Stripe Angst

For my next trick project, I want to try another vintage pattern. I bought this Simplicity pattern from eBay, because I love a good shirtdress, and I also love the raglan sleeves. But I've been agonizing over the fabric a little, and then decided to buy another stripe, mostly because it was on sale. I'm thinking that maybe wasn't a good reason. It's an Amy Butler twill and was a ridiculously low price at fabric.com. Hmmm, maybe there was a reason for that low price. People thought it was ugly.

Before you scroll down more and see the picture (oh, of course you've already seen the picture), I'm thinking of just using the stripe for the skirt, and doing a solid color for the "shirt". Maybe even in a cotton jersey? Maybe the light blue?

Oh, well, in the meantime, I know I'm going to need to make some alterations to the pattern, so I'll get to that and await your valuable advice.

Butterick 5450

Is it gone? Do you still see them? I'm trying to put those shorts behind me, and thanks to those who were brave enough to say NAY. You were all right. I've moved on, and made a new summer dress, Butterick 5450. The pattern claims to be Fast & Easy, and yes it is. Only, I'm a notoriously slow sewer.

So, what do y'all think?

I did make a muslin of the bodice (well, the lining anyway), and made a small sway back adjustment. And, while I cut out a 14 for the top, I morphed it into the 16 for the waist and hips. I love the way it fits! I also moved the zipper from the side seam to the back and used an invisible one, and gave the dress a full lining because 100% cotton just kind of sticks. To legs, to cotton underwear. Is that TMI? Anyway, I used a bemberg lining that I had prewashed, so the whole thing is washable. Yay!

Oops, looks a little wrinkled. Forgot to say that I added an inch to the length, too. Forgive those glaringly white legs. I think I need a PSA at the beginning of the post reminding people to wear sunglasses when looking at these pictures.

Do you notice the stripes? Kyle says there is an elegance in the mismatching, and I'm going with that.

Beyond that, I think I'll be wearing this dress a lot, and I think it will be a great transitional piece to wear into the fall.

By the way, when I wore it yesterday, I wore the wedges in the "fall" picture instead of the sandals. I just liked that look better. My next project is a vintage shirt dress, and the fabric I chose has stripes. Wildly uneven stripes. What WAS I thinking?!

Stripes

What rich, gorgeous color on this 100% cotton Kaffe Fassett woven from Fabric.com. What was I thinking?

Like some plaids, some stripes are uneven, and in their unevenness make matching very challenging. Add in pleats and darts, and you might find yourself in matching hell. That's where I found myself yesterday, and I decided to let the stripes fall where they may. Possibly not the best decision, but I'll let you be the judge tomorrow when I finish a cute Butterick sleeveless dress.

Are you just dying to know which pattern? Well, I'll surprise you tomorrow, but I don't have too much left. The lining is completely made, so all I have left is the invisible zipper, shoulder seams, side seams, insert the lining and finish the armscyes, hem and voila. New dress. Hmmm, when I type it that sounds like a lot, but it's not really. Til tomorrow...

Simplicity 2370 -- Yay or Nay?

I've made my denim shorts, and am kind of ambivalent about them. Are they a true wadder? Not really. Take a look:

So, maybe it's my hips I'm ambivalent about, but in this picture they (the shorts) don't look too bad. I did end up making 2 muslins, and thought they fit pretty well by the second one. One design change I made was to change the large, single pleat in the front to 2 narrower pleats, essentially using up the same amount of fabric, but spreading it out a bit. I'm not so sure it helped or made it worse.

Something I learned about making a muslin: when you aren't 100% sure about the size, go bigger. The biggest alteration I had to make was to shorten the length of the center crotch seam. I shortened the front center seam a whopping 1-1/2", and the back one 1/2". I probably should have shortened the front one even more, maybe 2".

There just seems to be too much fabric. Is it the pleats? The too long center seam? The width (which I narrowed, by the way, after I had finished them)?

One major mistake I made, and shouldn't have, was that I forgot to staystitch the upper edges of the front and back pieces. Does it really matter, you ask? Heck, yeah! I couldn't figure out why the waist had "grown" so much after seemingly fitting pretty well with the muslin. I finished these yesterday, and when I woke up this morning, the lightbulb went off. It has to be the staystitching. Duh. A beginner's mistake.

I did do a superb job inserting the invisible zipper, though. So well, that you couldn't even see it in the picture. The bad news about it is that it's a side zip, and I didn't want to rip it out to make the legs narrower (lazy me), so my post production alterations are somewhat limited. Oh, and I love the waistband/binding technique, primarily because I love a narrow waistband.

No matter what level your sewing skills are, there are always things to learn with each new project. And as much as I love to see the perfectly sewn garment, sewing bloggers, show me your mistakes and wadders as well, so that I can learn from them, too!

