My Sewing Space

Simplicity 2609 - Tiered Skirt

2012-01-19T22:04:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-03T23:14:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-23T21:31:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-22T11:30:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-19T20:39:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-18T15:15:00.000-05:00

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...

Ottobre 3/2011 #18 - Glen Plaid Jumper

2011-12-15T20:54:00.000-05:00

This year I wanted to make coordinating clothes for the whole family to wear at Christmas time. I have no idea why. I've never wanted to do this before. And right now I'm having serious doubts about whether I still want to do it! When I explained my idea to The Preacher, he gave me a please-tell-me-you-are-kidding sort of look. I'm not sure he's on board yet, but that's okay. I'd say the project is 90% complete and I'm hoping to be completely finished by Saturday night.

I started with my older daughter's jumper. She had a piano recital last weekend so I used that for an early-ish deadline. I chose a pretty simple pattern from Ottobre 3/2011. This is a summer issue and the pattern is shown as a sundress, but it worked just fine as a jumper.

I cut the bodice on the bias and added piping around the top and at the waist seam. The piping at the waist seam made the jumper stand away from her body like she had a hoop in there. Not a good look (but really good for a giggle). I took the cord out of the piping and took the jumper in a bit at the side seams. That helped, but I think I still could have gone down a size.

The buttons were from my stash and both the burgundy piping fabric and the black lining were given to me by someone who cleared out her stash. I lined the bodice only (the pattern called for facings, but lining seemed just as easy).

The pleat arrangement on the skirt seems a little different to me. On each side of center, there is one inverted box pleat and one knife pleat. The front and back are identical.

I wasn't expecting my daughter to be very excited about this jumper - she usually likes a lot more color and fanciness - but she does like it quite a lot. And it looked good with the piano at the recital!

Handmade Holiday Happiness
This season I'm finding myself being attracted to all sorts of simple handmade things. This isn't entirely new for me of course, but my aversion to thoughtless consumerism has increased in the last few months. While I've always admired handmade goods, I'm really appreciating the simpler things right now and have been trying to work them into our family's Christmas preparations.

I made these two pillowcases as a gift for my younger daughter. A few weeks ago she lamented that she didn't have pretty pillowcases like her sister did. (She's the youngest and when she moved from a crib to a big girl bed she just got the linen closet extras. When her older sister made the same move, she got all new coordinating bedding. Oh, the injustice! But, for some reason, she only felt bad about the pillowcases).

Other than the lavender solid, these are all fabrics that someone else passed on to me. My daughter admired both of the florals, so I hope that these make her happy. I didn't feel like changing the thread on the serger, so I did flat-felled and french seams. All the seams are straight and the fabric was so easy to work with that the extra steps didn't take that long.

I've never made pillowcases before, but it is a small, simple way to add a little more handmade goodness to your daily life.

More Christmas Sewing

2011-12-11T22:56:00.000-05:00

A couple of years ago my mom gave me this kit to make a quilted Christmas wallhanging. This year I was determined to get it made up so I can enjoy it. I bumped it up on the to-sew list over some other things that had definite deadlines. The sewing wasn't at all complicated and assembling the top went very quickly.

I followed the layout guide as exactly as I could. Some of the fabrics included were different than those used in the diagram. The red for the ornament was different from the blue and green, so I put it in the middle. But, I didn't consider how that would affect the border blocks. There is a lot of green in the lower left hand corner that I didn't notice until I had it all together.

I haven't put the binding on yet, but I really like the candy cane stripe fabric included for it.

The ornament tops are machine appliqued. I started hand embroidering the hooks, but it was taking a long time and wasn't looking that great so I ripped it out and stitched it by machine, tracing over the line three times. Much more efficient and it looks just as good as my embroidery would have.

I'm looking forward to putting the finished project up soon. But, after I got to this point, I switched gears and did some work on gifts for my kids' teachers. I started with this tutorial, but modified it a bit.

I moved the patchwork strip to the other side of the cover and added a ribbon loop to hold a pen. I saw this on a different journal somewhere and thought it was a nice touch. I won't include these particular pens, but didn't have the right ones when I took the picture.

I find teacher gifts to be a tricky thing, but that's a discussion for another time. I hope they like them!

Next up: Christmas-y clothes for the fam...

Stash Busting

2011-11-21T16:04:00.000-05:00

No new fabric until after Christmas. That's my goal. I love accomplishing a goal. To make it happen I'm cutting out several things at once and then sewing them up. Some of this first batch were things that were necessary for my daughter's wardrobe (this and that) and then others are fabrics that I bought for a certain purpose but aren't very exciting to sew, so they have been pushed waaaaay down on the list.

First, is this fleece pullover for my older daughter. I bought this fleece as a remnant when the Fabricland in town closed. Each season I like to make sure each of the kids has at least one of these extra layer type garments. My older daughter has been lacking one for awhile now. Ottobre to the rescue.

I'm counting on those wrinkles coming out in the wash!

This is the "New Generation sweatshirt" (#38) from the 1/2010 issue. I wasn't hopeful about finding a matching zipper and didn't want to buy one, so I went with one that I had and made it look purposeful by adding coordinating piping and collar facing. The whole thing is giving me a bit of an 80's vibe - the color combo or the style or both? I'm okay with it and my daughter likes it.

I was confused by the pattern pieces related to the pocket. I was unsure if I was just not understanding or if there was a drafting error. I don't have a picture and it's hard to explain without it, but I did some redrafting of the front side panel piece to make it work for me.

The other change I made was to lengthen the sleeves and finish them with elastic rather than a cuff. I do prefer a cuff to elastic on these type of garments, but didn't have a suitable fabric.

The second was going to be a similar top for myself - an extra layer for when the house feels chilly. I like the vest I made from Kwik Sew 3453, but I think it's a little small now and I wanted to have long sleeves. I tried just adding a sleeve from a different pattern without really checking if they were compatible (I'm sure you know where this is going).

My first mistake was cutting the vest pieces too big. I mistakenly thought I had made a medium before, but it was actually a small. This time I used size large, which was much too large. Then the sleeves didn't fit at all. Not even close. Blegh. But, I had done a great job with the zipper and it seemed like a shame to just toss the whole thing, so I did finish the armholes and put it on the donate pile.

And, finally, a basic long sleeved top from the leftovers of this dress. I thought I'd just cut it out and sew it up rather than filing it away in the fabric closet. This isn't an exciting new garment, but it's great for days spent at home cleaning or baking or relaxed weekend days. It's warm but not bulky, covered up but not sloppy.

The pattern is Vogue 8536 and I've made it before, but this time I followed Elle's suggestion and simplified the front. I like it a lot better this way.

Now both of my machines are in the shop getting a good cleaning and tune up and I'm starting on the next round of cutting out. All from stash!

Another Twirly Skirt

2011-11-16T17:02:00.000-05:00

The first twirly skirt I made was so fun that I immediately cut out another. I had small amounts of all the fabrics left over from this project and combined them in a different way for my younger daughter.

This cotton poplin print is really nice to work with. I added piping to the horizontal seams but even with that addition, this was a really quick make.

The top is made from an Ottobre pattern (4/2011 #15). I think the style is really cute, but I didn't do a great job with the binding. And there's a lot of binding on this top - sleeves, keyhole at neck, and neckline. Clear elastic is stitched to the edges before the binding goes on. I tried using a double needle to finish the binding on the sleeves, but it doesn't look great. For the keyhole and neckline I just stitched in the ditch like I usually do and that looks better except that I didn't get the clear elastic on very evenly. It should be gathered evenly all around, but there are more gathers in the back. This project really made me want a serger with a binder attachment. Usually I'm really content with my older, very basic serger. But, these Ottobre patterns always have a lot of binding and I'm going to have to get better at the finish to be happy with them.

I added an inch of length to the sleeves before I cut them out, but was pretty disappointed to see that they are just long enough for my daughter's arms. The bodice was long enough without adding extra length.

The flower applique matches the piping in the skirt. To get the shape I traced one of the red flowers in the skirt fabric and the flower center is cut out of one of the turquoise flowers. The ribbon is stitched down with the same decorative stitch I used on my older daughter's dress ruffle.

The leggings are made from Burda 9615 and keep everything appropriately covered up while twirling...

and dancing...

and other three-year-old life enjoying activities!

Twirly Skirt

2011-11-16T16:18:00.001-05:00

My younger daughter continues to prefer skirts and dresses to pants. She gets my older daughter's hand-me-downs, but they aren't always the right size or season. I'm finding that I need to fill in a few holes in her wardrobe for fall and winter.

I started by replacing a black skirt that was too short and too tight. Since it was a skirt, my daughter didn't want to give it up. I pledged to replace it with a skirt and decided to copy a simple RTW one that she really liked.

It's a very basic three-tiered ruffled skirt. The top tier is hidden by her top here. I used the leftovers from this skirt. This fabric doesn't press all that well, so I topstitched the tier seams to keep them flat.

The outfit is really all about the shoes (red mary janes!) which are sadly getting pretty tight. One or two more wears and then they'll be put away.

It took me a few minutes to figure out the dimensions of the tiers from the RTW skirt, but once I had them figured and recorded I knew that I'd be making more of these. Construction is simple and quick and makes a cute skirt. And that makes for a happy little girl.

Oliver + S Jump Rope Dress

2011-11-15T15:31:00.000-05:00

This is a repeat make for me. You can see the first one here. I started wanting to make this dress when I made this basic skirt for my daughter. Oliver + S patterns are a joy to sew and result in classy looking clothes for little people (and now they're available to download at BurdaStyle).

The pattern envelope says this dress has a "slightly dropped waist." I didn't really get that result the first time around, but this time it does look like that. I intentionally made the dress a little big because I want it to be wearable all the way until spring.

The instructions for the placket and collar are fantastic. They walk you through each step and it looks great at the end. The buttons are from stash.

The pockets are my favorite part of the dress, I think. It's nice to have some detail on the skirt part.

This fabric was going to be for me. That was my thought when I purchased it in NYC last spring. But, my daughter really liked it and I thought it would work for this pattern. I also made her a pair of leggings from a purplish mauve knit that I had in stash (no picture). The leggings are more school-friendly than tights are.

I've made some clothes for my younger daughter that I need to post yet. My son has noticed that I'm sewing a lot of girl clothes and not anything for him. He doesn't really need clothes, but he didn't think that was a great reason for me to not be sewing for him. I should probably include him in the fun. Add that to the "to sew" list...

Simplicity 2406 - Corduroy dress

2011-10-30T15:36:00.000-04:00

In this post, I mentioned my wanting more fall/winter dresses. Here we have the second dress in this "Dress Warm" project. For this one I opted to use a warm fabric and chose a design that would allow wearing a cami underneath for an extra layer.

The pattern is Simplicity 2406, view C. I previously made view B here. I used a dark green fine-wale corduroy fabric that I've had in my stash for years. It's so soft and more drapey than most corduroy. I've considered using this fabric every winter for the last few years, but haven't felt like I found the ideal pattern for it. I'm making a concerted effort to sew up stash fabrics and not hoard them out of fear of not getting it perfect. So, did I choose the perfect pattern? I don't really think so, but I still like the dress and a dress in my closet is more satisfying than flat fabric on a shelf.

I had just enough fabric to make this dress - only small scraps left, so no matching sash. This is an extremely easy pattern to sew up. I did add length to the sleeves and the hem and closed up the back seam all the way to the neck (we're going for warmth here and the opening isn't necessary to get the dress on and off). Because I thought it might be helpful for fitting, I did keep the back seam, but ended up just leaving it straight. If I made it again and had enough fabric, I would consider putting it on the fold.

I don't have the next dress planned yet, but it will likely be something to wear with leggings. After all the leggings I've made for my girls, I'm finally cluing in that they might be something I'd like for me!

Simplicity 2556 - Tweedy vest

2011-10-26T19:47:00.000-04:00

When I began blogging, I posted my makes right after they were finished and the blog was a chronological record of what came off the sewing machine. That isn't the case anymore. Now I blog when I get around to taking pictures, which can be awhile. In the case of this vest, it's been at least 8 months. It normally doesn't take nearly that long, but I didn't have a shirt to wear under it when I finished it, and then the wrong season came along (summer). Finally I wore it a few days ago and got a picture.

Excuse the funny shadows. And the funny hair. You'd think after waiting 8 months, I'd get it right...

The problem with blogging long after creating is that it's hard to remember what I did or changed. I do know that I'm happy with the fit of the vest, particularly across the back.

The construction seems sound, too. I think I used cotton batiste to underline the tweed fabric. It isn't a very high-quality fabric and the loose weave needed a little more support. The inside is completely lined.

I didn't realize until looking at it now that this is a good picture of my slipstitching along the lining sideseam. That wasn't my intention. :)

The buttonholes are each stitched twice. I often use this technique on jackets or other items that can support it. Stitch the first pass with the buttonhole setting at a low density. Then slice the buttonhole open and stitch over it again with a high density zigzag. It goes a long way toward preventing the little whiskers that can show up in the inside of the buttonhole.

The pattern is Simplicity 2556, a Project Runway pattern. I always find these pattern envelopes hard to read - both the yardage requirements and the technical drawings. I think there's usually just too many options for me to sort through. In this case, I saw someone else make up this view of the pattern and I wanted my own. I entered this vest in the fair for judging and it won a first prize.

The shirt I'm wearing in the photos above is blogged about here (it also won a first prize at the fair!) and the skirt here. I'm not sure these are the best compliments for the vest. I'll have to play around with it a little. But, it is fun to wear an all me-made outfit from time to time.

Butterick 5559 - Navy knit dress

2011-10-22T22:34:00.000-04:00

This past summer I really increased my summer dress selection. My fall/winter dress choices are pretty minimal, but I think I'd like to change that this year. I associate fall/winter dresses with being cold, so I'm hoping to find dress options that have long sleeves, work well for layering, or can be made in warm fabrics.

I started this add-more-dresses project with a dress to wear to a wedding I attended last weekend. While out snoop shopping a few weeks ago, I tried on a ponte knit sheath dress with tucks radiating from the side seam. It cost $250. Even though everything about the dress was too short (bodice length, skirt length, sleeve length), it was a flattering style and was easy to wear.

It was very similar to Butterick 5559. I picked up the pattern and some navy ponte knit fabric and got to work on my own version.

This was a very interesting pattern to sew. There are separate top and bottom pieces for the front and back - the seam is hidden under the tuck at the waistline. Darts shape the top and bottom pieces - they are hidden under tucks also. This is what the front bodice piece looked like after marking and before sewing:

The markings are on the wrong side of the fabric. The tucks are made from the right side so I basted along the fold lines so they would be visible. Putting in all the darts and tucks took awhile, but once that was done, construction was easy-peasy.

Given my snoop shopping experience, I was concerned that this dress would also be too short. It was hard to even tell how long the piece would be after all the tucks were made. Adding length without distorting the tucks seemed difficult, but in the end I decided to add 3/8" above and below the waistline tuck. I also added 3" in skirt length below the tucks (I didn't need it all, but I don't remember how much I trimmed off) and made the sleeves 3/4 length. I cut generous side seam allowances on the skirt pieces.

Despite trimming, grading, clipping, understitching and pressing, the facings did not want to stay turned to the inside. So, they are tacked down. Because of the boat neck and lack of other differences front to back, I have a really hard time telling which side is the front of the dress! I added a small embroidered flower and my initials to the back facing as a tag stand-in.

Also because of the wide neck, I added lingerie guards. I'm a big fan of these since putting them in this dress. It is good to not be fussing with bra straps.

I'm happy with the end result. And The Preacher liked it, too. Bonus!

Oliver + S Music Class Skirt

2011-10-20T15:27:00.000-04:00

The only thing that is really noteworthy about this skirt is that it isn't needed until December and I made it in October. My daughter needs a black knee-length skirt to wear as part of her school uniform for concerts and performances. The first concert she is a part of is the Christmas concert. Assuming this December would be just as busy as those in recent years, I tried to be proactive and get this done earlier than a couple nights before the concert. Yay me!

