For the Record

Three more angels for M's shop...

I've been pretty honest about these angels in the past, I think. They aren't my favorite things to make. But they sell and do a little bit to support my addiction hobby. And it is pretty interesting to watch them morph from something like bowling pins....

...into something more like rubber chickens.....

...and finally into something human-like.

This bag is also for M's shop, to replace this one that sold very quickly. Yay! It is made from wool very similar to the first one, but it started as a neutral beige color that didn't seem very exciting for a handbag. I chose to dye it purple. The wool felted a bit during the dying process, so it was a little harder to sew (more bulk). My Pfaff still muscled through and I'm happy with the result.

This one closes with a snap rather than a zipper. I thought these instructions for applying magnetic snaps were quite good. The application feels very secure.

I'm not doing a great job of finding sewing time lately. It seems like there are many other things going on and I've not been terribly motivated to work smarter and find the time. The February blahs...they come for me every year...

Simplicity 2609 - Tiered Skirt

This skirt has been completed for awhile. After I finished it, I took a bit of time to decide if I liked it and then a bit more time to decide how to wear it. I haven't had a skirt this long or this full in years. It feels really different.

Even though this is a pretty simple project, I bought a pattern (Simplicity 2609) for it. The main fabric is pretty lightweight and sheer, so a lining was pretty important. I saw this pattern during a Simplicity sale and figured I could use View A for the skirt and View D for the lining.

I think I like the skirt now, but I almost abandoned it mid-project. I spent a long, frustrating time trying to find the straight grain of the fabric and then started cutting out the pieces when I thought I had it. Turns out that I didn't have it at all and the pieces were all off grain. But, I don't think anymore fussing would have helped. It was just one of those fabrics. (But, I can't complain - it was $1.50/meter).

The skirt required nearly five meters of fabric. The bottom tier is around 12 feet long. That's a lot of hemming. And gathering. If you have any aversion to gathering at all, I strongly advise you not to use this pattern. I started with the bottom tiers, to get the worst of it over with first. The thought of gathering threads breaking in the middle was not a pleasant one, so I zigzagged over a piece of fine yarn and then gathered it up by pulling on the yarn rather than doing the usual two rows of stitching.

Worn with heavy tights, thick socks and boots, this was a pretty warm outfit. But, I need a little more practice wearing a long skirt - I stepped on it a few times going up steps and rolled over the bottom tier a couple of times in an office chair. Whoops. And my daughters noted that I'm not quite as good at twirling as they are!

McCall's 3341 - Glen Plaid Skirt

The fourth (and final!) part of the Coordinated Christmas Clothing project is a skirt for me. Truthfully, this was the piece I sewed first for a couple of reasons. I originally bought the fabric to make something for me and I knew that if I didn't like my garment I wasn't going to want to go ahead with this endeavor. So, I actually sewed this at the end of November and it might be a stretch for me to remember the construction process!

I searched awhile for a pattern that I liked. I wanted something a little more interesting than my usual plain choices, but didn't find anything from the major pattern companies that jumped out at me. I've never sewn a Knip Mode pattern before, but I've seen others make unique things, so I perused their site. There I saw this skirt that did jump out at me.

I tried buying the pattern when I saw it, but I was having computer issues and couldn't get the transaction to go through. Then I started thinking more about the pattern and knew there were a few things I would want to change - the length, the topstiching across the front and back yoke, and the wrap-style. It seemed like I could modify an A-line skirt pattern easily enough to include what I wanted and leave off what I didn't. So, that's the route I went.

McCall's 3341 is the pattern I started with. I had this in my stash, but had not used it yet. I compared it to McCall's 3830 that I have used a few times and the waist and hips measure the same. I traced it off and started drawing in the new lines. They're primarily all straight lines, so it wasn't too difficult.

For the back, I drew the curved yoke across the back and then incorporated the dart into the fullness of the skirt and the curve of the yoke. Dart manipulation fascinates me. I haven't done much of it, but I think it's always interesting.

