A Seamstress' Notebook

Notebooks past

2015-04-25T15:12:00.002-07:00

Over the years, I've kept a number of project notebooks and sewing diaries. This blog is one of them. I'd mentioned in my last post, ever so briefly, that I was putting together a new notebook for my projects. It has gone hand-in-hand with reorganizing my sewing space and getting a handle on what I want to do. It is built in OneNote (because I'm a nerd) and is designed to scale as my work changes and grows.

Before I talk about it, though, I want to talk a bit about the prior notebooks I've maintained for sewing. They range from an old spiral notebook filled with really terrible ball point pen sketches, to formal design line notes from school, to sprawling business management tools.
The oldest of the bunch is a spiral binder dated between 2002 and 2003. It was pretty carefully organized - it had tape flags for various sections, including book lists, pattern inventories and wish lists, an expense log, lists of local shops and online resources, and a sewing terms glossary. It is about half full.

There it is. A spiral notebook.

Yes, I know the contents aren't really legible. They're only seim-legible in person. I have terrible handwriting.

The next of the bunch is a three ring binder, which follows the spiral binder closely. It has sections for a half dozen different projects that include sketches, photographs, notes on the materials, even swatches. Behind that there is a section with various tip sheets and such, and the binder pockets have what was then-current Jo-Ann flyers.

The photos were of two previous sewing setups - the top at a shared house in Greenwood, the bottom at my mom's house.

Sorry, Blogger is rotating this on me and I am too lazy to fix it. By the way, the black and orange pants were a big hit, my friend still has them.

Following that, I had a sewing-specific LiveJournal. No, I won't link to it. It was started as part of a class, which required notes or a journal as one of its requirements. I continued to use it after class for sewing projects, though there weren't many of them.

And there's the school stuff. I took two design classes, each of which generated a big notebook. I haven't really reviewed them until today - but I'm glad I did. It's a good reminder about how to research and develop a cohesive line. Both notebooks contain fashion tears, sketches, notes, swatches, sample stitch-ups. I will review them a little more before I put them away. I'm moving in that direction and have said that after I do a few personal projects, I'd put together a presentation line. These two notebooks are about doing exactly that.

From my Design 1 class at IADT in 2006.

Fabric samples included in the notebook.

Deserving their own mention are the sample notebooks from my sewing techniques classes. I was ahead of the curve on the classes themselves (many of my fellow students had never used a sewing machine at all) but I did learn, and the sample binders that I made in those classes have been very handy resources that I have referred back to more than once. I haven't made as much reference to the samplebook from my textiles class, but I have kept it.

Clip art covers and all.

The first notebook is primarily basics - types of hem, darts, you get the idea.

The second book is construction techniques like shawl collars, zipper fly, sleeve plackets.

There is the notebook I kept for Lastwear. I try not to bang on too much about what I did there in this blog, but since I'm talking about the tools I've used to keep sewing and apparel-making organized, it's appropriate to give it a mention. It is also a OneNote notebook and stands as the basis for my current notebook. For those not familiar with OneNote (or EverNote, which is similar, especially if you pay for the premium subscription), it is a Microsoft Office product that allows you to organize... well, all kinds of things. I'm a fan, to say the least.

The Lastwear notebook had sections largely intended for the management of the business, and not every section got used. It held sections for people (with pages for each core crew member and for contacts), projects, planning (including a high-level business plan outline, searchable agendas for crew meetings, to do lists, and upcoming events), and production (spec sheets, inventory, and more). It was shared on the cloud with the other staff members, but I'm unsure if any of them ever accessed it.

The new notebook? Well. It's coming along nicely, and I'll tell you about it in more detail in another post.

What now?

2015-04-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

I was busy for a while. I spent most of my energy for a good part of the last two years helping run someone else's business. No regrets - I gained a lot of experience and knowledge there - but it meant that while I was creating content for their social media, and garments for shows, and doing other business-y stuff on their behalf, I didn't do much for myself. Such is the cost of engagement in a project.

Lastwear was worthwhile. I really did learn and grow there. I was burnt out by the end, but I'm still sorry to see it go. I wish my friends there the best in their next endeavors.

That said - I have time to do my own work again. Including blogging about what goes on in my sewing room. And I have some ideas about what I want to do next.

Up immediately, I am going to make a second pair of the Laughing Moon California pants. They went together nicely and I can always use trousers. I am going to make a new toile, and then I will sew them up in grey Oxford-stripe wool. Minus the jodhpur mod, and I will very likely modify the pattern to a zipper fly instead of the elaborate vintage button fly the pattern includes.

I've got some Craftsy classes that I bought and would like to complete. I will offer a review of the classes here when I'm finished with them, but not cover them too deeply - it's not my intent to give spoilers, if you like the results I got, I hope you'd consider enrolling yourself. In fact, I've gone through a few of the free mini-classes available in the sewing category already and will post about them between other projects.

I bought a new subscription to Threads magazine. It's bimonthly, and I'd like to try to do a project out of each issue. I won't get busted up over it if I don't accomplish that.

I've also put together a new sewing notebook - yes, above and beyond this little rag - but talking about it is worth its own post.

It's also my intent to do at least one historical piece before the end of the calendar year. I am still in the research stage, but I can tell you this - it will be late bustle. And I will probably use that delicious purple bouclé that's been hanging out in my stash for the last fifteen years. Also, to accomplish that, I will need to build underpinnings first.
I am not, and have never claimed to be, a corset maker. But I am indeed going to make at least one. I ordered the Laughing Moon pattern (and their video, which I will tell you now isn't worth the dollars) since I already owned Linda Sparks' The Basics of Corset Building: A Handbook for Beginners. I was also already a member of a corset-making group on Facebook. Since then, I've seen a number of people suggest that the Truly Victorian corset pattern is easier to fit, and there are good enough drafting instructions that I'm sure I can do better than the not that great grade I did of Simplicity 2890 in 2010. It's my intent to go ahead and use the Silverado pattern (the LM corset with bust gores) for a mockup - AND I'll try my hand at drafting one. And then I'll make whichever I like better. And I'm pretty comfortable with the LM pattern's included drawers and chemise.

This will be followed by an epic cosplay undertaking. A while ago, my friend Rowan and I came up with a terrible idea - an armored bustle gown. I would like to make that real. The timeline for that is long, since I will need to do a ton of R&D to build the dress and armor. It's my intent to work with thermoplastic for that, which I've never done before.

There will be other, less ambitious projects in the midst of all of that. And there will be sewing groups and classes and adventures.

So glad I'm not so busy any more....

Cosplay Adventure!

2015-04-07T22:58:00.001-07:00

So - I got asked to make a dress for cosplay. In return, I got to go spend a weekend at Emerald City ComiCon with my friends from Times Past Entertainment.

The new group cosplay they were putting together was from Maleficent. I was making Aurora's blue dress. Since I don't own the images and... well... Disney.... I'll link you out to the better of the reference images here.

I was given a budget of $60. I said to myself, "I can make this for $60 and anything I already have in my sewing stash." That turned out to be exactly right - my trip to Jo-Anns ran me $61 and change. That included the pattern, which I'd bought on sale ages ago. And then I paired that up a whole bunch of trim I'd gotten a while back, which would have been the expensive part. Keeping the cost that low was hard for me - I am accustomed to spending many hundreds of dollars on projects. It was good.

