Dancing Horses Cross Body Bag

Since I am heading on vacation soon I realized that I needed a bag that I could wear across my body, that held my kindle, wallet, passport and other little items.  I decided to just wing it with the pattern since I didn't have any that were large enough.  Well as usually winging it has its issues :)  I used a stiff stabilizer because I didn't want a floppy bag and it made turning it a bit of a nightmare. I attached the lining and the body of the bag with bias tape.  Which worked well except I hadn't planned for straps, so I just ended up sewing them on after.  Not quite as nice of a finished look but still functional.  It has a big open pocket on the front as well as a large zipper pocket and my kindle fits great in the main compartment.  Of course I used one of my most hoarded fabrics, Dancing Horses by Laurel Burch.  It pained me to even cut into it.  But I have realized I will get to see the fabric more if I actually use it instead of leaving it in a drawer.  I am hoping to have a chance to whip up a simple wallet for the trip too but I am not sure I will have time.  Due to our crazy cold temps (-41 with -60 windchill yesterday) we have frozen pipes on one half of our house and I will have to haul laundry in order to wash it.....I am really ready for spring!

Technical Difficulties

It was brought to my attention that comments weren't working on my blog.  So I set about to fix that.  I think my first issue was that Disqus had updated and was not working.  So I just removed that all together.  Then I did some updates on the blog layout and look.  I hope you like it.  Blogger kept having an error and losing all my changes, after about 15 attempts I finally got it right I hope! If anyone notices anything not working please send me a message so I can take care of it right away! Thanks for your patience!

My Sis Boom Jenny Party Dress

Well after 2 full dresses and 2 muslins later, I decided I was happy with the pattern adjustments.  I had to shorten the back bodice and used the back waistband from the size up pattern. I also had to go up a cup size on the front bodice pieces. On a heavier woman I felt like there was just too much gathering on the back. I could size down the front waistband still, but I am happy with it for now.  I am sure I will be making this pattern again, but I needed to get this dress done for my trip.  I also used some top stitching not sure if I like how it turned out or not.  It seemed like a good idea at the time, lol.

The fabric I chose although gorgeous, was a PITA to work with, all those little sparkles and studs caused my machine to jump skip and stop.  And gathering was not easy either because of them.

I was thrilled with the patterns suggestion to use a glue stick for the zipper.  I will not be ever doing a zipper without a gluestick.  It was so much easier.  I love the Sis Boom pattern directions, I can't say enough about them.  They can get you through anything.  Yes I have been a seamstress for a while, but I generally have avoided anything fitted and lined or clothing for myself in general.  My body is not easy to fit, not even a little bit.  I have a very large rib cage and belly and a small chest.  But with all the suggestions on the pattern I could adjust to get a good fit for me.

So on to the pics, I am also not fantastically photogenic and these pics don't do the dress justice but it shows how it turned out.  I guess I am more critical because I can see all the little things I wish I would have done differently.  But really its a pretty dress and I will look nice when we dress up and go out to eat on vacation!