Miss Make

Rifle Paper Boylston Bra

2016-07-27T06:00:00.000-04:00

Does anyone else "assign" yourself a project, and then over the next several weeks repeatedly think about how you haven't done said project yet, and stress out about it hanging over your head, even though you're the only one that knows about the project and no one will care if you never make it? No? Just me?

After making a dress out of this BEAUTIFUL rayon, I decided that I needed to make a bra from the scraps. They sat in a pile for a few months, guilt-tripping me with their presence, taunting me with their silky smooth delightfulness. Then I had a sewing weekend with some lovely ladies, and I conquered that pile of scraps.

I made a Boylston Bra, pattern by Orange Lingerie.

First let me talk about the fabric. This is about-to-be-released fabric from Cotton+Steel [my employer], designed by Anna Bond of Rifle Paper Company. This is her first fabric collection and it is so divine!

The rayon forms the outer cups, frame, bridge and straps. I love the wider fabric straps, especially how they don't look very bra-strap-ish when they poke out from under something.

[Side note: remember how bra strap headbands were a thing??]

All of the findings/notions/other fabrics were from a red bra kit from, terribly, I can't remember. I think it might have been from Arte Crafts? The foam is from somewhere else that I also can't remember. It was literally the first thing I bought when I was interested in making bras [for some reason]. Aren't I the most helpful sewing blogger??

I love the picot elastic that was in the red kit!

I attached the closure on the back with a medium satin stitch. I remember noticing this on a RTW bra and tried to mimic the same look.

Here is the inside.

I lined the frame and bridge with the red duoplex that was in the kit. I wanted a really clean finish on the inside and also was worried that a single layer of rayon would be too delicate. I was a teeny bit concerned it would end up too thick but it's totally fine.

The lining made it easy to get a completely sealed-in seam on the sides. I just sewed together the lining and shell bridges/frames, then pinned them right sides together along the sides with the powermesh band sandwiched in between. I sewed, turned right side out, topstitched, and then basted the raw edges of the the frames together.

This is my first time making a Boylston Bra, and the first time doing a foam bra. The pattern doesn't include any info about making a foam lining, but luckily there's an awesome tutorial series about it on Cloth Habit, so I used that for reference. I did it about 95% right - the foam is a little too bulky right where the strap connects, which I think is because I didn't trim it down far enough.

I used a 3 step zig zag to seam the foam cup pieces together, then used bias cut strips of the rayon to cover the seams, which I love.

As for size: I have already made several [yet un-blogged] Marlborough Bras, also by Orange Lingerie. When initially making the Marlborough I went through a little fitting process and ended up making a 34C and removing 1" total from the back band. This was actually a larger size than I should have made based on my measurements, but it worked out. So I went ahead and cut that size in the Boylston, figuring the fit would be fairly similar.

It fits pretty well, a little bit on the restrictive side but totally wearable. In an effort to use up the extra strap elastic, I used it for the bottom band, only realizing after that it's way less stretchy than the band elastic. So that's part of it. I also probably shouldn't have preemptively shortened the back band. I think that next time I will make a 34D and use the proper elastic, and that might be a little bit more comfortable.

Here it is on my headless lady friend.

This bra is really awesome on. It looks super fancy and, not gonna lie, makes the girls look pretty great.

Overall I LOVE the Boylston Bra pattern. I can't wait to make more and continue tweaking. I'm also definitely going to make it into a bathing suit at some point. See how many projects I'm assigning myself? Up over my head they go.

McCall's 7116 / Cotton + Steel Fruit Dots Rayon

2016-03-21T07:00:00.000-04:00

Should I even talk about how long it's been since I've posted?

Nah.

(Except yeah, it's been a really long time. Is anyone still reading this? Do people still read blogs? What should I have for lunch? If you can answer any of these things, comment below.)

This dress is McCall's 7116 made out Cotton + Steel Fruit Dots rayon. It has an overlapped, self-faced, gathered bodice, side zip, and bias-cut skirt. These pictures were taken after wearing it two days in a row. Let it be known that this was only because I was doing a video at work and had to have the same wardrobe, and no, I don't want no scrub. But I love this dress enough to really not have minded that much.

So here are the details:

FABRIC: Cotton + Steel Fruit Dots Rayon (Melody Miller)

I've already spent time lauding the glorious qualities of C+S rayon. If you've never sewn rayon before and want to know a good place to start, start here. C+S rayon is a teensy bit heftier and *firmer?*beefier?* than any other rayon I've worked with. It just seems to know where to fold itself, and has such a nice, non-clingy drape. It's assertive fabric. It's decisive fabric. It's fabric that knows what it wants.

The cherries also come in a deep turquoise/mustard colorway, which is equally as lovely. Luckily, the place where I was in-person-shopping only had this colorway. Phew. Dilemma avoided.

I prewashed cold and line dried. My other handmade rayon garments have not stood up well to machine drying, which I know is a rayon no-no, so I'm finally trying to be a grownup about it and actually line drying some things that need it.

PATTERN: McCall's 7116

I bought this pattern impulsively after seeing it posted on the McCall's instagram. Suggestion to purchase, obeyed.

As with any Big 4 patterns, I erred mostly on the side of smaller than what it says. My measurements are 33-27-38 and I cut a 10-12-16. The 16 was actually a size up from what I should have cut, but I'm glad I did since I would not have wanted it any smaller.

After muslining just the bodice, the front neckline edges had some serious gaping action, so I took a wedge out there by slashing across the bodice to the armscye, overlapping, and redrawing the front edge to straighten it out.

I also thought I might need to take some kind of FBA action (I'm always on the edge of needing one), as the bottom edge of the pattern piece seemed too short just under by bust. I was feeling a little adventurous so I just kind of winged the adjustment, and I think it totally worked! I slashed horizontally though the bust point, then up to it and hinged, and just lowered the two hinges by the amount of length I wanted to add. This also added some extra fullness to the gathers.

Also, the sleeve was too tight. I was about to get all complicated with the slashing and the spreading, when I realized I could just make the pleat smaller and add circumference that way. So much easier! So I added 3/4" to the sleeve, which basically just meant redrawing each pleat line 3/8" in towards the center.

THE SEWING

I squeezed this out of about 1 7/8 yards of 45" fabric, with not an inch of extra to spare. This was an amazing and stressful feat accomplished by intense pattern piece tetris-ing and much uncomfortable kneeling on floor. I had to cut everything in a single layer to get it to fit.

I added interfacing to the self faced edges of the front bodice neckline. I used fusible tricot interfacing and cut it exactly the width of the facing, so that the fabric wants to fold over right where it should.

I used to hate doing side zips for some reason, but this one went in really well (it's that fabric I tell ya), and I think it might have converted me! I wish I had a better shot of it. One little trick I always do with invisible zippers is to fuse a 1" strip of tricot interfacing to each side of the seam before putting in the zipper. This reinforces the fabric and makes everything a lot smoother and sturdier. I actually have a roll of 1" wide tricot interfacing from Wawak that is the most amazing shortcut ever, but I just searched their website and they don't seem to have it anymore. Sadness.

After finishing and trying on, I decided the skirt was just a leeeetle too tight across the hips, so I let out the non-zipper side seam as much as I could. I now feel a slight diagonal pull in the skirt when I wear the dress, but I don't think it's visible so I'm just dealing.

me, dealing

Last thing to note is that I omitted the sleeve buttons, which are only decorative anyway, because they just felt like too much with the pleat and the gathers and everything.

I really, REALLY like how this turned out, and I have Anna Maria Horner's Fibs & Fables Helios rayon on standby for the next one. Let's see how long it takes me to blog about THAT.

Class Alert: Anna Maria Horner Well Composed Blouse

2015-09-03T05:00:00.000-04:00

So, why have I neglected my blog for so long? I've been:

A] finally achieving my dream of having a farm filled with only miniature animals
B] consoling Hootie after he learned he can never be the first cat in space [France sent the first cat to space, naturally]
C] assembling a campaign staff in preparation for my 2016 Rent Is Too Damn High Party presidential candidacy
D] really busy with work

Ugh, it's the boring answer.

I seriously have barely looked at my blog since my last post, which was all the way back in May. I feel like my life has been a little insane over the summer, and I have hardly had a moment to sit down, much less selfishly sew. I was thinking about it, and I realized that since my Ginger Jeans way back in March (posted in April), the only thing I've sewn for myself that wasn't obligatory - meaning for work, gift or teaching - was this black ponte circle skirt.

THE ONLY THING. SINCE MARCH.

I am a shell of a seamstress. And in my rusty blogger state, I took pictures of said skirt against a dark background, to great invisible effect. Also as you will see, the only pose into which I could cajole my unpracticed limbs was holding my skirt up in the air.

Yup, that's all I've got.

But the real focus of this post is my top. It's the Anna Maria Horner Well Composed Blouse, and I'll be teaching it at Craft South here in Nashville starting a week from today, Thursday, Sept. 10. Woohoo! It's a really great pattern to whip up.

Look at this freakin adorable version from the Craft South Instagram feed:

My version is made with an Art Gallery fabric from The Fabric Studio [which is also where the ponte is from]. I actually bought it before I moved to Nashville and I came here to find a place to live and, naturally, also scout out all the fabric stores.

[I swear the top of the center fronts line up, they are just laying weird in this pictures. Rusty, I tell ya]

In the class we'll be making the blouse version, but the pattern also can be made as a dress with pockets. You can sign up for the class online here. So if you're local, come sew and learn with me! It's gonna be fun!

Also, in case you missed it, I'm proud to say I had an article published in Seamwork Magazine this month about the history of tartan. You can read it here.

An Unnecessary Recap of Me Made May 2015

2015-06-03T05:00:00.000-04:00

Ok. So if you follow me on Instagram, I've just made you endure pictures of my outfit every single day throughout the month of May. If you're still with me, now I'm showing my gratitude by forcing you to look at all of these outfits AGAIN, ALL AT ONCE.

But you see, I really wanted to make a photo collage.

[I got rid of one picture - a day I was sick and wearing a sweatshirt - so that I could have a rectangle. Symmetry>accuracy.]

In case anyone is interested, here are a few conclusions/random thoughts I had while doing this:

The eyes are the window to the soul, or to the crazy. It was so much easier to take pictures of myself [read: pictures of myself that I could easily accept] if I cropped off the top of my face. I can't tell you how many of these pictures feature crazy / is-she-drunk / is-she-about-to-kill-someone stares. But you never knew. Until now.

I need to make more cardigans and jeans. This is not a very exciting conclusion, but it's a fact. These are the two main categories in my wardrobe that are still RTW, and I wear them a lot.

I'm a terrible blogger. By this I mean that I've only blogged 15 of the 39 things I wore throughout the month. What is the statute of limitations on blogging? Is it weird to blog something I made three years ago?

Social media can be really bad for your brain. This part was actually very real and not so great. My routine would be that I would snap a few pictures on the way out the door in the morning, then post one when I got to work. After that, all day, a steady stream of Instagram notifications meant my phone was constantly glowing, constantly delivering those tiny surges of validation. And honestly, I think I got a little addicted to it. Checking my phone was like a lab rat pushing the dopamine lever. [By the way, there are a ton of articles about how social media appeals chemically to the dopamine receptors in our brains: here is one.]

I don't normally post on a such a regular schedule, and not necessarily every day. So I really think I was conditioning myself to want it. It was much different than just absently checking the feed in a down moment. Eventually I had to put my phone away because it was really interfering with my attention span.

Has anyone else ever experienced this? And if you did Me Made May, did you learn anything? I probably won't do it again, but it was interesting to try.

I'm teaching at Craft South!

2015-05-21T04:30:00.000-04:00

OMG!

The amazingly talented Anna Maria Horner is opening a craft space / craft store in Nashville called Craft South, and I'm going to be teaching there!

It's going to be a big, beautiful space in 12 South with fabric, yarn, embroidery, classes and workshops, and even a handmade goods boutique. And if you're not local, despair not, you can shop their online store! It's already live and filled with good stuff.

I'll be starting things out by teaching the Million Use Zipper Bag. This is perfect for beginner sewers, or if you've never tried tackling a zipper. It's a one session class (Thursday June 4th) so no major commitment. And these little bags seriously have a million uses! You'll want to make a ton. Or a million. You can sign up online here.

My second class will be the Grainline Studio Scout Tee, which is what I'm wearing in these photos. This is a great first garment to try if you've sewn before, but feel shaky about following a pattern. Over the course of making the project, we'll be learning how to choose a size, cut out the pattern, sew and finish seams, do set-in sleeves, a bias bound neckline, and a double fold hem. Lots of new skills to learn, plus by the end you'll have a cute new shirt!

This is a three session class that meets three Thursdays in a row starting June 11th. You can sign up online here.

The class sample is made from one of Anna Maria's gorgeous new Loominous fabrics, a collection of yard dyed wovens. They are all spectacular. Want. Them. All.

Craft South's grand opening is going to be Friday May 29th from 4-8pm. I'll be there, so I hope you will too!

P.S. The awesome signage and painted deer are outside Old Made Good, a vintage store in my neighborhood. You should probably follow them on Instagram.

Diamond Stitch Crochet Baby Blanket

2015-04-22T05:00:00.000-04:00

Today I bring you a rare finished yarn project.

This soft and snuggly blanket is for the same friend [and baby] recipient of the log cabin quilt I made a little while ago. I crocheted a blanket for baby numero uno, and apparently he liked it very much, so baby dos can't be left out, can she?

The colors are the same ones I used for the quilt, which were chosen by mama-to-be, so I can't take any credit there. The darkest color is reading as black but it's actually navy. For the pattern, I followed this tutorial. I wish I could tell you how long I made my foundation chain, but I have no idea and I didn't write it down [so helpful, I know].

I used all acrylic yarn for washing machine and baby compatibility. The white yarn is from one of those giant mega skeins they sell at Joann's. I've used it for several projects and it has barely gotten any smaller. It is so large and fuzzy and creature-like that my knitting group decided it needed a name.

So his name is Frederick. I should have taken his picture, but I didn't. Don't worry - he'll probably be around for a while.

The tutorial was super easy to follow, although for some reason one of my edges looks really crazy and the other one is nice and straight and even. I'm not sure why because I was changing colors at both sides. Also I accidentally made the blanket one or possibly two double crochet[s] wider about halfway through.

Artistic choices.

So after a wash and dry cycle [I use a lingerie bag] this blanket will be shipped across the Atlantic on the heels of its matching quilt counterpart.

I don't think I'm done with the baby projects yet, though...this is the first friend-baby since I started sewing knits, and I'm suddenly eyeing all my half yard remnants and realizing the baby wardrobe potential...

What are your favorite knit things to sew for babies?

Closet Case Files Ginger Jeans

2015-04-13T04:30:00.000-04:00

Ways to Test Your Self Confidence:
1. Take photos of yourself to post on the internet
2. Choose a location near a busy four way stop
3. Frequently stand very close to the camera with the lens pointed directly at your butt
3. Wear a shirt you have to constantly lift out of the way
4. Make sure it's the weekend
5. And also the time of day when everyone walks their dogs

I finally forced myself to take pictures of the Ginger Jeans I made a few weeks ago. These are the high-waisted View B version.

I have a severe shortage of non-denim pants in my wardrobe and I've been experiencing some Ginger Jeans envy for a while now, so it was only a matter of time. I can't wear blue denim jeans to work, although non-blue jeans seem to be ok, so these pants are the first installment in my future abundance of work pants.

Short version:

I LOVE this pattern. I promptly bought four more fabrics to make four more pairs. I shall have a pants rainbow! I made barely any changes, I'm totally happy with the fit, and they were not intimidating at all to put together. There are a few tweaks to make on the next pair, but overall, I'm pretty psyched.

Long version:

The first f word - FABRIC. This fabric is a black stretch twill from a local store called Textile Fabrics. I liked it at first, but I like it less and less as I wear them more and more. They stretch out a lot when I wear them, so I can really only wear them once before washing. Also, EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF FUZZ IN EXISTANCE is stuck to them, constantly. You can see it in some of the closeups, which were taken after going through SIX lint roller sheets. It drives me crazy. And it's not even cat hair, it's just the general fuzz of life. So that will probably limit my wearing these too.

The second f word - FIT. I did not want to make a muslin for these, since it would have been a lot of work and I would have had to use a stretch fabric anyway. So I decided to just go for it, hope they would mostly turn out, and then make any minor fit adjustments after they were together.

Before cutting, I did a few things. My measurements were putting me at a 6 in the waist and a 10 in the hips. Since there are so many pieces involved in this area, I cut out the paper at whichever size line was on the outside (usually 10, but sometimes 6), then laid them all on top of each other like they would be sewn. Then I used a curved ruler to go from the 10 at the widest point to the 6 at the top of the pocket facing, and cut along the line through all layers. I did the same thing with the back and yoke. The waistband I just cut a 6.

[Once I basted them together - I sewed the whole fly first so that part would fit as it would when finished - the hips were too big, so I took them in probably to a size 8.]

The other thing I did was preemptively straighten the front crotch curve below the fly. Based on all the other pants I've attempted, this seams to be one of the things I need to do. This adjustment had mixed results, and I probably should have just left it as is for the first go.

You will see in the above photo that I had a major fail moment when I did the buttonhole, as I put it way too far over to the left. This makes the whole front look off center. But if you look at the center front seam [the edge of the fly], it's right in line with my belly button, so just the button placement is off. It was late and I should have gone to bed, but no, I had to make that buttonhole, and totally bombed it.

So let's talk more about crotches, shall we? [welcome, weird google search creepers.] I am going to describe to you to my Crotch Conundrum when it comes to pants fitting. Lucky you! So I mentioned that I straightened the front crotch a little, which I probably didn't need to do, because you can see there is extra fabric bunching up at the top of the front legs. So I will scoop the front crotch seam back out to take care of that. (Lauren of Lladybird has a really good post about this J-crotch adjustment.)

HOWEVER. You will also see that there are horizontal wrinkles below/across the fly. This seems to say there there is too much fabric in the front crotch curve. So I would pinch it out and then remove a wedge from the pattern. This shortens the front crotch curve. BUT, when I also do the previous adjustment (making the curve more J-shaped) this lengthens the same front crotch curve. These adjustments don't seem like they should go together! Don't they just cancel each other out? And when I shorten the front crotch curve, should I take it out of the fly, or the section below the fly? Does anyone have any insight on this?

If you are still reading, bless your heart. Here's the back.

The Ginger Jeans are very kind to your booty. Not gonna lie, my backside feels pretty great in these pants.

The back pocket placement is SO IMPORTANT (as Heather mentions in both the instructions and the sewalong), so definitely baste them on first. Did I do that? Of course not! Ignoring the warnings, I topstitched both of those suckers down all the way, only to try them on and realize they were way to low, making me look like I was wearing a dirty diaper. Quite attractive! So I seam ripped through my precious topstitching thread and moved them up 3/4". It was a night and day difference.

Also, I prefer bigger back pockets on jeans [negative space on butt = bad] so I used the size 12 pockets.

Can we just talk about the back pocket embellishment potential here? I originally wanted to embroider an anchor like Sarah, black-on-black, but I was running short on time and didn't want to rush so I just did three rows of decorative stitches in black rayon thread. But ever since then, I can't stop checking out people's jeans pockets, aka staring at stranger's butts. You could do so many different things to those pockets!

On the inside, I did the front pocket stays as detailed in the sewalong, because heck yes built-in spanx. Really though, I love how stable and flat the front is. I used some of Rashida Coleman-Hale's pretty cranes, partially because they were still out from the last project, but mostly because they are pretty! Next time, I think I'll leave them right sides together instead of turning them, because the bottom seam is a little bulky. Also, that way when you look into the pocket from the outside, you'll see the right side of the fabric instead of the wrong side.

I also opted to use the quilt weight for the waistband lining, which I wasn't sure about but really like. It keeps the waistband from stretching out too much but also prevents it from being too bulky. I didn't use any interfacing.

Sewing these was actually pretty easy, considering you are making f'ing jeans. It's not fast, and you have to keep switching back and forth between topstitching and regular thread, but it's not too difficult, especially with the sewalong as a reference. One thing I did differently - when you attach the zipper to the first side of the fly, instead of putting the teeth just to the side of the center front, I aligned the edge of the zipper tape with the edge of the extension. This sets the zipper in deeper. (And Heather mentions this as an option in the fly post of the sewalong). I wanted to make sure my zipper wasn't going to peek out.

In doing some topstitching tests, way too much topstitch thread was showing on the back, so I found that turning up the tension pretty high when topstitching - like to 7 - made it look a lot better. Also, I held the thread very taut when threading through the tension discs to make sure it really got in there. Then I ran out of topstitching thread about two thirds of the way through, so I just switched to a triple straight stitch for all the topstitching [like the waistband/belt loops in the photo] and it worked out ok.

Also I want to give a little shout out to Pony Show, a really cute shop in my neighborhood where I bought this shirt. I'm pretty into anything with moon phases on it, and the owner screen prints them herself, so when I saw it it was a done deal. [She sells them on Etsy too.]