I'm pretty pleased with my results - see the finished product and further notes on its making behind the cut!

Here it is!

It was largely made off of Butterick B4827, with some modifications to give the look of the movie costume.

It is, in theory, supposed to have the same trim from the cuffs at the neckline - but the old vintage trim from my stash is very stiff and it's difficult to get it to shape around any curve.

I apologize for the blurry picture. It was late. I was tired enough that my actual vision looked about like that.

3/4 view - the arm details came out nice!

Blurry again. Sorry. Back view.

This dress will be worn by two people with similar measurements - so I retained the pattern's lace-up back. That will give it a little flexibility.

It takes a darning needle to get the ribbon through the tiny buttonholes. I remade those facings - gold eyelets looked atrocious (and I don't have any nickel ones right now).

There should really be a chemise - there was, in the film, a gathered neckline of cream or tan material and narrow undersleeves. I couldn't be assed to make one.

I reshaped the neck facing and added the front lacing detail - AND I used external facings to achieve the lines of the source material. If you've never done this, it feels super weird because you put the right side of the facing to the wrong side of the garment, sew, and then turn to the outside. Topstitch it down and you're golden. It does, by the way, help a lot to press the outside edge under before you sew. It give the needed stability of a facing with zero loose edges or flappy bits.

The sleeves aren't really quite right - I centered the point facings and pleats, when they should have been rotated to be towards the front. Doesn't matter, it looks fine.

I wish I'd had about another three yards of that narrow trim, I'd have added it at the outside edges of the neck and cuff facings.

While I was at the fabric store, I priced beaded mesh trim similar to what is on the sleeves. It ran from $18 to $30 a yard. Good thing I already had that. I have a whole lot more of it too - it was worth using it just to get some experience handling it.

Here's a better view of the back.

After taking these pictures, I added a modesty panel under the back opening to prevent gapping. It should have had a hook and eye at the top, but I didn't get around to it. The folks the dress went to are more than capable of adding one if they feel it's necessary!

I wasn't very happy with my fitting, but it's adequate. Pretty much I forgot that storebought patterns include WAY too much ease, and graded the pattern based on what was on the envelope. I should have taken more time to compare the measurements of the garment against the body measurements provided for me.

The Times Past crew - Martin Hunger as King Stefan, Christina Carr as Maleficent, Ed Appleby as Diaval, Melissa Housser as Aurora, and Kathleen Thompson as a fairy (Knotgrass? not sure).

I didn't get many pictures myself - the Times Past crew kept me pretty busy at the convention - but I did get this great group shot. It was so much fun!

Sloper drape: One dart bodice front

2013-02-18T22:16:00.000-08:00

I have started on draping a sloper for use with Marie (my size 12 dress form, if you missed the note about naming her in the previous post). For the record, I'm using my own class notes from 2006 and the book we used in that same class. I'm sure it's several editions out of date, but I don't really care; the techniques used are unlikely to have changed significantly. Where I am going to be fairly detailed in my description, I am not going to repeat the minutia of each step; if you wish to do this, there are many books and online resources to use for the details. I do, however, want to document my own work and give my gentle readers an idea of what goes into the undertaking.

There is some futzing about that happens before you begin throwing fabric at the body you're making a sloper for. The form gets a little preparation. (People do, too, but it's not quite the same; since I'm not draping on a human, I'm not going to get into it since I have no hands-on experience with it.) I know I already described and posted photos of this, but here it is again, in context.

The form gets a line of tape parallel to the floor at the bust and the hip; at the bust, the drape goes over the stretched tape - called a bust bridge - to make sure the garment fits properly. This bridge might not be used for things that fit tight (e.g. a bustier or a strapless ballgown), but for a fitting block we definitely want it. It also gets pins to make it easy to locate key points by feel - the tips of the shoulders, at the level of the screwhole along the armscye, the armhole depth, just below the center neck, the bust points, and if you like the center front along the hipline. At this point I also took a series of detailed measurements; I was pleased to find that Marie's manufacturer specs were right dead on the money.

Marie looks lovely in black.

Detail showing pins at neck, bust point, and armhole.

Then the muslin also gets a little preparation. (Continued behind the cut)
The muslin is sized based on the form measurements - full torso length x chest arc (from center front at the bustline, on top of the bridge, to the side seam) plus four inches in both length and width; the back is the same, except with the back measurements, of course. Selvage edges should be removed and the grain corrected if your fabric is off grain, which muslin often is. Then the center front on the muslin has a 1" allowance folded and pressed, and a temporary neckline cut in to help get things to lie flat as you start. It's also worth noting that you only drape one side of the body, so the muslin should be prepared accordingly; I am choosing to do the left side (mostly because I'm left-handed).

The prepared muslin.

One thing that differs between my old class notes and the book's instruction was where the horizontal crossgrain line on the back goes - the book put it a set number of inches from the neck, where my instructor had us continue the bustline across. I kind of wish I'd gone with the class note on that one, but I didn't.

Now - finally - the muslin for the front goes on the form! Pin it at the center front neck, center front waist, and to the tape at the center bust. The horizontal crossgrain line should line up to the bustline, naturally. Carefully smooth the fabric over, and pin at the bust point.

Finally, Marie sees fabric. And pins. I don't envy her.

Gently smooth the fabric up from the bustline to the point of the shoulder and pin it; it should lay smooth and flat. Then, being careful not to cut too far in, clip at the neckline until it lays flat and smooth there as well; pin where the shoulder seam meets the neck. Clip up from the bottom of the drape to the bottom of the waist tape to release stress; smooth and pin to the princess line (i.e. the seam).

The neck and center front waistline

The drape is then marked at key points before moving on - the bust point, 3/8" below the CF neck, along the neckline curve, the shoulder/neck intersection, the tip of the shoulder, mid armhole at the pin in the form, and center front at the bottom of the waist tape. These markings are important when converting the fabric into a paper pattern. Now comes a tricky bit: pin in a tiny, tiny tuck - about 1/4" total or a 1/8" depth tuck - at the place the pin is in the form at the front of the armhole. This gives wearing ease and without it, the person wearing the finished garment would not have enough room to move their arms about properly.

Smooth the fabric around the side of the form to just past the center seam; since this is a one dart bodice and all the dart intake will be at the waist, the crossgrain line should be sloping down at the side seam. Pin at the armhole depth pin on the form. Smooth the muslin down the side seam and pin at the waist tape. There should be a fairly large fold of fabric sticking out below the bust point; this will become the dart intake. Mark the side seam on the muslin; most forms have hand-stitched side seams that stand up a bit, so you can make a rubbing with the side of a pencil tip. Remove the pin from the armhole ease tuck. Measure 1/2" back from the armhole pin and mark; draw a new side seam from the mark to the side waist. This also adds wearing ease.

Now is a good time to trim away some of the excess fabric at the top, bottom, and armhole.

Pin another 1/4" ease tuck just in front of the side seam; smooth fabric over to the side seam, clipping up from the bottom as you go to release tension and keep the fabric smooth. Pin; mark the other side of the fabric at the princess line. Unpin the bottom of the princess seam on the center front side; tuck the dart intake in, with the fold of fabric going towards the center front, then repin, this time catching only the fabric and not the form. Pin along the dart leg, being careful not to pin it to the form. Unpin the other side of the princess seam; the front should be free along the waistline from the side seam to the center front.

