A Black and White Green Style Laurel Sweater Dress #SewnWithMood

Friends, there has been a lot of hub bub and rigmarole in the sewing world about knit dresses that feel like jammies, so I had to join in the action and make myself something comfy but warm enough to wear in the snow!

Ta Da!

During my day after Christmas fabric binge, I ordered 2.5 yards of this fantastic Black and White Wool Sweater Knit from Mood Fabrics.  Ya'll I love it!!!  It is heavy weight and fantastically warm.  I was a little hesitant seeing as it is wool that it might be itchy, so imagine my surprise and delight when it didn't itch not one little bit!  Though I am not at all affiliated with Mood, if you are looking for a warm sweater knit for a cold weather wrap dress, or a nice warm sweater, get yourself over there and order some of this, because they still have it in stock, and with temperatures dropping I don't think it will be around for long!

I ordered a few other goodies from Mood, but the best surprise of all came in a small zip top bag.

That's right friends...it is my very first Sewn With Mood tag.  There is something thrilling about the little things in life, and I giggled like a school girl when I found this among my treasures.

As for my Sweater Dress Pattern, it is a Green Style Creations Laurel.  This isn't my first Laurel.  Though it has not yet been lifted to pattern addiction the way their Centerfield Raglan has, it is a great pattern with lots of variation.

The Laurel is perfect for my pear with a big booty body type.  The empire waist line shows off my best assets without clinging to my liabilities...if you know what I mean!

Those girls with all the Ks in their names ain't got nothing on me!

I did make an alteration to the pattern this go round.  I decided that since I normally do a sway back adjustment on most dresses and shirts I should do something on this as well, because my original Laurel hangs a little low at the back bodice.  Since the Laurel comes with cutting lines for short, regular and long torsos, and I use the long torso for the front bodice, I just curved from the long torso line to the short torso line on the pattern.

This little adjustment made the back bodice perfect length, with no dragging or sloppiness.

I decided to hand sew the hem and sleeve cuffs, because I just don't like the way that a double needle finish looks on a heavy knit.  Plus it gave me an excuse to use some of the new gadgets that I got for Christmas (these nifty hem clips...thanks Mom!)

I am very happy with how this great Italian Wool Sweater Knit Dress turned out.  I think that it will fill a void in my wardrobe, and it will keep me warm.  The high here in Indy is supposed to be seven degrees.  So cold in fact that school is on a two hour delay because it will be below zero when the buses would normally run!  I see lots of warm ginger tea, and wool knits in my future!!

Friends, what are you sewing to keep warm as the mercury is dropping?  Maybe a long overdue Winter Coat, or some nice Fuzzy PJs?  Tell me...what is on the cutting table!?

Polka Dot Raglan: Green Style Centerfield Raglan Part 2

Friends, I know that I haven't posted many me mades of late.  Part of that is because you can't post sewn gifts for people who read your blog, and part of that is because the weather has been terrible for blog photos of late.

This afternoon while looking through my blog roll, I found that Andie over at Sew Pretty in Pink had just posted about a Dotty Parisian Top she had recently made and lo and behold, she used the same fabric for the base of that top, as I did for my most recent make.  So, I threw on a wee bit of makeup and ran a brush through my hair, inspired to get a few pics for the blog before we lost daylight.

Yes, it is another Green Style Centerfield Raglan.  This time I made it with sweatshirt material for the sleeves.  The material that Andie and I both used is a nice knit from the juvenile fabric collection at JoAnn.  It is from the Doodles Collection and is called a reversible sweater knit.  It almost has a wooly texture on the dotty side of the fabric.

 
I have been able to work out most of the kinks with the neckline on this raglan by making a wider neck band.  Despite the sweatshirt fabric having no stretch, I still cut the same size sleeves and they worked fine, though I think if I had sized up a bit to compensate for the lack of stretch, I would probably not have the fabric pooling at the elbows.

Winter makes my hair go flat!

This is my very first derriere pic.  I am quite gifted in the behind.  My Great-Grandmother used to tell me that when God was handing out behinds I asked for a double dose!  I had to throw this picture in though, because I was quite impressed with how well I was able to center the dots down both the front and the back of this shirt.

Mischievous smile courtesy of cameraman being crude.

Green Style is quickly becoming one of my favorite Indie pattern companies.  Their pdfs go together like a dream, and if they will continue adding plus size patterns to their line, I will be a happy girl, because they just fit me really well.

What are you sewing right now?  Do you ever find yourself oogling the juvenile fabric section, or is that just me?

Rocking the Curvy Sewing Collective Wrapalong

Well friends, in case you haven't heard...I totally rocked the CSC Wrapalong!  

Here is the dress that I made, and you can read the details of the dress back at this post.

There were two other winners as well, and they really rocked their dresses too!

Debbie who blogs at Stitches and Seams made a classic black and white wrap with a twist, using the Gillian pattern from Muse.

Sabrina who blogs at I Sew, I Knit also made a Vogue wrap dress but used a different pattern than I.  I LOVE the print that she used!

Amazingly, Sabrina and I were both first time sewalongers!  

We each received a $50 gift certificate to Smuggler's Daughter!!!  Woot woot!

I have my eye on a few things...

Maggie London Blue Water Lillies from smugglersdaughter.com

 I can already see the floral dress this would make in my mind's eye!

Tyrian Purple Ponte from smugglersdaughter.com

Yes, I may have a purple addiction.

Teal Sweater Knit from smugglersdaughter.com

Because I need teal leggings!

Congratulations to my fellow wrapalong winners!!!  I can't wait to see what you get from Smugglers Daughter.