Scout Tee vs. Simplicity 1690

I like plain old woven tops.I wear them quite a bit, but since they are worn so much I don't have enough to always have clean ones on the ready and wind up wearing a lot of knit T-shirts. Woven tops just look so much nicer, so I am on a quest to find a TNT one.

The contenders:

First off I bought this voile awhile back, but never knew what I wanted to do with it. It's not a color I usually lean toward. When I decided to do this comparison I thought it would make a great wearable muslin fabric. It also makes me look at the shape of the shirt rather than liking one fabric more than the other. The downside was the pictures are hell to sort! Oh yeah, check out our plum tree we planted  year ago that has never grown or produced even a single leaf. We thought it was dead, and now it is covered is delicious smelling flowers!

Let's start with Simplicity 1690 by Leanne Marshall You might recognize the structural shape of the skirt and dress on this pattern, but I bought it for the simple kimono sleeved shirt. I made french seams on this one since there were only four. I only spent about an hour working on it and it was done. No fuss, no muss! I can't say how well the directions are written because I just didn't read them. I may have missed something because on the envelope it looks like there are supposed to be slits on each side along the hemline. I will definitely add those next time. I made no adjustments or alterations for size.

The neckline is bias bound and hems are just folded and sewed.

Back view is pretty standard stuff.I was told I need to make shorts that fit next since I am holding these up by the pockets. Apparently I have a droopy butt. Everyone is a critic!

Now onto Grainline Studio's Scout Woven Tee. This is exactly as described, a woven tee shirt and exactly what I was looking for. The pattern is a downloadable pdf. I did follow the directions (for the most part) and liked them.I worked on this one a few minutes a day here and there over a week. The main difference here is the scoop neckline and set in sleeves.

The neck is again, bias bound, but the directions added a very new to me step of under stitching the binding to the seam allowance. I plan on doing this from now on because I love the way it looks. Hems are fold and sew.

Back view again pretty standard stuff. Not holding my shorts up at all.

The winner is.....

Simplicity 1690!!!! I am as shocked as you are. I thought it was the Scout Tee, right up until I saw the photos. Then the Leanne Marshall showed to be so much more flattering. I have to admit it is an easier sew, but only because of the kimono sleeves. They are both great patterns, but I think Simplicity is closer to being my tried and true. I may try another couple patterns on my search though. 

BTW I got a $100 gift card to Mood for my birthday....any suggestions?

I won!

I won a Liebster Award! Through that I also found a great blog. Sarah Koch of Sarah Kate Creations nominated me and she has some really cute stuff. I'm totally stealing her tie off charm pack quilt idea. So go check her out.

Now not to seem ungreatful, but I have to share this infographic created by Mikhaela over at Polka Dot Overload.



There was awhile there when the blog awards got out of control. For laughs go check out her post.

So I will answer my 11 questions, but I will not infect my other blogger friends. If you are interested in other blogs I read I am happy to share. Just let me know.

My 11 Questions 

1. What is your favorite quote? This is roughly a quote, maybe by Einstein...The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
2. What three things would you bring to a desert island? My Brindy-best-friendy dog, sunscreen and chapstick
3. What would you consider your greatest accomplishment? I'm not sure. I often don't take time to recognize and accomplishment before I'm working toward the next goal. My last accomplishment was probably my half marathon.
4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Probably a beachtown in Mexico.
5. Who is your favorite blogger and why? Heather from Sewing on Pins is my knee jerk reaction. I think she was the first person to ever follow me, I incessantly copy all her makes, and I secretly think of her as my Canadian Sewlmate. Wait, that's hilarious! I claim trademark on Sewlmate!
6. What is your favorite sewing pattern designer? I can't say I have a favorite. My styles have been all over the place, and I have had great success and epic fails everywhere.
7. What is your favorite sewing tip? Three stupid mistakes then just stop for the day.
8. If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go? Why? Riviera Maya. I'd start in Akumal and snorkel with the sea turtles then head to Mahahual to hang out on the prettiest beach ever.
9. What inspired you to start your blog? It is hard to find sewing friends that are live.
10. What is your favorite band? Fall Out Boy currently
11. Who is the most inspiring person in your life? My dog. I strive to be like her, hear me out. She never holds a grudge. She always greets me at the door with a tail wag and a kiss no matter how her or my day has gone. She thinks the best time ever is spending time with the people she loves no matter what that means we are doing.

11 Random Facts about me

1. While I love working with special education children, I have a very hard time with emotionally disturbed children because I think I relate to them too much, and find it hard not to crack up when they have to confess their antics to me. Seriously, they do the stuff you only have the nuts to do in your head!

2. I swam 1800 meters in a Swimathon for the YMCA last night making me the biggest loser.

3. Mr. Thinks He Can is working late tonight, so Brindy and I are celebrating by making crab stuffed salmon and drinking craft beer (don't worry, the beer is for me.)

4. I am horrible about shopping online and then not checking out because of shipping, Amazon spoiled me.

5. I'm signing up for my first triathlon in years in March.

6. The thought of cotton balls touching me gives me goosebumps in a bad way.

7. I have to sleep a minimum of 8 hours a night, and if I lay down anywhere at anytime of day I go to sleep.

8. If E! news doesn't cover it, then it wasn't worth reporting.

9. Shameless and The Walking Dead playing at the same time on Sunday nights causes anxiety for me because I love them both so much.

