Assorted Notions

Jenna's holiday duet dress

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 20:00:00 +0000

I was catching up on TV this week, including the December 10, 2009 episode of 30 Rock (Secret Santa), and don't you think Jenna's dress here looks just like Cynthia Steffe - Vogue 1151?

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:26:00 +0000

Pattern: Simple Embroidered Stockings from the Purl Bee blog. Obviously I omitted the most time consuming part from the Purl Bee pattern, the hand embroidered initials!

Fabric: Quilting cotton from Joann. I was in there buying a Dritz maternity band (I'm planning to convert a pair of RTW pants) and the holly print seemed a perfect gender-neutral and modern print for the stockings.

I actually made three stockings, the third one in ivory for the new family member we'll have next Christmas, but somehow it's already temporarily packed away in the basement with all of our empty Christmas decoration boxes.

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Merry Christmas!

Germany is the place to be in December

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 06:08:00 +0000

Well! Tim and I were scheduled to return home to Seattle on Sunday, but our connecting flight to Philadelphia was canceled because of all the snow, and the airline told us we'd have to wait another 3 nights before they could fly us home. Here I was, so pleased that we had fit all of our activities, visits, shopping, etc into just under a week - I had it timed perfectly. I was completely unprepared for this, not to mention that we'd both miss more work, need to rebook our hotel, have to extend our already busy catsitter, etc. To top it off, Tim's suitcase didn't make it back with us on the return trip (yet - hopefully). Such is life. But really, if you're going to be stuck someplace in December (and you are the type that celebrates Christmas), let it be someplace in Germany, as they really know how to do Christmas right! Some trip highlights:

Christmas markets are seemingly around every corner in Munich. Much is for sale:

handmade wooden Christmas smokers, pyramids, and ornaments...

candy and chocolate...

and Gluhwein, a spiced hot red wine, essential for keeping warm on a chilly winter evening. There is an alcohol-free version too (Kinderpunsch), but it just isn't the same...

We also visited the town where my mom grew up - Kirchberg an der Murr (near Stuttgart). Her brother and a few other relatives live there, it was nice for Tim to meet my the German side of my family and have a peek into that part of my background.

This is my cousin Nina and I at the Christkindlmarkt in Ludwigsburg, a neighboring city. It was about -10C (14F) that morning.

If you like meat, you will love Germany; there are butchers everywhere.

We saw this guy in a Munich subway station one night - he was wearing a loden green green Bavarian cape and had an owl on his arm. He was fielding questions from all the fascinated people who gathered round and some people even pet the owl. You don't see that every day.

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If you emailed me during the past week, please be patient while I catch up :) I will respond to you in the next couple days.

A bad marriage of fabric and pattern

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:38:00 +0000

Thanks everyone for the well wishes for my pregnancy! As I said before, it's so nice to be able to share it here on the blog now. sewingsue, thanks for the maternity fashion blog recommendation - I've already combed through a lot of it and I'm following it in my blog reader now. Sew4Fun, I admire your ability to sense these things; I am always late in figuring these things out about others!

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Simplicity 2754

This was supposed to be my Thanksgiving Day dress. It never quite made it to the point of being wearable. This issue was my fabric choice. The pattern recommends wovens or a matte jersey, the model photos clearly show fabrics with really nice drape, but I had this vision in my head that it would look fabulous made up in my Vera Wang wool jersey, and I forged ahead, despite how heavy it is. The VW wool jersey is the kind of knit that would even work well for a semi-structured garment...

I got to this point in the construction and tried the dress on. Frankly I think the photo above looks just fine. But the issue is that the fabric is so heavy, the skirt really pulls the bodice down and after a couple of minutes of moving your arms about, doing ordinary daily activities, you get something....

...like this, in which the horizontal seam is pulled down and the bust darts just look hideous. *shudder* I made a 12, thinking I'd need the room to grow, but maybe a smaller size would have been better? Who knows. I left it alone for about a week, wondering how I might be able to salvage it, and in the end, I decided a drastic measure was called for, and I ended up....

...with this! It's my TNT t-shirt pattern. I turned it into a basic, crewneck sweater.

The dress sleeves were 2-piece with a seam along the outside of the arm, so in order to reuse the sleeves, I had to keep that long outside seam, which I think makes for a neat design feature. I added "cuffs" to the sleeves to get them to a nice length just past my wrists.

Same thing goes for the back - the dress back had a center back seam (into which I think you were supposed to insert a zipper), so now my crewneck sweater has a CB seam too.

I had a couple of questions on how I use the fusible knit hem tape that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. It's very simple really but easier to explain with pictures than words. First I fuse the interfacing to the very bottom of my hem on the wrong side of the fabric.

The hem tape is 1.25" wide, and I press the hem up just 1" wide, so that the interfacing is in the fold of the hem; this provides extra stability and helps the garment hem wear better/longer.

Now stitch the hem with your preferred method. Here I just used two rows of parallel stretch stitch on my sewing machine.

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I'm out the rest of the week for a quick trip to Germany! I'll be in Munich and near Stuttgart. Plenty of pics to come. Have a great week!

You could say this is my most important project to date

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:40:00 +0000

Baby's first booties, courtesy of Grandma

Now that I've had a chance to tell all the important peeps in my life, I'm happy (and relieved) to finally be able to share with all of you that Tim and I are expecting a new little person in our lives next year! I'm due in April and we're having a girl :)

I was tired the first couple of months but I feel fantastic right now. Just trying to stay in shape, eat well, and absorb all the ins and outs of caring for a baby. And of course, I've been checking out all the maternity sewing patterns (or lack thereof - ahem - I'm looking at you, Burda magazine!). Fortunately we're all aware that there are plenty of non-maternity options that easily accommodate a growing belly, so it's really not so bad, more on that soon.

Easy baby blanket

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:26:00 +0000

I have a friend who is due with her first baby is just a few days and I recently made her this baby blanket - it's my favorite quick baby gift to make. The pattern is from Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts, it's the "super quick + easy baby quilt" on page 42. Super easy it is - it's just batting (I usually use the craft size Warm & Natural Cotton batting) sandwiched between 2 quilting cottons. You use a machine embroidery or zig zag stitch to quilt it together in a grid pattern to prevent the batting from shifting. The most time-consuming part is tying off all the threads. I highly recommend this pattern, and the book is full of other great gift ideas.

Black Friday fabric shopping

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:30:00 +0000

As I alluded to in my previous post, I spent my Black Friday visiting fabric stores. I met up with my sewing girlfriends Cindy (who visited me a couple of months ago) and Leslie for a day of fun.

First stop, Britex in San Francisco. Britex offered their email subscribers a coupon for 30% off remnants on Black Friday. We got there right after they opened at 10 am and headed straight for the 4th floor. Even though we spent more than an hour there, we didn't buy much, each of us leaving with just one cut of fabric I think. I'm sure it won't surprise you to know that Leslie has a cut of Burberry plaid wool in her shopping bag there...

Next stop, Stonemountain and Daughter in Berkeley. Both photos the cutter took for us were slightly blurry, her arm must have still been quivering from cutting all of our fabric. I think we were there for 2 hours. We were armed with Black Friday coupons for 20% off regular priced fabrics, plus there was great stuff in the 50% off sale section upstairs.

As you can see, I stuck to basic solids that should stand the test of time (if not in the closet then in the stash). Only the cotton chambray is from Britex, the rest is from Stonemountain.

Purple is one of my favorite colors, but I have hardly any purple clothes, so I made it a point to include some in my shopping cart. The silk/cotton woven is the same type of fabric I used to make BWOF 6-2008-120 (this is even the same color) and BWOF 7-2009-104 . It is truly the most divine fabric to work with.

Stonemountain had an amazing selection of silk jerseys, a few solids and close to 20 different prints, all priced at $20/yard ($16/yard with coupon!). I was very tempted by several of the prints - you know how you carry a bolt around the store with you while you "think about it". Ultimately I stuck with a solid, neutral olive color. At 60" wide, it was a steal.

