Anaconda

Yet another Jungle January project!

When Andrea and I were in Michigan last month, I bought this beautiful "anaconda" print rayon/lycra jersey.  I almost didn't buy it - I looked at it several times and put it back, because I generally don't wear black/grey.  But when I saw that the description included plum tones, I caved.  I still don't see the plum, but the belief that it's there makes this fabric a go for me.

I didn't have a firm plan for this fabric when I bought it, other than "top."  So I looked through my stash of Burda magazines, and settled on this simple dolman-sleeve tee:  Burda 12/2013 #128.  You all know I love a dolman sleeve.

The sleeves on this top are very long, and designed to be pushed up I think.  They also have a double-layer cuff, which I think is kind of nice.

For this top, I traced a straight size EU 36 with no adjustments.  The only change I made to the construction was to do the neck binding in my normal, folded way, rather than turned to the inside.  Just because I generally prefer the look of it.

The recommended hem allowance for this top is 1 5/8", but because I'd only purchased 1.5 yards of this fabric, I didn't have enough to add on any length at all for the hem, so this top turned out an inch or so shorter than it ought to be.  I wish I'd had enough to make it slightly longer, which surprised me:  Burda tops are usually far too long on me.  I like this pattern enough that I'll be making it again, so for future versions I'll make them a bit longer.

I think this is a great little pattern.  It's very similar to the Cation Designs Dolman Sleeve Top, but without the waistband and with longer sleeves and deeper dolmans.  I was going to say that this is a good pattern if you like the Cation top but were sized out, because when I traced my Cation pattern it was only available in one size.  But as I linked it up, I saw that Cindy has expanded the range of sizes!

Here's how this one looks:

A closer look:

And check out how long the sleeves are!  I do have short-ish arms, but still!  Funny!  You can barely see the tips of my right fingers at the bottom.

I paired it with these coated spinel earrings I made a few years ago - one of my fave pairs:

And finally, here's your little bit of silliness - click on the picture below for a fun suprise!

Sssssssssssssssssss!!

Zebropard.

Here's a new Jungle Jan-y mani!

I got this Konad plate a while ago, but this is the first time I've used it.  It has a lot of great images, but this one is the reason I bought the plate.

For this mani, I started out with Color Club Silver Lake, a pale blue-grey.  After two coats, I took Zoya Harley (a lavender-grey) and brushed just a bit, from the cuticle toward the tip, with an almost dry brush in a random pattern.  Then I topped the color off with a coat of INM Out the Door Northern Lights quick dry top coat.

I did all of that last night, and then let the color cure over night.  I've found that stamping works better on a well-cured base.  This morning I got out my stamp, plate and Wet n' Wild Black Creme - my favorite black polish for stamping - and went to town.

After stamping and cleaning up around the edges, I topped it off with another coat of INM Out the Door Northern Lights.  I started with my right hand and didn't put enough top coat on the brush for the first few nails.  You can see below how it smudged the design, especially on the middle finger.

But using plenty of top coat on the remaining nails solved that problem.  One thing I love about the INM top coat is that even if I use so much that it pools around my cuticles, once it's dry it all settles nicely into place and doesn't look like it's pooled.  I also love that it doesn't cause shrinkage like Seche Vite, and doesn't dry out when the bottle's half gone.  And of course, the speed:  with this top coat, I can literally paint my nails and be knitting 10 minutes later! 

I didn't do a whole lot of nail stamping or nail posts last year, and I'm hoping to do more this year.  Jungle January is giving me a good start, because a lot of my favorite stamps are animal print!

Jungle January: the Mani Edition

The other night when I couldn't sleep, I was thinking about stamping my nails for Jungle January.  And then I started thinking about all the animal print stampings I've already done, so I went through my old posts and pulled some pictures.  It was fun to look at these again, so I thought I'd share them.

I've got various iterations of leopard - the real kind:

and the fantasy kind:

Same for crodile:

I've got a giraffe:

A snake:

And even some butterflies!

{If you'd like to see more nail stamping, click on "Bundle Monster" or "Konad" in the category cloud!}

MOAR Leopard!!

Because one can never have enough leopard, amirite?

I took advantage of being snowed in over the weekend to sew up a little top I've been wanting to make for quite some time.  I first saw this on my friend Debbie, and went nuts for it.  I knew I had to make at least one, so when I saw this fantastic leopard sweater print at Fabrications in Michigan, I picked some up for this top.

Later that weekend, when Andrea and I were hitting up the pattern sale at JoAnn's, we both picked up a copy of the pattern - by that time she was also in love with it!  This is Burda 7866.  Y'all know how much I love a kimono sleeve!

As you can imagine, this is a pretty simple top to make.  The only thing that's a little fiddly is the neck facing, which is cut in two separate strips and then folded back at the corners and hand-stitched to make a miter. 