Turn your seam allowances under at the side and shoulder seam; finger press them, and repin, being careful to use the redrawn side seam. FINIS! Or well, the draping portion for the front is finished, at least. There are a bunch more things to do before we're actually done.

The completed fabric drape for a one dart front bodice.

Next we'll drape the back. Then, those fabric pieces will get converted into a paper pattern. That pattern will get cut and sewn; any changes - and there WILL be some - will get marked on it and then transferred to the paper pattern. In theory, a second toile should be cut and fit to check the corrections but I'll only do so if they're extreme; I would be more inclined to do so if I was fitting a human, as we are notoriously asymmetrical. (Even Marie may vary a bit from side to side, since canvas dress forms are partially made by hand, but people can be pretty lop-sided.) Then the other sloper pieces get made in the same fashion; then the completed patterns will be transferred to tag for posterity.

It's a lot of work to do it right, but it's worth it.

Slopers: What's that funny thing you've got?

2013-02-17T18:57:00.001-08:00

Since I posted here and on Facebook about making a sloper to fit my dress form, I've been asked a couple of times, "what is a sloper?"

That's a good question, I'm glad you asked. In a nutshell, it is a pattern for a basic fitting shell with no seam allowances, and is used to make other patterns. They can be made by draping or drafting (followed up by fitting muslins to ensure that the pattern is accurate and correct), and once you have one that fits you can then alter it as needed to create other, more interesting styles. There are variations based on taste and use on what goes into a full sloper set; some people only do a two dart bodice and a skirt, sometimes the two dart front has a shoulder dart instead of a bust dart, et cetera - but the idea is still the same, that you have a "master" pattern to then alter to your heart's desire. There are many, many resources available on how to make one, including several commercial fitting shell patterns.

I made a dress size 8 sloper in school. It looks like this:

Dress size 8 (or about a size 6 in today's off-the-rack sizes)

(more behind the cut)

This one was actually made for my drafting class, so it was not draped; the end results are the same, though. It's just two different methods for arriving with the same final product. This particular set includes a one dart bodice front, a two dart bodice front (with a bust dart), bodice back, straight skirt front and back, torso front and back, and a drafted sleeve with elbow dart. A bodice fits from shoulder to the waistline, a torso fits from shoulder to hip.

These pieces are cut from manilla card stock that is the same color and texture, if slightly lighter weight, than your average file folder. They have some very specific properties - they have notches at predetermined places, "drill" holes to mark pattern points inside the pattern, and a grain line as well as the name of the piece, the size, the maker, and the lengths of each section written along the perimeter. This is de rigeur for block patterns and helps assure that they are "true" and that they will work for specific body measurements.

A closer image of the torso front

Detail of torso front, showing notches and drill holes

These can be traced off quickly and then the copies become "working patterns" for new styles. They may get extended, reshaped, have the darts moved or converted into pleats or tucks or cowls, graded into larger or smaller sized - the sky's the limit. That is why I'm taking the time now to make one for my current dress form, and later I will make one that is specifically fitted for my body.

Also, I have arrived on a name for my dress form. She is to be called Marie - after the infamous Voodoo queen of New Orleans, Marie Laveau, for the simple reason that is she to have pins stuck in her like a poppet. Marie Antoinette was also discussed, since she was famously beheaded.

Reviewing my draping skills

2013-02-14T23:59:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while since I've seriously looked at my own sewing work - I've been caught up in some "real life" projects that took a bit of time and effort to get sorted out. I've been doing more work with Lastwear as well, including helping out at a couple of fashion shows. This is always a good time, and it really makes me feel like an industry insider.

I need to get back on track with building my own skills back up. I feel out of practice and that some of the things I've learned need serious review. So - I picked a project to work on that will move me forward. I am going to prepare a sloper set that fits my dress form. I will eventually both drape and draft the pieces for a set of base patterns, but I am going to drape first. When I've done it both ways and made paper patterns, I'll compare how they came out and then make a set of tag patterns. The set will have the same parts I have from school, except the ones I made then are "industry standard" size 8 and the ones I'll be making now are size 12. Down the road I'll do a set that fits ME as well.

(more behind the cut)

I got a jump start on this project by dragging out my drafting book from school, along with my old lecture notes, and gave them a look-over. The book has a lot of stuff we didn't do but serves as a great reference to go back to when considering how to construct new designs and will easily guide me through draping a sloper.

I'll be making these parts, in this order:

One dart bodice front
Bodice back
Two dart bodice front
Skirt front
Skirt back
Torso front
Torso back

I also took the liberty of measuring and preparing my dress form. Preparation of the form involves adding some pins and some horizontal strips of twill tape to mark key reference points on the form.

Before preparation

After preparation

Detail of prepared form showing reference point pins at shoulder

Living with working

2012-08-23T23:48:00.001-07:00

Generally speaking, this is a technical blog. I keep my personal baggage out of it. Today I'm going to break that guideline a little bit.

I have a big project on the table with a "due date" of October 26th. There are six to eight garments to be made, three of which are pretty complicated. To get through it, I need to have a plan of attack. It also needs to be a plan that is reasonable; I definitely think work is doable, but I've had issues with managing my time and getting things done.

At the end of last year, I was pretty bogged down; I decided to make a plan. It was, for all intensive purposes, a self-curriculum to refresh and build my tailoring, patternmaking and design skills back to at minimum what they were when I left design school. That plan was perhaps TOO structured. I didn't follow through on it. In fact, I didn't do much of anything for several months into the new year, including sewing.

I started seeing a therapist. Five months later, I left treatment with her with a few really valuable takeaways.

(More behind the cut!)

First and most important was that I can't forget to plan time to do the everyday stuff, and that it's okay to cut myself some slack - after all, making stuff comes *after* working a full time desk job. I was hoping to get an outfit prepared for GEARcon and didn't get it done - I could have, but I would have had to either start weeks earlier or give up eating and sleeping. It was one thing when I was an undergrad, but sewing isn't my career and I'm no longer willing to do that just for my hobby. It's unhealthy and leads to not so great work quality.

Also, time management isn't something that comes naturally to me, so I do need to work at it constantly and use whatever tools I can to help me manage, and if one tool doesn't work, try another. Part of that is also learning to make more reasonable estimates of how long stuff will take. I wasn't making the kind of progress I expected to make, but the error was in my calculation of what was appropriate progress rather than my ability.

The GEARcon project is a good example. I'm making the California Pants for part of a costume that I was hoping to have the whole thing finished by last weekend. I badly underestimated the pattern, and overestimated both how quickly I could move on it (I am not as fast a sewist as I would like to be) and how much time I could give to it on a day to day basis. It was ridiculous of me to think I could get those slacks done in a couple of evenings after work, both because the pattern is very intricate and because I'm finding I can only put in at most 3 hours every other evening and still get meals on the table and enough hours of sleep.

Once I realized that I wasn't even going to get the pants completed - they're still not done, although they are close - I took a look at the workload I'd set up for myself. It was crazy. Even though I'd offloaded several other standing obligations to make more time to work on my own projects, to get what I want done will still take conscientious effort from now until the end of October. I can do that so long as I take care of myself, and use tools to help manage my project.

