Monday, March 18, 2013

Pants Pants Pants Pants.. Did I mention.. Pants!

Its all started with this pattern

Those damn shorts were now going to be the base pattern for a pair of pants. 
I have lofty ambitions of being able to make pants that I love. I am very fond of big wide leg jeans. The type with big pockets and a zipper!  I am not willing yet to convert to pull ups so I really need to master this whole zipper deal! I have been avoiding installing one by not finishing either one of those cute burlap dresses.   Sometimes things do come back to smack you in the keester don't they!! lol

So .. I am going to show you some pictures.. and in between those shots you can envision these CaMel moments.... 

  • I cut two pairs of pants out.. the first pair I decided was made from material that was just to thick for me to comfortably sew for my first pair. 

  • In sewing the top flap of the pockets on I acidentically attached the upper pockets to the inside of the leg.. I removed it and guess what.. did it again but not as much this time so if you were to look on the inside of the pants there might be a hunk of cut off pocket adhered!! 
  • The zipper situation was interesting. I didn't make the pattern properly and had to finagle it all by myself. It took me a bit to figure it out but in the end the zipper goes up and down. 





  • Apparently when I cut out the back legs I didn't do them straight. That makes it a little challenging when sewing it all together.



  • Both of our cats like to hang out with me when I am sewing. As you can see Kitty P is nestled between my chair and my back! She does this to Prey all the time but never to me! I was laughing and being totally pushed off my chair!


  • I need to add another inch to the bottom of my pants when making a recipe. I didn't have enough of a hem at the bottom so Prey suggested I add a cuff.. She saved the day as it makes the pants look awesome and ensures my ankles stay warm when I sit down! 


  • I need to keep in mind the pattern of material as even camo has a right way and a wrong way!  If you happen to notice my back pockets.. I meant them to be that way!
  • Basting is important as is measuring. and like the other projects I should try things on before attaching the waistband! 
  • Button holes are a wonderful thing. Automatic button hole makers seem to only work well on practice material. These pants do have a button hole that might be a little wonky but I don't expect many people to be inspecting my drawers so I am not worried about it.
I LOVE them!! 

I am really happy with how they turned out and they are FINISHED! I am going to wash them because I did not wash the material before I created them. 

It would be true CaMel spirit if they shrunk in the process!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

The return of the Burlap Bag Dress..

Remember back there when I told you about making the cute burlap dress and how when we bought the pattern we didn't buy the right size. Teaching us to always check for sizes before walking out the store doors!
So we had some cute white material that felt like it would have a nice "fall" to it. the pattern was one that I couldn't screw up to much unless of course I ended up with a flower on each nipple but really what are the chances of that.

I was confident going into this project that I could create it without to many screw ups and it stood a really good chance that in the end it would fit Prey and all would be wonderful.

Off I went, cutting and ironing, recalling as I did these steps the first dress and its challenges.
I adjusted the pattern a bit as the biggest size was still a few sizes smaller then what we need. Finding a true plus size pattern is hard so adjusting them to our chunky monkey butts is my mission.

It was fun to tuddle along feeling confident of what I was doing and looking so forward to the outcome.

I get it all put together up to the point of sewing up the last side and installing the zipper.

It was time to have Prey try it on so if I needed to take it in anywhere I could do it.

Well.......  To continue with tradition the dress didn't fit. Even though I had added on the extra measurements to make the dress fit I did not take into account the BIG Boobs that my beautiful has!! lol
Now please don't think for a moment I believe said Boobs to be a nuisance. Yet as I watch the waistband pop halfway up her boob I might be a little put off~

I get right away the problem and realize how I have to fix it but I am not in any way happy about it or really feeling like removing 1000000000 stitches so I can pull it all apart and start again.

So we agreed that we were done with this dress. That it was simply to much work to yank it all apart.  It was now another project that we would come back to once I finish some of the necessary tasks I have on my list.

Then Jennie came over.. I was proudly showing off my latest projects and she grabbed the dress and put it on. It fit her .. pretty damn good to!




