Reading the fine print on patterns

Pattern illustrations can lie to you bigtime.  For instance, when you see this illustration, don’t you get crazy ideas of being some glamorous lady in these pajamas…the kind that has nothing better to do but lay about looking beautiful all day?

Me too.  But I should’ve read the fine print.  If I had not been blinded by that silly illustration, I would’ve avoided a lot of mess.  Oh, so much mess.

HotPatterns 1097

What I learned:

1.  Give yourself a fighting chance:  This pattern is big.  Everywhere.  The upside is that I didn’t have to add anything anywhere.  The downside is that I took out no less than 10.5″ of flare in the pants (and yes, you can fit both of your legs in one leg), plus another 4″ that was pooling from the fullest part of my bum straight down each leg.  I needed to lose 5″ of length in the top too (which might have been too much, but I like ending it at my high hip).  What I didn’t know how to fix was the size of the collar.  With 5″ off, it’s way out of proportion, and it engulfs my small frame.  All of this could have been avoided if I had read HotPatterns’ size chart and noted that a size 6 was drafted for a person 5′ 7 3/8″–only 1/8″ shy of 5 FULL INCHES taller than me.  I had no hope out of the gate.  I made the pants work–for the most part.  I know the fit is not perfect, but from where I started, it’s a lot lot better. 

All that flare on the leg would not look so absurd on a taller person, and that collar would look really dramatic instead of out of balance.  As far as pants go, I’m sticking to Burda petite patterns, in the future and I’ll pay attention to the size of design details like collars from now on too.  The only thing I’m grateful for is that I made a muslin before I cut up my fabric.  At least I’m not drowning in the final pair.

2.  What muslins are for:  This is a hard one.  I’m of the opinion that if you make something up in muslin and it doesn’t work out all that great, you’re better off to scrap the pattern and cut your losses than sacrifice nice fabric to make up something mediocre that is going to speak failure over you every time you wear it.  On my muslin, I DID, to my credit get a decent fit in the pants.  The crotch curve on these pants, despite this strange little bump fits me pretty well, and by the time I took out all of the extra fluff, they look okay.  But the top was a different story.  There is something not right about the facings.  I’m pretty sure it is missing the seam allowances because things just don’t go together.  I’m not a newbie sewer, and I know what a shawl collar looks like and how to sew it, but this thing just didn’t go together.  At all.  There is all kinds of ugliness going on. 

The good news is that the aforementioned monstrously large collar covers the ugliness well.  It honestly makes me feel like a moron.  Now, I figured out that this was a problem in the muslin, but I let it go.  I’ve been dreaming of these PJ’s for MONTHS in this fabric and I couldn’t get it out of my head.  I should have emailed Trudy at HotPatterns to try and get some insight, but it was too late.  So I guess I’m glad that these are only pajamas, but this will sadly NOT be my TNT pajama pattern.

3.  More color contrast:  my aqua dress got me thinking about contrast in garments.  I did not cut the contrast bands from the pattern because they were enormous, and I didn’t want to dwarf myself further by adding them.  I just made plain hems on the top, but for the bottoms I tried my hand at something different entirely.  I found this pretty sheer striped ribbon.  I sewed the wrong side of the bottom edge of the ribbon along the bottom stripe, flipped it to the right side of the legs, pressed it, folded the other sheer part in on the right side and topstitched along the bottom and top stripe.  This ribbon is rather stiff, but I don’t mind it on the pants.  My other touch of contrast is the belt.  Instead of cutting the belt from the pattern, I just serged a length of silk chiffon. I still need to add some belt carriers, but I really like the texture of the chiffon as a belt.

So these did not live up to what I expected them to be, but they are wearable and tremendously comfortable.  So the collar and facings are a little ugly on the inside.  I’m not crazy about that.  I certainly will not make these again, but I’m not ditching these.  They are still a step up from ancient pajama bottoms and scrubby t-shirts, and that is always a good thing.