I was also thrilled to find the "Home Sewing is Easy" print by Alexander Henry. It's based on a vintage sewing booklet (a copy of which I'm lucky to own), and I didn't even know the reproduction fabric existed until Sew Tessuti shared it with us. My plan is to use it as a ironing board cover. But now I'm thinking I first want to upgrade from my 14.5" wide ironing board to something wider (18"+). Any suggestions?

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One more thing - in my previous post, I mentioned that I had found one of the Threads DVDs, Threads Industry Insider Techniques, at my public library. It is well worth watching, I highly recommend it. I can't wait to try out the pattern alteration to create a bulk-free collar. Also, Louise Cutting demonstrates the proper way to use a point turner, which was a real eye-opener for me! I always assumed you were supposed to just shove that little thing in the corner of your newly-turned-out collars (as is shown on the package in the link); Cutting's method is much more sophisticated and less likely to poke straight through and damage your fabric.

There actually is some sewing happening over here...

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:08:00 +0000

Not much, but some!

Simplicity 2850

Nothing too exciting, frankly, but can you ever have enough comfy knit tops? I bought this pattern because I really like the gathered neckband. It turned out to be very fiddly and time-consuming! I made View C, and the only change I made was to skip the elastic in the sleeve cuffs and finished it with a narrow sleeve band instead. The fabric is rayon lycra jersey from Fabric.com that I bought in June.

I do have to rave about a notion that I used for the first time - SewKeysE by Emma Seabrooke fine fusible knit interfacing. I bought this at Fabric Depot during PR Weekend Portland in May. It's basically fusible tricot that's cut 1.25" wide, used to stabilize knit hems. It fused onto my fabric easily and beautifully. I'm hooked! So much nicer than cutting interfacing strips yourself. I have a roll in black and a roll in white.

In a few hours, I'm boarding a plane to the SF Bay area to celebrate Thanksgiving with the in-laws. I'm bringing this along for the ride:

Threads Industry Insider Techniques

I love the Seattle Public Library! This is the only Threads DVD I found there, I hope they get in more soon.

On Friday, I have an exciting day planned that involves sewing friends and fabric stores...

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Bright Star

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:51:00 +0000

I made plans to go to a movie with a friend this past weekend. She suggested we see Bright Star, which I hadn't heard of before, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Directed by Jane Campion, Bright Star is the story of the poet John Keats and the girl he fell in love with, Fanny Brawne. What may be of particular interest to readers of this blog is that Fanny sews many of her own clothes and, especially at the start of the movie, there are plenty of close-up action shots of delicate hand-stitching. At their first meeting, Keats learns of her interest in fashion and asks Brawne what she thinks of his clothes; she tells him he would look better in a blue velvet jacket and I thought for sure this meant she would surreptitiously sew one up for him during the course of the movie, but no such luck for him! Anyway, she does many great pieces for herself, including what she claims is the first "triple mushroom collar" in her part of the countryside, seen in both photos here.

Photos from IMDB

If you're up for a period piece with eye candy costumes, a love story, and a tear jerker all rolled into one, this is the film for you!

Queen of the Nile

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:49:00 +0000

I spent most of my Halloween Saturday sewing my costume for a party that evening! I decided on Cleopatra several weeks ago, but in typical style waited until the last minute to sew it up.

A Google image search for Cleopatra will show you that most RTW costumes have these common features: a sleeveless white gown, a wide collar, a belt with an embellished flap hanging down at CF, armbands, and a sheer cape.

I used BWOF 3-2005-114 as a starting point for the dress, tracing just the bodice without the sleeves. I added a waist seam and drew pieces for a long split front skirt.

For supplies, my first stop was the thrift store where I found what would be the main fabrics - a king sized bedsheet ($3) for the dress, and a super wide poly dupioni pinch-pleat drape in a peachy color ($4) for the accessories.

