Its Still A December to Remember

I know I have said I don't make a big deal of my birthdays anymore.  And I don't in the real world, but in my sewing world, I need every and any excuse to sew, so a birthday is as good as any reason to sew more things! :-)  Having said that, I decided I needed to make my collection for my birthday.  I didn't finish all the items by my self-imposed deadline, but as previous posts indicate, I did finish the other items.  The final piece was my houndstooth coat. In the midst of all of this, I made a shirt for my daughter, stopped for Thanksgiving and this past weekend attended a sorority event in Atlanta. 

My daughter's mother in law to be is a member of the same sorority I'm in and they were hosting their annual Christmas Gala.  I, of course could not pass up an opportunity to dress up (which of course means make something new to wear!).  This was probably the easiest "formal" dress I have ever made and I loved the final result.  I actually purchased this pattern at least two years ago and intended to make it and wear to an annual function.  But, time ran out and I just wore something I had in my closet that I had ordered and never worn.  The fabric was all cut out and I just put it in a bag and there it sat for two years!  So, I decided this was the time to put it together.  I'm certain this pattern is out of print by now.
 It's Butterick 5418. I really wanted an emerald green fabric similar to the one on the pattern but I didn't find it.  So I selected a dark blue rather than the traditional black.  Of course, it photographs black. 

 The Dress came together incredibly fast and easy.  That's always a good sign.  It was comfortable and a bit sexy.  All the things I think you covet in a formal wear dress. I do plan to make this dress again in red (of course my favorite color) or emerald green if I ever find such a color in the right fabric.  And here are the shoes and this darling little back that I found on a whim.

 

 

And since my daughter was supposed to be an equal contributor to this blog (looking and waiting!), here is a photo of the two of us at the Gala this weekend.  She also made her dress! She's a lovely girl.



So here is what the coat looked liked on December 3rd.

 And here is what it looked like on December 10th.  As I mentioned before, last year's birthday was also about Houndstooth - (obsessed a little you think?). So here I am fooling around with the dress and the coat.  My daughter told me no, but I actually like it and after saying so on the PR website someone agreed and suggested wearing them with a pop of color, like (wait for it) RED!  Well, that couldn't be a better idea, as far as I'm concerned.  I might just do it! I LOVE the coat.  I love how it feels and how it looks.  I'm very pleased with the final result.

So, now I'm done with the Birthday collection.  On to other obsessions! My youngest has put in her request for Christmas attire, so I guess that's next up!  I do love that I don't have to visit the mall or any other stores (other than fabric of course) to accomplish my shopping goals. Next item - an organza-like blouse for the younger version!



December to Remember

So, my birthday was great. I didn't have any big or special plans and that was fine.  I have "sets" of friends and a few of them took me out to lunch on three different occasions. See how well that works out?  Had I opted for a party, I would have only had one opportunity to eat and drink! I didn't quite make my sewing goal however.  I still have to make alterations to the gray dress I had planned and I only cut the coat last night!  But I didn't complete the funky top and red leggings (I posted photos already, I think) and here is the blue top from the other inspiration piece I wanted.  I also finished the slacks, but after finding my daughter's boots she accidentally left at my house, I decided I needed to wear this skirt from a Butterick pattern I completed a while back, to give the boots their due.  Unfortunately, I don't think you can even see the boots in this photo, but they are cute - LOL!

This is from Butterick 5678. I used this as the inspiration for my pinterest top.

November, November!!

My last post had me sharing my great plans for my annual November Birthday sewing plans.  Well, my birthday is Friday and time is running out!  Yikes, the month really got away from me.  I usually make 3-4 outfits and as of last year, I added a coat to the "collection".  Thus far, I have one and a half outfits done and havent even cut out the coat.  But, I'm kinda like a 4th quarter football team; I get a lot done in the last 5 minutes of the game.  So, hopefully I will be successful, although the intent is to wear these things the week of my birthday. SO, as it stands, I'm already a day behind in wear.  Oh, well.  I guess I can wear them next week too.  I did complete one look and here is the photo. 
The other totally cool thing is that my DD gave me a serger for my birthday! Now that's totally awesome and makes me a little more obsessive with sewing (as if that were really possible)!

I'm really planning to at least have the bones of the coat by Thursday. I guess I can live with not having it to wear on my actual birthday....I cut out the beautiful aqua blouse this morning and the gray slacks are done, so there is hope!  LOL.

November Is My Birthday!

SO, the month of November is a special month for me.  It's my birthday month!  The 30th is my actual birthday, but you know I like to celebrate all month if at all possible.  This year, as in past, I always plan a "birthday week wardrobe", this usually consists of a couple dresses, maybe a suit and last year I decided it would be a great time to make a coat.  I ran across the 2012 Ferragamo collection and became instantly obsessed with this dress.  Actually the entire ensemble had me mesmerized.  Unfortunately, my budget did not permit such extravangances (and I wasn't buying RTW then anyway), but I was certain I could find similar fabrics to create my version.  And I did!

