering the arm syncs a half an inch. This version accommodates my buff arms quite nicely, hehe.


I love it and it's super comfortable!! It will fit nicely over long sleeved shirts too so it will be very versatile.

More and more of my wardrobe is hand made these days, which I'm thrilled about. The two things I refuse to sew, however, are undergarments and jeans, ha! Where do you buy jeans? I could use a new pair, but I find myself to be between sizes in many brands. I like the washes of juniors jeans, but hate the low rise. I have a muscular build so it's hard, but not impossible to find skinny jeans, which I love. We were in Gap the other day and were laughing because the thighs on the mannequin wearing their skinny jeans were literally the size of my bicep, haha! The jeans I'm wearing in these pics are from Target and I love them, but unfortunately I have slimmed down ever so slightly this year and they feel too big--I don't have to unbutton them to get them off, lol, but I'm between sizes now in Target jeans too. I'm willing to spend up to $40 or $50 on a good pair of jeans, so give me your best shopping advice!!

9 comments:

  1. Love this little jacket. I may have to pick up the pattern and sew one of my own. As for jeans, my newest purchase has been the Gap Real Straight jeans. I have two pair and on me they read as skinny jeans because I have muscular thighs and calves. I CAN NOT wear true skinny jeans. One pair is the perfect rise in the back the second pair is a touch short so sometimes it feels too low to me... try on a few pair. I got them on sale so they were around $45. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmm, someone on FB mentioned Gap jeans as her fave too! These Real Straight ones seem to be just what I'm wanting! I'll have to try some on, thanks for the tip :)

      Delete
  2. Someone needs to come up with a way to create a higher rise on jeans that look/fit better than what is offered for the "older generation"! :) (Without omitting a zipper...not THAT old yet!) Granted...it would have to probably be for jeans that you would only wear with longer shirts...never tucked or cropped ones. BUT...it could take a "good" pair of jeans and make them into the PERFECT pair of jeans.!

    Nikki....this seems right up your alley! Hint....hint.....;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL, Julie, maybe elastic waist jeans is where it's at, haha! I actually do have a pattern for "jeggings" with an elastic waist that I'm planning to make to wear with long shirts/short dresses. And I found the perfect stretch twill to do it with at Hobby Lobby!

      Delete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I got a pair of lucky jeans at an outlet for $45 or two for $60! I don't like super low rise either and I loved these. I don't know if there is a lucky outlet in castle rock, but the aeropostale there had medium rise jeans.... That was about a year ago though. Also, delia allows you to Order in-between- sizes and custom lengths! The down side is it is online... Also if you happen to be in Denver the h&m there might have some mid rise. I would also check Ross and tj maxx. I've been known to be a maxx-inista. �� hope this helped.

    ReplyDelete
  5. jeans! 7s or j brand. but don't buy them new- either buy them at plato's closet or the buffalo exchange, and if you can't find any good, designer brand jeans there, go to nordstrom, try them on and then buy them on ebay for 20-30$.

    designer jeans really, really are worth it- i'd never pay full price, but they honestly are just made better.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ok, so your outfit looks so pretty and cool! The blazer (with it's awesome lining!!!) gives a pulled together edge to the look.

    Jeans. Well, Hubby bought me a pair of jeans from J Crew Outlet this Spring. They are low, but not too low waisted, pretty perfect really. Just here recently he bought me two pairs of shorts from Ann Taylor Outlet that hit at a great place on the waist, so I'd imagine jeans could be found in a similar style there. I've had good luck with Banana Republic in the past, in fact thats all I wore for two years straight. :o)

    www.dressupnotdown.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. I received my JoAnn's flyer in the mail this week and saw that McCalls patterns are $0.70! Butterick 5 for $5. I wondered if you had any recommendations? I have seen you make up a pattern before that I wished I had known about when they were on sale (the week before!). So are you buying any new patterns this week? :o)

    www.dressupnotdown.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete