Polka Dot Overload

Sew Grateful Guest Reflection: "Surrounded by Sewing"

2012-02-09T22:22:00.000-05:00

Above: A lovely doll my mother made when she was learning to sew in the early 1960s. "She’s lost her face and is a little sad-looking but notice the fancy hairstyle and the gathers on the sleeves and bodice. She used to have a petticoat and pantaloons but they are gone now."

How much are you loving Sew Grateful week? A big thank you to all my long-time and new readers who entered my first giveaway--it's so much fun to read your plans for what you might do with your winning vintage pattern!

Tomorrow I'll be sharing the story of how my beloved grandmother Melba taught me how to sew in a bittersweet week bookended by a road trip to a Mississippi funeral and a scary ambulance ride to a small Georgia hospital. And this weekend I hope to share my finished Sew Grateful sewing project.

In the meantime, here is a guest post from my amazing mom Beryl Reid about how HER grandmother taught HER how to sew. (Along the lines of this family tradition, I think my mom will have to teach little Z how to sew!)

"I grew up surrounded by women who sewed. My grandmother Drue was my first sewing teacher. I was living with her in Corinth, Mississippi in the summer of 1960 (I was about eight years old). There was, of course, a sewing room in the house, with an amazing pedal driven sewing machine.

"Me (in school photo) the year I learned to sew... in Corinth, Mississippi."
I had been sewing “by hand” for a long time, for as long as my memory goes back. I had just finished making a doll that wasn’t really for playing with... it was a Civil War era doll that reflected my obsession with history. I wanted to make a really detailed and authentic period costume for the doll.

"This is a photo of us kids, sitting on one of the rag rugs my grandmother made at the house in Corinth. I'm on the far left."
My grandmother decided I should learn to use the sewing machine for the doll’s costume. She sat with me for days, making sure I knew how to thread the machine and run it. Her method of teaching was gentle, but “hands off”. She let me make all my own mistakes and knew that getting me started was all that was needed. There was no “hovering” or nagging or recriminations... at all!

"This is a picture of my sister Melinda, my cousin Pam and my brother Michael... my grandmother Drue made all these clothes."
Most of the time I was left alone with the machine, my imagination and time to figure out what to do on my own. She might suggest some techniques... especially the gathering of the skirts and pantaloons. She would show me, then leave the room. Often, she would be in the next room, working on one of her own projects.
Every woman I knew in my family and extended family did some kind of home sewing or “making.” Drue had grown up in the rural South, the wife of a sharecropper—and in that culture, you often couldn’t buy something nice to wear, but you could make it yourself. She loved to make clothes, quilts and rag rugs... it was a legitimate creative pleasure for her and the women of my family. Both of her daughters (including my mother) had learned the same outlook and were both skilled at sewing, knitting and the art of “making it yourself.”

"Drue (center, between my sister Becky and grandfather Garland) sets up a quilting frame in preparation for a quilting bee."
By the time I returned to my mother and father after that summer, I knew how to sew. I had to re-learn it a bit when I started using my mother’s electric Singer, but that didn’t take too long. My mother Melba didn’t have to teach me. She added a few practical tips to my outlook on sewing, mostly of the time-saving sort:
She scorned the use of pins... a few upside coffee cups on the pattern were enough.
She also didn’t really believe in chalk or marking... a dart should be memorized and just done.

Speed was important to my mother. She worked full time as a book keeper when I was growing up, so sewing was done after a long day and was often because she wanted a new outfit for herself or me and my siblings—it was a practical activity. She did love to dress up (she inherited this from her mother!). They looked like models from a magazine to me and I admired them as gorgeous, stylish and capable women.
By the time I was eleven, I had progressed to making my own dresses for school. I remember one dress, it was a turquoise blue “mini” dress (remember this was the time of the “British Invasion” and skirts were inching up!) it was sleeveless and had a large double ruffle around a scoop neck, almost like a big necklace or flower lei. I can’t tell you how proud I was to wear it to school!"
——Beryl Reid (aka Mikhaela's mom)

Four (sewing) generations:Beryl, Melba (holding Mikhaela) and Drue in the early 1980s.

I'm afraid I don't have any pictures of my mom's ruffled blue mini dress, or of any of Drue's beautiful quilts (my mom thinks there might be one in her attic but she couldn't find it)... but here's a bonus photo of me as a baby in an outfit my mom sewed for me--I love the sweet purple rick rack!

So tell me, dear readers--do you have any family sewing traditions?

Sew Grateful: Vintage Pattern Giveaway Overload!

2012-02-07T23:23:00.001-05:00

Giveaway Option #1: Du Barry 5415 vintage coat or topper pattern, 1942

Sew Grateful week is in full swing over at My Happy Sewing Place, AND I just hit over 150 blog followers, so I'm super excited to host my first ever Polka Dot Overload giveaway!

In typical Mikhaela fashion I could not pick just one pattern to give away--and since I'm doing a vintage pattern giveaway, I wanted to have a range of bust size options. So here are a variety of patterns I've collected that aren't quite moi, but deserve a loving sewing home.

So, the rules:

To qualify for the giveaway, please leave a comment here by Sunday Feb. 12, midnight EST telling me which pattern is your favorite, and either (a) what type of fabric you would make it with (color? material? etc.) or (b) what occasion you would wear it for. Please don't enter just to resell on Etsy or eBay--obviously I have no way to check that, but I would just love to think you'll actually sew with one of these!
There will be one giveaway winner. (The rest of these lots will go on eBay, as I don't have time these days for Etsy).
Some of these are lots--if you win the giveaway and pick one of them, you get the whole lot!
Out of qualifying answers, I will pick a random winner.
Please make sure to include your email address or other contact info when you post your comment (it should be visible to me only, I think).
I'll ship to anyone, anywhere, but please give me a few weeks of leeway before you start worrying about your pattern(s)--things are a big squeezed over here timewise!
Due to the sheer number of patterns involved here, I did not have time to check to make sure all pattern pieces are present for all patterns. If you choose a lot, hopefully most of them will be intact! If you choose a single pattern, I'll check the pieces before I send--if any key ones are missing, I can give you backup options.

And the options (I have links to back views or more details on the Vintage Pattern Wikia for some of these):

Vintage Du Barry 5415 coat or topper pattern, 1942, size 16, bust size 34 (photo above). Love those Du Barry crayon colored illustrations!
Vintage Simplicity 3431 dress with full skirt, early 1960s, size 16, bust size 36. Check out the sheer sleeves in the main view (and here's the back view):
Lot of three adorable vintage smock-style maternity dress, top and skirt patterns, one from the 1950s and the others from the 1960s. Bust sizes 32 or 34. (Here's more info on Butterick 7395):
Lot of six vintage patterns from the 1960s or 1970, in bust sizes 37-40. I really wish these were closer to my high bust size, especially Simplicity 3722 (double bows!). And isn't Style 2876 (love that bodice seaming) very Star Wars--whereas Butterick 6329 is a bit more Star Trek? Also includes a half-size sloper pattern...
Lot of six vintage patterns from the 1960s or 70s, in bust sizes 32-34. Yes, I know there are seven pictured... but then I realized I just LOVE everything about Simplicity 6577 (the orange/plaid combo! eek!) and it's only one size too small in the waist/hips. So (sew?) sorry!
Lot of two vintage 1960s mail-order dress patterns (see detailed blog post about this collection "A Life in Mail Order Patterns") in bust sizes 34 and 35, Patt-O-Rama 8356 and Mail Order 8359.
Lot of five vintage 1970s and 1980s mail-order dress and separates patterns from same collection (see detailed blog post about this collection "A Life in Mail Order Patterns") in bust sizes 39-42, including Mail Order 4785, Mail Order 8250 and Mail Order 9441 (my favorite! Love the polka dot bow-neck dress!).

Phew! That's it, folks. Good luck to all of you, and while I don't want to put on any pressure, I would just be incredibly delighted if the winner eventually made up their winning pattern ... maybe in time for next year's Sew Grateful week?

P.S. Later this week, I'm also planning to do a Sew Grateful tribute to my grandmother Melba, who taught me to sew (and left me her beloved serger and money for a sewing machine). I'm also hoping to do a project post about my Sew Grateful colorblocked skirt from a pattern she left me--if my fabric arrives in time.

Colorblocking Fun + Sewing Schemes Overload

2012-01-30T23:57:00.002-05:00

Yet ANOTHER project to add to the in-progress mountain--my Kwik Sew 2771 color-blocking experiment for Sew Grateful week.

Guys, I'm getting a bit overwhelmed over here. The more I get back into sewing and knitting, the more obsessed and excited I become--and the more frustrated at how my limited making-stuff time inhibits my ability to actually FINISH any of my grand schemes. February is practically here and I don't have a single finished object to show you!

Z and I went to the Brooklyn Burdastyle Sewing Club meetup yesterday (we meet every month and Manhattanites are also welcome!) and it was awesome. We hadn't been since she was a wee wee not-yet-walking thing and it was so great to see everyone again and all the fabulous things they've been sewing. We're going to meet up again two weekends from now in the Garment District for a little shopping expedition.

I had stayed up way past my bedtime the night before trying to finish my wide-leg corduroy trousers for the meetup, but got tripped up by waistband treatment indecision (petersham? interfacing? both? elastic-backed waist? what?!) and had to wear a skirt I sewed out of $2 polyester polka dots back in 2005. Which bummed me out. Because I have such grand plans, and SO many unfinished or almost-started projects! Currently--in vague order of (hoped-for) completion:

The Wide-Leg Trousers of Eternity

The dream: Create stylish and comfortable dark cuffed corduroy trousers that I can wear for work and weekend.
The reality: I knew so little about making pants that even with the help of four books and a DVD it has taken me more than a month of agony to get these things properly fit and almost but not quite constructed. (Seriously, pants are HARD. Just ask the Slapdash Sewist).
What's done: I've finally got the fit about right, I think--I ended up having to pin out two inches (?!) from the hip area, partly due to randomly losing a small amount of weight since I muslined these things a month ago, and partly due to the mysterious differences between muslin and fashion fabric.
What's not: The waistband.
What's stopping me: Over-ambition. If I was following the pattern directions I'd be done ages ago, but I stubbornly resolved to try and make them more versatile and comfortable by using a petersham-faced front and an elastic-faced back waistband... This from someone who had no idea how to construct a fly front or put in pockets.
Urgency/guilt factor: High. I have only one pair of other pants I like to wear and they are rather frayed at the bottom hem. And once these are done to my liking, I plan to clone them quickly and repeatedly.
Status: Go go go!
Hope for eventual completion? Tomorrow night?