I hit up Joann for cheap gold trims and the sheer cape fabric, which turned out to the most expensive part of the outfit at $10. I used a zipper, velcro, and elastic from my stash.

The collar and the wristbands close with velcro.

I put elastic in the armbands to help keep them tight and in place on my upper arms.

The sheer cape, edges left raw, was stitched to the CB neck and the armbands.

There are all kinds of issues with this dress that you would only allow on a Halloween costume:
- the invisible zip is a contrasting hot pink as it's all I had on hand - but is of course covered by the collar and wig
- all seams are unfinished
- the curved skirt hem is super wavy

My friend who is a professional makeup artist did my face, which is always a major treat. I'm wearing the Didi lashes by Make Up For Ever.

Tim went as a race car driver and I had a hand in his costume too - I sewed all those patches on!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Carolina Herrera fabric meets Burda jacket

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:31:00 +0000

Burda magazine 9-2009-127

I finished this jacket during my recent sewing retreat, except for the last few buttons which I was just too tired to do then. This past weekend I added those, stitched in my label, and voila, it's done.

Fabric
As described before, the fabric is wool and organza by Carolina Herrera. The pattern calls for 1 and 5/8 yards of 60" fabric, but I purchased 2 yards so I could match the plaid at the seams, and I needed every inch of that 2 yards to successfully do that! The lining is Bemberg rayon. The interfacing is Pro-Weft fusible from Sew Exciting.

Notes on construction/alterations
I considered lengthening the sleeves on this jacket but in the end decided against it. I actually don't own any 3/4 sleeve jackets yet so I figured I'd see what they're all about.

This jacket pattern does not include pockets, and I forgot to add them. Just something to consider for others who want to make this up.

I bagged the lining, using the instructions in Cecelia Podolak's Easy Guide to Sewing Jackets, like I usually do. I don't know what I would do without that book!

I briefly considered bound buttonholes but since my machine buttonhole sample turned out so nice, I went with those instead.

Conclusion
I think this would be great in a solid color with a matching skirt to wear as a skirt suit, as suggested in the magazine. The shawl collar didn't turn out as large as I was expecting, perhaps it's because of how my thick fabric affects the turn of the cloth. If I were to make this again (which I would most certainly consider), I might redraft the shawl collar to be a bit wider.

I don't think this is a jacket that I'll wear often, the fabric is a little too delicate for that, but with the right outfit and in the right weather conditions, it'll be just the thing.

Seattle BurdaStyle Club sewing retreat

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:01:00 +0000

Instead of our usual monthly meeting at Stitches, yesterday the Seattle BurdaStyle Club held an all day sewing retreat. One of our members kindly volunteered her mom's home for the event, and eight of us got together for nearly 12 hours of sewing, in addition to plenty of chatting, and snacking too.

It was raining like crazy on Saturday so it was the perfect day to stay inside and sew. Coats and jackets were the most popular item - Vineta started an incredible blue wool coat from Vogue, Amy nearly finished a fall coat from McCalls, and Cheryl traced, altered and cut Burda 10-2009-109, which really piqued my interest! Diana and Cheri both worked on woven shirts, and Stephanie mastered the blind hem on her new machine. Plus we had a special 8-year old guest who sewed up her first garment ever, a pair of leggings from Ottobre. They turned out fantastic, that young thing has a bright sewing future ahead of her.

I eased into the day with a pair of easy yoga pants, a BWOF pattern I've made before, and then I finished the jacket with the Carolina Herrera fabric I mentioned in my last post. Pics and reviews to come as soon as I get them photographed.

All in all it was a fabulous day and we all want to do it again, soon!

I am infatuated with this fabric

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:32:00 +0000

I'm still around, just haven't been doing much sewing... until this past weekend that is. I spent some quality time working on the jacket I started cutting during Cindy's visit last month.

First, a closer look at the fabric. I bought it at my local fabric shop during their annual sale; even at 30% off it was pricey, but I deserve it, right? It's Carolina Herrera, and after some sleuthing on Style.com, I discovered she used it in her Fall 2008 RTW line.

