Guest Post by Neeno: McCall’s 6331 Pattern Review

Ahoy there! Today we've got our second guest post for the week from another of my favorite bloggers. Today, you'll get to hear from Neeno who is simply adorable, in my expert opinion. If you're in the mood to drool over some adorable AND superbly made dresses, scroll down to check out her post here and then hop on over to her blog and take a look at some of her recent projects. Girl can sew a dress...and line it! As Gordon Ramsay would say (on "MasterChef"), "STUNNING."
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Hi there! I’m Neeno from the blog Sew Me Love.

I’m 25 and I live in Melbourne, Australia. I started sewing
and reading sewing blogs in July 2011 and started blogging in September 2011 to
document my journey and also to share my experiences with other sewists.

I was so excited when one of my favourite bloggers
Sue asked me to write a guest post for her blog while she is sunning
herself on beaches in North Carolina. Lucky lady! 

I came across Sue’s blog
during the Julia Bobbin Mad Men challenge in March 2012, and since then I have
been absolutely smitten with her and her creations.

I have never written a guest post before so I wasn't sure what to write. I am not experienced enough to write a tutorial or share with you any special sewing skills, so I have written a pattern review for a dress I whipped up especially for Sewing Steady!

The dress I have made is the Melissa Watson for Palmer Pletsch McCall’s 6331 Misses' Romper and Dresses pattern, which I made a couple of weeks in beautiful floral cotton sateen but it ended up not fitting properly because of adjustments I made to the bodice. You can read more about that disaster here.

Moving on from that version, I cut a different size, and left the pattern unmodified.

I really love the bustier top, with the bra cups, so sexy and flattering for me, compared to a regular strapless style - like the M5850 which I felt "squished" me in.

I only used the bodice from the pattern and replaced the skirt with a simple pleated skirt. The bodice is quite easy to put together once you conquer the convex/concaves... which I am still at a loss with sometimes! On the last version, I perfected it!! Even the muslin had perfect cups. It must have something to do with the fabric. I used cotton sateen for the last version and muslin, this dress is satin.

I interfaced the fabric to stabilize it, but I still had issues with the cups. There's a little wrinkling on the side. I unpicked many times, then gave up. A non-sewist would probably think it was part of the design anyway so I didn't get too stressed about it.

It's amazing how those pieces join to make a bra cup!

See the wrinkles on the side of the bra cup? For the life of me could not get rid of them!

The bodice is self lined, I decided to use the leftover boning to bone this dress. I thought it could use it since the satin is very soft. The skirt lining is magenta bemsilk. I love that marone/magenta/wine/cranberry color. It is my favorite colour combo. Originally I was going to make another 'black & wine' dress using this pattern, but changed my mind and made a black dress with magenta skirt lining instead. I added some lace to the lining hem. I was lazy, I didn't hand sew the hem :/

Pattern Review:

Pattern: Melissa Watson for Palmer Pletsch McCall's 6331, self drafted skirt, no halter strap.

Size: 4 bust, 8 waist, A/b cups

Fabric: 1.2m satin (black), 0.5m bemsilk lining (magenta)

Notions: Dress zipper 14" (back), Gutermann thread (000), interfacing, polyboning, 1.2m lace

Time: 3 days

Techniques used: 

• Boning
• Handpicked zipper
• Self drafted pleated skirt

The inside!

Handpicked zip.

Boning on the side of bodice.

The outside.

I found my waist!

I left the pattern as is and did not add any length to the bodice, and the waist is sitting exactly where I want it to and my belt is very happy to be back where it belongs!

Little pleats!

Fabric is too soft.
Can see everything happening in between the seams!

Handpicked zip. Not the best, bad good enough for my second attempt.

 Overall I am very happy with this dress. Not bad for 3 days work. I have two events coming up at the end of the year that I need pretty dresses for and I think I will be making this bodice again. 

I think I'll wear this to a girlfriend's 25th birthday next weekend.

