I knew I was capable of knitting socks since I had knit some before, knitting a proper pair of socks that fit seemed like a daunting task – and I was in need of some hand holding.

Last fall, I decided that with Michelle’s help, I would be capable of knitting myself some decent socks.  She sent me a few patterns that she found tried & true – and then I got to work on knitting a pair of top down socks.

Hermione’s Everyday Sock pattern knit with Riverside Stuido‘s Yarn purchased from Lil’Weasel in Paris, using US size 1 needles.

As you can see, there was a lot of trial and error on these socks to get the right combination of negative ease, heel height, etc.

I followed pattern directions and used my measurements as a guide, Michelle was available to answer my questions on how a sock is ‘supposed’ to fit.  There’s a knack for starting the heel and working the rows needed for the heel before picking up stitches to work on the foot.

The knitting and following the instructions aren’t difficult – it’s the fit I knew I needed help with.

While I have itty bitty feet (women’s size 4), I have very high arches.  As high of an arch as Michelle’s husband’s MAN sized feet…. I had like 1 row shy of the same heel height to accommodate my arch as her husband does!  lol

Socks have a lot of engineering despite being such a small garment.  This was a great pattern to learn from; I love these socks and the color is great.  But my yarn is 100% merino so it does not bounce back to shape very well.  My first pair of socks have continued to grow with wear and washing – resulting in socks I rarely wear.  They’ll need to be gifted to a women with around a size 6 foot, I fear.

These were my learning socks.  I have since honed in on my preferred sock after just a few pairs.  :D

I forgot to include Felix’s Christmas gift socks in this mix… whoops.

After I made the pair of Hermione’s Every Day sock, I went digging in my yarn stash.  I started to pull out every lonesome skein of yarn I have along with any partially used skeins of fingering weight yarn – all the remnants!!

I pulled out every single yarn that I didn’t have enough for a sweater and have been hard at work this winter turning them all into socks!

I was/am determined to use up every scrap of yarn.  I want to clean out my stash of these languishing pieces that are taking up room in both my physical and mental space.

I’ve made 13 pairs of socks so far (3 of which are not pictured above.)

I have written down in a notebook my preferred sock details.  I’ve documented my sock journey by writing out how many grams of yarn a particular sock used so I can maximize my yarn usage b/c I’m a nerd like that.

With each pair of socks I’ve knit, I have tweaked things ever so slightly to figure out my ideal sock.  Sometimes I’d try a wider heel, other times I’d try steeper/faster decreases at the toe box to see what fits my foot best.  Each pair does fit my overall leg & foot in circumference and length – but some fit better than others.

I learned that I prefer my sock negative ease closer to 2″, despite many articles stating that 1″ of negative ease is good for socks. I like my leg length as a traditional crew length, just shy of mid-calf.  Which means I also have to have a good 2″ ribbed cuff for it to stay in place (as I have curvy legs).

I have my exact cast-on stitch count written down as well as my leg length, heel row count, foot length, and toe box length with decreases.  These details can be changed a bit to fit a new yarn weight or pattern detail – but I now know my ideal sock recipe.

Broken Seed Stitch Sock pattern using Cascade Heritage Silk combined with Cascade Heritage Solid and US size 0 needles.  This is one of my favorite color combinations – they make me happy every time I see and wear them.

I would never use a silk yarn for knitting socks as it doesn’t provide much recovery – but with the addition of the second yarn that has 25% nylon – this sock ends up being a winner.

This pattern is still one of my favorites and I’ve knit it the most.  You can combine two yarns within this great textured stitch pattern – utilizing those small skeins to make a great variety of looks.

This is the same pattern as above – but doesn’t it have a completely different flavor to it?!

The variegated purple yarn (merino + nylon)  from a Lorna’s Laces Yarn sale combined with a solid, deep plum (shepherd’s 100% wool) gives these great dimension.

This red sock (below) was made using perhaps one of my oldest skeins of fingering weight yarn – Wollmeise (wool + nylon), that was a swap gift.  I was only gifted the one skein and it languished in my stash for at least 5 years since I wasn’t a sock knitter yet.

For this sock I used Cables down the Back by Joji Locatelli.  This picture doesn’t do it justice but there’s a great cable that starts at the cuff and goes all the way down the heel. Such a fun knit this was!

With the remaining skein of Wollmeise – b/c yeah my feet are so small I can get 2 pairs out of one larger skein.  I made another pair of Hermione’s Every Day socks since the first pair I made don’t quite fit anymore.

