Cheap and Picky

Something Other Than Sewing....

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Thu, 30 May 2013 19:03:00 +0000

I often find myself getting involved in projects that inevitably become a bit of an obsession....home repairs, sewing, roller derby....but one thing I never really cared for was gardening. In our yard we have rules "If it can't be mowed, it can't live here." And, we've stuck by that for many, many years. Until....

Straw Bale Gardening. Yes, my new obsession.

I read about straw bale gardening this spring and thought "That sounds simple enough that even I could do it!"

So, I did.....

First, you need a whole lot of straw:

The principle behind straw bale gardening is that you essentially plant IN compost. So the first step is to get the bales started composting. You spend about two weeks fertilizing and watering the bales to get the composting process started:

Over the course of two weeks, the bales do lots of interesting things like stinking to high heaven and sprouting mushrooms:

But, once the composting process has started AND the temperature of the bales has dropped to allow planting, you essentially plant directly IN the bales themselves, using a bit of potting soil to protect the seedlings, or to create a seed bed:

Because you are planting in compost, you can plant more densely than you would in a standard garden, and also utilize the sides of the bales as well:

So far, things seem to be going well:

The tomatoes, peppers and eggplant are growing like crazy. The one issue that I have found is that because the straw is essentially a hollow tube, while it works great as a capillary getting water throughout the bale...it also drains very well, which means watering every day in the heat. I figured that out after I managed to let my celery plants dry out. I have a soaker hose along the top of the bales now that I let run each morning for a bit. Except today. Today it's plenty wet....

Finally, a Finished Top

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Mon, 27 May 2013 19:01:00 +0000

Finally, I have a finished shirt. In the previous post, I reviewed all the alterations that I did in order to get BurdaStyle 12.2011.107 to fit....and really could probably have just drawn my own pattern by the time I was finished. But, by then it was a test of wills between me and the pattern, so I had to see it through to the end.

Because it wasn't difficult enough to make the alterations, I set myself up for additional difficulty by using a semi-sheer lawn/swiss dot, which required that I underline the top as well, which I did for the bodice and waistline.

Underlining does have one advantage, and that is that you don't have to use facings of any kind. You can just use the underlining fabric itself to hide raw edges, such as the back neckline:

I also used the underlining to hide the shoulder seam. It's a trick I learned from a HotPatterns top that had you "wrap" the facing around to the right side of the garment, sew the shoulder seam, and then turn everything right side out and tadaaaa...you have a finished edge, hidden shoulder seam, and your facing won't flip around.

Here is how I did it with the underlining. I started by sewing the front neckline edge all the way up to the seam line:

Then I pinned, right sides together, the front and back bodice pieces at the shoulder. I "wrapped" the underlining around the neckline edge, pinning so the back bodice was now in between two layers of the front bodice. I sewed the seam, trimmed the corner, and flip....here is the finished neckline:

I then continued to work somewhat according to the instructions, with some slight changes in construction order to allow for the underlining. After attaching the center front of the bodice, I then sewed on the waistbands. The back waistband was flat, so it was easily attached, but the front band had a center peak. The best way to attach that band is to sew in from each side, towards the peak. Don't try to make a turn at the peak, it will just make it messy. Mark your seams here, it helps.

Do the same in attaching the skirt/peplum.

Once the waistbands were attached, I inserted the sleeves...It is simple to do this while everything is flat, because the sleeves are heavily gathered.

I then added an invisible zipper on one side:

After that, it was quick finishing to sew the other side seam and finish the hems.

Here is the finished top:

And, on the hoof:

The fit is good, considering the acrobatics that I had to perform to finish it. So good, in fact, I am attempting the dress version....

Alterations, Alterations, and More Alterations

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 26 May 2013 15:14:00 +0000

Let's get this party started, shall we? I think I am going to split this project into two posts because the alterations are JUST THAT EXTENSIVE. Really, I probably could have spent less time just drawing up my own pattern. But, once I got into it, it became a test of wills between me and Burda.

I decided that I wanted to make BurdaStyle 12.2011.107, a V-neck dress with pleats and gathers at bust and waist, which can also be made as a shirt with peplum. It is available as a download from the Burda site, and since I had temporarily let my subscription lapse (and by temporarily, I mean "two years") I did not have the magazine at home.

Here is the image of the dress:

And sewn as a shirt:

And the line drawing:

I chose the pattern, in part, because it was available in size 38 to 46. I can wear a 44 in a shirt, but in skirts am a 46 and pants a 48 (don't ask me how that is possible, it boggles my mind too). This way I had a size that would fit both my top and bottom, all in the same pattern.

Because I have sewn Burda items that have empire waistlines before, I knew they assumed that all women had preternaturally perky boobs, and I would most likely need to add some length above the waistline. I was not disappointed, and found that not only did I need to add 2 inches in length to cover the girls, I needed to add some fabric in width as well....see below as to how this resulted in the most insane FBA of all time. However, with the pleats along the front, gathers as well as princess seams, I had a real task ahead of me if I wanted to make any alterations. My process was as follows:

Since I can print off another any time I want, I just cut out my taped together pattern from the download.
I started by cutting a size 46 (I find altering Burda patterns, with no seam allowances, a thousand times easier than altering Big 4 patterns and constantly having to figure out where the actual seam will be).
To begin the alterations, I folded out the pleats (on the front and the back) and taped the pattern down, tracing another version to work on.
I then slashed the pattern horizontally.
I separated along the slash, and added 2 inches in length to bust, and retracing the pattern pieces.
I then created an "FBA" by slashing vertically multiple times, widening the piece, and then tracing again.
I raised the neckline, as I usually do with Burda.
Finally, I made muslin....which then revealed a few more issues.

Upon completion of the muslin, I found:

I needed to shorten above bust, although the rest was just fine
I also needed to alter for a square shoulder along with shortening above the bust, which also involved redrawing the armscye
And to avoid a very frumpy look, I needed to shorten peplum by 2.25 inches

I know that in print this makes virtually no sense, so I have included many, many photos....

Here we start with the original pattern piece, with the pleats folded out. The pattern is printed so the two front pieces, joined by a princess seam, are for now one piece. Excellent for making alterations easier and more precise:

Since this created a lot of layers of pattern paper, I decided my first step would be to make a tracing of that pattern piece. Also, I wouldn't have to print it out again if I messed up. Here you can see I have made the horizontal slash, and added two inches to the bust:

Trace again, and add a bit of height to the neckline:

I then cut out this version of the tracing, separated it along the princess seam and prepared to add my completely insane FBA by slashing the pattern vertically, repeatedly, and adding width:

Trace again, and here is the difference between the original and the altered pattern:

I then made a muslin and found that due to my extraordinarily square shoulders that I needed to accommodate for that, as well as remove some extra fabric above the bust. Here you can see just how square my shoulders are, much different than the slope of the pattern piece in the next photo:

To do that I pinched out the fabric at the shoulder, towards the neckline, as necessary, which required also lowering the back neckline. You can see the new line is angled to make the shoulder more square:

And then I had to account for that change in the armscye, so retraced that as well, since if you pinch out at the top of the shoulder, you have to drop the curve of the armscye at the bottom, otherwise you will be wearing a straightjacket:

After all these alterations, retracings, fittings and refittings...I needed to take a break before cutting my actual garment.

Since I typically make things as difficult as I possibly can, I chose a fabric that needed to be underlined...which in turn required that the order of assembly be changed. Which is, of course, fine...because I never read Burda instructions anyway.

Next time I'll have the final product ready to share....

Alterations, Part One

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:33:00 +0000

I currently have about three different blog posts "cooking," all of them having to do with altering patterns.

I finally made myself sit down and FINISH one of them

I have been spending far too much time trying to find a PERFECT pattern for a non-knit t-shirt and have hated them ALL because they just make me look boxy, so I decided that I wanted to try one that was cut on the bias.

Fortunately, I had Simplicity 2594 already in the stash.

