Material Girl

Little by little

2011-11-20T00:12:00.000-05:00

Well, Friday night turned out to be not at all what I had expected. DH pulled a muscle in his back at the gym, so I offered to make him a rice-filled heating pad. Then I ended up dipping about five dozen potato candy balls in chocolate and prepping an apple pie for our church's holiday fair, which was held today. I thought I might squeeze in a bit more sewing after I got home from my morning shift at the fair's bake table, but DD asked for a heating pad for *herself* and, since she was such a big helper at the fair, I acquiesced. She went bike riding with her daddy after lunch, and while they were gone, I took a nap. So much for my Friday Night Sew In.

Friday Night Sew In - November 18, 2011

2011-11-17T00:45:00.000-05:00

I'm in. (Click on the Friday Night Sew In button at right for more info.)

I have a boatload of projects that need finishing: a broken zipper to replace in my husband's favorite windbreaker, a Halloween costume to mend, several pairs of pants, leggings and skirts cut out for DD that I need to sew up. And at least a dozen UFOs for myself. Let's see how many I can get through this Friday night.

Friday would have been my mom's 77th birthday. Thanks, Mom, for teaching me how to knit and sew, for making me all those groovy 70's clothes (man, was I a dork!), for buying me fabric for project after project that didn't quite work out (but taught me plenty), and especially for not freaking out (well, too much, anyway) when I carved my name into your sewing machine cabinet with a safety pin. I miss you!

Year end review (just for laughs)

2010-12-31T23:59:00.011-05:00

OK, time to review all my (cough, cough) lofty sewing goals for the year and see what (if anything) I actually accomplished. Here they are:

Organize my sewing space - and keep it that way!

I reconfigured my bedroom storage closet so I have a lot more shelving, and that helps. But my sewing table is a continual struggle to keep neat and tidy.

Sew every day, even if it's only for a few minutes

Nope. But I look at my sewing stuff every day...

Make muslins more often

I'm definitely doing this, with mixed results. I expect that now that I have slopers that fit me, I'll have a lot more success in the future.

Finish at least one garment per month

How about every other month?

Finish my daughter's Halloween costume by mid-October

This one doesn't count, because I couldn't get her to decide what she wanted to be until we were on vacation to Seattle in late October. She went as a bunny rabbit, wearing a costume made from a large bath sheet with a bunny hood on it (gift from her great Aunt Sally, not sewn by me).

Spend less time READING/BLOGGING about sewing/knitting, and more time sewing/knitting

Um....yeah...about that one...

Figure out some way to make money sewing, or teaching sewing - and DO IT!

I *did* this - I've talked with the director of my daughter's school, and if I can get my stuff together, I may be teaching some afterschool kids' classes, or even some evening classes for adults in 2011.

Sew more clothes for my daughter

I'm definitely sewing more for her, probably 2/3 of my finished items were for her.

Stop buying mass-produced crap clothing (including thrift store stuff that doesn't fit well); buy local/handmade products whenever possible

I'm still shopping at Goodwill, but for things I can refashion. Mostly for my daughter, though.

Make myself a great fitting:

woven blouse
winter coat
pair of jeans
bra

The blouse and coat are now within striking distance. The jeans and bra will have to wait until 2011, I think.

Work on improving my skills and learn how to:

insert an invisible zipper
sew on Slinky knit so it doesn't look like crap
use some of the tools/notions I haven't used much (or at all)
make great buttonholes

I've given up on the Slinky knit sewing, mostly because I don't really love the fabric. But I've practiced quite a few zippers and buttonholes this year, and I think I have greatly improved my skill in those areas.

Though it wasn't on my list, my big achievement was taking the moulage workshop with Kenneth King this year. I am really looking forward to working with my slopers to create the best fitting clothes I've ever made. (Stay tuned for my 2011 sewing goals...)

My body is freakishly deformed

2010-12-02T23:31:00.000-05:00

OK, so I'm exaggerating - a lot. But after having taken Kenneth King's Moulage workshop the first weekend of November, I had some major "OMG" moments. And I got to hang out with a bunch of great women, too, like EleanorSews from PatternReview.com (and, yes, red really *is* her color!). AND, I got to sleep in that extra hour when Daylight Saving Time ended. What more could you ask for?

The lovely EleanorSews, hard at work drafting her moulage

The most interesting thing I took away from the workshop was the realization that even though I had surgery to correct my spinal curvature when I was 16, I'm still pretty crooked. Which helps explain the numerous wadders and countless hours of frustration I've had when sewing for myself.

A little background: My lower spinal curve (the more significant one) was so extreme prior to my operation that I could drop a plumb line from my waist down my left leg without any bulging out at the hip. My right side had an extremely high, jutting hip bone, which made pants fitting (with my then-teenage fitting skills) pretty much impossible. I also had a curvature in my upper spine, but it was not severe enough to require surgery (or maybe it wasn't back then, I'll give my doctor the benefit of the doubt). After I had the surgery, in which seven vertebrae were fused together, I found myself with matching hip curves. (Well, not exactly *right* after the surgery...there was that pesky seven months I spent in a body cast - but I digress...)

Fast forward to the moulage workshop in November 2010. I already knew what my "problem" areas were going into the workshop: lower right shoulder, long arms and thick waist/high hip curve. (And let's not forget The Girls.)

Photo taken just before Kenneth started fitting me. I wish I'd thought to
take one afterward so you could see how much better it fit, but I
couldn't wait to take it off. He's a very funny guy, and a really great teacher.

Remember that upper spinal curve that didn't get straightened out? Turns out my entire upper body is tilted to the right, like a living Leaning Tower of Pisa. Not so much that anyone would notice unless I pointed it out (my head seems to be level atop my neck), but my center front angles slightly off to the right side (as if I'm leaning over slightly sideways) *above* the waist, while my CF is nearly perpendicular to the floor from the waist down. It was completely obvious during the fitting process, when Kenneth pinned out wedge-shaped darts across the front and back of the moulage at the waist and above my bust.

For years, I've been taking up extra fabric (about 5/8") on my right shoulder seam, and tapering to nothing at the neckline. It wasn't great, but was better than nothing at all, or so I thought. (Silly, silly woman.) Here's another place I've been screwing up when fitting myself all these years: when I pinned out excess fabric in a muslin, I would adjust things so I removed the same amount of fabric on both the right and left side, even though (in hindsight) I was pinning out wedges that tapered to nothing on the left side of my body. I just assumed I needed to take the same amount out on each side, and that I must have done something wrong while pinning out the excess fabric. Like I said, silly woman.

I felt badly for my partner, Loreen, because my moulage looked not-so-hot before Kenneth started pinning and marking it up. ("It's my *body* that's the problem, not your measuring skills!"). Actually I felt badly for her, having me as her partner - I was nervous, and went too fast, rather significantly mismeasuring her back shoulder width, which caused things to be off quite a bit during the drafting process. (Sorry 'bout that!) Fortunately, everything was tidied up during the fitting process.

Kenneth King fitting my moulage.

Once I got out of the moulage (and was able to breathe again!), I set to work transferring the markings to the flat pattern. Because of my asymmetry, I had to draft a full front (left and right sides on one piece, rather than one half laid out on the fold) as well as separate left and right back pattern pieces. It didn't take long before I was *completely* overwhelmed by the task, but Kenneth came over and went to work. He is *insanely* quick, and accurate as all get out. Nevertheless, he had to spend a great deal of time on mine. (I definitely got my money's worth from this workshop!)

Kenneth demonstrating how to draft the moulage.

This newfound insight about my body does not bode well for any future sewing involving stripes or plaids, although Kenneth did make a point of telling me how to deal with it: Use the higher side shoulder line and the lower side armhole depth on *both* sides, and pad the lower shoulder to fill it out to match the higher one. This way the stripes or plaid patterns will look the same on both sides, and I will appear to be balanced and symmetrical.

