Whoo hoo

Yippee! I got my custom bra pattern from Danglez yesterday! I held up my original tracing to the new pattern and it is considerably smaller. In a good way I think. Dini was also very generous in that she included a patterns for a diagonal seam and vertical seam cup! Cool huh?

I am working on Butterick 5181 view B right now, though. I think I've got the bodice fitted. Well I tissue fitted it and today I want to get a muslin made up to make sure it fits in fabric! I had to do a 3" FBA so we'll see. It's a cute dress and as I've mentioned before I really like this maxi style so I hope it works on me. I'm thinking about wearing it with a little cardigan or something to cover my heavy upper arms. Of course when it's super hot this summer I'm not going to give a crap about my arms! But for now....

I'm totally exhausted this morning. Gene and I started up our swimming again after being off for 3 weeks. We were all sick with coughs and crap but all better now. It's amazing how much strength is lost in 3 weeks! I've also started reading Jillian Michaels' new book Master Your Metabolism. I just started and am only about 1/4 of the way through but so far it's a good read. She talks about all the chemicals and crap that are in our food and environment that are messing up our bodies and how it in turn makes us fat. Very interesting and kinda scary!

Well, I think that's all I have for this post. Will get some pictures up when I have more done on the dress. Also I know some of you are waiting for that tutorial on how to make the front bra band narrower. I have not forgotten! I will get to that ASAP! ;-D

Until then, have a good one!

How to avoid Swine Flu

Don't do this:

My sister e-mailed me this. It was a forward from somewhere so I don't know who's baby this is. Seriously, how cute is this?! And kinda gross....

Merckwaerdigh finished

I finished the Merckwaerdigh CUPL16 bra up yesterday. Here she is:

Here's the cool strap detail:

It threw me for a loop for a little bit. The English translation of the instructions were slightly vague on how to do the whole thing so I just storta went for it and I think I did it right! It looks like the picture....so I say screw it if I did it wrong 'cause this worked and that's what matters!

I do think the fabric is a bit too stretchy. A ridge formed over the seam allowances as seen here:

It shows through clothing and my husband so lovingly pointed out that I look like I'm nippin' all time. Nice. Thanks honey, just want a girl wants. Anyhoo, I'll try it again in a slightly firmer fabric. Maybe 30-40% stretch (this has about 60%). Some other adjustments I'll need to make are:

1. Alter the top cup to bring the straps in by about an inch. As it is they are spaced too far apart so the straps slip off my shoulders occasionaly. Not as bad as my RTW bras but enough to be an annoyance.

2. The band under the cups is too wide so it folds up under my breasts especially when I sit. I'll simply trim the seam allowance so the band elastic is barely visible from the outside. The front band folding up is a common problem for us curvy girls since we tend to have a "shelf" under the breast. The shelf being our tummies.

I'll take pictures as I go along so ya'll can see what I've done. I know several of you out there are making bras for the first time so hopefully this advice will help you along!

My custom pattern from Danglez should be here in the next few days and I'm really looking forward to testing it! I've been stalking our mail woman and all she brings are bills and crap. Well, yesterday she brought me these:

So, I guess I'll forgive her. For now. The two on the top left will be maxi dresses. I'm all about maxi dresses this summer! I LOVE 'em! The pattern on the bottom left is for some very pretty head wraps. A group of us on PR are making caps for people who are undergoing chemo. I haven't had an opportunity to make any up yet since I've been concentrating on bras. I haven't even mentioned it here yet but will go into more detail later. These caps will be donated to my local cancer center. Here's a link to a free pattern if anyone is so inclined to make some up or donation. If you make any up send me link to your pics. I'd love to see them!

xoxo,

Heather

More boobage!