The finished result:

I had a near miss with a case of zipper rage. See that bump at my left hip? Ugh. I didn't have a black invisible zipper, so I tried using a regular zipper and doing a lapped insertion. After three tries, I gave up and put in a brown invisible zipper. I had interfaced the seam allowances, but they had had it with my messing around. The hip bump was as good as it was going to get.

The back skirt panels are cut on the bias. The yoke is cut on the straight grain. I like the back of the skirt and could see using it again. (The front is pretty distinctive, so I'd probably pair this back with a different front).

I used Butterick 3344 (OOP) to make the turtleneck from ponte knit that was leftover from a different project. I've made similar turtlenecks before, but this time I left out the zipper at the back neck. The seam was stretchy enough to pull over my head when I used the serger. I couldn't make the extra-long scrunched sleeves that I like because of fabric constraints, but I did make extra wide gathered cuffs for a similar look.

The Preacher did play along with us on Christmas Day and wore this red tie with a gray shirt and black suit. We had someone take pictures of us, but they didn't turn out all that well.

Other related posts:
Jumper
Dress
Vest 

I'm not actually in the middle of any sewing project right now. There are many things I'd like to get to ASAP (nothing new there), but haven't established the pecking order yet.

Handmade Holiday Happiness

In this post, I mentioned that I've been enjoying more simple handmade things this year. This post is a bit of a round-up of some of those things.

Potato Stamping

I saw this on Made by Rae and wanted to put some extra packing paper we had to good use. I used paint from a dollar store. I would not recommend it. It worked poorly and smelled like formaldehyde. Scary.

Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments

Nothing new or novel here, but it was a fun project to do with the kids. Ours didn't turn out that fabulous. I think I rolled the dough out too thin and then they stayed in the oven 40 minutes too long (it was The Preacher's responsibility to take them out. He's been forgiven). Hence, they have a bit of a curl. Next time I'll be more patient and just let them dry on the counter.

Felt Christmas Ornament

I'd love to have a Christmas tree full of handmade ornaments. For this one I used some lovely wool felt that my MIL gave me and followed this tutorial.

Mittens

I've been working on these mittens for awhile and just finally finished them up this week. These are as plain as can be, but there's still something very satisfying about handknit mittens. They went into my son's hat and mitts bin, but they're a wee bit big for him yet.

Quilted Wallhanging

I also finished up this wallhanging. The binding does add a lot and I'm happy to have it completed. I haven't hung it up yet and now I'm feeling more like I'll just put it away and be extra delighted to see it next December!

New Look 6071 - Gray and Yellow Dress

Now that I'm done with the Christmas clothing sewing, I'm turning my attention back to my Dress Warm project. For my third dress this season, I made a lightweight sleeveless knit dress. Sounds perfect for winter in Ontario, right? Actually, it has been unseasonably warm less cold but still a long way from summer-like.

On it's own, this dress is not at all seasonally appropriate. But, I made it with the intention of wearing it with a long black cardigan that I picked up at a thrift store awhile back. I liked New Look 6071 when I first saw it and have been wanting to try it out.

I give the fabric pretty mixed reviews. I used a rayon jersey - very soft and drapey and nice to touch. However, it was difficult to sew and I think it will keep growing. This dress probably won't last beyond this season, but I'm okay with that. This is the last piece of this type of knit I had in my stash and I likely won't buy any more. My local Fabricland always has a lot of it and it's tempting to purchase, but I'm always disappointed. I've learned my lesson.

The print is pretty wild. I like the yellow and grey combination and it has a bit of an animal print feel without actually being animal print. Truthfully, I like it best mostly covered up like with the cardigan and probably won't wear it otherwise. I can only do prints in small doses. Especially wild ones like this.