And now I shall commence on my Rainbow of Pants.

Tutorial: Wonky Log Cabin Quilt

2015-03-11T04:00:00.000-04:00

I haven't made a quilt in a really long time. I missed it! It's so much different than making clothes. The way I usually go at it, it's not unlike a grown up version of cutting up construction paper and gluing it to something [to be honest that sounds fun to me too] except that you're using pretty fabric.

A childhood friend is having her second baby in April and she requested a quilt. This is the result, and it's currently on its way to Belgium [her husband is in the army] in anticipation of baby girl's appearance in April.

She wasn't set on any particular pattern, so I decided to do my trusty wonky log cabin block. Nothin' like some trusty wonk. It's the same pattern I used for her first baby's quilt [blogged here] and also a class I taught a couple times at Sew LA. And I'm also now remembering I made one for my brother that I never blogged. Like I said, trusty.

This is the color scheme she sent me:

I pulled most of these fabrics from my stash, with a few supplemental purchases from The Fabric Studio. The center for each block is a Heather Ross double gauze unicorn. This is fabric I have been hoarding since its first release in 2008-9[?]. Surprisingly, I did not have to rip it violently from my own rabid grasp, I was actually really happy to be able to use it on a special project like this. I also used some of my Heather Ross tadpoles-in-jars fabric, from the same era and hoarded with equal fervor.

There are a couple Cotton + Steel gems in there, because their fabric is woven from secrets and magic and goes with everything. For the back I used Rashida Coleman-Hale's navy crane fabric she designed for Cloud 9. So pretty!

If you're a garment sewer and you're thinking about making a quilt, maybe try this one! It's really so fun and easy, and you barely have to do any initial cutting. All the crazy shapes are just made by attaching some strips crooked on purpose. I thought I'd write up a tutorial in case anyone is interested; I'm sure there are many already out there, but here's another! And it includes fabric yardages for making this size quilt, which is a generous crib size or a small throw/lap quilt.

MATERIALS

To make a quilt of this size [about 40x54"], you'll need:

3/8 yard of eight different fabrics [this is the bare minimum, for extra fabric safety you can get 3/4 of one or two]
twelve 5" squares for the centers [to fussy cut, cut a 5" square in a piece of paper and use that as a stencil to mark your fabric]
1 5/8 yard for the back
batting
3/8 yard for the binding [if you do 2.5" wide cross grain binding]

CUTTING

From each of the eight fabrics, cut one selvage-to-selvage strip in each of the following widths: 2.5", 4", 5.5". Fluff them into a big pile [optional].

ASSEMBLY

A log cabin block is a center square to which strips of increasing length are attached, in clockwise or counter clockwise direction, until the block is the desired size.

For the first pass around the center square, we're going to be straight with our piecing and save our wonk for later. I felt that after taking the time to fussy cut the centers, I didn't want them to end up a weird size and/or accidentally amputate unicorn limbs.

So take a center square and grab a strip - any strip - from the pile. Place the strip along the top edge of the center square, right sides together, with the selvage end hanging off over the edge a bit. Pin.

Set your stitch length at 2.0 [this means you don't have to backstitch]. Stitch along pinned edge. You only have to sew the length of the center square.

Note: Normally you don't zig zag when piecing a quilt, but my center square is double gauze, and I know from a previous Terrible Incident that 1/4" seams on double gauze tend to fray completely out during the first quilt washing if they aren't well reinforced, which leads to anger, then weeping, then complete and utter brokenness [though that quilt did end up with some pretty sweet patches]. So I zig zagged.

Press the strip away from center.

Trim both ends even with the edges of the center square.

Pick another strip - again, any strip - and align it with the new left edge you just created that includes the center square and strip #1. Pin right sides together, again having the selvage hang over the edge.

Stitch with a 1/4" seam allowance.

Repeat the pressing and the trimming like you did on the first strip.

Pick a third random strip - seriously, don't think about it too hard - and align it with the bottom edge, right sides together. Are you sensing a pattern here?

Press and trim.

Attach a fourth strip to the final edge. That completes the first pass around the center.

Ok, now it's time to reach down deep and release your inner wonk. We're going to keep attaching strips in the same way, but we're going to start making some of them crooked. On purpose. WHAAAT??

So we're back to the top edge. Pick a strip and place it, right sides together, along the top edge, but lay it at an angle. You could go like this:

or this:

YOU ARE A CRUSHER OF PARADIGMS AND A GODDESS OF CHAOS.

There's really no rule for exactly how crooked to make the wonky strips, except that if you make them too crooked, you're going to start covering up too much of the previous piecing, so keep in mind what's going on under the strip. Also, if you make them just barely crooked, the wonkiness won't be very noticeable in the final project. About 1" [give or take] in from the edge at the crooked end is a good place to start if you need numbers.

Once pinned, stitch along the crooked strip, 1/4" in from the edge. Your presser foot should have a groove or notch at 1/4" to use as a reference.

Trim the bottom layer even with the crooked strip.

Press the strip away from center. Use a ruler to trim the ends even and straight with the other edges.

Next edge: same deal. Lay 'er down crooked...

...stitch, press, trim.

You don't have to make every strip crooked. It's your quilt and you do what you damn well please. [For instance, I find that laying a 2.5" strip down crooked on top of another 2.5" just makes them both too narrow for my liking.]

Keep going until your block is big enough to cover a 14" square. I check this by just laying it on top of my cutting mat. I try to keep the center square straight when checking because I like having them straight on the finished quilt. Depending on the combo of widths you choose, you might be done after the second pass, or you might need to keep going a little more. If your block is tall enough but not wide enough, or vice versa, feel free to attach a strip out of order to add the length or width where it's needed.

Also near the end, keep in mind how much you need to add versus which width strip you choose. For example, if your block is only 1" shy of being 14" wide, it would be silly to use one of your 5.5" strips for that edge, because you're just going to end up trimming most of it off anyway. Use a narrower one.

Ok, time to trim. Lay your block over the corner of your cutting mat, with all the edges slightly extending beyond a 14" square grid. Trim the first edge at 14".

Flip the block 180 degrees, place the trimmed edge at 0, and trim the opposite edge at 14".

Turn it 90 degrees and trim the other two edges the same way.

If you totally bomb the trimming, don't worry - just hack off the embarrassing part, go back to your pile of strips, attach some more and retrim. This is seriously the lowest stress quilt ever!

Once it's 14" square, your block is finished!

The quilt I made has twelve total blocks. I like to do them assembly line style. It goes much faster, and it also helps prevent accidentally using one type of fabric too often in the same place on the blocks because as you piece each one, it takes that strip out of commission for the rest. So, attach all the first strips at once, press them all, trim them all, return everything to the pile, attach all the second strips at once, etc. It goes pretty fast.

Once you're done, lay them all out and try different arrangements. I usually try to make sure all the fabrics are more or less equally distributed around the quilt. To assist in this task, I employ the highly technical act of squinting at the layout, which actually does help you see if there are a lot of dark or light fabrics clustered together. One of my favorite things about this block is that once you put them together, the fabric starts to make new shapes in some places [for example, the teal tigers in the lower right].

Once you're pleased with the layout, join the blocks in rows with a 1/4" SA, then join the rows. I highly recommend taking a picture of the layout with your phone in case you get interrupted, or you just forget during the walk to the machine which block goes where [a completely valid scenario].

Quilt and finish as desired. There are tutorials a'plenty for that strewn all across the internet.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Free Embroidery File: Dancing Girls Emoji

2015-03-05T11:49:00.002-05:00

So, first I tried to cross stitch this.

It was going to be a present for my friend Christine. I bought this adorable pattern on Etsy and set to work. And I worked. And I took many breaks. And a month later, there was only one half of one dancing girl.

Then I had an epiphany: I should use an embroidery machine and have the computers do it for me. I submit to thee, robot overlords.

So I grabbed a large emoji jpeg from the internet and traced over it in Illustrator. Then I used TruE 3 Embroidery Software to convert it to an embroidery file. I stitched it out using a Pfaff creative 3.0.

Full disclaimer: I don't know very much about manipulating embroidery files [yet]. This is just what the software spit out. So I'm not sure if it's the best it could be. When I stitched it out, I had to go over all the black sections twice because they weren't dense enough. But I don't know how much of that was the stitch density of the file and how much was my thread choice.

So if you download this and use it, please let me know how it goes! Download it HERE.

And just a few other things...have you seen the March issue of Seamwork Magazine? I was very happy to contribute two articles to this issue. The first is called Farm to Fabric: The Story of Wool. I got to visit the farm of the sweetest, kindest mother-daughter duo here in middle Tennessee and learn all about small scale wool production.

The second is a column called Block Paper Scissors featuring a little pattern making tutorial every month.

Check out the rest of the magazine here. Everything is beautiful as it always is from Colette!

Colette Cinnamon Slip Mod - Corset Ties

2015-02-25T04:00:00.000-05:00

In case you missed it, today I wanted link up a tutorial I did for The Coletterie that was posted Monday. The pattern is the Cinnamon slip, and the tutorial is how to do this corset tie modification in the back.

I was so, so happy with how it turned out. It's just so pretty. Like disgustingly pretty. It just might be the most disgustingly pretty thing I've ever made.

The tutorial goes through the process step by step, so I'm not going to go into much detail, except to show you the GOLD BIAS TAPE. Yes, gold bias tape. It's Wrights, and it's pre-made, and what I'm saying is that I might never use non-gold bias tape again.

It goes so well with the blush pink cotton gauze and satin ribbon [like I said, disgusting], although for some reason I decided to put it on the inside instead of ~~attaching it to every known and possible visible surface~~ the outside.

I also put a lil' decorative stitch in there. WHO AM I BECOMING??

So anyway, go check out the tutorial if you're interested in the how-to!

Tutorial: 3/4 Circle Skirt (includes sewing instructions)

2015-02-18T04:00:00.000-05:00

Here is the tutorial I promised in Monday's post. Like I said then, when I was making my 3/4 circle skirt, there didn't seem to be many tutorials online for how to put one together after you figure out your radius. There are some great circle skirt calculators out there, but I'm talking about what to do after you calculate. If you know of any and I'm just missing them, feel free to link them up in the comments!

On my previous post, the By Hand London circle skirt app was mentioned in the comments, and it's awesome! They have 1/4, 1/2 and full circle skirt functions. They also have a few posts for what to do after, like attach a waistband and insert a zipper. But I wanted to expand on what to do in between - how to make a pattern piece and how to go about splitting up your circle into smaller sections to become the pieces of your skirt.