Since I had to make separate right and left sides for the front and back, I wasn't able to finish drafting all the slopers before the end of the workshop (we were shown how to add wearing ease to the moulage to draft slopers for a blouse/dress, a jacket and a coat). Since I got home, I've been able to transfer my moulage to oaktag, and I've drafted the blouse/dress sloper. I'm hoping to get some time to sew a dress before Christmas (I am dying to make a sheath dress that FINALLY FITS!), but if not, I'll be taking my sewing machine along on our trip to Sugarloaf at the end of the month (my husband and daughter are the skiers in the family; me, not so much). I'm also going to sew up my moulage using some heavy denim to make a dress form. Woot!

The Dirty Dozen

2010-10-14T11:00:00.002-04:00

Here they are:

Blue fleece jacket, black knit top, Pucci-style
print (from Gorgeous Fabrics) top

Brown and white sleeveless dress, brown
rayon cardiwrap, brown pants

3/4 of 3/4 length sleeve top (work in
progress), shown w/brown pants

Mesh top, DKNY black jeans

OK, there's a few things missing. You'll just have to imagine a pair of blue jeans, an apple-green long sleeve fleece pullover, and a long-sleeve scoop neck t-shirt with a muted gray-green print and a sprinkling of copper studs. The battery in the camera died before I could capture them all, and it will be at least several hours before they are recharged again.

Two in one day - possibly a new record!

2010-10-13T23:14:00.000-04:00

I bet you're thinking I finished sewing two items today. But you would be wrong, dear reader. So wrong.

Tonight, after posting my 12-piece wardrobe plan for the "Express Checkout" experiment earlier in the day, I pulled together all the pieces to photograph them so I could show you the clothes. The black Slinky knit tank top (from Chico's via Goodwill many years ago) was balled up on the floor next to the laundry basket, and when I picked it up, I saw that it had holes. Puppy-teeth-shaped holes. Sigh...

Guess I'll take that top AND the torn linen/cotton jeans:

off my list. (Dammit.)

Let me introduce my *new* top, a black knit draped neck top with 3/4 length sleeves:

I'm hanging all the remaining pieces up nice and high in my closet. And keeping the door closed.

"Express Checkout" Experiment

2010-10-13T10:22:00.003-04:00

I'm going to take a shot at Duchesse's "Express Checkout" experiment beginning this Saturday. Basically, I'm going to see if I can limit myself to 12 items of clothing for an entire month. (There is no limit on accessories, such as scarves, shoes, jewelry, etc.) Since I will be traveling a good chunk of the time the experiment is running, I'm starting with my travel wardrobe and adding a few items.

My 12 items include:

Pants:
1. Black DKNY Soho jeans
2. ~~Indigo Slouch brand linen/cotton jeans~~ Michael Kors indigo jeans (The Slouch jeans split down the front four hours after I posted this! Seriously, I just heard/felt a little rrrrrip! and looked down to see a two-inch tear a couple inches beside the button fly. WTF? I really liked these $4.49 Goodwill jeans, too...)
3. Brown rayon/poly/lycra blend pants (I reserve the option to swap these out for another pair of pants if I finish them before Nov. 14.

Tops:
4. Long sleeve cotton t-shirt
5. Black tank top
6. Nylon mesh print long sleeve top
7. Brown/gray print 3/4 sleeve top (which is not yet finished!!!!)
8. Pucci print top

Sweaters:
9. Brown rayon cardiwrap
10. Green fleece pullover
11. Royal blue fleece jacket

Dresses:
12. Sleeveless brown & off-white Lily dress

I'm not going to count outerwear in my 12 items as Duchesse is; if I did, there would be 14 items (a plum wool car coat from LL Bean and a North Face rain jacket). I may not even take all of it on my trip (11 days), since I will have access to a washer and dryer most of the time we are away. It will be interesting to me to see if/how the same 12 items work in the Pacific Northwest and northern New England at this time of year.

My plan is to take pictures each day (I'll probably post a bunch when I get back, so you'll have to wait until the end of this month to see them). I don't think limiting my wardrobe this way is going to be particularly difficult, since I am one of those people who wears 20% of their wardrobe 80% (or probably closer to 90%) of the time.

But wish me luck, anyway!

PatternReview.com to the rescue!

2010-10-09T11:39:00.002-04:00

I posted my problem with the NL6735 on one of the Pattern Review.com message boards and got a great suggestion: this Burda Style magazine dress (01-2009-106):

I like the semi-flounced sleeve - some fullness, but not overwhelmingly so. It looks like it has ~~three~~ two pieces, but one of the reviewers who made it did a version with four pieces, which is what I think I'm going to try. I think it's a perfect solution to my problem of not having enough fabric.

Now if I only had enough *time* to draft & sew the sleeve!

Somebody's trying to tell me something...

2010-10-08T23:58:00.002-04:00

...but, of course, I'm not listening.

I started in on my New Look 6735 top today. It's been painfully slow going for a simple knit shirt. First off, I left my pattern pieces spread out on the dining room table, and the puppy got hold of the front and chewed it up (this was one I had previously done an FBA on). So I ran out to Jo-Ann for a replacement.

Then, after spending almost an hour tracing my pattern pieces, re-doing the FBA, and trimming all the seam allowances to 3/8" (because the last time I made this up, I forgot that only the neckline SA was 3/8", and I serged the neck trim piece to the neckline using a 5/8" seam allowance. WAY too low cut, even for me.) I finally laid out the pattern on my fabric. It's this lovely knit from Emma One Sock:

I made sure to keep the big round medallion-looking things off my boobs, but I realized I had only ordered 1.33 yards, and I needed 1 3/8 for the 3/4 sleeve version. (And, of course, the fabric is sold out now - right after I realized how nice a matching skirt would be...)

I have enough to cut one full sleeve, but I'm short a few inches on the other piece. It's a very busy print, so I think I can get away with piecing the sleeve, but I'm not sure how best to do that so it looks like a design element, and not a major screw-up on my part. (Any thoughts? Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments below.)

Also, I'm thinking of adding some ruffles to the neckline with the very tiny amount of leftover fabric I have, sort of like this Marc Jacobs top:

(Yes, the fabric has a very similar color scheme to the EOS knit print.) Anyway, I'm feeling a bit discouraged at the moment. In theory, this should have been a 90-minutes-from-start-to-finish project. I think I need to take a break (before I do something I'm going to regret) and pick it up again in the morning.

In the Queue: Anthropologie Facile Camp Shirt

2010-10-06T20:48:00.000-04:00

I'm looking for some longer length tops to layer up this winter, and I like the military trend but prefer a softer look. I think this shirt fits the bill:

You can't see the detail too well on these images, but it looks like the epaulets are made from bias tubes that have been braided, same with the detail across the back yoke. Very soft and feminine looking, though it will have to be in a color other than army green, I think.

Spring 2011 RTW Trends

2010-09-27T00:10:00.009-04:00

Inspiration for Spring/Summer 2011 sewing from the recent Fashion Week shows:

Wide leg trousers - I'm lucky, my short-waisted H-shape body can wear many different pant leg widths, as long as the waistline is lowered, or combined with a blouse-y tucked in shirt or (better) a longer top.

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Elie Tahari

Bright colors with whites and khakis, as well as white + neutrals (see above) are big for S/S 2011.

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Oscar de la Renta - Runway

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Jonathan Saunders - Runway

Full skirts/longer lengths - for me, "full skirt" translates to fullness *below* the hip; again, dropped waist styles and no gathers/pleats/fullness at the waist.

Neutrals - grays, taupes, beiges, khakis, etc.

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Elie Tahari - Runway

Bermuda length shorts

Crochet/macrame/lace/eyelet fabrics

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Luisa Beccaria - Runway

Updated shirtdress

White - dresses w/ khaki/brown jacket/vest over, or head-to-toe white.