I am using Google Calendar and Tasks for part of manging my projects, both in the workroom and in my household. I'll be returning to using the old tomato timer, too - Pomodoro Technique includes tools for learning how to manage and plan time use. Plus timeblocking is just plain useful.

I've assessed my project and broken it down, scheduling time for each part on the calendar. I've also blocked out time to work. These are soft targets, though, and I will update the planned times to meet the *actual* times I've worked and completed things. I need to learn how much time I'm really able to give myself on a daily and weekly basis for sewing projects, and there's nothing else for it but a bit of record-keeping until I can really assess that. But mostly I have to learn to accommodate my day job and managing my home alongside working in the workroom.

All that said, the pants are really coming together nicely. I should wrap them up this weekend - I'm down to finishing the waistband lining and curtain, hems, and buttons. I will do a full writeup when I've got them completed, but in the meantime 'll leave you with this preview :

Center back, with welt pockets, straps, and waistband shell applied.

A Steampunk Orange: Laughing Moon California Pants (Part 2)

2012-08-14T23:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I grossly underestimated this pattern. I expected it to be doable in 15 hours of sewing time - and it might be the second time through the pattern, but I've been working on these evenings and weekends for five days and I haven't even gotten the inseam in yet. I am not a particularly fast sewist, I admit, but still. Including making a quick muslin and planning for a simple modification, it took me about ten workroom hours just to get the pattern tissues prepared and my fashion fabric cut out.

Commercially available patterns - the kind you buy at the fabric store - are rated by how many pieces they have in the pattern compared to how many pieces are in a block for that type of garment. A pants block has just two pieces; my favorite jeans pattern has eight pieces and is rated by the company as "easy". Really, getting a good fit for jeans should make it more like an "average" pattern. The Laughing Moon pants pattern has 22 pieces and includes a couple of kind of tricky things to construct. Unlike most patterns, many of the interfacings have their own pattern pieces.

It has set-in pockets on the front (like jeans) and double welt pockets in the back; it also features a crotch gusset, an elaborate button fly, a fit gusset and split waistband at the back; the waistband has a separate lining and a curtain facing. A lot of these are things that you only find on pretty high-end menswear these days.

Double welt pockets with bartacks at the end. I know, hard to see because it's white on white.

More after the cut!

I suffer from fly anxiety. I can't say I rightly understand how a zipper fly goes together; I just cross my fingers, follow the pattern instructions (even the ones on the back of a zipper package work fine), and then voila, I wind up with a working zipper fly. This button fly gave me the heebie-jeebies as I read through the instructions, but it turns out to be more sensible to do than the aforementioned zipper fly. If you take on this pattern, don't let all the fussy pieces in the fly intimidate you. I apologize for the photos - it's tough to see the details, since I'm working in white on white.

The closed fly.

The open fly. You can barely see the buttonholes, but they're there.

I haven't sewn the crotch gusset in my fashion fabric yet, but I did for my muslin; it also turns out to be not too tough to do - just be careful to carefully mark the pattern markings on your fabric's wrong side.

One place the pattern instructions were poor is on edge finishing. The pattern just says "finish all eges by hand overcasting, zigzag, or serging." I don't really like to do that places that will be enclosed as it adds bulk, so I've been serging seam allowances as needed as I go. This is among the things that will be WAY WAY easier the next time around, because I'll know ahead what needs to be finished and what to do before I sew.

The pattern offers multiple cuts and that has helped - it's VERY easy to pick one that will fit well the first time out. The pattern itself is nicely done up; all the parts fit together properly and the markings are clear and make sense. The one downside is that the multi-size patterns are sometimes a bit confusing if you're not using the largest size (and, like me, aren't willing to cut the pattern out on the size you want because you may want to make it again in a different size); they made it a bit tough to cut out accurately as well, but I had good luck using transfer paper and a tracing wheel.

I am not finished with these pants, but could reasonably finish them in another two evenings (or one serious weekend session) given someone to help make sure they're hemmed to the right length. I still have the inseam, the waistband, and the hems, plus buttons. I will definitely post pictures as soon as I've wrapped them up.

A Steampunk Orange: Laughing Moon California Pants (Part 1)

2012-08-08T22:41:00.000-07:00

I've tabled my bustle skirt project for two weeks while I prep up something to take to GearCon. I leave for the con in just nine days and have a shirt, a vest, and a pair of pants to make for it.

I am using a commercially available pattern for these pants - the Laughing Moon Mercantile California Pants pattern. Because of this (paired with a need for expediency), I'm not going to take a lot of pictures or go through the step-by step; the goal is to complete the project and offer a fair review of the pattern. There will definitely be some documentation of the modifications I am making.

The pant is a historically correct pattern, and the pattern comes with separate pieces for four different cuts including a ladies' fit. That said, I'm not making the womens' pattern because I am a closer fit, measurement-wise, to one of the mens' fits. The pattern's rather complicated, with 23 separate pieces, including facings and interfacings. So far I'm pretty impressed with the pattern's quality, and the instructions are pretty good.

That's a big stack of tissue pieces.

Additionally, I will be altering the outseam to turn the plain pant leg into a jodpur. This will be sewn in white duck and paired up with a shirt with detachable collar and Teasdale from Lastwear, also in white. Spats, cane, black bowler. Might we be up to a melanky bit of the old ultra-steampunkery, O my droogs? Perhaps.

I made a muslin of the pant without going into all the details of the elaborate fly. The fit is excellent. The goal is to get the parts all cut out tonight so I can start sewing up tomorrow.

Bernina 830 Record

2012-08-01T20:24:00.002-07:00

I am a terrible, terrible slacker. Well okay, I'm not, but I've been involved in a bunch of other stuff and haven't worked on a lot of projects. I've been a bit scattered and haven't had a lot of focus on making stuff.

Well, now I'm down to the wire to get a project done and I've barely started. That's the BEST way to get stuff done, right?

I do have some photos from what I got done earlier and will be taking more as I really get rolling. There is a change in the photo quality mid-stream as my old, cheap camera gave up the ghost; I've replaced it with a new one. It's nothing fancy, still just a point and shoot type thing, but it means I have no excuse for not working because I can't record what I'm doing.

Before I dive into a big project, I'm finishing up some little ones. For both my small stuff and the large project ahead, I've set up my home machine. I'll be needing zigzag stitching in a few places and will be making lots of buttonholes. My machine is old, simple and totally awesome. I was gifted a Bernina 830 Record when I graduated from WWU in 2001; my aunt had purchased it new in 1977 and rarely used it, so passed it on to accompany the Pfaff Hobbylock 4842 that my parents had bought for me. Both of these machines are still in great working condition and see regular use, although I've used the industrial for the vast majority of my sewing since I bought it.

This thing came with a jillion feet and a table (which I'm not using right now due to space constraints in my flat).

Bernina 830's are still in high demand; they are reliable, sturdy, and available for a long time so a lot of people had them and learned on them. There are several on eBay and the local Craigslist right now for a minimum of $400. I regularly thank my aunt for it, it's been a joy to have and it makes a pretty darned good buttonhole. It's even better when I've got it's table set up, but I just don't have the room.