I will use this pattern again. I really like it. The bust detail is well drafted and flattering and the instructions make it easy to do. It's also a pretty quick make. The dress could be casual or dressy depending on the fabric used. When I make it again I will use a more substantial knit. This jersey was just too flimsy. I don't know if I've ever left a dress hem raw (I just prefer a more finished look) but I did on this one. Just the thought of trying to hem this dress without turning it into a rippled, wavy mess was stressful. A less-finished look sounded good this time.

Worn like this, I was plenty warm. So, technically a success given my Dress Warm goals, but this isn't a dress that I'll be reaching for real often. Both the print and the fabrication reduces its wearability for me. I do really like the cardigan and will probably be looking for another way to wear it.

Burda 9990 - Glen Plaid Vest

Item No. 3 in the Coordinated Christmas Clothing series is a vest for my son. While my girls have often had matching dresses, this is the first time he has been included. When I asked him if he would like to match the girls he was pretty excited about it.

The shirt and pants were hand-me-downs from another family. For the vest, I used Burda 9990 - a good pattern for both the pants and the vest. The front has welts (but no pockets) and the back has darts with a belt.

I underlined the front of the vest with a lightweight cotton because the glen plaid is fairly loosely woven and I thought some more structure would help. There are supposed to be four buttons on the front, but I only had three of the same and didn't want to buy more.

I also made the black tie. It is completely opposite of everything these ties tried to be. This one is made from a crafty-type tutorial (as opposed to in-depth instructions from an expert). This one is cut on the straight grain to save fabric (as opposed to the bias like real ties are). This one has an elastic band around the neck and doesn't even tie in a real knot. The tail end of the tie is square and raw. The back is whipstitched closed. I could go on. But, I do have to say that it looks pretty good, all things considered. I spent as much time on it as it was worth and I'm satisfied with it. I combined these instructions with this pattern (because I couldn't get the pattern for the first one to print).

A skirt for me will be the fourth and final item, but I probably won't have pictures for a few days yet.

Ottobre 6/2011 #13 - Glen Plaid Dress

Item No. 2 in the Coordinated Christmas Clothing series is a dress for my younger daughter. I liked this dress in the most recent issue of Ottobre when I saw it and thought it could work for combining the glen plaid and dark red fabric.

I'm quite happy with how it looks now, but when I first tried it on my daughter I was not hopeful about it. My first thought was, "I didn't know a three-year-old could look frumpy!" But, cutting off some length helped as did the addition of sleeves.

This dress looks better on a body in motion than it does in photographs. Here the back looks a bit big, but it's just a very basic A-line shape. The plaids match nicely at center back, but maybe you notice that the sleeves are cut with the plaid going the opposite way. I was seriously in danger of not having enough fabric and played pattern tetris for awhile to get everything I needed squeaked out. Switching the direction of the sleeves was the only way.

I think the sleeves make the dress. The gathering at the top of the arm is done with two rows of shirring using elastic thread in the bobbin. I've never done that before. It worked out pretty well, but I don't know if I'm interested in shirring an entire waist yoke or sundress top yet. I was thankful for the plaid pattern - it made it easy to sew those lines straight.

The gathering at the wrist is supposed to be just actual gathering with the trim strip sewn on top. It was way too loose, so I put a piece of 1/8" elastic through there to gather it up snugly.

The instructions for sewing the tucks on the front yoke didn't seem to work out for me, so I just did my own thing and I'm happy with it. I like the textural interest it adds.

If the sleeves made the dress, then the hat made the outfit. For the beret I used this free pattern, cut out of ponte knit. The rose is from a purchased tutorial available here. Before I made the hat, I asked my daughter if she would like one and if she thought she could wear it without playing with it. She was very excited about having a hat and was sure she wouldn't play with it. She wore it all morning today and didn't play with it at all. I was quite impressed.

I really like the rose and added one to a headband for my older daughter to wear with her jumper. No pics of it on her, but it was a good addition.

Next Up: a vest for the little man...