Suffice it to say, I think I’m an avid sock knitter now.  :)  They really are fun to make and I can tuck a sock into my purse to knit up wherever I am – whenever I’m waiting.

I had quite a giggle-fest while taking these photos.  I can only imagine what my neighbors are thinking as Felix is standing around taking pictures of my stocking feet.  lol

I still have a (smaller) pile of fingering weight to use up, as well as sock yarn I purchased at Rhinebeck Sheet & Wool Festival specifically to make more socks.  Which means I can’t wait to pick out my next new-to-me sock pattern.

On that note, if anyone else has a favorite sock pattern feel free to add it in the comments!

Happy knitting!

The post A Plethora of Hand-Knit Socks appeared first on zilredloh.

As a forewarning, this post will be very photo heavy.  I took a lot of photos of both the inside as well as the outside since this jacket was so labor intensive.

I saw the new-ish release of Simplicity 8298 and I thought it was the perfect, cute pattern to turn into an outdoor jacket for myself while I work in the yard.  Great big pockets for tools or seed packets, quilted for warmth, and an easy silhouette perfect for bending and crouching down.

I made a muslin of the jacket in a basic cotton fabric (ie not thick nor quilted), but I made sure to try it on with a long sleeved top I knew I’d wear underneath it.  The muslin was pulling in the front near the ‘girls’ so I went and added 1/2 ” of extra width at the underarms on the front bodice only.  This makes sense as there is no darts or tucks in the design since it’s quilted.

Before I get ahead of myself… I cut out View A with View C’s long sleeves.  But since I’m short – the length of the jacket was somewhere between A and B.  I cut out the size S and graded to the M at the waist and hips.

Given the A line shape, I ended up removing extra width in the final jacket from the waist to hip as it was sticking out a lot after I got everything quilted up.  So I really should just have cut out a size S for the whole thing.  For reference, I’m a 34″ bust, 30″ waist, and 40″ hip.

The pattern states to buy pre-quilted fabric which I was looking around online for.  There’s a whole bunch of Nani Iro fabrics that are lovely… but since at the time it was going to be used in the dirt, I couldn’t justify that purchase.  So I decided to quilt up my own.

This fabric is a thick, crisp linen I bought from a fellow blogger’s stash busting sale.  When I bought it I thought it would make such a lovely wrap dress – but when it arrived that was never going to happen!  The fabric has a scratchy feeling and it was awful next to the skin – as in an *ouch* feeling.  So this beautiful linen just sat in my stash (for a year).

After I decided to make myself a jacket I started going through my stash to see what fabrics I could use.  After thinking this fabric would never make a suitable garment  – I turned it into a garment.  :D Yay!

This is my very first quilted *anything*.  I did a bit of research on methods of quilting specifically tied to garment making.

I went and bought some Quilter’s Dream batting for the insides since I heard that was less resistant to shrinkage in the wash.  And for the lining layer I used a flannel-backed satin specifically called Kasha lining.  The Kasha is a silvery color that is wind resistant and provides extra warmth for the spring chill.  Kasha frays as soon as you cut it so careful handling is key.  Also it doesn’t have much give so I wouldn’t recommend using it for a fitting jacket.

My quilted pocket before I applied the bias binding:

This pattern called for pre-made bias binding.  While I’m sure this jacket would have benefited from using a contrasting color, I decided to make my own cause I didn’t feel like going out to the store to buy that coarse, scratchy packaged cotton binding.

I used a 1.5″ square pattern on the pockets and stitched it diagonally for some contrast.  And for the jacket I have my horizontal lines set every 3″.

It’s hard to see but the inside quilting was done with silver bobbin thread and the outer stitching is a royal blue color.

So I have a secret to tell you and feel free to laugh…. I don’t like quilted garments (nor do I like quilted purses or accessories).  LOL  This is why I kept my lines on the jacket so wide apart – I didn’t want everything to puff up between the stitching lines.  Isn’t that funny?!

I still do love my jacket though and I would easily make another.  heh

One thing I love about the jacket is the wide bell sleeves.

I did make a muslin of the jacket and all was good.  But once I stitched the whole thing up (ie quilted it) it was sticking out too much at the center back bodice and side seams to be remotely attractive.  I was toying around with tucks or taking in the side seams, and ultimately settled on making a belt.

I covered some 1.5″ sturdy elastic with my fabric and cut the fabric longer than the elastic so that it would have that ‘scrunchy’ look to it (ie have positive ease).

When I put the belt on, I manually distribute the extra width to the back.  The belt is not super snug, but it gives me a bit of extra shape which helps my small stature.

The best feature on my jacket… self-stitched medallion toggles and covered buttons.