The Pretty in Plum Tomten Jacket of Perpetuity

The dream: Make a fun, warm, chunky stripey soft wool hooded sweater for my daughter--something oversized that she can grow into. Seriously, why are almost all RTW kid's sweaters--even pricier ones--made out of cotton, acrylic, or fleece? Don't kids need to be warm too? Surely I could whip up such a thing in a weekend!
The reality: Three months of occasional knitting later, I am finally ready to make sleeves--if I have enough yarn.
What's done: The body.
What's not: The sleeves, hood, and zipper.
What's stopping me: I mostly knit during my weekly workplace knitting group and on the subway--I reserve the evening hours for sewing.
Urgency/guilt factor: None, as my aunt just bought Z a hand-knit sweater and hat set from a knitter friend of hers.
Status: Keep on knitting like a snail!
Hope for eventual completion? In a few weeks?

The Sudden Urge to Colorblock Skirt

(see sketch at top of post)

The dream: Achieve a super-quick sewing win for Sew Grateful week with a basic Kwik Sew knit skirt pattern given to me by my beloved grandmother Melba, using the sewing machine and serger she left me when she died in 2004.
The reality: I haven't even ordered the fabric yet because I can't decide on a color scheme (leaning towards #1) and I worry about buying wool jersey fabric I haven't touched or inspected, even if it is on sale for an amazing $7.50/yard.
What's done: The sketch.
What's not: Everything.
What's stopping me: Colorblocking roadblock.
Urgency/guilt factor: Sew Grateful week is in... a week!
Status: Must order fabric!
Hope for eventual completion? Yes!

The Mitered Mittens in Way More Than a Minute

The dream: Persuade my mitten-averse daughter to cover her adorable little hands before she catches frostbite.
The reality: These Malabrigo mitered mittens from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac should have been done in like, five minutes, but I keep feeling guilty I'm not working on the sweater.
What's done: Almost one mitten.
What's not: The thumb, the other mitten.
What's stopping me: Inability to focus.
Urgency/guilt factor: Low—my parents just bought her six pairs of mittens before I could finish these.
Status: Plugging along.
Hope for eventual completion? Yes.

The Vintage Valentine's Day Red Dress

The dream: Make a sexy red 1940s vintage dress in time for Valentine's Day. Or at the very least for the Pattern Review Little Red Dress Contest this February.
The reality: That's barely two weeks away.
What's done: Drew the sketch, bought the fabric. And yes, I'm going with Du Barry 5525--the sweetheart neckline one.
What's not: Tracing the pattern, grading the pattern, making a muslin, fitting, altering, cutting out slippery silk fabric... EVERYTHING.
What's stopping me: The physical constraints of space-time. Also, the Little Red Dress contest rules specify no cutting of fabric til February.
Urgency/guilt factor: High—now that I've told you all about it.
Hope for eventual completion? I WILL MAKE THIS DRESS.

The Cabled Cashmere Toddler Sweater Refashion

Cabled Cashmere Cardigan Toddler Refashion Picks by m1khaela on polyvore.com

The dream: Serge up a quick soft sweater and set of leggings for my daughter from a gigantic thrifted cabled cashmere sweater.
The reality: Er...
What's done: Thrifted the sweater (it was red, and just $4), found inspiration pictures, paged through Ottobre magazine stash for a base pattern.
What's not: Oh, you know. EVERYTHING ELSE.
What's stopping me: I think I'm going to pass out now.
Urgency/guilt factor: Low—this should be a fun quick refashion.
Hope for eventual completion? Sure-ish.

And I haven't even mentioned the Colette Macaron I started to adjust...

Or the cabled alpaca hat I almost finished but will have to unravel and reknit an inch bigger so as to prevent tight hat headaches:

Sigh.

In other news--hello to all my new readers and thanks for visiting! Looks like I'm approaching 150 followers--when I get there I promise to host a vintage pattern giveaway.

So tell me: how overwhelmed are you by your sewing schemes? How often do you feel like this?

P.S. Just realized I ALSO forgot the Ottobre baby cord overalls which go with the above sweater, which I've already cut out and are all ready to sew:

1940s Red Dress Showdown (Du Barry Edition): Sweetheart vs. Peplum?

2012-01-26T22:18:00.000-05:00

I totally went back in time to 1942 and posed for some Du Barry pattern envelope illustrations!

Vintage lovers, I have the most exciting news for you! I HAVE BENT THE FABRIC OF THE SPACE-TIME CONTINUUM... all in the name of sewing, of course.

The idea came to me when I showed my husband the below two vintage pattern envelopes and asked him which dress would be more sexy and adorable for our upcoming Valentine's Day date.

"Sorry babe," he said, "It's really hard to tell—those illustration models are way too bony!" (Apologies to the more slender among you--this is his husbandly way of saying "honey, you look great the way you are", and I won't pretend I don't love it.)

So I tinkered around with some presser feet, rick rack and stretch lace for a bit, cobbled together a workable time-travel device, and paid a visit to the Du Barry pattern studios. I was like "Guys, all your super-stylized illustrations make it hard for the not-totally-waspwaisted among us way-in-the-future seamsters/seamstresses to picture how a dress will look on our actual bodies" and they were like "Wow, that's an excellent point."

Sadly I lost the device on my journey home, but c'est la vie! Anyway, the dress pros and cons:

Du Barry 5525 (early 1940s?):

Pros: Sweetheart neckline, reverse sweetheart fitted hip yoke, beautiful drapey skirt.
Cons:Will require grading up a size, something I've never attempted. And the sweetheart isn't as low-cut as I'd like. Also, I'm totally nervous about attempting 40s shoulder pads for the first time--I have really narrow shoulders!

Du Barry 5505 (1942):

Pros: Love the princess seams, love the skirt gores, LOVE THE PEPLUM. Also, no grading--just a little tweaking of fit and my usual major FBA.
Cons: Neckline super high, not very sexy. I tried to mitigate this in my croquis sketch by colorblocking and making the sleeves into cap sleeves, but not sure if it worked.

I did play with some other color options, but red clearly won the day:

For fabric, I went a-swatching at my favorite Garment District store, Paron's:

They were having a store-wide 30-60% off sale, so I didn't limit myself to the half-off annex this time. My options were (clockwise starting with the purple):

Purple rayon crepe. (Not red, but it was the only rayon crepe in the annex).
Christian Dior red rayon/silk blend. Really nice but a bit orange-y in real life (and this is the rare case where I didn't want orange.
Deep red silk crepe with a hint of stretch.
Lovely soft thin 100% wool crepe.
Lovely soft thick wool/nylon/stretch blend crepe.

The wool/nylon/stretch was my initial favorite—I just love working with wool, whether sewing or knitting—and would have been perfect for the bodice... but it was too thick and didn't have enough drape for the skirt. I went back the next day to get the red silk crepe stretch mainly because it looked so awesome when I stood in front of a mirror trying to pretend the bolt was a real dress.

And there you have it. So: who wins the showdown? Which dress would YOU make? I've already chosen, but I'm not telling—yet.

P.S. This is a case where a croquis really comes in handy, as I demonstrated recently in my little "How to Dress Your Digital Dress Form" demo/tutorial video (see related blog post for references, tips and details):

The ABC Toddler Tea Table (IKEA Hack by My Amazing Mom)

2012-01-24T23:53:00.002-05:00

There's been a whole lot of sewing and knitting going on over here... I counted it all up and realized I'm currently super actively working on a pair of trousers, some toddler overalls, a Colette dress, a vintage Du Barry dress (more on that later—super exciting!), a hooded sweater AND a pair of mitered mittens... all in a sparse 1 - 2 hours per day. Now that I'm back into the making of things, I AM OBSESSED. Er... this is a familiar feeling.

Sadly, I have no finished objects to photograph this month—yet. But I do have a fabulous IKEA hack to show you, courteous of my amazing mom (last seen helping to solve a vintage sewing genealogy mystery at My Happy Sewing Place).

It started life as a $19.99 unfinished IKEA Lätt set. Little Ms. Z loved nothing better than sitting at her table and coloring with her crayons or partaking of imaginary tea:

It was unfinished and a little boring, so my parents took it home with them to give it a makeover, leaving Z the table my dad built for me and my brother when we were kids in the meantime. My mom stuck down some sticky foam letters and shapes she had lying around...

Then she spraypainted the Lätt red, creating an awesome relief effect (we're letting it air-dry for a while before Z gets it back, though, as I'm not sure of the paint's VOC levels). And she sewed little pockets for the chair backs for Z to keep her crayons in. Voila!

Oh, and just for fun, my mom also made some snow globes featuring photos of Z in the Tea Party dress I made for her—I believe glitter, glycerine and some cheap jars and vases from Michael's were involved:

P.S. Even if you're exclusively a sewer and not yarn-inclined, you might relate to this post by the Yarn Harlot on startitis and its aftermath.

Video Tutorial: Try On Patterns Before You Sew With a Digital Dress Form (Croquis)

2012-01-23T08:30:00.000-05:00

Here it is, folks—my long-promised video tutorial on how I dress my digital croquis, based on my Colette Pastille vs. Colette Macaron sheath dress showdown! It's just three minutes long, so please take a look and share with your friends, embed on your own blog, whatever!

If you have any questions about a specific part of the video, leave them in the comments and I'll answer them in annotations directly on the video.

Now that I watch it critically, perhaps it's more of a "demo" than a tutorial, as it doesn't really go into the real nitty-gritty—what size paintbrushes to use, how to do a proper selection for filling, how to use layers, or how to create repeat fabric patterns, etc. Do you need to know that stuff too?

