Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Perfect Sew. Get. Some. NOW.



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

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

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...)

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

GAP-inspired shirtdress (AKA M5847)

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.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Embarrassment of riches (Warning: contains yarn porn!)

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! 

Thursday, January 14, 2010

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

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!)

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

What I'm loving...

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.

Monday, January 4, 2010

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

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.)

Friday, January 1, 2010

January 1 - Organize!

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.