Ok sorry you'll have to do without the drum roll. Vito just reminded me I got rid of his drum set a long time ago because he was keeping me up at night.  He just kept playing Wipe Out over and over and over again!  Anyways, who shall soon be walking around as cute as a button in her new crop top and pants???

Vito said,  "You might as well give away that "Shelf Bust" dress while your at it since you'll never be able to fill it out."  Why thanks a lot dog!  Clearly he's still mad about the drums... And a little upset he didn't get any extra treats as compensation for his current role in "Mad Woman".

Uh yeah, that's a pattern...for a PUG!!  Look at his cute little pug butt!!  Thanks to so i sewed this  for reminding me of this pattern.  She had directed me to this post and I remembered this pattern by McCalls that I had been trying to find.  I was able to snag it off ebay.  The little Scottie dog is super cute too and I have a coworker who loves Scottie's just as much (or more, she has two) as I love Pugs.  Maybe I'll whip her up one for her next birthday.

Hope everyone is having a good week.  Halfway to the weekend..woot woot! My sewing machine awaits!

Peace out! Catch ya on the flip flop!

Shoo Weee!  I completed my dress for the Mad Men Challenge! I worked into the wee hours of the night last night to finish it on time.  I ended up chosing a dress Megan wore last season as my inspiration.  First look at it and I was in love.  Green is my favorite color, I love 60's style dresses and the keyhole neckline opening, what more do you need?

I would die if I could get my hands on this exact fabric.  I'm absolutely positive it's probably polyester.  I did find a suitable alternative at Joann's, design wise.  It some kind of cotton with a slight stretch to it so it doesn't lay quite like Megan's does, but the fabric had a fun green and blue geometric print which is what I was looking for.  Oh and have you seen this exact dress being sold by Banana Republic??

$130!! I was hoping it would go on sale and it did for $99! Thanks but I think my version will do just fine.

I used vintage Simplicity 8722.  It's marked as a "jiffy" dress on the pattern and I assume this is because it can be made in a flash.  I think they marked my pattern wrong and meant to tag it as "eternity" because that's how long it took me. 

The invisible zip proved to be a challenge. I haven't inserted too many of these so every time it comes to put one in I get confused and have to revisit a you tube video.  This time I watched Sunni's free class on Craftsy, "Mastering Zipper Techniques".  It was a big help and it's amazing how Sunni's zippers look so damn perfect! I hope to be that one day!  Another time consumer for me on this dress was the keyhole neckline.  I was so scared about it right off the bat that once it came time to do the deed I found myself doing everything else but.  You know like cleaning out the refrigerator, shampooing carpets, going in for a root canal....  But seriously there was nothing to be scared about.  The instructions were pretty clear.  To help me stitch a perfect keyhole I traced the keyhole pattern on tracing paper, cut it out and laid it on my fabric and traced around the cutout.  Easy peasy...

Beside sewing the keyhole another first for me was the back contour darts and finishing the armholes with bias binding.  (I also referred to video tutorials).  I intended on sleeves but when I pinned them on and tried it on it was way too constricting.  I always have this problem with sleeves and I can't figure out what the problem is.  Am I too wide in the shoulders maybe? Do I need to adjust the  armscye (the world itself sounds intimidating)? I rather like the way it looks without sleeves anyways and I plan on pairing it with a white cropped cardigan (for the office cuz it's always cold).

She's taken aback and cannot believe what she's seeing.  She screams in terror and Vito rushes in...

"Hey what's all the noise about, you woke me up from my nap? And what for may I ask?" he barks.

 

"Why you no good sneaky *beeeeep*" she yells.  

Vito barks, "I don't understand, what's the big deal??  He's only eating a bowl of Ben & Jerry's Cannoli ice cream in bed!" 