One valance + a little elastic=

2 happy boys.  Or they will be once my nephew and Noah get to go to the pool in their matching trunks.

I’m hoping that growing up Noah and his cousin will be tight.  He has two younger sisters now, and any brothers that he will have will be no less than 4 years younger than him.  At just under 2 years apart, I think the odds of my nephew and Noah being close are probably pretty good.  But why not cement that with matching pants?

I’ve been looking at supplex nylon and other such swim worthy materials, and I decided it was going to be too expensive to make trunks, plus I couldn’t find a pattern…my nephew’s barely big enough for the smallest of small swim trunk patterns, and Noah’s too small period.  So I improvised.  Before I went to Denver Fabrics last week (when they had supplex on sale for 99 cents/yd–I’d stash it, but it’s just going to sit for a really really long time), I popped by the thrift store to see what I could come up with.

Lo and behold, I found this nifty poly window valance with big construction signs and trucks on it.  My nephew mega loves Bob the Builder, so I knew this would be a score.  I even found a nice poly knit there too that would be perfect for lining.  None of this stuff feels fantastic, but you’re getting wet in them–they dry quick and it’s pretty hard to pass up non-licensed boy fabric.  There’s not too much of it to be had, especially for cheap.

I traced a pair of Noah’s pants that fit him now for his pattern.  I used the XS in McCalls’ 4364 for my nephew.  I serged everything together, including the lining which is a first for me.  I did a rolled hem on the lining hem, and I tucked it underneath the casing.  I added grommets and threaded through a thick elastic cording for a drawstring instead of normal elastic.  I need to get more of this stuff and rethread Noah’s because his are a bit snug as this elastic doesn’t have a lot of give.  I might just get a shoestring instead…

This was a fun project–I cut everything in the morning and put both shorts together in one short nap minus hammering on the grommets.  I’m done for a while sewing for others.  I needed a mental break from my own projects, but I’m ready to get back to more complicated projects.

True Confessions

I’ve been wearing this dress for like 3 days without a hem!  Quelle horreur!  I hung it up and forgot about it for a couple of days, and then I just decided it was too pretty to be hung up, but I didn’t really feel like taking a break from other projects to spend a few minutes hemming it.  It’s not even hemmed now; however, I trust you all can imagine a hem, and I promise I’ll do it this week.  Girl Scout promise promise I will.

It’s another version of Vogue 1027.  This is really what I wanted this dress to be in the first place, but on the day I found the brown fabric, I couldn’t find a nice aqua like this. 

Vogue 1027  version 2.0

What I learned:

Color contrast!!!:  As much as I do love color, I’m just starting to understand it in clothing.  I’ve been starting to get out beyond the same boring shades of blue and find more interesting combinations.  In nature and in art, I’m drawn to very saturated, pure colors.  This aqua for instance just glows.  Though it is my favorite color evvvarr, a dress that was entirely this bright was going to be too much.  I’ve never messed with contrasting colors in clothes I’ve made, but I thought that a belt of a different color would break up the bright quite nicely.  I thought about more neutral colors very briefly, but I quickly was drawn to this magenta.  It’s as deeply saturated as the aqua, but somehow the contrast of the two colors is enough of a change for it not to be overkill.  The lesson is that color contrast is worth exploring (though I can’t see myself doing it all the time).

Patterns in the 2.0:  I don’t really make up patterns multiple times.  For one, there’s too many patterns out there, and not near enough time to do them.  Sometimes I’m trying to avoid going through the pain that the failed ones have given me.  But my biggest reason is that I used to buy all the colors of X garment available.  I was always kind of bored and saddened by this, and I always knew that deep down it didn’t reflect my own creativity, but I didn’t know what to do about that.  Sewing, of course, helps you avoid the humdrum.  This dress makes me want to sew it again though.  It has such great lines, that it’s worth a revisit.  And what with the color contrast, it’s not readily obvious that it’s the same pattern anyhow.  Yay!  Bonus points for not having to fit this pattern again!

