FO: Simplicity 1949

I might be the only knitter in history who is a bit ambivalent about baby knits.  (Although I have something on the needles at the moment that may change my mind.)  To me, it seems like a lot of fuss and finishing, and not as much time just knitting. 

Sewing for kids, though, is something I do without grumbling.  Here's the thing: Sewing is all finishing work.  There's no sewing equivalent of knitting's mindless stockinette for me, so all of sewing takes concentration.  Kids garments are smaller, so that equals smaller amounts of concentration.  (If my logic here is not rock solid, sorry.)  Also, I can fit all of a kid's garment on my dining room table when I'm cutting it out, and they take way less fabric.  I also don't worry about fit issues. 

So as we were packing up our old house and getting ready to move, I kept working on this sweet little summer dress for Little A, who is three.  It was the perfect thing to knock out in a few spare minutes during those hectic weeks. 

The pattern is Simplicity 1949, which is apparently OOP now.  Who makes those decisions?  This is a great dress that I'll go to as long as the pattern fits.  I made the largest size, and it fits Little A well with a little room to grow.  She's been wearing it all summer, calling it her umbrella dress.

The dress came together really well, with one notable exception:

Is that not the saddest zipper install you've ever seen?  I'd already been working on the dress for about three weeks, 15 minutes at a time, and I was ready to be done.  I can't remember exactly what happened, but I do know that since, I've watched Sunni's free zipper install class on Craftsy, and I am ready for my next zipper. 

I have a couple more patterns for Little A that I want to get to for the fall.  It's nice to sew her a couple of quick things and rack up some successful FOs!

FO: Simplicity 2215

Okay, everyone.  I'm not sure about this one.  This is the skirt pattern from Simplicity 2215.

Do you need to have a defined waist to make this skirt work?  I'm not sure it's doing much for me.

I like it pretty well when I'm wearing it, but I'm not twirl-around-thrilled with it.  Now that I see the pictures, I'm even less convinced.

I removed the pockets, because in my experience, extra floppy fabric around my hips is not a great look for me.  I added five inches to the skirt and then took a deep 4 inch hem just for fun. 

Any thoughts?

FO: Simplicity 2219

I finished my last maxi dress of the summer, and it's my favorite by far.

The pattern is Simplicity 2219.  I made View D.

I used a knit from Gorgeous Fabrics that I bought during one of their sales at the beginning of summer.  I love it.  It's a dark eggplant background with large line-drawing flowers in pink, orange and grey.

I made a size 14, a size smaller than the measurements called for.  But the pattern allows for half an inch of positive ease in the bust, which I do not understand.  Why would you want positive ease in a garment made out of stretchy knit?  I would guess that as I made it, the bust has about .5 to 1 inch of negative ease, and I think it fits well.

I added 3.5" to the bottom of the skirt.  The only other change I made was to take a 1/4" seam allowance on the side bodice front pieces, since I was nervous about it being to low and showing too much skin in the underarm area.  I still think it could be a bit higher, but it's not too uncomfortable. 

 

I would highly recommend this pattern.  I think it looks very polished for a fun dress.  

Okay, that's all for now!  I have to get back to my Olympic knitting!