Field trip: Stitches Seattle

2011-12-03T15:56:00.001-08:00

I really like supporting local business. There aren't too many indie fabric stores any more; most of us have to buy our yardage at Jo-Ann's and the like. There are a few places out there, though - Seattle hosts a couple of neat little independent stores, plus a local chain. I went to visit one of them today.

I was planning on making a Pinkerton from beginning to end today, but was feeling a bit stir-crazy and decided to visit Stitches. It's the closest fabric store to home; I walked. It's a little less than a mile from my flat.

Right next to Babeland.

For a small, in-city storefront, they have a pretty well rounded inventory. The selection of fabric is small, but most of it is very nice quality; not as nice as Nancy's, but a cut above the big chain stores' stuff. I refrained from buying anything, but I was sorely tempted by a number of things. They had some awesome quilting-weight cottons, and a small selection of organic cotton and bamboo. They have a full selection of notions, some of which you won't find at Jo-Ann's.

There are a few classes, starting with very basic sewing and progressing through more intermediate level projects. They also have knitting classes; the gal at the counter said their class space is small and the classes are limited to about four people. I consider that a good thing as teaching craft skills really takes a decent amount of one-on-one attention, which is difficult in larger groups.

If you're near Broadway, stop by. Shop local, Seattle!

Pinkertons: Assembling the parts

2011-11-29T17:55:00.001-08:00

The final part of making these vests is joining together all the parts. I got through most of that tonight, though I will have to wrap up tomorrow. I underestimated how much gold topstitch thread I had and need to get another spool or I'd have at least finished the armscye bindings tonight. I got enough done to show how I'm doing it, though. I'll also have to do the buttonholes and buttons later; it's a little late to be pulling out the other machine and especially late to be hammering on stud buttons.

All the parts sewn together, and the armhole bound.

First I put the lining, shell, and collar together. The curved neckline edge is one of the few places I routinely use pins - it's pretty curvy and there are a lot of layers to get together. There is a notch in the collar at points where it should line up with the center back seam and the shoulder seam; additionally there is a notch on the body pieces where the edge of the collar aligns.

(Pictures and more beyond the cut!)

All the layers stacked and pinned.

It's smart to note that you should be lining up seam lines and NOT topstitch lines. That will make your garment not fit together properly at all - and please, learn from my past mistakes. It's a faux pas I've made on previous projects, and had to redo the seam. I usually start stitching at the center of the neckline, where any backstitching will be covered by the collar.

The layers sewn all the way around.

Sew all the way around using a 3/8" seam allowance. It might seem odd to go all the way around, but don't worry. I've had to turn many a garment through some gap left in a side seam, but this garment has nice, unbound armholes. Trim corners and clip any curved seams, then stick your hand on in there between the shell and lining. Turn the garment right side out through one of the armholes.

The garment turned. I did press before I topstitched, but I suppose you don't have to. If you don't you're a more intrepid soul than I.

I used a point turner to turn the lapel corners, and pressed the garment. Then topstitch all the way around.

A note on the arm binding - I only got the right one done because I ran out of thread. Also, I did NOT do the binding the exact same way the factory sample has been sewn, as I'm doing a contrast-stitched garment. The sample has a rolled binding, and looks to be done with stitch-in-the-ditch (or possibly a binder attachment, but I doubt it). I wanted that line of stitching to show, so I essentially did it backwards so that I could edgestitch from the outside of the garment. I don't know if that made ANY sense, but it may become clearer when I demo how to do the armhole binding as it was done on the sample. (I do have two more vests to make!)

To do the edgestitched binding I used here, start by prepping the self-fabric bias strips. Fold em' in half, and press. Fold one half in to the center and press again.

The binding strip - the top edge is a raw edge; the other side has been folded in.

Next, place the raw edge of the unfolded side of the strip along the edge of the armhole. Put it right sides together on the lining side (the picture is truly worth a thousand words here). Start at the underarm, and leave about half an inch unsewn.

I heart the heck out of my burly old table machine!

Stitch all the way around; take your time, go slow, and make sure to keep the garment out of the way. When you reach the end, fold the binding you left unstitched and let it underlap the binding as you sew down that last bit. When you roll the binding to the outside, this will leave a finished edge.

Unfold the center press of the binding, and pull the binding to the outside. Again, the picture will help show what I mean:

Pull the binding out then fold it back down to cover the raw edges.

Finally, edgestitch from the top side of the garment. The overlapped ends will be VERY thick; if you are sewing on a home machine, the multiple layers of canvas may be enough to give you a hard time. There's a little secret on how to overcome this kind of lump - you can use a jig to compensate for the thickness of the fabric. Dritz makes a product called the Jean-a-ma-Jig; I've got one and it works great, but in reality you can use just about anything to raise up the back of the presser foot. I've borrowed a little video of a lady using one from YouTube, but must admit that more than once I've shimmed up the back of the presser foot using a chunk of folded up manila tag.

Edgestitch nice and close to the edge - voila! Your armhole is bound!

I will have to do the other side later, as well as buttonholes and buttons. I am also planning to do a vest from beginning to end this weekend, and will show how to do the arm binding a little differently.

I might do another little project in the meantime....

Pinkertons: Lining

2011-11-26T18:25:00.001-08:00

I just spent the last two hours assembling the lining for the Pinkerton vest. It shouldn't take quite that long, but taking the time to photograph each step takes up a certain amount of time. I have to move the table towards the machines and drag the chair to the west side of the room for each photograph of the full tabletop.

The lining parts all laid out, including the Lastwear tags.

The process is pretty much exactly like sewing the shell, except that you also have to stitch all those little fiddly bits of facing onto the lining pieces. And instead of welt pockets, I had tags to sew in. (That's one of the nice things about sewing for a company - Lastwear provided everything including their very nice ribbon tags.)

(More behind the cut!)

I discovered that my sewing machine does NOT like to stitch through the tags. I solved the problem by inserting a layer of my favorite tear-away stabilizer, more commonly known as a sheet of typing paper. (If I'm doing something where I won't be able to remove all of the stabilizer, I usually use a cut-away stabilizer; Sulky makes a nice one that's readily available at your favorite fabric store.)

The tags are placed on the left front, which is the right-hand most piece of lining. Confusing, I know, but this will be the inside of the garment.

Next, I did all the vertical seams. I use hardly any pins when I sew, but I did pin each facing piece to its lining piece so that they'd stay together. I stacked the pieces up and put them in my lap, and fed them through the machine in a chain.

These pieces are still connected by the thread.

I then separated the parts and stitched up the vertical seams. The seams are pressed in the opposite direction as on the shell to reduce bulk when the garment is assembled; I did take a moment to press the seam allowances and clip the seams above the armhole, where the curve is the greatest.

The vertical seams are sewn.

After topstitching.

Finally, the shoulder seams are sewn and topstitched, again in the opposite direction from the shell - here, towards the front.

The completed lining, from the back.

Front of the completed lining.

I was asked what I like to do when breaking from my projects. I do use the Pomodoro technique, so on short breaks usually I stretch, get some water, use the restroom. On long break, I usually make tea and play with the kitties.

Chichi hates having his picture taken, but loves to hang out in the sewing room.

Hot tea and Facebook.