Dolman sleeves - not overly exagerrated, combined with v-neckline and/or empire waist. This Ports 1961 look is a little too boxy for me, but I could see this with a bit more waist shaping over wide-leg pants.

Statement necklace - back again this season, great for busty H-shapes like me.

Drapey vests and sheer fabrics in layers

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Charlotte Ronson - Runway

Updated trench

Florals

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Barbara Tfank - Runway

Other trends I like:

Mint, sage, and leaf greens are making more of a mark than usual.
Chunky summer sweaters over those long, flowy sheer skirts.
Platform shoes were everywhere

All I need to do now is figure out which one to make first!

Crazy crotch

2010-09-23T21:24:00.001-04:00

I was flipping through the Fendi Spring 2011 RTW slide show on Style.com, and came across this hot mess. I was totally loving this look...until I got to the thigh area. Now, it's possible it was just unfortunately photographed, but YIKES that is rather unflattering. (And those gathered ankles have to be the icing on the cake.)

Oh. This is not good.

2010-09-06T23:31:00.006-04:00

I happened across this item online tonight:

"Though Venus defeated No. 18 seed Shahar Peer in straight sets during their third-round match at the U.S. Open on Sunday, the tightness of Venus' self-designed dress clearly gave her issues throughout the match. During most points the tight garment would ride up Venus' hips, revealing her undergarments for everyone to see."

CBS went so far as to later display a "tug count" that tallied the number of times Venus and Peer pulled at their respective dresses following a point. At the time, Venus was leading Peer 42 to FOUR.

At first glance, it looks like a tank-top-over-shorts. But it was supposed to look like this:

Damn. That is what I call a wardrobe malfunction...

OMG.

2010-09-04T18:52:00.003-04:00

My new sewing & embroidery machine arrived this afternoon. It's a Brother SE-400. Isn't it cute?

Brother SE-400

Last Sunday, I was at a meeting after church and got into a discussion with a woman who is somewhat new to the church. I discovered that she is a quilter, and she mentioned something about having a new embroidery machine (I have no idea what make/model it is), and if I wanted to try it out sometime I could. Somehow, between that conversation and Monday afternoon, I talked myself into buying a machine of my own. (I am SO easy.) For a mere $388, including shipping (but let's not tell DH, OK?), I now have a combination sewing and embroidery machine that so completely surpasses my Viking 500 (which I paid twice as much for nearly 20 years ago) that I am kicking myself for not having thought of this sooner.

So far, I have made a sample corded buttonhole, practiced monogramming, tried out some scalloped (shell) pintucks, and a bunch of other basic stitches. I read several posts on PR suggesting that I would want a larger hoop/embroidery area than the 4x4 inch one this machine has, but I am having a hard time imagining WHY I might need one. It will take me months just to figure out and play around with all the features this one's got.

What I DO need, however, is a name for it (her?). I am open to suggestions...

Most super-cozy pants EVAH*

2010-08-25T15:39:00.000-04:00

I've been cleaning the house most of the day (it has been seriously neglected of late), and I unearthed a couple pairs of yoga pants I bought for my daughter last year on sale at Old Navy. At the time, they were a couple inches too long and wouldn't stay up around her waist (even though I could feel there was elastic in the foldover waistband. I had her give them another try this morning, and the waists were still pretty loose, but the length was just about right.

So I ~~hacked off~~ neatly trimmed away the waistband - it was pretty wide, and I didn't want to spend all day removing the overlock stitching with my seam ripper - on the first pair of dark gray pants. Next, I unpicked the stitching holding the elastic in place, snipped off about 3" of the elastic, then sewed it back along the ridge that was left where the elastic had originally been sewn using my edgestitching foot. (I moved it over a bit because I lost 1/4" when I cut the waistband off, and I figured I was likely to use up another 1/4" in the seam when I put it back on).

Once the elastic was secured with a second row of stitching along the other edge, I folded the wrong sides of the waistband together, marked the CB/CF and sides of it with pins, then matched those pins to the CB/CF and side seams (on little kids' pants, you don't have to be too picky about dividing the elastic into perfect quarters; it was plenty close enough). I sewed a row of stitching about 3/16" from the cut edges, then went around again zigzagging over the little bit of seam allowance.

She's wearing them now, under this outfit:

(Sorry I don't have a photo of her wearing them; she was "too busy with her projects" to let me take pictures, and frankly, they're not terribly exciting to look at under the dress.) In the above photo, she's wearing a cotton sweater dress I picked up for her at the Gymboree outlet, over a long sleeve knit shirt from Land's End (one of several items that arrived from Grandma yesterday). Just a few minutes ago, she came in to the sewing room to tell me that they were the most super-cozy pants EVAH (oh, and, BTW, could I help her find a Netflix Watch Instantly movie on the computer?).

*Yes, she was sucking up in order to get me to do something for her, but it was still nice to sew something that didn't get completely screwed up.

Wadder, wadder everywhere...

2010-08-24T09:40:00.001-04:00

Sigh...

This has just not been my week for sewing. On Friday, I tried to finish a pair of jeans (desperately needed jeans, I might add), but ended up with a wadder due to a fisheye dart adjustment I couldn't make without re-cutting the back. Then yesterday I started sewing McCall's 6153 for my daughter (after spending 40 minutes altering the pattern pieces first), but because I was rushing, I ended up making numerous boneheaded errors, the most egregious of which was stretching the lower fronts/backs to fit the yokes above, instead of gathering them. The fabric didn't recover after i had finished stitching, so it was completely stretched out of shape. It's currently in the washer in the hope that it will return to its original shape (it's a teeny, tiny hope).

Next (because I am apparently a glutton for punishment) I got out one of my Unique Patterns patterns, 9024U0, and some fairly heavy tan stretch twill fabric. I figured that I wouldn't have to line the dress since it was such a substantial fabric. Before I started laying out the pattern pieces, I took out my thoroughly-tweaked-to-fit McCall's 2818 pattern pieces and checked the Unique Pattern against it. The bust points lined up PERFECTLY, so I was encouraged that the rest of the custom drafted pattern would fit well, too.

Turns out the stretch twill was stretchy in both the crosswise AND lengthwise grain. As a result, the front and back pieces stretched vertically, enough that the dart placement (which had been perfect on the pattern pieces) was completely off. I tried to salvage the dress by taking out some of the excess fabric at the shoulder seams, and that helped somewhat. But I still had drag lines at the bust, indicating that I needed a deeper dart. I am assuming that this is related at least in part to the stretchy fabric as well, but I won't know for sure until I cut it out again in a non-stretch fabric. (Cha-ching!)

Things I learned from all this unproductive sewing:

I love my new tailor's chalk; it made marking my darts a breeze.

I have several pairs of pants in my closet that I thought fit well, but I now realize need the fisheye dart adjustment as well. (Guess I've been too preoccupied with my FBAs to pay much attention to what's going on in the back.)
Even an "easy" pattern, like McCall's 6153, shouldn't be rushed.
The next time I use a knit/stretch fabric, I will check the length when it's resting on the table, and again when hanging (as it will be when worn), then adjust the pattern accordingly if it seems likely to "grow" on my body.

I'm not sure what to work on next. I still have DD's (now TNT) third and fourth skorts to finish (maybe the reason they're still unfinished is that I NEED to have a challenge?). Or perhaps a little knitting will help me get out of my slump. Tune in tomorrow, dearies, and find out.

Jeans - Part I

2010-08-23T00:14:00.002-04:00

So, I started working on a pair of jeans awhile back. Apparently, it was a LONG while ago, because the McCalls pattern I am using, 5142, is OOP. I couldn't even find a review of the pattern on PR.

