Make-over

 Made a coat dress at the beginning of January.  Didn't like it...like...intensely.  Even if I did address the fit issues, the big problem, for me, was that I did not like how the collar was constructed--unless it's a motorcycle jacket, I like my collar and lapels to be more connected than that.

I do have plans for a patchwork project that uses scraps of the fabric, but I didn't want to turn the whole thing into scraps, because I do like the fabric!  And I bought the buttons just for that project, which is something I almost never do (my stash is expansive, except, apparently, for ¾" black buttons.)  I let the coat dress hang on the closet door in here while I made the patchwork cat jacket, and considered my options.  "Skirt" was quickly considered and abandoned, because I realized I could make it into a jumper!

I'm not sure if I have properly conveyed just how much I like jumpers, because I know I haven't made very many of them over the years, but I do really like them, and have since the 1990s.  In fact, I had a copy of the pattern I used for this project--McCall's 7812--in the late '90s, and used it a few times.  I remembered it so fondly that I decided to re-acquire a copy a few years ago.

I finally cut the tissue for view A and here we are

It has a lot of issues, but, y'know what?  I'm wearing it right now, so it's definitely better than the coat dress incarnation.

Tank Map

About four years ago, I made a shirt that mixed other fabrics with the small amount of an extremely late 80s/early 90s map print cotton(y) jersey.  I went on to wear the shirt just enough to realize that the shape was very wrong for my tastes and layering propensities.

I kept the shirt because I did still like the ridiculous print, and I eventually moved it out of my closet and into the fabric stash, as much for potential re-use of the print part as because I was not going to just give away that much black rib knit.  I can use that stuff.

Now that I've added the tank top from New Look 6766 to my sewing repertoire, I have a potential use for small yardages of knits.  I dug out that shirt and found that I could just barely (it would need minor piecing at the hem again) squeeze the body of the tank top from the map knit in the shirt.

(the black rib knit used here was not that which was used in that shirt, but instead something thinner.)

Minor Dress Renovation

 I made a dress in early 2020, one of the many loose tunic dresses I was making a few years ago, that I liked enough to keep when I donated a lot of those dresses a while ago.

I recently realized that I could easily modify the bodice to have a (somewhat) closer fit and back zipper, and that's the first project I did once I got the bustier/waist cinchers out of my system

It's not a huge difference, but it does fit a bit better now (and works pretty well with a waist cincher...)

Aubergine Skirt Revisited

So, last year, I made a skirt using a free Lekala 3 Seam Skirt pattern that I'd gotten when my measurements were larger. I really like the color and fabric, so I decided to partially disassemble it and use New Look 6843 to re-sew it in my current size.

I didn't touch the back darts, center back seam, zipper, and where I sewed the lining to the zipper.  Everything else got picked apart, including the vent below the center back seam, and I did leave a few inches of waistband attached at one end.

 I know it looks pretty much the same, but I think I took out about 4" at the waist, going by the bit of excess waistband I ended up cutting off.