The Miette Skirt Plan: A Leopard Printed Quandary

Howdy Bloggy friends!  It has been a Monday, let me tell you.  Normally I love Mondays, but today has been a test of patience.  There is nothing like trying to corral a classroom of 3 to 4 year olds.  It's like herding cats....cats with ADHD and a penchant for smacking one another every so often.  But at least they don't throw food at me, unlike my nursery kids.  Which is why I spent half the afternoon wearing a hoodie, my yogurt covered shirt stuffed in my bag.  I love my job, I really do.  It beats the hell out of having to work with grown ups all day.  Plus, I normally get to eat at least one surprise cupcake a week.  Today's was covered in M&Ms. :)  My job is awesome, yogurt shirts and all.

Regardless, I was super excited to come home and relax.  My mind clearing activity of choice?  Putting together PDF patterns!  I love them!!!  I know not everyone is a fan, but they are my favorite.  Let it be known that I also love paper pattern prep too.  Ironing pattern tissue, cutting lots of perfect rectangles (with purple glitter scissors) while watching hunky actors yell campy lines at bad guys.  That's my kind of party.  Seriously, how stressed can you be when your life goal for the moment is putting paper boxes together?  Right!?  Pattern prep is my favorite.   

So, that's what I'm up to tonight.  Hopefully by the time I've finished putting the pattern together I'll have decided which fabric to use.  I put together a simple little project board with the two contenders.  What do you guys think? 

The purple on the left is actually a medium eggplant in real life.  The natural leopard is pretty accurate.  I've been meaning to sew a wrap skirt for awhile and figured it would be an easy intro back into sewing after my hiatus.  Nothing so difficult it would cause me to yell "Fuck it!" and return to "Pinteresting" my life away.     So when Tilly released her newest pattern, The Miette Skirt,  it was like the sewing gods were speaking to me. 

 1) I'm always happy to support an indie business.  

2) Instant Gratification download!

 3) BOWS! 

4) NO ZIPPERS!  

Done deal!

So here's what my evening is looking like:  

Supernatural on Netflix.  Holy crap Castiel is smokin'!  

Vietnamese iced coffee aka The Nectar of the Gods!  

Ogling some luscious leopard goodness.

Jealous?  

I may have started out this day cranky, caffeine deprived, and covered in yogurt, but I'm pretty pleased with how it's coming to an end.  What are you guys up to on this fine Earth Day?

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Howdy, Bloggy homies.  This just a quick bit of housekeeping.  I'm switching over to Bloglovin'.  Feel free to add me and continue to follow my Leopard printed escapades. :)

Currently: 04/21/13

Getting my Shit Together:  Geez, I'm starting to realize who cyclical I am.

The Good Times:  Up at 6:00am to work out, meals planned and prepped for the week, a spotless and organized house, lesson plans for work done a month early, and sewing freaking 5 garments in one month!  This is Super Awesome Domestic Goddess Me.

The Bad times: No exercise to speak of, take out for dinner multiple times a week, making shit up as I go along at work, no sewing or blogging at all, and let's not even discuss the status of the house.  We'll call this Zero Motivation Me.

I'm working on finding balance.  Being SADGM is exhausting and after awhile I lapse back into ZMM.  Sometimes I'll snap out of it quickly, but sometimes it takes months.  I've been ZMM since the end of February, and I'm just now getting it together again.

SO EXCITED:  As of today, there are exactly 64 days unitl we move back to the States.  It is going to be amazing.  Family.  All our favorite food.  BUYING A MOTHER F-ING HOME!!!!  I hate moving, it makes me crazy like nothing else, but I'm not even bothered because we are moving HOME!!!  I can't wait for this next chapter in our lives.  I've already got Pinterest boards dedicated to decorating the different rooms. :) :) :)

Planning:  I've got a sewing project in the works.  I even figured out how to make a planning collage.  I'll be back with it soon.  It's leopard print. :)

Happy:  That spring is finally here.  I spend an hour laying on the ground, watching the clouds, and listening to inspiring music.  Getting outside definitely helps my mental well being.  The Hubster thinks I have seasonal depression.  It makes sense.  I spend hours in the dirt, gardening, talking to my plants, breathing fresh air during the summer.  Only to have to coop myself up for months during the winter.  No wonder I lose my shit every November.