Since I'm trying to replace the dreaded "Mom jeans" in my wardrobe (actually, I chucked the pants a couple months ago, and now have NO jeans at all), I chose the slightly low-rise View C (altered to a boot cut leg), and cut a size 14 out of some stretch denim I had on hand. Things were going along quite nicely; I had assembled the front pockets and fly, and attached the back yoke to the pant legs and meticulously placed the pockets and topstitched them in place. But I ran into trouble with the side seams - since I was using stretch denim, the pants were very loose when I basted the 5/8" seam allowances. I pinched out the excess, turned the pants inside out, and marked new stitching lines along the pins.

When I tried them on again, something was definitely not right. The back seemed too wide, with the seam along the outside leg off center. So I ripped out the stitching and proceeded to pin and baste and try on another five or six times (no, I am not kidding) until I had something I thought was pretty decent.

Then I took some pictures using my camera's self-timer:

Gah! They were nice and smooth in front, and the outside seam appeared to be centered and perpendicular to the floor, but the butt...I was back in MomJeansville. Sigh...

I've been reading some back issues of Threads and remembered Kenneth King's "net gain/net loss" adjustment process, so I reached around and grabbed what felt like excess fabric and started pinning it out.

You can see (even in my off-center stance) that the left side where I pinned it looks much smoother than the right side. And it looks even better from the side:

After pinning and photographing and examining things, I knew there was fabric that needed to be removed, but I had no idea how to go about it. After spending a few minutes searching online at PR, I had my answer: I needed to rotate out the fisheye dart I had pinned back there. Unfortunately, the process required that I remove the excess fabric from the back of the leg and add it back by raising the waist at the side seam and extending the back crotch point. (Translation: I needed to re-draft/re-cut my pants.) You can see the effect that pinning had on the center back:

The center back is clearly too short now (I had MEGA plumber's crack when I tried to sit down in these); I think the fisheye adjustment will solve that problem. I didn't have any more of the stretch denim on hand (did I mention I cut these out a LONG time ago?), so this effectively shut down my jeans production for the weekend.

The good news: I think I have a solution, and I expect the next go-round to result in ACTUAL WEARABLE PANTS. The bad news: I am now noticing this issue elsewhere in my wardrobe. (I've been a little preoccupied dealing with FBAs until now to pay much attention to the rear view.) I was getting dressed this morning and pulled on my favorite pair of pants, and I noticed the same problem with them. Guess I need to add "sew a pair of pants that REALLY fit" to my list of sewing goals...

Trend Report (Rant): Exposed Zippers

2010-08-22T22:26:00.002-04:00

OK, I know I'm a little late to comment on this trend that started taking off in Spring 2009; I was hoping it would have come and GONE already.

I. Hate. Exposed. Zippers.

Well, maybe I don't hate ALL exposed zippers. Some exposed zippers, like the one on this Jason Wu dress:

Jason Wu for TSE Structured Dress (note off-center exposed zipper)

are creative and very original. The (somewhat) exposed zipper is definitely integral to the garment design.

But then there are ~~butt-ugly~~ interpretations such as this:

Jay Godfrey Zippered Tank Dress (front view)

(BTW, this dress retails for over $250 .)

The ones that really set my teeth on edge are those having the zipper TAPE completely exposed (not just the zipper TEETH), particularly if it's a heavy duty (wide tape) zipper, in a weird, contrasting color sewn onto a lightweight fabric. When I was learning to sew, it was drilled into me that a high-quality garment had a nearly invisible zipper, or at the very least, an unobtrusive one. Now it is "trendy" to have your clothes look like you have them on inside out. (Remember when exposed serged seams were everywhere? I never understood that one, either.)

B3832 - Child's Skort

2010-08-15T07:38:00.002-04:00

Ahhh, yes, the Skort. Half skirt, half shorts, all girl. I've been working on my daughter's back-to-school wardrobe, and one of the patterns I selected was Butterick 3832, which features three skort variations. All of them have a front overlay panel over shorts, with an elastic waist and tie end closure.

Pattern Description: Children's/Girls' Top, Skort and Shorts. I made the Skort.

Pattern Sizing: Multi-size pattern in Child/Girls' sizes 2-5 (available up to Girls' size 8). I started with the Child size 2 for my daughter, who measures 22-19.5-22 (chest-waist-hip) and is 43.5 inches tall, knowing that I would need to lengthen it to a size 5.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, although I'm still not sure if there was an error in the instructions for attaching the tie end (the instructions show it being basted wrong side up, which might show when the tie ends were knotted). I attached mine with the right side facing out.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I don't like my very active daughter wearing skirts without something underneath, but sewing matching bloomers is kind of a hassle. This skort is a great compromise - sporty and modest, as well as comfortable and feminine (OK, girly).

Fabric Used: Stretch cotton sateen (the stretch is nice, but totally not required for this design).

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: If you've read any of my previous reviews about sewing for my daughter, you will know that she is of average height for her age (5), but very slim. She generally wears a size 5 these days in RTW, but ends up swimming in her clothes. This makes it very difficult for me to buy clothes for her - if I am lucky enough to find something that isn't huge, chances are she will outgrow it, height-wise, in very short order.

Since most of the Big 4 kids' patterns have huge amounts of ease, I decided to start with a size 2 through the crotch but lengthen it to a size 5 at the hem. For my first attempt, I used a pink and green poly/rayon plaid. The only thing I did differently from the instructions was to cut the Tie End (#10) on the bias, so it would match the orientation of the tie end on the Front Overlay (#11). If you were sewing this in a solid color or small print, though, I don't think it would make much difference which way you orient the tie end on your fabric.

The skort turned out quite nicely - from the front. In the back, however, I could see that the crotch hung down really low. It was wearable, but not particularly attractive. I turned them inside out and measured, and found that the crotch length (front and back) for the Child size 2 was over 20''. (Heck, *I* could almost fit that crotch length in a pair of low rise jeans!). At first, I thought I had neglected to take the diaper allowance into consideration. But then I realized I was using a Child's size pattern, and there *isn't* any diaper allowance included.

So, on my second attempt, I shortened the front, back and front overlay by 1 1/2'' (folded out 3/4'') above the crotch. I then lengthened the front, back and front overlay at the hem by the same 1 1/2''. This time the fit was MUCH improved.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes and yes, but with a warning to check the crotch measurement of the pattern against a pair of pants or shorts that fit well first.

Conclusion: A great basic back-to-school wardrobe piece. I have already cut another version in white twill (this one will have a button closure instead of the ties on the front overlay), and will probably do another (with back pockets) in a lightweight denim.

Read all my pattern reviews here on PatternReview.com.

Sewing Goals for 2010 - Checking In

2010-07-13T22:40:00.000-04:00

Checking in with some updates to my 2010 sewing resolutions. I've made a few dresses for my daughter, and will be starting on her fall (school) wardrobe in earnest when I get back from vacation next week.

So, here's a recap of my goals along with a commentary on where I stand:

Organize my sewing space - and keep it that way!

Ahahahahahahahahaha...that's a good one. It's a mess. Probably one of the biggest reasons I don't sew more. Will re-visit this one before the end of the month.

Sew every day, even if it's only for a few minutes

Ummmmm....also a big "NO."

Make muslins more often

Do partial muslins count? If so, then, I'm doing OK on this one.

Finish at least one garment per month

I think I'm close to this goal.

Spend less time READING/BLOGGING about sewing/knitting, and more time sewing/knitting

Well, I have been spending a lot less time online reading and blogging, that's for sure. But I'm also not spending that much time sewing, either.

Figure out some way to make money sewing, or teaching sewing - and DO IT!

I think this one will have to wait until fall, when my daughter starts school.

Sew more clothes for my daughter

Pretty much everything I've been sewing lately has been for her. Next year, I need to sew something for my husband.

Stop buying mass-produced crap clothing (including thrift store stuff that doesn't fit well); buy local/handmade products whenever possible

Hmmmmmmmmmm...I have cut back a lot on my RTW clothing purchases. But I splurged a week or so ago and bought a cream colored tank top at a local boutique, and I bought a shirt on eBay which ended up fitting perfectly.