So I'd really love your feedback:

How's my genereal script/approach/use of images/video?
Is it too long/too short?
Is my narration understandable, or too fast/mumbly?
Are there some bits you're more interested in than others?
Should I do more of these? The other tutorial I've been promising to do for about two years now is how to create a really robust digital croquis in the first place using a variety of methods—digital, hand, etc.
Would it be better as a series of printable photos and text than a video?

The details: I captured the demo with iShowU, and edited it and recorded the voiceover in iMovie. I found the voiceover the most challenging part—at first I tried to wing it, but I kept stumbling over my words so my film-school-grad husband suggested I script it. Here's my rough script with some notes/links:

Mikhaela Reid here from Polka Dot Overload with a demo of how I “try on” sewing patterns using my customized digital dress form, or croquis.
With a little practice, you can plan your sewing wardrobe, design fun details and play with palettes and fabrics. Best of all, you can preview how a design will look on YOUR awesome shape before you cut—or even buy—your pattern or fabric. This is particularly great for use with vintage patterns with really stylized envelope drawings.
Back when I was super pregnant, I used my croquis to create storyboards and plan extensive modifications to non-maternity patterns.
So let’s talk tools:
First, you need a croquis. This could be one you traced by hand and scanned or drew directly into the computer. (Tutorial forthcoming, I swear!)
You’ll need images of your planned fabric, whether you’ve already purchased it or not. I keep all my fabric stash photos catalogued by color and type in Flickr, because I am obsessive.
A pressure-sensitive graphics tablet is optional—but I can't recommend it highly enough. Drawing with a mouse is clumsy and awkward, like drawing with a bar of soap—a pen tablet lets you draw naturally and create thicks and thins that look brush or pen-drawn just by changing pressure. I use a Wacom Intuos, but you can get a small Wacom Bamboo for $100 new, and I've seen used Bamboos or Graphires go for as little as $20 on eBay—less than the cost of some presser feet. Don't worry about size—even the smallest one can do what you need for this.
Finally, you’ll need digital image-manipulation software with the ability to paint and use layers and patterns. I use Manga Studio (speciality software for cartoonists—you don't really need it, I just happen to be really comfortable in it) and PhotoShop (just don't have TOO much fun with it) but GIMP is a great open-source PhotoShop alternative that does most of what PhotoShop can do for the excellent price of FREE GRATIS.

So let’s get started. I’m going to speed this up, but the entire process usually takes me from 15 minutes to an hour—drawing and coloring these two dresses took about 20 minutes total.
Here’s a grayed out photo of me in a tank top on which I’d already drawn my croquis on another layer. For reference, I’ve pulled up the pattern flats for the Colette Macaron and a photo of Mena from the Sew Weekly wearing her lovely version.
I usually start with one of the key lines of the design, in this case the mock sweetheart neckline. I keep the fabric in mind—is it stiff? soft? stretchy—and how it will hang from my body in real life. It wouldn’t be realistic to draw lots of soft pleats or folds in a stiff fabric with no drape. I also think carefully about ease. In this case I’m working with a firm cotton stretch woven and I plan to make the dress very fitted, so I draw the outlines very close to my actual contours...

And then I ran out of patience and winged the rest of it. And if you listen, you'll see I had to edit out a lot of the above for time's sake, too.

Recommended reading: If you're interested in a good reference book on how to render garment details...

Fashion school textbooks like Fashion Sketchbook (which I bought used at the FIT bookstore) or 9 Heads are excellent but extremely expensive.
Also, remember, that they're teaching you to render the unrealistic and superstylized 9-heads-or-more-tall fashion figure—which is the opposite of what we're trying to do here with our custom-made-for-our-awesome-real-bodies croquis.
But really, the best thing is just to study real clothing and fabric, and practice, practice, practice. I love these sketches Lladybird has been doing with her croquis by hand, and she claims she's "no artist", just "pretty good at copying stuff."

Enjoy! I'm dying to know what you all think of this—please let me know. And if this tutorial/demo inspires you or helps you in your sewing planning adventures, please leave a comment with a link to your projects so I can see them.

Pretty on the Inside?

2012-01-18T23:02:00.001-05:00

"My curator friend pointed to some very minimal overcasting and the lack of a lining inside a couture bustier, remarking how dramatically it disproved the home sewer's traditional conviction that well-made clothes must look as beautifully finished on the inside as the outside."
—David Page Coffin, from "What is Quality Construction?" in Making Trousers for Men and Women: A Multimedia Sewing Workshop.

And there you have it folks--INDISPUTABLE PROOF that my lazy preference for pinking my seams is actually a couture-like virtue.*

Anyway, there will be no sewing tonight, seamsters. I'm just too tired after last night's basting marathon. Instead I'm curling up in bed with the above book and DVD/Combo.

When I first started my trousers project I was far more interested in fit and the sewing process and this book and the accompanying DVD's exhaustive hundreds of pages of close-up photos of interior and exterior shots of trousers trousers trousers just overwhelmed me. But as I approach the waistband and pocket construction, I'm suddenly totally fascinated and happy to peer at great length at a variety of waistband finishing techniques until I pass out mid-pants-construction-photo stare.

In other news, I finally received the 10 patterns I ordered from the SewingPatterns.com 99 cents sale... and honestly, I think maybe five of them are duds, and none of them are helping my overburdened pattern stash problem. The only one I'm super excited about is the 1941 vintage reissue Simplicity 3688 trousers that you've probably seen looking so awesome on the always inspiring Debi:

I realized that what I really want are trousers that hit at or above the natural waist, and these fit the bill perfectly (the pair I'm currently making are 1.5" below natural waist).

*OK, I lie. One of the most fun things ever about making your own garments can be the extra love and care and fun, unexpected interior details and beautiful seam finishes... and I love seeing the cool stuff all you all are doing with the insides of your dresses and blouses and skirts. So go for it you have the time and inclination and that's your thing. But pinking and plain old basic overcasting are good, honest seam finishes too.

So what's your seam finishing philosophy? Do you lovingly bind all seams with colorful silk bias tape... Or do you take my mom's approach and just leave all seams in their natural, fray-as-they-will state?

Perfect Pants (Trouser Try-On Reveal!)

2012-01-18T08:30:00.000-05:00

Yes, by "perfect" I'm talking about my daughter's RTW toddler pants above--the perfectly adjustable kind with the magical internal buttonhole elastic which holds them up over perfectly adorable toddler rear ends.

"Perfect" also describes my Imaginary Happy Pants, which:

Hit at the natural waist or nearly so, leaving no ridiculous stretch-mark revealing gap between shirt and pants
Have a comfortable, yet firm contour waistband with an invisible hint of elastic in the back
Never fall down (but don't require a belt or belt loops--metal belt buckles give me a rash)
Don't sag below my flat rear
Make my flat rear look bigger/rounder
Hold in, yet don't bind the tummy (I will admit to being forever spoiled by the perfect magic of stretchy comfy tummy paneled maternity pants).
Give me the sudden and mysterious desire to sing out loud with joy and dance on rooftops.

Unfortunately, "perfect" does not yet describe my ACTUAL pants, which I basted together and tried on in the dark navy corduroy fashion fabric for the first time last night:

By the time I realized I should have also attached the waistband and pressed in the pleats and carefully pinned up the cuffs if I wanted to actually learn anything about fit from this exercise, it was long past time for bed. Remember, here's the intention:

I do realize that these loose-fitting trousers are definitely not going to accomplish Imaginary Happy Pants Goal #5 above--when asked for his assessment, my husband cautiously answered that, if anything, they make things look even flatter back there. But at this point I'm not going to mess with adding back pockets for padding. Maybe next version (if there is a next version).

Oh, and if you're wondering why these pants still aren't done well enough already, well, let me give you a brief window into a typical sewing session for me... The Sew Weekly this ain't!:

9:15 p.m.Enter MIKHAELA, our dashing Polka Dot protagonist, tiptoeing carefully from nursery and closing door.
TODDLER Z: (barely audible from nursery whispering quietly and sleepily to dolls in crib--her stuffed purple doggie and the glowworm she has arbitrarily named "Nu-Nu") Doggie! Nu-Nu! Doggie... Nu-Nu...
MIKHAELA rushes frantically around apartment setting up various sewing equipment--opening sewing cabinet in bedroom, setting up iron in living room and cutting/work area on dining table, getting out assorted rulers, rotary cutters, cutting mats, patterns, fabric, notions, tools... kitchen sinks... etc. TODDLER Z is now silent, presumably sleeping.
Finally, an exhausted MIKHAELA sits down at work (dining) table, stares at pattern pieces, sighs dramatically, realizes she has no idea how to assemble a fly front, pulls out five reference manuals, discovers fly front on her pattern appears to be backwards, begins to read/weep with frustration and...
9:30 p.m. TODDLER Z: (loudly, from nursery) MOMMY! MOMMY! Hi! Hi! Mommy! Hi!

Yeah. Helpful tips for time-pressed sewers don't even begin to cover it! It took me TWO nights to cut them out (and I still haven't cut out the waistband facing, because I haven't decided how to finish it) and THREE nights just to insert the fly zipper. Really, I've discovered the most helpful tip of all is just lowered expectations. I just have to accept the fact that at this point in my life I'm not going to sew a garment a week, or tailor an amazing wool coat, or make a boned couture-inspired ballgown... er...

Goals do help, though. So I'm setting myself a quite-reasonable goal of one me-made garment for myself and one me-made garment for the toddler per month, for a total of 24 for the year--a reasonable portion of which I hope to become TNT patterns. And I'm looking ahead to events that might require fancy dressing (weddings, parties, etc.) and thinking about what I might sew for those to give myself plenty of lead time. So I'll maybe do up a planning post soonish...

I also think I might cut back on the muslins, since they take so long and I don't need to work around a preggo belly anymore. I need to attack my stash anyway--I might try more pin-fitting and fashion-fabric tweaking and testing items in wearable but not precious fabric, which is what I've always done with knits anyway with mostly happy results.

I mean, seriously--I've actually never made a test garment that didn't fit better than most ready-to-wear, so what do I have to lose? For example, what's the point of muslining my upcoming Franken-Colette dress in non-stretchy muslin when I'm making the real thing from stretch cotton? I should just use a less precious stretch cotton, no?