I've made this skirt before, so I was familiar with the pattern. I want this skirt to be wearable for a couple of years, so I added three inches in length to the size 7. It finishes just at the bottom of her knee cap. The fabric is a basic poly suiting with a little bit of stretch.

Poor planning on my part, but I added all of the length to the middle part of the side panel. It would have been smarter to add 1" above the pocket, 1" in the middle, and 1" to the pleat. That would have kept the proportions better.

This skirt has nice details, but still is really quick to sew up. I was reminded how much I like Oliver + S patterns. I've got plans to make another Jump Rope dress soon, too.

Bright Blue Bag

2011-10-09T20:54:00.000-04:00

This is the second bag I made for M's shop. To keep it simple, I started with the same pattern as the first one and modified it a bit.

The changes include using two narrow straps on the sides of the bag instead of one wide one at the ends, making the bottom of the top band straight rather than curved, and cutting the main part of the bag into three gathered strips.

I stabilized each gathered seam with stay tape so they wouldn't stretch out. The lining is smooth and slightly smaller than the outer part, so stretching shouldn't be a problem. Since the print fabric is a quilting cotton, I backed the lining pieces with fusible fleece to give the bag some heft.

The rings are harness rings from the hardware store. They come in a variety of sizes at a good price.

And then the zipper. I added tabs to the end of the zipper because this one was a little short, but generally I find this works better than stitching the zipper all the way to the ends when it's recessed like this. It just seems easier to open and close. The interior of the bag is the same as the last one - pockets on each side.

I was happy with this bag, too. The idea came from a bag I saw at a nice shop in town. It was made from a beautiful soft grey leather and it really wanted to be mine. Were it not for the price tag indicating just how beautiful the leather was, I would have brought it home. I do have a piece of grey Ultrasuede in my stash. Maybe I'll make my own version...

Pink Wool Bag

2011-10-08T22:51:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, M asked me to make a couple more purses for her shop. Two of the others that I made awhile back had sold - yay! The only guidelines M has is that the purses should close securely, preferably with zippers. She finds that bags that stay open or close with only a snap don't sell very well.

Since color, style and fabrication were all up to me, I really wanted to make them from materials I already had. My MIL sent me home from our summer trip to their place with a pile of fabric that she had. One of the pieces was a really nice dark pink wool. The piece was long, narrow and not very big - ideal for a bag.

Please pardon those spots on the camera!

I used the pattern I developed when working on these bags. Since the fabric was plain, I figured some embellishment would be a good idea. These roses are pretty easy to make. If I were looking at this bag in a store I would be concerned that the roses would come apart or come off the bag, so I made sure to stitch them on very securely.

The strap is made of four layers of wool. I was worried that my machine would balk at my request for it to sew through that, but it did it beautifully with no problems. Go Pfaff! The channel stitching adds some texture and makes the strap feel very sturdy.

I modified the lining pattern to accommodate a zipper. This isn't a great picture of the bag's interior, but there are pockets on each side of the lining.

I felt quite happy with this bag when I was finished with it. Sometimes selling things that I make causes me some anxiety. I feel like the products need to be flawless and certainly better than store-bought to make it worth paying the extra cost. I try not to let that be paralyzing. Anyway, it does feel good to be happy with a product before sending it out into the world. :)

Ottobre 3/2011 #24 - Bird Applique Top

2011-09-29T22:12:00.000-04:00

One morning last week my daughter got dressed for school and came out of her room in an aqua plaid tunic and this skirt. Oy. I suggested that maybe they didn't look all that great together and she should change one of the pieces. She looked hurt and said, "But, these are my favorites!" Her favorite top, her favorite skirt...how could they not look fabulous together?

She felt beautiful and happy so she went to school dressed just how she wanted. I figured it would be wise of me to make some matching cool weather clothes so the skirt could be wearable through the winter.

My daughter is finally outgrowing Kwik Sew 2918 that I have used for T-shirts for her for the last five years. I've been adding lots of length and some width and modifying the fit of the largest size for the last few seasons. It's time to move on. Ottobre to the rescue.

I started with a slim fitting T-shirt pattern (Ottobre 3/2011 #24), changing the short sleeves to long ones. The fabric came from a top of mine that I didn't wear much because the sleeves were too short. The neckline is finished with picot-edge elastic rather than binding as called for in the pattern.

I knew what I wanted the bird applique to look like and just started sketching it on paper, but it wasn't turning out at all how I wanted. I'm horrible at drawing. Horrible. So, then I started searching online and found the header at Little Birdie Secrets. Exactly what I wanted. I still drew it, but I had something to copy.

I like using the blanket stitch on my machine. The tension should have been adjusted along the top of the bird's head, but I just left it. The beak and eye are done by hand with embroidery floss. The legs are stitched on the machine, tracing over pencil lines multiple times.

Here she is, looking happy and matching! And rumpled. But two out of three ain't bad. The leggings are Burda 9615, a pattern I love and may end up using as much as Kwik Sew 2918 in the end.

Knot for Me: Neckties

2011-09-27T17:25:00.000-04:00

The local fair has recently come and gone. As I have done in years past, I entered some sewn things for judging. There was a distinct lack of sewing time in the weeks before the fair, but I came up with six things that I could finish easily before the fair or things that I had made over the last year and were eligible. All of the six things placed in the top three in their category. A couple of things haven't made it on the blog yet. One of those is a necktie for The Preacher.

Back in the spring, I bought some necktie silk in NY. I didn't have a clue about making ties, but I thought it might be a fun thing to try. Most of the big pattern companies have some sort of tie pattern, but I wasn't expecting that would be the best source for instructions and guidance. Some online research led me to David Page Coffin's Custom Making Neckties at Home.

There is a lot of information included in the 17-page booklet and I found it really helpful. Coffin clearly is experienced and knowledgeable. This was the only source I used and it included everything I needed to know. But, I think that the booklet would benefit from some reorganizing and editing. Paragraphs are long, white space is minimal and I found myself flipping back and forth through pages trying to connect different parts on my own. I found his Shirtmaking book similar - lots of great info, but strangely organized.

All you need for a tie is outer fabric, lining and interfacing. Using the right kind of interfacing is pretty important. Rather than trying to find something suitable in yardage, I took apart one of The Preacher's old ties that he liked the length and width of. I used it to make a pattern for the new tie following Coffin's instructions.

The red dupioni tie was my first try. It looks okay from the front, but the back is awful. The most difficult part of the tie-making process is attaching the lining to the blade so that it is set back from the edge about 1/4". Coffin gives pretty detailed instructions for how to do this by machine. I followed them quite carefully, but mine came out very uneven.

The process is repeated on the tip end of the tie, so I did practice it twice and then cut into the good tie fabric. Finishing the tip end went better than the red one and the blade end went better yet. Certainly, there is still room for improvement, but compared to my first attempt, this is beautiful.

There is a loop for slipping the tail end through and a bar tack where the slipstitching begins. From the bar tack toward the tail, the tie is slipstitched closed. The trick is to keep the front smooth and even around the interfacing - not pulling too tight and not leaving it too loose. Either will cause problems when the tie is tied around the neck. Since the whole thing is on the bias, this takes some patience and finesse.

The underside of the tie's tail end is pretty sad and ugly. I'm not sure what happened, but those edges just barely met when they should have overlapped. So, I did the best I could to just keep them together.

In the end, the tie is wearable and The Preacher likes it. And it won first prize at the fair! I thought it might be the only one in its category, but there was another one entered. But, I don't need to make any more ties. It was a challenge and it's good to try something new, but it wasn't a lot of fun. And sewing should be fun!

Burda 9885 - Vibrant Dress* and Leggings

2011-09-18T16:04:00.000-04:00

So, is there anyone still out there reading this? So very little sewing time lately. Even less blogging time. Last September was the same way. I'm optimistic that things are going to calm down a little soon.

My firstborn is the most in need of fall clothes, so last week I started sewing some for her. I foresee making a lot of leggings this year. She likes to wear dresses and skirts, but last year I was really frustrated with tights that got holes in the toes too soon and just didn't seem warm enough. Leggings take care of those problems and are easy to make.

The Preacher's grandma gave me this printed poplin fabric. She had started a project that wasn't turning out and was ready to pass it on. The fabric for the leggings came from a thrift store. It was too good of a deal to pass up, but I wasn't sure about the very bright red/pink/coral/not-sure-what-it-is color. I thought it might be a good candidate for a dye job. That was more than a couple of years ago. I was surprised and delighted to find that it was an exact match for the very bright red/pink/coral/not-sure-what-it-is color of the flowers in the print.

The poplin was already cut into long, narrow pieces, so I used Burda 9885 for the dress. I've used this before and it's a nice, simple pattern that doesn't use a lot of fabric.

I had problems with the tucks on the front. When I stitched them as marked, the front ended up being too narrow. Instead of adjusting all of the tucks, I just slightly let out the center two so the front was the right width. The pattern recommends rickrack along the neck and sleeve hems. I used turquoise piping instead. It matches the turquoise buttons I had in stash and I thought it was a nice complement to the leggings color. The sleeves are "fooler sleeves" made from black rayon jersey. They're sewn to the armscye seam.

Near the hem I added a ruffled strip of turquoise cut on the bias. I stitched it down under a green ribbon with one of the decorative stitches that my machine has and I rarely use. It seemed like this was a good opportunity. It looks rather crooked in the picture, but I'm pretty sure that's because the dress was not laying flat.

And since the ruffle trim got an "Oooooohhhhh! Wow!" response from my daughter, I couldn't help but make a matching headband for her. The headband got a squealing and clapping response. She's fun to sew for. :)

*When The Preacher saw this dress for the first time he said, "Wow. That's very....vibrant." Yup.

Burda 4-2009-122 - Swimsuit Cover-up

2011-08-15T09:09:00.002-04:00

When I bought the navy fabric for my swimsuit, I also picked up a blue and white polka-dot print gauzy fabric with a cover-up in mind. Sheer, gauzy type fabrics aren't my favorite to sew, but this one seemed fairly stable and I wasn't planning on a complicated garment.

I decided to use a top from a Burda magazine (I don't subscribe, but have picked up a couple when I've had the chance) that would be simple and easy. To make it actually cover up what I wanted it to, I added several inches in length.

The pattern is featured on the front cover and it looks like it is being worn as a swimsuit cover up or over some other top.

But, the picture of the same top inside the magazine looks different. There doesn't appear to be any swimsuit or other top involved. The caption/description for the photo cracked me up. "...Our styling tip: to complete your dream outfit, tie a large scarf around your hips and add an exotic belt." Riiiiight. A top with a neckline plunging down to my xiphoid process and a scarf worn as a skirt makes not only a perfectly acceptable outfit, but my dream outfit.

Ah, well. The pattern's good. I'll pass on the styling tip.

Ottobre 2/2011 #19 - Navy Tankini

2011-08-13T21:09:00.000-04:00

Last summer I made my first attempt at sewing swimwear for myself. Overall, that suit was a success but having worn it several times now, there are some things I'd like to change about it. Instead of tweaking that same pattern, I made a new suit using a tankini pattern from Ottobre Woman 2/2011.

It's actually really similar to the suit I made last year: halter-style tankini with midriff ruching. So why make another suit so much like the first one? There are a couple of things I don't like about last year's suit: the top just barely meets the bottom which means I'm often tugging it down and the knot part of the halter hurts my neck after a couple of hours of wear. But, I do really like the style, so I wanted to change the parts I didn't like and keep the parts I do.

I don't really know what to say about how I constructed this suit. Ottobre's instructions are quite good, but I didn't follow them much. The main reason is because I put a bra inside the top. The overlapping front pieces made that a bit of a challenge and I don't think I could really explain to you how I did it if I had to. I can tell you that it involved a whole lot of trying on, pinning, hand-stitching, and then more trying on. I'm convinced it's all together securely, but my techniques would have to be described as dodgy at best.

The bra is sandwiched between the lining and outer fabric and is attached to the lining at the sides and the point where the strap starts. And then the rest of the bra was trimmed away beyond those points so it doesn't go around the back or over the shoulders. Yes, a perfectly good bra gave its life up for this suit, but I think the sacrifice was worth it.

Since the halter-style proves uncomfortable for me, I decided to cross the straps in back and attach them. While I really like the halter look, I think I'll enjoy wearing this more.

The fabric is pretty thick and spongy and ribbed. Most of those are good things for this suit, but it meant that the straps would not stay flat. I didn't want topstitching on the front but I didn't want sloppy straps, either. I compromised by zigzagging the straps in the back, but not the front. A little strange, but it does what I wanted it to. The front part of the straps do stay flat when I'm wearing it.

I was happy with the bottom of my last suit, so I just used that same pattern (Kwik Sew 3238), adding 1/2" in height to the top.

I don't think I'm going to have any problem with the top and bottom not overlapping with this suit. The pattern for the top is really long. I trimmed a little more than 3" off it and I'm 5'9". You can see in the picture from the magazine that the top ends below the top of the leg openings.

I think I'm going to find this to be a comfortable swimsuit. I highly recommend this pattern. This is the first Ottobre woman pattern I've used. Other than shortening the top length, I didn't make any other changes.

Reversible Obi

2011-08-12T17:49:00.000-04:00

So, about the obi mentioned here...

One side of the belt is solid navy with gingham ties and the other side is gingham with solid ties. So, it's reversible, but you get the same combination of fabrics either way.

I don't have any obis and haven't worn one before, so when it came time to make the pattern, I did some guessing about size and dimensions. Finished, it is 4" high at center front, curving down to 2.5" at the side seam. The back piece tapers from 2.5" down to 1". The ties are 29" long and 1" wide.

I left an opening in one side seam for the tie to go through when wrapping it back to the front.

I like that this enables me to pull it snug and it stays in the right place with minimal adjusting while wearing. I find my tolerance for fussing with clothing while I'm wearing it keeps decreasing. Is that an age thing? Maybe a smartness thing. We'll go with that.

Generally, I like the contrast ties for this belt, but I think it does look a little strange from the back, where the gingham tie starts No picture of the side view, but the opposite gingham tie shows up at the side seam. I think it's pretty obvious what is going on, but it might be a little abrupt for the eye. One continuous color or fabric might be more flattering.

I fused straight-grain interfacing to the gingham to keep it from getting stretched out. I also added a second layer of the twill fabric inside to make the whole thing sturdy. I'm happy with how it turned out. It likely won't see all that much wear, but that's okay with me.

Simplicity 2406 - Chambray dress

2011-08-04T22:28:00.000-04:00

After some ambivalence about the last dress I made, I'm happy to be able to say that I made another (somewhat unique) one and am really happy with this one.

This is Simplicity 2406 made up in some of the chambray that I bought in NYC. I love the fabric, so I'm especially pleased that I really like the final result. There are always so many possibilities before the fabric is cut into. Once it's cut, that's it. Getting to rejoice over the pattern choice is so much nicer than grieving over it.

This is a pretty simple dress. Construction was very straightforward. It's pretty much a sack and requires a belt or sash for any sort of shaping. I liked the "cold shoulder" views on the pattern, but didn't care for the way the short sleeves stick out below the opening - just a personal preference. So, I added some length and a cuff.

The shoulder openings are finished with facings. I cut those from navy and white gingham. The shoulder, front and back facings all meet up for a clean and entirely machine-sewn finish.

The pattern includes a slit that opens all the way to the waist in the back. That wasn't really going to work for me, so I shortened it dramatically. I finished the top with a gingham-covered button and thread chain loop, but it isn't necessary at all. I can get it on and off without undoing it.

With the back slit partly closed up, there are no problems with wearing a regular bra with this dress. However, the amount of dress that is actually on my shoulders isn't a lot, so I added lingerie guards. Lingerie guards are to your bra strap as belt loops are to your belt.