First, you'll need to calculate your radius. I used Patty the Snug Bug's calculator because she has a 3/4 column, plus it's a downloadable Excel spreadsheet so you can keep it on your computer and always have it. Plug in your waist measurement [make sure you're using the 3/4 column!] and then round your radius measurement to the nearest 1/4". My waist is 27", so my radius is 5.25".

PATTERNING

First let's talk about what a 3/4 circle skirt is. Just as the name implies, when it's flat, it looks like three quarters of a circle [aka an 8 slice pizza with 2 slices missing].

WHO WANTS PIZZA NOW?? *raises hand*

So, we need to fit that shape onto our fabric. If your fabric is wide enough, your skirt short enough, and your waist petite enough, you might be able to fit it on your fabric in one big piece. However, that is a lot of "if's"; it would also, in my opinion, be a huge pain in the booty, because you'd have to draw a giant circle very accurately. It's a lot easier to be accurate when you're working with smaller pieces.

So, since we have a front and a back, we'll divide the shape in half: half for our front, half for our back.

I did a center back zipper for a few reasons - sometimes I don't like how zippers hang on side seams, and I also wanted to easily add side seam pockets. So for a center back zipper, we need to divide one of those halves in half again.

So here's an overview of how our skirt will go together. Two quarters in the back joined by a zipper, and two quarters in the front cut in one piece.

[At the risk of being confusing, I want to clarify - I'm dividing the skirt into four pieces, so I'm calling them quarters, but they aren't quarters of a full circle, they are quarters of a 3/4 circle.]

Now, we want to make our pattern pieces as quickly as possible using as little effort and pattern paper as possible. Or at least I do. Call it lazy, call it efficient. Call it, let's just get to the sewing part already. So we are going to make just one paper pattern piece to fulfill our requirements.

But first, we math!

Our friend geometry will help us figure out how long the upper curved edge of our piece will be. Here we go:

1. First we need to figure out the circumference of the circle of which our 3/4 circle is a part [the purple ring]. The circumference of a circle is 2 x pi x radius. So, multiply your radius by 2 and then by 3.14.

2. Now we need to find out what 3/4 of this circumference is [the pink ring]. So multiply the result of step one by .75. To keep things simple, round to the nearest 1/4".

[Note: I'm using my radius of 5.25" - make sure you use your own radius measurement!]

So now we know the total length of the top curved edge of our 3/4 circle skirt. Next we need to figure out what a quarter of it is [the green line in the next drawing] so we can break our skirt into four pieces.

3. Multiply the total length of the 3/4 circle skirt edge by .25. Round to the nearest 1/4". Remember this number. Mine is 6.25".

Now that we have our numbers ready, it's time to draw the pattern piece.

On a large piece of paper, draw a straight line with a yardstick. Mark out from the end the distance of your skirt radius. This is the number that the circle skirt calculator gave you in the beginning.

Now start marking points, rotating the ruler a little between each one, measuring out from the end of the original line - I'm going to call this the axis - and marking the skirt radius point. Make sure the end of your ruler is always on axis as you're measuring. Mark enough points to draw a curve. [The dotted lines show ruler placement.]

Keep going until your curved line measures the value of the green line we figured out earlier. Use a tape measure or other flexible tool and measure along the curve. At that point, draw another straight line from the axis out through the curved line.

Now determine what you want your finished skirt length to be, and your hem allowance, and add them together. My skirt was 20" and my hem allowance was only 1/4" because I hemmed with bias tape. So for the next step I was measuring 20.25".

Using the same procedure as above, measure your skirt + hem distance away from the first curved line, marking points and connecting into a curve. Make sure your ruler is still going through the axis with each mark. I like to use a yardstick and keep the 0 end out at the hem; every time I rotate and mark, I make sure that the skirt + hem measurement is even with the curved line, and the yardstick is also passing through the axis.

The last thing to do is add our seam allowances. You can use whatever you think is easiest. I did 3/8". Use a ruler to add your seam allowance amount to the straight edges and the smaller curved edge. Whatever seam allowance you choose, write it on your pattern piece so you don't forget.

Then cut out your pattern piece.

THE PROTRACTOR WORMHOLE

If you have a protractor and you know how to use it, you can skip most of the preceding steps. Draw a 67.5° angle on your paper [67.5° is 1/4 of 270°, which is 3/4 of 360°]; that angle sets the outer bounds of your pattern piece. Measure the skirt radius points, then the skirt + hem points, and add seam allowances.

CUT THE FABRIC

So here's how we're going to cut our fabric using only one paper piece. Depending on the width of your fabric, you may have to open it up and refold it the other direction to get your pieces to fit.

For the front, cut one piece on the fold, letting the seam allowance of one straight edge hang over the fold. You can also crease back the paper if that's easier. After cutting, notch your center.

Then, use the pattern piece to cut 2 backs, with one straight edge parallel to the fold/selvage. This edge is the center back. Mark it on both pieces.

You'll also need a waistband. Here is how you figure out cutting dimensions:

LENGTH: waist measurement + 1" + [2 x (seam allowance of back seam)]

WIDTH: [2 x (desired finished width)] + [2 x (seam allowance of shorter curved edge)]

Notch the center of the waistband's long edges.

SEW THE THING

Staystitch upper curved edge of skirt pieces. [This means stitch through a single layer 1/8" smaller than your seam allowance.]

Stitch skirt backs to skirt fronts at side seams, right sides together. Finish and press open.

Interface waistband. Fold in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and press to crease. Reopen. Pin one long edge of waistband to top edge of skirt, right sides together, matching ends and center front notch, and easing the skirt in to fit the waistband. Stitch together and press seam allowance up.

Install invisible zipper on back center seam with zipper stop just below crease in waistband. Stitch the rest of the seam, finish and press open. [Here is an invisible zip tutorial if you need help.]

Press raw edge of waistband a scant seam allowance to the wrong side. [ex. if your seam allowance was 1/2", fold it a teeny less than 1/2" and press]. Fold waistband around zipper, right sides together. Use a zipper foot to stitch waistband down along zipper. Make sure bottom of waistband stays folded when you stitch over it.

Clip corner and turn waistband to inside. Pin all the way around, covering waist seam allowance, and then stitch in the ditch from the outside to secure waistband on the inside.

Let your skirt hang overnight, then hem as desired.

I hope that was helpful! If there are any parts that need clarification, please ask in the comments.

A Moneta Crop Top, a 3/4 Circle Skirt, and a Mammoth

2015-02-16T04:00:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, one of my dearest friends who is getting married in the fall had all of her bridesmaids come to visit her in D.C., myself included. We went dress shopping, drank champagne, and burst into spontaneous yet choreographed song and dance at various times throughout the weekend [not really].

Since we all know that traveling provides some of the best sew-jo, naturally I had to make something to take with me. One of the items on the weekend's agenda was '90's night dancing [oh yes]. After much debate, I decided to leave my guitar pick & hemp choker and L.E.I. jeans behind; instead I went with a 3/4 circle skirt out of Robert Kaufman Radiance, which is a cotton/silk blend, and a knit crop top out of something from Joann's.

First let's talk about the top. Since the skirt fits at my natural waist, I didn't want to deal with tucking anything in, so I decided to make a crop top using the Colette Moneta dress pattern. I just cut and assembled the bodice pieces as usual [no alterations except for my personal fit]. Then I cut a band that was 2" shorter than the circumference of the bottom edge and double the finished width plus seam allowance. [Next time I might just do 1" shorter, it was a teensy bit snug.] I sewed the ends together to make a circle, folded it in half, and attached it to the bottom edge of the bodice. It worked out really well, and hits at the perfect place right above the skirt.

You know what's dumb, though? When it came time to wear my new crop top, I completely wimped out and wore a tank top under it. I used the convenient excuse that it was cold - it was cold - but if I'm being completely honest, it was also because I was nervous about feeling exposed or getting unwanted attention, and my social survival mammoth prevailed [read this article about the mammoth, it's good]. And it's silly, because I think the crop-top-high-waist thing looks great when other people do it, and I don't think anything of it. I guess when it's warmer I can try to beat the mammoth back into its cave and wear the crop top in all its croppy toppy glory. [How often does your social survival mammoth win?]

But anyway, a great time was had by all. Dances were danced, lyrics were screamed, the 90s were alive and well.

reenactment of said dancing

So on to the skirt. I didn't have enough fabric to make a full circle skirt, so that's why I went with the 3/4. I already had the fabric, so for the sake of being responsible I used it, even though it's a bit on the lightweight side. It also tends to wrinkle a lot in the back when I sit on it, which is a bummer but I suppose unavoidable. It is, however, shiny and drapey and beautiful. I hemmed with store bought bias tape - I wanted the stiffness to make the skirt bell out a little - and I hand stitched it so it wouldn't show from the outside.

And of course, there are POCKETS! And also a waistband and back invisible zip.

I'm sorry I made this face more than once in this post, feel free to punch me

I was a little pressed for time, so I looked for a 3/4 circle skirt tutorial online so I didn't have to figure anything out, but I didn't really find one. I'm not talking about the calculations, I mean how to go from that to a pattern and then to a skirt. So on Wednesday I'm going to post a tutorial for how I made my skirt in case anyone wants to know.

In the mean time, I'm gonna go have a talk with my mammoth.

My New Job [and a free pattern!]

2015-02-06T04:00:00.000-05:00

So about a month ago, I started a new job. I'm working for the Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff sewing machine brands in their Education department, doing a mix of some social media, online content creation, and downloadable project management. It's pretty cool!

Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff [along with Singer] are now all owned by the same company. Their headquarters are just outside Nashville, which I didn't even know when I first moved here. Who'da thought! They also have a large office in Husqvarna, Sweden.

Five weeks in, I can say it's been really great so far. I wanted to share one of the projects I've done, because there's a free pattern download, and because it's GIANT CANDY HEART PILLOWS and I kind of can't get enough of them. I really love giant versions of food. I don't know why, I just do.

In fact, I kind of like anything that's the wrong size. Like the giant iPhone in the Apple store, which in my mind would make a really good pool float, or those tiny Japanese erasers that look like fruit. [A few years ago I made a giant tomato pincushion, and in the post I go into great detail about how much I love things that are the wrong size, so read it if you're looking for more.]

These hearts are really fun to make. There's a free downloadable pattern on both the Pfaff blog and the Husqvarna Viking blog. It's exactly the same pattern, either link has it...so I guess pick your favorite brand and click that one!

The download also includes six free embroidery files for the captions, in case you have an embroidery machine. If you don't, you could always make the letters out of felt and whipstitch them on.