Runway pics from Style.com

It's a plaid wool, what makes it unique is that the right side is really worn and slubby, plus it has black organza stitched on in a diamond pattern.

Wrong side above, right side below

It's kind of hard to see in the photos; the darker diamonds are the areas where the black organza is.

The pattern I chose is Burda magazine 9-2009-127, a shawl collar double breasted jacket.

I used Sew Exciting pro-weft fusible in areas that needed stabilizing.

Burda tells you to fuse only the armholes on the back pieces, but I went ahead and fused more (in addition to all the hemlines). I also decided to thread trace and I'm soooo glad I did. I found that a couple of the pieces had stretched out a bit, probably when I was fusing them. I was mostly able to steam them back into shape.

On Saturday I sewed up the lining (Bemberg rayon), even before I started the jacket shell, just like Ann told us to. Ever since I read that tip, I've always sewn my lining first, and I'll never go back. Today was a furlough day for me so I got the jacket shell done. Now all that's left is to put those together and stitch some buttonholes...

Stashaholic fabric event in Seattle

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:17:00 +0000

Hey Seattle-area sewing fanatics, I recently learned of this event that is going to be happening next weekend, October 3 and 4 - it's a fabric swap/stash purge party! You can participate in one of two ways - you can sell, or you can shop. And it's not limited to fabric either, any "raw materials" like notions, sewing machines, patterns, yarn, beading supplies, scrapbook supplies, etc. are fair game.

Check out this link for more details: http://www.ourfabricstash.com/

I am going to spend this afternoon going through my stash to see what I'd be willing to get rid of - I seriously need to free up some space...

A visit from a sewing sister

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 04:37:00 +0000

I first met Cindy a year and a half ago at the Pattern Review weekend in LA. I hung out with her again at the Portland PR weekend earlier this year, and she visited me in Seattle this past weekend for a sewcation. She got a lot of work done on a trench jacket that is going to be a-maz-ing. Me? I was pretty much in the project planning phase for the majority of her visit.

If Cindy ever asks to come visit you, say yes. She is the best houseguest. The icing on the cake was when I came home from work on Friday, she was already cooking dinner! She could teach my husband a thing or two.

Conveniently, my local fabric shop, Nancy's Sewing Basket, was having their once-a-year 30% off fabric sale the weekend of Cindy's visit. We went twice, poring over every bolt of fabric and button. We were so absorbed, we forgot to take pictures both times! Several nice things came home with us after each visit, naturally...

Among other things, we both got cuts of Carolina Herrera fabric - Cindy got an amazing navy cotton/silk shirting, and I, two coatings (I'm cutting into one above).

It was a wonderful, relaxed long weekend, with lots of great food (Cindy is a great cook!) and conversation - we talked sewing, we talked life. Cindy, you are welcome back anytime!

Italy trip - part 3 - sewing stuff

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:42:00 +0000

Of course I couldn't visit Italy without checking out at least one fabric store. A Google search led me to a NY Times article on Bassetti Tessuti, said to be Rome's largest fabric store. So that was my pick.

Conveniently the store was located just a couple of blocks from the flat we rented. I saw it within my first hour of being in the city :) I waited a couple of days to actually go in though. They are doing some remodeling on the exterior, as you can see. The main entrance was closed, but there was a boy hanging out whose job it apparently was to guide us to the side entrance.

Exterior window

Inside, the store is huge. I think there are 7 different rooms, divided mostly by weave or fiber type. Oh, the bolts and bolts stacked up to the ceiling of fine Italian shirtings and suitings would make any seamstress swoon! It would be the perfect store to shop at when you have something specific in mind, they seem to have everything. I didn't take any photographs inside because there were about 3 salesmen in each room, more sales staff than customers, and I didn't feel comfortable asking...