Areas for improvement:

• handpicked zip needs to appear more "invisible"
• need to get rid of the wrinkles on the side of the bra cups
• really should have hand sewed the hem...might unpick it later!

I hope you guys enjoyed reading my pattern review. I really love this pattern, it's my other best loved pattern besides the M5845 which I have made a lot of dresses using the bodice.

If you want to have a peek at what other dresses I have made, pop on over to my blog and check out my Finished Projects page. I have only made dresses and skirts so far. 

I'd like to take the opportunity to thank the wonderful Sue for inviting me to write a Guest Post, I am so honoured to feature on your blog.

xoxox

Guest Post by Gillian: Sharpies, Fabric, and Fun!

Hi folks! While I'm away on vacation, I've asked two excellent bloggers to step in for me this week. Up first, we've got the lovely Gillian who is a pretty creative lady! Not only does she sew up a storm and make the cutest clothes (that I want to steal and stock my own closet with), she also dabbles in other crafty pursuits. Take a look at one of her latest awesome projects!
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Hello! My name is Gillian, and I blog at Crafting a Rainbow. 

I really enjoy following Sue's blog, so I was thrilled when she asked to write a guest post while she is away! Thanks for thinking of me, Sue! 

Today's project includes two things I've always loved: a bright rainbow of colours, and very little planning! My favourite projects are spontaneous and fun, and not too fiddly. (Which is why, incidentally, my me-made wardrobe  consists almost entirely of the same simple patterns made over and over with busy prints to distract from my, uh, lazy sewing skills! Why only make a pattern once when you could make it many times in different prints!?) When I saw 36 rainbow coloured permanent markers on sale for about $20, I knew just what to do! 

Sure, it's not ACTUALLY sewing... but don't we all need a cute pair of shoes to complete the perfect me-made outfit? Here's what you'll need: 

Now, there are a lot of options for markers. There are special fabric markers, and the classic Sharpies... I chose these Bic permanent markers because of the lovely range of delicate colours. These shoes are $10 from Walmart, but you could choose any fabric surface to work on!

As my inspiration, I choose one of my favourite pieces of fabric: a vintage roll of Japanese yukata (cotton kimono) fabric that I bought a few years ago while living in Japan. We have panels of this fabric hanging in our bedroom, and it makes me happy to see it every day! I thought the bold colours and painterly quality of the print would be a good fit for marker-art. 

The upside of choosing an organic, loose inspiration design was that I didn't have to be *perfect* in my interpretation. Quick and easy! 

Before you start, take some time to sketch and get to know your markers. I found that different fabrics reacted quite differently to the inks: My shoes bled way more than the cotton I'd practiced on, so take that into account in your design! I stuff the shoes with sports socks to keep the fabric tight. The great thing about these markers is that they blend really easily... you can colour on top with a lighter colour to blend two shades together, and there is such a wide spectrum of colours that it is easy to fade from light to dark.

This really is such a simple project that I feel silly talking about it. What's the next step? Doodle until you have finished your shoes! That's it!

This is one of those great projects where you never have to think too hard, but in the end, you somehow get something wonderful! I really love these shoes: They match EVERYTHING I've ever sewn, and are comfy to boot. I wore them to a wedding shower a few weeks ago with a me-made dress , and it was so fun to be handmade head-to-toe!

In fact, I loved working with these markers so much that I pulled my Mom and sister into creating too - and we didn't stop with fabric!

My mother put some awesome colourful embellishment on a shirt, and decorated some clay Easter eggs too. I decorated the cotton pillow on my computer lap-desk , and my sister tried out this widely-pinned idea by drawing on dishes. 

This would be a perfect project for a crafty social night with friends or party idea for older kids... low pressure, great results, no skills required, and everyone can put their own spin on it! In fact, I found it so addictive that pretty soon I was pacing around the house looking for anything, ANYTHING else that I could draw on! 

Wanna know what I found? Head over to my blog today for Part Two of this tutorial: Sharpies + Fabric = Fun!

Thanks so much to Sue for inviting me to hang out here on her blogspace! I hope you are all have a great summer so far. Happy crafting!