Adventures with Lining

I made Butterick 4789 in a simple red knit that was a little too shear and drapey. You can see the outline of bra straps in the back, which I'm never a fan of, and you can actually see them if the light is right. The shirt is low cut enough that a camisole underneath shows, and the twist pattern is busy enough without adding another fabric to the look. So, I decided to attempt a lining. I didn't want to just duplicate the twist pattern in the lining because that'd be a little bulky, so I basically guessed at the shape I needed for the front pieces and fixed it up on the dress form. I suppose you could call this my first attempt at draping. It doesn't look faboo, but it's a lining, so who really cares? I hand stitched the lining to the armhole and back neckline. My hand stitches always end up looking a bit lumpy, but again, it's a lining, so whatever. It worked well enough that I didn't take any pictures from the outside. I wanted to wear it so quickly that it's now in the laundry:)

Winter Swimwear

The fiance and I go to Hawaii with his family every winter, so the season when I need a new swimsuit is winter, not summer. So I decided to attempt to make a few coordinating tops and bottoms. If I make them out of the same combination of colors, I should be able to mix and match.

I made the pattern on the right (the view you can't see) way back when and it went ok but not great. It's a string bikini top and a normal panty bottom. It didn't fit great (not shocking, since apparently I hadn't adjusted at that time to the fact that pattern sizes run way small, and I made a 10), and the strings for the bikini were a giant pain. Unfortunately, it means that the pattern I bought is a 10, so I'm going to have to learn how to size it up to a 12 or a 14.

I think I'll start with the center top of the right pattern, maybe trying to apply that waistband to a boy-cut short. Burgundy and pink for the bottom, then black with a burgundy center for the top. Luckily, all the pattern use a fraction of the width of the fabric, so I should be able to cut a number of different pieces.

Now to finish at least one old project before I start on another!

Let's Try This Again

I have a tendency to start a blog, and then get distracted by another topic which is inappropriate to that blog, so I start another, and none of them get more than 5-6 posts long. Witness here. So I'm just going to post whenever about whatever I happen to want to talk about - keep it themeless. Let's see if I can actually maintain a blog this time!