Ellie & Mac Autumn Spice Top

It's Wacky Wednesday at Ellie & Mac and one of my favorite patterns is on sale for $1! The Autumn Spice top has a great fit with two different style options and is a great scrap buster. I'm thinking forward to October and my next cruise to New England and Canada. I decided to dig into my scrap bin and make both versions of the Autumn Spice with long sleeves.

This is the below bust version. I used Moss Dreamy Solid from Made Whimsy, Medallion Double Brushed Poly from Sly Fox Fabrics, and a teal rayon spandex - unsure where it came from.

So yes - you can mix and match fabric types. I would suggest putting the fabric with lease drape on the top.

I love how my Autumn Spice turned out with these scraps. One confession though - I ended up not having enough of the moss cotton lycra. I had cut the top and back pieces, and one sleeve and did not have enough for the second sleeve. So I bought a yard so I could finish my top.

Next I made an above the bust version of the Autumn Spice. This is the version I have made previously.

I made this one with a navy/white stripe mystery knit that had some vertical stretch (this will be important later), Moonstruck floral brushed poly from Sly Fox Fabrics, and white distressed reverse french terry from Mily Mae Fabrics.

I really love how these fabrics look together. I was a bit concerned putting the white on the bottom. You know they say lighter colors add weight. But in  this case, I think it works and doesn't make me look any bigger.

On a previous post I made of the Autumn Spice Top someone posted that they didn't like the way the seam went through the middle of my boobs. Yes - someone said that. What I have determined is that you really should use a fabric with no vertical stretch for the above the bust piece. This navy/white stripe did have some vertical stretch, but not a lot. It does come down lower than the pattern piece when I hold it up to my chest.

Now this post has me thinking. Which version is more flattering on my figure? Should I make more below the bust in the future, or stick with the above the bust version? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Check out all the Wacky Wednesday Sales at https://www.ellieandmac.com/collections/wacky-free-patterns?aff=675

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Ellie & Mac Sweetie Pie Tunic & Dress

It's Wacky Wednesday at Ellie & Mac! This week I am making a new to me pattern - the Sweetie Pie Tunic & Dress. I decided to make the Tunic version and need to make a few more. I love the fullness of the Sweetie Pie. Isn't it a cutie pie?

You definitely want to use a fabric with a lot of drape to prevent it from tenting out. I used a lightweight poly spandex jersey knit I got from a local sewist destashing. I normally don't do florals, but loved the muted colors and abstract design of the flowers.

I find this shape very figure flattering and have already spied a few knits in my stash that I will be turning into Sweetie Pie Tunics for this fall.

Another pattern in this weeks Wacky Wednesday Sale is the Lucky Girl Top & Dress. Here's a photo of my favorite one. I wear this one quite often.

Be sure to check out all the patterns on sale for Wacky Wednesday!

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Greenstyle Creations Clara Wrap Top

I have a confession to make. I was a pretester for the Greenstyle Creations Clara Wrap Top. I made my test garment gave feedback and declared - I will never wear this! I then sent the test garment to my cousin who still actively does ballet. She even sent me a selfie of her wearing it to class. It made me so happy to see her enjoying the top.

When the "real" test came along for the Clara Wrap Top, I didn't participate. I don't recall if it was because I was busy or if it was because I had sworn off wearing it and didn't want to waste my time or fabric. Either way - I had this idea in my head that I wanted to make a wrap dress, but I hate wrap skirts. So I thought I need a faux wrap top with a skirt attached. I looked through so many patterns and couldn't find anything that matched the idea in my head. Then I remembered my friend  Sharon's blog post awhile back about making a faux romper and she used the Clara Wrap Top for it.

I received the final pattern for the Clara since I was a pretester and I quickly printed it up and got to work making it. 

Instead of attaching a skirt to the wrap top, I decided to make a sleeveless dress to wear under my Clara Wrap Top. The sleeves on the Clara are quite fitted and I knew I would be uncomfortable trying to wear something with sleeves under it.