Turns out the dress has found itself a human!
If you note the placement of the flowers in the top.. .*Whistles*

Anyways.. I have a habit of not finishing anything.  This dress was included in that! Seems thanks to my friend I now have to spend a few hours finishing some of these projects so they can be added to her closet!

Its fun to know my friends want to wear what I create. Many of us are plus size girls. One of my inspirations is making us all clothing we can wear that is not the same as everyone elses. Giving us all options and clothes that fit us properly.

My friend adopting these items makes my heart sing.. Proving to me that accomplishing my goals will be possible.

I am grateful to everyone that is helping me make this happen.. everything from material donations, book gifting, helpful advice all so generous and so very appreciated.

I look forward to being able to create a little something for everyone.. :O)

This skirt has two mothers!!

So I have been plugging away at my machine the last month.
 I have accomplished quite a bit in regards to finishing some more scrub pants for Prey. A new pillowcase for my little squishy pillow.
A pair of sock poi and a whole lot of shopping for patterns.

I decided after all the scrub pants that it was time to try to make this cute skirt that we got a pattern for in hopes it would look good on Prey. 
I was starting with the blue one and had high hopes.

You see I LOVE this sewing gig. It is feeding my creative side incredibly well.  Between the instructions, my sewing encyclopedia and the internet I find I am learning a ton and not becoming to frustrated.  

I am not paying attention tho it seems. Prey and I worked together to cut out all the pattern pieces. It was fun to have her help and we spent the evening cutting, pinning and  cutting some more. Oh lets not forget ironing. 

I used the same material as I did for the ugly pants but this stuff is a different color and actually not so bad. 

I started to put it all together knowing this was going to be something I hoped Prey could wear if I could convince her the material wasn't as bad as the pants!

I am pinning and humming feeling very happy with myself for creating this cool skirt so fast and easily. 

Then it happened.  
I can feel it coming over me like the sunshine warms my head... the realization that something was very amiss.

I seemed to have an excess of waistband. I tossed the skirt around my waist and quickly realized that I didn't have enough skirt body to match the band. 

I looked again at the pattern and laughed as I realized that I had missed cutting the back piece. It seems this is a very important part of this skirt. 

Now this wasn't to much of an issue as it was really only one seam I had to pull out(with my new seam ripper!) all I had to do is cut out the back piece and pop it in and all would be well.

In someone else's land that might be how easy that could be accomplished but in the world of the Sewing CaMel this is NOT even close to my reality!!

It was almost instantly that I realized I did NOT have enough of the material to cut the back from. I did tho have enough material in the ugly pant color. After a sigh of defeat and a grunt, the piece was cut out.

Now the skirt is cute.. the material not so much. It wasn't bad in the brown and stood a chance of being worn but now that it had a red butt it was going to lead a lonely existence! 


If it wasn't a practice piece to see if the design looked good on prey I would have abandoned it then and re purposed the material. 
Due to its mission in life I knew I needed to buckle down and put it back together which is exactly what I did.  Ish..

I inserted the back and smirked as the waistband reached around perfectly from one end to the other. The skirt was kinda cute .. from the front! 

Prey came home before I had installed the backing of the waistband. Immediately I showed her my masterpiece, grinning like I was oblivious to the two toned aspect and asked her to try it on.

Sadly this skirt didn't fit. 
It was a few sizes off and the material needed to be two sided or one color due to the way the little pleat in the front falls.

Its a cute skirt and I did it right. Omitting the two toned part! I will make it again someday but it is not on my things to do soon list! 

 I have found the patterns to either be to big or small. I know i am doing things for practice but I would like them to fit us when they are complete as it feels like a lunch bag let down. I have resolved to start making my own adjustments in an attempt to get it right from the beginning. So I can feed my soul with a sense of accomplishment.

I want to dress my beautiful prey. I want her to be proud of what we can do together .. I want her to feel confident and pretty in her CaMel Creations! 

I will keep trying.. this is good clean fun!