They call me mellow yellow... Simplicity 3747

Don't you just love yellow? I do. So I finished this little ditty last week and got the chance to wear it last night to an event that I emceed. It is Simplicity 3747. I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY like the cut and final look of this dress.

Now, with that said, I think I either missed a step or I need to make a change due to personal taste. Here is where my more accomplished sewers jump in with their 2 cents. Right at the bust where the top meets with the bulk of the dress (sorry for not using technical terms - lol) the facing is visible. I think I should have trimmed it close to the seam to smooth that out. What do you think?

Other than that my dress is fabulous!

Memorial Day Musings...

Good morning gorgeous ones! (I am passing on my positive vibes and new attitude of balance to all of you! LOL) I had a WONDERFUL weekend with Mr. Right in Atlanta.

My line sisters -- Dawn the fab host (can you believe how tight her body is after 3 kids with her hubby!?), Me and Tracita the smart and lovely legal eagle from DC.

One of my sorority sisters (linesister or LS for those that get it) and her hubby have this fabulous family style BBQ every year during the Memorial Day weekend.

The lovely ladies of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.


The debonair men of Kappa Alpha Psi (Mr. Right is the cute on in the khaki shirt, white shorts and dark sandals)

It is so much fun to meet up with old college friends and sorority sisters each year.

This year I noticed that most of the women had on bold colors or a 70's chic outfit. It was such a fashionable affair. After LOTS of food everyone retired to the basement for games -- that lasted well into the wee hours.

Funny moment -- so I am sitting there with Mr. Right drinking a little sweet ice tea, when this woman practically hands me this newborn! She was like I will be right back, you don't mind? LOL I said, "Sure, no problem." (translated: no thank you) There was this moment of panic because this baby was tiny and I had NO idea who the woman was -- although she was very nice. Thank goodness she came back and got him. LOL

Me and the dropped off baby

So while in Atlanta I FINALLY made it to Gail K Fabrics. OH MY GOODNESS! Can you say fabric overload. My body was about to go into shock due to the number of BEAUTIFUL fabrics this store has. I had to really contain myself. I am working on only getting fabric that I am in NEED of -- you know, something I actually know what I am going to sew. LOL I walked away with three pretty pieces.

These two are my silky finds.. the animal print will be for a sexy dress -- oh yeah! The chocolate and blue stripe will be for a shell for suit.

The African fabric is for a skirt or dress I would like to make. I hope I get it down before the trend is out.. if not Black History Month events here I come! LOL Just jokes..

These three pieces I got from Hancock fabrics. The busy one to the left will be for a dress.. the red and white a strapless dress and the blue and brown batik will be for a gathered skirt.

Hope you have a great Monday!

Life in overload...

HAVE I DISAPPEARED?...
Hello beautiful ones! I have not dropped off the face off the earth, or at least not yet. Today is the last day of sweeps (ratings period) and this sister is more than excited to bid it adieu!


HOW OFTEN AND HOW LONG DO YOU DEVOTE TO SEWING?..
Many of you who read my blog know the time that many of us sewers put into sewing. It can consume you at times because it is such a great creative outlet. Sometimes I come home and literally eat (maybe) and jump on my machine. Well at some point a girl has to get some structure in her life. Plus, Mr. Right is getting too good at Playstation 3 -- meaning I am giving him too much free time. LOL
So I have decided to start putting myself on more of a schedule -- because I will rationalize with myself why folding clothes can wait until tomorrow but this hem is urgent!


LIMBER LOVELY...
I am trying some new things as well. Yoga/ Pilates/ Meditation. That's right, I am the last person to jump on this bandwagon. With my job being stressful at times and just heck being a productive member of society (non-profits, sorority, hubby, etc.) I need to do a better job of focusing on me. It should be interesting being that yesterday I almost fell on my face on one of the yoga positions. I should have tried this at 21 not 30.


SEW DOWN THE STASH.. As for sewing.. I am working on a little something for work right now.. My goal is to bring my stash down.



I am almost done with the jacket.. next are the pants. Nothing earth shattering but a great wardrobe builder.

Tell next time.. tata..

Cute couple alert... oh and some sewing...

Hey everybody! I have been up to my neck in news and writing so I have been a slacker with posting this week. My bad. LOL I am back!

So, Mr. Right and I had the best day trip ever this past weekend. We went to Hot Springs, NC to soak in the outdoor mineral jacuzzis. Talk about FUN!! My skin felt so soft and supple! This month I swear I am 25! Following that I got a massage that was TDF! We then set out for a drive through the Pisgah National Forest to make our way to Cherokee to give a little money away to the casino. Here we are (pictured) in the forest feeling like Mr. and Mrs. Ebony Knoxville (as a girlfriend has dubbed us! LOL)

On to the sewing...