I made the Ellie & Mac Sunny Day Dress to wear under my Clara. I wanted a really full skirt and decided to use the full width of fabric for the front and the back. I often make my Sunny Day just using one full width of fabric for the entire skirt. So this one is twice as full as I typically make.

All the fabrics I used came from Zenith & Quasar. The Sunny Day Dress is made from Tactel. Tactel is am amazing lightweight athletic knit. I find that is travels well as wrinkles tend to release after hanging the garment awhile, it packs up super small, it's very breathable, and it dries super quick.

My wrap top is made with athletic brushed poly. This print should be available soon. It's called colorful concrete and it has such a cool looking texture and a mix of beautiful colors. I also love athletic brushed poly for all kinds of clothes. It also packs well and I think I will take this ensemble with me on my next cruise. Here's a closer look at the print.

And it has pockets!

There was one thing that I didn't like about the Clara - that the ties were not lined. I really didn't like how the hemmed edges were visible. And I really didn't think that would look good when using a printed fabric with a white backside. So, I decided to make my ties lined. I unfortunately did not have enough of this print to use it for both side. Okay - I probably did, but did not take the time to lay everything out before I started cutting. I ended up using the Tactel for the lining and I really love how it came out. This was a pretty easy hack and I will probably make another for a separate blog post to show step by step how to do it.

Here is a look at my Sunny Day Dress I am wearing under the Clara. Ignore all the rippling at the waist seam. I think the shear volume of the skirt is the culprit. I even tried using my sewing machine to sew it together and still ended up with some rippling.

I even topstitched the seam thinking that might help, but I think it made it worse. I'm contemplating cutting the skirt off and  re-attaching it. I definitely do not feel like seam ripping it off. I'm also thinking of leaving it alone. I'm not sure I'll ever wear the dress without the wrap, but I also think I could just make a wide wrap belt with the tactel to wear with the dress when I decide to wear it on it's on.

Something about this dress just made me want to twirl and twirl. Scroll to see what what I mean.

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Ellie & Mac Sunny Day Dress

I love the Ellie & Mac Sunny Day Dress. It goes together quickly and looks great on. It's the perfect summer dress. As I was getting ready to pack up and move, I often got distracted in my sewing room. I went through a bit of a sewing frenzy thinking I needed to sew up a bunch of fabric so I wouldn't have to move it. With my stash - that was a  joke. I mean- I'd still have to move my clothes - so what was the point. I think the point was I would rather sew than pack.

So as I went through my fabric, I did decide that I could stand to part with some. Other fabrics were kind of special to me or I had them reserved for something in particular. This fabric fell into that category. I got this fabric from my sweet friend Sneha. She used to live in the DFW area, but now lives far away in Canada. Ever since she gave me this fabric, I knew I needed to make something for summer with it.

Since I know I can whip up a Sunny Day dress in about 30 minutes, I went for it! I even attempted to pattern match and did pretty darn good. I immediately wore it and took photos there on the front yard of my now "old" house. Packing and moving kept me so busy, that I didn't have time to blog until recently.

I've worn this dress many times since I made it and it always makes me think of my sweet friend. I'll be visiting Canada on a cruise later this year. I'm hoping I can convince Sneha to visit me at one of my ports of call.

Ready to make a Sunny Day Dress or any Summer Dress? Ellie & Mac is having a Summer Dress Event! All dress patterns are on sale for an additional 20% off with the code SUMMERDRESS. Make any Ellie & Mac dress and upload a photo to their Summer Dress Event Album HERE to be entered to win a prize!

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Zenith & Quasar Sketchy Mushrooms

I'm busy packing to move, but needed to show you another great print at Preorder at Zenith & Quasar. This is Sketchy Mushrooms.

I made the Itch to Stitch Isidro Top with my yard of Sketchy Mushrooms.

It goes perfectly with my Zenith & Quasar Brown Heavy Supplex Designer Stitch Harper Pants.

There are a lot of little details in this print that are so hard to see in photos. The mushrooms are sketches with handwriting. I really love the gathered neckline of the Isidro Top. I did a rolled hem on my sleeves and the shirt hem.

