February - Pattern - Cinnamon

Brianna Figueroa's pin on Pinterest.

I can't believe half the month is over and I am just now starting my Pattern Inspiration for February! That was definitely not the intention. I am glad that I don't have extremely lofty goals this year as I am finding it hard to accomplish even these smaller ones. That isn't to say that things aren't progressing in my sewing room. It's just much slower going than I would like. I also had unexpected company this month, but it was nice!

Here is a brief update of what I have going on before we start the main topic for February.I have the Friendship Braid Quilt that I started on last year pieced and pin based; ready to start the actual quilting process. I also started a new Hazel dress this month that is nearly complete. I have two knitting projects on the needles, a simple short row scarf that is perfect for the nights that I am too tired to do much but still want something to work on and a cable scarf that is a bit more complicated. I hope to finish these as we near the end of the month.



This month's project which is Colette Pattern's Cinnamon Slip Dress has not even better started - unless printing the pattern and prewashing the fabric counts? I am going to have to go ahead and say it does! I thought since I had a long weekend for President's day that I would come out ahead but the previously mentioned unexpected company meant my project took a back burner to being a hostess.

Since I intend to wear this as a lounge dress/night gown I chose a medium blue, cotton voile for the fabric. The fabric is soft and absolutely gorgeous. The best part is I got it this past year when the local fabric store decided to only sell sewing machines and purchased it for a steal!

I will probably add a simple lace trim, but nothing too fancy since this is also a test garment of sorts being my first time to make this pattern. If all goes well I might make a summer dress version. That is the great thing about this pattern there are super cute versions for both lounge wear and everyday wear.

Wish me luck! I am going to need it to get this finished this month!

Chambray Laurel

Pattern:  Colette Pattern's Laurel
Fabric:  Chambray from Baron's Fabric in Woodland Hills
Styled with: Blue Wedges (I have had them for years and forgot where I purchased them)


Let me tell you first that I love this pattern!  It is simply beautiful and sews up fast.  It is a great way to let a good piece of fabric "do the talking".  However, something is just wrong with this version and I don't know what.  Maybe the hem length?

I made this up in a Chambray from the local fabric store, which sadly is going out of business or rather has decided to only sell sewing machines. I purchased the last of the bolt at a steal and had some to spare after making this dress (Yay)! 

I also found a beautiful trim at our local vintage market which occurs one weekend of every month.  I really should take pictures next time I go.  It is has a wide array of vintage things for just about any collector and is huge.

I thought this might be sort of a homage to the original chambray shirt with a nautical twist with the trim.  I don't know what do you think?  Does it work?  Or should I modification?

Finished Project - Scallop Hazel

Pattern: Colette Pattern's Hazel 
Fabric: Black and White Polka Dot Eyelet with Scallop border (if I remember correctly it was from                           Fabric.com)
Styled with:  Black flats and a white belt

It probably goes without saying but the Hazel is one of my favorite summer dress patterns.  It looks great in a variety of fabrics and sews up quick and easy.  Also, depending on how you style it, can be dressy or more casual.

For this revision, I really wanted to do something with a scallop hem.  I had never done this before but I read through but I read through this tutorial provided by Colette patterns before beginning.  This really helped take a lot of the guess work out of the process and on my first try everything lined up perfectly!

My only change to the basic pattern was to turn the regular straps into a Halter that ties in the back.  Given that I already have a couple Hazel dresses and wanted this to be a go to casual summer dress it fit.

PS. You probably noticed, I got my hair cut a few weeks ago.  It is a shoulder length layered style that I never really pictured as something that would look good on me.  However, I found it is much more lively than my long hair and surprisingly I can style it more ways!

Cherry Licorice

I can't believe it has taken me so long to post pictures of this dress!  This was the final garment I made for Sew Colette last year, but due to unforeseen circumstances I really didn't finish it until early this year. 

I have had a hard time finding time to blog lately and an even harder time getting photos taken.  I have still been sewing though and hope to get back on track in the coming months.  I had a few things that just were not working for me and some of that has been resolved lately.  Back to the dress...



I have to tell you I made this out of quilting cotton from Joann's, a mistake I probably won't make again.  It is a pretty dress and I have got a lot of wear out of it, but it seems stiffer and heavier than other quilting cottons.