Pets and Pinkertons

2011-11-23T22:03:00.000-08:00

I got started on the Pinkerton vest this week. I've had a few other obligations (day job, settling in, et cetera) so it's taken me a while to get rolling and then a little longer to get a post up. I will note that I had a big, big distraction come along - I now have a couple of helpers around the sewing room:

Hello kitty!

Hello other kitty!

The pictures don't do these little guys any justice. Black cats are tough to photograph, and Chichi (up top there) is particularly difficult to photograph as he just plain doesn't like it. He is also totally obsessed with eating thread, so I now have to be pretty careful around the sewing room - I can't leave the machines threaded, or leave trimmings laying about, and need to keep spools and bobbins stored away. Chi's the only cat I know who isn't terrified of the vacuum cleaner. He's not scared of the Mercury, either.

I promise I won't talk about my cats too much, although you might see them again - they DO like to hang out with me as I work, and I'll be making some kitty beds for them eventually here.

And back to the Lastwear project - Pinkertons! I've assembled the shell of one of the vests, and have new workroom photos to share from the process.

(More below the cut...)

First I gathered the pieces - they're not so much labeled on the pattern paper, but they ARE notched, so it's not a problem to figure out which part is the side front versus the side back.

From left to right, top to bottom: Center front, side front, side back, center back, collar, welt, pocket bag.

At this point I realized that I haven't made a welt pocket in absolutely years. It would be madness to try to do one without a little practice, so I cut some canvas drill - it's cheap and of similar weight - and made a couple test welts. I'm really glad I did, the first one came out so bad I couldn't bring myself to photograph it.

Here's what one of the welts on the factory sample looks like.

Here are my three test welts. How did I do it? I cheated, which means I probably did it just like they do at the factory.

A close-up of one of my practice welts.

I'm not here to teach y'all how to make a welt - I'm here to show how to assemble a Pinkerton vest. I assume you already know how to sew. If you don't know how to do a nice welt pocket, there are plenty of tutorials available out there. It isn't so bad, especially on a nice sturdy fabric like cotton drill or canvas. Practice welts done, I felt confident enough to do the welts on the fashion fabric.

Here they are, two side fronts with welts inserted.

Welt detail. I must say the gold thread DOES look nice on the green canvas!

I happened to choose to do my welts before putting the vest together; other people might wait until the shell is assembled and do them last. Six of one, half a dozen of the other really - though I think when I do the brown vest I will try it the other way and see if that works out better or worse.

Next, I sewed all the vertical seams. As a note, the production pattern uses a 3/8" seam allowance everywhere except the neckline, which has a 1/4" seam allowance. I also sewed together the upper and lower collar pieces.

I pressed the seam allowances, using the factory sample as a guide - the princess seams are pressed to the center and the side seams to the back (away from the welts).

The shell pieces stitched and pressed. Sorry, I forgot to take another pic of the shell flat after topstitching the seams.

Then I topstitched the collar and the vertical seams using my gold thread, a scant 1/4" from the seamlines. Then the shoulder seams were sewn, matching the seamlines, and again topstitched with gold thread. That's it - the shell is complete. The lining goes together pretty much the exact same way. Still, I'll take pictures and post as I make my lining.

Back view of topstitched shell.

3/4 view, completed shell.

Front view of the completed shell. I've just laid the collar on top of the body to show the overall effect and give a good idea of what it will look like when finished.

I know it's kind of an aside, but I was asked how I take pictures of the whole or most of the 60"x36" cutting table. It's simple - I stand on a chair to get up above it and far enough away to get it all into the picture. I'm just using a cheap (and old) point and shoot digital camera, and then resize and, if it needs it, correct contrast and brightness using nothing more sophisticated then Microsoft Office Picture Manager. The idea isn't to show what great photographer I am and more about giving a good idea visually of what's happening as I go along.

Equipment fail!

2011-11-03T19:22:00.000-07:00

I scheduled time to work on the Pinkerton vest on Tuesday evening. I realized that I'd need to practice making welt pockets (it's been years since I've done them) and cut a piece of canvas drill to match the welt pieces and pocket bags. That was also to serve as a test sew for the straight stitch machine. The Mercury failed the test. I burnt up most of my scheduled time trying to get it to form a stitch.

I'm not terribly mechanically minded, so when I stopped by the Lastwear house yesterday I asked Thom if he could help or recommend a repairman. He's supposed to be by later. If he can't help get the machine going, I'll a) get the contact number for his repair guy and b) set up my Bernina.

I've rescheduled the time I had set aside for today to tomorrow and also have some time on Sunday afternoon blocked out to keep the project timeline at least close to on track.

Pinkertons: Preview

2011-10-30T22:41:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to finally get rolling on this project that I just couldn't wait. I pulled the parts to assemble a vest and laid them out.

Not pictured: me laughing giddily in the sewing room at 10 PM.

The parts are laid out in columns. They are: collar, welt, pocket bag; side front, side front lining, side front hem facing; center fronts; center back, center back lining, center back hem facing; side back, side back lining, side back hem facing; tags. There is one additional part - the armhole bindings. They're just long, skinny strips that get folded around the raw edges of the armhole, so not having them on the table isn't going to put my gentle readers at a loss.

I haven't ordered the heavyweight thread they use at the factory yet, so I'll be piecing with regular sewing thread and topstitching with gold jeans thread. I thought it would look snappy on the green canvas and help with visibility, since all the vest cuts I got were dark colors. (The others are black and chocolate brown.)

Depending on how much I get done at a sitting, I will post the work on this vest in several posts over the next week. Next up - sewing the shell. I have time set aside for this on Tuesday evening and I can hardly wait.

New space

2011-10-30T19:32:00.000-07:00

I've just moved to a new apartment and my goal was to have my workspace set up and ready to work by the first of November. I'm on target for that, with just a little bit of work left to do.

I know y'all are dying to see the new place. Here you go:

There is enough space to walk around the cutting table. It's a little close there in the back corner, but c'est la vie.

More behind the cut....

The fabric stash, and the machine tables.

The Mercury, along with some additional storage. Those empty spots will house art supplies once I dig them out of the rest of my belongings.

My dress form, right at the entry where she can give everybody a friendly, headless greeting.

The only spillover from the workroom - one shelf full of books wound up in the living room.

This place is extremely well lit, so I don't need to try to fit in the can lamps. The whole place has high ceilings (notwithstanding all the pipes) and picture railing, and good natural lighting during daylight hours.

There is still a touch of work to do, but nothing that will stop me from working. There are some drafting tools that need a home (they will be hung on the wall behind the dress form) and some art to be put up. Now if only the rest of the house was so well settled....

Interlude: White Bird (Part 2)

2011-07-26T21:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I wrapped up the wings tonight. I should have done them on Sunday, but I got distracted - plus I wanted a little input from an observer. I invited my mother over to snap pictures and consult on how to finish the edges.

One thing to note here... the scale is maybe a little hard to determine in these pictures. I'm a big girl, both in dress size and height; it may not be really clear, but the wingspan is about nine feet. Here they are, before we trimmed the edges:

Red Bull did not give me these wings.

(See them trimmed behind the cut!)

I wanted my mom's feedback on the trim for the edges. We wound up deciding on a pretty simple scalloped edge, with a few longer "pinion" feathers at the tips of the wings to add a bit of flutter. The tail also got a simple scalloped treatment.

Wings that work (for childrens' theater, at least!)