My favorite thing about this dress is that it’s the easiest garment to wear.  I mean, literally, pop it on over your head, and you look like a lady.  It’s more complicated to put on a t-shirt and jeans!

In the area of housekeeping, I will be categorizing my garments by type in the category cloud because I realize that almost all of my posts are about sewing, which makes it tough to find things later on (for me too!).  I hope you will find it useful.  It’s going to take me some time to do this, but I’ve done several so far.

Giveaway Winners

Sorry to leave you all hanging about this giveaway thingy.  Noah’s not been into naps this whole week, so my blogging time needs to be renegotiated…

Anyhoo, here are the winners:

Of the fabric: VickyT

Of the patterns:  Kate

Of the cookies:  Hannah

Thanks to everyone for your sweet comments and for stopping by.  I love these giveaways!

Lots of sewing has been going on here lately, but due to blogging negotiations having not gone on yet, I’m a little backlogged with my posting.  My goal is catch-up this next week here.

Giveaway Day

I

‘m back here again for another Giveaway Day hosted by Sew Mama Sew.  I love doing it because it’s fun and it invites people to your blog that wouldn’t necessarily pop by.  This time I’m doing a different kind of giveaway then what I’ve done in the past.  I’m offering not just one nifty thing, but 3 very different and jiffy things.

Prize #1:  Patterns!  In the process of reorganizing my patterns, I found these that I realized I probably will never get to.  Love them well, and send me a pic when you’ve made them up!  I’d love to see what you come up with.

Prize #2:  Fabric!  There are bits of poly brocades and linings and a nice chunk of pink plaid flannel all great for purses or whatever you can think of.

Prize #3:  Cookies!:  This really is the best of all.  You want to eat cookies that I bake.  Really–I do.  What kind?  I don’t know yet.  I’ve been plowing my way recently through Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From my Home to Yours.  This book is golden.  I have shelves of baking books, and hers really are my favorite to use and the ones that I’ve learned the most from.  So expect something delicious from this book.  I can’t wait to get into the kitchen and bust out my Kitchen Aid.

As for what I’d like from you, take a look around, and let me know what your favorite post is, and/or what feature you like and would like to see more of.  Leave the title of the post in your comment on this post only.  I say this post only because WordPress puts the little leave a comment bit up at the TOP of a post, not the bottom like Blogger, and people get confused.

This giveaway is open to all readers in the US.  I’d love to be able to offer this giveaway to non-US readers, but I can’t afford the postage.  So, if you are outside of the US and you are a winner, may I ask for you to help out with postage?  Comments will be open on this post only until 9 pm Mountain time, May 20th.

Etudes

I’ve been fortunate in my music education to have had many great teachers who have taught me how to go about practicing.  Early on, when I had practice cards forced on me, I wish someone had taught me that the practice of all music is not something that you just phone in just to get through it.  It is something to do slowly, and reflectively, so that your mind is prepared for when you’re performing.  The more thoughtfully you’ve gone through everything, the sharper your mind, and the more prepared your hands will be to play when the lights are bright.  The harder you make your practice, the deeper you think while you’re practicing, the less you allow your mind to wander as you practice, you’ll find that you walk into a pressure situation more at calm, with your game face on, ready to tear it up.

I’ve started to think about applying this excellent training to my sewing.  I want to give my mind and hands time to fully absorb things before I’m walking into a project.  The impetuous side of me is fighting wanting to speed my way through a project, but really, projects should be a culmination of practice, not the practice itself.  Lord help me if I were to walk into a recital hall to sightread Bach, and it’d be nice to have some prior knowledge of what’s coming next before things are under my presser foot.   

So, I’m instituting a practice of etudes in my sewing.  If you’re not familiar with the word, etude is a piece designed for musical study…a more interesting version of a scale.  One might work on a particular skill–say arpeggios, chords, dynamics, etc.  They create fluency in your playing, so that when you encounter whatever skill Etude X is working on, you’re ready to go when you encounter it in normal music.  My goal in these sewing etudes is not perfection, but fluency, and careful thinking done through stages of repetition. 

Sewing Etude no. 1

2 piece polo style button placket

As I said in my last post, I did quite a bit of practice on the placket for the shirtdress because it confused the crud out of me when I first saw it, and I wanted it to look really nice in my final product, and not like I just phoned it in.  For my practice, I cut 10 copies of each side of the placket and the neckline edge up to the shoulder + a couple of inches below where the placket hits CF just for perspective.  I only sewed 5 because after 5 my fingers knew what to do, but I will return to this exercise to clean things up and keep this construction in my mind.  I’ve summed up my progress via this slideshow.  You can click on any image and it will take you to my Flickr stream and give you notes on each picture.

more about “Polo Placket Practice“, posted with vodpod

 

I shouldn’t be amazed that repetition is making things easier, but it is awesome to go from where I started–staring at the pieces, crying, feeling kind of dumb, to being able to press and go without much effort.  And on the final product:

A shirty shirtdress

I’ve been a bit absent here the past week…Some pretty significant things went on in our house–my husband’s graduation for his PhD happened (fabulous ceremony–low key and everyone was able to say a little something when they came up to get their recognition–I’m so proud of my hubby!),

 and Noah had his first birthday

(my baby’s 1?!).  I made lots of food, including this lovely lemon buttermilk cake with lemon buttercream and raspberry jam and coconut from Dorie Greenspan’s excellent book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.  Noah ate the whole piece, by the way.  Noah got to play with his cousins and his new toys and the kids entertained us all.

In the midst of the hubbub of cooking and planning for cooking and entertaining my in-laws, I did manage to sneak some sewing in.  I was able to fit a pattern for myself, make a muslin of said pattern, do some serious practice work on button plackets, and sew niece #2 a shirtdress.  You’ll hear about the former projects later this week, so I’ll start with the shirtdress.

New York Kids’ Style shirtdress

What I learned:

1.  Women’s shirts have less yardage than you think:  This dress is a refashion.  I found a really cool paisley shirt at the thrift store and tore it apart at the seams for this one.  It had to shorten the dress because the shirt wasn’t quite long enough, and I had to lay the back piece over the existing yoke, making the back double-yoked.  Though I cut out well over half of my pieces from leftover pink stripe seersucker I still have from my jacket, this pattern took up way more than I thought a 2T would.  I also couldn’t match the pattern across the seams because of the lack of yardage.  As I tell Noah, you can’t always get what you want.

2.  Creative patching:  As I was tearing up the shirt, I could not avoid making a few holes as I removed the original patch pockets (which I would have used for the dress but they were way too big).  Luckily, I had enough scraps that I could find suitable patches that matched the pattern.  I put a small piece of fusible interfacing over the hole on the backside of the fabric first.  Then I cut a little matching square out of scraps to fit over the hole and then some.  I backed the squares with Heat and Bond Lite, ironed them on, and ran a small zigzag around the patch.  Because this print is so busy, you really have to look to know that they are there.  I should have taken a picture of this process, but I forgot.

3.  Shirt construction:  This was such a great dress to practice shirt construction on.  I wouldn’t think a pattern with only sad little diagrams and instructions that I can’t read would help me so much, but the lack of instructions took me to lots of helpful places in cyberspace.  For the yokes, I used this tutorial (I’ll never do another yoke another way again–easy, fast, and perfect).  For the collar, I think I read every tutorial here.  My biggest learning moment came in the placket.  As I said, I’ll write about that later, but I’ll point you to the place I started.  The whole dress is lightyears beyond my last shirt, and I’m pretty happy about that.  It’s so cool to see progress in your sewing. 

My full review at Patternreview is here.