I started on another bra while I'm awaiting my custom pattern from Danglez. This one is Merckwaerdigh CUPL16. I got this from ELingeriA quite awhile ago but hadn't tried it yet. Debbie Cook made a gorgeous 3 piece cup bra from Danglez and it got my sewing mojo flowing to where I just could not wait any longer! When I got to lookin' at my Merckwaerdigh patterns I realized that I have a 3 piece cup pattern, too...duh! Good Lord, I have so much crap I don't even know what crap I have! (Um...not that these patterns are crap, they're actually very good! :-D) I made up a Q&D (quick & dirty) muslin of view B the other day and well.... I'm not to sure if it's going to work. Here it is on Gertie:

As you can see it looks like shit. I tried it on as well as I could and it's just a hot mess. BUT, I think it gives me a good enough idea on how it'll fit. I think. The right cup is the only one I put a wire in and it seems to contain everything. My left breast is bigger though so the cup is a little on the small side. The kicker here is that the pattern calls for a lingerie lycra. The fabric I used for this muslin only has about 18-20% stretch. Below I've used some lycra that I got from ELingeriA in a grab bag. It is like the nicest fabric I've seen in a long time! It's more like a heavyweight swimsuit lycra with about 60% stretch but I'm going to try it and hopefully the extra stretch will help with the fit.



This is how far I got last night. I still need to cut out the band. I'm seriously thinking about using the band from my Dangelz bra since it fits so well and these cups will fit into it.

I had to take a bit of a break since my MIL called this morning and said she knocked her bathroom door off the hinges with her motorized chair. *!* Good gravy! It was no big deal and I was able to fix it quickly. All we had were 3" wood screws so that baby better not fall off again! LOL! I told her if she bangs it again the door will probably splinter where those humungo screws are!! She said she wouldn't take the chair to the bathroom anymore....

Okie dokie, the little kid fell asleep so I'm off to sew some more! Whoo hoo!

Bra update and a tiny tutorial

I just wanted to post my bra after I made some adjustments.

As you can see (maybe), I made three tucks in each upper cup. It allowed me to salvage the bra even though it might be a little clumsy. I've worn it several times and must say it gives me the best support EVER!!!

Are you ready for the best part??? I posted my issues on Pattern Review to get some advice from the ladies over there. Shortly after that I got an email from the owner/designer of Danglez, Dini! She saw where I had problems and offered to draft a pattern just for me! I sent all the pertinent measurements and am awaiting my personalized pattern. Whoohoo! Seriously, how cool is that?! I mean, that is some awesome customer sevice. Dini also offers some really lovely bra making kits (look under Lingeriepakket) and I'll probably pick up a couple of those soon, too.

I'm sewing along with the Great Panty/Underwear Sew Along also on PR. I had a question from Arline and thought I'd post the pictures I sent her here, too in case someone else can benefit. She had a quesion about how to apply elastic to panties so the elastic won't touch the skin. Here's my method. I hope it makes sense. If you click on the pictures it will make them larger so you can read the text easier. Enjoy!

It's been rainin'

I think our apple tree will be most pleased with this and hopefully she'll give us some apples this fall! They are soooo good, let me tell ya! They're the sweet/tart kind htat are perfect for baking....mmmmm yummy!

I've still been sewing a lot ince my last post. I bought a bra pattern from the Netherlands recently and sewed it up the other day. For some reason it turned out incredibly huge! See all that extra fabric on top? Good gravy...

It doesn't look half as bad on Gertie there as it does on me. Of course Gert still has perky breasts. Bitch. Anyhoo, I'm trying to devise a way to save this bra. I really like the fabric and with all the work that goes into it, I just can't bear to scrap it. I'm going to try to take some tucks in the top cup and I unpicked the cup seam to take out a little fullness there, too. I think I might email the woman I bought it from too, who is also the designer, and see what she thinks about the crazy sizing. The band fits beautifully though! In fact, I've never had a band fit so well with absolutely NO adjustments! So, I'm going to trudge on a bit longer and we'll see what's what.

I've also been working on swimwear! That's something new for me. I swim 4 days a week now with my husband and my old suits are quite literally disentigrating. I've tried Jalie 2317 and McCall's 4848 so far with mixed results. I chose the "sporty" version of the Jalie with the legs and it just didn't work. The legs kept crawling up while I swam and it was super uncomfortable and the McCall's was okay except the top wanted to float up all the time. Neither one gave me the needed bust support I so deparately need. A lot of these issues are probably due to the fabric, though. I found it at a thrift shop, for cryin' out loud, so who knows where it really came from. I think with a higher quality fabric I wouldn't have most of those problems. I do want to try the Jalie again and just use the "regular" suit version and try to add an underwire bra inside. In the meantime I ordered a couple of Speedo suits.... yeah, I caved.

