Another Jalie Nicole (or two) and a fail

I sewed up another couple Jalie Nicole's recently, but first up is the one that's part of my 2020 sewing plan aka sew down the stash recently bought plan. In my last Discovery Fabrics order I bought some solar stretch in Poppies because I loved the Nicole version Dawn from TwoonTwooff made. Yep, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. We just won't play who wore it better.

To complete this outfit I'll be making some purple Clara's. As mentioned in my last post, they are already cut out and just need to be sewn. Here I'm wearing my Éleonores in raspberry jegging fabric. I just realized I've never actually blogged about these ones so will have to do that at some point. They are my most worn pants. I do love them, but let's be honest, main reason is because they are the only pair of pants that fit comfortably at the moment. I need to lose about 10 pounds to get back to fitting in the rest of my pants. Thank goodness I have a decent wardrobe of dresses and leggings for work.

I made the tunic length and it's a bit longer than I planned, but I do appreciate bum coverage for my leggings. I think it also works well enough with these jeans which is important as my goal is to have a wardrobe that actually works together.

I also really wanted to see some progress on my plan. Almost one outfit done. Now I just need to wait for the weekend when temperatures will rise from this polar vortex we've been in. Temperature this morning was -45 C with windchill! I choose to work from home. I'll have to go in tomorrow even though it'll be about the same.

I also made another version in a blue velour that I picked up from the charity sale last year. This one is nearly perfect. The fabric is lacking a bit of vertical stretch so the bust darts are a bit higher than they should be and the neckline does feel a bit constrictive. I do plan to re-cut the neckline a bit lower at some point to make it more comfortable. This is the best winter dress barring those issues as the fabric is so snugly and warm. Three cheers for a dress you don't need to wear a sweater with!

Other major win... The fabric cost me $1/m so this dress works out to less than $3. Score!

Now for the fail... all due to fabric. This one had no vertical stretch so the arms were way too tight and the bust dart sat really funny. It was also some weird polyester blend that melted when I tried to iron the dart. The fabric was also from the charity sale, so this one is just headed to the bin. Hate it when that happens. I've definitely learnt the importance of double checking the vertical stretch. It is possible to adapt for it, but if you don't you will have major issues. I used the neckline from the nursing top (3132) to copy the V. I would go a little deeper next time I attempt it, but it actually turned out nicely for a first try.

Back in September I also made another Nicole for my daughter for her back to school outfit. She has so many clothes that she doesn't really need anything, but I wanted her to have a little something new as her brother got a few new clothes that he actually needed.

I made it out of sweatshirt material so it would be very cozy. It turned out great. to adapt for the decrease in stretch I went up a size and added a few inches for length. I also lowered the neckline so it wouldn't be too constrictive.

It turned out really well. She wanted a Harry Potter dress, so I cut out some vinyl to iron on. Unfortunately for the first time I ironed it on my ironing board rather than the counter where I usually work. The transfer was a major fail! Ugh, so disappointing! Note to others and forever reminder to myself: iron ons need a hard surface. Not a padded ironing board. 

I used my cricut machine to cut out some Harry Potter fabric and made a patch to cover it. This was actually the first time I used it to cut fabric and that was the main reason that I bought it! I definitely have to do a bit more of that! So fortunately it's still a Harry Potter dress!

 I hand sewed it on because the dress was already fully assembled and I also worried about the knit fabric getting stretched out if I used my sewing machine. All in all, I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. I just wished she'd wear it more! I think it's too warm for her school.