Free Spirit Tank & weird high school references. Good times.

*This entire post is about a muslin. No pretty pics here, just the straight shit.

Not too long ago Patterns for Pirates introduced the Free Spirit Tank. It's so cute and I immediately fell in love with it. The way it flows from a close fitting bodice to flowy skirting is just perfect. Kudos to you Judy Hale for being a genius. This shirt is perfect for almost every....body.

The problem is that I am fat. Fat people do not wear tanks. Fat people are supposed to wear tents and HIDE because we're so gross or something (I would really like to thank a couple guys from RHS class of 1987 for ruining any hope I ever had for a positive body image but hey I digress.They know they were assholes and I wasn't the only person they made miserable).

Dudes, I had to add sleeves. Not much but something. Or I wouldn't love my tank the way i want to.

Jodi Baird of Jocole Patterns is like the designer version of every woman. She always helps and offers free modifications to her patterns because she understands what it's like to BE us. So I started my research at the Jocole blog. Lo and behold, I found directions on how to add sleeves to the Crossover Tunic or Dress , which is a lovely pattern in it's own right and I totally recommend you try it if you haven't. (I think i saw in my email this morning that she's having a 25% off sale this weekend to celebrate Memorial Day). 

Great! Now I had instructions on how to add sleeves! Woohoo! I simply followed the directions and re-drew the shoulders and armscyes so that I could add cute little cap sleeves.

that may or may not be cherry scented marker, you dunno

And here is how the muslin turned out:

I guess the point of this post is that you can't be afraid to try new things. I loved the look of that tank but I knew it wasn't right for me because of my body so I took a few minutes and I made the pattern right for me. You can too.

One Thimble Issue 7!!!!!

 How excited am I to be here today to talk to you about One Thimble Issue 7?! If you haven't heard, One Thimble is an e-zine that offers tips, tricks, PATTERNS and just so much more. Let me give you a little peek: 

I know right! It's good stuff! I was asked to review this Issue and I am so happy to say it was wonderful. For the first time in my life, someone has explained and shown me EXACTLY how to install a magnetic snap! Valuable information! Thank you, One Thimble!

Obviously, I  REALLY dig the fact that this issue is packed with 10 patterns and they include something for girls, boys AND women. Even a little something for Barbie!

There are even articles on how to market your page or shop; how to best use Pinterest. I don't want to give too much away but I definitely enjoyed this issue very much and I am totally hooked on this e-zine. I even learned all about working with wool felt, which I never actually considered before....I wonder if they have that at my local fabric shop.....

I was asked to sew 2 of the patterns in this issue:

 Lil Red Capelet & Furry Friends Hood by The Toffee Tree. Oh it's so CUTE! I would dearly love to show you the ones I made ....but ...I am no longer allowed to play with the 11.5" fashion dolls. There was an...incident. Apparently the furry friends are NOT allowed to take over Barbie village and enslave the other dolls in the enchanted ....bedroom floor.... There is apparently no world domination by furry friends allowed. Who knew?

NO REGRETS! hehe

I also got to sew the Tahlia Maxi Skirt by Little Moo Designs. Isn;t it so cute? Now I am not normally a maxi skirt kind of girl. In fact, this was the first maxi skirt I ever sewed and the second one too! The instructions are sooooooooooooooo easy to understand that I, literally, made 2 of these skirts in one night. The very best part is that it's completely based on your measurements so it's a perfect fit! I loved it. In fact, I wore one of my Tahlia maxi skirts today :) It's fast and easy and fun to wear. Can't ask for much more than that, huh?

 This is the first Maxi Skirt I ever made! I love, love, love it. It's made with some real soft, slinky polyester knit fabric that feels real good swishing around my legs lol. I love this skirt, i even like this pic because it gives you a good idea of who I am. In fact, this maxi is what I wore today. Thanks, One Thimble and Little Moo.

This is my second because one of these skirts simply wasn't enough. This time I used an Art Gallery knit that I picked up at Whimsical Fabric. It's really soft and I love it a lot. It's part of the Petal and Plume line.




I have had so much fun on this blog tour. I hope you'll join us for the rest of the tour :)

Are you looking forward to seeing more of the range of patterns from One Thimble's Issue 7? Follow the blog tour using the links below;

• Wednesday 13th May 2015 - Molly and Mama and pen, seb & rox and From a Box
• Thursday 14th May 2015 - Handmade Boy
• Friday 15th May 2015 - The Toffee Tree and Horris and Deedle
• Saturday 16th may 2015 - Sewvolution and FABulous Home Sewn
• Sunday 17th May 2015 - Sew Today, Clean Tomorrow and Sprouting JubeJube
• Monday 18th May 2015 - Sew Happily Ever After and Big Stitches, little stitches and Made By Sara
• Tuesday 19th May 2015 - Phat Quarters Blog and Hibbadoray
• Wednesday 20th May 2015 - Mabey She Made It and Blue Wren Handmade

Summer Wardrobe Capsule Sewalong Fat Girl Style hehe

Hi, everybody out there in blogville! *waves excitedly

This summer, I have decided is the summer of me. I want to feel better about myself and what better way to go about it than to completely make myself over into the person I feel like inside? I felt overwhelmed by this project almost as soon as I made the decision lol. Luckily for me, I saw this blog post.  Becca Duval of Free Notion made it her mission to help women everywhere understand the capsule wardrobe idea and make it less overwhelming. Hats off to Becca, everybody! yay! Thanks, Becca!