You’ll laugh when I say I crafted these up still determined on wearing this out in the garden to get dirty and muddy.

I had to stitch these toggles by hand to form the shape then they were hand stitched directly onto the jacket.  Time consuming – yes.  Worth every minute/hour.

So… the directions on this pattern have you stitching up the side seams just like you would any other garment.  That would have left 6 layers of fabric – including the batting at each side seam not to mention all of that extra fabric at each intersecting seam.  That was NOT going to happen on my watch.

I quilted each piece of the jacket individually, but didn’t stitch into the seam allowances.  I was hoping this would leave me plenty of room to stitch the outer linen fabric + batting together at the seams, but did not stitch the inside lining.  My goal was to trim down the seams, especially the batting, then lap one inside lining over the second to make a nice clean finish.  Lastly I would hand stitch it down, since that’s how I roll.

Above, is the inside center back hem.  You can see my horizontal quilting did not go all the way to the center back and that there’s a nice clean finish of lining – hand stitched in place.

Inside this seam, the outer + batting pieces are pressed open, the only thing lapped over is the lining piece.

The full inside jacket:

And yes… this sleeve was extremely challenging to stitch and then hand finish.

The collar piece wasn’t staying upright for me so I ended up pick stitching the binding to the collar in order to keep it all upright.

Sleeve:

Inside Pocket:

This deep saturation of blue and green is really the true color of the jacket – its divine and swoon worthy every time I see it.  This deep blue is one of my favorite colors, second only to aqua.

Toggles and belt detail:

Since I made a belt, I omitted the button closure right underneath where the belt lands – I didn’t want the extra bulk.  So it was fitting to stitch on a medallion piece to the belt itself, so that the front bodice remained symmetrical.

Well… that’s all I have for my garden jacket that is no longer a garden jacket.  LOL

I’m so happy that spring has sprung and I can enjoy wearing this transitional coat, even if it isn’t worn while working in the garden.  I’ll just have to make another I guess.

Happy sewing!

The post Garden Jacket with Simplicity 8298 appeared first on zilredloh.

I’m not someone who has the desire to make a button-up blouse.  It’s not that I don’t want them – as they’re sorely needed in my wardrobe – but I always seem to be more motivated to sew up a pretty dress instead.

This past fall I hunkered down and stitched one up and I’m oooh sooo glad I did.

This black cotton Bruyere is my wearable muslin – the wearable muslin that gets worn to work quite often!  :D

This fabric is in no way forgiving – it’s a basic black shirting that I got at an estate sale that has zero stretch (not even mechanical stretch).  As such – the fit would have to be 100% perfect to be wrinkle free.  Hence… my fit issues being subtly highlighted by the fabric folds.

This version is very close to being made straight out of the envelope.  I have a short waist, and Deer & Doe patterns seem to naturally fit me.  The more I work with them, the more I come to love them.

I know I narrowed the shoulders just a hair – but besides that I don’t believe I made any other changes.

When I look at the above image, I’m seeing:

• An armscye curve or height that isn’t 100% correct for me – folds radiating from the armpit to collar
• Bust darts that could stand to be lowered a hair
• Tucks on the bottom portion that aren’t placed right for me.

Looking at the back view, the fit is pretty good.

I’ve heard it on others’ blogs before, but black really is hard to photograph!!

Either my blouse looks nice and saturated and I look like a ghost or the shirt looks grey and dated and I look a relatively normal shade of pale.

A few less wrinkles in the image above… You can see by having changed my stance/posture I can have fewer wrinkles forming at the armscye.

What doesn’t work for me are the box-pleats on the skirt portion of the blouse front.  They really puff out and make me look preggers.  On my second version (soon to be posted), I moved the pleats further to either side and I made them point to the side seams so that the front area lays more flat (ie less preggers).

This blouse was my first time sewing in a sleeve placket.

I used my featherweight singer to sew up this blouse.  The narrow stitching foot gave me a really nice 1/8″ seam guide which made top stitching these sections a breeze.

While I haven’t gotten on board with making more button-up blouses (Archer & Granville), this Bruyere (and my second one to come soon) was one of my favorite makes from the winter and had a constant place in my wardrobe.

Perhaps when the temperature dips down for fall, I’ll get back on the wagon with blouse sewing.  :D

The post Bruyere Blouse: A Wearable Muslin appeared first on zilredloh.

I purchased this adorable bicycle print fabric last April (2016) from Blackbird fabrics.  No longer available with blackbird, but I happened to spot it here for sale and also just spotted it here also.