This is what I am working on this week. It is Vogue 4235.. I like it but I don't. I think I need to give it a good press and then when I tack on the straps and hem the bottom I think I will really love it. This is the first time that I have dealt with the bust area that is shaped like this. I feel like "the girls" don't sit in there right. I tried putting in the inserts but that just made it look like a size Double B mess. The final jury will be out when I finish it up tonight and take a photo. What do you all think? I do heart the fabric selection though!

Go Mom, go Mom...

Happy Friday!

It's Friday and I am two steps away from River Dancing out of this office! LOL You ever have one of those weeks when you can see the light at the end of the tunnel -- all you have to do is hold on to see GLORIOUS Friday? LOL I have had one of those weeks!

Hopefully I will get to knock out Vogue 4235. In fact Mimi over at Domestic Haven has to great reviews of the dress..

Dress 1
Dress 2

So my question for you all -- How many times to do you sew a pattern? Also, do you sew one pattern twice uninterrupted. (In other words, do you cut out that pattern twice in one sitting?)

I leave you with two of my favorite spring dresses of the day... from the streets to the red carpet.




For more inspiration, check out YMIB's Dresses We Love!

African Inspiration

So there is no doubt you have heard about the inspiration of safari and tribal design for this spring. I am really loving this because I love ethnic design of all kind.

So I was reading Make Fetch Happen (not that I understand the blog title -- but she has some really good posts -- *I have been reminded that "Fetch" is the catch phrase from the movie Mean Girls! It means fabulous or cute, duh. LOL I totally forgot about that.*) and the blogger (Brigette) was talking about designer Kevan Hall. His Spring 2008 collection Africa: A Safari is amazing. Check out some of my favorites and take a look at the collection for yourself!

Many of these looks can be pulled from the Big 4 pattern companies.
What do you all think? Can everyone pull off the safari/ tribal influence?

McCall 5425

So I finished up McCall 5425 and Mr. Right says to me "Oh that must be your out of town dress?" That's his way of saying I look sexy! LOL

I found this dress was easy to make and can be varied quite a bit to give several looks from casual to night out on the town.

I bought the fabric from JoAnn's. It is a silky print that I fell in love with. The sizing on the pattern was pretty true to size. I normally cut out a 12 but I did a 10 this time because I wanted it to fit a little slimmer in the body.

The dress looks like the pattern picture but a little more dressy and fabulous. LOL

I found the instructions VERY easy to follow and recommend this dress for any beginner.

Since I used a silky poly fabric I wanted the straps to have more form and structure instead of being all limp across my shoulders. I went ahead and put a little interfacing on the strap and I really like the way it came out. I also cut out the shorter version basically merging the two views together.

I would definitely sew this again.. It makes for a great "run to the mall with dressy flats" outfit.

New Patterns.. my take...

Happy Friday everyone!! I hope you all had a great week. I have been REALLY busy this week so maybe this weekend I can get a little sewing in! Yay!

So in the last few days new patterns came out.. here is my take.


I am really liking this one - view C & D. I don't think I am ready for the mustard colored frock. It is quite voluminous.


This is just cute and simple. This would really sing with a pair of flat sandals in a metallic color.


Hmmm.. This one is cute, but I am confused as to why the Big 4 keep reproducing patterns that are already out. I know I have seen this a million times already. Okay maybe not a million but it is already out there.


Love it, love it, love it. What a great professional wardrobe builder. The only thing that is not to my liking is the fact that it buttons from the back. I get up at 2:30 so I would hate to wake up my hubby to button me up in the middle of the night. Even worse, I would hate to have to contort my arms to button it up!


Okay the tent dress must really be popular now.. that's all I've got to say about it.


Oh I see the potential fabulousness of this!! This is very retro chic!


I'd love view A with a little ribbon belt. How cute is that?


View A (blue shirt) is pretty hot. The only thing I don't like are patterns with illustrations instead of real models. Every illustration on every envelope always looks SO cute -- but you can't tell how it *really* looks. Thank goodness for blogs and Pattern Review.


Aww this is just adorable.


This has great potential. The short sleeve version would be great for running errands like going to the mall, etc..


I LOVE that white dress! The version with the sleeve is extra cute as well.


Doesn't this look like something Dita Von Teese would wear??


This is very clean and cute. Very simple.


Finally, would you all be my friend if I made some historical footwear? I mean it's not like I attend historical era fairs or am an actresses. The pair smack in the middle with the lace ups -- oh yeah!! LOL