I want to leave you all with this video. Have you seen it? AWESOME!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Quickie

Just a quickie note to let everyone know we are still alive. I have been sewing. Quite a bit actually! I've made Conner about 4 pairs of pants from the 1/2009 Ottobre issue. They turned out so well and fit perfectly.

I've also been working on a bra for me that actually fits. I made up a Sewy Rebecca and L.O.V.E. it. I just need to make some adjustments to the apex. It has a little East/West action going on since I have to use a pattern that is intended for a woman with a larger ribcage. I discovered that I have a "narrow" ribcage, btw. At least part of me is narrow! LOL!! I tried the Queen Elite again and used the 46H and the cups fit pretty well. I had to take out about 2" from the back band pattern which is a total of 4". Whew! I wore it yesterday and was comfortable all day. I didn't have any wires for that size so it was just a soft cup. I really need wires for shape though. This was a sort of "muslin" though and I think I can cut into my better bra fabrics now. I just need to call Needle Nook and order the wires needed for that size. I also need to stabilize the lower cup which I haven't been doing on any of the bras. I've also been reading Beverly Johnson's book and it has a wealth of information! It's expensive but worth every penny, IMHO.

I'll try to get some pictures up. I've been very lazy in that department and I haven't done a review for Patternreview in forever. I started cleaning up my sewing area yesterday and I seriously need to find a way to organize all my patterns. I found two Simplicity 3503's for cryin' out loud. It's a pretty dress but geez...I don't need two! One idea that I have, which will be rather labor intensive, is to scan them all, print the pictures, and put them all in a 3-ring binder in numerical order. Then organize all the patterns themselves in numerical order and maybe by company too. SO, all I'll have to do is flip through a book to see what I want. Eeeek...that sounds like an awful lot of work.... but it would be totally awesome.

A little experiment...or, the fun things you can do with Kool-aid!

A little experiment
Originally uploaded by li'l miss muffett

I love to dye things. It's just so darn fun...

So, I did a little experiment the other day. Now, dyeing with Kool-aid is way cool because you don't have to worry about wearing layers of protective gear or worry that your childrens' hair will fall out or their fingers will fall off.

I've dyed wool yarn with Kool-aid and it really comes out beautiful! Nylon can be dyed in this way also and I've seen several Etsy sellers that dye vintage slips or girdles, etc. and it looks soooo GOOD!

Anyhoo, I pulled out a scrap of white nylon tricot (the kind used for slips, panties and bras) that was about the size of an average pair of panties and cut about a yard of white stretch lace. This will kinda give you a reference for how much dye is needed for your fabric/lace/undies.

Here's how it went if you want to try it:

The first go around, I filled a large saucepan with water and brought it to a boil. I dunked in the nylon and lace and then sprinkled the Kool-aid on top (my mistake, apparently) and stirred and squished it with a potato masher until the water started to look clear, water simmering all the while. Then I removed the fabric and lace, rinsed till the water ran clear, and hung them up to dry. By doing it this way I came up with a really groovy tie-dyed effect. Although it was really pretty, it wasn't quite what I was going for. So I started another pot of water and this time added the Kool-aid first. This produced a much more uniform spread of color but still a little tie-dyeish. This could be due to the fact that it was swirly to begin with.

The color is really hard for the camera to pick up but it's a really pretty pinky-purple with swirls of blue. The lace picked up the colors differently as you can see in the picture. Some parts took more of the Kool-aid's blue dye and others took more of the pink.

My next color was going to be cherry red but a certain munchkin living in my house made it in to an actual drink. Dammit!

This is a very "KOOL" experiment to do with you kids too!
Have fun!

EDIT: After posting this I found out that you don't have to boil the fabric and in fact it's not too nice on the elastic in the lace. Instead bring your water to a simmer and then turn off the heat. Add the kool aid, stir, then add the fabric. Continue to stir/mash until the water is clear or you get the color desired!

Happy New Year!