And here is the coat from last season.  I was well pleased with my birthday efforts.  So, of course I decided I needed to up the ante this year.  Unfortunately, like most obsessive compulsive people, I don't have the ability to stop the crazy train once its started.  So, here are the plans for the birthday ensemble 2012.

  This was the inspiration for the gray slacks and aquamarine top.

I saw a gorgeous pair of gray slacks paired with a vivid blue blouse that I thought would be great for my birthday week.  Here is the fabric for the slacks and the pattern I intend to use.

And here is the fabric for the top. And since a little is never enough, here is the sheath dress that I plan to add to the collection.

I will add that the dress is nearly complete. I need to alter the front panel. 

 And this darling fabric was a find at Joann's that I thought would make a great sweater top. With coordinating Jeggings - of course.



And the final piece is my 2012 coat - I went out and bought this pattern as soon as I saw it when it went on sale of course!)  Then, wonderfully, Hancock's had this fabric at the start of the season, so that was my confirmation that it had to be my 2012 birthday coat!

The REALLY fun part - none of these things are complete! And they MUST be completed before November 19th!  So, I will add updates as they occur and share with anyone intersted the crazy world I have created for myself.  But, what is life if there is no chaos to it! Stay tuned!

All I Need is a Reason Dress!

My DD who is the '"Repeat" of this Peat & Repeat adventure is getting married next year.  Recently the "in-laws" hosted an Engagement Party in Atlanta.  So, of course I had to have something fabulous to wear.  I started with the Tracy Reese, Michelle Obama dress.  I loved the look and thought it was a style that would work on me.  Of course I couldn't find a pattern that was just right. But, I came across this Butterick 5782 and thought this would be a good start.  I had originally planned to alter the front and reduce some of the flair of the skirt portion to resemble the Obama dress. 

Initially, I really wanted this fabric or a very similar version.  I searched and searched. I finally found it on this fabulous silk fabrics site, but it was far more expensive than I wanted to pay.  So, as I reconsiderd my fabric choices, I also gave a closer look to the original Butterick pattern. I decided that I, in fact kinda loved this pattern in its "As Is" state.  So, after finding this great Poly Shantung at my local JoAnn's I was set.  As soon as it started coming together, I loved it.  It felt very Mad Men when I tried it on for the first time and I knew I needed a great belt to finish the look.  I found this great buckle at Hancock's and made the belt.  I didn't make any other design changes and I loved the final product. 

My DD made a beautiful purple dress and I'm waiting for her to post it here. (hint, hint, Repeat!)

Play on Plaid

So, as this blog indicates, I have a darling daughter who sews and is almost as obsessed as I am about this activity.  Well, I have another daughter who DOES NOT sew, but loves making requests. And I generally do her bidding!  To her defense, she is in college, but she probably wouldn't be sewing anyway.  Well, a couple weeks ago, we were all in Atlanta, visiting "Repeat", who found this wonderful little fabric supply store.  While there, the youngest daughter found this cute fabric and decided she wanted a shirt.  So, here is the final product.  I let her select the buttons and I was skeptical about them.  But I figured I would just change them when I made the shirt.  Surprisingly, I think they work well with the shirt.  We are going to visit her at school this weekend, so I will be taking this and another shirt (yet to be made) as a surprise for her.  The second shirt is the same pattern, but the fabric is a sheer black (we saw one in Target that she loved).
This was a really straight forward pattern.  I didn't make any changes, except I did put the buttonholes on the wrong side! :-)  This is the second time I have made this faux pas, although this time it was intentional.  While I did a great job (I think) matching the stripes on this shirt, the placket for the buttonhole side didn't match the way the button side did, soooo, switcheroo.  Let's see if my daughter notices it! I used McCall's 6649 for this.  The fabric was a cotton and it went together incredibly well.  I definitely plan to use this again because I am making a "Chiffon-like" version tonight to take with me Saturday!

I seam to always work on things for this one without the benefit of her body present!  For the life of me, I couldn't find the measurements that I had previously taken of her, so this was an "eyeballing" "kreation". It turned out pretty well, but I thought it was much longer than it turned out to be so I have to add another button at the bottom.  I did have the buttonhole there, but didn't think the button was needed.  I was wrong! She loved it, so that's a good thing.

PEAT & RePEAT

I'm so excited!  This is a mother/daughter blog created for the sole purpose of channeling our craziness!  I sew! I love to sew.  When I'm not sewing, I think about sewing.  I have been sewing since I was about 10 or 12 years old.  I wish someone had told me back then that you could make a living doing something you love.  I would have chosen a completely different path.  So now, I just do it for the love of it all. 

My darling daughter is the talented one.  I think that girl could create air if given the time!  I marvel at how easy things come for her. I would love to take credit for teaching her to sew.  I did buy her a pattern, sit down with her and teach her the basics many years ago.  But, she didn't seem that interested back then so I didn't push it.  Then, all of a sudden, she is like Rain Man with the creations and speed.  She is the crafty one too, so this should be LOTS of fun. We also have similar tastes so we shall see how this little adventure goes. We hope you find one or two things interesting here and lots of things to laugh about as we soldier on!