To make these, I stitched the socket half of the snap down on the neck side of the opening. Then I made a thread chain and attached the ball half of the snap to it. Smaller snaps would have been a better choice, but they weren't worth a special trip to the store. These were on-hand and do the job well enough.

The pattern does include a sash, but you should note that the sash is listed separately in the yardage requirements. The sash is nice, but I wanted something other than chambray at the waist, so I made the obi belt. (I'll write about that in the next post.) I liked it, but thought it might not be the only way to go.

navy obi and sandals?

tan belt and flats?

big buckle belt and cowboy boots?

Hmmm...fun to have options. It would be fun to do something in red, too, but I have very little red in my closet.

Simplicity 2443 - Grey and Yellow Dress

2011-07-30T21:36:00.000-04:00

When I bought these two fabrics, I thought they would be for a skirt and top. But, I'm enjoying adding casual dresses to my closet lately, so I used the two together in a dress (Simplicity 2443) instead.

This is an all together different look for me - different style, different colors. And, I'm not really sure what I think about it. I don't think it's the most flattering shape for me, but I think it's a pretty cute dress.

Construction-wise, this isn't executed all that well. There are some ripples under my arms. I did make a muslin of the bodice and felt like the neckline was too low in the front for me to wear it comfortably. But, I didn't want to add a lot to the band since that would ruin the proportions. I debated about what to do for awhile and then decided to raise the neckline a bit by adding (3/8") to the band. I figured that was simple enough, but wasn't enough to make the band width very noticeably different from the rest. I also shortened the straps at the shoulder seams by 1/2".

This made the armholes too tight. I didn't notice this problem after adjusting the muslin, but the lack of finishing seams may have had something to do with it. After getting the bands attached on the real thing and noticing this problem, I took them off, trimmed 1/4 - 3/8" off the bodice under the arms and reattached the bands. But, some stretching and distorting happened in the process and even after messing with them for awhile, they still aren't looking good. I could re-do the entire bodice (I have enough fabric), but I'm not sure this is a dress I'm going to love, so I'm not sure the effort would be worth it right now. We'll see...

And there's the racer back. I do like that part. I noticed the pulling across the shoulder blades in the muslin and added 1/2" at the center back to compensate. I guess that wasn't enough.

Alterations and changes I made:

Added 1.5" in length to front bodice and 1.25" in length to the back bodice
Shortened shoulder straps by 1/2"
Decreased skirt length by 1.5"
Added 1/2" in width to CB of bodice and bands
Cut waistband piece from same fabric as bodice (rather than skirt as shown for view B)
Cut front and back bodice twice since the fabric was thin (like adding a lining)
Left out zipper

In the end, I think it's fun to have something different in my closet, but I won't be reaching for this dress frequently.

The Next Big Thing is Finished

2011-07-25T22:11:00.000-04:00

Yay! The quilt is done! I worked on finishing the binding in lots of small chunks of time last week. Some of those chunks looked like this:

My kids love doing workbooks. I don't require this - really, I don't. But, I'm quite happy to sit and help them while I stitch.

So many things I love about this quilt...

...the stitch pattern and texture!

...the colors!

...the back (which I will want to see as much as the front)!

...the stitch pattern and texture (did I mention that already?)!

...it's both useful and beautiful!

...now that's it's done I can start thinking about the next big thing!

Basic White Shirt

2011-07-23T22:58:00.000-04:00

I don't wear many blouses or shirts made from woven fabrics. For comfort and ease of fitting and wear, I generally prefer knits. But, there is one traditional button-up shirt in my closet that I do like and wear regularly. This shirt came off the clearance rack at Kohl's about 7 years and 10 pounds ago. It no longer looks good on a hanger or on me and needs a replacement.

The reason I liked this particular shirt is because it didn't restrict my arm movement or pull across my back when I would reach for something. The armholes were cut quite high and the sleeves were pretty slim. The style was pretty classic and casual - yoke, collar and stand, bust darts in the front, vertical darts in the back, placket and cuffs.

Since the fit wasn't so great anymore, I couldn't just use the original as a pattern. Instead, I looked for a similar pattern and figured I would just need to do a lot of tweaking. Burda 04/2010 #114 was my pattern of choice. It doesn't have back darts, but I figured those are pretty easy to add.

Based on my measurements, I started with a size 38 and added 1" to the sleeve length before cutting out my muslin. Alterations I made to the muslin:

lowered the bust darts by 0.25"
added back darts
took in side seams at waist by 1" on each side
took a 1" horizontal tuck at back waist (converted to a CB seam with shaping)

Basically, I was trying to make the shirt a little more fitted through the back.

The finished shirt is very basic and I'm considering it only the second step in a bigger project of tweaking this pattern to be exactly what I want. I'll need to wear it a bit before I know what else needs to be changed. And I'll need pictures of it on me, since that highlights fitting issues so much. But, I don't have any of those right now.

For now, I'm just really happy with the construction of the shirt. Other than fitting changes, I also used my muslin to test different techniques that I wanted to use to improve my shirtmaking skills. It was fun to research (mostly online) different methods and choose one or two to try. There are so many different ways to do things!

For the collar and stand, I used Gigi's tutorial. It is a great way to get the spot at the bottom corner of the stand (where it meets the shirt center front) finished neatly. That's always the toughest spot for me.

For the sleeve placket, I used the instructions from a Threads article in Issue #139. The instructions in Shirtmaking, by David Page Coffin are similar. This tutorial is also excellent using the same method.

For the cuffs, I used the instructions in Shirtmaking. It is basically the same idea as the collar stand in the tutorial mentioned above. Again, the corners come out really nicely.

When I traced the Burda pattern, I added varying seam allowances based on how that part was finished or connected to another part. This was something new for me, but it makes a lot of sense, I think. Anything that is enclosed (collar, stand, cuffs, yoke) got a 1/4" seam allowance. I wanted to flat-fell the vertical seams (sleeves, sides, center back) so those were 5/8".

I was hoping to use Pam's tutorial for flat felling the arm scye, but I had a difficult time getting it smooth, particularly on the inside. I think it would work great for a shirt with a flatter cap. I left those seam allowances at 1/2", serged them and then topstitched. It felt a little like cheating compared to the finishes on the rest of the shirt, but I'm okay with that.

I realize the pictures aren't all that great. The sun was so bright on the day that I took them that I could hardly see when I finished and came in the house. Looking at the white shirt in the sun was nearly blinding! I could have waited until another day, but I find white almost as difficult to photograph as black regardless of the light.

Kwik Sew 3703 - (unsuccessful) Green Tank Dress

2011-07-21T23:14:00.000-04:00

I like tops and dresses with a racer back, but I don't have any. Recently I picked up both Simplicity 2443 and Kwik Sew 3703 to change that. The Kwik Sew looked about as complicated as a T-shirt, so I started with that one.

I'm pretty sure that this is a good pattern and the fact that it turned out badly is all my doing. The main problem is all the puckering and puffiness around the neck and armholes.

I may have not quartered the holes and bands properly (which is embarrassing - how hard is that, really?) resulting in needing to stretch the bands too much in some spots. And I think I probably sewed the neckband and armhole bands on in opposite directions, giving the shoulder straps a bit of a twist. I did press the seams after I stitched them, but they really would prefer to stay puffy.

Thankfully, I set out intending for this to be a test garment. I'm considering making View B of the pattern with this navy striped fabric and a solid navy for the contrast pieces, but I wanted to test it out first. I thought that if it was wearable, I'd use it as a swimsuit cover-up. So that's why it's hemmed so short.

The fabric feels and sews great. I have a huge piece of it, bought on clearance somewhere sometime. The drab green color doesn't exactly call out "swimsuit cover-up!" to me, but it could have worked.

Above you can see the racer back better as well as the puffy shoulder in the foreground. The back is nice. The shoulder? Not so much.

So, I'll use this pattern again, but I'll cut the bands a smidge longer and I'll probably baste them into place before I serge them on, paying attention to the direction I'm sewing.

And this version won't be sticking around here. I suppose I could use it for a nightgown. If I wore nightgowns. Which I don't. But, if I did, this one would be great in this current heat we're getting!

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

2011-07-19T21:47:00.000-04:00

I quilted! There is a lovely quilt shop near my mom's house that offers a Gammill longarm quilting machine for rent. So, I took my flimsy, quilt back and batting along when we went to visit her. Before you can use the machine, you have to take a one-on-one class where they teach you about the machine and different quilting patterns. After the instruction, you're left with some time to practice the patterns.

I went back another day to do my quilt. A very minimal amount of the class was about loading the quilt on the machine, so most of that was new on the second visit. I don't remember exactly how all the quilt parts are put in the machine, but I do know I thought it was quite genius. The quilt back and top are attached to separate rollers that keep the fabric straight and taut. The quilt sandwich gets rolled or unrolled in order to quilt certain parts.

You stand at the end of the machine and move it instead of the quilt. The speed that the machine stitches is regulated by how fast you move it. So the stitches are always uniform regardless of your speed. This is very different from home sewing machines and I really liked this feature! It might be tough to go back to free motion quilting on my own machine.

You work from left to right across a 20" (approximately - I think the machines come in different sizes) section of the quilt. My instructor suggested I work in 18" blocks - first from top to bottom, then bottom to top, still maintaining the left to right pattern as well. When that 20" section is complete, you roll it up and start on the next one.

For most of the class, I controlled the machine with the upright handles. Then we got into some finer, smaller work and my instructor introduced the smaller, lower handles. (They were turned up behind the machine initially). I found it so much easier to control the machine using these. I didn't go back to the larger handles after that.

I used this "water" pattern over the whole quilt. It was my favorite of the ones I learned in the class and it was also the same as what was used in the quilt pattern. You can also see in the picture above where some of the finished quilt is rolled up.

The only part of the experience that was less than ideal was the fact that the thread kept breaking. It was a bit of a puzzlement to my instructor, but she was very patient about fixing it each time. After awhile I was able to rethread the uncomplicated part of the machine myself and get going again a little quicker. I got pretty good at securing the thread and retracing my stitches to make sure it was secure (that's what I'm doing in the picture above).

I'm really happy with how it turned out. This afternoon I attached the binding, but I'm going to finish it by hand, so it might be awhile before I have a completed quilt to show you.

McCall's 6032 - Black and White Dress

2011-07-17T22:30:00.000-04:00

I believe that I made this dress right after this one, which I was so happy with. Knit dresses are great for summer and I don't have very many (I have plans to change that). But, not all knit dresses are created equal. This black and white one isn't nearly as nice as the brown and white one.

I picked up the fabric, a rayon jersey, when it was deeply discounted awhile back. But, the quality isn't that good. I won't be surprised if it doesn't make it past the end of the summer. I stabilized the neckline and armholes with strips of interfacing in an attempt to prevent them from stretching out. To avoid a ripply hem, I fused it in place with a lightweight interfacing before twin-needle stitching it.

I found the technical drawing on this pattern appealing. I thought the belt was caught in the midriff seam, but it isn't. It's just twisted a couple of times and caught in both side seams. I didn't want the dress to be tight, so the belt on my version doesn't stay in place - it droops down. I tacked it in place with some hand stitches and that's good enough. The print makes it hard to see what is actually going on, anyway.

The dress is lined to the waist. This is a good thing, particularly if you make one of the views without the belt. The lining covers up the holes made for the loop that holds the gathers together. To completely finish the neckline and armholes by machine, I followed Jessica's instructions at Green Apples. The instructions were excellent - I highly recommend this method if you haven't tried it before.

The instructions would have you put a zipper in the center back of this dress. I made sure to leave the waist seam stretchy and left the zipper out. I have no problem getting this over my head. Since I didn't need the seam for the zipper and it didn't have any shaping, I cut the CB pieces on the fold. The only other change I made was to raise the neckline in both the front and the back by about an inch.

In the end, this dress isn't my favorite, but I will wear it.

Kwik Sew 3338 / McCall's 3830 - White Top and Plaid Skirt

2011-07-14T10:58:00.000-04:00

Thank you for the lovely comments about the quilt top! The quilting is complete now too, but I don't have pictures to post yet. It was a really good experience using the long arm machine and I'm so happy with how it turned out. Finishing the binding might take awhile as I don't find that quite so exciting. In the meantime, I have a few projects sewn that I haven't blogged and will try to get caught up with them.

The first two things were actually sewn several weeks ago. They are the first pieces of fabric from my NY trip that I cut into. While I really liked this plaid fabric, I didn't buy very much of it. When I decided I wanted to sew it up, I was hoping to make a paneled pencil skirt with the center panel being cut on the bias. However, when I tried to fit all the pattern pieces on the fabric, it was impossible to make it work. In the end, I made just a plain skirt using McCall's 3830.

I guess I'm not unhappy with it, but not as excited about it as I was hoping. The colors look a little off in these pictures (true colors here). This is a tried-and-true pattern for me, so the fit is good and it was a very quick sew.

The top is also made from NY fabric. I was really happy with the feel of the fabric, but it was a little more transparent than I liked so I used Sherry's tutorial and doubled the front. Her instructions are very good. In the end, you have a doubled front and back with a fold at the hem. I'm quite happy to skip a hem and I like the clean finish.

I tend to be wary of embellishments, particularly of creating them myself. But, here I was feeling brave and decided to add strips of fabric around the neckline. I give the finished result mixed reviews, but I'm telling myself that it's good to try something different. I've worn and washed the top a few times now and the strips are much more raw-looking and curled at the edges. I think it looks better now than it does in the picture here.

I used Kwik Sew 3338, one I've used a few times prior (pre-blog). I was pretty sure this was a good fitting pattern, but I don't think this white top turned out to be a good fit, particularly in the shoulder. I've had this problem with other Kwik Sew patterns and I think I just need to do a forward shoulder adjustment for them from now on. The shoulder seam sits to the back of my shoulder point and that leaves fabric in the sleeve to bunch up a bit on the back of my arm.

I also could have taken it in at the waist or graded out at the hips as it doesn't sit very smoothly through my mid-section. Even though I'm not that happy with the fit of this top, I've worn it a few times already, proving that it fills a hole in my wardrobe. I feel like I should replace it with something better. Maybe next summer...

Flimsy*

2011-06-28T11:36:00.000-04:00

The top of the quilt is complete!

I still can't get over the size of it. You'd think I'd never seen a queen-sized blanket before. I have. I've just never made one.

Pardon that stray string.

My excitement level over this quilt has varied a bit. I was pretty excited with the pile of fabrics before I started. Assembling the blocks was enjoyable and soothing (straight seams, lots of pressing, well-behaved cotton, etc). When I started arranging the blocks to determine the layout, I wasn't happy with the look. That was disappointing.

The pattern for the quilt has the rectangles arranged vertically, while the quilt that I was inspired by (see previous post) has them horizontally. I initially planned to follow the pattern since it was the colors and "feel" of the inspiration quilt I was after. But, after being unhappy with it, I recalculated and switched them to vertical.

That was an improvement and my excitement rose again when I got some distance from it. Literally. Viewing it from 10-15 feet away made me like it more. The colors blended more for an overall pattern rather than a real patchwork look.

And, as you can see from all the pictures, I really liked watching it blow in the breeze on the clothesline in the sunshine. Sunshine makes everything look better. I'm hoping to rent some time on a long-arm quilting machine next week to quilt it. Both nervous and excited about that. I'll keep you posted.

*Term used by some quilters for the finished quilt top.

The Next Big Thing

2011-06-24T17:53:00.000-04:00

I've been wanting to give my bedroom a bit of a makeover for awhile. A month or two ago, we got a good deal on some new furniture and that was a good impetus for me to get moving with the rest of the project, starting with a quilt.

After much online searching, I came up with a plan.

The inspiration:

Marimekko Tilkkula Spice Bed Linens from Crate and Barrel

The pattern:
Same as the one for this quilt, "Plain Spoken" from The Modern Quilt Workshop.

The fabrics:

Right now, I'm actually well into the project. The pattern is so simple that it comes together quickly. But, a queen-sized quilt is big. Bigger than anything I've made before. So, the number of blocks needed does make it a bit of a time suck. Tonight or tomorrow I'm hoping to get the blocks arranged in a layout I like.

