Josephine Sews

When I saw this pattern in May 2016 I loved it and had to have it.  I ordered it but kept getting distracted with other sewing projects until this past weekend.  I was soooo excited to get started on this dress only to end up being disappointed and frustrated. When I taped the pieces together the back sleeve seemed "wrong" but I figured once I put all the pieces together it would work out - NOT! How I Did It As I mentioned earlier when I cut out the back sleeve it did not look "right" to me but I figured once I sewed the pieces together it would work out.  IT DID NOT WORK OUT. I wish I knew about pattern drafting but I don't so when I buy a pattern I expect it to be right and there is definitely a problem with this pattern. The pattern piece on the right is the front pattern sleeve and on the left of this piece it has about a 2" width at the end of the curve to allow for a sleeve hem.  The pattern piece at the top left comes to a point at the...

This is the 3rd skirt from this pattern Lekala S3013 so I will just point to the first review which has all the detail. How I Did It I needed a quick skirt to go with my youth explosion t-shirt so I turned back to this one.  I wanted to make this one just a little different so I decided to use one of the many feet that I have bought for my Janome 15000 but never seem to find time to use. I don't knit nor do I crochet but I have seen and bought some beautiful yarn with the idea that someday I would somehow infuse it into my sewing and not just when I am felting a sweatshirt. Janome came out with a embroidery couching foot and of course I just had to have it (I bought it sometime ago).  One of the designs that Janome gave with an update to my machine was a couched flower and I thought this would be perfect for the front of the skirt. The pictures below show the front of the skirt before it was attached to the back of the skirt.  The "stains" are just water spo...

I saw this pattern on the weallsew website and decided to try it.  The designer is Daniela from  onthecuttingfloor . How I Did It There are only 2 pattern pieces for this shirt and its simplistic style and the 2 pattern pieces are what drew me to it.  I had a cotton print in my stash that I used. Front and Back Pattern Pieces With My Adjustments The instructions for the binding were confusing to me and the pictures shown did not seem to match the instructions but I was able to easily figure it out. I hate store bought binding because it is cheap stiff fabric and you may not find the exact color you need, so I made my own out of the same fabric as the top. I cut 1 7/8" bias strips and used the Clover 25 mm bias tape maker tool to create my binding.  The instructions said you needed 1 yd of bias tape but I ending up needing about double that. 1 7/8" Bias Strips My first suggestion is DO MAKE A MUSLIN.  I am a lazy sewer and I hate doi...

It was a frustrating sewing day - I broke another machine.  In the last month I have broke 3 machines.  My beloved Babylock Evolve is now in the shop - I did not know that I had stripped the screw that holds one of the needles until I tried to change it and could not get the needle out.  It got worse from there but I won't relive it. In my last post I made a skirt for a young lady that I am teaching to sew.  I was a pattern tester for the Flora Skirt  by Daniela of   On The Cutting Floor .  Initially I did not make the skirt for me because I didn't think I liked it for me but after making it for her I knew I had to have one for me. I won't go into as much detail as normal because I have already reviewed this once here .  I will hi-lite the differences in this one. How I did It Lately I have been in a denim sort of mood because I have been using denim almost exclusively.  The denim I used for the main piece of the skirt is 11 or 12 ...