I've been starting to learn how to use the embroidery machines, and I have to say, it's pretty awesome. I never really thought I was very interested in it, but now my brain-wheels are slowly starting to turn with all the possibilities.

So you just might see some of that here...in the mean time, go make some hearts!

Cotton + Steel Frock Rayon Oakridge Blouse

2015-02-03T04:00:00.000-05:00

I am so happy to be today's stop on the blog tour for Cotton + Steel's new rayon collection, Frock. The talented team of women behind C+S have already tempted us time and time again with their incredible quilt weights, lawns, double gauzes and home decor fabrics; now, praise hallelujah, they are venturing even further into apparel. Frock ships mid-February, and it'll feature eight different prints on the most dreamy-drapey rayon substrate.

After much anguish I chose the Gemstone print in pink, designed by Sarah Watts. Then the stars aligned and maybe some black holes collided and Sewaholic released the Oakridge blouse pattern. It was the perfect project for some pretty rayon [Jaime and I must have been bouncing around in the same thought bubble] so it was an easy project choice.

it was really raining, that's not just some kind of prop

First, let's talk about the fabric. It's luscious. This is, sadly, not the first or even second time I've used the word luscious to describe fabric on this blog, which could be yet another sign that I have a problem. But this fabric really is luscious. It has such a soft, almost-peach-skin-like texture, and it's flowy and fluid without being clingy. It's very comfortable but it looks really luxe. [Keep in mind that it's 45" wide, so take that into account when shopping for a project.]

Now, the very first thing I do when I get this beautiful stuff into my hot mitts is to throw it in the washer on gentle and the dryer on whatever. This is how I've always washed rayon, not for any particular reason except that it works nicely with my strict laissez-faire approach to laundry. Lo and behold, C+S actually recommends that you dry clean. So, my anecdotal experience says that I didn't notice any adverse effects from the washer, but the official word is to dry clean [although I bet hand washing would be ok].

Of interest to note [at least to me] is that because of the molecular structure of rayon, it is much more fragile when wet than dry. It's made of plant cellulose, which absorbs a ton of water, which in turn puts a lot of strain on the fibers' cell structure. So if you do wash it, treat it gently when wet.

Now let's talk about the pattern. First let me set the stage. It was Friday night, I'd had a long work week at a new job [which I'll tell ya'll about soon] and my sewing room was in a such a state of disorder that I'm sure the producers of Hoarders are on their way to my house as we speak. It's been the recent site of many back-to-back endeavors in which I throw things directly on the floor when I'm done with them, which is my tried and true method for completing a project in a timely manner.

It can be a thrilling way of working, but it has its drawbacks.

Anyway, this project was actually the first time I was doing a sleeve placket, as I've never made a long sleeve button up shirt before. When I got to that point in the directions, I really couldn't tell what was going on, which may or may not have been at least partially due to my mental state and work environment. I actually ended up looking up the Grainline Archer sewalong post for the placket, and it dissolved all my troubles. So, thanks Jen!

And all in all, I'm SO happy with how the plackets turned out, especially considering they're rayon.

TOTAL RAYON PLACKET DOMINATION!

Fit wise, things went pretty well. I was measuring into the 6 and considered making the 4 based on the finished measurements but I was scared because I wasn't doing a muslin, so I cut the 6. I did shorten the sleeves by 2" after reading Jaime's post and holding the pattern piece up to myself in the mirror; next time I'll shorten an additional inch. I decided to also do a 3/4" narrow shoulder adjustment, again after the extremely hi-tech method of holding the pattern piece up to my body, which actually worked out well. The only other thing I'd change next time is to raise the dart a little because it's hitting me a bit low.

I really, really like this shirt, and I looove how it looks in the back, even though there's nothing happening there. I don't know, I can't explain it. In the rayon it just looks so nice.

Miraculously, both set-in sleeves went in on the first try. I hemmed with 1/2" single fold bias tape because the bottom was curvy and slippery and I already had the bias tape, so done and done!

Like everyone else has said, the best thing to do when working with rayon is to GO SLOW. [I cut everything in a single layer with a rotary cutter.] Practice all those good sewing habits that you know you're supposed to, but maybe sometimes skip. Be careful and deliberate, it'll make it so much better. It's worth it!

This is going to be a great shirt to wear to work, and I will definitely be making some more. As for the Frock rayon - I'm going to be first in line to get some more of this stuff, because it's truly a level of lusciousness that's impossible to resist. You've been warned.

Here's are the other Frock blog tour stops so you can check em out:

January 28 Jaime - Fancy Tiger Crafts

January 29 Deborah - Whipstitch

January 30 Amber- Fancy Tiger Crafts

January 31 Rochelle - Lucky Lucille

February 2 Christine Haynes Christine Haynes

February 3 Devon Iott - Miss Make

February 4 Jemellia Hilfiger - JemJam

February 5 Anna Graham - Noodlehead

February 6 Oliver + S - Oliver + S

February 7 Rae Hoekstra - Made by Rae

The Silver Seam: Outlander Coat

2014-12-17T05:00:00.000-05:00

Alright, folks, time for a little experiment. I'm going to start a column.

By column, I don't necessarily mean, content that will be posted consistently. I more mean, content that will have the same title and theme. I'd like to do it once a month, but a month seems to go by very quickly in blogland, so hey, ain't promising anything.

I love movies and TV shows, and I very much enjoy looking at the costumes, especially in period pieces. Sometimes I watch things just for the clothes and sets. That's one of the reasons I've always loved movies - they let you go places you can't go in real life.

I usually end up wanting to sew some of the things I see. But barring an unexpected exploration of cosplay, renaissance fairs or severe split personality disorders, I have no outlet for costumes in my life. So I thought it might be fun to sew things that aren't literal copies of cool movie wardrobe pieces, but are instead inspired by them. It's like wearing a secret costume only you know about.

I was tempted to call this column Sew Reel, thereby uniting my two least favorite puns of all time [with very limited exceptions] into one formiddably abhorrent entity. But I didn't trust myself to wield that sort of dark power responsibly, so instead I'm calling it The Silver Seam.

The Silver Seam posts will just be plan posts. They might be things I actually make, or they might be things I never make but just have fun planning. Maybe they'll provide inspiration for you, and you'll make them. That would be awesome! [If you do, please tell me!]

THE INSPIRATION

I am currently tearing through a book series called Outlander that takes place, at least initially, in mid-18th century Scotland. When I saw it was just made into a TV show for Starz, I promptly devoured it.

And now I want this coat, worn by main character Claire.

LOOK AT THAT HOOD.

So I started planning.

THE FABRIC

Claire's coat appears to be some kind of olivey-brown tweedy wool coating. The hood is fully lined with fur, and there are fur cuff accents, which I'm sure did not escape your attention.

I've narrowed the main fabric choices down to two that I swatched from Mood:

Neither one is exceptionally olive hued, but that was actually kind of difficult to find without going all the way to green, and I don't want it to be green. On the left is this chocolate herringbone coating. As the description says it is pretty heavy and substantial, with a nubby texture that makes it feel a bit rustic.

The one on the right is this brown herringbone coating. It's lighter weight and feels a bit more refined. I was initially leaning towards this one, but after seeing the pictures I think I'm actually going to go with the other one. Nubbies for the win! Thoughts?

For the fur, I ordered eight faux fur swatches from Fabric.com. And let me tell you, if you're feeling down and want to brighten your day, go order eight faux fur swatches. The ones I got are huge - like 6-7" squares - and they are all so fluffy. When I order the yardage I'm going to get one more swatch so I can make a furry patchwork throw pillow.

The one I decided on initially is Canadian Fox in Stone, although now it tragically seems to be unavailable. But there are lots of others...Russian husky? Norwegian husky? Siberian husky? All the huskies. I'll get one that's similar.

THE PATTERN

To start my pattern search, first I looked to see what the distinguishing characteristics of the coat were:

If you're wondering why that flounce is in such an extreme state of flouncing, it's because in the 18th century women wore undergarments that were essentially stuffed muslin innertubes tied around their waists to give them extremely exaggerated hips. This would explain the need for a giant pleat on the back:

This fullness was probably also for ease when riding a horse. Since I won't be wearing any 18th century undergarments nor, unfortunately, riding many horses while wearing this coat, I am going to keep the flounce to a minimum and possibly omit the back pleat.

So all things considered, I think I've decided on this Burda pattern, 12/2012 #104.

If you're thinking, "Ummmm what," just hear me out: it has the asymmetrical front, minimal collar action to contend with and it has waist seams so I can work on the bottom separately to add a flounce. I'd leave off the sleeve details, epaulettes and collar.

There are too many seams on the bottom half for my liking, but I'm thinking I can combine some of the pieces when I add the flounce...yes?

I'll admit, this does sound like a lot of work. Is this a terrible plan? I did think about the Jamie Christina Abbey Coat, which is really cute. But I'm not sure how I feel about the dropped waist flounce, I'd really like it to come from the natural waist. And it feels like that would be harder to adjust on that pattern. Thoughts?

For the hood, I'm thinking self drafted, since it's so big. I want to make the hood and cuffs removable in case I need to make a more understated appearance somewhere.

OUTLANDER

Outlander is also partially set in the 1940's, so you get a double dose of period wardrobe. The costume designer, Terry Dresbach, has a really interesting website with lots of photos and some behind the scenes stories about making the costumes. It's easy to forget that in a sweeping period piece like this, all the costumes are custom made. All of them. And the [very large] cast has multiples of everything. It makes me exhausted and overwhelmed just to think about.

Sidenote, there's also a lot of good knitwear eye candy in it too. Cowls for days.

And other kinds of eye candy.

I will leave you with this...

You're verra welcome.

So since is the first time I'm doing this, please comment if you have any feedback! Or on this project specifically...better ideas of how to make the coat? Pattern suggestions? Have you read Outlander? Is Jamie Fraser your phone wallpaper? Have you found a working stone circle yet?

[If your comment has spoilers, please warn! :) ]

Colette Patterns Dahlia Dress - Version 1

2014-12-08T05:00:00.000-05:00

Here is the other result of the Dahlia sewalong!

This dress is Version 1. Like nearly everyone else, after seeing the gorgeous model pictures for the pattern release, I couldn't bear to make it out of anything other than plaid.

The fabric is this Italian wool flannel from Mood. I thought it was on the border of being too thick to work with the gathers, but I loved how it looked and felt so I followed my usual methodology and just went with it. This is actually the first real wool garment that I can remember owning, except for a pea coat from the Gap that has been tentatively carbon dated to the High School Era and possibly an ill-fated sweater that found its way into the dryer.