I was also really distracted while making this dress and was only sewing in about 15 minute increments or less during this time, I ended up cutting out the lining for the dress 2 other times due to mistakes with sewing, but I finally finished.  I would love to make another of these dresses now that I am finding more time to sew.


Pattern:  Colette Sewing Handbook  - Licorice Dress
Fabric - Cherry Cotton
Styled with: Red Shoes from Nine West (barely seen in top photo)

What happened to Violet?

As part of the Spring/Summer Palette challenge I originally intended to make a Violet blouse to go with my pink Iris shorts out of this Nani Iro fabric. I have noted that I need more beautiful blouses to go not only with the shorts I was making, but also with all the wonderful skirts in my closet and even the few pairs of pants.

However, I have been crazy addicted to the Hazel pattern.  The fit and aesthetic of the pattern is just so me.  In a moment of weakness I gave in and here it is another Hazel dress. 

I have been thinking more and more of challenging myself in my sewing and with doing something other than picking a fabric and a pattern and coming up with a basic dress.  I wanted to challenge myself to tastefully and with a discerning eye add embellishment and notions.  I think Project Runway and Tim Gunn saying "this concerns me" and "is this really necessary" but know I also need to individualize my garments to set myself apart.

I love love love lace! A lot of the garments I have purchased in the past have things like lace, embroidery, bows.  I think I dabble in a lot of trends, but my person style tends to always come back to being more whimsical and romantic.  Since these are the things I feel best in and feel are more me.  I should embrace that!  So, I ended up purchasing this cream colored lace trim to go around the bottom of the dress.  I pinned the lace in place around the bottom of the hem and lace fell right around my knee cap and looked very old lady.  I tried experimenting and shortening the hem so the lace fell right about the knee, but that just didn't look right either. After playing around with the lace for a bit I finally decided on a belt/waist type embellishment.  I am glad that I did!  I believe it ended up giving the dress the romantic feel I was going for while still being a bit modern.  What do you think?

Spring/Summer Palette Challenge

I am so excited that I will be joining in the fun of the Spring/Summer palette challenge hosted by Colette patterns. I had a hard time with the Fall palette challenge.  It was hard to stay motivated since we do not have much of a fall in California and I also suffered from time constraints, material shortages and the like.  Not this time!

Spring time in California is gorgeous!  And I have been itching to get out in the sunshine in beautiful sun dresses and shorts! So, I decided that I would sew 4 sun dresses, a summery capelet, 3 pairs of shorts and a blouse to go with each pair of shorts!  It sounds like quite the feat but the shorts will be made out of the same pattern with just some simple modifications and most of the patterns are rated as beginner.

Here is the inspirational/mood board that I put together. My inspirations are a little bit vintage, rockabilly, one part romantic, and a little bit modern.

Here are the patterns/fabric I will be using:

1. Truffle in a mint and white polka dot cotton.  I believe this is a voile or lawn as it is very light weight.  I am lining the entire dress in a white cotton batiste.  This was a purchase back in December from my trip to Portland.  This garment is also part of the Sew Colette Sew along I have been participating in.  I am behind - just a little as this was March's garment but I will be finishing it here for the 1st week of this challenge.

2. Hazel  in pink and white striped cotton.  I have two yards exactly of this fabric so I may need to get creative.  My thought is to add in and eyelet to the bodice triangle but I still want to feature some nice stripe action!  This was also a fabric that I picked up on my trip last trip to Portland

3. Hazel #2 I saw Gertie in this beautiful green and purple floral print from Ascher studios and I nearly swooned!  I had to have this fabric and thought it would make a perfect Hazel!  By the way, I realized that Gertie is like the Kate Middleton of the sewing world!  I wasn't the only one calling in/coming in to get this fabric after having seen it on Gertie's blog and they were nearly out!

4. Lily  in a lovely lilac twill.

5. Iris x 3 in pale pink, sunny yellow, and bright mint twills! I plan to add cute buttons and maybe even scalloped edges to at least a pair of these!

6.  Taffy in a beautiful yellow and white polka dot blouse weight cotton.  This is also part of the Sew Colette Sew along!

7.  Violet in this beautiful Nani Iro floral print.

8. Vintage Advance 8339 version 1 in a mint and white striped shirting.

9. Butterick B5032 the sun dress capelet in a white daisy lawn.

** I do have a bonus garment! The Licorice which is also part of the Sew Colette challenge.  I didn't include it in my palette because I have not been able to chose a fabric!