Make myself a great fitting:

woven blouse
winter coat
pair of jeans
bra

No, no, no and nope - not yet for any of these.

Work on improving my skills and learn how to:

insert an invisible zipper
sew on Slinky knit so it doesn't look like crap
use some of the tools/notions I haven't used much (or at all)
make great buttonholes

Again, when DD is in school, I'm going to set aside 90 minutes for sewing "practice," with the goal of improving my sewing rather than completing a garment.

Well, it looks like I'm still a total slack-ass in the sewing department. At least I'm consistent. :-)

Perfect Sew. Get. Some. NOW.

2010-01-26T23:27:00.003-05:00

This stuff ROCKS. After cutting a second (even wonkier than the first!) collar piece out of my fabric (the one at the top of the photo below), I balled up the remainder of my silk chiffon, ran it under cold water for a sec to dampen it, then put it in a coffee mug and sloshed a generous splash of PS on top.

Ten minutes later, I was pinning the pattern piece to a crisp, freshly-pressed-into-submission piece of silk ~~organza~~ chiffon (!) and cutting out a much-better-behaved collar from it. (The PS-treated collar shown at the bottom of the photo looks a little off only because it has such a sharp crease on the CB foldline making it ripple a bit when laid open.)

I'm back to feelin' the love for this top again...

NL953 - Part I

2010-01-26T21:08:00.003-05:00

So I'm most of the way through cutting out my fabric, and I'm remembering why I don't like working with silk chiffon. And neither does Sally Cowan, who writes on her Keeping You in Stitches website:

"Silk Chiffon is not the fabric to use when working on your first project. [NB: Make that "your first 100 projects."] It has a mind of its own. Because of its weight, it is perfect for pants, loose tops and flowing dresses. When cutting this fabric, cover your table with tissue paper. Pin a double thickness of fabric to the paper. Pin the pattern through the fabric AND paper. Keep pins within the seam allowances. Use sharp scissors and cut through all the layers. And pray."

Well, now, that's encouraging, isn't it?

And I like Claire Schaeffer's comment in her book, Sew Any Fabric:

"To avoid ripping and over-handling, make a test garment before cutting the fabric to refine the fit and practice your sewing skills."

Oh. Oops. Too late.

New Look 6952

2010-01-26T19:15:00.002-05:00

I'm getting ready to cut out my Unique Patterns custom-drafted New Look pattern, #6952 for the first time. The only alteration I've made to it is to add 1 3/4" at the hem.

(It feels so weird not to be endlessly hacking up my pattern before laying it out on the fabric...)

GAP-inspired shirtdress (AKA M5847)

2010-01-20T18:06:00.002-05:00

I came across a piece of sandy-khaki colored fabric while sorting out YABFF (Yet Another Box Full o' Fabric) in the basement yesterday. It's sort of a brushed cotton-y, rather drape-y piece, about 3 yds of 60" which I am thinking about using to make my own version of the GAP khaki shirtdress, seeing how military-inspired clothing is hot for Spring 2010:

What I like about this dress:

Drawstring tie belt at waist
Buttons/tabs at shoulders and hem
3/4 length sleeves
Shirttail hem

What I want to change:

Patch pockets over my boobs (not sure exactly how I'll change these); may add/substitute gunflaps at shoulder instead
Princess seaming (a la M5847) with pockets in the princess seams, rather than the side seams
Maybe add back yoke detail
The rolled up sleeves...not a fan

I'll need to draft the pattern for it from my Unique Boutique dress pattern, though, as the M5847 I have in my stash has sizes 14-22, and I need a 10 or 12. This will be an interesting experiment, morphing the two patterns together and then adding all the details. I have an old Burda WOF with several dress/shirt designs incorporating tabs/epaulettes, so I'll probably lift a few of them from there.

Embarrassment of riches (Warning: contains yarn porn!)

2010-01-19T18:56:00.008-05:00

It's slow going, but I'm continuing my progress in organizing my basement craft and bedroom sewing areas.

This is what my basement looked like prior to my husband emptying the storage unit:

This is the view from the top of the basement stairs - the stairway is painted a light lavender color. The wall at the bottom of the stairs is "Soothing Green Tea" green.

This is the "green" side of the basement, where I'm setting up my crafting area, yarn storage and my daughter's "work" table. The door on the left leads to the laundry room, storage area and furnace. The door on the right leads to the closet under the stairs - some day we may turn it into a half bath, but for now it's just general storage.

This is the "nook" where my IKEA storage unit/craft table is going. That wall with the outlets is about 8 1/2' long. I love having all the outlets at countertop height - should be able to accommodate my convection oven, food processor, Foredom buffer, Dremel, magnifying light and more (for my polymer clay art).

This is the family room area on the other side of the stairs. The wall looks very blue in these photos, but the color is a dark amethyst (purple). That funky post on the side of the room is holding up the house (there's a load bearing wall above). We had thought we might do some sort of built-in cabinet back behind it for the DVD player/sound system components, but we're going to see if we have any furniture that might work in that space. We're going to install our movie projector on the rear wall (to the left of the support column) which will project the image onto a pull-down screen on the opposite side of the room.

View of the green room from the purple side of the stairs.

And, a view of the stairs from the green side.

My friend Clara helped choose these colors; the photos do not do them justice. I love the high contrast between the green and purple - it's really energizing. The baseboard trim has been primed, but not painted yet - it will be Muslin White. The window on the green wall will be covered by a pull-down movie screen when we're watching our Netflix's at night..

View from the bottom of the stairs.

As I said, these photos were taken BEFORE my husband emptied the storage unit and filled up both spaces with all our ~~crap~~ stuff. I've been moving things like sports and camping equipment and out-of-season clothing to the new shelving we put in the laundry room storage area, and I would have been able to finish it before this weekend except that I need to get another shelving unit (or two) to put stuff on. So I decided to tackle my yarn stash instead.

In order to figure out how I wanted to store my yarn in the new space, I gathered all of it (well, most of it, because I can tell that some skeins are missing) and sorted it into piles on the floor. (Yikes! I have THAT much yarn?) This is what it looked like earlier this afternoon, before I put it all away:

...and this is what it looks like now:

Gee, that's not so bad, now, is it? I did manage to fill a very large bag with yarn that I know I will never, ever knit, which I am planning to unload at a yard sale or similar venue this spring. The boxes are just temporary (I hope!); what I really want to put my yarn in are a few of these Neu Home Honeycomb 5-Section Storage Units (about $20 each at Amazon.com, this picture shows 4 units combined):

Pretty nifty, huh? Except they are sold out everywhere online at the moment. Gaaaah!

So many patterns...but so few for me. :-(

2010-01-14T16:46:00.002-05:00

Nancy K's recent post about choosing flattering sewing patterns got me thinking about exactly how many of the current crop of Vogue's new patterns I would consider sewing for myself. Turns out, not very many. Three out of 34 to be exact (there are 35 new patterns, but one is a handbag, so I'm not counting it).

The first is Vogue 1137; I would make the dress only (sans patch pockets), I think the coat needs someone 5'9" or taller to carry it off:

Next, Vogue 8612 (but seriously, how many of these dresses can I wear chasing my daughter around the backyard or on the playground?):

and Vogue 8626 (the round neck/longer version only):

(Oh wait. I bought that one last year.)

I'm a bit sad thinking that so few patterns work for me, but I suppose I feel better knowing I can probably still afford to buy every pattern that does. (Only when they are on sale at JA's or online, and not when I'm on a pattern buying moratorium, of course!)

What I'm loving...

