Fitted in Five

I don’t write much about using my serger as she’s not doing terribly exciting work other than finishing seams.  Today I will try to give her some equal time.  Here’s a lightning fast project that only uses the serger.

Fitted cardigan

I’m not much for finding used clothing and turning it into something else…partly because it’s not really my aesthetic, but mostly because I have bad luck finding used clothing with bones that are good enough to rescue.  My dilemma is that I have this black cardigan…which is really more like a shrug given how I can’t button it because it’s made for someone whose chest is a lot smaller than mine.  No bother–I love my black sweater and wear it with nearly everything.  It has a hole in the sleeve seam and the sleeves themselves are getting a bit stretched out but I still can’t bear to part with it. 

The more practical, less-sentimental part of myself realized that the old gray mare just ain’t what she used to be and went looking for some sweaters to refashion.  I hate spending money on big chunky sweaters because I look like a gnome in them and they are so terribly expensive.  I wanted cardigans or something that could easily be a cardigan with a fine sized knit.  As luck would have it, I found 3, each for about $2.  The other 2 are sitting in my closet ready to be dealt with, but I decided to fix this one today.  It’s a lovely Scottish lambswool (a bit itchy, so I’ll have to line the sleeves somehow to make it more wearable for me…this is one reason why I’ve hung onto my dear sweater, which is a non-itchy viscose blend for so long).

The original sweater was really baggy in the arms, but my favorite sweater fits really well in the sleeves, so I used it as a template.  I took my favorite sweater and lined up the top of its sleeves with those the big sweater underneath it, which I had turned inside out.  I drew a rough chalk line around my favorite sweater, leaving a good amount of seam allowance.  I pinned a good 2″ inside of my chalk line and cut on my line  (Repeat this process on the other side).  I then used the serger to sew a new seam along the cut edge.  I buried my thread tails and that was it!  You almost can’t get more instant gratification than this. 

(pay no attention to the pajama bottoms)

 

Date Night Top

I’m so ridiculously happy about this top (my photography is less than stellar, but my photo assistant is relentlessly plugging away at finishing his dissertation–3 more weeks and hopefully that’s it).  After trucking through another muslin I finally figured everything out.  I think my back is narrower than my front, so I took out an inch from the center back and things were much less poufy and weird…and this would also explain the gappiness in my last couple of tops in the back.  I think since the FBA makes extra width across the front, I end up with too much at the back…this is my theory anyhow.  Sure enough, when I took out the extra inch at the center back I could eliminate some of the other things that I had tried (I tried a rounded back alteration because that was the closest alteration that could explain what was happening). 

This fabric was also a dream to work with–very supple without being slippery, pretty wrinkle resistant, soft, lightweight yet somehow warming.  It gathered like nothing else.  I wish there were different prints of this same fabric (Vogue fabrics also has a pink colorway of this fabric, but it’s so distinct I don’t think I’ll get it).  The darts I added in the back added a lot of structure, took out extra fluff in the waist and added a nice slimming detail.  Shockingly too, for being kind of sort of fitted, this is a very comfortable top.

What I learned:  a whole lot about altering a pattern to fit my body.  All total I lowered the front neckline, added shoulder darts, 4 back waist darts, shortened the bodice, did an FBA, and made the neckline bigger in front and in back so the thing could fit over my head.  Sometime in the not too distant future, I’m going to make a fitting shell so that when I make a pattern there is less troubleshooting I will have to do.  In February there’s a sewing expo with lots of fitting classes that I think I’ll also take to figure this stuff out.  As much as I have enjoyed this process and am pleased with my final product, if I have to do this for everything I work on, it’ll be pretty tiresome indeed.  Good thing there were only 3 pieces to this top.

Grading a pattern up.  I used this method outlined out in Threads.  In retrospect, I don’t think I needed to.  My next pattern, I’m going to cut a size smaller and see if, after I’ve done my FBA if things aren’t closer to reality than they have been.