I mostly don't have wool because of where I lived, and I also don't lead a dry-clean-only lifestyle. Plus, wool sends some mixed signals. It feels all soft in your hands, and then you put it on your body and it's like, HA! tricked you, I'm actually gonna BE ALL SCRATCHY. It keeps you warm when it's wet, yet you can't wash it. And the smell of damp wool fills me with conflict - I think it's kind of gross, but it also makes feel vaguely pleasant?

All that being said, I've decided I do like to wear wool, and I'd like more wool things.

So let's talk about fit. When I first made my muslin, I cut a 2-4-6 based on my 33-27-38 measurements. Everything was pretty ok, except the shoulders were way too big. Like falling off too big.

If you look at the original sample pictures, it's quite a wide scoop neck on the model, and as I've said with annoying frequency, I have pretty narrow shoulders. I decided that I didn't just want to do a fit adjustment - as in, adjust it to look proportionately the same as it does on the model. Instead I wanted to redraw the neckline so that it was a bit higher up. That way I'd be sure it would stay up and there would be no peeking bra straps [a major pet peeve of mine].

So here is what I did to the pattern pieces:

On the sleeve, I did a couple of things. First, while wearing my muslin, I decided how much further in I wanted the neckline to be at the front raglan seam - I think it was 1.5". I extended the front raglan edge towards my neck by that amount. I also angled it slightly to shave off a bit from the width of the sleeve at the neckline because it was kind of gapey. The amount I angled it was determined by how much I pinched on the muslin.

On the front bodice, I lengthened the raglan edge by the same amount. I also angled it because it was hitting me too high, and also to take out some of the neckline circumference.

Not pictured, I also removed a 1/2" wedge from the center back at the neckline, blending to nothing at the bottom. Because of this I moved the dart points each away from center by 1/4" to keep them on grain. [1/4" was the width of the wedge even with the dart points.]

The yoke and skirt fit fine, although I think I could have cut a 4 in the skirt instead of going out to a 6, but with the lining and the zipper and everything I'm not changing it!

Speaking of lining - I added a sleek and shimmery Bemberg rayon lining to deal with the aforementioned wooly itch factor. Cliff notes version is that I made a whole second dress out of the lining, attached it at the zipper, and stuffed it to the inside. The process is detailed further [and with pictures] in this sewalong post if you want to learn more.

Other sewing notes - after finishing the dress, I decided that I'd rather have the skirt be pleated rather than gathered. With the thicker fabric and the plaid I just thought it might look a little cleaner. It was a really quick alteration, just a matter of undoing the yoke seam where the gathers were, squeezing out a box pleat and restitching that section. Since I had a separate lining, I omitted the inner yoke, meaning all those seams were still exposed and accessible.

I also took in and shortened the sleeves, which I suppose belongs in the fit section, but I did it later after things were happening. The lining was already in when I shortened the sleeves, and I cut them together as one layer. I think I must have cut the lining too short somehow, because now the bottom edges of the sleeves are a little wrinkly like they're getting pulled. Grrr...

I think the last thing to mention is I made the bias tape 3/8" finished instead of 1/4" to account for the thicker fabric.

I'm very satisfied with how this turned out, although because of the dry clean factor I probably won't wear it as often as I would if it were machine washable. Or, I will just have to expedite my acquisition of more wool things to make the trip worthwhile. I did have a dream about ponchos the other night... [not kidding].

Colette Patterns Dahlia Dress - Version 2

2014-12-04T05:00:00.000-05:00

The Dahlia Sewalong is wrapping up over on Colette's Sewalong site. Here's one of the resulting dresses!

This is Version 2. I picked a summery seersucker since it's a strappy sundress, but I think it actually works well with tights and a sweater too.

Before starting I was way more excited about Version 1 that I made out of a wool plaid [yet unblogged], but after finishing them both I think I might like this one more.

Fit wise, for my 33-27-38 measurements I cut 2-4-6. Most of the fit changes I did were on the front bodice - I actually trimmed quite a bit off both sides of the point where the strap is. I did it first after I made a mockup of the bodice, and then again after I tried the dress on before the straps were attached. Since it's sleeveless and the straps are just bias tape, it was a super easy alteration to do [although I did have to rip and redo a portion of the underarm bias tape, but it was worth it!].

The pattern called for 1/4" bias tape, but I made 3/8" for slightly wider straps.

I also ended up shaping the skirt a little less - there are angled portions of each seam near the top that were sticking slightly out on me, which was probably exaggerated by the fact that I cut out to a larger size at the hip. So I just went back after the fact and took those portions of the seams in a bit, then trimmed the pattern pieces to match so they'd be ready for next time.

My great-grandma knitted the hat I'm wearing. She seems to have threaded elastic through the edge of it to keep it from stretching out, which I think is very clever.

I waited forever for a train to go by on the trestle and bridge above me - there are so many trains in Nashville! - but it was freezing and I finally gave up. Right as I was starting my car to leave one came barreling by, naturally.

Christine Haynes Marianne Dress

2014-11-25T05:00:00.000-05:00

I've never really felt like the thrift store gods are on my side.

I don't think they're working against me, necessarily. But I'm not usually one to find amazing cheap things in thrift stores. They just don't reveal themselves to me.

Until I found this pre-lit white Christmas tree at Goodwill for $15.

When I saw it I nearly pounced on it, and I clutched it against myself for the rest of my visit, eyeing the other shoppers suspiciously but, I hoped, confidently. An employee offered me a cart; I refused. This tree was mine.

When I got it home and plugged it in, one of the light strands was burned out, but I managed to find the broken bulb and replace it. This only fanned the flames of my white-Christmas-tree-finding euphoria; under the influence of raging bargain shopper's adrenaline, I may or may not have shouted "YES!" and clapped to the empty room. After a moment of basking in the fully-lit Christmas tree glow of victory I poured a glass of wine, blasted a Spotify Christmas playlist and dragged out my box of ornaments. It was a most triumphant night.

the smug face of said triumph

So anyway, on to the sewing! This is the newest pattern from my friend Christine Haynes, the Marianne Dress. It's a loose and comfy knit dress with kimono style short sleeves that become drop-shoulder sleeves when you add the longer sleeve option. There's a faux button cuff detail and also a peter pan collar, should you be so inclined.

attempted 'flattering' crossed leg position makes weird twisted fabric in back.
note to self: not flattering

It comes together really fast and the color blocking makes it such a good scrap buster! I have so many knit scraps that are too big to throw away but aren't big enough to make anything out of. They are perfect for this.

This gray fabric is a soft and lightweight jersey from Wanderlust (out of stock, but they do have it in lilac and mulberry). The green interlock I've had forever, and I'm pretty sure it's from one of the big chains.

The pattern calls for three buttons on each sleeve, but I didn't have enough so I just did two. Which I liked anyway! Size wise, I cut a size 4, which was the size I should have cut based on my bust but smaller than my waist and hips. The pattern has generous ease so I figured it would be ok. I think next time I will cut out to a bigger size in the hips as I should have done based on my measurements. It's not too small but I just think I would prefer it a little looser there.

I will definitely be making more of these. I think I want a shirt version. The cuff is barely more effort than your usual cuff but it looks so chic and polished. Because, duh, it's Christine.

What's that? Oh, you want a closeup of some ornaments?

I really like Christmas ornaments. The bird is from this phase I went through when I thought someday I'd have a full sized tree with ONLY bird ornaments on it. Because I make plans like that. This tree marks a momentous occasion because I finally got to use the icicle ornaments I've been hoarding, unused, for at least six years. They're the long twisted silver ones. I got them at Pier One after Christmas because they were only $1 for a box of seven. They're made out of glass! And they're sparkly! I bought like ten boxes. How could I not?

I've never had a tree big enough for them to not look ridiculous. But now I do.

MY CHRISTMAS PLANS ARE ALL FALLING INTO PLACE.

Thanks, thrift store gods. I'll never doubt you again.

Prague

2014-11-20T05:30:00.000-05:00

Ok so if you're sick of my travel posts, don't worry, THIS IS THE LAST ONE. It's kind of long, but I have a lot to share about Prague!

On the final weekend I was in Berlin, my brother had a three day weekend, so he, I and his lovely girlfriend Gesine took a trip to Prague. I've always heard people say, oh I love Prague! But no one is every really that specific about why, so I wasn't even sure I was going to go. I'm so glad we did!

We rode the train from Berlin, which was a 4-5 hour trip. It was a very nice ride, going through sunflower fields, and then through a beautiful mountainous river gorge with the occasional castle ruin. Also can I just have a moment of joyful tribute to rail travel? We need more of that here.

We stayed in an AirBnb apartment that was absolutely perfect. It was only about a 7 minute walk right to the Old Town Square, which is the historic/tourist center of town, and definitely cheaper than the hotels in the same area.

To set the tone, let's start with what we came upon on our first walk to the square:

Apparently I decided to stop recording right when they got rowdy. But here's another video of these same guys playing [with better shots of their ELF SHOES] if you need more.

Prague is an old, old city that used to be one of the most influential centers of power and culture in Europe. It was the capital of the no-longer-existing Bohemian Empire and, for a time, the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. In the 14th century it was basically THE place to be in Europe. And unlike many of Europe's other large cities, it did not see a lot of fighting or destruction during either World War, so much of the old architecture remains.

Here is the Old Town Square at night. Up at the tops of those spires are little windows in little rooms - you can see them lit up. So I suppose that's where the wizards live.

The Old Town area is not big at all - you can walk from one end to the other in 20 minutes - but it is full of those narrow, twisting, completely unplanned streets you find in very old towns. Every time we were in between activities or food, we just walked around, and every time we found new little streets or discovered another pocket with a cafe or bar. Look at this tiny little mint green hotel!

One of the places we found and ducked into was the Prague State Opera House, which [google image search will help confirm this] was like ducking into the set of Amadeus. There was a formal event going on but we just darted around the lobby avoiding important looking people.

This is the Prague Astronomical Clock, a main tourist attraction on the square. It was built in 1410, and it's still working. It was quite a feat for its day: it mechanically keeps track of a bunch of different things in unison, like time, sunrise/sunset, and the positions of the planets. It's pretty amazing when you think about it. Legend has it that the maker of the clock was purposely blinded on order of the Prague Council so he couldn't make one for anyone else.

On Saturday we went to the Prague Castle, which is another one of the main touristy things to do. It's huge! And beautiful and amazing and up on this incredible hill. But it was also kind of a cluster. When we got there they were out of audio tours AND guided tour spots, so we just walked around with a teeny map. There are barely any signs and so many parts without any kind of explanation or historical info. And when I'm in a medieval castle, GIVE ME ALL THE HISTORIES.