The fabric is an opaque, crisp cotton shirting with a hint of elastic for comfort.  The fabric feels great to wear – it has that crisp percale movement and like I said, with the added lycra/elastic it makes for ease of movement.

After getting the fabric in the mail I promptly turned it into the Simplicity 8014 shirt-dress you see today.  I cut for view B, but added on the collar and shortened the sleeves.  I made this dress for easy wearing – hence the positive, blousey ease.  If it’s one thing I hate it’s wearing a summer dress that is so tight that it sticks to you with perspiration… Ick.

I hung the dress on my garment rack for the hem to hang and moved on to other sewing projects, and I never circled back to this in 2016 like I ought to have.

Somehow or other, I just didn’t finish it last year.

While I love sewing up new patterns & using new fabrics, it was time to revisit some dresses that were *silently – or loudly!!! taunting me* from my garment rack, unfinished.

So far I’ve tackled three of them – this one being the first. *yay*

Silly me though – I could have worn this dress all last year had I only: stitched on the buttons, created buttonholes, and finished the hem.

Since I started this project a year ago, I really can’t attest to any changes that I made for fit. sorry. :|

But you may have noticed… I have new glasses and I’m standing in front of my newly stained fence.  :D  Woot woot!

Staining this fence was an undertaking, but it went all the faster with a paint-sprayer – which I am now the proud new owner of.  I keep seeing things around my house thinking *I should spray that*.  lol

But back to my dress…

I remember belaboring over what color top-stitching thread to use on this dress…  And when I picked this up again April 2017, I regretted using the white thread.  It’s okay I guess…

I get why I used the white thread – I think the bicycle print needed to be broken up a bit more since it’s a busy, little print.

Upon reflection, I think this may have been the first time I had to set in a proper collar stand.  I’ve been avoiding them for some reason or another.  I remember it was a bit fiddly, but not overly challenging.  So glad to have one additional sewing scaredy-cat item crossed off my list.

Wish I had more concrete thoughts to share with you on my dress – but really this post is about the joys of finishing up those old languishing items in your closet and turning them into new, wearables.  :D

Do you guys have projects taunting you from piles or garment racks also?

The post Bicycle Shirtdress with Simplicity 8014 appeared first on zilredloh.

As a quick recap, Felix and I made 2 sub-irrigated garden boxes that are 3ft x 6ft and about 20″ high or so.  I sectioned off my boxes into 12″ squares (ie cells) so I could get more bang out of the space – as in planting more varieties since I want to grow ALL THE THINGS.

I’d walk in my backyard nearly every day after work to check in my green babies. I’d pick some lettuce for a salad, grab some herbs for my buns, see what was germinating (or not) and give some buddies an extra drink of water in the hot temps.

What I grew last year:

Box #1:

2 Spaghetti Squash plants
5 Tomato plants
12 Basil plants
8 Cilantro plants
8 Parsley plants
2 Yellow Squash
2 Zucchini
1 cell Bunching Onions

Box #2:

2 Red Bell Peppers
1 cell of Dandelions
9 – Green Bush Beans
9- Yellow Bush Beans
3 cells Red Beulah Lettuce
2 cells Little Gem Lettuce
2 cells Baby Oak Leaf Lettuce
3 cells Butter King Lettuce
2 – 1/2 cells of Arugula
1 – 1/2 cell of Spring Greens

A Few Findings from 2016:

I got a bit of a late start in sowing my seeds in for spring 2016.  It resulted in some delayed yields – mainly in the tomatoes and bell peppers.  Neither of which I am planting this year, so it happens.

The internet may shudder, but I’m not a big lover of tomatoes, nor is my husband.  So I am not dedicating any space for those.  And the bell peppers, they take so long to yield fruits and they all seem to ripen at the same time.  While I enjoy eating the bell peppers, I can’t eat 20 bell peppers all at one time and they actually taste exactly the same as store bought.  So I decided to skip those this year also.

I got some squash bugs attacking my squash plants near the end of the season.  I had things so crowded in my box that I wasn’t able to even notice the destruction of these until it was too late.  But I did get some decent yields of all my squash, so no complaints there.

Spaghetti Squash was awesome in my box!  I got at least 12 spaghetti squashes that have lasted all winter long (and I still have a few remaining to eat as I type this).

I made some slings with my knit fabric scraps for the larger spaghetti squashes.

My super favorite from last year – Beans!  I loved picking my green and yellow bush beans all summer long.  The more I seemed to pick the more the plants kept producing.  I kept finding new recipes to make with them too, which was fun.