French Seams.  I’ve actually known how to do these since college when I made myself a duvet by hand (my first sewing machine was that much of a lemon), but this was the first time that I’ve done them on a garment.  I figured with the lightness of the fabric, they’d be a nicer choice than my serger.

I think this is the first garment that I’ve made that I’m not nitpicking internally every time I put it on.  I just feel pretty (in a cheesy West Side Story kind of way).  I can’t wait to wear it out on a lovely date with my wonderful sweet husband.

 

2 days, 3 muslins

 

I’ve been stalking the February 2008 copy of Burda World of Fashion since March of last year.  You would think you could get an issue 1 month after it’s been published fairly easily…not so much.  So finally, I found it on Ebay a couple of months ago and I pounced on it.  Originally, I bought it for this jacket

(which I love and I’m totally making–I have the fabric ready to go despite the fact that it’s snowed already this week), but then I saw this,

and I really liked that too….and nearly everything else in this issue.  It makes me think I could ever subscribe to Burda.  I’d be over my lifetime ability to sew everything I want to in a couple of issues.

This blouse itself is pretty simple–just a front and a back and a collar piece.  The collar itself is a mock tie–so fun and very my style as I am often rarely without a necklace or scarf around my neck.  It sure has been a long haul to get this to fit me though.  The magazine comes with patterns for like a million garments, but you have to trace everything first (unless you actually want to go blind trying to read the different lines).  Sadly, I’m between Burda sizes, so I had to grade it up after I traced it off, then I did my standard FBA and added a side dart because I like them.  This all took me to muslin #2 (#1 was to see if I liked the style enough to bother).  Then the neck opening was a bit small to be comfortable and was pulling up and kind of choking me…not so fun.  I lowered the neckline 1″ and things were about a million times better.  Off to #3: The neckline is gathered in the front and the back in the pattern…this was fine in front, but made me look a bit hunchbacked in back.  I did a small adjustment for a round upper back (which I don’t think I have, but it seemed to help) plus I pinched out the excess fullness to get the tissue to lie flat when I was tissue fitting myself.  After I decided to try to add a couple of darts at the neckline…and the neckline issues solved themselves.  To bring my waist in, I did waist darts on the back only.  I wanted to maintain the style in the front, and also all of my extra fabric seems to be in my back.  I’m really starting to wonder if I can’t go down a couple of sizes on my back pieces…hmmm….must investigate more.

Though I sewed this sucker like 3 times, it never took me more than an hour.  I spent more times on the changes than on sewing the muslins.  I learned so much too that it was worth the extra time.  Although, there’s not much left of the poor sheet I pirated.

At any rate, things are fitting very well now, and I’m so excited to do this in real fabric.  I hunted down this fantastic batiste from Vogue Fabrics.  It’s so beautiful.  It’s been draped over Tina for a couple weeks now and I can tell she’s rather loathe to part with it.

I think it’s funny that it’s approaching winter here and I’m sewing sleeveless blouses.  Tee hee.  I guess I’ll just throw on a cardigan over it.

 

Outfit for a wee one

Like I said, lots of projects going on here.  Now that I’ve finished a pile of them, you’ll be hearing about them over the next few days. 

My church has been sponsoring several refugee families the past couple of years who come to CO from their countries for a different life.  There’s a new family from Burma and they need clothes for the family among other things.  I thought–why not.  They have 3 kids, so I made an outfit for each.  On Lauranie’s excellent advice I took advantage of Hobby Lobby’s sale on McCall’s patterns last week and bought patterns that would suit each kid.  I had fabric enough in my stash for everyone minus a little denim and a little bit of knit fabric.  The dress and shorts are for their nearly 2 year old daughter. 

I love the little shorts–they’re so sweet.  I always have a problem telling the front from the back on elastic waist pants without looking at them closely, so I put the little applique on the front.  Cute and functional!!  I seriously need to make Noah some cuteness one of these days.

 

This really wasn’t what I was hoping for

August is Hand Sewing month at Sew Mama Sew.