Sew Colette - Meringue Skirt and End of the Month Review

I am very excited to have completed the first garment in the Sew Colette Sew-Along - The Meringue Skirt!  I guess you can say I cheated since I have made it once before (I skipped the muslin portion of this Sew-along).  The scallops were even easier and came out even crisper then second time, and I am still convinced I could make this in every color of the rainbow!

Pattern:  Meringue from The Colette Sewing Handbook

Fabric: Black Twill (leftover from a pair of shorts that ended up being a sewing mishap)

Paired with:  All for Love of Top from Modcloth and Iron Fist Hells from JustFab.com

This month was pretty successful - I started the month out by finishing a UFO pair of Madeline's (the free mini-bloomer pattern from Colette's).  They had been waiting on the perfect color of thread.  I finished both the Linen Peony Dress and the Meringue Skirt above and even after a week long delay while working on the muslin I caught up on the Sew Along for the Minrou Jacket.  Lastly, I ended up finishing a pair of StarWars pajama pants for a friend.  I'll post pictures of that soon!

Finished Peony Dress!

I just knew after sewing up the bright yellow Peony dress during the Fall Palette Challenge that I was going to love this pattern!  Sadly, I have not worn the yellow dress once.  I am  going to have to find a way of toning the color down to something more suitable for me.  However, this dress is for sure to get a lot of wear!  The fabric is a gorgeous linen given to  me by mother-inlaw out of her stash.  I never thought to ask her what she imagined making out of it when she bought it - but I hope I did it justice!  The belt fabric is a silk  chiffon I picked up during my trip to Portland - just for this dress.   Since I had made this dress before the construction details were fairly easy.  I can't believe I am going to  admit this next part.  The meringue skirt was the first garment where I ironed all seams  after sewing them, seeing the difference this really makes during construction I ironed after every step for this dress.  The ironing will helps give the dress a more professional  finish.  I guess now it is time to invest in a good tailor's ham and seam roll!

Cherry Meringue skirt with Candy Cane Taffy Blouse

What a yummy description, right?  While I am sure those flavors more than likely wouldn't go together, the  skirt and blouse- do!  I finished both of these garments right after I got  the Colette's Sewing Handbook in November, but was a little slow on posting at the end  of the year.   Anyone who wants to learn sewing or even hone their skills should pick this  book up!  The 5 patterns included are all gorgeous and the instructions and encouragement  provided by Sarai Mitnick the author and proprietress of Colette's patterns makes the book  a steal!    Now about the skirt... the material is a bottom weight cotton poplin which was a breeze to sew.   I don't want to give away the extra tips that Sarai provided in the book, but I will tell you that I  used her methods for sewing the invisible zipper and for getting the best finish on scallop bottom  and they both came out lovely.  The invisible zipper is the best I have installed to-date and this task which always disappointed me and made my garments look less finished is now a breeze!  For the Taffy blouse, I made the bias tape for the finish using the continuous bias tape method  for the first time.  I will definitely be using that again!  I wasn't as even with cutting my strips as I would like to have been but once ironed and sewn onto the garment - you really wouldn't know.  Cutting the Chiffon was an absolute nightmare and I was almost afraid the shapes I was left with at the end would not fit but I managed to make them work, and a few days later Sunni from a Fashionable Stitch came out with this great tip for cutting these types of garment.  I am extremely please with the way both of these turned out and hope to make each of them in different color combinations at a later date!

Final Post for Fall Palette Challenge

The Fall Palette Challenge was not completely successful for me. I finished 4 out of the 5 garments, but produced one that I will never wear.

My lessons learned from the challenge were plenty! First, I was not totally open with myself on what I would wear vs. what I wouldn't. I wanted to stay on a budget and use fabric I already owned. I ended up using a very bright yellow that I bought through an online purchase that I knew wasn't what I wanted.

I was constantly waiting on patterns or waiting on fabric which resulted in me either being way behind scheduled or way ahead of schedule. Then work got too busy and I just wasn't able to concentrate on my sewing as much as I had liked. I ended up working on and finishing some items that were not part of my challenge but then did not complete the entire challenge either.

The positive side is that I made several fall items that I have already worn again and again! I got a lot of practice in tracing patterns and making adjustments to the patterns to fit my body and practiced finishing my garments nicely. All in all I am ready to attack the Spring challenge when it arrives with even more enthusiasm.

The cream corduroy clovers pictured above were the final item I made towards the fall challenge. They are super comfortable and I can't wait to make more clover pants!

The construction was a breeze especially since I left the pockets out. I keep searching for them - so, the next pair I am definitely going to add them back in. I can't wait to make the Capri version for Spring and some wool version for the cooler months!

The top is an Ice blue Georgette Pendrell blouse that I made in between the challenge items. It was my first time sewing with silk and it took a lot longer to put this blouse together than my previous cotton version. This is another item I would love to make again and again!

Later this week I'll be posting my first completed item from the Colette Sewing Handbook!

New Blog Name and Other Updates!

Some of you may have noticed that I changed the name of the blog to something that I felt fit my style and personality a lot more! It took awhile to decide on something I was completely happy about, but here it is the American Girl Dreaming!

I have had a little bit of a break from blogging, but I have been very busy sewing and planning and more!

Fall Palette Challenge: I plan to do a review of my Fall Palette Challenge sometimes next week after I get pictures of my final item the Cream Cord Clover pants.

November: The picture at the top of this post is the Cherry Meringue Dres image from Modcloth.com. I was so excited when they announced this dress would dayview in time for the holidays. I love the scallop like ruffles with the pretty red waistband! However, I guess things didn't work out and they won't be carrying it for this holiday season - huge bummer. Long story short, this cherry meringue was stuck in my head and started work on a Meringue skirt for the new Colette patterns book in a beautiful red bottom weight poplin and wouldn't you know I kept calling it my Cherry Meringue Skirt! I'll have pictures of that up next week as well as my new Taffy blouse!

Other news I have several projects cut and on the table a beautiful linen asian inspired floral Peony dress (Colette patterns), a white cotton sateen Pastille dress (Colette patterns), and I have reopened my (UFO) the Vintage Vogue Floral house dress.

Another big news event and this is in the beginning stages, but I have been busy designing and drafting a dog clothes line brought on by my experiences and disappointments when making a coat for both Pandora and Gizmo. More to come on that later!

Fall Palette Challenge - Garment #3

Pattern: Peony from Colette Patterns
Fabric: Kona Cotton Sunflower Yellow
Styled with: Zoya shoes from Just Fab.

First, I have to say I am totally in love with the Peony pattern!  The pattern sewed up so nicely and the instructions were amazingly clear.  I pretty much started the actual sewing on Friday and had a finished dress other than the belt by Monday. I have another lined up already, in a black pique.  The one thing I really want to change for this dress is the bodice facing.  You have a facing which you tack down to the armholes but other than that pretty much hangs freely.  I think I would prefer to line the bodice completely enclosing in all the darts and preventing the facing from potentially popping up.

I have to tell you I was somewhat skeptical of the fabric.  This was initially an online purchase gone wrong.  First they didn't have what I wanted in stock, and then when I went online to quickly pick out a substitute on my monitor the color looked like a nice buttery yellow.  It was named Sunflower yellow, so if I had really paid attention I probably wouldn't have made the mistake.  I ended up not using it for the intended pattern and added it to my somewhat small stash.

Since I am newer to sewing and on a budget I don't have an incredibly large stash, but when putting together my challenge ideas - I really tried to pick where I could from the stash and save the allotted spending money for must haves (like the new Colette patterns).

I realized Peony was a perfect match for this fabric because of the removable cummerbund style belt!  The belt serves as a perfect way to tone down the yellow fabric.  While pictured above you see only the yellow with and without a yellow belt.  My plan is to make a chocolate brown and/or a black belt that can be worn with the dress to hopefully tone the look down some.

I am not completely convinced this dress will get a whole lot of wear. But I do work for a Solar Panel manufacturing company and yellow is one of our signature colors - so perhaps a great motivational work outfit?

(PS this was supposed to be tomorrow (Thursday's post) but I am putting it up early)

The Perfect Fit

As a beginner in the sewing world I have been very intimidated by pattern alterations! The thought of potentially ruining the pattern or spending so much time tracing, drafting, and making muslins that a finished garment never sees the light day - was scary!

Initially I also thought of a pattern much like a ready to wear garment. Pick your size (sew it up for the sewers) and ready to wear! Then I realized how many items I try on only to put back due to fit issues and just not looking right on my body. So, why would I accept the notion of sewing as if I am making ready to wear clothing? Why would I need take the time to ensure the item fit me just right?

So, off I went with my next Fall Challenge pattern the Peony from Colette's in hand.

I had to get accurate measurements first which I did by using a tape measure and standing in front of my full length mirror. You can find a great guide on taking your measurements over on the Sewaholic blog as part of the Pendrell Sew Along (http://sewaholic.net/pendrell-sew-along-measuring-and-choosing-your-size/).

I found for Colette's patterns I fit in a 10 for the bust and a 14 for both waist and hips! I also realized that due to my high bust measurements I am actually a C cup. I have heard that most women are wearing the wrong bra size I didn't realize this statistic actually included me. But this was good news since Colette's patterns are drafted with bustier girls in mind if I was the B I thought I was I would be doing an SBA (small bust adjustment). As it stood I really only needed to cut the bodice pieces in a 10 and the waistband/skirt pieces in a 14. However, I needed to ensure the bodice tapered to the larger size.

So, with my french curve/ruler, some Butcher's paper (great for tracing and comes on a larger roll), and pencil in hand. I set out to make the alterations with a pattern. A quick bodice test on muslin later - I was off and sewing up the Peony pattern with a much better fit than I would have from anything ready to wear or if I had just cut the size 14 and dealt with the bigger bust.

All of my fears were laid to rest, my pattern is actually in better condition since I only used it to trace, the muslin was quicker than expected, and I should have a finished dressed in the next day or two.

Stay tuned for the finished Peony dress!

Fall Challenge Garment #2 - The Emma Pillsbury Orange Skirt

Pattern: Simplicity 2315 Version C
Fabric: Orange Suiting (primarily linen hence the wrinkles)
Styled with: Beige Heels from JustFab and Idee Fixe top from Modcloth, scarf and cardigan unknown.

Wow! My second completed item for the Fall Palette Challenge! My new orange skirt with bow inspired by Emma Pillsbury in Glee. To really get the effect I was going for I probably should have chosen a pattern without front pleats and with a more structured bow. However, I love the color of this skirt and the pencil skirt is roomier than I initially expected (I am sure I have the bit of stretch in the fabric coupled with the back vent to thank for that).
I changed a few things up during the construction of this version - I used French Seams rather than my sewing machine's overlock stitch and serged the seams/unfinished edges on the back vent.
I see this being my go-to skirt of the season! I also plan on pairing it with a cream Jasmine (from Colette patterns) blouse and seeing if I can pull of a true Emma Pillsbury outfit double bows and all!

Next up for the Fall Palette Challenge is the Yellow Peony dress from Colette Patterns! The new Fall patterns have shipped and are on their way! I am very excited to make this dress! I have plans to make two different versions of the removal cumberbund style belt one using the original yellow fabric and another out of a chocolate silk (incase the intense yellow is just too much).
Colette Patterns also announced a Clover pants sew-along starting in October. If you remember from my mood board post this was the one item that really had me intimidated and I was willing to drop if the going got tough. With the sew-along I am pretty confident my fall challenge will be stamped Mission Accomplished.
In the meantime, while I wait for the rest of my challenge patterns to arrive I am taking a break and sewing up some Fall/Winter Pajama bottoms for the Mr., which he has promised to model for the blog!

Gardening and Sewing

Mr. and I are on vacation for the rest of the week! Yay!! It has been a pretty crazy year for us and we have been looking forward to a little relaxation time at home. We spent the morning planting a mini herb garden full of basil, oregano, mint, lemon balm and cilantro.

Afterwards I was able to get a few quick snapshots taken of one of my latest projects.

The Pendrell top with three different version pleated sleeves (pictured above), ruffle sleeves and sleeveless is very versatile! I love that it looks great with jeans as well as skirts! I am already working on another.

This was my second Ginger skirt, but by far my favorite in a nice linen blend that doesn't wrinkle! I am thinking that I need to do a hip adjustment to the pattern because it does ride up a little, but otherwise perfect for dress up days at work!

Pendrell Top - www.sewaholicpattern.com
Ginger Skirt - www.colettepatterns.com