Carmel Jumpsuit Hack
The Carmel Jumpsuit hack I was working on is finished!
I had to redo the bust darts because they weren’t sitting right the first time round.
With the bodice on, I marked where my apex was and then I unpicked the side seams to release the darts.
I tried unpicking the stitches of the bust dart but I wasn’t very successful.
I had shortened the stitch length to a 1.0 before reaching the point of my bust dart so that I wouldn’t need to tie the ends and this made it really difficult to unpick.
So difficult, that I actually gave up!😏
I ended up just drawing a straight line from the beginning of the bust dart at the edge of the fabric to the point I had marked as my apex.
Once I stitched the new line, it left a little fold in the fabric because I was unable to remove the previous stitches.
Of course they don’t sit perfectly, so I pressed the hell out of them and they look better but not as good as they could.
I will just have to remember to alter them on my paper pattern piece next time before cutting out my fabric.
I hacked the trouser portion into a skirt and it was a very simple process.
I used the measurements of the trouser pattern piece to determine the width of the skirt, and then I used a tape measure against my body to see where I wanted my skirt to finish.
I am not sure what or how I measured because after attaching the skirt to the bodice, it was sweeping the floor!😂
There was so much extra fabric that I made a 4 ½ inch hem!
I really didn’t need to leave such a big seam allowance for it, but I thought if I changed my mind on the length I could have something to mess around with.
The last little hack I did was to insert elastic at the waistband.
I feel like I get lost in loose garments and always tend to use ties or elastic to cinch in at the waist.
So I pressed the seam towards the bodice, like the pattern says to anyway, and I stitched an ⅛ inch away from the edge of the seam allowance to create a channel.
I left a little opening to thread the elastic through and stitched it closed.
I didn’t forget the pockets this time and I managed to stitch them so they are towards the front and not the back like last time with my Fleur dress!🫣😂
A zipper definitely was needed and I ended up using an 8 inch brown invisible zipper from my stash.
I feel you can’t even really tell that it’s brown.
Next time, I need to get a longer one though, maybe 3-4 inches longer because even though it goes on fine, it is still a bit of wiggle to get it off.
I chose to make a size 8 which corresponds to my bust measurement, but I ignored the rest of the measurements because the Carmel has so much ease.
My hips put me in a size 12 which definitely wasn’t needed for the fit I wanted.
All in all, even with the little bust dart hiccup, I am happy with the fit. ☺️
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Both front and back bodices are done on my purple Gumdrops Sweater! 🥳
I am busy working on crocheting the vertical rows and I chose to go with both cream and red.
It has been really enjoyable crocheting these rows and I alternated between red and cream.
When my partner saw it, he thought something didn't look right, and I felt I may be missing something too.
I decided to add more crocheted rows by adding red on either side of the cream, and I started adding a cream row to the outside of the red one towards the edges(on the right hand side).
What do you think? More vertical rows or should I stick to the single rows like in the first picture?
I am running out of all the colours now, I underestimated how much I would need even though I worked it out on pen and paper.🤔
Not sure how that happened, but I am going to keep going to see how far I can get with what I have.
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And now I can finally say the website is finished!! 🥳
We made some final touches to it this week. My partner uploaded all images, videos and descriptions and we are ready to go!
I have just one more bump to go over. 🤦🏼♀️
I am trying to get my Roma Necessaire pattern printed on paper so that I can send it out to the first few people who buy it.
The printing company I am dealing with are taking their time, and while I understand they have other commitments too, it shouldn’t take 11 days to give me a price list to print off items when your whole business revolves around printing. 🫤
And I still haven’t gotten it.
I am hoping tomorrow (Monday) they get back to me so we can start printing and hurry up to get the Roma out there!
I am tired of having to wait months now to just get it out.
The next pattern I have been working on, the Palma Pouch, has been resting while all this has been going on. I haven’t given it much attention because there has just been so much going on.
However, the process will be different when the time comes to release it because the website will already be up and running, it will just be a matter of listing it.
There will be no need to wait as long as we have this time round with the Roma Necessaire.
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To end the week, I spent a really nice Mother’s Day with my family! ♥️
My partner made us homemade bread for breakfast! We ate nice warm bread with butter, cheese, avocado and egg. 😋
We went for a nice walk in the park afterwards with the kids on their bikes and they were able to hit the ramps on them.
They seem to love the adrenaline while I sweat buckets hoping they stay intact after a steep descent.
When we got home, my partner made us pancakes with breaded pork chops drizzled with honey! 🤰🏽
Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take a photo of my meals to show you because I was just too hungry to even think about it. 😂
But I did get one of what the kids got up to after lunch.
I know Mother’s Day may not be easy for some, but I hope you have been able to enjoy your weekend the best you have been able to! ♥️
Videos I Posted This Week:
Easter Basket, Lyra Dress, Carmel Hack and My Knitted Sweater | WEEKLYBEE Ep7
How to Sew a Buttonhole Step-by-Step:
4 Ways to Gather Fabric:
If you would like to make something for Easter, you can watch this tutorial to make an Easter Basket for the little ones (or big ones🤭) in your life.
How To Make the Cutest DIY Easter Basket
This Week's Tip:
Gathering Fabric with a Cord
There are a few different ways to gather fabric depending on the project you are working with and the weight of the fabric.
Gathering with a cord works best with medium to heavy weight fabrics since these can hold the gathers better than if you applied this technique to a light weight fabric like chiffon.
It is always best to test any stitches or techniques you are unsure of on a little scrap piece of fabric cut off from the project you are working on. This will give you the best way to see the outcome on your actual project.
You can use any strong thin cord for this method, something like dental floss, yarn or twine, that won’t snap when you pull on it.
On your sewing machine, select a zigzag stitch and make sure that it is wide enough so that the needle hits on either side of your cord and not on it.
Since I used twine in this project which is 2mm thick, I set my zigzag stitch to have a width of 6mm.
Cut a length of cord a little bit longer than your piece of fabric so you can have something to pull on.
Before placing your cord under the presser foot, rotate the handwheel towards you a few times to make sure you know where the needle is going to hit so it doesn’t pierce your cord.
Now place the cord on the fabric centering it under the needle and begin stitching.
Once you have stitched the whole length of where you need your gathers to be, remove the fabric from the sewing machine.
Pull the cord in one direction while you pull the fabric in the other and watch your fabric gather.
Lastly, adjust the gathers evenly to fit the area where you are stitching it to.
My Favourite Things This Week:
- Finishing a Carmel Jumpsuit hack!
- Crocheting vertical stripes on my purple Gumdrops Sweater.
- I had a really good Mother’s Day with my kids! ♥️
Upcoming Plans:
- Continue knitting my purple sweater.
- Make one quilt block 🤔 (Is this ever going to happen? 😂)
- Make myself a skirt or something else? Help me decide what to sew on Tuesday’s Youtube video. (Subscribe to my channel so you can get notified when the video comes out!)
Upcoming Events:
26th of April 2025 Sew & Bond
24th May 2025 Sew & Bond
28th June 2025 Sew & Bond
26th July 2025 Sew & Bond
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Until next week, happy creating!😘