McCall's 6070 / Simplicity 3503 - Brown Print Knit Dress

2011-06-18T14:04:00.000-04:00

This is the dress I mentioned in my last post - a combination of McCall's 6070 and Simplicity 3503. I've been wanting to make this dress since I saw Peacock Chic's version awhile back. It turns out that she was inspired by Amanda's creation (it has been awhile since I looked back at Amanda's post - the similarity in fabric is entirely coincidental!). I must say that Amanda's idea to combine these two patterns is rather genius. The two patterns are remarkably similar, but each has some things about it that aren't quite ideal. Using the best of both gets around that problem. You can read more about the reasons why in Amanda's post.

I used a dark brown and white print ITY poly knit that I bought intending to make a dress last summer. So much fabric, so little time....

I didn't make any changes to the pattern when I cut it out. After trying it on, I stitched the top of the midriff band to the bodice with a 1/4" seam because it was too high.

I was a little worried that the back would feel too bare, but it really doesn't and I like the ties.

This is a very easy-to-make and easy-to-wear dress. The to-make list is long, but if I can get to it, I'd like to make another of these.

Public Safety Issue

2011-06-09T21:55:00.000-04:00

Do you read the Yarn Harlot blog? If you are at all interested in (or even just aware of) knitting, you should. She's hilarious. Anyway, yesterday's post resonated with me. Just substitute "sewing" for "knitting" and much of what she says is true for me.

So, this afternoon I ignored the dirty bathrooms, full laundry baskets, phone calls to return, school committee work to do, etc. and just sewed for ME! for FUN! I made a dress - start to finish. And - bonus! I really like the finished product!

Now tomorrow I will have some catching up to do. But, it's all good. Because now I can be nice to people again.

Simple Summer Stuff (Part 3)

2011-06-08T15:02:00.000-04:00

This batch of simple summer clothes finishes with a very basic T-shirt dress and leggings. I had every intention of adding "something" to the dress to make it a little more interesting. Maybe another applique? Or some novelty pockets on the skirt? But, all the sewing I did on this was done in tiny bits of time between other tasks. Stitch the shoulder seams. Reload the washing machine. Attach the neckband. Get the pan of cookies out of the oven. Gather the sleeves. Settle a sibling squabble. Insert sleeves. Check the clothes on the line. And on it went...

That really isn't an ideal way to sew for me. I had the dress complete and then remembered that I was going to add something. I still could, I suppose. But, I won't. Because it feels done to me and I have a very hard time going back to fix something that feels finished. Silly, I know. But, it's the truth.

The dress is a very modified Kwik Sew 2918. The jersey is very stretchy in both directions, so I didn't have to add nearly as much length to the bodice as I anticipated I would. Ever since making this dress, I love to use clear elastic for gathering knits. The gathers are beautifully even and the seam remains stretchy.

The leggings are Burda 9615, made from a heather grey jersey knit that looks a little more athletic than I'd like, but I suspect my daughter will want to wear the dress without the leggings as the weather warms up more.

Simple Summer Stuff (Part 2)

2011-05-31T15:00:00.000-04:00

For the top, I used Kwik Sew 2918 (heavily modified). I was inspired by this top. Or was it this one? Hard to remember...

The jersey fabric was dirt cheap when I picked it up a couple of years ago. I intended to use it for muslins because I wasn't so sure I liked the color. It did serve the muslin purpose well a couple of times, but I recently noticed that it matched this quilting cotton that I had in my stash and an outfit possibility was born.

The shorts are New Look 6884, again lengthened to meet school dress code approval.

Next Up: Simple Summer Stuff, Part 3 (of 3. For now...)

Simple Summer Stuff (Part 1)

2011-05-30T15:20:00.000-04:00

I'm going to resist the urge to use my sewing blog to whine about not sewing. Let's just say that I'd have more to say on a yard work blog than a sewing blog these days.

Driven out of necessity, I have made a few very simple things for my daughter. She needed tops and shorts and even though I tried to get it taken care of quickly by buying things, RTW (ready-to-wear) clothes just doesn't fit her well. Shorts that fit in the waist are way too short to wear to school.

Stash fabrics and TNT (tried-and-true) patterns to the rescue! I used Burda 9549 for the top and New Look 6884 (with added length to meet school dress code) for the shorts. I do love seersucker in the summer!

The ice cream cone applique came from a clip art search. Pretty easy to do, but adds some interest.

Next up: Part 2 of Simple Summer Stuff

Ottobre 1-2011-18 Denim Skirt

2011-05-17T16:20:00.000-04:00

The Ottobre adventures continue! It has been fun to have a few issues at hand when planning warm weather wardrobes for my kids. This latest project comes from the spring 2011 issue - a flippy, ruffled skirt.

The plan was to use the remainder of the striped fabric from these dresses to make the ruffles on the skirt. I made a very valid attempt, but those stripes drove me absolutely batty. First I cut the pieces out without placing them on the fold, so they weren't long enough. Then, I tried to cut out two more, figuring I would just have seams at center front and back. But, I cut them the wrong direction and no matter how I turned those rectangles, I could not get them to work together. Since I wanted them to match all along one tier, but be the opposite of the other tier, it made it more complicated than my brain could handle.

In the end, I bought more fabric and still have a seam at CF of the top tier and CB of the bottom one. They don't really show up in the pictures, but they are there.

I put buttonhole elastic in the waistband to make it adjustable - mostly to increase the potential of it fitting my (not quite as thin) younger daughter as a hand-me-down. The waistband is wider than the average jeans waistband and the belt loops don't reach the top of it. I like how it looks in the flat pictures above, but I think it looks a little awkward on the body. Perhaps wearing a belt with it would take care of that. I'm not too concerned since my daughter doesn't like to wear it with a tucked-in top.

The top is Burda 9549, used previously here and here. The fabric is leftover from these cardigans.

I wasn't so sure about the skirt when it was nearly finished. I burst out laughing when my daughter tried it on. It just seemed a little over the top and proportionally odd. But, she loved it and after doing the rest of the finishing work, I'm more happy with it. Apparently, it's more of a wiggling skirt than a twirling one. She can't seem to stop herself from shaking her little bum back and forth when she puts it on. :)

Owl Pillows

2011-04-30T14:56:00.000-04:00

S asked me to make some owl pillows for her shop. She gave me some suggestion pictures and I did a bit of looking online, but didn't feel very inspired until I saw this scrap of fabric in my stash.

The larger owl is about 1" tall and I basically just enlarged it, keeping the proportions the same, up to 12" for the pillows.

I like how the feet are perched on a branch in the printed fabric, and I really wanted to make some sort of feet that dangled from the bottom of the owl. But, after three different attempts, I was still unsatisfied with how they looked and I didn't have any more ideas. Instead, the feet look like this:

The wings have a pleat in the middle so that they sit away from the owl body a bit.

The underside of the wing matches the owl belly.

I was quite determined to make these using only materials that I already had and I was successful. I think I would prefer the look of regular button (as opposed to these covered button) eyes, but I didn't have any dark buttons that were large enough.

The gray one is my favorite. If I make these again, it might be fun to be more adventurous with prints - different ones for the head and body, perhaps.

Going Once...

2011-04-27T20:26:00.000-04:00

Just like last year at this time, I was asked to donate something for a charity auction at the school my children attend. I used this pattern to make a set of placemats.

The background fabric is a sand-colored linen. I bought five yards of it a few years ago when I happened upon a fabric store that was going out of business while on vacation. I've been using pieces of it here and there - never really a big chunk at a time - and now I've got about a half of a yard left. I'll be sad when it's all gone.

The backside is a clamshell printed quilting cotton.

The binding is finished by hand (took a long time, but looks really nice) and the vertical quilting lines are about 3/8" apart - pretty dense. These two factors multiplied over six placemats meant that they weren't finished as quickly as the "so simple and easy" endorsement on the pattern had me expecting. But, I'm really happy with how they turned out. The extra effort was worth it.

I put four horizontal lines of quilting in the yellow stripe - each 1/4" apart. (Sorry about the blurry photo). I think the pattern designer may have intended the quilting to be a little more "organic," but I do love me a nice straight line.

After the placemats, I made six cloth napkins and a liner for a breadbasket to match.

The photo makes it look like the basket has no depth - not the case in real life. The photo below is a little better.

Next up: Owl Pillows. Hoot!

McCall's 5966 - Easter Dresses

2011-04-24T17:20:00.000-04:00

Lately I find myself in a bit of a philosophical quandary regarding my daughters and their clothing. Who should decide what they wear - me or them? If it's them, should anything they choose be okay (within the bounds of modesty, safety, etc)? Do they need to be taught some guidelines about matching or should they go with whatever they think is beautiful? If they need guidelines, how do I teach that without squashing their own style? And how do I know if my guidelines are the best for them? My definitions of matching or coordinating are different from others. Maybe they resonate with someone else's personal style much more than mine. It seems pointless to try to instill "rules" about what to wear based on social norms now and then try to encourage dressing for self without regard for what others think later in life. Hmmm. I realize that in the grand scheme of things, clothing choice isn't a huge issue, but all these questions were on my mind while making these Easter dresses.

I took my older daughter to the fabric store with me to help pick out fabric for spring dresses. I thought it would be a good time. In reality, I found it difficult and frustrating. We didn't like any of the same things. She liked shiny, expensive fabrics. I liked washable, discounted ones. She wanted as many bright colors as possible combined in one dress. I was picturing a more subdued look. You get the idea. In the end, (after establishing some limits) we went with the fabrics she chose and a pattern that I chose.

The pattern is McCall's 5966, without the sleeves. The bias-cut striped bands are applied like a facing toward the right side.

The dress is fully lined with white broadcloth. The print seemed rather summery to me, so I made the dresses sleeveless and also made cardigans for them to wear until it gets warmer.

I like that the cardigans break up some of the busyness of the print, but they also cover up the interesting part of the dresses. To make the cardigans, I modified Kwik Sew 2918 according to an article in Threads #108 about making twin sets from a T-shirt pattern. I do like the yellow flower buttons.

In the end, I have to say that I don't really like these dresses. My combination of the two fabrics isn't all that successful - maybe there needs to be more striped fabric or a solid mixed in or something else and I'm not sure. It seems that there is just too much of that main fabric. Also, I don't think that I chose the best pattern for the print my daughter chose. A more creative designer type could have made it work, but I find that sort of thing very challenging.

However, my daughters both love their dresses. They love to dress alike and they are thrilled with how they turned out. They've been dancing and twirling and deciding which of the flowers on the dress is their favorite. And clearly they feel beautiful. So, I guess that counts as success.

The Goods

2011-04-13T13:37:00.000-04:00

After the buttonholes were finished, I spent the rest of the day in the trim, button and notions shops. I also went to the more expensive fabric shops (where I would be broadening my fabric horizons more than acquiring). On the second day, I would return and do the rest of the fabric stores. My reasoning for this plan was that I was meeting the Preacher for a play on Broadway that evening and didn't want to be loaded down with bulky bags of fabric. Buttons and trim are easier to stash away.

So, let's get to the good stuff...

Clockwise from top left: striped ribbons in two different colorways, likely will become hairbows for my girls; flower printed webbing for a tote bag for older daughter; D-rings and latches for tote bags, wristlets, or purses; brown ribbon, likely for me but I have no specific intention for it right now (it looks like denim up close).

Picot-edged and fold-over elastics

I find the elastic selection at my local fabric store very bleak. I was tempted to buy so much elastic, but also felt like getting the proper elastic is rather project-specific. These few seemed both safe enough to be used up easily and also interesting to me.

These are all shirting fabrics from various stores. Most of this is just to add to the stash - I have no imminent projects planned for them. The chambray, however, is the exception. I have several projects "planned" for that chambray (dress, shirt, shorts, skirt, etc) - so hard to decide which to do! All of them would probably be overkill and I don't have enough yardage, but I love chambray and I particularly love the shade of this one.

These are the knits I purchased. The white piece is already cut up into two different summer tops. Strange to go all the way to NYC for white jersey, but this was less than a third of what I'd pay for it here. I'm not sure exactly what I'll do with the navy stripe (I know it looks black here, but it's navy) and the green print will be a dress, but I'm not sure what season it will be for.

Here we have the only bottomweights I bought. The white piece is a heavy stretch denim so I can try Jalie 2908. The plaid is a stretch woven that I'd like to turn into a summer skirt.

I purchased the orange necktie silk in a fit of inspiration when I went in Beckenstein. That store is incredible. And so far out of my league. But, the silk was a good deal and I thought making a necktie for the Preacher would be a good challenge. The gray fabric is from another shop and is for the lining.

I fell hard for this gray and yellow patchwork fabric. It seemed so summery to me and so different from anything else in my closet. It will likely become a skirt as well, but I haven't decided on a pattern. The gray knit is bamboo and beautifully soft. It will become a top to wear with the skirt.

And that's it. I didn't last nearly as long as I was hoping to on the second day. Fabric is heavy and my shoulders were not willing to carry any more. But, I saw all the stores I wanted to see and am very happy with my purchases. Nearly all the fabric is washed, dried, and moved into the fabric closet.

Now I find myself in a bit of a holding pattern. My iron stopped working last week. I ordered a new one, but its ETA is a little uncertain. Any sewing time that I've had available has been used to cut things out. I've got quite a few projects ready to go whenever it arrives!

Beautiful Buttonholes

2011-04-09T11:52:00.000-04:00

My time in New York City was fantastic. Just incredible. The Preacher and I had a day together to do some sight-seeing and then I had two days to myself in the garment district while he was at a conference.

On the first of my "just me" days, my top priority was finding buttons for my coat and getting the buttonholes done at Jonathan Embroidery. I chose buttons from Pacific Trimming. I had a hard time deciding between two different buttons, so I bought enough of each for the coat. There wasn't space to spread out the coat and get a good feel for the overall look with the buttons, but I didn't want to regret a choice when I got home.

Option #1:

And lined up on the coat front:

Option #2:

And lined up on the coat front:

Neither are what I would consider novelty buttons, but there are a lot of other details on the coat and I didn't want to overdo it. I like both of them and haven't decided which to use.

Now, about the buttonholes. If the only reason I had gone to NYC was to get these buttonholes, the trip would still have been worth it. They're perfect.

The experience of having them done was fascinating. There were two people ahead of me, so I waited maybe 10-15 minutes, but it was interesting to watch the process for their projects, too. When it was my turn, the employee chose two different weights of thread to match the coat and then went through what looked like a very complicated re-threading process on a very intricate industrial machine. It made threading my serger look really simple. The buttonholes were stitched (very quickly!) and the machine punched the eye of the buttonhole. Then the employee cleanly cut the straight part open. Threads were left for me to snip off. I paid $1.00 for each buttonhole - by far the best deal I found in the garment district.

The photo above is taken from the right side of the coat and the one below is the wrong side. The heavier weight thread is on the right side.

So, that was a great start to my garment district time. Next, I'll show you all the goodies I picked up.

Stash Organization

2011-03-22T16:39:00.000-04:00

For the last year or so, all of my quilting cotton fabric has been spread out on our ping pong table in the basement. Prior to that, it was all in a big box and I would dump it out when I needed something and then scoop it all back up into the box. Leaving it all spread out was much nicer, but also messier. And, it didn't make it easy to find what I needed. I would have to paw through all the fabric and often pieces would get buried and forgotten. It was time for a change.

This post from Anina of The Twiddletails Blog was just the inspiration I needed to get the mess organized. Several weeks ago, I sorted the fabric into color groups and got the right size containers. Since then, I've been gradually ironing and folding it all one group at a time in between other projects.

When I finished my coat, I gave my sewing space a thorough cleaning and then felt like it was time to move the organized fabric in. There used to be a rocking chair in the corner where the fabric is now. The wire crate shelving isn't the sturdiest, but it's what I had and it fit the intended purpose.