This pattern has a number of options, including a tunic length with a belt, and also some incredibly odd sleeves. It has a back yoke, and pleats at the shoulder on the front. As I was reading the instructions before getting started (something I NEVER do) I found that the cowl at the front had one of my pet peeves...and that was a hem along the top of the cowl:

There is never a situation that I can think of that I have worn a cowl neck and the INSIDE of the shirt has been invisible. So with a small hem, it is inevitable that the inside of the fabric, and that hem is going to show. I prefer a cowl with a large interior facing, I thought that was just HOW a cowl was made, but am finding more and more examples of the tiny hem the more I sew.

I decided that what this really needed was a big facing. So, I drafted one. I started by folding the pattern in half, because why bother trying to draw symmetrically? Just draw half and then transfer that to the other side. I added some pattern paper (which is really paper left over from the last move. I bought a huge pile of newsprint from a packaging company before I left for grad school....in 1999. I think I may have just used the last piece. Here is a funny story...I bought it from a place that, at the time, I knew of because it was in my Grandmother's neighborhood. On a visit home, I swung by, bought a carload of used boxes and a pile of newsprint, in preparation for my move to Columbia, MO. I went from there, to Washington DC, to Champaign, IL...and was still using that pile of newsprint to wrap my glasses when I moved back to St. Louis in 2004....and now I live AROUND THE CORNER from the place where I originally bought it. I guess it is safe to say I could easily acquire some more).

But I digress...I added the pattern paper, created an angle that was the mirror image of the slope of the shoulder, and drew on the facing:

To make it easier to see, I traced over the pencil with black marker:

Then I attached it to the pattern, and cut it out:

Here is a little trick when you have patterns with multiple length options....number and mark the piece you cut off (and save it, of course). Then using it is simple, you just line up your marks and pin it down when you need to make one that length:

This did, of course, change the order in which I assembled it, and how I treated the front cowl. I would recommend that if you do this, find a pattern that has the fold-over facing on the cowl and follow those. I just kind of winged it because I had sewn these many times before.

Here is the final product, with the fold-over facing in the cowl (and my wavy hemline, which happens every time I sew on the bias. I'll do better on the non-muslin, I promise!):

And the pleats at the front shoulder:

And the back yoke with gathers in the back of the shirt. This is the only part I actually dislike...it seems like a rather skimpy yoke, and ends very high up on the back. Also, the gathers are skimpy, too. Enough so that to me they just look like bad sewing rather than deliberate gathers. Next time I may just turn it into a pleat at the center instead.

All in all, I'm fairly happy with this muslin. I will probably make some slight alterations to it, perhaps beefing up that cowl and making the gathers more concentrated towards the center of the back so they look more deliberate.

The fabric was a bargain table find, so at a couple of dollars a yard, I was happy to sacrifice it even if this pattern didn't work. It's a slippery poly, so I did the usual and starched the heck out of it before cutting, and washed the garment after sewing to remove the starch.

Back Again...This Time with Hats

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 20:46:00 +0000

And once again I have become the worst blogger in the entire world.

I have to apologize, it isn't that I haven't been working on anything, but that I just have not been in the mood to photograph everything, put it on, and take more photographs.

We also had some upheaval here in we finally had to say goodbye to my 17-year-old dog, Spaz. After bouts with bladder and kidney stones, incontinence, arthritis, dementia, seizures, and finally a brain tumor, we made the decision that the time had come to say goodbye. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, although I knew it was the right decision for him, it was very had for me to wrap my head around the fact that I had made the decision that he should die. And then scheduled it with the vet. I still have no way to explain how awful that was. He was a great dog, and will be greatly missed.

But, going through that process found me looking for things to do to keep my mind busy, and one of the things I did was make a complete mess of making some hats. In the March, 2013 issue of BurdaStyle, they had a pattern for a newsboy's cap:

I veerrry carefully measured my head, traced off the pattern, and ended up with a hat that was HUGE...seriously, I should have made the kid size for my tiny noggin. How did I mess it up so badly??? Fortunately, my husband has a huge head, so he got a new hat:

The one thing that I didn't really like about the Burda pattern was that there was no snap in it to keep the front of the hat down on the brim, so I added one:

Had I noticed the lack BEFORE I sewed the brim in, I would have added the snap so that it didn't show on the bottom of the brim. Not that Jeremy cares, he didn't want a hat, anyway! He just got it because I messed up the measurements.

Not to be deterred, I decided instead that I would copy a hat that I already had. I made a pattern by putting a piece of newsprint over a piece of foam core, then laid the piece I wanted to copy over the top. Stick pins through the seams of the piece you are copying, into the foam core, then when you pull them out you just "connect the dots" and you have a pattern. Add seam allowances, and there you go. The red hat is the one I purchased, and the green and black hat is the copy I made with my pattern knock off:

Then I thought about it and decided...you know, I never wear green and black. Plus, like the newsboy's cap, it was too big, ner! But I wear a lot of grey. So, I made a grey one instead:

Fortunately, that one fit!

In other sewing news, I am also on a quest for a simple, woven shirt. No collars, no buttons, just a simple t-shirt, but woven and not knit. I have been through about 6 versions so far....and they all suck. But all for different reasons. Soon, I'll have a big post about side seams, armscyes, dropped shoulders, and fabric choices...and all the reasons that woven tees can go wrong. Hopefully, I'll even have a reason that they go RIGHT from time to time. But, that is still a few versions away....

In the meantime...happy sewing!

A Simple Shirt

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 13:55:00 +0000

Today I decided that I just wanted to make something fast and easy...so I set aside the button-down shirt that I was working on and decided to make a pullover instead.

Kwik Sew 3635 had been sitting in my "to do" box for, oh, 2 years or so, so I finally decided to make it up.

The shirt has two options, a long sleeved tunic, or a short sleeved top with a band on the bottom. I decided to change it up a bit and do the shorter top with long sleeves. I also added a band to the sleeves, to match the band at the waist.

I made the top from a super-soft slub knit rayon...really almost a light sweater knit. I purchased a raft of it when it was on sale at Fabric.com, so you may well see a few more items made from the same fabric.

Some nice details include a binding on the back neckline, a substantial facing at the front edge, and a deep overlap so as to not be too revealing. As with most Kwik Sew patterns, the fit runs large, but the drafting and instructions are superb. Kwik Sew are never at the cutting edge of fashion, but are a great source for well-drafted classics and wardrobe basics. Much like the black fabric, this pattern will likely make a reappearance.

I only found a single issue with the pattern and that was that there is no notch on the sleeve to indicate which is the front and which is the back. There is a notch on the pattern piece...but it is to match with the shoulder seam. So, I thought, maybe the sleeves are interchangeable. I folded the sleeve pattern in half to see if they were symmetrical and...they were not. I checked a couple of other patterns to see what the differences were between the front of the sleeve cap and the back and found that the front is the "curvier" line, if that makes sense. The back tends to have a less deep arc in it where it transitions from the sleeve cap to the under-arm. Using this, I decided which sleeve was right and which was left. I suppose I guessed right, because it fits perfectly.

New Sewing Room Furniture

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 17:23:00 +0000

Thank you, everyone, for the warm welcome back!

Like I mentioned in the previous post, one of the reasons that I hadn't been sewing anything was because the room was such a disaster. I had eleven, ELEVEN, sewing machines in there because I simply cannot control myself when it comes to old machines. The room also had to function as a guest room, so on top of all that, there was a queen sized bed in there, fabric in big plastic tubs, a folding table for cutting, it was all just too much to deal with, so...I didn't go in there for a while.

Over the Christmas holiday, my husband started helping me make some changes. I edited my sewing machines, as painful as that was and he helped by going to visit his brother in Chicago...who just happens to live on the same exit as Ikea. The two of them took my list and got me (almost) exactly what I wanted. I say almost, because they are boys...of course there was something that was almost, but not quite, what I had asked for. But I love them anyway.

The first thing that I did was I traded my brother the queen size bed for a twin size mattress set that he had. I got a daybed frame that was totally flat across the top, and then added a table top. Well, not really a table...it is a 3/4 inch thick piece of plywood that I wrapped with dense batting and canvas. So it is both a working surface and an ironing board. Since it is taller than the old table that I used, it doesn't make my back hurt to cut patterns anymore.