2010-01-05T23:39:00.001-05:00

This dress:

Milly Cascade Sheath Dress: Chestnut. Asymmetric V neckline. Sleeveless. Cascading ruffle down front side. Front slit detail at hem. Asymmetric V'd back. Polyester/viscose/wool/elastane. Made in Italy of domestic material. Original price: $360. (Neiman Marcus, Bloomie's, etc.) I really like the way it is styled in the second photo - it looks like it would make a great transitional garment for summer/fall & winter/spring.)

I have a piece of fairly drape-y light brown poly/rayon plaid (no lycra/elastane, though) I bought at Fabric Place in Framingham, MA that I'm planning to use. I'm not sure about the full-length ruffle, though - on the one hand, it creates a slimming vertical line (good) but adds bulk over one side of my already-bulky boobs (not so good). I'm thinking of just having the ruffle go from my waist to the hemline instead, sort of like the Anthropologie-inspired skirt, but in a sheath dress version.

I'm going to use my Unique Patterns dress pattern (9023U0) as a starting point, changing the center front from two pieces (with a waistline seam) to one, rotating the bust dart into a princess seamline, putting in a side seam (invisible!) zipper, and, of course, changing the front and back necklines and adding the flounce cascade. I should probably line it, too, so I could wear it over a brown turtleneck top as a jumper.

Easy-peasey, right? I'm going to work on drafting the pattern tomorrow, cut out a muslin Thursday and sew that up on Friday afternoon. With any luck, I can get started on cutting out the real fabric early next week.

WAS: Curses! Foiled again! NOW: Well, that resolution didn't last long, did it?

2010-01-04T20:18:00.005-05:00

I almost bought fabric tonight. My swatches from Emma One Sock arrived while we were away last week, and I decided to purchase this floral cotton voile (which had the perfect shades of gray and tobacco to go with two pairs of pants I have almost NOTHING to wear with):

only to find out that it was SOLD OUT. Arghhhhh!!! My only hope is that someone bought some, doesn't like it, and returns it.

Edited to add:

Guess what? I sent an email to Linda at EOS, and it turns out there were two 2.25 roll end pieces left after all! So I bought it, but I found a bunch of other things I want to get swatches of first, before she ships it.

(BTW, the colors in the swatch above are not very accurate, at least on my monitor. The "rosey pink" flowers are a deep pink, close to fuschia, and the whole thing looks much more blue than it is IRL.)

January 1 - Organize!

2010-01-01T13:52:00.001-05:00

I ~~want~~ need to get my sewing and craft space(s) organized and inventoried.

The impetus for this (aside from the fact that I'm months overdue for it) is that we are nearly finished remodeling our basement, adding about 500 square feet of comfortable, attractive living space to our 1200 sq. ft. home. Included in the new space is a nook approximately 8' wide and 6' deep, where my IKEA craft table will go. This table consists of an 8' counter atop a 5' VÄRDE freestanding kitchen unit and a couple of table legs, forming a desk of sorts on one end. It's where I have done my polymer clay art in the past, and it will probably continue to serve that purpose, as well as be the place where I hang out with my daughter once we start homeschooling (more or less officially) in the fall.

In addition to the basement workspace, I have a sewing table (it's actually my husband's grandfather's cherry exam table from his Boston medical office) in our master bedroom. DH put up several long shelves on one wall of the room for me to store my sewing projects and supplies, and the smaller bedroom closet is filled to almost overflowing with fabric and notions in Rubbermaid and other containers. He has no problem with my having sewing stuff in the bedroom - what a guy! - as long as it's reasonably well contained. (His actual quote: "Just leave me a clear path from the door so I can get to my side of the bed..."). Problem is, I have more fabric and yarn than I can store in the closet up there, so I'm trying to decide if I should store ALL of it in one location (probably the basement), or split it up between the bedroom and basement.

Besides my fabric and yarn, I have about 100 patterns (I know, because I put them all in my pattern library on PR), and numerous UFOs and thrifted-garments-to-be-recycled-some-day. I think I need to let go of quite a lot of stuff that I'm no longer feeling any love for. (Corollary Resolution #1: No more fabric/yarn/pattern buying in 2010 unless it's something I need to finish a project. Or something really, really cool.)

I would like to keep my stash(es) organized online. I already have most of my yarn stash on Ravelry.com, and I'm thinking about using Google Docs for the fabric. If I'm feeling REALLY inspired, I may complete my wardrobe inventory (as outlined by The Very Small Closet's Jennifer Skinner) on Google Docs as well.

I'd also like my ongoing projects to be more organized as well. I plan to do that by staying on top of my pattern reviews on PR and Ravelry, and utilizing resources such as Style.com and Polyvore.com for lookbooks and ideas. (And, of course, keeping you all updated with my progress right here on my blog.) When choosing sewing projects for myself, I'm going to try to SWAP (Sewing With a Plan) to avoid ending up with "singletons" that don't coordinate with existing items in my wardrobe.

That's the plan, anyway. We're supposed to be getting a foot or more of snow this weekend, so I should have plenty of time to work on organizing things in the bedroom, and will start in earnest on the basement next weekend.

Sewing goals for 2010

2009-12-17T23:48:00.001-05:00

OK, I've been following the annual sewing goals posts on the Pattern Review website, and I've been ~~stealing~~ inspired by many of my fellow sewists' resolutions for 2010 to come up with my own ~~insanely overreaching~~ list:

Organize my sewing space - and keep it that way!
Sew every day, even if it's only for a few minutes
Make muslins more often
Finish at least one garment per month
Finish my daughter's Halloween costume by mid-October
Spend less time READING/BLOGGING about sewing/knitting, and more time sewing/knitting
Figure out some way to make money sewing, or teaching sewing - and DO IT!
Sew more clothes for my daughter
Stop buying mass-produced crap clothing (including thrift store stuff that doesn't fit well); buy local/handmade products whenever possible
Make myself a great fitting:

woven blouse
winter coat
pair of jeans
bra

Work on improving my skills and learn how to:

insert an invisible zipper
sew on Slinky knit so it doesn't look like crap
use some of the tools/notions I haven't used much (or at all)
make great buttonholes

So - stay tuned in 2010 to see how it goes!

Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This...

2009-12-17T15:30:00.004-05:00

...you know, where I finally sat down to at my Viking to sew after having assembled all my mending projects, cut out the Christmas stockings (and their linings and interlinings), and taking the buckles off my daughter's new Columbia snowpants so I could shorten the straps so they would fit before we leave on our ski vacation after Christmas...

...AND PROCEEDED TO BREAK MY MACHINE'S LOW-SHANK SNAP-ON ANKLE!!!! (For the second time this year. Gaaaaahhh!!!!)

This time I was able to find the part on eBay (I ordered two, because, well, it's only a matter of time, you know...) for only $11.99 including shipping. With any luck, I'll be sewing by Monday afternoon.

Good thing I didn't sign up to sew costumes for the Children's Pageant at church this year, huh?

First Up for Unique Patterns: Pants

2009-12-04T23:37:00.001-05:00

Since I missed the MOT (Month of Tops) sewalong in November, I thought I might see if I could do the Month of Pants (MOP - ?) in December. My goal: one pair of pants. Now, I know that doesn't sound all that difficult, but my month is already pretty full, what with our big annual holiday party next week, then a week of Hannukah, then a few days before Christmas, then a week-long vacation at Sugarloaf from Christmas to New Year's Eve...well, that doesn't leave a whole lot of time for sewing, now, does it?

But since the pants pattern (Simplicity 3962) couldn't be any easier, I thought I would give it a try. Really, it's just a front and back with a side zipper. And, IN THEORY, it should fit me perfectly right out of the envelope. So I'm going to try and get it cut out tomorrow, and sew it up Sunday night.

Wish me luck.

Back in the saddle again

2009-12-04T20:08:00.002-05:00

OK, I kind of fell off the blogwagon for a bit, but I'm back in the saddle once again!