But I digreess. The pants end is near... and I'm getting excited to actually wear these things to work in the forseeable future. Fingers crossed!

In Passionate Defense of Orange

2012-01-14T17:46:00.000-05:00

Super duper thing-linked photo shoot of a small selection of the orange clothing items I hold near and dear

Orange orange orange. I love orange. I love my orange dresses, my orange shoes, my orange sweatshirt, my orange necklaces and my orange scarf. If I had orange socks and orange boots and orange hats and orange bras, I would love them too (hmmm...).

I love the orange sweater that I knit for my daughter...

... and the orange sweater and hat that my Aunt Becky knit for her too.

And the yellow, brown and ORANGE dress I made for her:

And the orange newborn dress from her Nana she barely fit into for a week:

And I REALLY miss the orange and white cats I had as a kid--Ozma and Hecuba--and my sickly little orange and white cat Riley:

You guys, I love orange so much I even married an Orange man. (That's right--Masheka went to Syracuse).

I will wear orange no matter what the season, and no matter what the trends, whether it is hot, not, or totally over and out. In fact, I have all this lovely orange cotton stretch sateen I got from Fabric-Mart a while back at $1/yard...

And I'm so going to make a bright orange shirt dress with it!

And I haven't even mentioned home decor--I've got an orange bathroom, orange towels, an orange Le Creuset dutch oven and orange bowls and plates and serving dishes and Z has an orange water bottle and orange blocks and ... But I digress.

In sum, orange--whether bright, burnt, subdued, or neon--is beautiful, transcendent and fabulous. (Just ask Clio).

Whatever a CERTAIN one of my FAVORITE sewing bloggers and some cruel commenters might imply. (For shame, Male Pattern Boldness! What could be bolder than orange? Isn't there orange in your blog header photo?!)

P.S. Like Clio, I was in the process of knitting orange socks when I read Peter's anti-orange attack. Unfortunately, they got destroyed in the aftermath of my little photo shoot...

No Stash Fail: Books, Pattern, Magazine, Notion AND Fabric Acquisition

2012-01-13T08:30:00.000-05:00

It doesn't count as stashing when you're supporting independent pattern companies and your local independent yarn/quilting shop... RIGHT?

Since all my projects -- my wide-legged trousers (now cut in fashion fabric), Z's corduroy overalls (pattern traced) and striped sweater (past the armpits now!), my Franken-Colette-dress (pattern alterations in progess), my wardrobe domination -- were proceeding along just fine this week (albeit at a SNAIL's pace since Z is on a no-sleep strike)... I decided to throw a wrench in the works and completely fail at my "no stashing" New Year's resolution.

But ladies and gentlemen, I couldn't help it!

I mean, is it my fault that Z's FAVORITE playground is just a few (well... ten) blocks from Brooklyn General? And is it my fault that they sell Oliver + S and Colette patterns and vintage buttons and super-cute Japanese cottons? Image of the patterns and buttons is above--here's a poor-quality fluorescent-lit inaccurate photo of the beautiful soft Kokka Trefle floral I bought to make the Family Reunion Dress for Z:

And is it my fault that the internet sells sewing-related books that can be purchased by me with my debit card? I told you all before how much I loved Kwik Sew's Sewing for Baby, but now that Z has outgrown those patterns I told myself I just HAD to get the toddler version...

Which was a big disappointment. Sewing for Baby is full of versatile timeless baby classics--rompers, dresses, bloomers, shorts, sleepers, pants, onesies, T-shirts, etc--and all kinds of wonderful advice on how to play with those patterns (add puff sleeves, trims, ribbing, hoods, snaps, etc.). Here's the basic pattern overview, with the Polka Dot Seal of Sewing Approval:

Sewing for Toddlers on the other hand... well, it's basically a bunch of oversized 80s drop-shouldered color-blocked T-shirt and sweatshirt variations. The instructions and tips are excellent as in all Kwik-Sew books, but I just can't see myself making anything based on those master patterns for Z, with the possible exception of the hooded raglan sweatshirt.

Even the dress pattern is just instructions for a lengthened T-shirt:

Overall, it's the toddler equivalent of the Kwik-Sew Sweatshirts Unlimited book. So I had no choice but to wash away the disappointment with this:

Metric Pattern Cutting for Children's Wear and Babywear by Winifred Aldrich (found via this helpful children's pattern book roundup)--a black & white pattern drafting textbook with clear instructions and line drawings on how to draft flat (simplified and somewhat loose-fitting) and form (more fitted) pattern blocks for children from birth to 14 years. It is AWESOME and has basic blocks and variations for knits, wovens, bodices, pants, outerwear, you name it. A sample spread:

Seriously, it's really hard to find cute basic toddler patterns (Oliver + S being the exception). The big 4 pattern companies have very limited selection--mostly just fancy dresses. Ottobre Design magazine is awesome and inspiring, but I have a very specific idea in mind of some of the fun things I'd like to make for Z, and they're not all represented in the six or so issues I have. Plus I think I'll feel like a superstar designing and drafting some of her clothes from scratch, no? I should be able to do it in Adobe Illustrator easily enough.

And while we're talking books, here are some of the other books that jumped off various bookshelves in the Garment District into my arms back in 2010, right before my blogging/sewing hiatus... I'm excited to try them out now!

I bought Grading Techniques for Fashion Design to get some tips for grading my vintage patterns, and Draping for Fashion Design because I am deluded--I don't even have a proper dress form to drape on (more on that later).

Making Beautiful Bras and Making Beautiful Swimwear I ordered from author Lee Ann Burgess in Australia, along with the accompanying DVD at the same time as I ordered a Pin-Up Girls bra pattern and a host of supplies from Bra-Makers Supply. I had had some encouraging success making soft nursing bras and wanted to get to the underwire level of serious bra-chitecture.

Which reminds me--is it my fault the new issue of Threads had an article on bra-making and insisted on coming home with me while I was buying petersham, elastic, zippers, buttons and other notions at Pacific Trimming during my lunch break?

Almost finally, another drafting book acquisition from 2010 at some Garment District shop or other:

Patternmaking for Fashion Design, a huge and quite comprehensive pattern drafting textbook for women, men, children and teens (but not for toddlers or babies). This thing is huge and full of detailed instructions, illustrations, ideas and exercises to make every possible type of garment... but I will warn you that some of it is quite offensive from a body-image perspective--particularly the section on figure analysis, which pits the "ideal," "perfect," and "pleasing" model-type figures against the rest of us in a pretty ridiculous and judgmental way--Fit for Real People or Fantastic Fit for Everybody this is not!:

Maybe I'll just tear those pages out? It is coil-bound...

Don't you just love reading sewing books and imagining all the amazing things you'll do with all those ideas? It's half the fun of sewing itself without any of the actual work. And I do think it really helps inspire me and help me better understand garment design and construction, though it's no substitute for actually MAKING things.

And yes, I have a book problem. My husband and I have over 4,000 books in our little apartment--several walls are just floor-to-ceiling shelves with books stacked two or three deep.

Finally, is it my fault that TEN Simplicity patterns jumped into my online shopping cart during the SewingPatterns.com 99 cents Simplicity sale? They haven't actually arrived yet so I'll share my ~~shame~~ assessment later.

So... what sewing books have you been digging lately? (Besides the Colette book that we ALL seem to have now!)

Let's Play: Sheath Dress Showdown! (Colette Edition)

2012-01-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

Readers, sometimes sewing just isn't ... FUN. And that is unacceptable. Considering how limited my sewing time is, I just can't afford to feel like I'm taking my sewing medicine or paying my sewing dues or gritting my sewing teeth. I need to be having a party at the sewing machine, a cut-up at the cutting table, so lost in what I'm doing that the time flies by and I look forward to each step.

And for me, fun generally involves bright fabric with a bold print.

So whilst waiting for petersham and zipper for my trousers to arrive in the mail, I pulled this fabulous stretch cotton (acquired ages ago at Mood) from the stash:

What a hot number, am I right? All my patterns want to ask her out! But I only have two yards, so I had all my sheath dress patterns do a little strut down the fashion runway of my mind... The top two you can see in my sketch above--Colette Pastille and Colette Macaron.

The other contenders:

Vintage McCall's 5955.

Pro: Love the keyhole!
Con: Neckline too prim, could lead to dreaded uniboob look.

Vintage Simplicity 3045 Slenderette (1959), view 2.

Pro: Hello sexy scallops!
Con: I fear the belly pleats.

The ever-popular Roland Mouret Vogue 8280.

Pro: Such an awesome shape.
Con: Print may overwhelm detailing.

Vogue 9668, bodice from first view and skirt from the second.

Pro: I have wanted to make this pattern from FOREVER. One of the first in the stash.
Con: I think this pattern prefers drapey rayon.

So I was leaning strongly towards Pastille because I think that fitted carved-out shape (minus pleating) is perfect for this fabric, maybe with a nice black belt... and my husband was really excited for me to use the book since he bought it for me.

Also, looking at my croquis sketch I have my doubts about how Macaron will look on me--it has similar fearful belly pleats as the vintage pattern above.

But then I realized my yardage is only 48" wide, which actually eliminates ALL of the options. Except Macaron. I have some Fabric.com black swiss dot in the stash for the yoke. Likely the same type of Fabric.com swiss dot The Sew Weekly's Mena Trott used in this Macaron, although I do worry about mixing stretch and non-stretch wovens... we shall see. Anyway:

Macaron wins by default!

Up to the Armpits! (Stripes & Wales, take 2)

2012-01-05T16:31:00.001-05:00

That is, I nearly got to the armpits on little Z's toddler Tomten hoodie sweater jacket (Ravelry project link here) today, which was very exciting because all that straight garter stitch knitting was starting to bore me, even in chunky stripey yarn:

The other main piece of the outfit is those Ottobre corduroy overalls from the Autumn 2010 issue. Z has one of those adorable round toddler tummies, and there's always a big gap between her shirts and jeans--she really needs some overalls. I have the baby cord in the stash from ages ago, and the lining is Maggie London purple print lawn from Emma One Sock left over from my reversible shirred skirt.

I'm going to change the bunny appliqué to a cat (Z is obsessed with all cats) and skip the velcro side opening and the hearts on the butt.