Back view

Yes, I know I'm making a stupid face.

Overall, the whole thing took about a days' time. The raw materials were dirt cheap, and the results were just what I envisioned. The only thing I might do differently if I were to do them again is set the arm openings a little closer together.

I really enjoyed making these. I drew a sketch but no pattern, and so making them was a little bit more relaxed and free form. Felt doesn't require hemming, so it was almost a matter of sculpting the shape I wanted out of the fabric. (Conversely, you - my readers - didn't seem to care much for the project, with the blog post stats being much lower than most posts!)

Interlude: White Bird

2011-07-23T20:16:00.000-07:00

Between larger projects, I am taking time to make a quick costume at the request of my cousin. She has asked me to make a bird costume to be used at one of her band's performances.

I drew up a quick sketch for her, which she signed off on:

(continued behind the cut)

She was a little concerned about cost, as she's on a limited budget. I volunteered my time, since the costume will be donated and will be made for a show with proceeds benefitting the community-run theater. Last weekend I ran out to Jo-Ann Fabrics in Lynnwood to pick up the materials I would need. I bought a sheet of foam-core board and three yards of white glitter felt. The grand total was less than $20.

Last night I took a few minutes to sketch out what the foam-core extensions would look like. I drafted one of them out, and decided that they'd need to be double thickness to be sturdy enough. When I set the Pomodoro timer today, it only took the first 25 minute time block to have all four foam-core pieces traced off and cut out.

The drafted wing extender.

The first wing extender was cut out with a craft knife and traced.

All four wing extenders, ready to be used.

Then the fun began - I refolded the glitter felt right sides together (it's only glittery on one side) and marked out the basic shapes. This took the whole three yard length, with the flat side of the wings not on the fold. Why? So that I could have enough material on the fold to cut out the tail, and so that I could work with just one half while sewing on the facings for the arm- and wrist-holes. I then sewed the facings on to the right sides.

One of the faced openings - this one is a wrist opening. The inside rectangle will be slashed open.

I was going to do a true lapped seam for the shoulder seam, but with the bulk of the pieces that seemed unwieldy, so instead I sewed the pieces together along the straight edge, then opened it and topstitched the seam allowances towards the back to create a mock-felled seam. This gives some structure to the top edge and was pretty easy to handle. I then decided to sew the underarms and sandwich in the tail. The tail will need another go from the top - some of the layers shifted a little and there's a little gap, but it will look just fine.

I will have to figure out how to finish out the wings tomorrow. Even though I didn't finish in the four hours I put in today, I'm very pleased with the progress and the results so far.

Upcoming project: Pinkerton vests

2011-07-17T22:44:00.000-07:00

In the midst of several other errands, I stopped off to pick up the final parts to assemble some sample vests. I'll be working on samples and one-offs for Lastwear, starting with the men's vest. Thom and Lyssa have provided cut parts for several vests to give the pattern a go, and gave the green light to document the process of making the vests. This works out nicely both for me and for them, as part of the concept for the company is that their clothing is open-source. In theory this means anyone can download their patterns and make their own - or use it as a launching point for something new. The patterns aren't actually available yet, but I expect someone truly interested in obtaining a copy could get one if they asked nicely enough.

I'll be putting together one Pinkerton vest on its own, and then assembly-lining a couple more; expect the same kind of photo documentation you saw on the jacket and ticking-stripe corset. A certain amount of sewing know-how is expected, and I won't be slowing down much to explain the differences between production and commercially available patterns, or on the sort of thing a production sewer would be expected to know. I will try to recognize those things and provide links to outside tutorials, but if you are following along and don't understand something I encourage you to comment so that I can make sure the instructions I'm providing are adequate.

Art for next project

2011-07-09T22:31:00.000-07:00

I've chosen a Turkish theme for SteamCon costumes this upcoming year. I have a couple of starter sketches, but am not totally satisfied with the designs. My goal is to have the designs finalized by the 15th of July; given that the female design took me about three hours and has not been colored, that's a tall order. I can do it!

Want to see my sketches? (behind the cut!)

There's a second sketch penciled for both the male and female figures, with an outer garment for each - Brendan has purchased a black Fallen Men's Corset from Xcentricities corsets and this costume is designed to work with or without it. My own garment will be done in silver, dark rose, and either teal or navy to coordinate with both the my own Xcentricities-made underbust corset and the cute mini-fez I picked up today.

I got to experiment with my new scanner/printer/copier a bit to get these posted. That was money well spent! The images took some tweaking, but it's very nice to not have to photograph my art and hope my old point and shoot will capture a decent image.

Workspace Revamp

2011-05-31T22:38:00.000-07:00

When I moved into this apartment, my mother expressed concern that there would be nowhere to relax. I told her it didn't matter, that I'd be able to find somewhere to lounge when the desire to do so came over me. However, I did a little creative arrangement to make space for a micro-living room. It consisted of a set of shelves with my ancient, tiny TV (a remnant of my dorm room) and an ugly but remarkably comfortable gold recliner, purchased from Goodwill for $20 or so. To do so, my sewing space was a little bit crowded and became more so when I brought in the Mercury.

On a whim, I priced out dress forms online one afternoon. I found a decent one on Amazon, and the seller includes an arm up to a size 12. I really would have preferred to buy even larger; the "usual" size for a pro dress form is an 8, but I'd really like to be working in the plus range. Not only did sizes over 12 not include the arm, there was a significant price jump - so if I was going to buy, it would be the 12. I'm a size 22 myself, but that's OK, I can cope with that. The real issue was whether or not to get rid of the gold chair and give up my "living room."

I asked my friends. I consulted my boyfriend. I checked my bank balance. I ordered the dress form.

If you didn't know what I meant by "arm" before, you do now.

(more after the cut)

This meant I had to get rid of the gold chair. Fortunately a friend said she'd like to have it, so I arranged for some helpers to get it out of my place. I'd had the form delivered to my folks' house as they are home all day to sign for stuff; my Dad agreed to deliver it and help us move the chair, but I had to provide the muscle. It was truly remarkable to watch my Dad flawlessly thread his full-size Dodge Ram through two turns in a tight alleyway.

It took a few more days for me to have the rest of the sewing room set back up. The machines and some of the shelving had to be moved, and that's no picnic - the Mercury weighs a ton, and the shelves are full of books and stuff. With a little help from my awesome boyfriend, it got done. It was a few more days before it was clean enough to take pictures. The pictures did get taken, though, and here they are:

The kitchen and dining room table, which more often serves as a drawing table.

Moving to the right, the ironing board and the Mercury. We raised the pendant lamp over the table to allow a person to stand at the ironing board without burning their scalp on the light bulb. The art above the ironing board is from design school; the art above the Mercury is Heironymus Bosch's Garden Of Earthly Delights.

The Mercury and the serger, accompanied by a cheap can light on a makeshift riser (also known as an upturned bucket), to raise the lamps up high enough to be of use. The rest of the wall is shelving, some low below the window and some tall next to the door.

The other half of the room, with the cutting table, dress form, notions and yardage shelves. Out of the frame to the left is some drafting tools and a place to hang the full-size cutting mat.