There is a link to the fabric folding guidelines in the post I linked to above. Inside the boxes, the fabric looks like this:

These boxes of fabric make me ridiculously happy. It feels a bit like I have my own little quilt shop. Going through every piece of fabric reminded me of a lot of things that I would like to make.

Purple and orange are my smallest collections. It's good to have some room to expand in case I want to change that. There are also two entirely empty bins in one of the cubbies. I'm not sure what to do with that spot yet.

Comparatively, I have a lot of multi-colored prints and I just lumped them all together rather than trying to determine a dominant color.

Previously, all of my scraps were just mixed in with the larger cuts. I think this is an improvement.

Honestly, this picture below is how it will often look. That would be my ironing pile on the top. The chair that was there before often held the ironing and I'm not all that convinced that this new storage system will affect my propensity to iron promptly after wash day.

The combination of getting all of this fabric organized and the hole left in my garment fabric stash by all that coating fabric being used up inspired me to clean out my garment fabric closet, too. It's ready for me to move some NYC purchases in. :)

And, finally, thanks for the comments on my coat. I used all the steam that my own iron could put out, but I hadn't thought about taking it to a cleaners to see what they could do. I might try that.

Coat Progress - Part 5

2011-03-18T14:49:00.000-04:00

I hesitate to consider this the "big reveal" because the coat does look very incomplete without buttons and because the pictures are really lousy. Uncooperative weather and an overly busy photographer have conspired against me.

It was really windy outside when we took these pictures. This was the only one where the coat wasn't flapping in the breeze. I should have pinned it closed. It doesn't look so good here. The shoulders/chest are a good fit when the CF's are pinned how they will be buttoned. I used red thread to mark buttonhole placement on the right front and to loosely tack down the other button locations.

I really like the seaming on the back and the back latch. But, I feel really defeated by those sleeves. They look beautiful from the front, but they aren't smooth in the back. I think they look worse here because of how I'm holding my arms, but maybe not - it's hard to know. I matched up the marks, but it seems like they must be rotated improperly as there wasn't much easing necessary at all.

I'm trying to maintain perspective about this (this is my first wool coat, everything else looks great, yada yada), but the look of the finished sleeves has sucked a lot of the joy out of this project for me. Sleeves are my nemesis. I just really wanted to get them right on this coat. Even after a lot of fiddling and following all the right instructions, I still didn't get it. Hopefully when I pull this out of the closet when winter rolls around again, I will be more satisfied.

Now it's time to start thinking about buttons. If this were your coat, what kind of buttons would you look for?

Coat Progress - Part 4

2011-03-13T16:31:00.000-04:00

I'm just really not very good with in-progress posts. I thought it might be a good thing for a longer project like this coat, but I still just sew along without thinking to stop for pictures. Oh, well. I think this will be the last progress post before it is complete Woohoo!

Let's see...where are we?

The collar, which I didn't need to be so afraid of, is in.

After thinking about a few options, I decided to use weft-insertion interfacing in the collar and stand. To give the collar a bit of a roll, I used a lot of steam - first on just the undercollar, and then on the whole collar (upper and under) after it was together. After attaching the stand to the collar, I attached it around my pressing ham with pins, steamed the whole thing and let it sit overnight. I don't know how much of a difference that all made, but it didn't hurt anything.

The sleeves are set in with sleeve heads and shoulder pads.

They're also hemmed and lined.

The lining is partly inserted.

The colors of the coat and lining are truest in this picture.

All that is left is hemming, completing the lining and some top-stitching (and buttons and buttonholes, but I'm not including that right now). The next post should be the completed coat!

Coat Progress - Part 3

2011-03-07T11:42:00.000-05:00

A nasty case of pink eye slowed me down a bit over the weekend, but I am still working away at the coat.

Some details...

Yoke with tabs:

Pocket with flap:

The pocket is lined. To ensure that none of the lining peeked out to the front, I slipstitched the pocket to the coat before topstitching. I placed the stitches on the underside of the folded edge of the pocket to prevent a flattened look. Burda's instructions don't include lining for the pocket, but a lined pocket feels so much nicer.

Back latch:

Burda calls this a "latch." North American patterns would probably call it a belt? I kind of like latch. I really like the seams on the back.

Construction thoughts...

This project is a bit of a stretch for me. My experience with tailoring and jacket/coat making is pretty minimal. It seems like something I might want to do more of someday, but right now I just don't have much need for tailored clothes in my life. So, for this coat I've been relying heavily on books and Threads articles to help me out. The problem is that this Talea pattern doesn't have the traditional tailored jacket features -the princess seams curve in toward the top on both front and back, the collar has a stand (rather than being notched), and the facing is cut on to the front. So, this has left me with more questions than answers when I try to look things up in the books or articles. How should the front be interfaced? Does it need a back stay? Is padstitching helpful for a collar on a stand?

For the most part, I'm just going with my best guess after reading about it and reminding myself that no one's life hangs in the balance if I don't get it right. I interfaced the front piece and the upper part of the side front to give the shoulder-to-bust section some support because according to Fit for Real People I have a hollow chest (which I find really discouraging for some reason. Ah, well. It's better than a hollow head. Or a hollow heart). But, I digress...

I added a back stay made from some a lightweight woven cotton. You can see the inside of the seams here. Each seam is graded and the bottom piece is trimmed with pinking shears to avoid a ridge on the right side. A couple sections of the back stay seam allowance did not get caught in the topstitching.

Moving forward...

The next part that I should be working on is the collar. I am rather intimidated by this collar.

The top piece is the collar and the bottom is the collar stand. You can see they are quite large. It's pretty important that the collar lay nicely on the coat and I'm not sure what to do at this stage with interfacing or padstitching or other techniques to help it do that. Burda's instructions have you fold the under collar lengthwise and then pin the upper collar to it, but I don't know if that's going to be enough. If you have any suggestions for me, I'd love to hear them.

Now I think I'll go assemble the sleeves and do some more collar pondering.

Coat Progress - Part 2

2011-03-03T09:48:00.001-05:00

After muslining, altering, lining drafting, and cutting, the sewing has begun. And I think it's going to be better, easier and more enjoyable than I initially thought. In case I found that I needed to make adjustments to machine settings or technique, I decided to start with the small parts of the coat. That way if I messed up anything too badly, I could still re-cut it and start over.

So far, so good:

These are shoulder tabs (2 sets), sleeve tabs, back latch pieces, and pocket flaps.

Heh, heh...the tabs struck me as finger-like...I couldn't resist.

The pieces aren't perfect, particularly noticeable when they're all lined up next to each other, but I'm still happy with them. Even though the pieces are small, it took awhile to finish them since each needed to be stitched, trimmed, turned, pressed and topstitched. This fabric doesn't like to be turned - it seems a little velcro-like and wants to stick to itself rather than sliding over.

The pressing part went well thanks to my new ~~toy~~ tool. If you, like The Preacher, are wondering why in the world I bought a block of wood to use in my sewing space, let me tell you that this is called a clapper. Not the "clap on, clap off" sort of clapper. From Tailoring: The Classic Guide to Sewing the Perfect Jacket: "A clapper is a rounded wooden block used to flatten seams, folds, creases, and enclosed edges, such as facings and collars. Cool hardwood speeds steam removal and cooling to set the press." I've already found it to be a good addition to my toolbox and there is a lot more pressing to come.

The lining is as assembled as it can be before it goes into the coat. It needs to be attached to the facing before the shoulder seams can be sewn and the sleeves set in. I'm hoping that having the lining and small pieces done will make it feel like the coat comes together quickly. That will help me maintain momentum. :)

Coat Progress - Part 1

2011-03-02T13:39:00.001-05:00

It feels like it has taken me awhile to get to this point, but I'm finally moving forward with my coat. This is a strange time of year to start making a winter coat, since we're so close to spring. Right? Spring is coming, isn't it? Actually, right now it is very windy and snowy outside my window and the temperature is well below freezing. Maybe it's a great time to start a winter coat. Sigh.

I mentioned this awhile ago, but the real reason I'm starting a coat now is that The Preacher and I are going to New York City at the end of March and I'm hoping to bring this coat along and have the buttonholes professionally done at Jonathan Embroidery. I haven't actually tried it, but I suspect that my machine wouldn't be very excited about doing buttonholes on a coat.

Initially, I was going to use Simplicity 2508 - specifically the view made in white on the right side of the envelope. I made a muslin to check the fit and found it to be okay, but after thinking on it for a few days, I decided that it wasn't really what I wanted. It is a beautiful coat when it is buttoned up, but the collar and double-breasted front would look odd if left open.

So, the search for a new pattern began. And it ended when I found BurdaStyle's Talea.

The line drawing looked interesting to me, but I was hooked when I looked at the coat made up and at all the versions people have posted on the site.

Ironically, the directions suggest using snaps as a closure. I think I'm still going to go ahead with my buttonhole plan.

The pattern is free (as long as you consider 43 pieces of paper and ink needed to print it out negligible) and other than a few oddities in the instructions, it's good. I made up a muslin and all the pieces fit together great. The sleeves practically eased themselves in. Hopefully it goes as well with the wool coating. The major drawback is that it doesn't include pattern pieces for a lining except for the sleeves. A lining seemed pretty important to me, so I drafted those pieces. That isn't something that I've done a lot of, so it took awhile for me to figure out. The cut-on front facing style seemed to make it a little more complicated for me.

I've started sewing some of the small pieces and I'll report about that soon. The further I get into the project, the more excited I am.

McCall's 3830 - Denim Skirt

2011-03-01T09:12:00.001-05:00

So. It's been a little while. Not a lot of sewing to tell about or show in this space lately. Hopefully I've have some coat progress reports to make soon. More on that later...

It seems I've taken a style that was new-ish for me not all that long ago and turned it into a very common piece in my wardrobe. When I find something I like I tend to overdo it, I guess. I give you another McCall's 3830 straight skirt:

This time I used a non-stretch denim and chopped up the front a bit to make it a little interesting. I saw a skirt like this somewhere and have had a rough sketch on my bulletin board for several months - too many months to remember where the inspiration came from.

The top-stitching is done with taupe thread and the triple-straight stitch.

I include the facings with the lining because I want the waist to feel stable and not stretch out and since the lining doesn't match the outer fabric exactly, I don't want to deal with it peeking out.

As you can see, the back of the skirt is plain. I had a difficult time deciding whether or not to mirror the front. In the end, simplicity won out (didn't have to deal with darts or the zipper crossing the new seams) and I left it in one piece.

Now I'm working on a coat. All the pieces are cut. The purple print is flannel from my stash that I'm using to underline the body of the coat. More on the coat in the next post...

Elephant Dress

2011-02-14T12:23:00.001-05:00

Another new dress for the little girl (who insists she is not little). The dress is a very basic T-shirt dress, made by modifying an out-of-print Kwik Sew pattern (2315 - actually for pajamas).

Inspired by her beloved stuffy, I added an appliquéd pair of elephants. I'm terrible at drawing, so this is a rather modified form of an image I found online.

The braided tails were a hit, but I think they're a little long. Also, maybe I should add eyes. I didn't think about that until looking at the picture just now. It seems I have difficulty making complete elephants.

I stitched a tear-away stabilizer to the skirt piece and fused the elephant shapes on. I opted for the raw-edge appliquéd look and stitched about 1/8" away from the edge all the way around. I stitched around each shape three times to give it a slightly bolder line.

The fabric for the dress and leggings came from three XL adult T-shirts purchased from the clearance table at Zeller's. There are some advantages to this over cut yardage:

1. Accessibility - Zellers is in my town, the nearest fabric store is 45 minutes away.
2. Coordinates - The solid and the stripe match perfectly - often not the case with bolts of fabric
3. Pre-finished - I used the hem of the shirt for both the leggings and the skirt. Hemming isn't one of my favorite parts of the sewing process, so I like to have it done already.

However, there are some disadvantages:

1. Grainlines - These weren't exceptionally high-quality T-shirts, so there were some grainline issues that were hard for me to work around. You can see that the stripes don't match at CF of the leggings.
2. Limited layout options - Since the T-shirt already has a certain shape, you have to work within those boundaries sometimes being creative with what you can put where.
3. Size limitations - I was able to squeak out the leggings from one T-shirt, but had to add a separate piece for the elastic casing. The next size up would not have been an option. Making a big T-shirt into a smaller T-shirt works well, but I don't know that I'll be able to do more dresses or leggings.
4. Waste - It seems like there was more waste compared to working with yardage - a lot of smallish, un-useable pieces leftover.

I continually had the tune of "Baby Elephant Walk" by Henry Mancini in my head while I was working on this project. It was subconscious at first and it took me a couple of days to even remember the name of the song and figure out why I was humming it. Funny stuff. Thankfully, it is a fun tune because it is quite tenacious and once it's there, it is hard to get rid of!

For the Record

2011-02-13T19:20:00.001-05:00

More angels for M's shop here in town. Nothing more to say - just posting for my future reference.

A Sweater Meets Its Match

2011-02-12T16:07:00.000-05:00

I knit this sweater for my daughter more than three years ago. It was just a wee bit big for her at the time. Finally, it fits. Mostly. Overall, it is not a great fit - too wide everywhere. But, if I wait until the width is right, the length will be far too short. That's the story for everything I make this girl - start with a small size and add a whole lot of length. I'm not adept at altering knitting patterns yet (and was really clueless three years ago).

So why have her wear it if it isn't a great fit? Because I can't let a hand-knit sweater just go without wearing! Maybe that's crazy. But that's me. I actually think it looks better on her than it does in the picture, but still not great.

To make it wearable, my daughter needed some coordinating clothes. She initially requested a jumper to wear with it, but I didn't find any fabric that I liked for a jumper. Instead, we went with a peasant-style skirt and surplice top.

The skirt is the Can-Can Skirt without the ruffles. You can't see it in the picture, but the very top tier (with elastic) is the same fabric as the bottom tier.

The top is a modification of Kwik Sew 2918. The edges are finished with bias binding.

Truthfully, I like the outfit better without the sweater, but at least there is an option for wearing it.

Ottobre 01-2010-14 - Corduroy Coat

2011-01-26T21:04:00.001-05:00

Right after I finished this coat, I made one more just like it for another new niece. I really liked the pattern and having it all out and being familiar with it made it come together very swiftly.

For the second version, I used a corduroy fabric that I have been hanging onto for awhile. I really like the fabric - both the print and the very soft feel of the corduroy - but I was having a hard time knowing what to do with it. This coat pattern seemed like a good match.

I used covered buttons on the front and the sleeve tabs.

The lining is a lighter shade of the pink flowers in the corduroy.

You can see some of the lining fabric used for the under collar to reduce bulk. Ideally, that wouldn't peek out. Oh, well.

Such a great pattern. I'm sure I'll come back to it again sometime.

What? Another coat that fits me but isn't for me?!? Oh, the injustice...

McCall's 3830 - Corduroy Skirts

2011-01-23T18:51:00.001-05:00

Continuing with my new styles/silhouettes kick, I tried a skirt style that is a little different for me - the straight skirt. Now, this isn't something that is entirely new to me, but I haven't made one in a few years. I thought it was time to try it again.

My pattern of choice was as basic as could be. I wanted to get the fit good without working around a lot of details and since I wasn't sure I would really like the shape on me, I didn't want to invest a lot of time in it. Enter McCall's 3830.

For the first try, I used a piece of corduroy leftover from this jacket. I had just enough of both the corduroy and the lining left for the skirt. In the past, I have been unhappy with how the front of straight skirts fit me. This time I left out the front darts. While I do curve out quite a bit from waist to hip, I don't really curve much at the front - it's all on the sides and at the back. I was really happy with how the fit turned out.

This was posted earlier, but here's the picture again:

Since the corduroy had a bit of stretch, I taped the waist and used a stable twill fabric for the facings. That seemed to work well - the waist doesn't stretch out at all. The skirt wears really well and is very comfortable thanks to the lining and the stretch fabric. I decided to make another using the fabric leftover from this jumper (this is the problem with a good simple skirt pattern - it's really tempting to turn every small cut of fabric into a skirt).