I kinda bailed on the B5300...chalk it up to my Myers-Briggs ESTP type. (You know, all it takes is for something...Hey, look! New! Shiny! Ummm...what was that I was saying? Oh yeah, I have the attention span of a flea.). In the ~~holy crap has it really been~~ over two months since I last posted, I finished the Kit Kittredge hat for my daughter - in time for Halloween, but then she decided she wanted to be a butterfly princess instead. (Looks like she has her mama's attention span, too!)

I finally made my way to Unique Boutique in Billerica, MA on my way down to my in-laws for the Thanksgiving holiday and got an updated body scan done. If you're not familiar with Unique Boutique, it's a fairly new nationwide franchise from Unique Patterns. For about 15 years now, Unique has been providing custom-fit patterns for women based on their own measurements. They started out with their own pattern line, then partnered with Butterick (I think, I might be wrong), but then that arrangement didn't work out so now they offer a selection of styles from Simplicity and New Look as well as their own pattern line. In order to receive custom-fit patterns, you need to provide them with a complete set of measurements. You can take your own measurements, or get scanned with the Intellifit® Plus Body Scanner at any Unique Boutique store. The body scanner uses lasers to accurately (within 1/100th of an inch) measure you from head to toe.

I had my original body scan done about four and a half years ago, just one month after my daughter was born. What was I thinking? Not only was my body shape changing on an almost-daily basis, I didn't have the time or energy to sew. My Unique patterns languished in the closet for months, and when I finally got around to taking them out, I realized that I'd have to alter them as much as I would any other off-the-shelf pattern. So, back into the closet they went. Until I finally hauled my butt into the Boston area store the day before Thanksgiving to get lasered once again.

My new custom patterns (New Look 6952, Simplicity 3962 and Unique 9023 arrived today. I chose those patterns with the idea of using them as slopers (even though the Unique dress pattern specifically states: "NOTE: THIS IS NOT A SLOPER" on the dress that, as far as I can tell, is pretty damn close to a sloper). The New Look blouse is very similar to the B5300 which was giving me fitting fits. The Simplicity 3962 is a plain vanilla, dropped-waist fitted straight leg pants pattern that I should be able to modify for jeans, wide leg trousers, etc. If all works out as planned, I should have TNT patterns for shirts, pants and skirts/dresses that I can use for seasons to come.

I'm not sure when I'm going to have time to work on my first Unique pattern, but I'm fairly certain that it won't take me another 4 1/2 years to get around to it. Oh, BTW, did I mention that I started sewing a Silhouette Patterns blouse? It's really...Ooooh! Look! More SHINY stuff! I'll tell you more about that soon - I promise!

Third time's the...third time, I guess

2009-09-26T23:55:00.004-04:00

Well, I haven't actually started cutting out a third muslin yet. I'm hoping to work on this some more tomorrow afternoon (maybe I should make that this afternoon, as it's almost midnight here). I think I'm going to go back to the original pattern and draft from that one, making the changes that I know are working (moving the shoulder seam back, raising the fisheye darts, petite-ing the upper bodice, lengthening the sleeve), and re-doing the ones I'm not so sure about (splitting the fisheye dart into two darts on each front piece rather than one huge one, scooping out the back armhole, not to mention the bust dart - not only does it need to be shortened, I think it still needs an FBA...arghh!).

I do know that I am going back to a MUSLIN, rather than sacrificing any more fabric I might actually want to have as a shirt someday. The busy print of the fabric I was using for attempt #2 made it really difficult to see what was fitting and what wasn't.

And I know I said I was going to post pictures. I did take them, but haven't downloaded them to my computer yet. Tomorrow. I promise.

Self-drafted skirt finished

2009-09-23T19:04:00.000-04:00

I made this skirt (photo will be posted soon, I promise!) from a piece of crappy solid olive green cotton or cotton/poly (? - it wasn't marked on the bolt) bottomweight Jo-Ann's fabric. It was the only thing I could find that coordinated with a pink/orange/goldenrod/olive long sleeve t-shirt that I have. I'd been wearing that shirt mostly with jeans, because it doesn't really go with much else in my closet.

Speaking of the shirt, it's a RTW one that I bought at Port Boutique in Portland, ME. I love the shop, and buy almost all my RTW pants there. I even have pretty good luck finding tops and dresses there that fit reasonably well. This one needed a little help, though - I took it in on the side and sleeve seams, serging off about 3/4" of the seam allowance from wrist to hip. Now the sleeves don't droop down (as much - the cotton knit tends to relax as the day goes on) when I push them up to wear as 3/4 length sleeves.

I used Elizabeth Allemong's instructions in European Cut to draft the skirt. I took all my own measurements, even though she advises against it, because it was late at night and my husband was asleep. (And I think I probably did at least as good a job as he would have.) It took me two muslins to get a finished basic skirt pattern that I can use from now on. I need to increase the CF/CB and side seam allowances as this skirt has only 1/4" allowances (I had to make very narrow seam to get enough wearing ease in the skirt) and I could stand to lower the front waistline about 3/4", but otherwise the fit is pretty darn good.

The only downside to the whole project is that I couldn't find a zipper to match. I ended up using a light greenish yellow zipper from JAF. Since then, however, I stumbled across Dawn's blog post about ZipperStop and I've ordered their color card (which has a ginormous assortment of YKK zipper tape colors to choose from). The zippers are very reasonably priced (provided you order several at a time to reduce the shipping cost per zipper), and I'm looking forward to going through my stash to identify the upcoming sewing projects that will need zippers so I can place an order.

I have some great hot pink sandals that go with the outfit, but at the moment they clash someting fierce with my bright red toenails, so I just wear a pair of brown slip-on casual shoes for work or running errands.

I'm thinking of making a coordinating (not *matching*) headband with some of the leftover skirt fabric. (I am also considering making a matching "Mini-Me" skirt for my daughter - pretty soon she will be too old to be caught dead wearing what Mom is wearing). Actually, I've made the headband, but I need to figure out how to embellish it so it doesn't *look* like a matching headband. Maybe I'll add some knitted flowers or fabric rosettes to the headband.

Neckline gaposis - the problem and its solutions

2009-09-23T10:55:00.001-04:00

I mentioned in a previous post that I had problems with neckline gaposis - a neckline that doesn't lie flat against your body, but instead ripples out, due to the neckline edge being too long - while working to perfect the fit of Butterick 5300. I did some research into what caused the problem and how to fix it, and I've posted the collected wisdom here so it will hopefully will benefit others who are dealing with this problem.

What causes "neckline gaposis"?

Poor pattern drafting - this is where making a quick and dirty muslin can really help. (Tissue fitting doesn't really give you an accurate picture - it's best to test the fit in a muslin) Also, the larger your bust and the lower/more open the neckline is, the greater the gaposis is likely to be, so folks who alter their pattern pieces with an FBA should always check the fit with a muslin first.

Over handling the fabric - because necklines are almost never cut on the grainline, they have a tendency to get stretched out as you are working with them. To prevent this, stay stitch the neckline edges as soon as you can after you cut out your fabric. (For years I was guilty of just skipping this step in my rush to get to the "real" sewing.) If you are using neckline facings that are interfaced, fuse or baste the interfacing to the facing pieces ASAP. After sewing facings to the neckline, measure the neckline distance and compare it to your pattern to make sure that it hasn't "grown" on you. (If it has, a good option is to use solution #4 below.)

How to correct "neckline gaposis"

The following links provide information on various ways to deal with neckline gaposis:

1. Eliminating gaposis by shortening the neckline length
2. Shifting the pattern's center front line - or - rotating excess length into a dart (or increasing the size of an existing dart)
3. Taking a deeper shoulder seam allowance (refer to the third paragraph)
4. Easing the neckline edge

(If you know of any other methods or references I should add to this list, please let me know in the comments - thanks!)