Despite being so simple, it took me the better part of the weekend to complete this, because I used all three of my machines!  I sewed the facings to the neckline with a short, narrow zigzag on the regular sewing machine, then did all the construction seams with my serger.  Finally, I finished off my hems with the coverstitch machine.  So each time I switched machines, I had to dismantle the one and set up the other.  Gosh, I wish I had a sewing room!

coverstitched hem

I did the teensiest bit of adjusting on this pattern.  The entire top is a EU 36, and the yoke (waistband section) grades from a 36 to a 38 at the hip.  I probably could have gone with a straight 38, but since it was my first time using this pattern I wanted to make sure the garment wasn't too overwhelming up top. 

I really love that the hem allowances for the sleeves and the bottom are very wide - 1 7/8 inches.  It gives the edges a nice substantial feel.

After I finished the top and put it on, Hubby liked it so much he immediately took a picture and sent it to his sister!  Awww!  My honey is so supportive of my crafty obsessions.

so interesting - you can really see my forward shoulder!

This morning I decided to take some pictures, and so that you guys don't think that the only bottoms I have are skinny jeans, I put on this old suede skirt (GAP, circa 2003!  I love when the label states the date) with the top.  I'm really loving how this looks!  But it also looks great with jeans :-)

Check out my sleeves:

When I was laying out my pattern pieces, I got a little confused because the sleeves are actually much wider than the body section, LOL!

And because it's Jungle January, I had to have a little fun.  So I put some bones in my hair and pretended to be a cannibal. 

Come here, you!  I'm going to put you in a pot and cook you!

They aren't really bones.  They're my hair sticks :-)  Also, I'm a vegetarian.

And this last picture, because it's the only one that shows the neckline well, even though I look like a goof with my hair up like that!  I was worried that the neck opening would be too small even for my tiny head, but it worked out OK, and I think having it smaller helps the top not to fall off the shoulders.

So there you have it!  My first FO of 2014, which is also my first Stash Diet FO, and my second Jungle January make!  Hurray!

Laura Petrie, or Palm Beach?

Hey, it's Jungle January!!  I've been waiting for this for months!  I so wanted to participate last year, but despite several shopping excursions I couldn't find a fabric I liked.  This year, I've been stocking up :-)

I'm not sure this is really kosher for Jungle January.  I made this top in the last three days of 2013.  BUT - I just took the photos today!  And I love this top, so I'm going ahead with it.

If you follow me on Instagram, or if you've taken a peek at my stash pages up above, you've already seen this fabulous sequin leopard print.  I actually bought two separate pieces of this fabric, because I loved it so much and I was planning on making some pattern changes so I wanted insurance!

This top is the same as my first two sequin tops.   When I went back and took a look at the magazine, I discovered that there was a version with sleeves.  My first two used pattern 12/2012 #118B, and you may remember that there was no download option for that pattern.  But this is 12/2012 #119 - it uses the same pattern pieces and adds in sleeves - and this one is on the website.  I think this is a great little pattern, so if you are looking around for a simple darted top, do consider this one.

The sleeves on #119 are long and full.  I knew that I wanted elbow-length sleeves for this top, so I traced the sleeve pattern piece but then trimmed the arms down to match the Renfrew long sleeve, which fits me well.  I knew that making the top out of this sequin sweater knit, the fit would be looser - and that is just what I was looking for with this one.

I did end up trimming sequins on this top as well, but not as much as on the last one.  I used the plain fabric from the selvage to make bindings for the neck and sleeves, so didn't need to trim there.  Then I tried on the top to see if the sequins were scratching me and where.  It turned out that they really only bothered me on the inside of the arms, so that's the only place I had to trim.

Here's a little sequin-trimming anecdote for you:

Hubby:  "There are sequins in the bathtub."
Me:  "I know.  I was making another top.  I haven't cleaned up yet."
Hubby:  "But they're in the bathtub.  How did they get here?"
Me:  "On the bottom of your feet.  You're a Carrier."

Hahaha.  He was so disconcerted!  But:  I think I'm over the sequins.  For now.

Also, this project was the first entry in my new notes binder!  I placed my pattern pieces in a zip-lock bag when I was done and stuck that just behind the note page.

Anyway, I think this is pretty cute.  In my mind, it reads Laura Petrie.  But there's a tiny voice in the back of my head saying maybe it reads more Palm Beach retiree?  I think I can be OK with that.

Here's a close-up of the front and back, so you can see the fit better:

I think of this as my casual, day-time sequin top.  I would totally wear this out for lunch with these little gold flats and jeans.  You can dress it up or down, and it's actually pretty comfortable.

And finally, I think I'm supposed to do this for Jungle January?

If not, have a good laugh on me!