Polka Dots and Muslins

After the boring skirt, I decided to go with something more fun, and what's more fun than polka dots?! This is still a work in progress, but after a very helpful post on Gertie's Blog for Better Sewing written by guest blogger Alyson Clair on sewing knits, I decided to tackle yet another knit project. Her post was about sewing knits without a serger, and while I have a serger, I find that my sewing is not really that accurate, so her hints and tips have been very useful.

I am solely using the serger for the long, straight-ish seams like the center back, and ultimately the side seams, plus the seams for the sleeves. When I use the regular sewing machine, I'm using my stretch stitch #9, and it's working like a charm. Ball point needle, of course. The pattern recommends stitching a second line if you are not using a serger, and this is where I go ahead and serge.

And now, I'm at a stopping point. The only thing left is to attach the loop with the belt buckle, the side seams, and the hem. I decided at the last minute to order some buckles from a shop on Etsy, and they haven't arrived yet (it's a lot of 6, so I'll have a few extra for other projects). This is where the muslins in the title comes in.

I can't believe it, but I don't think I have EVER made myself pants of any sort. Lots of skirts and dresses, but no pants. And if you read about my current body image crisis, then you can only imagine that my current inventory of summer shorts are a wee bit tight. Enter this pattern:

After looking through ALL the pattern books, and other independent patterns, these are the closest to what I like to wear. I'm going to make a muslin to get the fit just right, and then plan use the denim I have leftover from the "Meh" skirt. I'll let you know how it goes.

Are you partial to a particular pattern company? As I re-enter the garment making world, I'm finding that I'm less picky than I once was. Now I'm just going for the look, and if it's right, I'll give it a try. I'm saying this as someone who almost never used Simplicity patterns before, and tended to favor Vogue and McCalls.

A Skirt.... Meh.

I made a skirt. "Meh" is how it makes me feel, but I will probably wear it a lot.

Things I love about it:

• the dark wash, lightweight denim.
• the length.
• the elastic waist and ease in wearing.
• it took me about an hour to make. OK, maybe a little more.

Things I hate about it:

• the elastic waist. I know, I love it, too, but it's the principle. I really love the look of a sleek fitting skirt, but right now, the ol' bod is just not cooperating, hence the hate.
• the inside. This is kind of the equivalent of a beginning home ec project, and the inside seam finishing* would earn me a C- at best.
• no pockets. It would be great with pockets, but I was just lazy.

The back, for grins:

About that seam finishing. First, I had decided to do nothing. Then I thought, what the heck, I'll serge the edges for a more finished look, but I won't change the thread because, well, I hate doing that, so white thread it is. Side seam #1, serged and fine. I start to serge side seam #2. Oops, run out of looper thread. Epic fail on the serger. I decide to just hack, er, pink that seam. Still, it looks like a 5 year old hacked it. Ah, well, I just won't wear it inside out.

Skirt Making

First, thanks for the birthday wishes. It was actually my husband, Roland's, 50th yesterday. I turned 50 *ahem* several months ago, and Gwen, you're darn right... it's the new 40 (oh, can't it be the new 30?!).

So, making skirts. How hard can it be? Actually, making a skirt is pretty easy. You don't even need a pattern. Really. It's the fitting. And right now, I'm having a wee bit of a body image crisis, which is frustrating me on so many levels. But I really want a denim skirt. You know, to wear instead of shorts during this hot, Georgia summer.

I picked a pattern, mostly because Simplicity patterns were on sale for $1.99 at Joanns, and this one had pockets:

Doesn't she look cute? Of course she does, because everyone who wears a size 4 looks cute, don't they?

A few problems I encountered... I don't like having my skirt be as wide as it is long. Blerg. And the denim, while lightweight, was not really drapey enough for the flippy skirt but I made it anyway. Even the cute, little tabs. But I didn't put the buttons on them because I decided for now a shirt would not be tucked in. I did use a lighter weight cotton for the pocket facings and for the yoke facing so those areas weren't too bulky.

Good sewer that I am, it's well made, and I'm even wearing it today in spite of my dislike for it, but there you go. Take a look at the side view:

It kind of tucks in around the thighs while I'm wearing it, just like on the dress form. It's not as noticeable if my shirt is out. Another problem with it is that it is actually too big in the waist, but I was so paranoid about it being too tight that I overestimated, even when I did the pin fitting. Blerg, again.

I've started a new walking campaign, to combat those pesky body image problems, and I'm going to try again. I bought some even lighter weight denim at Hancocks, and I plan to just make an a-line skirt with an elastic waistband. No pattern necessary.

Hopefully, I'll have happier news to report after that skirt is done!