I recorded a video of the process of drawing and coloring the outfit sketch, which I'll speed up, narrate and post here when I have a moment.

Oh, and I'm also up to the armpits in decluttering... mercifully two of my clothing drawers no longer explode when I try to open them.

Polka Dot Wardrobe Domination: Week #1 (A Little Help from Lucky)

2012-01-04T07:00:00.001-05:00

"If you're anything like me, deep down all you really want is a closet filled with your favorite things. These are the clothes that make you happy to put on, that make you feel like yourself. Instead, many of us feel that we have a closet stuffed with clothes and nothing we want to wear."
--Sarai Mitnick, The Colette Sewing Handbook (Chapter Two: A Thoughtful Plan)

"So it's strapless and you can't wear strapless bras... and it doesn't quite fit... and the zipper's busted... and it's kind of a bad color for you, but what if someday you wear it with some really cute cardigan or you sew some straps on it... and it was such a find... and you dont have another one like it, so, well... um..."
--The Voices in the Back of My Head When I am Decluttering, Mikhaela's Brain (Chapter 3: Just Shove it In the Back of the Sock Drawer)

So I realized that before plowing headfirst into a ton of random on-a-whim sewing projects, I should step back and evaluate my existing wardrobe and ruthlessly eliminate anything that doesn't fill a need, suit my style/life/lifestyle or make me ridiculously happy, and ask deep probing questions like "Why the hell is my sweater drawer stuffed with 20 pairs of threadbare high-waisted maternity panties?"

THEN I can really start adding new, fun and exciting yet totally wearable stuff, right?

I used to do this every six months--I'd try a ton of stuff on, prance back in forth in front of the full-length, listen to Peter Walsh's "It's All Too Much" audiobook, and be really, truly ruthless. My last great purge was during my pregnancy (shoes gone by here) in order to make room for baby.

Since then, things have gotten out of hand. My husband does most (er, all) of the laundry and just shoves things away in random drawers when I don't get around to it myself in reasonable time (thank you honey!). I've barely done any shopping, but since I only have 8 small drawers and half a small closet for ALL my clothes and shoes (including off-season and special occasion), everything is squished, squashed, wrinkled and unreachable.

With a little elbow grease, I can extract about five or six tops, a few sweaters and a single pair of jeans, so I wear them over and over and over again. Repeatedly.

So I'm going to attempt one drawer per night and then the closet until I'm done. I have some helpers, too (ignore the spelling error on the binder, please!):

The Lucky Shopping Manual: Building and Improving Your Wardrobe Piece by Piece. I don't even read Lucky anymore, but I read this book over and over. It really helps me think about what's in my wardrobe in a smart, fun and inspirational way. There's a section for each general item--skirts, pants, suits, lingerie, shoes, coats, bag, etc--with suggestions on basic wardrobe needs, different types of the item, when to save, when to splurge... It's nearly ten years old but doesn't feel at all dated. (Just ignore the advice about which clothing styles are best suited for which figure type--I certainly do).
My binders of inspirational style clippings from assorted fashion magazines and clothing catalogs. What with the advent of Polyvore (and now Pinterest, and the dilemma over what to capture where...?!) I don't update these anymore, but it's more fun to page through than the digital versions.

So, yes: all systems go! And then to the fun sewing planning stuff.

How about you all--how's your New Year's wardrobe planning going?

P.S. I don't really recommend Lucky's newer book, by the way: The Lucky Guide to Mastering Any Style. It was a total disappointment--the only style I related to at all was "Bombshell", but it was a really pigeonholed and by-the-book version of bombshell--I didn't need a book to lay it out for me:

P.P.S. After your excellent comments and some Deep Introspection, I've decided to throw all caution to the wind and sew up my wide-legged corduroy trousers WITHOUT A SINGLE COMPLEX ALTERATION to the pattern. I never do this so it scares me, but if I cut wide enough seam allowances (1") I think I'll be able to force myself.

Trousers Muslin #1: Way too Big, But Super Comfy

2012-01-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

I sit here writing this post in the most comfortable pants I have ever worn. I've been wearing them all evening any they are awesome--I can run, jump, bend, sit, you name it. I even took the trash out in them.

Unfortunately, said pants are (a) made of muslin covered in red permanent marker notations (b) have some of their darts and seams sewn on the outside (oops!) and (c) are way too freaking baggy in the leg.

I'm really glad I made the muslin in a size 14 instead of 16, even though my measurements are closer to the latter. Here are the front, side and rear views (click to enlarge):

They are not quite looking like this yet:

My first thoughts were:

Too much fabric in the legs. This would be even more overwhelming in the corduroy.
Too much fabric on the sides of the hips? Maybe? It's a tiny bit loose and poofy on each side--I can pinch about a half inch on each side. I think I need to pin up the looseness and rebaste.
I think the crotch seems to be about right in depth/length--but there seem to be some weird wrinkles in the front. I will have to study my gazillion pants books to figure out what they mean. Like studying the oracle...
The waist seems about right. (Note: these are supposed to sit about 1.5 inches below natural waist).
The back looks surprisingly good. I have a really flat seat, so I was expecting to have to do some major flat butt adjustment. Maybe the fit model these pants are based on was flat too?
I haven't pinned the hem up, but they're about the right length. So I'll need to add extra for the hem (and cuff).
I'd like the pants to cup a tiny bit under the butt, not fall straight down. Though according to all my books, the definition of a trouser is that it has that more straight/relaxed silhouette. So this might technically make my trousers into slacks.

To help in my analysis, I decided to compare my muslin to my favorite pair of RTW wide-legged denim trousers--which fit pretty well except for some bagginess below the butt (flat butt issue, I think) and being slightly too low-rise for my tastes. Here's what I found:

They actually are quite similar up top--similar waist measurement, similar hip width. And at the hem, too--they're both 23" wide on each leg. The crotch curve is even pretty similar.

The big difference as you can see is in the leg widths at the crotch (28" wide on each leg of Baggy Trouser Muslin as opposed to 26" on Favorite Jean Trousers) and knee (25.5" vs. 20.5").

My plan of attack:

To fix the baggy legs: I'm going to rebaste the muslin to be shaped a bit more like the jeans, taking in width on the inseam and side seams and then gently flaring back out to full width.
To cup the rear a bit more in back: Apparently I need to stitch a deeper inseam. But I worry that will make the crotch too tight--it seems just right now. I'll have to see what happens.
To deal with tiny bit of fullness at hips: I might leave the teensy bit of extra fullness around the hips alone and tweak it in the fashion fabric. And actually, the extra fullness seems to disappear when I sit down.
I think these trousers need back pockets to give me a little padding in the rear. Would it be weird to do welt pockets in corduroy? (Not that I've ever made such a thing).
I might try adding a sneaky subtle elastic in the back waistband area to make them more adjustable. I find belts really uncomfortable with pants... which means at the beginning of the day my pants tend to be falling down a bit and by the end of the day they are sometimes a bit too tight. This solution is advised in several of my pants books--we shall see.

But I have to admit I'm having a problem with this project already. I probably should have gotten back into sewing for myself with something that was either more of a quick win--a simple skirt with minimal fitting, say--or was really exciting, like a beautiful dress in an exciting print. These pants are boring me and the fitting process is annoying me.

So right now I'm running on sheer stubbornness, since I told you all I was going to make pants. THE PANTS WILL NOT BEAT ME. Though if my rebasted muslin doesn't fit any better they may get a rest while I make something more quick and fun.

Any tips from expert pants-fitters appreciated.

P.S. Speaking of annoying totally no fun projects, I finally rehemmed my bedroom curtains to the right length. They look nice.

The most pitiful 2011 sewing review you will ever read

2012-01-02T00:05:00.000-05:00

I'm afraid I don't have a fabulous run-down of a ridicuoulous number of lovely sewn garments to show you or an inspiring and witty Best and Worst list... because 2011 was a year of Very Little Sewing for me. I won't even bother with a mosaic (what do you all use to make those, anyway?)

I sewed:

3 toddler dresses for little Z.

The Mint Chip Baby Dress (Simplicity 3765) | The Orange Tea Party Sun Dress (Oliver + S) |The A is for Apple Dress (New Look 6016)
Some softies with my husband's art on them to sell at cartooning conventions:
A non-wearable muslin for a pair of trousers. More on those soon! (I'm actually wearing the muslin while writing this post, if you must know.)
A mis-calculated hem on some IKEA curtains... which I still haven't fixed.

Oh, and I almost made:

A really bizarre Muppet/The Thing Halloween costume mashup for my husband. Here's his sketch:

The prequel to John Carpenter's shape-shifting alien horror movie The Thing had just come out and the new Muppet movie was about to be released... so Masheka's idea was to be some weird guy partially morphing into all these Sesame Street Muppets with giant teeth. I started to make the Kermit cowl and cut into a purchased Cookie Monster costume to make the belly--

... but about ten minutes after I sat down at the sewing machine, little Z started vomiting everywhere (she was sitting on her Nana's lap at the time)--and did so every hour or so for about two days (stomach bug, poor girl).
So I didn't even really start on my Doctor Who-related Halloween costume, which was going to be some kind of Tardis dress constructed from various deconstructed American Apparel items:

Yeah, that's it. If you just count finished garments, there are three for the whole year--about as many items as I used to make in three weeks during my pregnancy in 2010. Don't be jealous!

In Non-Sewing Stuff:

The really big thing that happened was that my Little Baby...

Is now a Big Girl (or a rowdy toddler, anyway):

She can run, she can climb, she can brush her teeth, talk up a storm, dance circles around me, sing the ABCs (well, as far as "C", anyway), tell you how old she is ("Uno!"), put on Mommy and Daddy's shoes and clomp around the apartment... it's awesome.

Also awesome: she finally figured out how to fall asleep before midnight without three hours of nursing to get her there--and STAY ASLEEP until 7 a.m. Which leaves me two or three hours every evening to spend with my husband, clean up around the house, read a book--or sew!

Each morning when I wake Z up to nurse and snuggle, I lie there just overwhelmed with gratitude that she came into my life, thinking about how much I love her and how lucky I am to have her. When I come home from work and she runs to the door yelling "Mommy! Mommy!," I feel like the biggest rock star in the world.