I did the same things for this version as for the first except that it doesn't have a lining. I wore a slip with it in an attempt to keep it from sticking to my tights when I walk, but it doesn't work as well as a lining. The color is different from most of the things in my closet and I think it's a good addition.

The top is a quick make from Butterick 3344. I changed the neck and added a twisted binding treatment following the instructions here. It isn't very visible with the sweater, but it might prove to be a good layering top and I didn't want it to be entirely plain.

I made the sleeves extra long and gathered the bottom with clear elastic. I've done this on other tops and really like how it feels. When you have really long arms like I do and every top you have ever purchased has had sleeves that are too short, wearing extra long sleeves feels really luxurious.

The sweater was comfortable to wear and was a good, warm layer. You can read a bit more about it here.

This picture is courtesy of my daughter, the master of the "silly shot." She coached me. :)

Ottobre 01-2010-16 and 18 - Striped Dress and Pink Leggings

2011-01-22T11:46:00.000-05:00

My youngest daughter turned three yesterday. So hard to believe. I mentioned in this post how she only likes to wear dresses, skirts, jumpers and nightgowns. So, I made her another dress (because I thought she would like another and because I thought I would like fewer tantrums when there are not any clean dresses in her drawer).

Both the dress and the leggings are from Ottobre 1/2010. The bubble sleeves are unique and the pleats on the leggings are a nice detail. In order for the outfit to be a surprise, I did all of the work while my daughter was sleeping and I was nervous about how or if it would fit. The leggings are a little looser than I would prefer, but they are a good length. The pleats don't match up well because I was in a great big hurry to finish them.

The dress turned out to be a pretty good fit. I used size 98 and added 0.5" in length to both the bodice and the skirt. The neckline is gathered with an elastic casing. It looked too loose when I was making it, but I left it figuring I could adjust it after she tried it on. And, that's what I did - taking about 2" off the suggested length. I think I may have misunderstood the directions for the bubble part of the sleeve. It is supposed to look twisted, but I don't think these look twisted enough.

I love that full, round tummy!

Happy birthday, sweet girl!

A Steamy Sort of Day

2011-01-17T21:29:00.001-05:00

It was cold here today (-26C when I took the kids to school this morning- brrrrr!) but I stayed warm inside working in my sewing room.

Back in July, I started knitting a cardigan for myself - Rosamund's Cardigan by Andrea Pomerantz from the Fall 2009 issue of Interweave Knits. I finally finished knitting it while we were away for Christmas and today I finished the finishing - refining the shape and sewing on buttons, hooks, and eyes. Now I am happy with it. Before today, I wasn't sure about it.

While I was knitting, I knew that I was going to want the sweater to be longer than what the pattern said. But, I added the length at the very bottom (the sweater is knit from the top down) when I should have added it in between the waist decreases and increases. It resulted in a sweater that had a shape very different from my own.

Ripping out half of the sweater didn't sound appealing to me (remember that it took me six months to knit this!) so today I decided to try steaming it with my iron a bit to shrink out some of the excess ease. It worked really well and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

The buttonhole and button placement seem a little strange to me - too far toward the center. But, I was just following the pattern and my inexperience makes it hard to predict that sort of thing. It doesn't bother me enough to prevent me from wearing it. I put three hook-and-eyes along the opening below the second button. For now, I like the bottom of it to be open a bit, but I might add more later.

Inspired by the sweater and steam success story, I decided to pretreat the wool fabric I have for making a coat using this tutorial from Pam at Off the Cuff. Here the fabric is cooling off, flat and smooth. Nice that the railing is exactly the right length!

I'm taking action with the coat now because it looks like The Preacher and I are going to NYC at the end of March for a church leadership conference. I'll attend one day of the conference with him, but then I'm hoping to get over to the Garment District one of the other days. My goal is to have the coat done by then so I can bring it along and have the buttonholes professionally done. I've been reading and researching the coat making process and am getting pretty excited. It will be a slow process with breaks for other projects, but that's fine with me.

Fleece Pajama Hat Trick

2011-01-13T23:12:00.000-05:00

I made pajamas for each of my kids.

They’re so happy because they got to pick out the fabric.

My older daughter wanted “pajamas that have the top and bottom connected and have feet.” Kwik Sew 2704 was the answer – sleepers for big kids.

My son wanted the same thing, and was quite insistent that they be cozy. In his mind, cozy and fuzzy are synonymous.

I think both of them are surprised how warm these are.

My younger daughter only wears dresses, skirts, and jumpers for day and nightgowns at night. She’s cute about this as long as there is a choice she approves of in her drawer. If everything that suits her is in the laundry, she’s not so cute. So, here we have another nightgown for her. I modified an out-of-print Kwik Sew pattern to make it.

Oh, and I made her leggings to wear with the nightgown since she doesn’t keep the blankets on at night.

Sleep well, kiddos!

Simplicity 4020–Green Batwing Top

2011-01-12T22:53:00.000-05:00

Another new style for me…

The fabric is a bamboo jersey that I think works pretty well for this design – very soft and drapey. I would have guessed that I wouldn’t have liked all that fabric between my arms and my body, but I didn’t really notice it.

Before cutting the fabric, I added 2” in length to the sleeves and 1.5” in length to the bodice front and back. While putting the top together, the only sizing change I made was to decrease the circumference of the cuffs by 1.5”. They were much too big for my wrists and slid down over my hands, looking very sloppy.

I wasn’t all that impressed with the neckline of the top. I bound it instead of applying a neckband like the pattern suggests, but I’m still not very excited about how it sits on me. It shifts around and I feel like I need to readjust it too much. When I wore it with a scarf, it didn’t bother me.

The skirt in the picture at the top is also a recent make, but I’ll have more to say about that later.

Kwik Sew 2856/New Look 6731–Purple Tunic

2011-01-08T11:56:00.000-05:00

I’ve been interested in trying some silhouettes and styles that I don’t currently have in my wardrobe. I’m not a big risk-taker by nature and I really value my sewing time, so I generally stick to fabrics and patterns that I’m pretty certain I’ll like. It is starting to feel like everything I wear is pretty much the same, just in different colors. Much of the time I’m okay with that because I only keep clothes that I really like, but I’ve been wanting something different lately.

For this tunic, I combined two patterns: Kwik Sew 2856 and New Look 6731.

I used the neckline and raglan sleeve seams from the Kwik Sew pattern. I used this pattern before for a sweater and remember really liking the neckline (the sweater didn’t stay in my closet for long – I loved how the fabric looked, but despite pre-shrinking, it kept getting shorter and wider).

The length and style of sleeves came from the New Look pattern as did the bodice length. After checking the pattern tissue against my arm, I added 2” in length to the sleeves, but it wasn’t enough. The sleeves feel too short on me. It was hard to tell how much would need to be added for the part above the wrist to drape well.

I had pictured this top being a bit shorter than I actually finished it. When I tried it on to check the hem length, I pinned it up about four inches. That put the hem right at the widest part of my hips and pretty much at the same length as the sleeves – not a flattering spot. Given the color, I feared looking a little too much like this guy:

So, I left it long and I'm happy I did. The purple knit I used has been in my stash for several months. I bought more than three meters of it when it was a really good deal. It isn’t as heavy as a ponte knit, but has a similar look.

For the most part, I am happy with the final product. I’d like the sleeves to be longer, but the top is comfortable, surprisingly warm, and different from my other clothes. It also felt a lot like instant gratification sewing, which I was feeling due for.

Reversible Apron Revisited

2011-01-04T21:28:00.000-05:00

After making the changes that I mentioned here, I made another apron. This one was a belated birthday gift for my mom.

I didn’t get any pictures of it on, so it is hard to compare to the first one, but I like it better. The reverse is a blue/green/yellow stripe.

Similar to what I did for this project, I made some other kitchen goodies to go along with it.

For the potholder, I used the wonky log cabin tutorial from Quilt Dad. This was a first for me. I’m pretty sure I over-wonked it because the center square should still be in the center, but mine isn’t. I’m pretty sure a large (12.5”) square quilting ruler (which I don’t have) would prevent that sort of thing.

The apron fabrics and the yellow flower print in the pot holder and tea towel were purchased at a new quilt shop in town. I’ve been there a couple of times now and I think it holds a lot of promise – a good selection of traditional and modern prints. My Christmas stocking held a gift certificate from The Preacher so I can go shopping there again soon!

Review of Sewing Goals for 2010

2011-01-03T22:08:00.000-05:00

It feels like I'm getting to this pretty late. How can it feel like the new year is well underway only three days into it? I considered just getting on with other bloggy things and forgetting about revisiting the goals I set for 2010, but that didn't seem right. So, here we go...

Sewing Goals for 2010

1. Go fabric shopping in Toronto. INCOMPLETE

I could have made this happen, but honestly didn't feel the need to. I have lots of fabric that I would really like to sew. I need more time, not more fabric. I certainly still would like to go sometime for the experience, but I don't feel badly for not going in 2010.

2. Knit the owl sweater. COMPLETE

Absolutely my proudest knitting accomplishment so far.

3. Make a modern quilt for our living room wall. COMPLETE

The quilt that I chose to make isn't exactly what I was thinking when I said "modern quilt," but I think it is a good fit and works with the rest of the room (which isn't modern at all).

4. Give my blog a facelift. COMPLETE

Pretty minor changes and it's time to do it again, but I still can mark it as complete. Lately I think it might be time to look beyond Blogger, too. The lack of formatting options are really bugging me.

5. Work on projects for art/craft show a little at a time all year long. COMPLETE (mostly)

I did do this, but not as well as I had hoped in January. The art show was a good experience for me and I will likely be doing it again next November.

6. Purchase an Ottobre magazine and try at least two patterns. COMPLETE

After using only three Ottobre patterns, I decided to subscribe. I'm a convert. Next year I expect I'll be wondering what I did before I subscribed.

7. Make a great white shirt. INCOMPLETE

This was a rollover from 2009 and I didn't do it in 2010, either. Makes me think that I don't need to do it at all if I can go for two years without it. But, a few weeks ago I made a vest that really needs a white shirt. Maybe I will get to it in 2011.

8. Make a wool coat. INCOMPLETE

Here's what I said about this goal last year:

I purchased wool coating about three years ago and haven't had a chance (or the courage) to make a coat with it yet. 2010 is going to be the year. I'm hoping to use Simplicity 2508. This is high on the project list so that I can still wear it while it is winter.

Um. Yeah. Still would really like to get to that.

9. Clean out the fabric stash. COMPLETE (mostly)

I did do this early in 2010, but didn't get rid of as much fabric as I thought I would. Any and all hoarding tendencies I might have are focused on fabric. I love to get rid of other "stuff" and abhor clutter. But, fabric? You just never know when you might need just that piece...

10. Comment more on other sewing blogs. COMPLETE

I say "complete" because I comment more now than I did the previous year, but still not as much as I should or would like to. It was a difficult goal to measure.

While I haven't gone back through all my posts for 2010, two items do stand out for me.

The best wardrobe addition:

I wear this jacket a lot and there isn't anything about it that I am unhappy with.

My proudest accomplishment:

The Owls Sweater. As far as sweaters go, this isn't a very complicated pattern, but I'm still pleased with myself for making a whole sweater and being happy with how it turned out. I love wearing it.

And for 2011?

I've decided not to set any sewing goals for 2011. How I spent my sewing time near the end of 2010 looked very different from what I expected at the beginning. I expect this year will be difficult to predict also. Ideally, I'd like to sew what I want when I want.

Here's hoping that 2011 is a great year - both inside and outside of the sewing room.

Reversible Apron

2010-12-26T08:26:00.000-05:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We did at our house. Christmas tends to be a busy time for preachers due to extra services, but there are some other areas of responsibility that lighten up at the same time, so both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day actually felt pretty relaxing here. Later today we are leaving to visit family for a week and we're really looking forward to that.

I'm rather behind with blogging. Things have been busy and while I've still managed to squeeze in the sewing time that I need, the blogging time didn't make the cut. I do find writing about my projects helpful for myself, so I'm going to try to get caught up relatively soon.

I've been thinking about aprons lately. I really like aprons. It's not unusual for me to wear one most of the day if I'm home. It seemed like it was time for me to have another one. I looked at a lot of patterns, but didn't find one that I really liked.

My personal apron preferences:

a full (with bib) apron
some interest, but not a lot of ruffles or fussiness
nothing that looks like a costume
more feminine than this
more interesting than this
simpler to construct than this

So, I decided to make my own pattern. It would be reversible, have a feminine neckline, a curved hem, and long ties. Here's the first version:

This is my daughter's debut as a photographer. I was laughing at her taking the picture. Her running commentary about what part of me the "little box" on the screen was on was quite amusing. The fact that she was giggling and wiggling kept it moving around.

I used stretch woven fabrics for both sides of the apron - not because I thought that stretchiness would be a good quality to have in an apron, but because this was a muslin of sorts and I wasn't all that attached to these two fabrics.

While the thought of having an additional available photographer is appealing, photos taken at an upward angle are not particularly flattering. Have to remember that...

This is actually an accidental picture, but it shows the fabric well. I prefer this polka dot side. The other side is made from a black/white pinstripe shirting that reads as grey. Overall, it was very blah, so I added the tea pot appliqué at the lower edge.

After making and wearing this apron, I made some changes to the pattern...

I don't like how short the apron is in the back, so for the next version I lengthened it a bit, keeping the center front the same. It changed the curve a little, but from the front it still looks the same.
The ties are really long. Too long. Ideally, they would be long enough to give me the option to tie them in front. These pretty much require being tied in front.
I like the neckline, but felt like the neck strap looked too narrow, so I made it a bit wider.

I've already made it a second time - as a gift, so I can't write about it yet. But, soon...

Mini Mittens

2010-12-22T12:57:00.000-05:00

Several months ago I made a mini sweater. Now that sweater is on our Christmas tree and I really like it there. I decided to look for some other miniature knitted things to put on the tree as well. My search led me to these Mini Mittens.

The grey pair were the first ones I made. I like how they turned out, but grey isn't a great color for a Christmas ornament - not very festive and hard to see on the tree. I also wanted them to be even smaller, so I made another pair from multi-colored sock yarn on size 1 needles. These were just what I was hoping for (they're about an inch long).

But, they aren't on our tree because I tied them to a Christmas card envelope and gave them away. Now I have to make another set. But, this is fun, fast knitting. I might make a couple more sets.

The Can-Can Skirt

2010-12-21T10:40:00.001-05:00

When I first saw this skirt about a year ago, I thought that my daughter would loooove it if it was pink. I was right.

The “pattern” is really just a set of instructions, but they are pretty good. The size of the different tiers is determined using a set of ratios, so there are an infinite number of sizes that can be made, including for women.

Attaching the ruffles is done with a lack of precision. The instructions say, “Don’t pin; just sew.” I’m a little embarrassed to say how nervous that made me. I like precision. One side seam is sewn before the ruffles go on and the second is done after. The ruffles don’t match up all that well on the second side seam, which I thought “ruined” the skirt, but when this skirt is on my daughter I can hardly find the side seam, much less notice unmatched ruffles. So, I think the instructions are good and maybe I should be a little less hung up on precision.

Non-fraying chiffon is the fabric recommended for the ruffles, but I used polyester organza. I didn’t have time to order this certain fabric, so I had to use what I could find. This coral-pink color was the only organza that came in three similar shades at my local Fabricland. I was hoping for a darker, blue-pink but I didn’t really get to make that choice.

I cut the strips on the bias to get around the fraying issue. When I took the picture above, my daughter had worn the skirt three times and the edges are starting to get rough. I still think it looks okay, but this isn’t going to be an heirloom sort of garment.