"Only a bowl you say Vito??" Ms. Shannon yells, "It looks like he's devouring it right out of the carton and it's a limited batch.  He knows cannolis are my favorite. Why I never even got to taste it first before he ate it all! And they aren't going to make it ever again! I'll never get to try it! Oh the horror and agony!!"

"Calm down crazy lady! There's more in the freezer, follow me!" Vito leads the way.

With a look of disgust Ms. Shannon looks at her husband before walking out the door and says, "You better hope this Pug is right!"

 

 

Ms. Shannon walks back down to the kitchen where Vito has a spoon and a pint of Ben & Jerry's cannoli ice cream waiting for her on the table. She sits down at the table and for once all is right in the world...

~ THE END ~

'I, Shannon of Shanni Loves..., sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '13. I endeavor to wear one handmade or refashioned garment at least twice a week for the duration of May 2013' 

Participating in Me-Made-May was one of my sewing goals for the year.  I have been excited about it since I found out about it last year.  I only wish I had more Spring garments to wear so I could do more than twice a week.  I'm going to really be pushing myself for the two because my handmade Spring collection consists of like 3 or 4 items I actually like to wear, and I'm trying not to do any repeats.  So to prepare I was in quite a sewing frenzy today.  I've started on a pair of red crop pants...

The fabric is wool blend gabardine from Mood and just let me say it's a dream to work with.  So far I'm really liking this pattern but we'll see how "Amazing" it is after I've got them completed.  

I also started on my Mad Men challenge.  Yes I know Friday is the day.  I really had every intention of skipping this challenge because I just wasn't feeling it and I didn't think I'd have time to finish.  But it just takes that one little push from someone to get me motivated.  Simply it was just a comment I got today from Rosy @ Sewingadicta asking me how my project was coming along.  I didn't think any of you would notice if I just skipped the challenge so I was stoked to come to the realization that you are excited to see what I do (even if I'm not sometimes)!  So I washed my fabric and have it cut and ready to go.  It's a fairly simple pattern so I should have no problem getting it finished by Friday, that is if I don't have any fitting issues (knock on wood).  Here's my inspiration...(it's changed quite a bit from my original plans)

Question for you.. Have you ever had that one project you were so excited about, worked on it night and day, dreamed about it, pined over it, daydreamed about it (ok you catch my drift) and when your so close to having it completed you just decide you don't like it anymore and would rather run it through a wood chipper or play five finger roulette with your cutting shears than to finish it? No? Yes?  Well that was me and this dress...

It's a lot of the reason I wanted to skip my Mad men dress.  I know it's not so bad, it could use a hem job and a zipper but I'm just not in love with it anymore.  It's retro Butterick 5209.  I've loved other versions I've seen out there in Sewing Land.  I was determined Saturday to finish it no matter what.  It's fully lined and I had the hardest time following the instructions.  That put me in a mood so when it took me 5 hours to get one side of the zipper in I was ready to chuck it out the window (into that wood chipper). .  I can't really explain why it took me 5 hours to install one side of the zip.  The fabric and lining was just so fiddly.  It just didn't want to cooperate and I was trying to be snazzy and put the zipper in between the fabric and lining.  Before giving up I decided to try it on again for the hundredth time and realized even if I did finish it I would never wear it.  No sense in wasting 5 more hours of my life so I am now planning on turning it into a skirt so please ask me about it later.  

Ok on to the giveaway.  Because I love you all so much and I happened upon a pattern sale the other day I wanted to share the love.  You could have in your hands one of Gertie's patterns.  

Either Butterick 5859
         Crop top and crop pants

So if you would like to win one of these all you need to do is comment below and tell me which pattern you would like.  Please make sure to leave either an email address or your blog address so I can reach you if you win.  Also just for fun, since I'm watching Mad Men as I type, tell me are you more of a Don gal or does Roger do it for you?  I personally think Roger is mighty dapper and Don is just a dog.  Well pretty much all the men in the show are dogs aren't they?  Good Luck!  I will pick a winner next Sunday, April 21st.