Here is the new bed:

If I have guests, I can take the table top off and stick it in the basement. The bed is an Ikea Hemnes Daybed, which was very reasonable in price but a complete bastard to put together:

The second thing that we added was an Ikea Expedit shelving unit that would allow me to keep my fabric in a place where I could SEE it, and not stuffed away in plastic tubs:

Here you can see that yes, there are still some tubs with things that need to be organized (or finished) but for the most part my shelves are complete. The desk attaches directly to the shelves, and gives me space for two machines, my serger and my 301 which I usually keep set up for buttonholes:

As painful as it was, I now have just two other remaining machines, my 401 and 503:

I hate to admit that there are still tubs of fabric tucked into the corner behind the bed, but...they are all things that my niece and nephews use for their "crafting needs" (which in my littlest nephews case just means making the iron steam and cutting fabric into smaller and smaller pieces) when they visit.

All in all, the reorganization of the sewing room was not at all expensive...far under $1000.00, even if you include the gas to Chicago (why, oh why, is there no Ikea in St. Louis?). But, turning it into a pleasant place to work rather than a room that just raised my blood pressure means that my urge to create something has returned.

Hopefully, I will have more projects to show you soon...especially since I am now obsessed with Lekala patterns and have downloaded 4 more.

Happy Sewing, All!

Renewed Adventures...Including My First Attempt at Deciphering a Russian Pattern

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 21:39:00 +0000

So it's been over half a year since I posted anything here, I am ashamed to say that the reason is that for most of that time, I had not done ANYTHING of interest in the sewing room.

But, over the Christmas holiday something happened that made a huge difference...I finally got new furniture in my sewing room. I'll do a separate blog post on that, but thank goodness my brother-in-law lives about a mile from Ikea. Visits to him have resulted in all new furniture, organization, and less of a feeling of "ohmygod, what a horrible mess" every time I walk into the room.

With a freshly organized workspace, with lots of working surfaces, I seem to have found my creativity again. I also have been doing more with independent patterns. For years, all I sewed was "Big 4," but since more and more independent companies are out there, and Burda is available for download, even though I let my subscription lapse...I've been trying other new things.

The first thing I made in the new sewing room was a Burda from 11/2010, a wrap blouse:

Nothing really to say about this one...how many times can one say that Burda has good fit, interesting styles, and crappy instructions? Ditto for this. I made it with a georgette that I had in my stash...that waist tie takes a ton of fabric, so you need nearly 3 yards of 60-inch wide fabric.

A much more interesting endeavor was the purchase of my first Lekala pattern. Lekala is a very interesting pattern company from Russia...the styles are alternatively fashion-forward and a bit risqué (lots of bare midriffs). I decided to give it a try and the best advice that I can give is to read Melissa's post at "Fehr Trade," on how to purchase Lekala patterns. The process is a bit confusing because the english on the site is not fantastic...and there are a lot of steps to purchase:

you have to purchase a code for downloading patterns from an external site
you have to return to Lekala to activate the code
after you activate you can order patterns

I can say that it is well worth it mainly because even after the conversion from euros to dollars, the downloads cost in the neighborhood of $1.00, AND you purchase them according to your own measurements, so the patterns need little, if any, alteration. Sure, you have to tape the pattern together but...a dollar. It cost a dollar.

I started with Lekala 4100, a knit shirt with an interesting collar:

After jumping through the hoops to purchase and activate the code, I received an email with the pattern pdf...and a little something extra. You get what the computer has decided you look like based on the measurements you entered. And all I have to say is "holycraponacracker, tell me I don't look like that!"

Aaaanyway...the pattern was pretty simple to assemble...21 sheets. Not ridiculous like some Burdas I feel like I have spent days taping together.

Much like Burda, the instructions are not going to be helpful if you don't already have a pretty solid understanding of clothing construction. Google translate is only minimally helpful: link to instructions.

As for the construction, the front collar gave me a bit of trouble and I ended up scrapping and recutting it once on the first shirt...and changing it on the second. Here is the collar:

It looks like it has an overlap, but the way the pieces are constructed, they butt up against one another:

In the second version that I made, I ditched the piece on the right, and just cut 4 pieces of the one on the left, and created the overlap that it appears to have in the line drawing:

The shirt also has sleeves gathered into a small cuff:

The first version I made from a bamboo knit. I had never sewn with bamboo before, and it has a great hand, but is it ever infuriating to work with! The final product was better than I possibly could have predicted:

The only issue that I encountered was that it was a bit smaller across the hips than I would have liked, but I'm not even willing to say that it is a fit issue, as it may just be more personal preference in regards to amount of ease. In fact, I liked it so much I made another version today. I had a yard and a half of a wonderfully soft rayon knit that I purchased in Texas many years ago and could never find anything I really wanted to use it for.

The only problem was, I didn't have enough. So I had to convert it to short sleeves so that I could use the fabric that I wanted. I used a sleeve from a tshirt that I had made before and just drew the contours of the sleeve right onto the sleeve pattern piece, so the sleeve cap would remain unaltered:

And in a snap I had a short sleeve, and a 3/4 sleeve traced off. Here is the second version, with short sleeves:

I made one other change in the construction, I moved the gathers for the neckline further down towards the point:

The reason for this was in the original, the placement of the gathers made a couple of small wrinkles that extended from the neckline to the armpit. Maybe I'm just being overly critical, but I disliked the same thing about my Hot Patterns Weekender Sunshine Top, I suspect that the combination of those gathers and a full bust means that those wrinkles will just happen if not placed PRECISELY right.

And since it's the dead of winter and too cold to wear short sleeves, I made a cardigan from Simplicity 2603, that I think everyone and their mother has made at some point:

It seems more difficult than it looks because I don't actually hem them...I just cut it really carefully so the edges are PERFECT. The first one I made I hemmed, and it did NOT drape the way I wanted it to, and I believe the thickness of the hem was to blame. I noticed that RTW versions were made without hems, so I gave that a shot and...much better.

All in all, a productive weekend...and I will DEFINITELY be making more Lekala patterns. I am thrilled with how this first one turned out.

PS...all of these were made with fabrics and supplies from the stash. It sure didn't make much of a dent in it, but I'm trying to NOT buy new fabric for a while!

Finally Finished....

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 13:57:00 +0000

I finally finished the Liberty shirt, made from the fabric that I was scared to death to cut into. I finally sucked it up and cut it, and then of course let it sit for a while before I sewed it, still afraid to mess it up.

Here is the final product:

The greatest challenge with this was matching the pattern, since there is a clear horizontal motif. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out on the front, I agonized over how to place the front placket on the fabric so that the "right" part of the pattern would be showing:

The matching between the front and back was not great though. I haven't done pattern matching in such a long time, I totally did not take into account the horizontal bust dart. With the dart, it means that the front pattern PIECE is going to be longer than the back pattern piece...so the hem will fall in a different place on the fabric/print. Had I been thinking, I would have lined up the hems of the pattern pieces and matched the pattern there. But, I wasn't and matched the underarm instead. So, my front and back patterns match PERFECTLY for all of three inches. Then the bust dart throws it all off. You can see that the hem in back is in the middle of a different motif than the front:

But, I really don't think anyone will notice. I did get the sleeves matched and set properly so they are mirror images of one another.

While I was in the middle of delaying working on this shirt, I got a "wild hair," as my grandmother would say and decided that I wanted to create a set of interchangeable shirt pattern pieces that I could put together in different ways to make whatever I wanted to. Different collars, different sleeves, yoke, no yoke, loose fit, tailored fit, but all pieces that could be used with one another.

Because I had that really well-fitting shirt pattern from Burda, I decided to use that as a base. That shirt, if you recall, was a classic button down, with a fairly close fit, which used vertical darts for shaping. I had already made pieces for it that would allow it to be converted to a western shirt, but I also wanted a more feminine version with gathers and a yoke, also a yoked shirt with a back pleat for a dress shirt....different sleeves, regular cuffs, french cuffs, you get the idea....so I could just pick pieces of the pattern and have whatever I wanted and to be able to know that it would fit together.