The Perfectly Fitting Shirt - Part II

2009-09-22T21:36:00.001-04:00

The first draft of the pattern with the modifications I talked about in my previous post is done, and I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the shoulder seams now follow my shoulder line perfectly, the sleeves are a better length, and the pointy darts don't seem to be that much of a problem.

The bad news is that the bust darts ended up WAY too low on this second attempt. When I drafted the new front pattern piece, I lowered the dart by first tracing the CF, neckline, shoulder and armhole, then I slid the tracing paper up 5/8". Next, I traced the bust dart, using the endpoint of the size L dart, and connecting to the ends of the M dart legs at the side seam. On the original pattern, the L and XL darts ended quite a bit further away from the bust point than the XS-S-M darts did. (This made absolutely no sense to me, as I was working with a D/DD cup front piece - all of those smaller sizes should have had their darts end further away from the bust point based on the cup size.) When I tried on the second muslin, I could immediately see that the darts were too low. I pinned out about an inch on each of the shoulder seam allowances, which moved the darts up to where they should be, and also made me realize...that I really needed to petite the upper back. Sigh.

So what I need to do for Version 3 (god, but that's depressing to write) is take a 7/8" tuck in the upper front and upper back pattern pieces, then lower the armhole by about 7/16" (I want a slightly closer fitting armhole), re-draft the front neckline edge and, finally, re-draft the sleeve to take out some of the now excess sleeve cap ease. (I'm thinking of folding a long vertical dart in the center of the sleeve so the cap height remains more or less the same.)

Also, I noticed an error on the original pattern when I measured the sleeve width at the bicep while I was drafting the new, longer sleeve. Although the width printed on the pattern for the size M said 16 1/4", my measurement (through the crosshatch mark and not including the 5/8" seam allowances) was only 15 3/4". To me, a half inch difference is a significant one, and something that should have been caught during the drafting process.

So I'm back to the drawing (drafting) board this afternoon, and on to muslin #3...stay tuned!

The Perfectly Fitting Shirt - Part I

2009-09-21T11:57:00.001-04:00

As I do this time each year, I went through my closets and drawers to identify what I have and what I need to complete my fall wardrobe. I have pants and skirts galore (OK, more like eight to 10 of them), and several dresses, but very few shirts (and even fewer shirts that fit me well). I have decided that my priority for sewing has to be developing a TNT blouse pattern so I can whip up a half dozen or so new shirts for the fall (which officially starts tomorrow, BTW, so I'd better get cracking).

After reading several reviews (in particular, Debbie Cook's - you're fabulous!), I have decided to use Butterick 5300 as my starting point:

Like Debbie, I find the Connie Crawford patterns rather "blah" at first glance. The sketches really don't do her designs any favors. I was looking at some of her patterns on her website yesterday, and I was really impressed with the photos of live models, particularly the ones that show the same design on two different size women. I think Connie really has a gift for plus size designing - the clothes look just as wonderful on "fluffier" women as they do on the more slender gals.

For my first attempt, I used a lightweight, taupe-colored linen (or maybe linen-look, I can't tell) fabric from my stash. I figured if I really got lucky, I'd end up with a "wearable muslin" (sorry, Ann!). In any event, it wasn't doing anything just sitting there in my stash, so I figured it might as well be used for something. I chose View C, which has a faced V-neckline and 3/4 length sleeves with slits at the hem, and started with the D/DD front pattern piece.

I have to say that it fit pretty darn well right out of the envelope compared to most Big 4 patterns, and had I made no adjustments, it would probably fit as well as or better than most of the RTW shirts in my closet. However, since my quest is for the Perfectly Fitting Shirt™, I started tweaking it.

I had a bit of a problem with the front neckline gaping (which I plan to address in more detail in another post). It was particularly noticeable on the right front, because my right shoulder is lower than my left (thank you, scoliosis!). To correct this, I'm going to take a little wedge out at the shoulder seam, tapering to nothing at the shoulder point, which falls exactly where it should be. Additionally, I noticed that the shoulder seams are clearly visible from the front - they need to be moved towards the back, which means adding length to the back and back facings, and removing length from the front and front facings. Again, since the shoulder point is in the correct location, I need to add/remove wedge-shaped pieces of fabric, about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch (for left and right fronts, respectively). Since I am planning to use this pattern again, I'm going to draft separate left and right fronts (and left and right front facings) so I don't have to fiddle with the right side adjustments each time I use it.

The bust darts are a little too high, and too close to the bust apex. I need to shorten them by about 5/8" and lower them by the same amount. I'm a little nervous about shortening the darts - they already end in a rather sharp point, but I was able to press the point into a smooth curve on the linen fabric. I'm concerned that shortening it will increase the angle of the dart, and depending on the fabric I use, it may be harder to press into a smooth, curved shape. (Does anyone have a suggestion as to how to handle this?)

I should have taken Debbie's advice about the fisheye darts on the front pattern piece right from the start - they were indeed far too close to the CF. Both the front and back fisheye darts need to have the widest point (waistline) raised about 5/8 - 3/4". The total length of the darts seems OK, but the pattern's waistline is lower than my narrowest point. I haven't quite decided if I need to petite the pattern through the upper back as well. I like the length of the unhemmed shirt, so I'll need to add another inch to the fronts and backs for hemming.

Finally, the sleeves could be longer. I usually need to add an inch (or two) to full-length sleeves, and the 3/4 length ones were no different. I made the mistake of taking out 1.5 inches in the width of the sleeve the first time I cut them out because the finished biceps measurement printed on the pattern was 2.75" larger than my arm measurement, and I thought that would be too much ease. I generally prefer closer-fitted sleeves, but after trying the sleeves on, I realized that my arms really need the total amount of ease for movement. I thought the amount of ease in the sleeve cap was reasonable, and the sleeves were fairly easy to set in to the armhole, even though the pattern has you sew the underarm seam first and set them in "in the round".

I'm going to re-draft the pattern this afternoon and take another swing at it in a different (non-muslin) fabric. Wish me luck!

Cloche hat continued...

2009-09-11T22:30:00.000-04:00

I've made it past the brim, and am now two rows into the mindless st st of the hat itself - yay! I plopped it on my daughter's head, and the fit is much improved. I think this will turn out very nicely. My plan is to work on it some more on Sunday at church.

I'm always on the lookout for mindless knitting that I can do while I'm at church or in meetings. I've even spoken with Jodi, the minister of the church I attend, about her feelings about knitting during the service, and she has no problem with it. I wouldn't think about bringing a large project or a complicated stitch pattern to church, though - I like to have something to keep my hands busy while my mind is free to focus on the sermon.

I've been puttering around in my bedroom, which is where my sewing machine, stash and other sewing accoutrements reside (at the moment). We have a fairly large bedroom, but the sewing stuff takes up a decent chunk of real estate. My husband (who only asks that I keep a clear path for him from the door to his side of the bed) put up shelving in the room for me a couple weeks ago, and it's made a huge difference. I'm one of those sewers that always has a big pile o' crap on the sewing table, so the actual space available for me to sew on is pretty small. I'm hoping to get everything off the table this weekend and either up on the shelves or in my fabric closet (yes, the smaller closet in our bedroom is my main stash storage place).

Kit Kittredge Cloche Hat

2009-09-07T20:06:00.000-04:00

My daughter wants to be Kit Kittredge (of American Girl Doll fame) for Halloween this year. So I started on a cloche style hat for her this morning. I'm using a lighter weight yarn on smaller needles, so I added another 12 sts to the initial cast. I've gotten as far as the brim, but I need to knit it off of the 16" circular onto a larger one so I can check the fit. Don't want to go too much farther if her head will be swimming in it.

(a few hours pass by...)

Ooops. Too late. It's definitely on the large side - I *thought* I was using a lighter weight yarn, but it turns out I'm not (the pattern specifies Aran weight, but I saw the photo of the hat with the caption "Malabrigo worsted", and I guess the word "worsted" caught my eye and got stuck in my brain).