My Sewing Space

I work part-time as a bank teller. The bank has a pretty tight dress code (but not uniforms) and the town where I live and work is pretty conservative. While my position doesn't have much (if any?) authority, I think it's important to look professional and I would prefer to be overdressed rather than underdressed. I also walk to work and during the winter that means I need my legs covered. All that to say, it was time to revisit making pants. Not faux-leather leggings , not pajama pants , but real trousers. The last pair of great trousers I made are too small for me now. Truth be told, they were always a little small. They were fine when I was standing, but were uncomfortable when sitting. The pants I copied for the pattern had just the slightest bit of stretch. I thought it was slight enough that I could make it work with a non-stretch fabric, but that little bit of stretch did matter. So, then I debated about starting from the beginning with a new pattern or revisit...

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, ...

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 thi...

I worked on my jeans a little more today.  Yesterday I got the fit to a place where I think I can be happy with it.  Then I took apart the "muslin" and decided to sew it for real to practice all the other parts of making jeans: topstitching, rivets, placement and design of back pockets, etc.  Ideally, I'll be able to wear them a bit, re-evaluate the fit, and then make another pair out of another cut of denim that I like better than this one. Muslin pictures: I'm happy with the fit in the front.  The rise is a little higher than most of my jeans, but I'm going to leave it as it is with this pair. I'm not as pleased about the back.  After looking at these pictures, I went back and worked at getting rid of the wrinkles pointing to my high hip.  I will put pockets on the back, but wanted to work on the fit without them in the way.  I tried pinning out the wrinkles under my seat, but when I did, I couldn't si...

So I did get the muslin cut out and put together last night. I cut a size 12 (based on the body measurements given on the envelope) with no changes before cutting it out. I think I'll go down to a 10 and add some length for the real thing. I don't like struggling to get my jacket on over my clothes, but the fabric I'm going to use is a stretch twill, so it will have some give. The front: The back: Side view: From the side you can see that there is a bit of a wrinkle/caving at the shoulder on the sleeve. I think making it smaller will help that. I'm wondering about the sleeves. They are supposed to be cropped and I like the shape, but I don't know if I will like that for outerwear. I'm going to let that simmer for the rest of the day.