And lettuces – they were all very good.  Between you and me – I had planted lots of lettuce in order to feed my buns.  While they got a good share of my production, I was also hoarding some of the baby oak leaf lettuce and butter lettuce for salads for myself.  :D  The buns are good at sharing with me.

While I did plant a great number of veggies for my space – I’m scaling back a tiny bit.  My squashes, tomatoes, and beans took up oodles of room which ended up drowning out some of the other plants in the near vicinity.  Okay…. I’m probably planting the same amount – but I’m just being smarter about placement and scaling back on some lettuce during midsummer’s heat.

What I’m Planting/Planning for 2017:

I’m dedicating a bit more room in my garden for some vegetables.  And by this I mean my ground space (not the garden boxes).  I have very sandy soil and I have a hunch that carrots might do well in my yard.  I worked on amending the soil near my back fence over the weekend so I hope its nutrient rich for growing some of these heavy feeders.

Back Fence Area:

3 Varieties of Carrots
Brussels Sprouts
Purple Sprouting Broccoli
Strawberries
tbd – I may decide to add some other items back here on a whim as this will be a work in progress

This is the space by the back fence.  It’s about 12″-15″ deep and runs the entire length of my backyard.  Please note this is my neighbor’s fence and their repair.  :(  I wish it were more sightly but hopefully soon it will be filled with green and I won’t have to look at that eyesore any longer.

Box #1:

Peas – a mixture of bush and traditional climbing peas (Spring) (new)
1 Spaghetti Squash plant (reduced from 2 to 1)
9 – Green Bush Beans
9- Yellow Bush Beans
9- Purple Bush Beans (new)
1 cell Miner’s Lettuce (new)
Slow-Bolt Cilantro (new)
Basil
Tarragon (new)
Parsley
1 cell Bunching Onions

This is Garden Box #1, which is closer to the house. (seen just below)

I’m trying to garden a bit more with Spring Vs. Summer Vs. Fall in mind.  I’ve already sowed some green peas into box #1 – and when those are spent I’ll be sowing my spaghetti squash in it’s place for summer.  That way I get a bit more bang for my buck all in the same space.

If you look carefully you can just see my pea sprouts coming up.  *yay*

Box #2:

1-Yellow Scallop Squash (new)
1- zucchini
1- Yellow squash (tbd)
1 cell Mache (new)
Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce (new)
Brown Winter Lettuce (in the Fall) (new)
Lunix Lettuce (aka Red Oak Leaf Lettuce) (new)
Triumpheter Lettuce (aka Green Butter Lettuce) (new)
1/2 cell Arugula
1 cell Endive (new)
1/2 cell Spring Greens

Box #2 already has 8 Mache and 5 Endive lettuces transplants and I sowed some spring greens and arugula seeds over the weekend.  These are happy in cooler temps – and are fine with 40 degree F.  So once these bolt in late spring, I’ll replace them with some herbs or other heat tolerant lettuces.

If any space remains I’ll add in some of these lettuces I used last year:
Red Beulah Lettuce
Little Gem Lettuce
Baby Oak Leaf Lettuce
Butter King Lettuce

Sub-Irrigated Planters:

One of my lovely readers noted that I never gave a recap last year of how my sub-irrigated planters worked out for me.  These were very time and labor intensive to build, and costly to boot, but I have no regrets.  When I was researching self-irrigating systems I was torn between a soaker hose style box and the sub-irrigated box.  They both have their pros and cons – but decided that a sub-irrigated would be best for us.

I work a normal 9-5 schedule, as does my husband.  So we can’t tend to our garden all the time – nor do I want to be restricted by a strict watering schedule.  I want to be able to go out of town for a week or weekend without worrying that all of my hard work would die if we don’t get any rain.

There’s a water table at the bottom of my boxes along with an overflow pipe when we get lots of rain.  So if it rains – my job of watering is done.  And if we have a dry spell – I can fill up the reservoir with my garden hose.  I can count on less than 10 fingers, the number of times I had to fill up the reservoir last summer!  It was pretty amazing as these boxes are in full sun.

I still needed to water my seedlings and seeds in the spring until they were established.  But once they’re looking happy my main task of watering is done.

The downside to these boxes is the soil composition.  In order for water to travel upwards for the roots – the soil needs to remain light and airy.  So NO compost or manure is allowed in the box to nourish plants.

What I do is to start all of my seedlings off with some worm casings and organic fertilizer (red bag below from Happy Frog).  And throughout the season I also have a granular and/or liquid fertilizer for my heavy feeders like tomato, bell pepper, and squash.