I think many people share my opinion that 2008 flew by rather quickly. For me, Conner starting preschool escalated time consdiderably! I miss him in the mornings but don't regret our decision one bit. He is a completely changed li'l fella and the speech therapy has been a Godsend.

Anyhoo, we got our New Year off to a rocky start with everyone (except Gene, of course) getting a horrible tummy bug. I even spent an evening in the ER ('cause I fainted and freaked Gene out). Whoo hoo! We're all okay now though! The ER doc did say my blood sugar was too high so I need to follow up with my doctor. I'm not really looking forward to that little bit of business but my MIL has Diabetes so I know not to fool with it.

Christmas was really nice and we got to spend time with lots of family. Gene bought me Beverly Johnson's book on bra making and I'm itching to dive into it. Also got a couple Merckverdigh bra patterns and the Rebecca pattern by Sewy. They're all in German and I just don't remember enough to get me through. I emailed Michaela and she sent me her English translations and even a step-by-step photo tutorial for the Rebecca pattern! She has really been so helpful and friendly, even offering to help me more if I get stuck. I definitely recommend her shop and will be buying some bra kits in the future.

I've sewn about 5 bras so far (Kwik Sew and Ann St Clair's) but still need to work on the sizing for me. I have a rather difficult size (38L or 40J) and finding bra patterns is about as difficult as finding RTW (ready to wear) bras! The patterns I mentioned above come highly recommended and also in larger bust sizes! So we'll see....

Here is the bra set I made my sister for Christmas:

I was very proud of how it turned out and she loved it! And it fit her!!! Yay! Her hubby approved tremendously as well. LOL!!! The bra is Kwik Sew 3594 and the panties are both from Jalie 2568. The fabric is a periwinkle lycra knit that is sooo soft and slinky! I seriously need to make me some panties out of it. It was a real bear to sew because it kept rolling up on me but well worth it (I did line it with 50 denier tricot for support)! The white panties are wide stretch lace and the simplest thing to sew. I swear it takes like a total of 15 minutes to cut them out and sew. Since the lace is finished on both sides there is no finishing! No elastic waistband, no elastic on the legs... awesome!

I've also started sewing some custom lingerie! That has been really fun but I must admit it has made me think about lingerie all the time now! Sounds kinda naughty but really my thoughts run more towards the technical. I find myself daydreaming about how to build a better bra or how to embellish panties and slips with lace, etc. Really, if you have never tried making your own undies or at least buying handmade, you should! They are so much more comfortable than RTW! They're the first thing I reach for in my lingerie drawer.

There will most definitely be more lingerie sewing show-and-tell here on my blog so watch out! I'm really concentrating on that for now and for-who-knows-how-long?!

Wishing you all a healthy and properous 2009!

Heather

Punkin Patch!

We took a trip to the Pumpkin Patch near Sublette, KS just before Halloween. Yes, I know I'm a little behind....story of my life!

Anyhoo, I have never seen so many different types of pumpkins! They had white, black(!), yellow, several shades of orange(duh), and a bunch others that I just can't remember at the moment. They also grew squashes, gourds, cantalope, and watermelons.

Here we are going on a hay ride through the farmer's land...

and we even encountered some of the locals. Honestly, I forgot how damn big cows are!

This is a shot Gene took of us watching the catapult. The man had this huge well, catapult, that he flung watermelons several hundred feet.

It was cool. We also went through a maze that they had plowed through a large patch of corn. I don't know why I didn't take any pics but it was really fun and we got lost a couple of times. I think that's the funnest part but I could tell the old hubby was getting a little freaked out.

We had such a great time that this will be a tradition from now on. I just can't believe we hadn't gone sooner.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I have to say in these gloomy times our nation is going through I am so very thankful for all the blessings bestowed upon myself and my family. My husband has a good job. It allows me to stay at home and my kids have their Momma to greet them when they come home from school. I can't think of anything much better!

Almost forgot

OMG! I can't believe I forgot to add this yesterday....Anyway, when I was at Needle Nook this last weekend Deb told me about a new bra pattern they have coming out soon. She really liked my bra and stitchy abilities so she asked if I'd like to be one of the testers! How cool is that?! I was extremely flattered and can't wait to see the new design. It is supposed to be a 3-seam cup. Most of the bras for larger busts from European companies seem to be this way. I just wanted to add that little "Yay me!"