So I don't regret a moment of the sleep-deprived blur that was most of the year--the waking up three or four times a night, the bedtime struggle, and the total lack of Me Time.

Anyway! The other 2011 non-sewing big stuff, good and bad:

BAD: Cartoonist Husband got laid off.
GOOD: Cartoonist Husband rocked the stay-at-home-dad thing. In addition to being a great and supportive husband who buys me orange peep-toes and the Colette Sewing Handbook, Masheka is also a wonderful, nurturing and patient father. And I am so grateful Z has gotten to spend so much time with her Daddy. (Pssst! Check out the fantastic new comic anthology he's in, African-American Classics).
BAD: I got laid off, too. In fact, my entire company got outsourced. Considering my husband had lost his job a few months earlier, this was really scary for us--but I landed an awesome new job before I even got a chance to collect severance.
GOOD: I got an awesome new job. I work in nonprofit marketing now and I love what I do and my organization so much that even on the most stressful and busy days work doesn't even feel like work.
BAD: We discovered Z has life-threatening allergies to sesame, peanuts, dairy and eggs. And we learned the hard way--by having to make a frantic 911 call and ambulance trip after a tiny bite of hummus (which contains sesame paste) caused her face to swell up beyond recognition.
BAD: our cat Riley died suddenly. You might remember the little turtle-neck-wearing furry guy from this post. One Friday night I came home from work and he was listless, the next day he stopped moving and had to be rushed to the emergency vet, and by Sunday he was dead from kidney failure. Z didn't exactly know what was going on, but she knew enough to wipe the tears from my face and give me a hug. RIP, Riley:
THE WORST: We spent way too much time in hospitals. An extremely close relative got suddenly very, very life-threateningly ill, and spent several weeks in the hospital, part of it in the ICU. I took leave from work and the three of us flew out of state to be close to the hospital during this awful time.
THE GOOD: That relative is now home from the hospital recovering. And our awesome friends were really supportive during that rough time.

Where I've Been and What's Next:

2010 for me was about rediscovering my love for sewing and dipping my toes into the sewing blogosphere. A lot of the 17 garments I made that year (until I gave birth in June and went on craft hiatus) might not seem all that impressive in retrospect--simple skirts, knit tees--but since I was making maternity clothes from non-maternity patterns, I learned a lot about alterations and even a bit about drafting. I got confident with serging, practiced different finishing techniques, tried tricky new fabrics and made up my first vintage dress pattern.
2011: Not much sewing. See above.
2012: As excited as I am about getting back into sewing, I don't want to make too many promises. I am a full-time working mama, so the time I have to sew (or blog) is very limited.
I'd like to make a well-fitting pair of pants or two. I'd like to make up some of the Colette patterns I unsuccessfully tried to muslin into maternity versions. I'd like to sew more of my vintage dress patterns, including at least one from this mail-order collection. I'd like to make a shirt for my husband. I'd like to play more with flat pattern drafting. I'd like to perfect a few well-fitted TNT patterns and make them in different fabrics with different variations to avoid having to fit everything from scratch each time. And I'd like to make some more fabric designs on Spoonflower and sew them up into some really special children's clothing for Z.

So that's that. Thanks for reading and I'm happy to be back with you all in 2012!

Stripes & Wales Trouser/Top Sketch + Measuring Misery

2011-12-29T18:08:00.000-05:00

The lazy girl in me would totally wear this outfit every day if she could get away with it.

So I didn't even get to the muslin stage with my reckless wide-legged trousers last night. After little Z went to bed, I drew the above sketch, and broke out the Easy Guide to Sewing Pants, my Vogue trouser pattern and about a gazillion measuring tapes (including that fancy Myo-whatever one I read about on the Coletterie recently), rules and flexible curves.

Pants-measuring fun

The Easy Guide recommends getting a helper and doing a gazillion trillion measurements--waist, high hip, hip, crotch depth, crotch length, thigh, waist to knee, waist to floor (but not inseam? why, I wonder?) on yourself, and tying yourself up in so many pieces of elastic and masking tape you start to feel like a mummy. (My husband assisted with this process and found it highly amusing.)

Some of the measurements felt pretty careful and right on, but others relied on trying to use masking tape and elastic to visually guesstimate this that and the other, then sit on a table and hold the tape and do something or other.

By the end of it all I had some pretty reliable measurements (hip, high hip, waist), some questionable measurements (everything else), which I then tried to carefully compare to my pattern measurements. But since my pants pattern is a below-the-waist deal with a contour waistband, and the Easy Guide assumes you are making at-the-waist pants... my head started to hurt and I went to bed.

Busts and bellies I understand--I can do a full bust or belly adjustment like nobody's business. But crotch curves just confuse me. At least for now. I think I just need to muslin in a size 14 with lots of extra seam allowance and play around.

And a word on body image and taking measurements...

I'll also admit to finding the process of measuring myself for the first time after giving birth 18 months ago somewhat painful in other ways. I try really hard to cultivate a "I love my awesome body" attitude, and I know nothing feels more awesome than putting well-fitting comfortable clothes on your awesome body, whatever its awesome shape and awesome size. (Sometimes I accompany this inner mantra by reviewing photos of the lovely Christina Hendricks). And for that you need accurate numbers. Still, those numbers can hurt, which is why I only step on the scale at the doctor's office.

I actually found a comment I had left on Gertie's blog when I was still pregnant about how freeing it felt to not care about my waist size anymore, in which I noted that my pre-pregnant measurements were:

bust: 38"
high bust 33"
waist: 28"
hip: 38"

So I generally sewed a 12 or 14 in patterns and did a big FBA, depending on the style.

But now my new totally accurate no-sucking-it-in post-preggo measurements say:

bust: 38.5" (still nursing, by the way, so this may change)
high bust 34.5-35" (can't quite tell here for some reason)
waist: 29"
hip: 38.5"

Which I guess puts me at a 14 in most dresses and tops or maybe sometimes 16 or something in bottoms, depending? I'll have to try and see what works. Whatever, I'm totally cool and fine and it's really silly to look back at notes from my college sewing days and feel wistful (a 26" waist!? WHO CARES.)

P.S. I realize that to properly channel my 40s Sears-Catalog inspiration for my planned outfit, I need to tuck the top in. But I don't really like to do that, so whatever.

P.P.S. I made (a heavily modified version of) that Burda top already when I was pregnant, but not in stripes, so I can try that on to see what needs to be adjusted...

P.P.P.S. My husband reminds me that I have a ready-to-wear top a lot like the Burda one I want to make (shown below)... so maybe it WON'T be the next thing I sew after my trousers.

Anyway... boo to feeling bad about measurements. Numbers, schmumbers. Let's get sewing. Muslin tonight, hopefully.

How to Avert Pants-Sewing Disaster?

2011-12-28T17:30:00.000-05:00

(Alternate headline: "Sewing Pants: Why the Frak Not?"

Trouser Love by m1khaela featuring tall pants

Readers, I feel like the powers of the sewing universe are sending me a message: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FIT PANTS.

The evidence? I recently came across blog posts by not one, but TWO amazing seamstresses who can sew anything from boned evening dresses to tailored jackets but who claim to hate making pants, or at the very least, find fitting pants weird. And when I picked up a book that ostensibly should HELP me sew pants, David Page Coffin's Making Trousers... I found myself advised that the only real way to get a properly fitting pants pattern is to pay a wise expert master tailor to draft one for me. In other words: MIKHAELA, DO NOT SEW PANTS THEY WILL MAKE YOU CRY.

I'm going to ignore that message. Because now that I've finished two super-easy toddler dresses that didn't require one whit of adjustment... I'm ready to make myself miserable with endless rounds of fitting and muslining again.

And what could be more painful than fitting pants? I hear pants alterations can make even the most advanced seamstresses/seamsters weep and/or fume. But I'm hoping that with careful planning and prep work--and a little pattern selection help from you all--I can turn out a pair of trousers pleasing to the eye and comfortable to the tush.

Please don't laugh. I find this delusion comforting.

Sewing Pants: A Retrospective in One Attempt

I remember well the first (and only) pair of pants I ever made. It was 1999, and I was 19. I picked up some "easy-to-sew" pull-on pants pattern at Jo-ann's, along with some checked poly-cotton mystery fabric. I couldn't believe how easy they were to sew--a few hours later, I was pulling them on, pockets and all. And I couldn't believe how comfortable they were.

I also couldn't believe how ridiculous they looked. The crotch was halfway to my knees, and the bunched up poofy fabric billowing out from the elastic waist was far from flattering.

I've been running from pants sewing ever since. I didn't make (and barely owned) a single pair while pregnant.

Why Pants--and Why Now:

But my former identity as a skirt girl has taken a hit. Nine months ago I made a very happy career change to the non-profit world, and my new office is so casual that most people wear jeans four days out of five.

As do I. Except there's no such thing as a pair of ready-to-wear denim trousers that fit me, so I'm always tugging/cursing at the few semi-acceptable pairs I own. Any pants that fit my waist sag and bag emphatically below the rear and they're never high-waisted enough (I despise a low rise.)

So how much worse could me-made pants be? (I'm serious!) If I could wind up with "failed" trousers like Liza Jane's... I'd be more than happy.

Going for Corduroy

For fabric, I don't have much in the stash with enough yardage. I could go with some proper trousery drapey pin-striped gray wool suiting, but I'm feeling some dark blue corduroy I picked up in high school:

BUT--HELP--WHICH PANTS PATTERN?!

So now that I'm in a mental pants-making space... WHICH PANTS? I'm strictly a trouser girl--I like semi-fitted hips and waist, and a wide leg. The kind of pants that are sometimes called slacks, and which Casey seems to sew a lot of beautiful versions of. Slim or skinny pants are out of the question.

I cut this been-in-my-stash-since-college Vogue Elements 9745 pattern out last night in a 16 (though might cut it down to 14 after flat measuring it, to prevent excess bagginess):

No reviews on Pattern Review, but lsaspacey tells me she made them before and they turned out great.

