Kaoru Marie

I've been debating whether or not I wanted to "participate" in the Top 5 Misses/Hits, but after noticing myself really enjoying reading a few ( Carolyn , Winnie , and, of course, Gillian ), I decided to go ahead and do it! I'm going to break it up into two posts. We'll start with the not-so-good and end with the awesome shit. A lot of these items were just discussed in my previous post of unblogged items, so I'll try to limit my descriptions to just why they're either in the Hits or Misses categories. 1. McCalls 6563 So I made this pattern twice in quick succession because I thought I really liked it. I even called it a Tried and True (TNT) Pattern on Instagram after I made it the second time. But then I started wearing them and realized I completely dislike them! This pattern is a bias cut blouse and I've come to realize that I hate wearing bias cut blouses. It's very possible that I didn't handle the fabric correctly, but it's als...

ok, so after my hellish time making up my own construction order on the last Emery Dress I decided to make another one following the instructions to a T. I've had this quilting cotton fabric in my stash for months and always intended on turning it into an Emery Dress . I bought the fabric (Comma Nigella by Zen Chic) at Sew Modern and I remember the lady asking me what I was going to make because I bought 3 yards. When I told her I planned on making a dress she made a comment about how she figured I was doing something big with it since I got so much yardage; I'm guessing most people who shop there don't usually buy that much yardage of one fabric since the store mainly caters to quilters. Now that I had the pattern tweaked to fit my bodice, I knew it would be an easy project. I kept the zipper in the center back and add the shorter sleeves. Actually I modified the sleeves to make them more of a cap sleeve. I know the pattern isn't perfectly drafted, but I like ...

Oh man, that Emery Dress pattern by Christine Haynes .....it has become a TNT pattern! I finished two dresses recently; I'm sharing one today and I'll share another one later this week. I've had my eye on making another Emery Dress soon after I tested the pattern ...way back in August 2013. However, I was a bit lost on how to reduce the slight gaping along the back neckline. It wasn't *that* noticeable, but the neckline would not sit flat when I wore it and I could not for the life of me figure out why. As much as I really, really, really wanted to make another Emery Dress, I did not want to make one until I could figure out how to make sure the neckline would lay flat.Would I have to do some crazy pattern hack to reduce the length of the back neckline? Did I need to lengthen the neckline darts or add new darts somewhere else? Well, I finally figured out what I had to do! I tried on my muslin (which I made back in October or November when I planned to make another...

Is 'Professional Pattern Tester' a real job out there where I could seriously make a living? Because I want to apply for the job and do it forever. Pattern testing combines part of my real job (QA/QC checking for design errors) and my hobby (sewing). It's a match made in heaven for me! When I saw Christine's blog post about needing pattern testers, I immediately filled out the form. I have been dying to be a pattern tester for at least the past year. I always get a twang of jealousy when I read other bloggers tell their tales of pattern testing. Oh how cool and fun it always looks! Of course, some of my biggest concerns in my ability to be a good pattern tester were whether I could meet the deadline and have a wearable garment. What if the pattern didn't fit my body shape and I couldn't figure out how to fix it? That would be pretty disastrous. I was doubly concerned about the deadline because I was sorta in the middle of packing to move. My sewing corner ha...