Beyond that – my boxes are maintenance free!  I’m quite happy with my decision to go this route and I hope they hold up for at least 10 years.

Happy Spring!  And please – don’t hesitate to ask me any questions.  I feel like I only scratched the surface with this post so I’m happy to chat about more details in the comments section.

The post Spring Gardening for 2017 appeared first on zilredloh.

I had 2 different lengths of this red, matte, 3-ply silk crepe in my stash – both pieces are remnants I found on sale at Vogue Fabrics.  I’ve had them in my stash for a couple of years.  I’d pull them out from time to time hoping to make something with them but never did.

When the Trina Dress by Victory Patterns came out last Autumn, I was smitten with it.  With fresh determination to use my silk crepe, I set to work.

My excitement was short lived when I found that I was missing just under 2 yards for the project.  The dress calls for 5.5 yards and I had 3 5/8ths yardage in this silk crepe.

Being a stubborn Taurus – I was determined to make it work.  I laid my pattern pieces out on the fabric in every configuration possible to maximize the yardage.

• I ended up piecing together my tie wrap & seaming it with a narrow hem.
• I cut one or both kimono sleeves on the opposite grainline.
  • Instead of cutting on the lengthwise grain they were cut on the crosswise grain.
• Many pieces were cut on a single layer to maximize fabric – even utilizing the selvage for straight edges.
• I shortened the sleeves.  I narrowed the sleeves.
• I shortened the skirt.

I think the only reason I was even able to pull this off is due to my shortness.

I had to piece the wrap tie so from leftover areas of fabric otherwise I was going to use a contrast color.  I was fine piecing the fabric, but by unlucky coincidence one of the seam lines is near center front of the bodice.

On this Trina version in a solid fabric, it’s much easier to decipher the style lines than in my previous Trina Blouse version.

I didn’t make any modifications between the blouse and dress – although I ought to have.

While the silk crepe is just as drapey (and lovely) as the rayon voile, the silk is much heavier and thicker, something I didn’t fully anticipate.  The bodice dare I say “sags” with the extra weight.

I feel like it would be a bit more figure flattering if the bodice was shortened or if the shoulder area was ‘lifted up’.

I love the dramatic kimono dress idea – but being so short and pear-shaped, I wasn’t sure I could pull it off myself.

I think the dress works and the silk crepe feels so delicious.  But I’d be lying if I didn’t say I kinda prefer the blouse version a bit more on my figure.

I had a shoe conundrum while getting dressed.  I really couldn’t figure out what shoes to wear with this dress – seems I have a red and/or silver fancy shoe gap in my wardrobe.

Even with all of these ‘issues’, I still love the dramatic kimono sleeves and swagger this dress lends.  Queue the arm posing.  :D

I love that I have a bold, red dress in my wardrobe for the first time.

It now functions as my LBD.  I can wear this during the holiday season, Valentine’s day, and really any other fancy dinner occasions.  No matter any weight shifts it will always fit due to the wrap bodice style also.

Well, that’s all I have to say about my Trina Dress.  I’m curious… have any of you made the Trina Dress or Blouse yet?

The post A Trina Holiday Dress appeared first on zilredloh.

I’m so glad he convinced me I needed to sew with this fabric, as I’m smitten with my new dress.

Fabric:

I bought this fabric in September last year from Stitch Sew Shop in Old Town, Alexandria (just outside of Washington, DC).  I was in town for a family wedding and was able to stop in for a quick visit.

I really love being able to take the opportunity to pick up a crafty souvenir for myself.  It will always be a reminder of the lovely day I spent wandering around with my husband and of the wedding festivities.

This fabric is a rayon or viscose substrate with this glorious tropical print.  It’s very delicate and light weight.  As such I used a microtex needle size 60, the same size I use with linings and silks.

I don’t remember the exact yardage I bought, but I had intended to use this for a different dress pattern.  Sometimes the mood strikes and plans have to change.

Pattern:

Would you be surprised if I told you I used Butterick 5951 for this dress?  Its the same pattern I used to make my grey & yellow wool crepe version.

I feel like every new project I make lately ends up being my new favorite.  But seriously folks – I feel wonderful in this 1940’s inspired dress.  Everything about it makes me happy.

While it’s easy to head to my backyard for photos, this dress called for putting in the extra effort to go off-site for photos.

I headed in my car and drove a whopping 5 minutes to the Museum of Science and Industry to take a few photos.  Originally built during the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893, it was restored and re-established between 1920-1933 as the museum seen today.

Details:

All sorts of rushing on the bodice: the shoulders, sleeves, and front darts.