Still, I keep reading everywhere that somehow American patterns have bad crotch curves, whatever that means, and that somehow, European crotches are just superior. So alternatively, I could trace Burda Style magazine 2-2010 102B:

But are American crotches REALLY that crazy? Can't they be altered to fit like anything else? What am I missing here? I really like the style and shape of the Vogue pattern better. If I can get it to fit, it could make a great basic Mikhaela pants pattern for tweaking and playing with.

The Pants Planning Arsenal.

I'm not going into this endeavor randomly. In typical Mikhaela fashion, I own far more books dedicated to the making of pants than I do pairs of me-made pants--three more, to be precise. I've armed myself with:

The Sewing Companion Library's The Easy Guide to Sewing Pants. I think I own every book in this series (on jackets, tops, linings, you name it)... this one is by far the longest, and is full of great advice and fitting tips.
Palmer/Pletsch's Pants for Real People. Also full of wonderful fitting information, but I'll be making a muslin, thank you very much--I'm allergic to tissue fitting.
The above-mentioned David Page Coffin's Making Trousers. Got this a while ago and reread it at lunch yesterday. It's full of wonderful tips about making beautifully constructed trousers... but it's probably the least helpful for my project, as it's all about the subtle details, not fit, style or fabric. In fact, as mentioned above, Coffin suggests that the only way to get properly fitting pants is to pay a master tailor to custom draft them for you from scratch. OK, then. But I do like his advice on using petersham ribbon for the waistbands--love that stuff.
Sandra Betzina's Power Sewing has lots of good pants tips.
This pants fitting tip on PatternReview seems pretty handy, I THINK--I'm still confused by the difference between crotch length, width, and depth...
The Coletterie has pants fitting tips galore, of course.

So that's that. I'm going to do it, and nothing is going to scare me from the attempt. I'm going to measure myself and adjust that pattern tonight after toddler bedtime.

So tell me: do you just love making awesome-fitting pants? Are Burda pants really better?

Finished: "A is for Apple" Toddler Dress (New Look 6016)

2011-12-27T23:00:00.000-05:00

Z rocks her new frock.

Inspiration: This adorable apple-print baby corduroy was the only remotely Christmas-appropriate fabric in the stash--and I am sworn to ONLY sew from the stash. Baby girl loves apples--they make great projectiles!

The pattern: New Look 6016 separates, a toddler jumper, purse, knit top and leggings.

Photos:

Babies are easy to photograph--they just lie there! Toddlers, not so much.

The girl loves her accessories (whether they be sunglasses, or a toy tool belt).

Here's a yoga view, featuring Mommy and Daddy's feet.

"Hi Elmo--isn't my new dress super awesome?"

The all-important xylophone view.

Pattern Description:

Simple loose-fitting girl's yoked jumper with front and back pleats and two buttons. Cute and sweet!

Pattern Sizing:

Toddler sizing (1/2 to 4T). I made the 2T. It fits great on my 32" tall, 27 lb. 18-month-old toddler, with plenty of room for her cuddly tummy and some space to grow--maybe she can eventually even wear it as a tunic.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, but without all the rick-rack, zippers, bows, ribbons or rosettes. My version is also much longer, but that's a good thing--she'll grow into it.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Simple enough--it's a very basic pattern, but they were just standard pattern company instructions. Nothing special or fun.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

It's cute, it's sweet, it's simple, and it works well for a large-ish print fabric because there are no seams or gathers on the body. A good toddler basic.

Fabric Used: About a yard of apple-patterned baby corduroy from Jo-Ann's ($9). It was really thin and soft and easy to work with, though I had to make sure to use a one-way cutting layout. I didn't worry about crushing the pile while pressing. I also didn't worry about pattern matching at seams, though I did make sure that the apples were vaguely centered on the back and front.

The pink buttons are from M&J Trimming--I spent over an hour waffling between red and pink before going pink, and they're a bit larger than the pattern calls for for extra toddler sewing drama.

Construction notes:

The armholes are finished with Wright's single-fold navy bias tape. I had never used bias tape before, but it worked well here--better than a facing would have, I think.
I sewed the buttons on with a little asymmetric floral design instead of the standard X design.
I pinked some seams and--gasp!--left others totally unfinished. I was in a rush!
The hem is overcast and then machine top-stitched instead of my usual hand-stitched hem.
I had some trouble getting the curvy bits just right when sewing the front yoke to the front yoke facing using the standard sewing 3/8" from the seam allowance technique. So on the back yoke I drew the stitching lines on in chalk and it came out MUCH more symmetrical and accurate.

Detail shot:

Successes:

First use of bias tape! Cross another one off of the "Mikhaela is a sewing wimp" list!
I made the right number of buttonholes this time.
First time making a yoked dress.
First time sewing pleats (easy! at least these ones were!)

Room for improvement?: Next time I'll draw the stitching lines for ALL the curved bits.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes and yes--I think this might become a good wardrobe basic for her in a variety of fabrics, though I don't think it's nearly as fun and stylish as the Oliver + S dress I made previously.

Conclusion: A sweet jumper for a sweet girl. What's not to like?

Bonus Christmas photos, pt. 1: Z has super awful allergies (as in: she had her first tiny bite of hummus at 10 months old and minutes later we had to call 911 and rush to the ER) to sesame, peanuts, cow's milk and eggs. So she had never in her life eaten a cookie until this Christmas, when we made vegan sugar cookies together. Shaped like apples, of course:

Bonus Christmas photos, pt. 2:

P.S. I didn't get to make a dress for myself but check out my $4 Christmas outfit--thrifted $2 top and sidewalk sale $2 skirt!

P.P.S. Ok, that's all. Happy Holidays, everyone!

The family croquis: new digital dress forms of me, hubby and baby

2011-12-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

Aren't we an adorable family of digital dress forms? Click to enlarge!

I have all kinds of sewing projects (for myself and the little one) in the works, plus a finished object or two to review... but first I had to share a sneak peek at the new digital dress forms I created of my family last night after my toddler went to bed.

A long time ago and far far away I promised to put together a tutorial on how to create and use a digital croquis (beyond just: "photograph yourself, trace it, sketch over it.") I'm not sure when/if I'll get a chance to write one to my original level of intention, but at some point I will share some step-by-step photos of the process and hope you all get something out of it.

The first things I intend to sketch on these new dress forms are wide-legged high-waisted trousers for myself, and a pair of piped overalls for baby girl.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend!

(Retro) Style Icon: Amy Adams as Mary in "The Muppets" (with a sewing twist)

2011-12-22T17:30:00.000-05:00

Forget that new Muppet or the green felted frog--how cute is Amy Adams in that beautiful green dress with tulip sleeves?!

So I went to the new Muppet movie and it was fun and all, but I had a little trouble paying attention to Fozzie's bad jokes or Kermit's attempts to make up with Miss Piggy because OH MY GOODNESS I WANTED ALL OF AMY ADAMS's clothes.

Ms. Adams plays Mary, a Shop teacher who fixes cars and does electrical work, all whilst wearing a parade of lovely retro-styled dresses and blouse/skirt combos. She's all about bright-colored belts, fitted bodices and flared skirts...

Also: pintucks.

And stripes!

Polka dots (or polka-dot-like hearts, I think), too...

Not to mention sweetheart necklines:

But the part of the movie where I got really distracted was the finale. Mary was wearing an adorable little jacket, but the fabric of the blouse peeking out from underneath looked oddly familiar... and then she took off her jacket.

I practically fell out of my seat with sewing-related excitement! Because it was the same orange floral silk twill I used for my vintage 1970s orange floral maternity dress ages ago:

Apparently Muppets shop at Fabric-Mart too!

Oh, and I'm not the only one who noticed this or made a dress or a jacket from this popular fabric.

Finished: Tea Party Sundress (Oliver + S )

2011-12-20T00:08:00.000-05:00

We will not discuss that this two-button dress has (cough!) four buttonholes on it. Instead we will just be blinded by the cuteness of the toddler wearing it.

Inspiration: My sewing machine called, and wanted to know where I'd been for the last 18 months. Also, Ms. Z looks really cute in orange. Also, she was about to outgrow the largest size of this out-of-print pattern. Also I wanted to sew something that was just about pure sewing and didn't involve ANY FITTING OR PATTERN ALTERATIONS OR DAYS SPENT SWEARING AT MUSLIN AND PATTERN PAPER whatsoever. OK then! Deep breath.

The pattern: Oliver + S Tea Party Sundress.

Photos: Sorry for the lack of natural light--the day was ending and by the time I got her to stop running around squealing with joy long enough to get a clear photo, I had to use the dreaded flash.

This front view best captures the adorably flared skirt (the hem facing seems to help it keep its shape almost hoop-skirt-like!) and lovely curved bodice seaming:

And this view best capture's Ms. Z's bubbly personality:

Pattern Description:

Simple sundress (or playsuit) with button straps, curved bodice, optional piping, and flared gored skirt, plus bloomers with an elastic waist and legs. I cut out the bloomers too but haven't gotten elastic yet.

Pattern Sizing:

Birth-24 Month or 2T-5. I made the 24 month size, and it fits my 27-lb 18-month-old just fine--for now. Maybe not so much by the time the summer weather it was designed for rolls around.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, although I skipped the piping. Because I am afraid.

Were the instructions easy to follow? The instructions were a joy! Very clear and nicely graphic designed to boot, not all crowded and cryptic like the Big 4.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

Like: I love the clean modern lines of it--the curved bodice and the two prominent buttons and the flared gored skirt. I think the fully lined bodice and hem facing (instead of a regular hem) were nice touches as well.

Dislike: I really love the illustrations on the Oliver + S pattern envelopes and website--the style of them anyway. But I really don't love that they are all of the same little white girl and little white boy. I should probably write a gently worded note to the pattern company--I want to support such a great independent modern children's pattern company for sure, but I'd really like to see some diversity in their illustrations.

The Big 4 may throw goofy trims all over the toddler dresses on their pattern envelopes (rick rack on top of ribbons with bows on ruffles and zippers on flounces...) but at least there are little girls on their envelopes who look a bit like my daughter.

(Edited to add: Striking out this critique because I did indeed write a nice note to the designer and she instantly responded with a really warm and welcoming email where she gave me a hint as to her big plans for her website and paper doll illustrations in 2012 ... and also directed me to her book which features a wide variety of adorable children. So I am now just a whole-hearted fan at this point.)