I spent close to 30 minutes looking through the various rooms to try to pin down what I wanted. Frankly, the prices were higher than I expected. Most of what I saw and liked, nice cotton shirtings, for example, were 20-30 euros per yard. That translates to ~ US $28-42/yard. This probably helped prevent me from going crazy buying up everything. Also, it makes me realize that the Italian fabrics that are being offered at my local fabric shop or our favorite online retailers like Gorgeous Fabrics or Emma One Sock are priced very reasonably!

Ultimately I ended up choosing this animal print rayon jersey, it was 13 euros/yard (US $18/yard). This is the teal colorway, and they also had purple. Am I imagining things, or did EOS have this for sale recently?

Let me tell you about the sales process, because it was different than anything I've encountered before. First you select your fabric, and one of the salesmen in that room will cut it for you on a counter in that room. And when I say salesmen, yes, they are all men, I didn't see any women cutting fabric. Then, he writes up a sales slip with your name, and escorts you down to the cashier area. There are a few women sitting at a counter and they are separated from you by a glass partition (dangerous job?) and he gives the sales slip to one of the women and puts your fabric on a counter behind you. She types the info in to a computer and then another woman calls your name and you pay her. Then you get your receipt, and you take it to the counter where your fabric is, and another gentleman cross references your receipt with the fabric and bags it up for you. Phew!

I picked up the September issue of La Mia Boutique; like Burda and Patrones, it has a fashion-magazine type of layout with pattern sheets included to trace.

You can buy La Mia Boutique at any ordinary news kiosk like this one. Can you imagine if it were that easy for us to find sewing magazines in the US?!

Some pictures of the garments...

Maternity

Plus size

Italy trip - part 2

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 05:48:00 +0000

We spent the second half of our trip in the Amalfi coast area, it's about a 3 hour train ride south of Rome. Now I felt like our vacation was really starting!

We stayed just outside the town of Amalfi, one of the many picturesque towns dotting the coast.

View from one end of our hotel room balcony...

...and the other.

We had breakfast on the terrace in the mornings.

We sampled the local specialty, limoncello.

Bouganvilla grows everywhere. We tried to grow this in Seattle once but it died over the winter.

We spent some time sunbathing, the weather was perfect.

We saw several wedding parties, including this couple getting their pictures taken on the church steps.

It's fast and easy to take a ferry (or bus) to the other towns along the coast.

Our favorite town was Ravello which is nested high up in the hills...

...with breathtaking views.

While in Ravello, we visited Villa Cimbrone...

...and then bought some local ceramics. Then the rest of the day I was agonizing over the thought that we got ripped off, but Tim convinced me we weren't.

We kept seeing the city waste people in Rome sweeping with this style of broom, it reminds me of something out of a Grimm Brothers fairy tale.

All in all a great trip, but I'm always so glad to be back home too.

Italy trip - part 1

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:51:00 +0000

Well I've been back home for a few days now and just trying to get back into my normal sleep/work/relax schedule.

We spent the first half of our trip in Rome.

We rented a studio apartment, it was very cozy and had lots of art and books.

This is the small courtyard where our flat was located. It was in the Campo de Fiori neighborhood, if you're familiar.

This daily produce market was just a block away; we got fruit here in the mornings.

Piazzas everywhere.

A fountain outside Galleria Borghese; I thought it was going to be just another museum but the art and sculptures were spectacular, I highly recommend it.

No tourist trip to Rome would be complete without a trip to the Colosseum...

...and St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City.

Of course we ate gelato daily...

...and pizza a couple of times.

I just had to snap a pic of this - it's a shop that sells yarn and lingerie! I saw a couple of places like this.

Up next - the Amalfi coast, and sewing stuff!

What I sewed for my summer vacation

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 09:48:00 +0000

It wouldn't be a real vacation if it didn't involve some last minute sewing, right? Here's what I finished on Saturday:

Asymmetric drapey top

This is a Helmut Lang top that I knocked off. The above photos are the original garment, first photo is from Shopbop.com (I'd link to it, but it's already sold out!) and the second is me trying the top on at a local store that shall remain unnnamed because they would most certainly frown on people taking clothes into the dressing room to take photos and measurements! (I realized later that I tried the top on backwards - oops!).

