Project 3: Simplicity 2215, View D, and Cake!

There's so much on my mind right now, both good and bad, and I want to turn a lot of it into blog posts but then I think, who would read that?  I sometimes wonder if I wouldn't benefit from a few girlfriends to just bounce ideas off of.  Nick doesn't care about pattern sizing or blogs; he doesn't notice if I paint my nails or if my hair dries weird.  I know one person shouldn't be everything to another, but that's where we are right now, and the boundaries are slowly disappearing.  (You don't even want to know what we talk about after work.)

So anyway, it was a long weekend, and I gotta say, not a terribly exciting one.  It was cold this weekend, so our hibernation plans were mostly achieved.  However, Saturday proved productive, once we actually got out of bed and out of the apartment: we managed to buy $130 worth of groceries (good lord) as well as some slightly-needed kitchen items.  When we got home and unpacked our food and fun things, I immediately thought of how nice it will be to someday have room for casserole dishes and espresso makers, for loaf pans and pitchers, and how we won't have to have these things spill over into the living room and onto the stove because there simply isn't space.  I hope that by this time next year I can stand next to Nick in our kitchen and not have to contort myself around him to get to the fridge or close a cabinet before I can open the oven.

Stovetop espresso maker--do yourself a favor and buy one! It was $7 at TJ Maxx, but they also had a $15 one, if you aren't on a budget.

My newish bulletin board, the first thing we've hung in our apartment.  We've lived here 13 months.

Lemon Poppyseed cake from Flour Bakery's cookbook.  Delish.

I've been in the mood to nurture lately.  I want to cook and bake to feed my loved ones; I want to snuggle my kitten when her ears are cold; I want to take vacations and buy things so we feel like we can fully enter spring with what we need.  I guess this is how I am lately anyway; I have a responsibility to take care of my little family while also checking in with my larger family, and I try to honor that so no one feels left out.  But I don't know--it's been stronger lately.  Maybe winter does that.  Maybe, after the holidays, you want to return to normalcy, but you want a better version of normal, so it becomes routine and will stick throughout the year.  I've never viewed resolutions as that because they seem to disappear by March.  They're short-term and the goals are normally temporary as well.  I want things to be different forever, not just for now.  A strong cup of coffee and a slice of cold cake are the ways to start, I suppose.

Anyway, speaking of resolutions, I finished another project over the weekend: Simplicity 2215, View D, using Heather Ross's Mendocino.  My mom bought this fabric in 2009 at Fabrika in downtown Savannah.  I was living there at the time and she came up for a long weekend.  She bought herself the mermaids and the seahorses, but we always had a plan to use this fabric for a sundress.  Well, long story short, that never happened and I inherited it when she was weeding through her fabric last fall.

Pattern Description

Three different garments with two options each: a sleeveless shirtdress, a sleeveless button-down, and a full skirt, each with or without fringe.

Pattern Sizing

Big 4 again--6-22 are available.  This is a 14/8.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the envelope when you were done with it?

I think so!  It's hard to mess up a basic shirt.

Were the instructions easy to follow?

Yes, they were super easy.  The shirt came together in a matter of hours--I only had to stop to make dinner, and then go to Joann's for buttons the next morning.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

I love the simple shape and how casual it is.  I don't like the way the collar falls and fits with the facing--there's a lot of bulk around the neck.  Also, I'm wondering if the placket should've been topstitched?

Fabric used

Heather Ross Mendocino quilting cotton.  

Pattern changes or any design alterations you made

None

Would you sew it again?

Yes!  I think so.  I also have the skirt already planned for a few fabrics.

Conclusion

I love my goldfish shirt!  Haha.

Yesterday after I finished the goldfish shirt, I started on a shirt I've had cut out since July (again), Simplicity 2154.  And this is how far I got!  Again, I stopped to start on dinner.  It's definitely a Spanx top--I tried it on yesterday and, true to vintage styling, it is tight in the waist, but that's why shapewear exists.

One last note--we're going to New York next month.  I'm planning to avoid any and all tourist spots.  Any good shops/restaurants we should hit?