Fabric Used: Heather Ross orange floral cotton (gauze?) from the Far Far Away collection, purchased at Brooklyn General, plus random brown broadcloth left over from a Reno 911 Halloween costume I made for my husband. The Heather Ross fabric was a delight -- super soft and floaty and kinda crumply -- not like the nasty stiff cheapo quilting cotton I sewed Z's last dress out of.

The buttons are from M&J Trimming and have really cute little white flowers on the holes:

Finishing notes:

The curved seam was a bit tricky, even though this was a beginner pattern. I took it REALLY slow.
I hemmed the skirt (hem facing) by hand--
My top-stitching has improved a lot, mainly due to the edge stitching foot I got since my last top-stitching disaster. I love this thing!
I just pinked the seams. As my mom says "by the time they fray, she'll have outgrown it anyway."
The bodice is lined with the skirt fabric, and the skirt hem is faced with the bodice fabric. WOW.

Successes:

This is the first complete garment I've sewn in a gazillion trillion eons of eras of something.
It fits.
I made my first buttonholes EVER. It was so easy that this dress has four of them (three on one side, one on the other), because even though I practiced a few times with my Viking's magic "sensor buttonhole foot", I still managed to get the placement wrong. I'm going to put buttonholes on everything now! Whee!

Room for improvement?: See above regarding extra buttonholes. I gave up trying to remove them with my seam ripper and just hoped no one would look that closely.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes to both.

Conclusion: Z loves her fancy new sundress-she was twirling all over the place so much I realized why this dress was designed to go with diaper-covering bloomers.

Bonus Christmas-tree-decorating shot (you can see the hem facing):

Next up: the apple-patterned corduroy Christmas jumper, which should be done by in a day or two.

Fear of Piping?

2011-12-11T22:59:00.000-05:00

Fear of Piping? by m1khaela featuring mid heel shoes

I should have been excited that the sundress dress I've been making has optional piped seams, but instead I was terrified. Piping is one of my top--if not my top--favorite garment details of all time. I love the way it calls attention to seams and outlines a piece of clothing--especially in a bright contrasting color--almost like cartooning with cloth!

But I've always been too chicken to try it, for fear it will call attention to my less than perfectly sewn seams and make them look like drunken snakes. Also, it involves cutting bias strips, which I've always managed to avoid. Some reckless sewer I am. I'm also afraid of making:

Buttonholes, especially bound ones.
Flat-felled anything.
Boned anything.
Bias anything. (Which brings me back to Fear of Piping).
Pants.

And a lot more techniques and/or garments I'm deliberately not going to think too hard about right now. I do hope to conquer them all eventually but for now I'm taking it slow.

What sewing techniques do you yearn to attack but make you quake in your comfortable yet stylish boots?

P.S. I'm happy to report that my piping-free Tea Party Sundress is going to fit Ms. Z, though what she will wear it to and for how long is dubious--she's been growing like Alice in Wonderland lately. Here she is trying it on (with tape to hold it place as I've yet to attempt those terrifying buttonholes). The hem facing looks weird because it's just basted, not actually sewn or anything:

Holiday Dress Plans + Sun Dress Progress

2011-12-08T15:34:00.001-05:00

I haven't sewn proper in months (years?!) but already I'm imagining tons of "next" projects. Next up: holiday sewing.

Chanukah toddler sewing: DONE!

Z still (barely) fits into this Simplicity 3765 dress, which I think should work just fine for Chanukah:

Christmas toddler sewing:

But for Christmas, I got nothing.

Since I'm only sewing from the stash, and I didn't have much fabric with even a vaguely red or green look to it, I went with this super cute apple-patterned baby cord from Joann's:

I looked through all my Ottobre Design magazines and went through fits of pattern-choice agony. I even briefly considered making overalls instead of a dress, just because I already had a pattern. Then I decided that sewing only from my pattern stash when I didn't own any toddler patterns made no sense.

So I went ahead and bought a download version of New Look 6016. It's a simple yoked and pleated jumper without too many seams, just perfect for my boldly patterned corduroy (and a nice shape to fit over Z's cute toddler belly.) And it comes with a top and leggings pattern, too.

I'm going to keep it simple--no trim or bows or pockets. Maybe I'll even make a red and white polka dot knit top to go under it--I have some nice rayon-lycra knit in my stash.

After I made my decision, I came across this adorable RTW Mini Boden dress online, which I've decided is my retrospective inspiration. Z was very excited by this photo and kept exclaiming "Apple! Apple!":

Mini Boden Print Corduroy Pinafore Dress (Infant) (clipped to polyvore.com)

I've already downloaded it, taped it together and cut it out. I'm finding this so exciting! Actually sewing once again!

Sun Dress Update:

And before any of you wonder why I'm cutting out future dresses without displaying completed photos of previous dresses, never fear.

The Oliver + S Tea Party sun dress and bloomers set I mentioned in my previous post is well underway--I attached the dress bodice tonight and I just need to hem it and do the whole buttonhole/buttons thing (I've never made a buttonhole EVER, so I think I'll practice first on scraps).

I took Ms. Z to M+J Trimming with me today to buy the buttons for both dresses, though we had to fight our way through gangs of shoppers and roving Santa-costume-clad drunken bar-crawling dancing people (whatever possessed me to get near Macy's that close to Christmas?). Here are the sun dress ones--they have a lovely white floral detail that echoes the fabric:

So that's that. I have a vague tickling inclination in my head to make that green and white wrap dress I blogged about EONS ago for myself... I already have the pattern and fabric. But I'm TRYING to take things one project at a time.

What are you sewing for the holidays?

A Sun Dress in Winter and Other Projects in Super Active Progress

2011-12-06T00:10:00.001-05:00

It's been so long I don't know if any of you are still out there. Anyway--I'm actually making stuff again! My time is limited (getting my exuberant toddler to stop running around squealing and go to bed before 10 p.m. is a bit of a challenge)... but I'm breaking my projects up into manageable chunks--a little pattern cutting here, a little fabric pressing there, and so on.

And I've made myself a Rule: All Patterns and Fabric Must be from the Stash. That ridiculously huge stash that hasn't exactly justified all the storage space it has been occupying in our little apartment in the past 18 months.

(Of course, I immediately broke this rule and bought a book of toddler patterns when I realized Z has outgrown all her baby patterns. BUT NO NEW FABRIC I SWEAR).

So here's what's on the sewing table and knitting needles...

The Orange Tea Party Sun Dress and Bloomers (Oliver + S)

I bought this fabric (from the original Far Far Away collection by Heather Ross) and pattern over a year ago. There are a few issues. The largest size in the envelope (24 months) is unlikely to actually fit my fast-growing daughter for more than a few minutes. The skirt is short, the fabric is thin, and it is a sun dress in the winter time. But whatever--it's cute, I want to make it, and if all else fails I can always give it to a friend for her 6-months-younger baby.
Status: It's all cut out and such. Just need to actually sew it.
The Striped Purple Tomten Hooded Sweater Jacket
The yarn: Berocco Vintage Chunky in a variety of purples. (I worry that it's just 40% wool--I prefer at least 50% or more wool content--but it's super soft and nice to work with and machine washable).

And:The pattern.
I finally started a lunchtime knitting group at work, and I'm super excited about it. Also, this is so the weather for wool. And thus I continue my slow personal reconnection with a craft I once swore I had replaced with sewing.
Anyway, this jacket--I love making Elizabeth Zimmerman patterns, and this is no exception.
Status: I'm halfway to the armpits! (here's the Ravelry link, but there's not much to see yet)
Orange Spiral Rib Socks
The yarn: Knit Picks Swish Worsted, left over from the increasingly-too-small Baby Surprise Jacket Z is STILL wearing.

And: The pattern, by Ann Budd.
Z needs wool socks. And I was lazy, so I thought--warm thick snuggly worsted-weight socks with leftover yarn. But I don't know--plain solid one-color socks with no stripes or painted effect are so BORING to knit.
Status: YAWN.
Chunky Alpaca Cabled Earflap Hat
The yarn: Misti Alpaca Chunky Solids Marina Melange, same color as this cowl I already made:

And: The free pattern, the "18 Seconds to Sunrise" hat by Tiffany Gallagher.
I was starting to feel a bit clownish always wearing a hat, scarf, cowl and gloves and coat each in a different bright color (purple, blue, dark blue, red and green, respectively), and thought I'd try to consolidate my color scheme.
Status: I finished it AND IT WAS SO SMALL IT MADE MY HEAD HURT. So I'm ripping it back and starting over. I have cast on and that is all.

Yes, I realize I'm mostly making baby--toddler?--things right now. Give me time. I haven't actually measured myself with a tape measure since giving birth almost 18 months ago and I barely remember how to sew and alter patterns for a non-pregnant shape.

Bonus photos: little Ms. Z helping Mommy wind yarn for her Tomten jacket:

Innovative approaches to sweater wear:

Z in her (purchased, not sewn, I'm so embarrassed) Halloween costume, hiding in a log at the Bronx Zoo:

Cursed Curtains

2011-12-05T23:49:00.001-05:00

You know you haven't been sewing enough when you find yourself daunted by an IKEA curtain hemming project. When we bought said unfinished too-long cartoons, I cavalierly promised Cartoonist Husband that I'd have them hemmed in "ten minutes."

Several months and multiple gentle reminders later, Cartoonist Husband took Ms. Z out toddler shoe shopping (kid outgrows her shoes every three months!) so I could get back in touch with my sewing self.

It was not a happy reunion. I spent hours cursing over the curtains, wrestling them over the ironing board and cutting table and sewing machine, measuring and remeasuring, trying to get them just so. Minutes before my little family returned, I finally had them perfectly pressed and evenly top-stitched. Masheka began to hang them up, I began to bask in the satisfaction of a job well done...

Until I realized they were ten inches too long. AWESOME CAREFUL MEASURING JOB MIKHAELA.

But it did remind me of a few things. Like: I hate wrestling with fabric. I hate pressing and steaming and anything involving the iron.

And I love sewing.

Next post: my four projects suddenly in progress. (None of which are the too-long curtains, which I'm just leaving that way for now.)