I did go through a lot of my stuff and a bit of it - mostly art from college - will go into storage. One treasure I freed up from a particularly nasty stack of clutter is my portfolio. Mom bought it for me while I was in school in Tukwila and, much to her great disapproval, I promptly stenciled it with a Jolly Roger. Mother thought it unprofessional, but I have never gotten anything but rave reviews over it.

It's ARRRRRRt!

Gearing up again.

2011-04-28T20:55:00.000-07:00

I'm lousy about updating.... but that's in part because I've been lousy about doing anything. Well, hey, I'm getting things moving in the sewing room again. I'm working on slopers, starting with a basic bodice draft that will get graded and altered. I'll follow that with a full torso, and then with a skirt block.

Also, I'm doing a bit of rearranging in the sewing studio as I've ordered a dress form. I'll post pictures later.

That's all for now. I'll be posting more regularly as I begin the research and sketches for SteamCon III, though. See you all around!

Wrapup: Part 3, Overall Experience

2011-01-05T21:29:00.000-08:00

Okay, so here's what y'all have been waiting for:

An old friend and I at SteamConII - thanks, Karen, for snapping the photo!

This picture is pretty much the only one I wound up with of my completed outfit. I've added it to the Gallery.

Overall I think my costume came out very well, but lacked accessories - which are pretty critical to the Steampunk look! I would have done well to have found gunbelts, and some jewelry. The boots and hat are great, and the handbag was fine; you can't see the star on the front flap, but it's a remnant from another project that has stuck around because it's just plain good.

The convention was a great time. It was totally worth all the effort.

I started out with a time-boxing experiment... that fell quickly to the wayside. Why? Because Pomodoro takes itself too seriously, and isn't as well suited to every task as its creator claims. It would be useless for customer service (where you cannot control your interruptions) but also turns out to be useless for time spent in creative thought processes, as entering "right brain" space can take most of a time unit and the breaks bust you out of it with very little time spent in that thought mode. When actually sewing, a 25 minute time box with a 5 minute break did not work well either; working at the cutting table or the machines is much more physical than a desk type job and trying to use the "official" pomodoro time made for aching backs, physical exhaustion, and not enough of a refresher.

Also, learning the skills taught by the technique takes more practice than I managed to give it. That's right, practice. So I will make another stab at it, but will bring what I learned to the table. When drawing, I'll use a longer time block and also a longer break; when sewing I'll use a somewhat shorter time block with a bit longer break. But I will continue to try to master the technique and fine tune it to my use, because I did also find it advantageous in a lot of ways.

When I was doing it, the task lists did make me think about the complexity and method of my work, and it did also teach me a lot about how much time it really takes to get work done. Making the lists made me prioritize and think ahead about how to work efficiently. Additionally, some of the skills given in the Pomodoro Technique book for avoiding distraction are very effective, whether or not you are using time-boxing. With practice and adjustment, I expect the technique will become an even more valuable tool.

What's next? Well, I'm already dabbling on a couple of projects. I need to set a priority on them and pick one to complete. I am working on drafting some slopers, and would like to complete the shirtfront and hat wrap up the green Victorian gown pictured in the Gallery. I am already considering what to produce for SteamCon III; it's "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" theme is very appealing and I've got a lot of concepts rattling around waiting development.

And there's this blog. I found that I needed to post after EVERY work session or it got to be onerous; I hate catch-up work, and it's tough to remember what exactly I did if I wait. However, right now I am back at the beginning stages of the creative process as opposed to in full-swing on a workroom project, so I will probably post a little less. I am aiming for once a week and have set aside some time on my calendar on Fridays to come and go through what I've been working on during the previous week.

See you Friday!

Wrapup: Part 2B, the Jacket (continued) and Skirt

2011-01-04T21:00:00.000-08:00

When my mother came by one more time to fit the jacket sleeve, we discovered that it was too long. Also, the attempt to make a placket at the midline seam was a fail. We folded it up and I decided to scrap the placket altogether. We also adjusted the length of the jacket.

The sleeve with fail placket.

After adjusting the length of both sleeve and jacket body.

With the fit finalized, it was time to start preparing the denim and putting the parts together.

More behind the cut....

I had to crack out my trusty Bernina 830 Record, as there was satin stitching and buttonholes to be done. It made the apartment pretty crowded to have all three machines set up!

This thing makes pretty darned awesome buttonholes.

I stitched some ornamental stitching on the back of the yoke, with the intention of it resembling the king of stitching you see on the pockets of blue jeans. It came out great. And then, completely on impulse, I decided to satin stitch a line of faux trim around the band collar. It came out looking excellent! Well played, I must say. I also stitched up a pair of epaulets and some tabs to be sewn to the sleeve bands and waistbands, but couldn't get the topstitching to look nice; I decided that I would simply omit them. It worked out for the best, because they were really unnecessary.

The embellished collar and yoke, as shown previously.

Additionally, the fronts took some prep. The military-inspired strips across the front were appliquéd self fabric strips. It took careful marking and handling, but they went on very easily:

The right front, with chalk marks - and Heat N Bond tape to hold the strips for stitching.

The strips are fused down to be stitched on the Mercury.

The front, trimmed and with buttons laid on to show the finished look.

I didn't take a single picture of the construction of the jacket itself, as it follows the same basic steps as your average men's shirt with a yoke. The only interesting part was the sleeve caps, which hold the gathered caps up. They were made from self-material, so adding a gathered cap to a gathered sleeve in a denim body made for a very thick shoulder seam. It was a little dicey to sew through, even on the Mercury - and serging the seam allowance required taking three stitches and then using a screwdriver to stuff the raw edges under the serger's knife. It was not necessarily proper technique (and probably not good for my serger, but whatever). The sleeves were set flat and the side seams sewn after; I discovered that the sleeves were larger in diameter than I expected from the muslin, but the fix for that was very easy and quick.

The buttons took the better part of an evening to stitch on. They are shank buttons so must be done by hand, and the satin finish on them is directional; they all had to be carefully oriented in the same direction. A few of the buttons are a few degrees off. In theory I should have put backer buttons on them, and may eventually go back and so so. The neckline actually has a permanent V, so only the bottom three buttons actually button.

I am quite pleased with the finished results - the collar and ticking facings are particularly good. The caramel topstitching and embroidery, the shiny brass look buttons, the cropped length - these all give plenty of detail and shape to the finished garment.

Sorry for the crappy cell phone picture.

I did also make a skirt. It is a copy of a Jones New York skirt I already owned; the copy came out looking well but I didn't accommodate the bias very well in construction. The pieces "grew" a little in width and so the waist was very difficult to ease onto the waist facing. It came out nice enough to wear casually. It's fully hemmed, has a side zipper, and the panels are all topstitched. It came out a tiny bit large, so I'll eventually wash and dry it on hot to shrink it a bit. Sorry, no pictures... it was a bit of a rush, so I didn't take the time to photograph my work.

At the zero hour, I decided I MUST have a petticoat to go under the skirt. That came out kind of poorly because I rushed. I may remake it later; it's just white muslin and a bit of eyelet lace I found in my fabric stash. I wish I'd made it long enough that it would peep out from under the skirt's edge, and I sewed the flounce on wrong side out. But hey, it's a petticoat - and it did serve its purpose of adding a touch of fullness to the skirt, as well as keeping things from getting too breezy if you know what I mean.

More tomorrow about taking the outfit to Steamcon, and about the overall experience.