But I'm happy now.  The Hubster and I went to the farmer's market this weekend, followed by a hot chocolate and pastry date.  We're planting radishes in the classroom this week, going on nature walks to see how many different colored flowers we can find, and counting baby bunnies.

About as much of The Hubster will allow me to post of the internet. :)

A rainbow of cheerfulness. 

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Currently: 02/18/13

Planning:  My project for Fearless February: the lovely leopard print Crepe from Colette Patterns.  I’ve had this pattern in the stash more over a year.  I’ve been intimidated by the yardage needed and the work I’ll have to do to fit the bodice correctly.  No cheating here like I’ve been doing with all the knits recently.  I meant to get it traced and the bodice muslined this weekend, but I’ve been feeling a little icky.  Hopefully I can at least get the bodice cut tonight.  I’m not to worried about the skirt, it’s a wrap dress.  But I want to make sure that sweetheart neckline is fitted correctly, no gaping!

Sweating:  Off the inches!  I’ve lost about 5 inches so far since I’ve gotten back on the healthy eating/exercise wagon.  I can fit back into some of my older clothes.  Yay!  One item is a pair of plaid pants that I didn’t realize until yesterday does not match up at all.  I can’t unsee that, people.  And it’s driving me crazy.  However, they fit beautifully and make my ass look fantastic, so I’m thinking about tracing them, or cutting them apart for pattern pieces.  I really really really need a pair of leopard print pants.

Loving:  The new fabric I just got in.  What a motley crew these guys are.  Flannel, fleece, dino camo, Valentine themed, veggie print, and terry cloth.  Not to mention the best of all, a glitter leopard print knit!  Oh yes I did!  One step closer to drag queen world domination!  I’ll have a plan post for the rest of these bad boys.  They were supposed to be February projects but you know how that goes…..

Oooooooooh, shiny!

 Well, that’s it for today.  What are you guys doing this week?  Anything fun?  Anything animal print? :)

A Tale of Two New Look 6816s and One Butterick 4686

 It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… Actually I sewed these tops without any incident.  It has been over a month since our last seam ripper stabbing incident.  Note: That is me getting stabbed, not stabbing other people with said seam ripper.   That skirt though, whatta bitch. We’ll get to her in a moment. 

I love this top.  It is the right fabric (I LOVE KNITS SO MUCH!), 3 pattern pieces (ADD Friendly sewing), and overall a pretty versatile shape.   I dig the sleeves the most.  I sewed the purple leopard one first.   Man I love this fabric, I’ve been hoarding saving it for almost two years know. Proof? I blogged
about it. lol  In honor of this drag-tastic fabric, I watched To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar.   I watched this movie a ton as a child, which probably explains my present day obsession with Drag Queens. I. LOVE. THEM!
 

The fabric from the second one will probably seem familiar to you.  I made a V1179 and recently blogged about it HERE.  No changes other than French seaming the shoulders.  But look how different they look!  It’s so much shorter than the leopard!  Way less stretchy too, which is actually good.  Even with the staystiching, the neck on the leopard one has stretched out and falls down over one shoulder. Not a huge deal, unless it’s during preschool and you have a bright pink bra on. “Hey Ms. Andrea, what’s that pink thing?”

