Pantry Remodel

A small mishap in an upstairs toilet got my favorite painter to my house recently.  So, while he was here, I had to add a small job to his repair list.

The Pantry

Ceiling in need of repair from the upstairs toilet situation.

My old, plain white pantry

I found a picture on Pinterest of a colorful pantry.  One thing led to another and I had a new pantry.  

New door from Home Depot

Shelves:  "Seal skin" colored paint from Sherwin Williams.
Wall:  "Universal Khaki" from Sherwin Williams.
New track lighting from Lowe's.

Two metal recycle bins from Pottery Barn for the extras left from shopping at Costco.
Silver mesh bins from the Container Store keep all those small items in one spot.

I have been using these glass containers from the Container Store for a few years and love them.  Country living can bring many unwanted dinner guests, but they can't get into these containers.

New labels for my jars from the Martha Stewart round labels by Avery.

My pantry is a joy to be inside.  Everything has a place and all the extras from Costco aren't lining the shelves.

Winner t-shirt, Angela Wolf #AW1123

#AW1123 The Ruched-T

Pattern:

Angela Wolf Pattern Collection's The Ruched-T, #AW1123

I used a large size, but could have easily made due with the medium.  My fabric had only two way stretch and I wanted to err on the side of larger rather than too small.  Great pattern, great directions, great fit!  I love the shaping of the neckline!  

Fabric:

Turquoise burnout knit from Fabric.com.  Two way stretch only.  

Sorry my shirt looks so sloppy in the pictures.  I realized halfway through a basketball game that I needed a picture of this shirt, so my 14 year old took the pictures.  Boys don't care much about styling, so he never mentioned the top was bunched around my waist.  

Awesome t-shirt!

I took my daughter to High Fashion Fabric in Downtown Houston to shop for Easter fabric.  Why did I do this?  She picked a polyester chiffon............

Happy Valentine's Day, Simplicity 1548

Simplicity 1548 skirt and Planet Applique tshirt

Happy Valentine's Day!

Pattern:

Simplicity 1548, skirt

This skirt is for knits only, but my skinny daughter could easily slide into this skirt, so I made it of denim.  I added 4 inches to the length.

T-shirt:

Purchased t-shirt with "Love Struck" heart by Planet Applique.  Applique is done with Moda prints.

"Love Struck" by Planet Applique with Moda prints

Denim skirt with edges left to ravel.

Today was beautiful and 70 something degrees.  The rest of the country still has snow in most places.

Another fit feather in my hat, Vogue V8886

Vogue V8886

Pattern:

Vogue V8886, View B

Fabric:

Black and white houndstooth novelty fabric

woven on one side and flannel on the other.  

I chose to use the flannel for the right side.

Fitting Notes:

Since my last post on fitting, I have been ruthlessly working on this dress.  Or should I say the muslin of this dress.  Six weeks of meddling with the muslin.  

My fit issues:

assymetrical sloping shoulders

large arms

forward rotated shoulder

All of that sums up to LOTS GOING ON IN THE SHOULDER AREA!

I have looked up forward rotated shoulders on every website. blog and book I own.  I tried them all during my muslin assembly line. I found "Fitting and Pattern Alteration," by Liechty, Rasband, and Pottberg-Steineckert has a small section on altering for this issue.  IT WORKS.  The one thing that is missing from their notes is how much of an alteration to do.  I found that I needed about 1/2" forward shoulder joint adjustment and that solves lots of issues.  My clothes aren't trying to come up my back any more.  

I also used Connie Crawford's sleeve adjustment to give more movement.  

I think I went through almost a bolt of muslin fabric, but I understand the relationships between sleeves, armseye, sleeve cap, and front and back bodice widths.  I guess the education was worth it, because I have so much more confidence with that area of the fit process.

Construction Details:

After making so many muslins of this dress, I no longer needed the instructions.  I did have to hand baste all the vertical seams to match the plaids.  The zipper was hand picked to match the plaids.   The whole dress was put together in less than a week after the fitting was done.   

Neckline and bodice details of V8886

Vogue V8886

Hand picked zipper 

Bodice and neckline details.

I can't wait to apply what I learned to another project!!!!!

Shabby Chic Copy Cat

Shabby Chic skirt that I copied from Little Birdie Secrets

I love Pinterest.

I love those cute outfits.

One I just had to copy.

This one.  

The original was made from a sheet and had an elastic waist.  Well, I just couldn't do that, so:

Pattern:

Burda 9562 yoke

Redrafted skirt for length and fullness.

Fabric:

Khaki twill from Fabric Finders

(think kids uniform khaki)

Construction:

The yoke, skirt, and ruffles were cut on the bias.  

Side zipper is used as the pattern states.

The ruffles were gathered using my ruffler foot.

The ruffles were not hemmed, but I stitched about 1/4" from the edge of fabric to give it stability.  I want it to ravel just a little. 

The ruffles were stitched on top of the skirt in the shabby chic style.

Winner of a skirt.

The original is posted here.

My little model inside out of the cold wind.

Love this tween skirt!