10. I have lost about 40 pounds since Thanksgiving 2 years ago and subsequently donated most of the clothes I painstakingly made to charity.

11. I am ridiculously cheap and will often keep an eye out for things I need at thrift shops and on Craigslist, however, I'm not above a good dumpster dive.

Pussy Bow Dress

I made my first Salme pattern, the pussy bow dress, and I am really impressed. The fabric I used was a voile I bought an abundance of when it was on a crazy sale at Fabricmart. I'm glad I did, it worked really well for this easy dress.

The bow part was a new technique for me, but it was well explained in the instructions. This was also a pdf pattern, which I don't do a lot of. And I cheated a bit, you are supposed to add seam allowances...this is a loose fitting dress with an elastic waist, so I just cut the next size up. I doubt it would work for something more fitted, but it was a cheap and easy fix for me on this one. I also added two inches to the skirt so I could make it to wear to work (and I totally did, polar vortex be damned) but I didn't need to. I'm 5'5" and the length would have been fine.

The sleeves were finished with bias binding, which is always a clean finish. This was a winning little project.

I also got this in my email a couple days ago from Salme Sewing Patterns.

• 20% off all orders over 30 USD using code L20LVX at checkout.
• 10% off all orders over 20 USD using code L10RVZ at checkout.

 What perfect timing. If you have ever wanted to try a pattern I vouch for them and you get a discount! I love it!

Cozy new robe

I had this robe completely finished before Christmas, but in hindsight my machine was in its final days and could not hem it. Good thing it is still unseasonably cold here and I can still enjoy this sweatshirt knit robe.

This is what my machine was doing to the hem. It was tragic. I got some great advice from you guys, but the machine could not be salvaged.

Back to the robe, I used Simplicity 1720. The sweatshirt knit I got was bought with a robe in mind as I wanted something warm I could dash around the house in while we had Mr. Thinks He Can's family staying with us for Christmas. I dashed around inappropriately instead which was much more exciting, so it worked out OK. I am glad to have a robe though.

Man, I got the crazy eyes! This lace was from an estate sale and as I began sewing it I realized it had been salvaged from another project at some point. You can see a couple strings hanging off of it where old fabric was still attached. I like the character it adds to the project.

I also made a couple of simple rectangle pockets to stick on the front. What's a robe without pockets? I used the same lace across of both pockets.

Here is another close up of the lace. I think it is very pretty and makes the robe a little more glamorous.

An update on the sewing machine situation. I went with the Brother PC420 PRW after Judi gave such a glowing review of it. I have used the heck out of it so far and all I can say is wow. It is so quiet, and why didn't you guys tell me about how much technology can help in sewing? I am amazed. I love my automatic thread cutter button. Also, I didn't think I would ever use the automatic threader, but I'll be darned it actually works! Ooh, one more thing it has a lever that hangs out the bottom so you can lift our presser foot with your knee. I didn't know I needed that until I got used to it. Also, as I was hemming my robe when I would get to seams it went right over them with no fighting. I didn't realize I used to have to fight but as I got near them I would tense up and white knuckle the robe and get ready to yank. I didn't even know I did that. Anyway, I want to play on my machine a bit more before I give a full review, but I am very happy with it and thank you guys for talking me into it!

Instagram anyone?

I've signed up on Instagram and am trying to use it a bit more. I am stacielp on there if you are looking for me, or follow the link. I'm looking at about 50% pet pics and 50% sewing pics.

Also, if you have Instagram let me know, so I can follow you.

New machine?

The last couple projects have been a struggle to get through. My machine goes 8-12 inches at most and then creates a big nest as shown on the scrap sample above. I have tried everything I can think of to fix the issue on my own. I feel like last time I got my machine serviced, about a year ago, it cost about $180, but it wasn't the same. So here is where I am stuck. Do I go spend another $180, probably more since there is an issue, or do I buy a new machine?

I currently have a Singer 7468 which I started sewing on. Long story short, Mr. Thinks He Can did some work on a will and accepted this machine as payment. :-) Wasn't that sweet? However, I never got to pick a machine out, and now I think I know enough that I have a few things I would like on a machine that I don't currently have.

                                  

This is one I am looking at getting. It is the Brother PC-420. I like the LCD screen so I can have exact numbers on my stitches. I love the automatic thread cutter button. Also, many Brothers look like they have little space to the right of the needle which would make quilting hard, this one looks larger.It's not the cheapest, but it is on sale and looks like an upgrade. 

Does anyone have this machine or something similar? If so what are your thoughts? Do you have a machine that is under about $400 that you just love? Should I just fix what I have?

More Hummingbird

I had to make another one. I meant to make this one a little longer, but I made it a little more fitted, so it sits a bit higher on me. This is another Hummingbird skirt by Cake Patterns. I cannot tell you how much I love this pattern. 

Here you can see the length more. This is a shiny denim I found on clearance at Joann. I saw it and decided to channel my inner Sallie Oh because I am still crushing on her metallic mini skirt. I admit I am just a cheap imitation, but someday I will have cool gold fabric too!

Oh yeah, check out my sweet lapped zipper!

It isn't perfect, but for a first try I couldn't be happier with the results. I used Sunni's free Mastering Zippers class on Craftsy to do it. It is a great resource if you have never checked into Craftsy. At least go sign up for the free zipper class!

Oh and what's that in my pocket? Just a little Jungle January tribute! Hot pink leopard just worked perfectly on this one!