Multi-Post: Canada Day, a Hummingbird Skirt, and a Dream Wardrobe

Okay friends, I'm going to mash 3 topics into this blog post, because I have a ton of post ideas and very little time to write right now.  BTW, owning a store?  Simultaneously epically awesome and completely exhausting!  I love it.  :)

Topic 1: Canada Day!

HAPPY (belated) CANADA DAY!!!  And to you folks in the States, HAPPY (early) INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

I reduced the shop hours on Friday so I could go watch the parade in town, and I do not regret it for a moment!  The parade was a ton of fun, and I went a little crazy waving and cheering at everything and everyone with my wee little flag.  My favourite float was this one:

It's hard to tell at first, but it's a little glass-blowing studio!  We've had one open up in town this summer, and I'm so impressed they got a float going for the parade!  The folks on the float pretended to repeatedly heat and blow "glass" (aka balloons and umbrellas) and a few people walked along side, blowing more "glass" and giving out candy.  I'm stoked to go do one of their glass-blowing classes - clever buggers also have a "date night" package, which is awesome!

I might've gotten into the spirit (though I didn't think of a float - NEXT YEAR!!!!) and was up until 2 am the night before (/that morning) knitting up an ugly colourwork hat for a Canada Day display.  Don't look to closely at it, the colourwork is atrocious.  But it did the job, and looked pretty good surrounded by all the red and white Canadian-made product and string I could find!

Topic 2: Hummingbird Skirt

Holy crap I sewed a skirt!

Haha I've been missing my poor sewing room lately, and I've gotten an itch to sew that was getting unbearable.  After closing up the shop at 4 on Canada Day, I came home to have some quiet me time (I'm an introvert - though granted a socially-inclined introvert.  I've been needing some me-time to recharge after the last two crazy weeks).  I'd planned to sit and work on a store sample and watch a movie, but the sewing room - she called!  I wanted a quick project and, needing a skirt desperately in my wardrobe, I pulled out the pieces of a navy Hummingbird Skirt (by Cake Patterns) that I'd cut out literally years ago.

I put on my favourite audiobook and proceeded to sew for the next few hours.  Ah bliss.  Look at those pockets!  I sewed them wrong at first and swore a lot while ripping them out, but otherwise everything went smoothly.

Hey look, straight side seam!  I can't remember what size I cut (I'm assuming a size 45" - based on how this fits across my hips and the size range), but I did absolutely no alterations and the fit is pretty spot on.  Granted, I'm not entirely certain how a skirt should fit, but it's pretty comfy.  It might be a little snug across the hips, but seems fine.  I'd probably add an inch or so length next time though.  I'm actually sort of happy with this length, but I don't normally wear shorts and most dresses I wear are closer to knee length.

This is the best invisible zipper I've ever done!  It really is invisible - there's just some weird shadows happening in the picture above.  And some wrinkles and various fluff that accumulates in a yarn shop - what can I say, I finished it the night before and promptly test run it at work the next day.

Don't ask me what the fabric is - some sort of suiting that feels a bit wooly, but definitely has a poly-content.  It was part of a box of fabric sent to me from a friend, and I'm glad to get more use out of it.  :) 

So I definitely need several more of these!  I think they're going to be a wardrobe staple, that's for sure.  :)

Topic 3: Dream Wardrobe

During MMMay'16 (erm - things got a little insane and I never got photos taken of outfits the last week or so of May, though I did stick with Me-Makes.  After hearing about the shop, I hope you now understand why), I won one of Zoe's giveaways!  It was a fun little 'go to the Fabric Godmother website and suggest a pattern you think they need to have on their site (mine was Cake Pattern's Tiramisu, btw - I do love me some Cake!), and I was so lucky to win one month of Fabric Godmother's Dream Wardrobe!  It was pretty cool, actually; Josie contacted me with a consultation document that I had to fill out, describing my colouring, my personal style, likes and dislikes, etc, and then she chose a pattern and fabric she thought would suit me.  I received her package last week, and this is what she sent:

It's perfect!  I love the simple but fun fabric, and I've been eyeing up Darling Ranges for years now!  This was definitely a good experience, and I'll probably recommend this service to family members back home who want to send me something special for birthdays or Christmas's. 

Itch to sew...RISING!

Espresso Leggings: The Test Version

I bought Cake's Espresso Leggings ages ago, when they were first released.  I didn't even wear leggings back then, and am only a recent convert on their comfy wonderfulness.  (With a long top to cover my arse, of course.)  I knew they had potential though, and had plans to sew a few pairs for underground clothing and warm winter layers.

And then never got around to sewing them.  As usual.

Uh, but I'm having a heck of a time finding decently fitted leggings, especially in colours other than black (and sometimes charcoal), and I sort of want to sew some fun exercise leggings too.  So of course I made a black pair of Espresso.

These are my trial run, and I'm glad I did it.  I had a few issues, mostly in measuring the front and back rise.  I seemed to get really weird numbers - much shorter than I expected and the same for the front and back.  Everything I've read in my attempt to understand crotch curves says that latter bit was wrong, especially considering my *ahem* ample bum.  Obviously I did something wrong.  So I sort of made stuff up based on my total crotch curve and figured I'd fix it.

Heh.  I wound up with some really high waisted leggings!  And a really awful crotch (there's that buzz word again!  Not worried though, there is nothing nice about the crotches in this post!), but that's my own fault.  I don't know why, but I thought the crotch curve looked too narrow, so I added some width to the thigh measurement.  I'm 99.6% sure that's why things went so wrong here.


I don't care, these are super cozy house pants that I'm not embarrassed to be seen in, and with a long enough top, you won't even notice!

I didn't have any 3/4" elastic, so I (finally) used some 2" elastic I've had pretty much since I started sewing.  Glad to get that piece out of my stash!  (Although it's a pretty cozy finish, I'll probably try it again.)

As suggested in the pattern, I added a tag to the back, because you really can't easily tell the front from the back here until you put that sucker on and it simultaneously covers your boobs and exposes your crack.  Oops.

I'm going to try these again, possibly tomorrow later today, and follow the instructions properly this time.  Except for the front and back crotch curves, because obviously I'm doing something wrong there - I'll just measure off a RTW pair I have that seems pretty good. And add some length, because those suckers aren't hemmed at all.

*~~*~~*~~*~~*

Oh hey, anyone interested in a tour of my gardens and back yard?  I have some great flowers, trees, and bushes growing in my yard, and some fun veggies growing in my canoe!