Isn’t it a cute button?  Would that I could get excited about hand sewing.  Gnomey has a bit of a cold.  Last night she stopped working spontaneously…there is thread getting stuck around the bobbin.  I had a couple of dings on the throatplate that I filed out, but the thread is still getting caught.  So I’ll have to take things in on Tuesday when the store is open. 

While I was sad when my serger was out getting fixed, I could still sew…but now…sans Gnomey…I feel like my right arm is gone.  I have about 200 more yoyos to sew before I can start piecing my next coverlet, but my heart’s not in it what with Gnomey and all. 

Oktoberfest is coming soon though, and I DO have a lot of music to learn, so perhaps I’ll be accordioning away my sewing blues.  I’ve said it before…polka can’t not make you smile.

 

Squirrel Family

This past week was rather busy.  There were 2 baby showers thrown for me!  We painted little wooden animal cutouts and made a mobile out of them for my Bible study group on Wednesday night and my women’s group and some other friends at church plus my Mom and sister-in-law gathered the other day at my parents’ for a little tea.  It was a wonderful time to gather with all of the women that I love in my life.

I totally loved the squirrel tea cozies from Zakka Sewing, so I made a little family of them to keep our teapots nice and toasty through our time together.  They proved useful as well as cute. 

 

Christmas Cookie Extravaganza VI

Today is the annual Christmas cookie party that I host.  This is the 6th time that I’ve done it in my adult life, but its origins are much older.

When I was a wee one (4 or 5?  who really knows), all the women of my Mom’s family–my Mom, my Aunt, and my Grandma plus me would make 12 different kinds of cookies in one day in my Grandma’s tiny awkward orange formica countertopped kitchen.  I remember doing this at least 3 times, which seems about right because we moved to TX just before my 9th birthday in March.  Why 12 cookies?  I suppose that’s one of those generational questions…something akin to “Why do we have to cut the ends off the pot roast? (because Grandma’s pan was too short to accomodate a bigger roast)”…a question with an answer that is much less mysterious once its practical reasons are revealed.  My only thought as to why we ever made 12 different kinds of cookies would be because of the 12 days of Christmas.

In that spirit, for the next 12 days, I will post and write about a different cookie in the dozen.  In addition to this, I’ve created a Flickr group called The 12 Days of Christmas (Cookies).  Please please feel free to put up pictures of your Christmas cookies.  I’d love to know what other people bake this time of year.  And how do you and your family get together through cooking this time of year?

Me with Gram–wasn’t she a pretty lady?  She and my Mom are the reason I cook in the first place.  They both always let me be in the kitchen.  Let your kids do things with you!  They learn a lot more than you think they will when you hand them a lump of leftover bread dough. 

These are some of the ornaments made from this recipe that are adorning our tree this year.

 

Advent Calendar

 

Not just for tutus

Tulle is really an excellent fabric to stick on the walls via diy wall decals.  I finished my advent calendar the other day and have planned on pinning it up on the bottom side of the bar that wraps around our kitchen.  Being an apartment, of course that bar is hum drum white and not exactly the backdrop I wanted for the calendar. 

I had read this post a while back but didn’t give it a try until yesterday.  It’s super super simple to attach the fabric to the walls and because it’s just cornstarch paste, there is zero percent chance of it damaging the hum drum white.  Again, I totally love the tulle.  It offers a subtle amount of color that will perfectly go with the calendar.  It’s hard to get a really good idea of how great this works because A) I’m not a great photographer and B) we really need a new camera before baby comes–hopefully you can fill in the gaps with your imagination.  I’ll post a pic of the calendar tomorrow.

 

Pencil Bags

I whipped up these yesterday for Operation Christmas Child boxes.  I figured they could be multi-purposefully useful for older kids.  My finger is a little sore from sewing all the linings in by hand, but since I interfaced them with canvas and I hate thimbles, it’s my own fault.  Somehow, I’ll survive. 

I’m going to make some more pencil rolls a la Pink Chalk Studio too.  I know she has the pattern in Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts, but I figured I could figure it out without too much fuss.  The first one turned out really well (I’m proud of myself for figuring it out).  I’ll post a pic tomorrow or Tuesday–school has been wacky recently.