I also made her a headband to match the skirt using this tutorial for the flower. I'm not as excited about how the flower turned out as I'd like to be. I think it needs a few more layers for fullness. As much as I'd like to think I'll go back and re-do it, I likely won't. Too many other things to start...

Things have been busy here, so this ended up being a last minute rush job. I really don’t enjoy that type of sewing. I got in done in time for her to wear it to her first piano recital last Saturday. She loved wearing the skirt and did a fantastic job playing her pieces.

The Stars Have Aligned...

2010-12-07T13:31:00.001-05:00

...on my couch!

These were all requested by S and most of the fabric is from her stash. Two of the dark grey ones are for her to give as a gift and the others are for her shop.

Individual pics:

This is a decorator fabric. Half of the points are cut from the "right" side and half from the "wrong" side:

Also a decorator fabric, the points are cut from two different sections of the same fabric:

The purple fabric is from S. I combined it with this strange greenish-gold dupioni silk that I had. It looks much more gold in the pictures than it does in real life. This is kind of a strange combination, but it's good to try something different once in awhile.

The textured fabric was my compliment to S's crimson fabric.

The raised rows are strands of recycled silk spun together. The colors are fascinating to look at, but it isn't an easy fabric to work with.

I'll drop these off tomorrow and that will make her shop very well stocked with stars!

Ottobre 01-2010-14 - Denim Coat

2010-12-04T22:11:00.001-05:00

I'm so pleased with how this little coat turned out, I hardly know what to say about it. It is a gift for my newest niece and I had so much fun making it!

The pattern is in the Spring 2010 issue of Ottobre magazine. This is the third Ottobre pattern for me - the other two (here and here) were much simpler than this one. I was so impressed with this coat pattern that I cancelled my subscription to Threads and started subscribing to Ottobre. I've been subscribing to Threads continuously for 10 years now and haven't been impressed with the last couple of years at all. There are a couple of reasons for that. I'm not completely dissatisfied with Threads, but it seems like a good time for a change. Threads and Ottobre are entirely different sorts of magazines, but the funding for them comes from the same place so I had to choose one or the other.

Okay, back to the coat...

It is fully lined with a printed plaid (aka difficult-to-match plaid).

The buttons came home with me from NYC. I didn't have a project in mind when I purchased them - I just really liked them. I had the exact number called for in exactly the correct sizes for this coat - 4 larger for the jacket front and 2 smaller for the sleeve tabs - and considering the pace at which I'm sewing for myself these days, it seemed like it would be good to share them with someone else.

The sleeve tabs are a nice detail. All of the top-stitching is done with taupe thread using the triple-straight stitch.

The niece that I sent this to was just born in October, so it's going to be awhile before she can wear it. Right now it fits my two-year-old daughter pretty well.

It seems that the ponytails were feeling extra perky and the nose extra runny for this picture!

Thankfully, the season when she could wear this is pretty much over. I'd be tempted to keep it otherwise.

Generally, I make baby gift clothes pretty big (other projects here and here) for a few reasons:

pattern sizes can be quite a bit different than RTW (ready-to-wear) and it is hard to guess what size a baby will be in a certain season
babies outgrow clothes much faster than toddlers/pre-schoolers and if I'm going to go through the effort of making something it would be nice for it to last a bit longer
new parents usually get LOTS of little baby clothes and I when I was in that spot I really appreciated being able to pull out something new a couple of years down the road

This isn't a heavy coat and my niece lives in Michigan, so the number of months it can be worn might be relatively few, but I think it will be enjoyed nonetheless.

I'm not sure why I feel compelled to point this out (maybe because it is the only thing I'm not happy with), but the top-stitching on the collar is too far away from the edge. I should have ripped it out, but I didn't. Mea culpa. Okay, enough of that. Back to being happy with it...

Yay for satisfying sewing!

Special Order Crayon Rolls

2010-11-29T15:19:00.001-05:00

An art sale patron specially ordered two crayon rolls from me.

She wanted them in time for Christmas to give to her grandchildren.

Her only specification: one for a boy and one for a girl.

It was a pretty simple order to complete.

Christmas Table Runner

2010-11-22T11:02:00.000-05:00

S asked me to make a Christmas table runner for her shop. Her only suggestions about what it should look like were "not too fussy or busy."

I decided on a simple applique of three trees on a linen background. The runner is 60" long and 13" wide.

For the trees, I used a lightweight fusible product and then straight-stitched around the edges. I like the raw-edge applique look, but don't use it very often.

The border and backing is an apple green color that didn't photograph well. I was happy with the mitered corners, but they don't look so good (a little lumpy) in the pictures. I do really like the narrow folded border inside the green one. I only had a small amount of the striped fabric, but think this was a good way to use it.

I was so happy with this when I finished it a couple of weeks ago, but now that I'm looking at the pictures, I'm less than thrilled. I'm really hoping that it is just the pictures, but it looks wrinkly and rumpled to me. I think I would have noticed that in real life and fixed it. I tend to be hypercritical about the things I make to sell. The runner has been at S's shop for a few days now, but after this post I feel like I should go check on it to make sure it really looks okay.

Jeans Re-purposed As An Apron

2010-11-18T14:52:00.000-05:00

Early in the summer, a woman from church gave me a bag of fabric that she wasn't going to use. It was primarily quilting cotton in farm and boyish prints. This was a great addition to my stash and I've used a few of the pieces. She also included an apron that she had picked up at a farmer's market in Alberta when she was on vacation. The apron was made from an old pair of jeans. She thought it was pretty neat and wanted me to see it as maybe I would be interested in making them, also. The apron was an interesting thing to see, but it wasn't something that was going to be high on my list of things to make.

Fast forward a bit to August when I was on an uncluttering rampage. I got rid of heaps of things that were not enhancing my (or my family's) life in any way, shape or form. (Side note: I find the Unclutterer blog very inspiring. So many good ideas and insights there). Fast forward again to a few weeks ago when this woman asked for the apron back. I looked everywhere the apron could be, but I think it got caught in my rampage. I don't know exactly where it ended up, but it wasn't in my house and I wasn't hopeful about getting it back. Gulp. I explained to this woman that I did not have it anymore and apologized profusely. Apparently, she was just lending the apron to me and was going to want it back from the beginning. I missed that part of the conversation entirely. Together we decided that I would make her a new one to replace the one that I lost.

There are many tutorials out there for aprons made from old jeans, but they are all half-aprons and I know the one I was replacing was a full apron with a bib. Unfortunately, I could not remember exactly what the original looked like, so I had to come up with my own thing.

There isn't a lot that needs to be explained here. For the lower part of the apron, I generally followed the same steps as this tutorial, but I cut off the waistband at the side seams and didn't mess with the yoke (because the jeans I used didn't have one). The lower and side edges are just turned back and stitched (after serging the raw edge).

The bib part of the apron is the lower part of one of the legs - I used the pant hem as the top edge. After finishing the side edges, I lapped the lower part over the bib and top-stitched along the waistband edge.

The waist tie is not attached to the apron - just threaded through the loops and tied in the back. The neck strap is stitched on the back of the bib and is adjustable. I added the pocket just because it seemed to need something else.

I haven't given this apologetic apron to this woman yet, but I really hope she is happy enough with it. And now I know that when someone gives me something, I should ask, "Do you want it back if I don't use it or want it?" Lesson learned.

Next Up: A Christmas table runner

After the Sale

2010-11-15T21:22:00.000-05:00

It's been over and done with for more than a week now, but I had a good experience with the art sale that I was participating in. While I didn't take an actual count, I think I sold about half of the items I brought. The other artists were fun to chat and visit with and it was neat to meet the customers and talk about some of the things I'd made. I really have no desire to join the craft show circuit and do a sale every weekend, but this was a good opportunity to try it out. I'll likely do the same one next year.

In the last week, I've been working on all of the things that I'd postponed until the sale was over - sewing and otherwise. Most of the sewing is for other people. I've decided that once I finish the things I've currently agreed to do, I'm not taking anything else until January.

S liked the idea of the bigger star pillow when I dropped off the other pillows, so I made one that is 50% bigger than the hanging ones. To give you an idea of its size, here it is on my couch with another pillow:

And here it is with my two-year-old daughter:

S thought a couple more of the hanging ones would be good, too. I made two more just like the first ones.

Next Up: an apologetic apron.

The Final Pieces

2010-11-04T16:21:00.001-04:00

These zippered pouches are the last things I sewed for the art sale.

I made three others awhile ago that I'm going to include also. Not terribly exciting, but I thought it would be good to have some simple things at a lower price point.

The sale starts tomorrow (and ends on Sunday) and other than setting up my table, I'm ready to go. So excited!

More Gathered Clutches

2010-11-02T16:30:00.000-04:00

Many of you had positive things to say about the gathered clutches I made a few weeks ago (thank you!), and I was quite enamored with them myself so I made five more to sell this weekend.

My favorite of this bunch:

Sometimes sewing multiples can get tedious, but using different fun fabrics for each helps each one feel new.

Shopping Bags

2010-11-01T15:20:00.001-04:00

Most stores in our town charge you a nickel for a plastic bag when you check out. I love this practice and the way that it encourages people to bring their own cloth bags or reuse their plastic ones. My habit of bringing along bags to the grocery store is well established, but I used to find myself stuck at places like the drug store or farmer's market or other impromptu stops. Then I picked up a bag at an upscale kitchen goods store that rolls up quite compactly. Now I keep that in my purse, so I always have a bag with me.

I like my bag so much that I wanted to replicate it for the art sale. The final result is a hybrid of the bag I purchased and these that I made last year.

The bag is a little bigger than the average plastic grocery bag. The velcro tab is used to keep the bag rolled up, but also can close the top of the bag when it is full.

Most of the bag is a single layer of cotton, but the handles are faced. There is a double row of top-stitching around both edges of the handles. The sides have a gusset and are sewn with French seams for strength and a clean finish. The bottom is also sewn with a French seam plus an additional row of reinforcing stitching.

To roll up the bag:
Fold the bag into thirds, using the pocket edges as a guide.

Fold the handles down. There will be a twist in one side of the handles.

Fold the bottom of the bag up to be even with the top of the handles.

Roll the bag up into thirds. The velcro on the bottom of the pocket should be visible.

Close the velcro tab and stash the bag somewhere where you will use it, like your purse or in you car's glovebox.

I think these could be great stocking stuffers and I hope other people see them that way, too.

Art Sale Sewing

2010-10-31T14:35:00.002-04:00

My goodness, it's been awhile. I've been spending all my time sewing and none of it blogging. Getting ready for the art sale (this coming weekend) has kept me really busy and I'm very excited about it. I've never done anything like this before, so there is much that I am uncertain about, but I'm sure it will be a good experience however it goes.

So, let's have a look at the goods...

Buttercup Bags
These are the same as the ones I made here. Now that I'm familiar with the pattern and made good notes about my changes to it, these come together pretty quickly.

I was hoping to use some tortoise shell rings or other hardware on either of these bags, but couldn't find any locally.

Tote Bag
This tote bag is also a repeat. The fabrics in the patchwork strip are mostly the same, but not in the same order/configuration.

I zig-zagged over each seam with an off-white thread for this version.

Inverted Box Pleat Bag (needs a new name)
This bag is a new one for me. During a recent trip to the grocery store I was standing in line behind a woman that was carrying a very similar one. I sketched it when I left the store, but by the time I started to make the pattern I had a hard time remembering the size. I decided on a finished top band width of 12", so it can be a small tote bag or a handbag.

The exterior is underlined with cotton canvas and the lining is interfaced, so the bag has some weight and almost stands by itself. It's hard to tell from any of these pictures, but both bags have 3" boxed corners.

When I first finished this purple-ish bag, I really didn't like it and didn't think that I would include it in the sale. I think it is the lining fabric that I was disappointed with. I had a hard time deciding on a coordinating fabric and my two-year-old was not happy at Fabricland, so this blue and purple butterfly print is what I ended up with. I think the colors are good, but the print doesn't get me excited and I don't care for the contrast between the smooth/shiny exterior fabric and the quilting cotton. The bag has grown on me a bit since then and while it isn't my favorite, I'm still going to include it.

The bags have a pocket on each side of the lining. One is a large pocket divided into three sections.

The other is a single pocket with two parts - one zippered and one open at the top.

Next up: More bags of a different variety.

Christmas Star Pillows

2010-10-11T14:36:00.001-04:00

After last Christmas S gave me a small star pillow. She had a few of them and used them to decorate her shop for Christmas. They were not for sale, but she always had people ask if they could buy them and how much they were. So, she asked me to make some like it to sell this year.

Here's the original:

It was pretty easy to copy and fun to make. I measured one of the diamonds, drew it out on paper, and added seam allowances. Each side of the pillow is made of three diamonds each from two different fabrics.

My three copies:

This one, my favorite, is made from two different quilting cottons.

The second is a classic Christmas plaid and gold dupioni silk.

The third is burgundy and ivory, both dupioni silk.

It's hard to determine their size from the photos - they're 16" across from one point to another and 9" from one "valley" to another. Each has a ribbon loop so they can be hung if desired.

S and her co-worker were pretty excited about these. We talked about maybe making a larger one for a couch cushion. And maybe some Christmas table runners. Busy, busy, busy...

For the Record

2010-10-10T16:19:00.001-04:00

These angels and hot water bottle covers are for M's shop here in town. I've made them before and have nothing new to say about them - just posting them here for my future reference.

Oliver + S Jumprope Dress

2010-10-09T17:12:00.000-04:00

It's been a few weeks since I made this dress. Like my last Oliver + S experience, I have only good things to say about the Jumprope Dress pattern. The style is as cute as can be, the drafting and sizing is great and the instructions are fantastic. But, I don't think I made a good match of pattern and fabric. The details on the dress are what makes it so cute, but with the print I used, they are really hard to pick out. So hard that I didn't even bother to try photographing them.

We chose the fabric to go along with the sweater that my daughter already had and that really limited our options. The dress is still cute enough and I'm not unhappy with it, but it isn't everything I was hoping it would be. Using a solid pink for some of the details would have been ideal, but of course I didn't have the right color in my stash and I wasn't able to work in a trip to the fabric store before the dress needed to be finished. The fact that my local Fabricland is 45 minutes away now has been really irritating lately.

I'll be making this dress again in a solid or more subtle print, but likely not until summer.

The Burda Skirt Again

2010-10-02T12:13:00.001-04:00

I'm not sure what prompted it, but awhile ago I decided that I needed a green skirt. The last time I was at Fabricland I saw this green wide-wale corduroy. I wasn't really looking for the skirt to be corduroy and the color was a little different than I was hoping for, but since I had my eyes peeled for awhile and hadn't seen anything better, I thought I'd try the corduroy.

After looking for a suitable pattern, I settled on the Burda 2/2010 skirt that I've already used three times. Because of the weight and bulk of the corduroy, I didn't want to try to mess with too many details. I'll use another skirt pattern soon. Really, I will.

One of the things I really like about this pattern is the pockets. This time I made the pocket facings and part of the pocket bag out of a cotton woven solid to reduce bulk.

Since I'll be wearing this skirt with tights I added a lining. Adding the lining was really simple except that I cut the lining exactly the same as the skirt front, meaning the corners were cut off where the pockets go. I didn't want the pockets in the lining, and I was thankful that I had enough lining fabric to cut a new front. The waistband facing is made with the same fabric as the pocket facing.

This is how I wore it yesterday:

I really enjoyed wearing it yesterday, but I'm not all that excited about how I look in the picture. Maybe it was a bad hair day or the fact that my jacket looks rumpled. Maybe it's just the boring pose. I did try some crazy (for me) poses, but when I looked at them this morning they looked...well, crazy. So, boring it is.

Next up: More of these.

The Shirts That Caused Silly Talk

2010-09-29T12:15:00.000-04:00

A couple of days ago I was talking to The Preacher and telling him that I had a lot of things to sew (M and S have both asked for more for their shops and the art sale is the beginning of November). Then I said, "But first, I need to make the little man a couple more long-sleeved T-shirts." To which The Preacher said, "Maybe you should just go buy the T-shirts. You've got a lot to do."