This is Ian buying some kind of Czech flute thing on the Charles Bridge. In the background is the hill of Prague Castle.

The main spires you see when you look up at the castle hill actually belong not to the castle but to a massive cathedral inside the castle complex called St. Vitus Cathedral. It is spectacular and giant. There have been a few cathedrals on this site dating back to 930, [including one built by King Wenceslas, as in, the Christmas song], but this one was started in 1344.

The inside had the most intricate and luminous stained glass windows I've ever seen. Here's a closeup of one. That's probably ten vertical feet in the picture, and the whole thing was easily two and a half times taller. And there were dozens of them.

The outside had the world's most disturbing gargoyles. Way to be freaky, 14th century.

By the way, if you think the subtitle of this post should be "Devon Takes Many Rear Lurker Photos of Ian and Gesine's Romantic Prague Getaway", well then I wouldn't wholly disagree with you. But I promise it wasn't like that in real life. That's just what happens when you're always walking behind your vacation comrades.

Speaking of comrades, on Saturday night we ate at a restaurant on the recommendation of our AirBnb host called Lokal. She said it was a good place to go if you wanted an authentic Czech restaurant food the way it would have been 30 years ago - in other words, before the fall of the Iron Curtain.

I know the food isn't very pretty to look at but it was soooo good. I had some kind of pot roast and gravy situation with bread dumplings and potato dumplings. The beer was called 'cream beer', and basically was like cream soda and beer got together and made something that tasted a bit like toasted marshmallows.

The red stuff is beef tartar to spread on buttered garlic toast, which was also really delicious. Gesine, who was born in East Berlin, said that a popular East German party appetizer was a ball of beef tartar with a bunch of cracker sticks poking out of it so that it looked like a hedgehog. I enjoyed that tidbit immensely.

Gesine brought a disposable camera for each of us to use, which was such a good idea! I hadn't used one in forever, and it actually made me miss them. The almost-painful thumb cranking, the satisfying spring loaded shutter click. And I'd kind of forgotten how pretty and atmospheric film is. Plus you actually have to think about taking a picture since you don't have very many.

I don't know what's happening in this picture [sorry Ian] but the castle looks good.

It's true that there's not one specific thing that stands out as the reason to go to Prague, but you really do just love it. I think it's mostly because of the feel of the place - it's enchanting. It almost seems like a set. At night, everything is lit, and soft yellow light bounces off cobblestones and gilded eaves. The castles and cathedrals look like paintings from a fairy tale. Even the crowds, which are usually a turnoff for me, add to it somehow: a multitude of languages blend into the single, buzzing energy of happy people, caught together under the spell of a medieval city.

I'd totally go back.

Sachsenhausen

2014-11-19T05:30:00.000-05:00

About a half hour outside Berlin in the small, quaint town of Oranienburg, there was a concentration camp called Sachsenhausen [SAHK-sen-how-zen] from 1936-1950. It was built by the Nazis and later used by the Soviets, and some 30,000 people lost their lives there.

It is now a memorial and museum. I set aside a day to go there by myself and would highly recommend anyone else to do the same if you're in the area. It's a very easy train ride to the end of the S-Bahn S1 line. It is free to go and you can rent an audio tour for 3 euros. There are guided tours too, but I honestly preferred wandering around alone. It's that sort of place.

Sachsenhausen is staggering. For obvious reasons, it's a lot to take in emotionally. But it's also huge and full of an overwhelming amount of information. Every single building you walk through has a full exhibit inside of it, with countless photos, documents, and artifacts on display. It would take days to go through them all. So many names. So many stories.

Because of its central location and proximity to Berlin, Sachsenhausen was the headquarters for the entire Nazi concentration camp system - a flagship camp, if you could call it that. There were administrative offices, and it was where SS officers went for training. Sachsenhausen is in Oranienburg, a short walk from the center of town; there are houses you can see from inside the walls of the camp. People were living a literal stone's throw away. There were accounts saying that on some days, smoke from the crematorium would settle over the town like a heavy smog.

It was a regular phenomenon for prisoners to kill themselves by running headlong into the electrically charged barbed wire that surrounded the camp. At some point after the camp was closed, workers discovered a collection of anonymous poems written in Russian. One of the poems is about these suicides.

Standing at roll call in the grey morning light,

transfixed, I gaze at the wires.

Sparks dance, glowing and bright,

as another friend's life expires.

How many sparks have I seen thus fly?

Ashes sinking into the moss-covered clay?

How many brave men have I seen thus die?

Might not I also soon choose to end in this way?

I'm always really affected by knowing that I'm in the exact same place that something happened. To sit and exist and just be in the same space, separated from a life past by only time. To stand where this man would have been standing during his roll call...

...and to look down and see the same moss-covered clay.

There is an ironworked phrase on the main inner gate of the camp, which prisoners would have seen on their way in.

It reads, "Work makes you free."

Travel Sewing and Berlin Recap

2014-11-18T05:00:00.000-05:00

I thought that since I made such a big deal about posting my travel sewing plans, I ought to do a recap post about what I actually got done and what just didn't happen. And then I'll share some of my pictures from Berlin [and a lil video]!

SUCCESSES

STRATHCONA HENLEY: I got the motorcycle henley done in time, and it fit my brother. Hooray! I blogged it here.

COOPER BAG: The Cooper Bag [pictured in action above!] was a bit stressful because I didn't have a bag that was appropriate to take, so I actually needed to get it done. It's blogged here. After using it every day for 10 days, I might install the straps closer together at the top, as they're rather wide and made my shoulders sore after multiple days of wearing it filled with heavy things. I also might make it not as deep. But the backpack/messenger combo was exactly what I needed!

ACID WASH OOH LA LEGGINGS: I love these things! Blogged here. I wore them with a Victory Patterns Lola dress [unblogged] and felt snazzy.

2 KWIK SEW SWEATSHIRTS: I'm so glad I made these and brought them, because it was colder than I thought. The first one is blogged with the leggings here and the second one here.

FAILS

ALBION COAT: HAAAA! I made a muslin, ordered some Thinsulate and then I was out of time. Definitely didn't even get close on that one.

CLOVER PANTS: I made like five muslins and just was not ready to commit to real pants. There are currently Clover muslins strewn amongst my belongings - in my sewing bookshelf, my bathroom, my laundry hamper. It is not a pretty sight.

PARTIAL FAILS

BLACK PLANTAIN TEE: Remember how I said I wanted a few Plantains? Well, I made a long sleeved black one as planned - in fact it was the first travel sewing project I did - packed it up in my suitcase, and then FORGOT TO WEAR IT. I found it wadded up in the bottom when I was unpacking and didn't even know what it was at first. So it's a success in that I made it, but a fail in that I acted like I didn't.

SHEER CLOVER TOP: This is half finished, sitting in a heap on my sewing table. It was getting late and I had one day left and I had to choose between finishing this and making the motorcycle henley for my brother. And since I'm such a good sister, I abandoned the Clover. But to be honest I wasn't very into finishing it anyway. I will...soon.

And now, some Berlin photos.

There is graffiti everywhere. EH. VER. EE. WHERE.

One of my days there I took an E-Bike tour with Fat Tire Bike tours, and it was awesome! We rode all around the city [my bike clocked like 25 km] and had lunch at a biergarten. The people in my group were so fun and my tour guide Walid was awesome. An E-Bike feels like a regular bike, except that when you pedal fast there is a computer that accelerates. This picture is from Tempelhof, an airport originally built by the Nazis that was used for the Berlin Airlift during the Cold War. It's now a massive park. We rode around on the runways.

I was crushing hard on the mailboxes in my brother's apartment building.

This is Maybachufer, near the Turkish Market. There were a ton of stalls selling really cheap fabric of drastically varying quality. It was fun but also crowded and overwhelming and I didn't get anything. I did, however, run into someone that was on my bike tour, which was a really weird small-world moment [you don't expect to hear your name called in a foreign city halfway around the world].

This is in Nordbahnhof, one of the stations for Berlin's S-Bahn train system. It was one of the stations know as a Ghost Station during the Cold War. When the wall went up, there were still West Berlin trains that ran through East Berlin, and to prevent people from escaping along the tracks the entrances of multiple train stations were bricked over and guarded until the wall came down in 1989. As a result these stations are like time capsules - all the tiles and signs are original to the time the stations were built in the 20's and 30's. There is a small exhibit in Nordbahnhof with some really interesting escape stories - one man snuck his family into an underground train tunnel in the middle of the night, somehow managed to stop one of the West Berlin trains, and convinced the conductor to take them with him.

This is another train station, Spandau.

This is at the Berlin Wall Memorial. There are photos of the 138 people who were killed trying to escape over the wall [that's part of the wall in the background]. There was one story of a man who use a grappling hook to zip line his family over the wall in the middle of the night from the top of a tall building, and it actually worked.

Nazi sewing patterns anyone? Now I know what a jodhpur pattern looks like.

This is a fabric catalogue from 1807! It was in the German History Museum.

Berlin is a vibrant, amazing city, and my list of things I want to do and see is far from complete. I know most of my pictures are about history, but there is so much more to it than that. I had great food, lots of beer [beer everywhere!], and saw some ridiculously good jazz musicians. I had one successful interaction in German where the person did not automatically switch to English when they heard me speak, and IT WAS A TRIUMPH. [All I did was order a small coffee, BUT STILL.]

Lastly, here's a video of a street violinist that my brother and I saw in Neukölln, right before a fiery shot of ratzeputz that helped sentence me to the couch for most of the next day.

Thanks so much to everyone that commented/emailed me suggestions on things to do, I really appreciate it and your advice was so valuable!

Tomorrow I'll be back with a rather somber post about my side trip to Sachsenhausen. Then there will be a little post about Prague, and after that back to sewing stuff, I promise!

Kwik Sew 3892 (plus a hat!)

2014-11-10T10:37:00.000-05:00

So I'm realizing as the weather turns colder that ten years in LA has left me with a pretend winter wardrobe. Like things that seem like they would be 'warm' - oh look! it has an alpine deer on it! - when in actuality they aren't warm at all. So I've been trying to winter it up around here.

This is another Kwik Sew 3892 [previous one here]. The fabric is this quilted knit from JoAnn's. JoAnn, that she-devil, she sucked me in with her fall knits - some of them are actually pretty cool looking! This is a soft jersey on top, and then it's quilted to a slightly stretchy polyester backing. It's neato, although I must say I've only washed it twice and it's really starting to pill and get messy looking. I guess you get what you pay for, except in a way not really because this stuff was marked at $20/yard before JoAnn's 40% off pricing trick. So you get what you...chain-store-shop for? I don't know.