The original top is a very simple design, and it's made in a really nice matte stretch silk. The neckline has a facing and the seams are finished as French seams (for $290, I'd expect no less). I wanted a similar neutral grey color, but I was unable to find a similar stretch silk locally, so I dug into my stash and pulled out (once again!) the Vera Wang Lavender Label "luxe" jersey that I got from Fabric.com. The great thing is that it meant I could leave the hems raw! I like it, but it's just not the same as the silk. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for stretch silk, but considering this top took less than an hour to make after I had the pattern drafted, not bad...

Day-to-night skirt

BWOF 12-2004-140

Gotta love digging into the Burda archives! I wanted a skirt that I could wear during the day with flats, and dress up an night with heels. The edgy front zipper meant this style fit the bill.

The fabric is a cotton woven with both blue and black threads. I think this will also look good with tights for fall/winter. It's lined with Ambience:

And this one I finished a couple of weeks ago but just now got around to taking a picture:

"Scratches" silk top

The pattern is BurdaStyle 8516 - Elinor (I made this one up for the first time earlier this summer). Only change from my last top is that I didn't pleat the sleeve hems, and this one has a shorter sleeve and bodice hem. This is another Vera Wang Lavender Label piece from Fabric.com, a silk twill that they named "scratches" on the website, so that's what I think whenever I see the top. (BTW - I had no idea that I'd get so much immediate use out of these VW fabrics, quite unusual for my fabric to go from stash to garment in 2 months or less!).

I've already worn this one a few times and I'm really happy with it. It's finished with French seams and narrow hems. The neckline is finished with self bias binding.

Phew! Now it's time for me to get a few hours of rest - we are heading to Italy (yes, I'm thinking what you're thinking - La Mia Boutique and *fabric*!!) but I won't feel truly relaxed until I'm on the plane and it's in the air. Ciao!

What to give a seamstress

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 05:35:00 +0000

Last month for my birthday, my MIL sent me a gift that would truly please any seamstress:

It was all contained in this cute tin box by Moda, which is perfect for storing notions.

This matching cut of fabric has a sewing theme, with pincushions, scissors, and irons scattered about. I'm thinking it'll be perfect for a SM cover.

Also included were materials and instructions for making this tote bag. This is perfect for me because I'm a total "bag lady" - I have reusable bags stashed everywhere.

All of it's from my favorite store in Berkeley, CA - Stonemountain and Daughter!

More cardigan madness!

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 04:55:00 +0000

If the DKNY '12 ways to wear a cozy' video and Deepika's sewalong on Pattern Review weren't enough to get you excited about the versatile jersey cardigan for this fall, check this out:

BCBG's email newsletter today featured their version of the cardigan.

Did I mention it is ridiculously easy to sew?

Follow-up on the cozy

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:44:00 +0000

Just wanted to respond to some questions about the cozy...

Nancy asked about the shape of the front pieces. You can kind of see the shape in the photo above - I am holding on to a straight edge, and there is an extra corner/angle along the front edge (it's kind of curling outward in the photo) in addition to the corner where the front edge & hem meet like on a traditional cardigan. When you tie the two top corners together, you can put it behind your neck and get that open, draped cardigan look.

Kim wondered if the Lavender Label "Luxe" jersey might not hold a knot because it feels so slick. Very smart of you to think ahead like that, I didn't! But the good news is that the fabric does hold the knot. I wore this last Saturday evening, with a knot behind my neck (like the 2nd finished garment photo in my previous post and it held fine. I did notice, though, that the knot kind of slowly slid to one side of my neck, and I had to re-center it a couple of times.

Meli88a asked if the long fronts get caught up around your legs when the cardigan is worn without wrapping. I'm not sure, I haven't tried it like that yet, but I can see how that would be really annoying if that were the case!

