Simplicity 1589 A Learn to Sew

Hello again!
Don't be surprised that after a long time without new posts I am publishing two today! Well when it comes to sewing I've had my ups and downs but now that I have spent some time to create a nice space at home for all my sewing tools and materials, I am feeling very inspired lately to sit and get back to my favorite hobby.
So I have been working on Simplicity 1589 A pattern. It is a nice pattern for a beginner like me. I got to practice the seam finishes  for the square cutout which was nice.
I used a rayon fabric with black/ivory polka dots. The rayon fabric made kind of difficult handling the neckline and armholes sections. I added a black bias tape to the neckline because I accidentally did a hole on the fabric while using the seam ripper!! The hem was challenging too, but I am proud to say that is done! Anyways here are some pics.

Thanks for reading!

Simplicity 2226

Hello dear friends!
Yes I am back! So I finally finished the skirt on Simplicity 2226 pattern. It is very simple and easy to do. I ran into a problem with the zipper but to be fair this will be the first time I sew a zipper by myself without guidance. My advice will be to practice the technique that is explained in the instructions with scraps of fabric before you go ahead and do it in the actual skirt.
Another problem I had was that the skirt ended up being too big for me. To be honest I started this months ago and did it little by little...when I tried it sometime ago I thought it was going to fit. Anyways I still have a lot to learn and I am not getting discouraged. I know soon will be the day where I will get to wear the clothes that I make.
Anyways here is a picture of the skirt in my dress form. Since it was big I decided to not to do the fabric belt so I just added a belt I already have.
thanks for reading

Extend the life of your commercial patterns!

Problem: You got that awesome pattern that you want to use over and over again but after the second use you noticed is hard to keep the pattern in a reusable state. After pinning and tracing multiple times the patterns paper has become a wreck and you will not be able to reuse it.

Solution: Go to a local medical supplies store and buy an exam table paper roll. What is that? The piece of paper they spread across the exam table at your doctor's office every time a new patient lays down in it. The good thing about this paper is that you can use it for making your own patterns but also for tracing your commercial pattern.

This way you can reuse as many times as you want your commercial pattern without damaging it with all the pinning and tracing. Also if you use the commercial pattern to sew for someone other than you, you can trace individual sets for each pattern size.

I paid about seven dollars for one roll so it is pretty cheap.
Do you have any other ideas? Let me know by posting a comment!