Similar to my wool crepe version, I created my own neckline facing as I opted to not line this dress.  You can just make out the outline around the neckline where I hand-stitched the facing place.

True to form, I used my favorite closure method: hand-picked, center-back lapped zipper.  The collar is fastened with a simple hook & eye closure.

The pattern stated to use elastic at the sleeve to create the rushing/gathers.  I did one sleeve and it failed miserably!

Instead I formed two rows of gathers to secure it all in place.  I’ve used this method from other vintage garment instructions so I new this was the right solution to use here.

My own addition is the self-made belt and self-drafted patch pockets.  I knew I wanted to add some pockets on the front to give it more of a vintage flare.  So I created a tulip-shaped pocket with added rushing to mirror details found in the bodice.

Belt closure is a vintage, navy plastic.  I don’t recall where I picked this up unfortunately.

It was such a windy day out I had trouble keeping my hair tamed.  I decided to give up and go for that wind-swept look.  lol

While I didn’t make any major modifications from my wool crepe version of Butterick 5951, I did decide to cinch up the bodice more on this version.  I often rely on belts to snug up the waist of garments, but this 40’s-inpsired dress called for a more close fitting bodice.  It’s still blousey, but is cinched more at the waist and upper hip.

And just for fun – I turned an image greyscale.  :D

This project now serves as my reminder that my favorite fabrics (that are waiting/languishing on the shelves) can turn into my favorite dress.

The post A 1940’s Inspired Butterick 5951 appeared first on zilredloh.

When I saw this bunny print shirting, I had to have it.  I bought this from fabric.com (brand Telio) last year.  It’s a crisp, stretch cotton shirting and it has worn very nicely since I stitched it up.

When I move my arms there’s a soft crinkle noise that happens due to the crispness of the shirting material – it’s new to me and I love it.

Some of the bunny print fabrics I’ve seen are too juvenile.  They’re cute, but not something I can wear to work.

This black and white print is perfect for me.  It’s chic for work and my personality (and love of bunnies) shines through very clearly.

So… ‘What pattern is this?’ you may be asking.

This is a glorious mix of two patterns: Bruyere (a new favorite) & McCalls 6696 (an old favorite).

Earlier in the fall I made 2 Bruyere blouses (yet to be blogged) and I learned why so many people love it.  No sugar-coating it here, but the Bruyere blouse needed ZERO edits for me.  It fit perfectly right out of the envelope!  This is huge for me as that rarely happens.

I’ve sewn with McCalls 6696 shirt dress pattern, but the bodice was never absolutely perfect.  It was nice – but there was room for improvement.  But I loved the skirt portion.

It seemed only natural that I combine the better fitting bodice of Bruyere along with the skirt of 6696 to create my perfect shirt dress.

I like the bunny print as much as ever – but felt it needed some visual breaks.

I found some basic black cotton in my stash and used it for the collar, cuffs, and button band.  I wish I had also used it to cut out the waistband…

I’m not sure that the two blacks match 100% but it was fine for me.  I don’t think anyone can really notice apart from myself.

I do see some armpit wrinkling in the image below so I probably need a different curve.  But I’m really happy with the fit throughout my shoulders, sleeve caps, bust, and back.

Cuffs:

The black buttons are from my recent haul from the Paris Flea market at Porte de Vanves.

I always feel slightly bad about using vintage buttons but I finally am telling myself to use them.  I can always take them off again once the dress wears out or if it no longer fits.

I really love this skirt!  It’s the perfect amount of flare for vintage inspired garments without being too full.

So very happy to have an actual bunny print dress in my wardrobe – finally!  I’ve been a bun-parent for over 10 years now; you think I would have made a dress in all that time.

Well… at least I don’t have to hang my head in shame in front of my bunnies any longer.  lol

Cheers & Happy Sewing.

The post Bunny Print Shirt Dress appeared first on zilredloh.

There are certain online fabric stores I’ve come to love & I love them for a reason.  I return over and over to the online fabric stores where quality, transparency, and consistency are present.  Oh…. need I mention reasonable prices, too?!  That always helps.

One such online shop for me is Blackbird Fabrics.

I’ve purchased several fabrics from Blackbird over the years and they’ve never disappointed me.  The fabrics arrive just as they’re described online.  This rayon voile purchase was no exception.

I had already made a Trina Dress so I knew it worked on me.  And once I saw this Japanese rayon voile pop up on Blackbird Fabrics I knew it was the perfect match for a Trina Blouse.

The fabric is wonderfully drapey, opaque, and stitched up like a dream.  I pre-washed this rayon in the washing machine and it held up like a champ.  Pretty sure it went through the drier cycle too.