I wanted to chronicle my journey from baggy ass men's undershirts and  blue jean cutoff shorts to .... however I end up looking. Vague is good, right? lol No, vague is NOT good when it comes to dressing right for our bodies and coloring. After 45 years, I am done hiding my body. This is the year I get to wear pretty clothes that fit!

The first thing we did as part of the capsule wardrobe process was to purge our closets and select 3 items that we kept and list WHY we kept those items. I kept...you guessed it... my white men's undershirts, Walmart skinny jeans and really old, paint spattered blue jean cutoffs lol.Why? Because I can hide behind them! They gotta go.

Notice the whole where the back pocket connects lol keepin it classy 

Obviously I need to make some radical changes. How do i go about it? How will I know what will look good on me? Free Notion helped again! we did a wardrobe analysis. It sounds fancy but all I really did was decide what holes I needed to fill in my "wardrobe" (all of them!!). Then I needed more information about MYSELF....dun dun dun....the great unknown. 

Step 1 was to determine my body type. This is the Body Shape Calculator that I used. I'm an apple or oval shaped person. No big shocker there. It's pretty obvious to see that I carry my weight in my midsection. Some of the characteristics of an apple body shape are:

• Rounded shoulders
• hehe flat booty
• Nice legs
• Full belly
• Average to big ole boooobies (sorry, i am NOT mature).

Yep! That's me, alright!

Step 2 was determining a color palette!  haha It was really hard because you want to choose colors that you like to look at instead of colors that are likely to look good on you. THESE are the colors I have chosen. I think they'll transition well into fall. I've also added lime green because I think i might love it.

Now, dear readers, you are all caught up with me on my summer capsule wardrobe sewing odyssey. Next time, I will come back with a list of patterns that I've chosen for my capsule and you can hold my hand while I try to look attractive and put together! 

Women's BundleUp Blog Tour

OMG OMG can you believe they picked me for the Women's BundleUP Blog Tour? hehe They surely did and boy oh boy do i have some awesomeness to show you!! I tried FOUR of the patterns in the bundle! Fluffy girls gotta represent, am I right?

This bundle has so much to offer for every shape. The first design that I tried was the Jocole Ladies A Line Shift Dress. It's fitted with darts at the bust and a zipper in the back. It flatters my body shape in the most joyous way imaginable. Since it's a Jocole pattern, it uses her standard 3/8" seam allowance, the pattern is beautifully drafted with long illustrated instructions that include both photos and line drawings as well as a quick guide for those who prefer brevity in the instructions or for impatient people like myself.

I feel very much like a lady when i wear this. Very Jackie O! I even made myself a little purse to go with it.

I also tried Filles à Maman Clemence Shorts and the EYMM Essentials, both a pretty bold move for a fluffy lady but I'm a fashion pioneer so I went for it. Allow me to just take a moment to GUSH about the EYMM Essentials. I made the cami with the extra support band. It's pretty AND I don't have to wear a bra! I did change the pattern a bit because of my size and...well....because I knew I'd be making this blog post lol. 

I made the skirt portion just a little gathered to try and hide my mid-section. I think it worked pretty well. I didn't expect to fall in love with this pattern but I did. It's great. There is, literally,  an option for every body....even mine.

These are my Clemence shorts. I chose to leave the scallop off because i felt that it would draw attention to my midsection. With that being said, my shorts fit really well and I cannot believe I made these snazzy shorts! I added lace at the hem. It was my first Filles à Maman pattern and I am terribly impressed. 

My Clemence shorts in all their glory

EYMM Essentials Cami

I love these pieces and I can't wait to wear them all summer long!










Last, but certainly not least, I made the Bluezette dress by Love Notions! I chose the wrong fabric and the wrong style for my body and somehow... IT STILL LOOKS AWESOME! Here, judge for yourself:

I am a huge Love Notions fan. The pattern was well written and super easy to follow with so many fantastic options. Next time, I'm going for the tulip skirt with the blousey bodice or no...the circle skirt with the fitted bodice. There's just so many different things you can do with this dress!

Every one of these patterns was fun to sew and make me feel beautiful when I wear them!  If you don't believe me, check out the rest of the blog tour: