I want a lightweight fleece cardigan styled how I want it in colors I want. Everything in the stores is too heavy. So I've been accumulating fleece and patterns and zippers. 

I haven't had the motivation to tackle a zip-up cardigan, and the fleece I've collected doesn't feel quite right for what I have in mind. But I decided one day to get rid of some fleece and make a pullover. I used Jalie 2676 again because I thought I liked the way it fits. 

The first one I made in gray fleece. I made the neckline bigger, and it looks a little wonky. I tried adding a binding in fleece but it was too bulky, so I folded the neckline down. I'll wear this to do work in. 

The next one I made in the camo fleece I have. It's more lightweight, but it is a little busy! I left the neckline higher. I tried a band on this one too and took it off because it was too bulky. It's okay. It will work around the house.

Here's a close up of the neckline. A little wonky.

In preparation for the trip west, I wanted a new swimsuit. I figured I would try to make one. I have a couple patterns. One is from Mood (Cordia) and one is from Cashmerette (Marblehead). Both have bikini-style bottoms. I like the Cordia, but I knew my husband wouldn't, so Marblehead it was.

I realized I wanted more coverage than a bikini bottom, and what I really wanted was the same thing as one of my tennis skorts. They are comfortable and they look acceptable as swimwear.  When I remembered I had 2 skorts already made out of swimwear fabric and that I'd only have to make a top, I was stoked.

I had leftover fabric for both, but I had time to make only one. I actually had barely enough. I had some lightweight swim lining.

The Marblehead has a lining that is meant for support. It's built like a bra. There are four freaking pieces for the cups. My lining fabric was too thin but it's all I had. The lining was more complex than expected, but it came together very well. The pattern is well drafted.

The top has a closure in the band. I didn't have the hardware so I improvised and adjusted the band so I could put a snap in. The top also has an optional closure higher up in the bra, but I opted out because my brain was already on overload.  But when I put the top on, I realized I could use some help keeping it closed. The ties worked, but they were working hard if you know what I mean. So I added a hook and eye after the fact.

It's okay. I don't like the back. It will do for the hot tub. Maybe the pool but it's got to be pretty hot before I'll go in a pool.

Owing to foot surgery and a long recovery with no tennis, no walking, no driving, I have perhaps a little too much free time. I got carried away making this composite of all the different dresses and skirts I have made.

I almost never wear dresses or skirts! Wearing them involves difficulties. If it's not the fear of being cold, it's the question of footwear. If it is summer, a dress can be nice unless I'm going into a store or restaurant. Then it may as well be winter.  There is no point going to a restaurant in a dress. In the winter it's too cold in general. And then if I can't wear tennis shoes or maybe sandals, I am not doing it. I'm just not into being uncomfortable. 

​Anywho. I wondered what style I look good in. 

From left: Poppy Wrap, Gray Faux Wrap, Leopard Faux Wrap, Dolman Dress, Hunchback Dress, and Regency-esque Dress

From left: Jalie Knit Dress, Black-and-Blue-Knit Sheath, Blue-Linen Sheath, Wetsuit, Superhero Gap-Copy Dress, Purple Holy-Grail Dress, and Quasimodo Dress

From left: Black and White Lawn Shirtdress, Upton, Deer & Doe Disaster, African Wax Print, Sloper No. 4, Jumper, and Blue-Linen Harvey Shirtdress

From left: Zebra Wrap, Polka-Dot Wrap, White-Linen Harvey, Purple Jalie Dress, Harlequin Dress, Spiderman Gap-Copy Dress, Moneta

From left: Flowery Long Gathered Skirt, Blue Wide-Waist Gathered Skirt, Pink Skirt, Shark Skirt, Maria's Wedding Skirt, Bossa Nova Skirt, and Camping Shower Sweatshirt Dress

From left: Self-drafted Corduroy Skirt, Swirly Bossa Nova Skirt, Grandma Hipster Skirt, Concert Solo Skirt, Homespun Tragedy Skirt

From left: Red Velvet Fail, Green-and-Gray-Knit Sheath, Black-and-White-Knit Sheath, Pink Clingy Knit Sheath, Gathered Concert Skirt​, Bossa Nova Concert Skirt

From left:  Jalie Gored Skirt, New Look Wool Skirt, Scandalously Short Blue-Lawn Circle Skirt, Stripey Circle Skirt, Flowery Lawn Circle Skirt

Of all of these, I like five, but not one do I like 100% as it is. From the top row.

1. Wrap dress. This includes the Poppy Wrap (row 1) and the Zebra and Polka-Dot Wraps (row 4). I think the wrap looks pretty good on me.
   
   ​The fabric on the red poppy dress didn't work, unfortunately. It was silk jersey! Felt wonderful but clung to every ripple.
   
   I really like the Polka-Dot Wrap. I made it with sleeves from another pattern. I love the wide cuffs and the bishop sleeves. This fabric was okay,  but I put a lining in this dress which didn't work. Long story.
   
   The Zebra Wrap has the same sleeves as the Polka-Dot Wrap. I made this for a wedding, and I'll never wear it again. Another long saga. 
   
   So I really need to make this pattern in a fabric I like!
   
   
2. Blue-Linen Sheath (row 2). I love the feel of linen, and I think a sheath is the best look on me. Unfortunately, this version does not fit me properly as the shoulders are too wide. This is the same pattern as the Black-and-Blue-Knit Sheath (row 2). I made three other knit dresses in this pattern (Green-and-Gray-Knit Sheath, Black-and-White-Knit Sheath, Pink Clingy Knit Sheath in row 7 ), and I wore three of the four a bunch to work (all but the Pink Clingy). Now I don't really like them.
3. Purple Holy-Grail Dress (row 2). This one fits me nicely (lots of muslins), and the color looks good on me. It's a heavier knit and I lined it, so it just feels kind of heavy when I wear it. Still it works pretty well.
4. Black-and-White-Lawn Shirtdress (row 3). This dress went through many alterations. It is still wonky, but I love it now with the lowered neckline. I love the bodice of the similar Upton that I made (row 3), but I don't like the pleats on the skirt. So I need to make another Upton with the skirt from the Black-and-White-Lawn Shirtdress.
5. Gap-Copy Dresses (Superhero, row 1, and Spiderman, row 4). These are very comfortable and I like wearing them in the summer. They sag a bit in the lumbar area, but it's a minor complaint.

Somehow, my husband agreed to go to a Ren Faire with me, AND to go in costume, so long as he could go as a Viking.

So I made us some outfits.

His was made following the classic medieval construction.

Mine is a mashup of the bodice from Simplicity 9595, the skirt from Simplicity 8161, and the chemise made in the same way as his Viking tunic. I made it a while back for a Regency outfit, but modified it so that it would go with my dirndl (shortening it and adding a ruffle at the hem). But it still works here. Thankfully, this garment was made and worn the same way for centuries, so I'm covered. Not that I'm going for perfect historical accuracy, but getting in the ballpark is fun.

Getting this pattern to work took some time. First off, my size is bigger than the pattern I own: the pattern ranges from 6–12, and in the end, I realized I needed a 14. Second, the pattern is not that sophisticated and probably works like a dream for women with no boobs, but that is not me. 

So I ended up making FIVE muslins! I started off trying to use my high bust, a size 10, and adjusting for more bust room, but that was a disaster. I traced out a new pattern, expanding to get a 14. At that point, I also added a side seam to the front pattern piece to give me more fitting options, as the original was one side and front piece together. Then I kept making muslins and adjusting the fit. I attacked the princess seams first. They were way off. Then the straps and the general fit of the torso. 

I used this pattern for the skirt of my outfit, and I actually mocked up the bodice as well. It would have worked with a few muslins to adjust the fit, but I didn't want sleeves or to wear a stomacher. 

The skirt was easy to construct. It's just rectangles. The pleats are easy to make, as is the waistband. Too bad I can't measure very well. I made it up, it looked beautiful, and I tried it on. About 3 inches too small at the waist. So I ripped out the end pleats of the front and added a new waistband. It worked well enough.

I wanted a new tennis bag. I don't like the one I have. Aside from how hideous it is, it's too tall and flimsy, so when I use it, it takes a long time to find items inside or fish them out. 

So I was planning on making a Core tote bag. I ordered some blue and white canvas, printed out the pattern, put the pattern together, and, in typical fashion, started to doubt myself. In particular, I wasn't sure where I was going to stash the tennis racquet. The pocket wouldn't be big enough.

Look at these cute patches I've been dying to put on something. I've had them a while.

I finished four more skorts for tennis. These are all made from the pattern I made from my favorite Nike skort. They are so super comfortable! Whenever I put on things I got from the store, I regret it because they are never as comfortable as what I made from this pattern.

This first one was one I had cut out over the summer. The fabric was a thin brushed poly, and the print on it would be best for pajamas. But in the end, I figured what the heck, why not sew them up. And I do wear them, they're comfy, and what do I care if they look like PJs?

For these next three I got the fabrics online after searching for some that I hoped were more "performance" grade. They are, although one I call Tropical Foliage is more suitable for swimwear. 

Lots of women are showing up on the courts with these cute surplice skirts. I tried to make one using my Nike pattern. It turned out so-so. I'll still wear it, of course.

I played in Surplice Flowers and I didn't like how the inside panel hung so low, especially with a ball in my shorts. So I undid the binding a bit, curved the corner removing a 3-inch bit of it,  and sewed the binding back on. Looks better.

This is one I made after finding this fabric in a my stash. I had bought it at least 5 years ago for a swimsuit. I realized I am never making a stupid swimsuit. The only time I like submerging myself in a pool or ocean is when it's above 90 degrees and the water is warm. A store-bought suit can suffice for such rare occurrences.

My husband got a light sweatshirt for his birthday one year. He wasn't going to wear it so I started wearing it to the shower when we were camping. I really liked it. I didn't have to take clean clothes to public showers, and I could dress quickly and get back to the camper when I was done. The only thing was the dress was a smidge too short and ya know I was commando.

Here is a picture of the fabric close up and the front pocket, which I meticulously matched perfectly only to realize now no one knows it's there. The fabric was called "Camping Badges." It's not really very campingly themed, IMO.

I wasn't really ready to make this dress. But a friend who had given me this beautiful African wax print was having a fundraiser for her Kenyan mission. I was helping with the fundraiser, and she asked the volunteers to wear African clothes if we had them. 

I had very little time, as usual, but I felt I needed to try to make this to please her. I have a couple sheath dress patterns in my collection. One I've made but the shoulders were way too large. The other I have never made. So I dug it out, and made a muslin. Dreadful fit. 

I decided to use my incomplete sloper. I had finished version 3 of my sloper, and the fit was still a ways off. The skirt was too big and didn't follow the curve of my hips. Something was off in the armscye that was causing wrinkles in the back. The bodice was close but the bust darts were not in the right spot and the front was a little baggy. 

Still I figured it was better than the McCall's muslin I had just finished. I decided I would combine the bodice and skirt to make a sheath and then cut large margins so I could just pin where I wanted. By this time, I had one day left to cut and sew. Good grief!

I cut it out, basted it together, and tried it on. Honestly, not too bad at all. The shoulders looked pretty good with the exception of some gaping. It was going to be sleeveless because of the time constraint and the fact that it's summer, and the sleeveless muslin confirmed that there is a problem with the armscye of my sloper. I tried doing some shoulder darts but it didn't work because there is only so much fabric in the seam allowance so I took them out and pulled up some fabric into the shoulder seam.

Now it's hard to fit oneself. Plus I was in a rush. I did what I could. 

The biggest issues were first, I forgot to remove the hem from the pattern when I cut out the fabric. I wanted the border at the bottom but since I didn't hem it, the dress is much too long.

Second, I ran out of time. I cut out some black bias strips to bind the neckline and the shoulders, started to put it on, noticed I had to leave in 20 minutes and take a shower. So I turned the neckline under and sewed it down. I serged the shoulder edges and hoped no one would look too close.
​
​Look, I know it's a disaster. But I'm still pretty pleased that I got this close with that sloper. I know I will go back to the sloper project and get the sloper to fit properly. But do I go back to this dress and try to fix it? I can add the bias binding, but it will always be too long and a smidge lumpy. I don't think I'll ever wear it again. But who knows?

I made three skorts before I went to Hilton Head.

One was out of fabric scraps from the polka-dot dress I made. One was in some black knit I had in my stash. One was from a batch of fabrics I had bought for skorts. I had two pieces left to sew up to be done with that batch. I cut both out but only had time to sew up this blue and white one before I left.

I know. It would have been slick if I'd taken the time to center the diamonds. Whatevs.

Even though I was supposed to finish the other one I'd cut out so I could say I had finished one thing I started (i.e. using every fabric in that batch I'd bought), I expanded my scope.

​I wanted another black skort. I've had a lot of call to wear black bottoms in matches, and this pattern is so comfortable I decided to make it in black. I dug some fabric out of the stash and made the one below. It is comfortable. It's also too heavy for summer. It's fine indoors and when it's cooler.

Finally, I thought a skort made out of the polka-dot fabric I had made the Appleton out of would be cute. 

I didn't have enough so I had to piece the front, but I think it looks good. ​

Front with waist slashed open and lowered

Front with waist slashed more--all the way to the side seam. Now there is a full inch of extra length at the front center. In this picture wrinkles make it look like there is too much fabric between my bust and waist, but there isn't at all. I'm happy with this change

Back with front waist lowered 

It's super tight where it's pink. The bodice shape feels like it's too big across my chest so that it extends onto my arm. I feel like the seam should be where the red line is. I guess like the shoulder width is too long. But I 

I opened the seams on the front sleeve. It feels like the bodice is cutting into my torso and the inside of the sleeve is still tight on the same part that's pink in the above phot0  (and circled in red in the second photo below) when I lift my arms.