Since I already had the Burda shirt traced and kew it would fit, I used it as a base. Using some other shirts as an example, I started by drawing a yoke for it. Then I slit the vertical darts and closed them, creating a wider pattern at the top where it could be gathered into the yoke. That didn't give quite enough room for gathers, so I put another slit in the pattern and added tissue there, too:

I then used this to trace off my final pattern. I used a tie collar from another pattern, increased the height of the sleeves so I could gather that as well, and this is what I got:

And from the back:

I used a drapey poly georgette that had been in my stash ever since I bought waaaaay to much of it on clearance at Fabric.com. It was cheap enough that it would have been perfectly reasonable to just use it for muslins, but I think the print goes well with this pattern.

Now, I need to figure out how I'm going to do the rest of this interchangeable nonsense....princess seams, long sleeve, short sleeve, raglan sleeve, french cuffs.....wish me luck!

Running in Place

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:36:00 +0000

Last week I made progress on some projects, but at the same time it felt very unproductive, hence the title of this blog. I think it was because I was mainly working on tracing patterns, making alterations, and making muslins. I KNOW that that is making progress, but I am so impatient it still feels like I am not doing anything. At least the first muslin that I made was for myself.

I had a length of Liberty that I purchased on Ebay. I needed a pattern that did not take much fabric, because the length of Liberty that I had was only 35 inches wide and 2 yards long. It hadn't been cut that way, it clearly had selvedges on both sides. But, it has been sitting in my stash for about a hundred years because I never wanted to cut into it an ruin it and I finally decided, what the heck good is it doing folded up in here? Cut it, sew it, either have a success or ruin it, because it is doing nothing in the stash.

So, I fitted, and traced and muslined...looking for a pattern that would work. I finally found Simplicity 2255:

It only required 1 3/4 yards of 45 inch wide fabric for cap sleeve version, so I hoped that I would be able to squeak it out of my Liberty fabric:

I started by making a muslin using an embroidered sateen that I picked up from a clearance rack at Hancock's. The pattern has front bust darts and back waist darts for shaping:

I'm pretty pleased with the fit, so I made some small alterations and cut into the Liberty....I have a long weekend coming up (friday and monday off for Memorial Day), so hopefully I'll get some work done on it.

In other news, my nephew's interest in sewing continues. He wanted to make a coat, and thought that if we started now it would be ready by fall. So, I had him help me to trace off and muslin a pattern from the August, 2009 BurdaStyle.

It went together surprisingly easily considered I had a 10-year-old's "help" in tracing. I didn't let him off easy, though...here he is pressing the seams:

Of course, you can also see the giant mess in the sewing room and huge piles of laundry being sorted for washing behind him. Hopefully over the holiday weekend I will finally be able to put together the new furniture purchased for the sewing room last year and get the mess cleaned up!

Here is my little monkey in "his" coat. The back fits well, I might add just a touch to the length since he is growing like a weed and also leave all the ease so he can wear it for a while:

On the front, it seems like the overlap is a bit skimpy. It is supposed to be double-breasted, and I feel like if I widen the front, it will make it possible to move the buttons over time and maybe he can wear it for more than one season. Also, for all the length on the back seemed good, the front seems short. I might lengthen it overall. He is already texting me to see if I have cut the wool coating yet....

As always, more later....

A Summer Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 06 May 2012 15:38:00 +0000

Last week I finished a summer dress using a border print lawn that, pretty much like everything I have been sewing lately, has been moldering in my stash for a loooong time:

I wanted to use it for a casual dress, since I had seen a number of gathered waist or drawstring dresses in RTW recently. Here is one from ModCloth:

One from J. Jill:

One from Old Navy:

So, I decided to use a pattern from stash and try and create a similar dress. I used Butterick 5612, which was very similar to the Old Navy version, right down to the sleeves:

Except...I couldn't use the pattern for the sleeves because when I laid out the pattern on the cross-grain to use the border print....I didn't have enough fabric to make the cuffed sleeves! So, I cut the sleeves shorter and just put some elastic in the hem.

Here are some additional photos of the finished dress:

For the most part, I had no issues with the instructions but I COULD NOT figure out the instructions for the placket. So, I just constructed it the same way that I did for the Hot Patterns Superfantastic Shirt, which added a little pleat below the placket:

Because of a shortage of fabric, I cut the drawstring from the border. You can also see in this photo the little pleat added due to the construction of the placket...or can you? Really, it completely disappears in the print of the fabric:

Here is an image from the hem...I just lined the edge of the pattern up with selvedge and put a 1/2 inch hem in:

Overall, I really liked the pattern and other than my inability to figure out how to install the placket, the only issues that I had were related to using a border print and running short on fabric (changing the sleeves to gathered hems).

I also finished a couple of other projects this week. I made another shirt from the same BurdaStyle pattern used for the two western shirts. This time I left off the yoke, and actually followed the instructions for the hidden buttons...except I can't help myself where adding stuff is concerned and sewed a strip of eyelet down the placket:

I also made an apron for a friend of mine who is a pastry chef. No pattern, just just laid an apron that I had onto the fabric and cut around it.:

She has sent me some embroidered patches that she found on Etsy, so I sewed them onto the pockets:

The apron will be winging it's way to California on Monday. This week I will probably finish...nothing. It is finals week, so I will have a ton of grading to do....so, I'll catch you when I can! Have a great week!

Two New Work Shirts

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 23:09:00 +0000

This week I finished up two projects that had been hanging out in my "to do" pile for a while, a shirt from the Hot Patterns Deco Vibe Neat and Sweet Blouse pattern and also a pleated T-shirt from a new pattern company, Salme.

First up, the Deco Vibe blouse:

This is one of the Vintage Hot Patterns. It's been in my pattern stash for so long that I don't even know if I bought it as a "vintage" pattern...or just bought an original version when it came out. I have been loving the tie neck blouses of late (as evidenced by the vast number of them sewn last year).

For this quick version, I made it using a floral charmeuse. The fabric did present a couple of challenges...for one, the rolled hem on the sleeve made the hem very stiff...and as a result, it doesn't drape as well as it does in the illustration.

Second, the back is very full. It is small at the hem, but it seems like there is too much fabric above the waist and it poufs out. You can see that the shirt could stand to be wider at the hem, so it would not bind up on my hips. Not that I am going to let that keep me from wearing it...I just tucked it in and went to work.

The pants are a pair from the "2009: A Pants Odyssey," when I made somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 pairs of pants trying to figure out fit. This is a pair that I hadn't been able to get into in a while but I kept them anyway. Given weightless, I can fit back into them but you can see what has happened to the back leg due to the change in body shape.

Second, the Salme blouse:

I used a feather printed poly crepe from a local fabric store. One of the things I found when I was sewing is that the front pattern piece, after all the pleats are sewn into it, is about an inch and a half shorter than the back piece. I ended up trimming off the excess, but you can see when the shirt is on that it is just about as short as you would want it to be. In fact, it's too short to tuck in. I missed it when I made my muslin because I just folded out the pleats on my pattern piece and made the front flat...the front piece ended up shorter, but I just assumed that it was me not being precise with my folds in the pattern piece. I make my patterns using soil separator cloth, so it's not like creasing a piece of paper.

Overall, it is a comfortable shirt. I think in future iterations I will scale down the the neckline and shoulders to a smaller size and raise the armscyes. You can't lift your arms to shoulder height without lifting the entire shirt, and normally that means that the armscye is too long, or the sleeve cap is too high. In the meantime I will just not pick up anything above waist level.

I probably won't get anything done this weekend, because I am leaving on a trip for work tomorrow...to lovely Utah. I keep trying to convince the administration that the campuses that REALLY need training are the ones in London and Vienna...but so far it's been Kansas, Utah, and Arkansas.

Summer Sewing, Continued

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 17:02:00 +0000

After last week's progress made with pants, I took some time to make some plans for summer sewing and also to start to muslin a couple of patterns.