This is my first time sewing up a pattern from Victory Patterns.  When the Trina dress & blouse was released last year – I was deep into my love of Phryne Fisher’s Murder Mysteries series (and still am).  This dress and blouse pattern is glamorously dynamic, so very Phryne, I just haaad to make one up for myself.

I had such fun taking these photos – the kimono sleeves and drapey rayon fabric = infinite arm poses.  lol

I didn’t do many alterations to the pattern- but I did do some.

Some of the wrap features get lost in this print, but I widened the lower bodice section via the triangle pieces.

You can see what I’m talking about better with this line drawing of the Bodice Back:

On a regular wrap design, there is a hole opening in a side seam to pass the ties though.  On the Trina blouse, the front bodice has a triangle section that overlays on the back bodice – this area is where the ties feed through for the wrap.  I think it’s pretty ingenious and prime for color blocking.

Anyhow – I was saying, I extended the angle on my triangle pieces to widen the waist area a bit.  In retrospect, I didn’t need to make that alteration since the blouse was roomy enough.

Bodice Back:

The only other alteration I made was to shorten the sleeves and peplum since I’m such a shortie.

I don’t think it’s any secret that I’m a bit modest – as I don’t like showing my knees or décolletage.  Knowing that, I had concerns that the Trina neckline was going to be too deep cut for work attire.  Surprisingly, it was fine.  I didn’t have to add any additional width to the neckline – it shows just enough but not too much.

And the neckline stays in place without any safety pins.  But… I always affix one just in case.  lol

Here’s a great closeup of the fabric:

I generally gravitate towards solids and some cute prints – so this rayon voile is very much out of my comfort zone.  I thought it was so different and had a great color saturation I couldn’t not get it!

So now that you’ve made it this far – I have a great treat in store for you.

BLACKBIRD FABRICS DISCOUNT:

Caroline of Blackbird Fabrics has kindly offered my readers a site-wide discount of 15% on purchases for the next week!  With no restrictions! Isn’t that wonderful?!!

Discount Code: ZILREDLOH15

The code will be valid from NOW till Tuesday March 14th at 11:59PST.

Please Note: I was not compensated in any way, in exchange for any reviews – and all opinions are my own.

While I don’t think there’s any more of this particular fabric in stock – there are plenty of other lovely fabrics to be had.  I have my eye on the Bamboo-Cotton French Terry (they make great Renfrews) and the Orange Cheetah Print fabric, myself.

But the discount isn’t just for fabric – but applies towards any notions or pattern purchase also.

Sounds great right?!  I hope so.  :D

Cheers All & Happy Shopping!

The post The Trina Blouse & Blackbird Fabrics appeared first on zilredloh.

This wool blend fabric was a plague in my sewing room.  It was previously a failed garment of mine, Simplicity 3313 – the green jumper on the left.

Darling pattern right?!

My first attempt at Simplicity 3313 was a major fail:

Sighting a poor match between pattern & fabric, I attempted making it second time in that dark charcoal wool.  It was much more stable wool fabric, I was certain it would work, being a better fabric match and all.

But it didn’t work.  At all.  :(  It looked just as frumpy as the first time I made it.

Despite being the cutest pattern, Simplicity 3313 & I weren’t meant to be.  Instead, I sent it off to a new home and attempted to unpick my stitched jumper to reuse the fabric as something else.

I’ve been longing to make Simplicity 4083 skirt and it seemed like a great match with this wool blend fabric.

I settled on View #1 with those wonderful triangle pockets – and will most certainly make view 2 & 3 in the future.

This wool blend fabric feels like a very thin felt.  It’s a dense weave fabric that holds it shape quite well.  It must be the addition of poly that helps the wool stay crisp.

I paired this skirt with a 60’s creamy taupe cashmere cardigan that I recently bought.

I think it works well despite the era mismatch.

I’m so glad I used this fabric with this pattern.  I am not even wearing a crinoline nor do I have horsehair braid sewn in.  The hem just stays nice and full, all on its own.

My only regret is that I should have gone with a darker thread, so that the triangle pockets were more visible.  Ahh well.

Modifications:

The skirt was labeled for a 32″ waist – a bit too large for me.  It was easy to reduce the side seams of the skirt and make the waistband a bit smaller to fit.

I’m so relieved that my prior (failed) project is no longer torturing me; that I’ve been able to turn it into a wonderful new skirt instead.

Cheers & happy sewing.

The post A 1950’s Charcoal Grey Skirt appeared first on zilredloh.