The background is almost white. It's not quite cream, but has a slight tint to it. The mushrooms are shades of brown with some reddish shades as well.

Preorder closes June 29th! See all the prints and order at https://www.zenithandquasar.com/product-category/preorder-r34-reprints/

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Zenith & Quasar Botanist's Notebook

Zenith & Quasar is reprinting some past designs that are popular from past rounds. The preorder runs through June 29th. I've sewn many of the prints at preorder and will be showing off a few makes new and old over the next few weeks.

First up is one of my all time favorites - Botanist's Notebook. This is a vintage Ernst Haeckel illustration. I pulled some of my hoarded stash off my shelf and made 2 new items with it.

 

I've had the idea to make a maxi dress with this print forever and decided to wait no more.

This is the Ellie & Mac Be Dreamy Dress. I recently made this dress for the first time and fell in love with it. You can read my initial post on the Be Dreamy Dress HERE.

I've been buying from Zenith & Quasar since inception. My dress is made with 2 different fabric bases. The skirt and sleeves are the original base that had 2-way stretch. The bodice and neckband are the athletic brushed poly with 4-way stretch.

The one modification that I made to the Be Dreamy Dress is that I cut the back skirt wider and gather it. I feel like this gives me plenty of room for my behind and gives a beautiful silhouette.

 My bodice was made out of a different knit because I did not have enough of the original base for the entire dress. I actually didn't have enough of the fabric for the skirt and had to cut the skirt a few inches shorter than I normally would.

To keep as much length as possible, I hemmed my dress with a rolled hem. I also used a rolled hem on my sleeves.

Since I had cut into my athletic brushed poly base for the bodice of my dress, I decided to go ahead and make myself a tank with it while I was at it. This is the Sinclair Patterns Shelby Tunic.  This is my go to loose fit sleeveless top. I'm wearing it here with Greenstyle Creations Everyday Yoga Pants made with modal jersey from Sly Fox Fabrics.

Since I was taking photos, I thought I'd share my previous makes with "new" photos. I started to wear my Shelby Tunic with my Itch to Stitch Paro Cardigan and my A Sparkly Baby Woman's Palauchos. But thought that might be too much and you wouldn't see the neckline of my cardigan.

I love the back of the Paro Cardigan. And no - I have never actually worn both of these pieces together.

So here are my A Sparkly Baby Woman's Palauchos on their own.

This outfit I have worn. My top is my other go-to sleeveless top, the Halla Patterns Agnes.

And this last photo is from July 2015. My first time sewing this print. I finally let this top go last year. So I only have this old photo of me to show you.

Be sure to check out all 24 prints at preorder. https://www.zenithandquasar.com/product-category/preorder-r34-reprints/

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Ellie & Mac Vacation Romper

It's Wacky Wednesday at Ellie & Mac. This week I'm sharing the Vacation Romper with you. The Vacation Romper is not a pattern I would have ever thought to try. After seeing several that were really cute on a few sewists that are similar to my shape, I decided to give it a try.

I noticed that all the ones I liked on others were made with an ITY knit. So that's what I used for mine. It has the perfect drape to keep the Vacation Romper from looking like it's swallowing me.

The Vacation Romper is so comfortable! I took 4" out of the length from the middle of the pattern for my height. I think I could have removed at least 2 or 3 more inches. 

What I really love is that I can wear a normal bra with it and my straps do not show! This isn't likely something that I will wear a whole lot, but I definitely see myself wearing this often as a swimsuit cover-up this summer.

The Vacation Romper goes together really quick. It's one big pattern piece that you cut 2 of and you have the straps to cut. Hemming the legs is optional and with most knits it looks perfectly fine with a raw hem. The part that took the most time was doing the binding.

Another pattern that I have made that's included in this weeks Wacky Wednesday Sale is the High Hopes Dolman. Here's a photo of me in it. Read my blog post about it HERE.

All Wacky Wednesday Patterns are on sale for $1 each through Midnight on May 29th. Check out all the patterns at https://www.ellieandmac.com/collections/wacky-free-patterns

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.