This weekend I worked on a pattern from a new (to me) pattern line: Salme Patterns. They have a shop on Etsy, and when you order the pattern, you receive an email with a PDF that can be printed and taped. The patterns do not include seam allowances, so they are very much like a Burda pattern. I ordered the pattern for the pleated t-shirt:

On Saturday, I completed a muslin. I cut a size 16, and made some small alterations after the muslin. The most significant issue was a fold between the bust and shoulder, and I had to make some alterations at the armscye. It really needs a bust dart, but the pleats make that very difficult. If this turns out to be a pattern that I make more of in the future, I may attempt a dart like the horizontal one on the left, and see if I can line it up with the first pleat:

This image is from an article in Threads, Nov 2008, regarding fitting the armhole to fit the bodice. You can find the full article here: link.

One of the issues that I had to deal with is that the shirt is very boxy, which is not good for someone like me who is a bit heavier. If I were tall and thin, it would not be an issue at all. The side seams are perfectly straight, so I also contoured the waist (tapering in to a size 12) and added a slight amount (1/4 inch at each side seam) to the hips.

If you do the same, when you redraw the waist, to make sure your contouring is matching in the front and back, fold up the pattern so you fold out the pleats and then contour. The resulting shirt is very clean, very simple, and could be very versatile depending on whether you use a solid or a print. It is also a way to use some very decadent fabrics without spending an arm and a leg, since it takes only 2 yards of 45 inch wide fabric, and 1 1/4 of 60 inch wide fabric.

After completing the muslin, I purchased a navy poly faille from a local fabric store that was printed with multicolored feathers:

Hopefully I will have an opportunity this week to finish it up.

I have a small set of projects "in the pipeline" to hopefully augment my work wardrobe this summer. First is a dress from this border print lawn:

I have already cut out Butterick 5612, with the blue border at the hem. I also have a beige twill and a navy twill for pants, which I desperately need. I am considering refitting either a basic Burda with a narrow leg, or the ubiquitous Alice and Olivia bootcut pant from Vogue:

Both of the twills came from my local Hancock's, where I also found on a clearance table to $6.00 a yard a very sweet silk chiffon. I have enough to make a shirt with a tie collar, and two options for patterns...a Butterick with princess seams, or a Hot Patterns with darts and gathers at the shoulders and back yoke.

I also have a lightweight wool in a british khaki that matches a striped shirting that I have had in stash for a while. I was thinking pants and a men's style shirt with white collar and cuffs, possibly even french cuffs.

There are also a few fabrics floating around in stash that may or may not see the light of day this summer. I have a pile of charmeuses and georgettes that would make lovely dresses....

And a couple of bottom weight fabrics that have been aging in stash for a while, including a blue striped ivory wool, a pinstriped taupe silk/cotton for pants, and a white pique that with lining would make nice pants:

For now, I am not going to make any massive plans, since I have been a bit slow to get back into sewing. I don't want to overwhelm myself with making a plan for a giant capsule. If I get through the dress, 3 pants, and 2 shirts that I laid out above, I will consider that a successful summer.

Back to Pants Fitting

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:14:00 +0000

Over the weekend I made a version of Burda 7447, a narrow-leg pant. I desperately need pants, as everything I have is either too small or too large. But, I have been very hesitant to sew pants because I find them so difficult to fit.

This is not the first time I have made these pants, but the pair that I had initially made for the PR Endless Combinations Contest no longer fit:

For the original pair I started with a size 20, and added one inch at the side seams on the back pattern piece. For the current pair, I removed that and used as a base for alteration a size 18. While I am happy to be down in size, it is frustrating that I am pretty much back to "square 1" in pants fitting.

A few years ago, I dedicated myself to MONTHS of pants fitting. In the process of figuring out how to fit my body, I made somewhere in the range of 35 pairs of pants. And then, I gained weight. After nearly a year of sewing almost nothing for myself, I am now back to sewing again.

I am currently losing weight, but for the first time also working out, skating, and biking. I am back to a smaller size, but I can't just use those smaller patterns from before because my body shape has also changed...now in addition to all the other alterations issues, I have to deal with full front thighs as well as a rounder bottom.

After racking my brain trying to decide what alterations and how much to make...I threw my hands in the air and just cut (cheap cotton twill from stash, if I remember correctly it was about $3.00 a yard from a clearance table, so no great loss if they were a disaster).

Surprisingly, they were much better than I expected.

Here is the final product, which gives me a base to determine additional alterations for future pairs:

Granted, the fit is better than anything I have purchased in RTW recently (no back waist gape at all, legs wide enough that I can actually pull them up), but still work to be done. In the front, there are some wrinkles across the front thigh and radiating out from the crotch that are probably related to my having fuller front thighs. This can be rectified with an alteration that widens the front pant leg piece. Here is a link for a diagram at the Sewing Divas Blog: link. I think I could also stand to extend the front crotch curve just slightly.

Part of the creases across the leg, especially in the back leg, is because of the narrow leg of the pant itself. You can never get rid of all the creases in a jean, for example, otherwise you wouldn't be able to move. Take a look at the model on the pattern cover...she has under-butt creases, too. But what I have going on there can be lessened by better fitting, probably increasing the alterations I have already made.

As for those alterations already made:

I added a wedge to back to raise waistline
Increased size of back waist darts (I would have added these if the pant did not have them already)
Extend back crotch curve
Shift legs closer to center and redraw inseam and side seam ("knock-knee" alteration)

I think that I will also try my alterations on a pant with a wider leg, because I would like to know just how much of what I see in the photo is from the narrow leg (or, I guess I could just photograph myself in a pair of narrow jeans and compare).

I have a length of khaki suiting, and a length of navy suiting that will both make good pants for spring, so hopefully I'll be able to get the alterations figured out before the weather changes again.

Why Do I Get Myself Into These Things?

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:04:00 +0000

The past few weeks I have been working frantically getting together a shirt that will be featured in a silent auction to benefit the roller derby team that I skate with. In a fit of insanity, while we were planning our fundraiser, I said "I can make an embroidered western shirt for the silent auction." Then 20 minutes later I came to my senses and thought "WHAT HAVE I DONE????"

Anyway, I pulled myself together and thought..."I can DO this!" Here is the final product:

The embroidery is based on classic tattoo flash:

In making this shirt, the first challenge that I had to address was that I had no pattern for a western shirt. I wasn't enamored of many of the patterns that I had in my stash from the Big 4, so I checked some of my old issues of BurdaStyle, and found in the August, 2009 issue this pattern:

Granted, this looks absolutely NOTHING like a western shirt, but without the pocket and ruffles, it was a good starting point, with a nice shape. So, I just drew my own pattern for the yokes and then traced the artwork that I wanted to use onto my fabric:

Then I just started stitching:

Three years later, I was finished. The shirt was cut from a straight size 44, and made from a black stretch sateen. I used purchased piping in lime green, and the yokes, cuffs, and collar were a fairly stiff quilting cotton. I chose quilting cotton because I wanted it to stand up to the abuse of the embroidery. To keep the stitching from coming out, I fused interfacing on the back of the stitches after the embroidery was complete. I used pearl snaps from Snapsource.com for the closures.

Because I wanted that shirt FOR MYSELF, I couldn't help myself and made a second (non-embroidered) for myself:

For this one, I used pink piping rather than lime. The skull fabric is a quilting cotton purchased a million years ago, which then languished in the stash since I thought it was adorable, but had no clue what to do with it. I also got HOT PINK pearl snaps from Snapsource. Their packages of 10 are exactly enough for a shirt:

This shirt was made from exactly the same pattern as the first except I gave it a touch extra room from the waist to the hips. When I tried on the first one, the back bound up a bit because it wasn't wide enough to drop down over my hips. So, about an extra inch in total (so really, just 1/4 inch on each side seam) was plenty.

The auction is this Saturday, and hopefully the embroidered shirt will bring in some good bids. I'll let you all know how it goes!

Two Things...

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 17:52:00 +0000

First things first...This week I have been working on a project completely unrelated to any of my planned sewing. I have been working on an embroidered western shirt that will go into a fund-raising silent auction. I have until March 31 to finish it, and right now I am about 2/3 of the way finished with the embroidery. The silent auction is part of a fundraiser for my roller derby team, so given the audience I used vintage tattoo flash to create the embroidery. Here is the tracing:

I used the more traditional motifs, such as nautical stars, roses, and sparrows. I have a black stretch sateen for the shirt itself, and some lime green piping to go along the edges of the yoke. I am using a BurdaStyle pattern for a shirt with both bust and waist darts for shaping, and I have pearl snaps for closures.

