My Sewing Space

I was quite taken with Joji Locatelli's Lemongrass when I first saw it. I liked the split sides, the simple cable down the front and the turtleneck. The heavier gauge appealed to me also - faster to knit and a warm, cozy sweater in the end. I went with one of the yarns recommended in the pattern; Malabrigo Yarn Twist in black. I loved this yarn and would like to knit another sweater with it. It is soft and squishy and not at all itchy. Sometimes even soft wool yarns in a scarf or turtleneck start to really bother my neck by the end of the day, but this one doesn't bother me at all. So good. The only modifications I made to the pattern were very simple ones. Length was added to the front and back, but not equally - the back is longer than the front. Since I think loose sleeves on a sweater easily look sloppy, I went down a needle size for the sleeves. I like a substantial turtleneck and I have a long neck, so I added a whole lot to the neck, knitting the first half o...

Awhile ago I was inspired by this photo via Pinterest. I liked the layers, the simple lines and the mix of neutral colors. I was pretty convinced that her dress was navy, but now I think it's actually dark grey. It took me awhile to get over the "no-no" of navy and black together , but lately I really like it. Same with brown and black. So, this is me combining as many neutral colors as possible: The tunic is the noteworthy item here. The pattern is Simplicity 2245 , a lisette pattern that I purchased awhile ago. I made View B, the tunic. Based on other reviews and the fact that my fabric had some stretch, I went down two sizes. I also added darts in the back for a more streamlined shape there. There were no changes otherwise - this is an easy project! The pockets are a great feature of this pattern. The instructions for completing them are great - they look more complicated than they are. The fabric is a stretch cotton blend with tone-on-t...

Most of the summer clothes I've sewn for myself in the last couple of years have been dresses and skirts. I wear dresses and skirts more than shorts or pants, so that's been working out well, but there are times where shorts really are a better choice. And I don't know about you, but I find it even harder to locate shorts worth buying than pants. So, my delight with the success of these pants was compounded when I realized that the pattern would also work really well for shorts. When I made my son these pants , I was really impressed with the fabric and almost regretted not saving it for myself (but I'm trying hard not to do that "saving the fabric" thing). Turns out, the remaining remnant was enough for a pair of shorts for me. The stretch twill has a really nice brushed surface and from my son's pants I know that it washes and wears well. I did some triple topstitching on these also, just like his pants. Other than here on the front pockets, it ...

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 ful...

My daughter has a birthday party to go to on Sunday afternoon.  She's soooo excited.  A birthday party is always great, but the excitement is compounded by the fact that this is a swimming party at the local recreational complex.  That's all fine and good except that my daughter's swimming suit from this past summer was really tired.  The elastic wasn't elastic anymore and it didn't cover her up as well as it should have.  So, a new one was in order. I've never sewn swimwear before, but I wasn't optimistic about being able to find a RTW one to buy, so now was as good of a time as any to try it out.  Fabricland still had some swimwear fabric and I found one that would meet with my daughter's approval. I used Kwik Sew 2605 .  It included good instructions for sewing swimwear and good measurements for sizing. I started with a size 4, lengthened it about 0.75", and took 0.25" off of each side seam (front and back) at the underarm...

I did get the jacket cut out the other night and started sewing it today.  It's going to be a jean-style corduroy jacket.  The fabric is a stretch corduroy that I bought last year for very little money at the end of winter. The pattern I'm using is Vogue 2793, an out-of-print Oscar de la Renta.  It's a great pattern.  This is the third time I'm making it.  (To be honest, I don't really wear the other two that I've made because I don't have anything to wear with them, but I'm optimistic this one will work out well in my closet).  The sleeve is particularly fantastic - I substituted this sleeve when making this jacket.  I'll try to take more pictures of the sleeve later. Including the fashion fabric, the lining and the interfacing, there are 31 pieces to cut out.  Thirty one!  So far I've only done the corduroy.  All of the details on the jacket are great, but my goodness, this might take awhile. The corduroy is really messy....

I thought this would be a quick fun little project. Turns out it neither quick nor fun. I'm still on the fence about the finished product. It might be growing on me. Based on the measurements on the pattern envelope, I should have cut a size 12. After checking the finished garment measurements printed on the pattern tissue, I cut the muslin in size 10. After trying on the muslin, I cut out the real thing at a size 8. Ah, McCall's...gotta love the sizing issues with the Big 4. The sizing issues were just the beginning. I planned to make the pattern just as illustrated. I liked the oversized collar and lapel and the wide neck opening. I did have some doubts about the sleeves and pockets, but sometimes I opt to take away too many details and end up with boring clothes. So, not trusting my judgement, I went ahead with the pockets and sleeves. Bad decision. The high contrast between the white fabric and black piping meant that the pockets were just "too much." They compete...

Another winner from Jalie! I'm pretty happy with these pants ( Jalie 2561 ). As far as a piece of clothing, they aren't all that exciting - just basic black pants, but the fit is pretty good right out of the envelope. That is very exciting. I made the muslin for these awhile back (post here ) and then moved on to other things. After re-consulting the muslin, I raised the front crotch 1/4" and increased the leg length by 1.5". And that's all. Did I mention that I think this is very exciting? The pattern has two options for the waistband. I chose the narrow one. This makes them slightly low-rise. I'm not sure what I think about the pockets yet. Normally I like slanted pockets best on pants, but this type is good for a bulk-free line over the hip. So, I think I like how they make the pants look, but with utility in mind, I probably won't like them. The fabric is a stretch cotton twill (the pattern is made for stretch wovens) but I didn't want the waistba...

Yesterday I had given up hope that the book I needed to finish my jacket would ever arrive. I had been making lots of small things (hats, T-shirts, underwear, etc) while waiting as I don't like to have more than one thing in progress at a time, much less more than one substantial thing. But, these dinky projects were getting old and in my library book hopelessness I started working on a pair of pants with a muslin. Another Jalie for me, Jalie 2561 . The pattern is designed for stretch wovens and I used a pretty cheap (and ugly) stretch denim from my stash for the muslin. The front looks pretty good to me. A little bit of pulling, but that's hard to get rid of in the stretch fabric. The back is too tight and I think letting out the side seams a bit should do the trick. I'll likely add a welt pocket or two in back. I don't really like pants without anything on the back. I was pretty pleased with the fit right out of the envelope. I only had enough denim to make shor...