Um, hello? Are you new around here? We don't really "just go buy" clothes. Especially T-shirts. Please.

I wanted to use a pattern from the Spring 2010 Ottobre issue that I purchased. Since I'm not so familiar with Ottobre, I took more than the usual number of measurements of my son. He did not enjoy this.

After I got the shoulder seams sewn and the neckband on, I asked him to try it on to see if it was going to fit. He came over reluctantly and said, "Why do you need to measure me AND have me try it on? I thought you did all the measuring so that it would fit."

Yeah. You have no idea how I wish it was just that simple.

When my daughter got home from school, my son was excited to show her his new shirts. When he showed her the one pictured immediately above, she said to me, "Is this one just a practice one? You know, when you try out a pattern and see if it fits?" (She was referring to my habit of using leftover or ugly fabric in strange combinations for muslins, example here). I said that no, it was a real shirt that would actually be worn. She said, "But I don't think all these colors look very good together."

Well, thank you for your feedback. I'll take that under advisement.

These shirts mean I've accomplished another goal for this year and I've used two Ottobre patterns. Yay for me!

Now I've got to get busy. I've got a lot to do, you know.

Gathered Clutches

2010-09-28T19:09:00.001-04:00

A few months ago, I purchased the Gathered Clutch pattern from Anna of Noodlehead. Similar to the Buttercup Bag pattern I used here, the purchase of the pattern includes a limited commercial license to sell what you make with it. This is great for people like me who have good sewing skills, but aren't great designers. Someone else thinks up something cute and I can make it and sell it.

I'm adding these three to my art sale inventory. The pattern was really easy to follow. The only thing I thought was strange was that she has you sew that front band as a tube (RST and then turn), press it flat and then sew it on the gathered front. I didn't see why that was necessary. I pressed the long edges under and sewed it on that way.

The inside of the clutch has a divider and two credit card pockets.

The overall size is about 8.5" x 5". As far as a handbag goes, the clutch has never appealed to me. I wear a cross-body bag because I need to have my hands free. A clutch requires the use of one hand almost all the time. I guess some do master holding it under their arm, but that seems tricky. So, I don't really see these replacing a purse, but it does seem like a great thing for when you need more than just your wallet, but less than the whole purse. Like when you are hauling a big diaper bag and don't want to have a separate purse. Or a tote bag on a day trip. You get the idea? This will accommodate the necessities, but won't take up a lot of space.

The back of the clutch is plain. (This is my favorite fabric in the three I made. It is also from Heidi and while I would love to have it centered top to bottom, it was already cut the exact width I needed).

I love choosing fabrics for these type of projects. It's a different sort of process than choosing fabrics for garment sewing. It takes me awhile to consider all the different color and print possibilities, but that is part of the fun. I love my stash!

Patchwork Skirt and Owl T-Shirt

2010-09-24T22:08:00.000-04:00

During the summer, Heidi of Handmade by Heidi generously gave away some of her scraps. I was the lucky recipient of one batch and was thrilled with what I received. One of the things in the box was a partial charm pack. If you aren't familiar with quilting, a charm pack is a set of pre-cut 5" squares - one from each piece in a fabric collection. Every time I'm in a quilt shop I look at the charm packs and am tempted to buy one, but I've never been sure what to do with them so I've never bought one.

Several weeks ago the Sew, Mama, Sew blog featured back-to-school patterns and tutorials. One from The Polka Dot Chair caught my eye and after looking at it further, I decided to try making it with the charm pack from Heidi. I really liked the T-shirt with the owl applique, too and decided to just copy the whole outfit.

My daughter is really happy with these clothes, but you sure wouldn't know it from the picture.

Since I was working with only a partial charm pack, I had to add some squares of other fabric, but I found what I needed in Heidi's box. I did have to buy the fabric for the lower band and the waistband. While I wasn't sure I was going to like it when I bought these fabrics, I did the best I could given my choices and I'm pretty happy with the result.

The skirt tutorial has good instructions, but I did change a couple of things. First, I sewed the squares together with my serger. The piecing isn't as accurate as I could have done with my sewing machine, but I thought the raw edges needed to be finished.

Second, I moved the elastic casing to the center of the waistband, rather than the top as suggested. I wanted the ties to cover up the elastic and look like a paper-bag waist.

I don't do a lot of machine applique because I have a hard time getting it to look good. I'm happy with how my machine handled this one. The green around the eyes and the yellow around the feet doesn't look all that great, but those are small curved pieces that required a lot of tiny pivots.

Because the shirt is a knit, I fused a tear-away stabilizer on the back to prevent stretching and rippling. The parts of the owl are fused on with Wonder-Under. In the picture, it looks like the button eyes are really off-center. I think that is because of the angle that I was holding the camera.

And yes, those are pink breast cancer awareness ribbons on the brown owl belly fabric. Was my intention to have my six-year-old daughter make a statement about breast cancer? Nope. Like I said above, I did the best with the choices I had available.

Before I cut out the top, I contemplated doing something "different" with the sleeves to make it a little nicer than a plain white T with an owl slapped on it. I had a hard time coming up with anything I was excited about and decided to trim the neckline instead of change the sleeves. The picot-edge elastic was a good fit - stretchy, cute, and not overdone.

The T-shirt is based on Kwik Sew 2918 and the leggings are Burda 9615, both patterns I've used more times than I can count.

Oliver + S Music Class Skirt and Blouse

2010-09-21T14:31:00.001-04:00

I'm feeling much better today. The antibiotic is doing its job. To me it seemed that it took awhile to start being effective, but I think I was impatient after not feeling well for weeks. Yesterday I had confirmation that the medicine was indeed circulating in my body because I started having an icky metallic taste in my mouth that wouldn't go away. That is one of the side effects of the drug. It tastes like what I imagine having a dirty penny in my mouth would taste like. Blegh. But, enough about that. Let's talk sewing, shall we?

Over the summer I ordered two Oliver + S patterns - the Jumprope Dress and the Music Class Skirt and Blouse. I have admired their modern, but classic patterns with great details for awhile now and decided to work them into my fall sewing for my daughter.

First, the blouse:

I combined the Peter Pan collar from the short-sleeve version with the rest of the long-sleeve version.

The yoke and pintucks keep it from being too plain. Unfortunately, I think we made a poor fabric choice and the details are hard to see. My daughter has admired these ladybug buttons every time she has been to the fabric store, so it was fun to be able to use them here.

The pintucks are repeated on the back. It's hard to discern here, but in the set of three tucks, the center one is longest and they each get a little shorter as you move toward the side.

I'm pretty happy with how the blouse turned out, but I'm really excited about the skirt. I think it turned out so cute. It was quick and easy, but, again, with great details to keep it interesting.

I was concerned that the denim would be too bulky for an elastic waistband, but there isn't much difference between the waist and hip measurement, so it worked okay.

The side panels have a pocket and then a pleated inset at the bottom. The pleats pressed well in the denim and I hope they stay that way. (Does anyone else hold their breath a little bit the first time something goes through the wash?)

I used gray thread and the triple straight (stretch) stitch for topstitching and like how it turned out.

After sewing both the Music Class outfit and the Jumprope Dress (post yet to come), I can say that the directions in these patterns are fantastic. This wasn't news to me, but it was nice to see them for myself. Because of the details, these might not be the best patterns for absolute beginners, but they would be good for advanced beginners that are looking to increase their skills. The directions actually tell you how to sew the different parts - especially the difficult parts like plackets. Personally, I really appreciated the places where it said something like, "HINT: This is a tricky seam....." If I try to think like a beginner, I would find that reassuring if I was struggling to get it right. Often pattern instructions have no distinction between difficult and easy steps.

There are a lot of other Oliver + S patterns that I'd like to try (like the Sunday Brunch Jacket and the School Photo Dress). They aren't cheap patterns, but they're so cute! And I'm done thinking that patterns (and most other things, actually) should be cheap. After having tried to make some of my own I know that it takes a lot of time to get it right. The Oliver + S folks have got it right and it's worth the price.

This and That

2010-09-17T22:51:00.001-04:00

It's been awhile since I posted anything here. Our household has been really busy and I've been pretty worn out. I was blaming it on getting back into the school routine and adjusting to the Preacher working more again (the summer workload is lighter for him). Having a cough and cold symptoms since the end of August didn't help, either. Earlier this week I was hardly able to make it through the day without laying down to rest and felt like things were getting worse rather than better so I made a mid-week visit to the clinic. The doctor thoroughly listened to my lungs and said I had "a bit of pneumonia." That was a surprise for me, but it helped explain why my cough would not go away, why I was winded so easily, and just so tired. He prescribed some "heavy-duty" antibiotic that should take care of it. Now I'm optimistic that I actually can handle this school/ministry year schedule and hopefully I'm feeling better and more energetic soon.

Here are some of the things that we've been busy with:

New School Year
My daughter is in Grade 1 and goes to school every day now. She loves it and isn't nearly as tired from it all as I thought she would be. My son started Junior Kindergarten (Pre-school) this week. He goes three days a week and so far his first two days were great. He is tired at the end of the day and today he told me that his favorite part of the day was rest time. That might be because he was tired or it might be because he helped me make a blanket and pillow for him to keep at school. He choose a fleece with hockey players on it. He was most excited about stuffing the pillow. He loves stuffing things.

My toothless daughter takes her role of big sister very seriously when it comes to school!

I did not get a picture of the blanket and pillow. It didn't even occur to me. That might be because this was not one of my proudest sewing moments. Neither fleece nor hockey make it on the list of my favorite things.

Seasonal Clothing Change-over
Three days a week I am home with just my youngest daughter. She's two and a half and a very delightful companion. So far we've done really exciting things together like go through boxes of hand-me-down clothes and find things that will fit for fall/winter and put away spring/summer clothes. I am amazed at the task that this is each fall and spring. The bedrooms are a mess with clothes until the transition between seasons is over. Clothes pile up in the sewing room waiting to be mended or altered or for a matching shirt or pants to be made. It all just feels very cluttered and disorganized to me. The Preacher came home in the middle of this project one day and commented about the number of boxes and then said, "This is a part of our life that I know absolutely nothing about." Ah, yes.

It's nice that one of us seems to be having a good time.

Preparing for the Fair
Last year at this time I was busy making things to enter for judging at our local fair. I enjoyed doing that and it was a good experience, but I've been too busy this year to do that again. I still have been sewing, but it hasn't been stuff that I can enter in the fair. At one point I thought I would just forget about entering anything this year, but then I started thinking about things that are already completed that would be eligible. So, I registered a quilt, hand knit socks, a sundress, and a pullover sweater. Optimistically, I thought that I might be able to make a blouse and skirt for my daughter and finish a cardigan sweater, so I included those on the entry form.

The blouse and skirt are finished and despite the impression this lousy picture gives you, they are rather cute.

The Music Class Skirt and Blouse from Oliver + S.

The sweater, however, is not complete and will not be entered:

My daughter is very excited about entering some things in the fair this year. So, some of the time that I would have spent getting my own things ready has been spent helping her and it has been fun. She's hoping to enter four things. We had a cupcake decorating practice round last weekend (that might make us sound rather competitive, but really the thought of figuring it out the day before it is due and counting on it turning out well is just too stressful for me). She liked the sheep the best and that's the one she's going to enter. All the entries are due on Monday.

Some Sewing
I have done some sewing in the last three weeks. I'll give these things proper posts with decent pictures soon.

The Jumprope Dress from Oliver + S.

Patchwork Skirt

There are so many things on my want-to-sew list for fall. I'm so hopeful that I'll be feeling better soon and be able to get to some of them.

Soap Socks

2010-09-03T15:25:00.000-04:00

Earlier this week I made sixteen small terry cloth drawstring bags for holding bars of soap or soap slivers (more here). M sells these in her shop. She calls them "soap socks." I really like the names she comes up with for the things I make.

Butterick 3344 - Brown Cowl Neck Top

2010-09-01T14:51:00.000-04:00

I made this top before I made the swimming suit, but was hoping to make a skirt to go with it before I posted it. Now I see that it just isn't going to happen. I suppose there is always next summer.

The pattern is my well-loved Butterick 3344 and I made this same version in white earlier this summer. I didn't like the bias-cut of the white one and the back facing keeps flipping out, so I changed both of those things. There is plenty of stretch with it cut on the straight grain rather than the bias. The back of the neck opening is finished with bias tape. The arm holes are finished the same way.

This fabric has been in my stash for a few years. I purchased it as a remnant, so there wasn't much of it to work with. I'm not sure what the fiber content is, but it is a jersey and the stripes are created with a burn-out pattern.

I underlined the brown fabric with an ivory knit fabric that I'm also unsure of the fiber content, but it was also a remnant about the same size.

It seems this was the summer of the sleeveless top for me. I made six if I include the running top. Perhaps that is too many and puts me into the "stuck in a rut" category, but I think sleeveless tops are flattering, they work well under cardigans (hate that sleeve bunching) and I have a hard time finding short sleeves that I like. I feel silly in puffed sleeves and flutter sleeves have never appealed to me. The length of a short sleeve needs to be just right to be flattering. I've been burned by this before. Lately I've been admiring sleeves that end just above the elbow. That might be worth a try for me.

Kwik Sew 3238 - Tankini

2010-08-31T16:05:00.000-04:00

So it seems that the last thing I'll sew for summer is a swimming suit. I know it is strange to do it at the end of summer, but I had real need for a new one before last weekend, so I snatched up every spare moment in a very busy week to get this one together.

I used Kwik Sew 3238 - the top is view B and the bottom is view A.

I found the midriff part of the top pretty short, so I added 2 inches in length. I wanted the top and bottom to meet, but I have a long torso and used the lower rise bottom. The additional length turned out to be good, but I didn't like the flat stripes, so I added a ruched layer on top.

The bust/cups part of the suit is shaped with darts. I tried using the darts but had a really difficult time getting them smooth. I wasn't keen on having that part of my body look pointy, so I filled in the dart on the pattern piece, re-cut it, and then gathered it to get the same shaping. It looks smoother and is less disruptive of the stripes. The pattern instructions don't say anything about sewn-in bra cups, but I thought they were necessary. This tutorial was very helpful as this was my first time working with them.

The bottom was a good fit without any alterations. However, I used swimsuit lining on the inside and it stretches out much more than the brown fabric. So, when it's wet the lining peeks out from the inside along the back. Not a good look. I think I'll need to re-make the bottom. All the parts of the top are lined with the main fabric and I think that's a better way to go.

Jalie 2804 - Green Sleeveless Top

2010-08-22T15:27:00.001-04:00

I've decided that I'm going to give myself this week to keep sewing for summer and then I'm going to hang it up and move on to fall. There is no way that I'm going to get to all 14 of the things I want to - oh, wait! Make that 12, since I finished these two items yesterday....

The skirt is my third edition of Burda 02/2010 #104. (The other two are here and here). I added a center front opening with tack buttons and buttonholes. I didn't want the bulk of a CF waistband closure, so I left the waistband the same with a zipper at the center back. The buttonholes are fully functional, but I can't use them to get in and out of the skirt.

For the top, I used Jalie 2804. I liked the sleeveless version, but knew that the ends of those shoulder ties would always feel like flies crawling on my arms to me, so I left them off. I cut the top two sizes larger than what my measurement suggested on the pattern envelope because I really didn't want to it be too tight. I find that Jalie patterns fit pretty snug, but I think one size up would have been better than two.

I'm not as enamored by the included modesty panel as I once was. The one in this top is always sliding down or flopping over and it feels like I am continually adjusting it. The modesty panel of this top pulls the armhole in, as you can (maybe) see in this blurry picture.

It isn't terribly noticeable when I'm wearing it and not at all noticeable today since I'm wearing it under a black cardigan. I couldn't resist repeating the black/white/green thing and having my feet be all matchy- matchy. The sandals were a good find at a thrift store, but don't get a lot of wear.