On to the bitch skirt.  This is the skirt I started in summer 2011 as part of my wardrobe plan that I blogged HERE.  It’s a good thing she turned out so nicely, because I've spent more active sewing time on her than anything I’ve ever sewn.  I sewed, ripped, and re-sewed that pain in the butt more times than I can count.   Why?  Because I make my life difficult.  With my recent weight changes (WOOOOO I’m shrinking!) I wanted to make it easier to take in.  So I changed the construction order.  Maybe, just maybe there is a reason they put it in a certain order.  Well long story short, it’ll be easy to take in but I probably could’ve sewn a brand new skirt in the same amount of time that I spend screwing with it.  Oh well, live and learn, and follow the damn directions.  Really, I shouldn’t take so much smack about her, she is sure to become a wardrobe staple.  The battle is just so fresh in my mind.

 

 So yeah, I’ll be back tomorrow my February plans. What?  February is almost over?  Shhhhh, I’m not quite sure how that happened.   Check back tomorrow for the deets.  Spoiler alert, there will be leopard print. lol

V1179 in Sassy Snake Print

I don’t know what else to say, other than that I love this pattern.  I made another V1179 the day after I finished my Leopard (http://sewcupcakecouture.blogspot.de/2013/01/completed-leopard-ish-v1179.html) version.  It sewed up super fast even with me taking the time to pin the hell out of the pleats.  Those babies are perfect.

The material is a little thin, I’m not gonna lie.  I bought like 4 yards of it for less than 10 bucks from Walmart when I first started sewing and had no clue about fiber content.  Let’s be real though, I’d probably buy it again.  I’ve even made a top out of it too.

The only change from the last time I made it was that I French seamed the shoulder seams.  I wanted to give it a little more reinforcement since the fabric was on the thinner side.

 The fit is much slimmer than the leopard version but the fabric isn’t as stretchy either.  I’m pretty pleased, even more so that I wore those shoes to take pictures.  I have two closets of shoes from when I worked at a shoe store in college that hardly get worn.  Six inch heels and a dozen three year olds is an equation for disaster, that’s for sure.

Peace out til' next time, Bloggy Friends!

Currently: 02/03/13

Enjoying: Salted Almond Milk Hot Chocolate.  So good.  Plus, hello, leopard tea set.  I found this set while wandering around lost in downtown Frankfurt when we first moved here.  It was the most amazing shop filled with tea sets, artisan vinegars and honey.  I have no idea where it is, but I may have to go get lost again before we move home this summer.

Planning:  There are so so many sewalongs and challenges this month.  I’ve thrown my hat in the ring for Victoria’s Fearless February 2013.  The premise is to sew something outside of your comfort zone.  I’ll have a separate post for my plans later in the week.

The fabulous Scruffy Badger (this chick can rock a wig, a lady after my own heart!) is hosting a Polka Dot Frock Fest this month as well.  I’ve been lusting after this pattern for awhile, but I’m not sure how much use I’ll get out of it in my daily life.  There isn’t much call for fitted dresses in my line of work.  Most often you will find me sitting on the floor with my kiddos.  We’ll see, I am a total pattern hoarder so I may just grab it up anyway. :)  This pattern does lend itself pretty nicely to this next challenge…

  

Julia Bobbin is hosting a Mad Men 2 Challenge.  I love the fashion of the show, but haven’t watched much past the first two discs in season 1.  So no spoilers please!  I found it to be a little depressing, but I was also going through a pretty depressing chapter in my life as well so maybe it was just compounding the emo-ness of it all.  Perhaps I’ll give it another go after I get through my current sewing time tv show, Supernatural.  Man, Dean is so hot. Lol  I totally love Joan’s wardrobe, but again, lots of fitted wiggle dresses.  Not so conducive to preschool. :sigh:

Sweating:  Nothing, boo!  I was super lazy this week again, but I picked up these gems today.  They had me at Burlesque. lol  Hopefully they'll give me the kick in the pants that I need.

Bragging:  5 garments this month!  Holy cow, dudes.  I didn’t even sew 5 garments last year! (Or the year before that, for that matter).  Actually, I don’t think I sewed that many garments in both years combined.  This is pretty big for me, so pardon my boastfulness. :)  I'll be back with a January wrap up and February Goals post tomorrow.

What are you guys up to?  Any epic plans for February?  Tell me all about it, Bloggy amigos!