The yoke itself is just an overlay that goes over the shoulders, so I just used the shirt pattern to trace off the pieces. It was simple enough to transfer the pattern to the fabric, I just laid tracing paper underneath my drawing and used a knitting needle to run over all the lines...the pressure then transferred the tracing to the fabric.

Here is a closeup of one of the finished front yokes:

To keep the stitches from coming out with wear, I took a piece of fusible interfacing (Fashion Sewing Supply, of course) and pressed it over the stitches on the back. It won't show, because that will be in between the layers of fabric on the yoke. Here are the finished fronts:

The eventual results will be very similar to this shirt I made for my husband:

I did say that I had two things...the second thing is a shout-out for Fashion Fabrics Club. I know that a lot of people hate their slow shipping but let me tell you how awesome they are.

I recently purchased four lengths of fabric from them, and because their warehouse is about 4 miles from my house, I always just go into their front office and pick up my order rather than have it shipped. Their slow shipping is because of some unholy alliance between FedEx and USPS...they always have my orders ready to pick up in a couple of days.

Anyway, I have a terrible habit of not entirely READING the fabric descriptions and one of the fabrics that I selected was laminated (how did I miss that?). So when I got there and saw it I was a bit confused. The ladies in the front office took a look and one of them said "Oh, you know, we have that exact fabric in a non-laminate. Let me get one of the warehouse guys to get it down."

Except it was 10 minutes till 5, and the warehouse was already closed and locked up.

So, rather than saying "Sorry. Come back tomorrow" she opened up the warehouse, climbed all the way to the top shelves, pulled down the fabric along with 3 more similar ones just in case I wanted to look at those, brought them to the office and rolled it out and cut it right there on her desk.

Anyway, I know that going TO the warehouse isn't an option for most people, but even if I did have to wait for shipping, I would still be a loyal customer at FFC. Their prices are better by far than most other vendors, and occasionally you get one that isn't exactly what you expect...but with their prices, I just use it for muslins (and let's face it, normally when I get one I don't expect, it's because I didn't read the description to begin with and made assumptions based on the photo). But, reopening the warehouse at 10 minutes to five is really above and beyond; not to mention with thousands of fabrics, WHO can actually look at something and say "Oh, yeah...we have another version of that one?"

I'll have a finished western shirt soon...stay tuned, and I hope the rest of the embroidery turns out well...

Making Tentative Plans

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 20:31:00 +0000

Since I have slowly been getting back into sewing, I have been tentatively making plans for upcoming garments. By this time last year, I would have had 40 different fabrics laid out, making plans for spring and summer sewing! But this year, since I am just getting back into the swing of things, my plans are much more tentative.

I also just. can't. pass. up. a fabric sale, and I succumbed to the recent cotton sale at Fashion Fabrics Club and got two pieces of lawn (plus additional for underlining) for summer dresses. Although this one makes me think of the Portlandia skit "Put a Bird on It," it looks very "Anthropologie" to me and I think it will make a great shirt dress:

Thanks to the super-sale prices, I also got some ivory eyelet, and ivory lawn for underlining:

I am leaning towards using McCalls 4769, a pattern that I have made before:

I've made the shorter version in the past and the shape and fit is very nice. It's also a classic, so with the right styling you can get a retro vibe without resorting to vintage patterns with the challenges of having to completely change the proportions, working with only a single size in an envelope, etc.

I won't get a chance to do much this weekend because I am leaving for a conference for work on Sunday, and will be in Arkansas through Wednesday.

In other news, our very first exhibition bout will be March 11th for our roller derby league. I have been working hard to pass my minimum skills tests so that I can play. The big stumbling block for me right now is speed. You have to be able to do 25 laps in 5 minutes, and so far my best time has been 5:21.

I'll keep you posted on the progress with the dresses...and the 25 in 5. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

HotPatterns Superfantastic Shirt and more Derby Sewing

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:21:00 +0000

Today I finished a "first version" of the HP Superfanstastic Shirt. I would call it a muslin, but it only needs some minor changes for the final version, so I'll call it a "first version." Had it not been wearable, THEN it would have been a muslin. See how that works?

Two hints in making this shirt...make sure you trace carefully and transfer your markings for the front placket very carefully, and second, watch the construction video. The placket construction is actually much, much easier than it appears on the pattern. You can find a link to the video on the HP website.

Anyway, here is the finished shirt. I used an inexpensive lightweight twill from fabric.com. It is a poly-cotton blend, so it wasn't fabulous to sew with, but perfectly serviceable for a muslin:

The one change that I will make is to shorten the darts and angle them slightly lower. On me, the darts are not as high as they are on the dress form, which was padded to match my heavier self. Here is a closer photo of the center placket. You can see that the placket forms a little pleat in the front that if you have a bit of a tummy, it will do a bit of camouflage.

The rest of the construction is fairly standard, there is not a ton of ease in the sleeves, so you can sew them in flat, which is very convenient. The shirt also has some nice menswear-style details like a back yoke, center pleat, and sleeve placket.

I will make another version, but I think that a lighter weight fabric will be the way to go. I have a whole pile of lawns in the stash to choose from. I also used my new (to me) Singer 301 for all the construction. It is a great little machine, that has a perfect stitch. Since I was using the serger to finish the seams, the fact that it was straight-stitch only didn't matter at all.

It also came with it's own button hole attachment, you can see how little it is compared to the 1960's version I use on my 401, 503, and 603e:

I have also been doing more Roller Derby sewing. This week it has been numbered arm bands. If you don't have arm bands with your number on it, you have to write your number on your arm with a marker so the refs can see who you are.

I made a pair of arm bands for myself, and when people saw them they decided that they wanted some, too. So I made a bunch. They are pretty simple, all you need is some black t-shirt knit and some white fabric to do your numbers on. I start by tracing the numbers, then I use a transferrable marker to make an iron-on stencil. I got some transferrable pens from amazon that work great for this:

Then I use a very short zig zag stitch to outline the numbers and sew them to the black band:

Then make a tube, leaving a small opening in the seam to turn them, close the ends, and attach your velcro:

Now, no more drawing on ourselves with sharpie!

As ever, more updates later. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Some Plans for Spring and a New Version of the HP Three Graces Tee

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:55:00 +0000

Getting back in the sewing room has made me start thinking about what I would like to sew, rather than just finishing things that were already lying around the sewing room. I go to Anthropologie for inspiration quite a bit. You can go look at the fashion shows on Style.com...but those are a bit more avant garde than what I can wear to work smack in the middle of the country. So, I tend to default to the Anthropologie-style quite often since it is not as staid as Ann Taylor and Talbots, but still appropriate for my lifestyle.

Poking around the Anthropologie site the other day, I stumbled on this dress:

I really love the ease of it. So pretty! But, there are three problems with it:

It is yellow. No offense to those who like yellow, but I look like Walking Dead in yellow.
It has a gathered skirt. Gathered skirt, plus wide hips and big butt equals unflattering.
It is $398.00. Three hundred-WHA? It's not even a complex pattern. I bet every piece in there is just a gathered rectangle! $398.00?????

Aaaannnyway....December 2011, this pattern was in BurdaStyle:

There are a couple of things that make this dress a little bit better than the version in Anthropologie:

The skirt is not gathered all the way around, it is only gathered at the center front and center back.
Look at those adorable sleeves!
Seams for shaping in the bodice, not just gathering.

I also have a length of charmeuse that I think would be super-cute as a dress, and...is not yellow:

Isn't that fabric cute? And let's face it, I was probably just going to make ANOTHER pussy-bow blouse with it. To go with the 4 already in my closet.

In other sewing, I finished a version of the HotPatterns Classix Nouveau Three Graces Tee that had been lying around the sewing room:

I used a rayon jersey burn-out that was much more sheer than it had appeared online. So I thought the draping and multiple layers on the front of the shirt would help prevent show-through. You can see just how sheer the fabric is here:

the back remains pretty sheer, but a cami underneath would be just fine:

I did make some minor changes to the pattern. I had made this once before, and while I was happy with the way it looked I found that the "cowliness" of the neckline bothered me. Combined with all the crossover, that cowl added a lot of fabric to the front of the shirt, and I found myself fiddling with it all the time and eventually safetypinning it down under the drape.