I bought the ribbing at JoAnn's too, although I'm really looking forward to investigating some of the ribbing sources in Jen's recent post on Grainline! The fabric was way too thick to do self bands, and the ribbing color choice was limited so black contrast it was. The neckline is already a bit scooped on the pattern but I must have really stretched out this one as I was adding the ribbing because it's a lot wider than the first one I made. It's also mysteriously larger overall. I feel a bit like a marshmallow in it, but a warm and toasty marshmallow.

Speaking of warm and toasty, the hat I'm wearing is a free pattern from the Purl Bee called the Simple Pleasures hat, which is the best travel project ever because you don't have to keep track of any rows except a few at the very end. I actually finished two while I was on my trip. This yarn is Flicker by Berocco. You can't tell in the pictures but it's actually slightly sparkly! and so soft! I've had two skeins in my yarn stash forever and it felt SO GOOD to make something out of them.

These pictures were taken in Berlin, near the Berlin Wall Memorial, but this is not the actual wall, just some graffiti nearby [although I think it may have been historic and somehow related]. I thought I was going to take some pictures in front of the wall, but once I got there I felt weird about it, even though there were people doing handstands against it and I'm pretty sure a headshot session going on. It just felt wrong - and a little selfish somehow - to use such a symbol of oppression as a backdrop for trivial things like sweatshirt ribbing and JoAnn's fall knits. And not just a symbol, but the actual, real thing that did the oppressing.

This could have also been because I was at the actual memorial - nothing like some grainy photos of perished souls to make you feel silly and trivial. There's another section of the wall that's been turned into a giant street art display called the East Side Gallery that would have probably had a different feel.

I'm still going through my trip photos - there actually aren't too many - and in a few days I'll do a post for anyone interested!

Thread Theory Strathcona Henley

2014-11-06T05:00:00.000-05:00

I knew I wanted to make my brother Ian something as a present to say thanks for letting me monopolize his Berlin floor space with an air mattress/exploded suitcase for ten days. I already had the Thread Theory Strathcona pattern, and I already had this fabric, so motorcycle henley it was!

The awesome jersey is from Wanderlust Fabrics. I was a teensy bit worried that it might be a little too theme-y or cutesy for a guy's shirt, but I squashed those teensy worries and forged ahead, because I thought it was really cool fabric. Ian is a big fan of motorcycles, and actually has a vintage BMW back in the states that I'm sure he pines for daily.

my dad and my brother

In the end I think my teensy worries did in fact deserve to be squashed, because the motorcycles are small and and subtle enough to be ok!

The Strathcona came together pretty easy. This was the first placket I've done on a knit, and while it took a bit of extra coaxing to get the fabric to feed during the topstitching, it wasn't too bad. Fit wise, I just kind of guessed and cut a S, and it fits great. It's nice and slim and modern around the middle. The sleeves ended up getting shortened 1" because in my bleary, half-asleep, last-minute sewing episode I fused a non-stretchy interfacing to the hem edge and it was no bueno. But I thought they looked kinda long anyway [or so I told myself] so I just cut them off and re-hemmed.

One slightly weird thing about the pattern to note is that the front and back pattern pieces are full pieces with a right and left that you're supposed to cut through a single layer, even though the right and left appear to be the same. There's probably a reason for this that I wasn't seeing, but it could have taken a lot less paper if they were both just on-the-fold pieces. I actually did end up folding them in half and cutting them that way because it was easier, quicker and took up less space.

I also cut the neckband cross grain instead of along the non stretchy length of grain as the piece indicated, although to be honest I didn't even notice it was labeled that way until after I made it and I was googling to see other people's Strathcona's and saw it mentioned. Sewing autopilot!

These pictures were taken on a narrow street in Prague. It was quite a painful experience for Ian, and I'm glad that I was able to twist his arm enough to get a few shots!

Bleerrgghh, so embarrassed.

I would totally make another Strathcona for him, although I don't know if he'll ever accept another one for fear of having to get his picture taken again...

And now it's time to pick the winner for the Fancy Tiger Sailor Top pattern giveaway!

The winner is Carrie with comment #46. Thank you all so much for your comments! I LOVED reading all of your fabric choices, since we all know that picking fabric is one of the best parts about sewing.

Papercut Ooh La Leggings and KwikSew 3892

2014-11-03T05:00:00.000-05:00

Sooooo I found the best place to take pictures.

On the way to my weekly knitting night, I always drive by this vacant diner. It looks like a really theme-y but average faux diner kinda place, with lots of chrome and fake art deco details. This past week I really needed to take some pictures, and as I drove by the diner I realized that the sun was setting and the back of the diner was in some nice diffused shade, so I turned into the parking lot hoping there'd be some kind of wall back there that would be good for pictures.

And oh, was there a wall.

Apparantly said vacant diner used to be a Harley Davidson, evidenced by this awesome mural.

There are a lot of characters in this mural, but I just have to show you one, close up, because he is really, REALLY enjoying his 'Starbuck' coffee.

Sadly, I did not seem to get a closeup of Stoner Santa [see previous photo, just left of my head.] But that just leaves something for next time.

I'm wearing a pair of Papercut Ooh La Leggings, one of my travel sewing projects that I actually got done [woohoo!]. And I LOVE THEM. They are so comfy and soft but somehow feel like more than just leggings. I think all the seams help. The fabric is a thick and soft acid wash knit from Wanderlust. This colorway is out but there is a lighter one still available.

If you follow me on instagram, you saw me post these and lament that I accidentally lined up the pattern repeat on both front legs, which is true if you kind of squint and look at them. Upon investigating the fabric though, I realized that the print repeat is really, really small, only like 6" x 10". Because of habit I cut all the pieces in the same direction, so there was really no way around having similar splotches close to each other. If I had realized how small the repeat was, it might have been beneficial to cut adjacent pieces in opposite directions on the fabric to really switch up the print and make it feel more random. Food for thought for next time!

Fit wise, I cut an XS which was just a touch under my measurements, but the next size up would have been too big. I ended up taking a 1" wedge out of the front crotch seam, because I made a semi-muslin and there was extra fabric there. This made them fit pretty perfectly. The pattern comes up really high, past my belly button. I like high pants, but I think for my next version I might take off just an inch or so to lower them a bit.

The sweatshirt is another travel project that I didn't really plan for but made kind of spontaneously. I'd been eyeing the Papercut SJ Tee AND the new Grainline Linden for a good raglan sweatshirt candidate, but I already owned this KwikSew 3892 which was similar enough, so I was responsible and used the one I already had. I cut the XS despite the fact that the bust measurement was 3" smaller than my actual bust, because I know that KwikSew has silly, RIDICULOUS ease. And it worked out!

I opted for the pocket and also lengthened the main body by 1". I had wanted to do 2" but didn't have enough fabric. The fabric is a mostly rayon ponte that I bought from Spandex World in the hopes of making workout pants, but it's way too thick. But it's perfect for a sweatshirt! It's gray with this sort of blue sheen to it that's really pretty.

I really like this sweatshirt pattern, and have two other knits that I hope to make into the same thing. As I type this, I only have two more days before I leave for my trip, so I'm not sure if I'll get to them. I'll let you know when I get back!

Fancy Tiger Sailor Top + Pattern Giveaway

2014-10-28T05:00:00.000-04:00

I remember one time in maybe 2009 when my then co-worker Rhea called me over to the computer and showed me the blog of a craft store in Denver called Fancy Tiger. "THIS," she said, "THIS is how you do a craft store." Since then I've spent many an internet minute pining, ogling and swooning over Fancy Tiger's yarn, fabric, window displays and general inspiring awesomeness of businessladies Jaime and Amber.

So needless to say I'm happy to be today's stop on the blog tour for their first garment pattern, the Fancy Tiger Sailor Top. The pattern is available in print and PDF form, AND it's being released as a Creativebug video, so you can see Jaime and Amber in action!

The Sailor Top is a raglan sleeve top with a gathered neckline and sleeves. Bust size range goes from 32-45". The construction is pretty straightforward, and this little number whips up in just a couple of hours. The pattern has instructions meant to be helpful for beginners. I can see this as a good first or second garment for newbie sewists, but even for those with a bit more chops it would make such a pretty silk or rayon blouse.

The fabric I used is a beautiful and dreamy voile that I got from a local shop called Textile Fabrics. I actually bought it when I came to Nashville spontaneously for a weekend when I was thinking about moving here. The selvage says "Ascher Studio."

Because the voile is slightly sheer I decided to do french seams everywhere. [And then I was reeeeaaally excited to take a sheer-garment-against-sunlit-window picture.]

I have decided that raglan sleeves are my current favorite thing. They are just so easy to put together and I find the lines really flattering. The Sailor Top sleeves are finished with a facing, which I really like. I'm weird about sleeves [usually just in my own head, but now you all know] and hate sleeves that are too small/tight/dainty because I feel like a more substantial sleeve balances out my arms. And the wide faced hem does that!

I'm wearing my Sailor Top tucked into a Colette Mabel Skirt. I did take a few pictures with jeans on in case you're wondering what it looks like untucked.

The hem is pretty substantial to match the sleeve facings, which I like. I do love a good'n'chunky hem.

I cut the size small. I didn't do a muslin, and when I tried it on before I stitched down the yoke facing, the back yoke was gaping on me. This is a common thing for me because I have narrow shoulders, especially with something like this that's more straight across and boatneck-ish.

So I did a quick little fix to solve the problem, which you really can't see because of the print. I took two little tucks in the back yoke. They're kind of like little mini fisheye darts across the yoke and yoke facing. Here's what they looked like before I sewed them:

They totally snugged up the back yoke for me! I tried to get a picture of them on the finished shirt, and you can really only see it because the fabric marker ink is still there [haha]:

So now on to the giveaway...one lucky ready will get a free PDF copy of the pattern! Just leave a comment telling me what kind of fabric you're envisioning using for your Sailor Top. Make sure your email address is either in your commenter profile or in your comment. Contest is open until midnight EST Oct 31.

If you'd like to see some other renditions of the Sailor Top - and have other chances to win the pattern! - here's the rest of the blog tour dates and destinations:

Monday, October 27th - A Verb for Keeping Warm

Tuesday, October 28th - Miss Make

Wednesday, October 29th - Workroom/Make Something

Thursday, October 30th - Sew Bon

Friday, October 31st - Very Shannon

Disclaimer: I received the PDF pattern for free in return for participating in the blog tour. All opinions are my own.