A few people wondered how this would work with various body types. Keep your eyes peeled when you are out shopping and try one on if you see it. I do think that if you wear a shell/tank underneath that is the same color as the cardi (like in the Simplicity photo), it'll have more of a slimming effect than if the cardi, your shell/top, and pants are all different colors, like in my photos. Or, as in the DKNY video, the model's top and pants (leggings) are the same color, which also creates a slimming effect.

Call me a cozy convert

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 04:32:00 +0000

Simplicity 2603

When this cardigan style became popular recently, I thought it was okay, but I didn't think it was "me". Then I watched the DKNY video "12 ways to wear a cozy" and I was hooked. Moreover, Adriana, Sigrid, Erica, and Tany are all sporting this look, so you know it's hot!

Fabric
Vera Wang Lavender Label poly/lycra jersey from Fabric.com. The grey color is no longer available, but this fabric has the perfect drapiness for this garment.

Notes on construction/alterations
I made a size small, and followed the envelope instructions with two exceptions: (1) I stitched the outermost edge of the CB collar to the back neckline seam to avoid exposing the elastic, and (2) I left the edges raw since the fabric doesn't fray both are just like Tany did on her version - thanks for those ideas Tany!

By the way, this is View B - the super long fronts with the 3/4 sleeves.

Conclusion
A winner! I love the versatility. Mary Beth, are you still up for a cardigan sew along? Because I will definitely be making another one of these.

Bunka - in English!

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:30:00 +0000

Major news for English speakers who love Mrs Stylebook (MSB), or those of us who want to love it but are stymied by the pattern drafting illustrations. The Bunka Fashion College has published their Fashion Course textbooks in English!

I ran into Kinokuniya last week on my way to lunch. I try to hit it up every month or two - now that I've learned to steel myself against the display of adorable craft books - just to keep my finger on the pulse of the Japanese crafting world. A big green book caught my eye, and since there was no cute picture on the cover, I knew it must mean business on the inside. Sure enough... it was Bunka Fashion Series Garment Design Textbook #3 - Blouses and Dresses. My heart started racing, literally! I flipped through it and bought it without really knowing what it was, just that I needed it.

There are currently four textbooks in the series with a fifth to be published this fall:
1 - Fundamentals of Garment Design
2 - Skirts & Pants
3 - Blouses & Dresses
4 - Jackets & Vests
5 - Coats & Capes (available later in 2009)

In the Blouses & Dresses book, Chapter 1 is dedicated to blouses and Chapter 2 is dedicated to dresses. Each chapter covers:
- A definition of the garment and its history
- Types, Designs, and Fabrics
- Designs and Pattern Drafting
- Methods of Basting, Fitting and Pattern Adjustment
- Sewing Methods
- Sewing Individual Parts (i.e. collars, plackets)

The technical drawings that are so abundant in MSB and also prevalent in the textbook, but there are also fashion sketches to show various blouse/dress styles and photographs to demonstrate various sewing techniques (all in black & white).

Here's what I think is one of the best features of this book - they show you how to make a sloper! They say the sloper can be drawn with just 3 measurements: bust, back length, and waist. From what I understand (correct me if I'm wrong, Diana), the Bunka/MSB sloper has some ease included, unlike the very fitted sloper that we usually think of. So if you want to use the MSB patterns, it's key that you start off with their sloper that includes ease.

The ISBN for Blouses & Dresses is 978-4-579-11240-1, and the books are selling for US $44.80 at Kinokuniya.

I'm hoping to spend some quality time with this textbook this fall, and mabye I'll finally be able to make use of my MSBs...

New Cynthia Rowley patterns for fall

assortednotions@gmail.com (Christina) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:33:00 +0000

I totally owe Jacqui for this one. She tipped me off about the new Cynthia Rowley patterns for fall that aren't up on the Simplicity website yet but are now available at JoAnn. I picked these up yesterday during the $1.99 sale.

2512 is a high-waisted skirt, and 2497 is a dress that's very Lucky Magazine-ish.

I also got 3503 - there are so many great versions of this dress out there, I'm kicking myself for not buying this long ago. And 2603 because I've recently developed a cardigan obsession.