So, I altered the front pattern piece to be more of a scoop neck that was hidden behind the drape rather than a cowl:

To do this, I just redrew the center front piece:

I also made one other minor change to the construction, and that was to sew down the back facing. I really like the back neck facing on these shirts, but I don't know if it is my fabric, or my choice in interfacing or what, but that facing ALWAYS wads up on my shirts. So, I sewed it down:

More UFOs Finished

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:14:00 +0000

So the quest to complete UFOs continues...

I tend to cut out a lot of patterns at a time, so that way I can sew any time I want to and not have to worry about cutting (which is probably my least favorite part of sewing). Because I have this habit, there are PILES of patterns already cut out in my sewing room, including piles of the same pattern cut out in different fabrics.

Since I have been trying to finish the unfinished objects, I just grabbed a pile and started working...this pile happened to be cardigans, as well as some shirts to make twinsets. All were cut from McCalls 5978, a very basic but classic pattern. Here is one of them, made from a leopard print sweater knit from Fabric.com:

And here is the whole batch:

There are 4 cardigans, the leopard print, and then red, black, and white...all also from a rayon/lycra knit from Fabric.com. There was also a top cut from the leopard using New Look 6735. Normally I am not a huge fan of New Look patterns, but the shirt in 6735 has some really great characteristics. The front is cut longer at the bust than in the back, so there is some shaping there, as well as some shaping at the waist. There is also a center back seam (although I don't use it, I just cut it on the fold) if you need to make a swayback adjustment. There is also a turtleneck made from the ubiquitous BurdaStyle 09-2010-121 in the black knit

Also, per a number of requests, here is the tunic from the previous post "on the hoof." I wore it to work on Wednesday, and got lots of compliments. It is also pretty comfortable. In a cotton, it makes a great summer shirt...but in the charmeuse it is plenty heavy for winter.

This photo is about 25 pounds down from the last time I posted any photos of myself on this blog, which was not even at my heaviest. In fact, there is very little photographic evidence of my highest weight. Probably the photo below is the best example, every other photo from that time period I have strategically placed a husband, niece or nephew directly in front of me so the true extent of my weight gain was largely undocumented.

Since that photo was taken, I went back on Weight Watchers, and got active...biking, kettlebell, and roller derby. I still have a long way to go, but you can definitely see the difference that 25 pounds makes in my workout clothes. Here is me ready to go skate:

My preference for all black workout clothes doesn't really help in illustrating physical changes, but so much skating has resulted in a big change in the overall shape of my body...as in, instead of getting smaller, the butt got bigger.

I can live with a big butt. At least I know how to adjust a pant pattern for it.

I have also gone from a BMI of 34 to one of 29...and 29 is almost out of the risk area. Ideally, I would like to lose another 30 pounds, but would be happy with just overall good health. Even as a youth, I was never active or athletic...so the idea that in kettlebell I can lift half my body weight above my head...or that I can skate for 2.5 hours at a time...or that I can ride my bike 20 miles...all of those things are completely astounding to me. So really, the weight loss is secondary to improving my health overall.

Hopefully, I will have a chance to sew a bit more this weekend...perhaps something much more exciting than a drab old cardigan.

Slowly Getting Back to Sewing (and Blogging)

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Since this is my first blog post in MONTHS...I should probably explain what has kept me away for so long. As many of you know, I have struggled with hidradenitis suppurativa, and unfortunately one of the treatments is massive doses of steroids. If you flip back through these blogs you can also see me growing in size from said steroids. Go through them fast, it's like a cartoon! Last summer I made the decision that I was going to seek alternate treatments and attempt to reverse the weight gain from the steroids. To that end, I started riding my bike. Not very far at first, but working up to 20 miles at a time. Because my weight was fluctuating so much, I basically quit sewing anything at all, because it wasn't worth the effort to try and fit anything.

When winter arrived, I had to seek out other outlets, and started working with a personal trainer who specializes in kettlebell. I also joined a roller derby league. Yes, roller derby. In fact, it was roller derby that rekindled my interest in sewing, because I was asked to make "helmet panties," the helmet covers that denote who can score points in a jam:

After completing many, many sets of "panties," I was bitten by the creative bug once again and started sewing for myself. The first thing I did was start finishing up the UFOs that were lying around the sewing room, including a charmeuse tunic I had started on in June.

This tunic was inspired by a Pucci tunic that I saw online some time in 2010. Of course, it was much too expensive for me, so I thought...I can make that.

I have long contended that sewing does not save money. However, that is not an entirely accurate statement. In today's world of discount retailers like Old Navy/Target/WalMart/Cato and their massive inventories of cheap goods manufactured in overseas factories without care for basic human needs such as a minimum wage or laws against child labor...there is no way that a home sewer can beat the prices. $30.00 jeans and $8.00 t-shirts? Fabric alone is more expensive.

On the other hand...if your skills are good, you can refine the fit of patterns, and you are willing to take on more complex designs, you can make some beautiful garments that are similar to designer goods. For example, this Pucci tunic retails for $885.00:

$885.00!! For a shirt!!! Gorgeous though it may be, there is NO WAY that I would ever spend that much on a single item of clothing (even if I COULD afford it). I am sure that it is made from a scrumptious silk...that is probably so delicate I would fear to wear it.

On the other hand, I am a complete SUCKER for a charmeuse. So many fabric retailers have available an incredible number of vibrant fabrics...and let's face it, I just cannot pass up a wild charmeuse, even if it is polyester. Plus, I have a trick for sewing with charmeuse that doesn't work on dry-clean only silk....

If you have a slippery, slithery poly charmeuse that is fighting you while you are trying to work with it...just starch the heck out of it. When I have a charmeuse that I want to sew, I hang the whole length of fabric over the shower rod and just spray it all with heavy starch. Let it dry, and then cut out your pattern. It will stay stiff, and won't slip and slide all over while you are trying to sew.

Anyway, given $15.00 worth of poly charmeuse and an OOP McCalls pattern, a reasonable facsimile of said Pucci tunic can be made:

It feels great to be back in the sewing room...and there are dozens more UFOs to work on. Hopefully, I'll have some more updates soon...

Finding and Following RTW Trends

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 03:05:00 +0000

Normally when I am purchasing fabric and planning projects, I make an attempt to locate something similar through snoop shopping some of my favorite RTW locations. One of the reasons that I do this is because if your goal is to make something that is current, fashionable, and cannot be readily identified as handmade...it is important to make sure that you are following current trends. Some of the things that I look for in snoop shopping are:

Fabric type
Colors and prints
Details like buttons and embellishments

For example, patterns often make recommendations for buttons that are much larger than what you typically see in RTW clothing. Also, fabric stores do not necessarily carry all the current trends/prints in fabrics. When I deviate from following the "rules," I find that I start to cross the line into "Becky Home-Ecky," as Michael Kors says on Project Runway.

My most recent project is one of the best examples I have put together lately of following the RTW trends.

Earlier in spring, I had saved to my "inspiration" folder the following shirt that I had seen on the Anthropologie website:

Then...I found some really nice cotton lawn on the FFC website:

Combine this with Hot Patterns 1043, the Vintage HotPatterns Boho Deluxe Peasant Top:

And....voila! My Anthropologie knockoff!

Unlike the newer Hot Patterns, this one has un-illustrated instructions that are separate from the rest of the pattern sheets. Even though, I found the top to be easy to put together. It is a simple raglan sleeve top, just like one of a million I have put together before. There are two options for necklines, a flat neck band with the shirt gathered onto it, or a casing with gathering. I opted for the flat neck band since it looked a little more finished to me. Be sure to make yourself a "tag," otherwise you can't really tell the front from the back!

I got impatient sewing it...and when I didn't have the right color thread, rather than wait for a trip to the fabric store I just used white thread. I think it looks fine:

As always with new Hot Patterns, I always sew a muslin. There is nothing really to show here, other than my proof that I am actually SEWING FROM STASH!