I'll leave you with a super cute pic of my two babies.

Both sacked out on the floor. Penelope had her head right up against Conner's but of course she had to move before I could get the camera going.

Please disregard my UGLY carpet! LOL!

Back to business

Okay, seriously, I've been thinking about blogging stuff but I just never sit my butt down and get it done.

I've been sewing quite a bit and dealing with a sick toddler. One minute he has horrible diarrhea the next, he gets it again, and now he is on meds for tonsilitis and a nasty cough. Sheesh. The first bout of diarrhea came the day before we were to go to Wichita. I wanted to finally check out Needle Nook and pick up the owner's bra pattern, her bra-making manual, and a couple of the kits they offer. Gene needed to go to get one of his amps worked on. I decided to stay behind so he went on with Meghan and whaddya know, he stopped by the shop and picked up the book and pattern for me! How sweet. I have such a good hubby! I promptly got to work on the bra using bits and pieces I had in my stash. I was sort of pleased with the outcome. Even though I used a mish-mash of fabrics and elastic it turned out pretty. The cup was too small and band too big even though I measured like the book said. Poo. I swear, me and my big hooters....

The good news is we got to go back this last weekend and I got to spend some time in the shop, get this....on my own! Holy Crap, right? Anyhoo, I can't say enough about how helpful the ladies are. I brought my bra along so I could maybe get a critique. Well, one of the staff, Deb, told me to go put it on and she'd see what's what. So, I did. She even gave me a quick fitting and had me try on one of their premade fitting bras. We found I just need to go up a cup size (shock of all shocks) and use better elastic in the band (the stuff I used for the bra band was vintage from the thrift store and had lost a lot of it's elasticity). I also picked up a few of the kits.

Here on the far right you can see the little baggies with fabric and all the fixin's. The nude and white have enough for three bras and the sparkly pink (doesn't every girl need a sparkly pink bra?!) is for one bra. They had black, too and a bunch of other fun colors. Now I just need to get Halloween costumes finished and I have a few alterations I need to get done before I start diggin' in. I can't wait! The other is some brown jersey with gold for a t-shirt, some irridescent white sheer tricot to make Meghan a bra and the red is a 50 denier tricot to make me another bra and some panties. Should have enough for Miss M, too. The last is some groovy camo print knit with a shiny snakeskin overlay (I have no idea what it's called) for Conner's costume. He's going to be a dinosaur. That boy lives and breathes dinosaurs....

Also, if you need elastic might I suggest the Kathy_s Yahoo group? I recently joined her coop and had her send me one of the 1 pound assortments (only $7 plus shipping!) so I could get an idea of the quality. Above is a picture of the variety she sent. Holy cow, it was like Christmas! It comes in one big bag so I sorted them and placed each in it's own little baggie. It's all really nice lingerie elastic and stretch lace (some just have discolorations or is a tiny bit dirty from storage). I've already used some of it to make Meghan a little bra. I made it yesterday and she's wearing it today so I didn't get a chance to take a pick of it, yet. Kathy also has tons of fold over elastic. I'm just starting to get used to it so I didn't order any from her yet but she has a 1 lb assortment of that for $15, too. I figure that would be perfect for the diaper makers out there!

I can't think of anything else at the moment. I need to go make some cocoa for Meghan. She'll be home soon and it's a cold, crappy day. Cocoa will make it all better! ;-D

nose bud

nose bud
Originally uploaded by li'l miss muffett

I just received this little "nose bud" from Lisa's Lovlies etsy shop. It is just the right size. She also has tons of beautiful handmade silver jewelry. I'm coveting several of her earrings and drooling over the rings!

The Chai Story

If you own a dog or know someone who does please read this: The Chai Story

I think I've seen these toys in my local stores. I'll be sure to go check next time I'm there. I know I've seen the brand Four Paws.

I just thought this was such a tragedy! I know some of you that read my blog have dogs and would want to know this information.

Thanks for checking it out.

Joy Nash

Found this on another blog the other day and thought it was really funny.