The only thing I learned from the muslin was that I needed to contour the side seams more, and shorten the top by 2 inches. It's actually pretty handy using a plaid for muslins because the grid helped me move the alterations from the top to the pattern...you always have a line or some other marker that you can measure to or from. Oh, I also learned that I am too damn old for tiny puff sleeves. No worries, though, the shirt will not go unloved...a co-worker has already laid claim to it!

Happy Snoop Shopping, All!

Another Summer Tunic, Simplicity 2365

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 00:11:00 +0000

It seems that tunics are kind of my "thing" this summer. I have already completed two others, and this weekend I finished up a version of Simplicity 2365, a tunic with shoulder princess seams and a pintucked bodice. 2365 is very similar to Simplicity 3786, except 2635 has a center back seam. I had initially purchased 3786, but noticed the lack of shaping to the back and reconsidered.

Simplicity 2365 is one of those patterns that suffer from some really unattractive pattern art...which seems to obscure the fairly nice lines of the pattern (not the one with the belt, that one is awful). Sometimes the line drawings can be so frumpy...Kwik Sew is guilty of this, too. I pass them over all the time for being old fashioned...until I see a review on PR that looks fabulous and I have to go back and reconsider.

Fortunately for me and my tunic obsession, it also seems that tunics are popular in RTW this season. For example, I found one with similar pintucks on Bluefly.com:

Bright colors and florals are certainly in right now:

Given that, I felt fairly confident that the tunic that I was making would not be off-trend for the season:

I used a floral printed dotted swiss, in shades of pink and white:

I used the sleeve option with the button tab that would hold them when they were rolled up. My grandma loved these kinds of sleeves. Think I will immediately start tucking kleenex up my sleeves and complaining about being cold?

I also used french seams throughout so that it would look cleaner when the sleeves were rolled up and also so a serged seam would not show through the light-weight fabric. I even managed a french seam on the armscye...something that I hadn't attempted before. Starting with that skinny seam allowance actually made easing the sleeve cap a lot easier, I may just start doing this all the time:

I ordered a couple more lawns from the recent sale on cottons at Fashion Fabrics Club, one could be a ringer for the navy and white Anthropologie tunic pictured above. Hopefully I'll get a few more summer shirts out of the way before it gets too hot. I also have been working on some alterations to the Hot Patterns Summer in the City shirt...stay tuned...it is massively different than the first version! I also need to put together a few pairs of drawstring pants to slouch around in...so I'll have quite a bit of sewing on my plate the next few weeks.

New HotPatterns Shirt

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 12:57:00 +0000

This weekend I completed HotPatterns 1108, the "Weekender Sunshine Summer in the City Shirt, Tunic and Dress." I made the shirt version. Here is the pattern art:

And here is the description from the HotPatterns website:

"Easy, breezy and totally gorgeous shirt style, this works best in drapey shirt weight fabrics like soft chambray, rayon, crepe, silk twill, washed linen, voile, or even a knit jersey.

Semi-fitted shirt has classic collar and stand; front and back are gathered onto a yoke. Choose from 3 lengths...shirt, tunic or shirtdress, all finished with a shirt-tail hem. Shirt offers 3 different short sleeve options... rolled up with buttoned strap; elasticated; and ruched with self fabric drawstring.

Perfect for casual weekend looks but also great for low-key day or evening outfits, this beautifully relaxed style is a must-have addition to your HotPatterns wardrobe...wear the dress version belted for a casually chic outfit; try the shirt version tucked into a slick pencil skirt and wear the tunic version over slim or relaxed-fit cropped or rolled-up pants."

From my experience with this pattern, I can say that you must follow the fabric recommendations. I think that mine might even have been a bit stiff. I'll launder it a couple of times to see if the gathers calm down, but I pressed the gathers down on the back to keep it from "pouffing" (of course, if you watch the video posted on the website, Trudy's pouffs on the back, too).

Number two, there was a little oddness when attaching the shirt fronts to the yoke. If I matched the notches exactly...this is what I ended up with:

The portion to the left in the image is the shirt front (button placket to the top of the image) and the yoke is to the right. You can see there is a bit of offset at the end of the yoke. So, I did this:

And that seemed to work perfectly fine, the end of the yoke seam is hidden in the collar stand, and the collar stand fits perfectly. Here is the finished shirt:

The sleeves look a bit forlorn just hanging there on the mannequin, but in reality they are quite cute. I guess you could say they are kind of a modified Kimono sleeve.

Here is the shirt from the back:

You can see that the back is heavily gathered. The gathers are a much softer look than pleats.

And here is the shirt ready to go to work:

You can see the length since I opted not to tuck it in. This is the shirt length. I found the shirt to be a bit roomier than what I normally wear, being a bit heavy I normally try to avoid extra volume in my clothes. To minimize the volume I ended up belting it to wear it to work today.

There also seems to me to be a little too much fabric under the arms...I know that with a kimono-type sleeve there is always going to be fabric folded under the arms, but I thought that I could minimize that in a second version (I started the alterations this evening after work, which everything was fresh in my mind).

When I make it again I will make two changes:

I will use a significantly smaller size. I cut a 16 based on my measurements (and this is why you should always make a muslin, of course, I didn't) and I have a LOT of extra width, which bunches up under the arms. I realize that with the drop shoulders this is going to happen regardless, but I just feel that it is a bit too much. The neck is also a touch big, so I think I might go down as far as a 12 for a second version.
I will eliminate some of the fullness in the back and contour the side seams more. Right now, the shirt cannot be worn unless it is belted or tucked in...although if I get pregnant this will be my "go to" (banish the thought, I'm too old and my eggs are expired). Not that this is necessarily a problem, I have lots of shirts I only wear tucked in...but if I were to make the tunic length it would be intended to be worn out...not tucked. And right now the fullness is fine for the dress or for the shirt, because either of those would be tucked in or belted.

Overall, a nice addition to the wardrobe for the summer...not to mention, I used fabric as well as buttons from stash...Yay for not buying more stuff!

The Worst Blogger in the World

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Tue, 17 May 2011 22:41:00 +0000

Yes! It is Me!

Seriously, I am THE WORST. I have been a terrible blogger, and an even WORSE blog-friend. I haven't had any time to comment on any one's blogs; I'm reading...but no one knows that if you aren't commenting.

My excuses are lame....too busy at work, too busy at home. I finally have all the car issues settled, and the moment that that was all dealt with, I heard from the furniture store that the couch that I ordered (and paid for, mind you) in DECEMBER was now ready for delivery. I tell you, this this the last time I order custom furniture. From now on, if it's not on the floor and ready for pick-up, I don't want it. I am discovering that I am not a "custom couch" kinda gal.

On the other hand, new furniture does in turn require a full "re-do" of the living room. Which in turn required lots and lots of fabric samples.

The couch is red...so the "main" fabric for the room will be this one:

Of course, this matches NOTHING that is already in the room. In fact, the red of the couch makes the drapes (which are actually maroon) look brown:

So, I spent some time on Fabric.com, and ordered some half-yard lengths to see what combinations of fabrics would be good in the room. I decided on this combination:

I haven't quite decided on where the furniture will go in the room, not to mention the old furniture is shoved into the entryway until my brother gets his tail over here to pick it up, but here is what the fabrics might look like in the room:

And here are the samples that didn't make the cut:

So, I will have a few projects for the living room coming up...not the least of which is getting rid of the beige carpet that now matches nothing. Of course, I have no idea what is under it and am completely prepared that what I might have to resort to is a painted floor until it can be replaced with hardwood. In the meantime, I can start planning my pillows and curtains. Oh, and never fear that the samples will go to waste, because I also got the pattern for the Amy Butler Gum Drop Pillows:

I have enough fabric that I can use a different one on each panel, which might be a good way to work in some of the wilder fabrics that I got samples for. Not that I need to add any extra seating with the ridiculously huge couch....

In other news, sewing lessons with my friend Michelle continue. She has successfully completed two shirts, and she is in the process of making a dress. Today she texted me...with a photo...of the Singer 503 she bought today. I think we have a convert!