The last couple of drops

Long raglan sleeves in Burda mags are pretty rare–that there’s a little frippery with the sleeve gathers makes it all the more fun.  I was tempted to download the pattern–I was saved the utter hassle because of the greatness of this issue.  At least 5 things caught my eye besides jackets (Burda always has great jackets), so I knew it’d be worth it to just buy the whole issue.

There’s only 3 pieces, so this sews together very quickly.  The gathers are in the sleeve, not the front, which I appreciate–bulk over the arms, not the bust is a great deal more attractive.

Version 1 is with a turquoise knit.  It was marked rayon at Denver Fabrics but it doesn’t have that cold feeling that rayon has.  I’d guess it’s some kind of rayon/poly blend with possibly a little cotton.  Because of the little recovery that it has, I had to unpick the neck binding and make it smaller as it was just not sitting flat.  Baste it in place before you serge it.  I know some other reviewers had issues with this, but really, it’ll depend on your knit.  I should have stabilized the neck as I’m almost certain that it grew due to the recovery issue.  The shoulders are just a little too wide even at a 32 on me.

Since I don’t have a raglan sleeved TNT (though I suspect I will soon with the new issue of Jalie 3245), I decided to test the too wide theory on another version.  I had this lovely hemp/cotton print from Eureka Fabrics in Eureka, CA.

It needed to be underlined, and I happened to have a turquoise mesh that worked perfectly for the task. Because of the underlining I cut the pattern a size bigger at the side seams.  I should’ve basted the side seams before I serged them because this version is definitely more fitted than I would prefer…it’s not tight, but it’s fitted.  It’s still a hair too wide in the shoulders (see the dip down at CB), but it’s not bad.  Again, I’d need to check it against a TNT to understand for sure.  When I have a TNT, I imagine I’ll come back to this pattern to make it work better for me.  As for now, this is a great instant gratification top that’ll be an excellent hard-working basic in my wardrobe.

My full review is here.

A neutral void

As I said, I’ve been working on Burdastyle’s Jan 2011 cover dress.  I was immediately drawn to the collar, and indeed it’s a great design feature.  And though the thought of making a bagazillion buttonholes in a knit was initially scary, they went in without issue through the aid of some lightweight fusible interfacing.

That is where the love ends for this dress.  I fully lined it (beautifully I might add) because the knit was too sheer to go without.  While the pattern certainly had enough ease despite it not being a pattern with a lining, it added far too much bulk in the final dress.  This pattern needs more drape because you have to style it with a belt.

About that ease…it shouldn’t surprise me that a dress with this line drawing

would end up being shapeless and kind of nightgownesque right?  Why do we forge on hoping for a better end?  With all the bulk in the middle, this dress ends up feeling uncomfortably matronly on me.  Perhaps a better belt would help…

But the worst by far is that the color of this dress makes my skin look positively jaundiced.  You think you’re doing yourself a favor getting something close to your skin tone (hey, it’s neutral, it’ll go with everything!), but I think in that range, you have to be 100% right with the color or it kind of voids you out.

On the upside, it is the nicest finished wadder I’ve ever made.

My full review is here.

Wovens and pregnancy, broken mirrors, and being easier on myself

It’s been wadder city around here (and crazy face making I guess–I blame my lack of sleep and very funny kids).  Well, not exactly wadder…more like really beautifully finished complete garments that biff it because my changing body changes faster than I can crank stuff out of my sewing room.

Exhibits A and B:  Burda 7198, theoretically a great top for maternity–built in A-line shape with sweet little godets in the side seams.  Problem: my cup size grew between my muslin and getting both versions sewn, so I need more width in my upper chest that I usually don’t.  The stress point being the placket, split on the stronger cotton chambray in the wash and shredded in the wearing (yay for having an undershirt on that day) on the poly-masquerading-as-silk-and-I’m-so-sad-that-it-did-because-it’s-such-a-pretty-print.  

Solution:  as dull as it is at times to stick to knit tops during pregnancy, that give inherent in the fabric prevents tragic breakdowns like these plackets that result in wasted time and energy.  If you really want a woven maternity top, just buy it; if it’s ultra boring (because you know it will be), buy a white one and dye it.

Exhibit C: The Saggy Bottom Girl and Burdastyle 6-2010-129 (Saints alive!  Have I learned nothing about fitting pants?!)

Problem: I only pinched out 1/2″ in the back crotch and didn’t do my usual part 2 alteration to fix the same issue (cut the inseam a size smaller).  This coupled with overestimating how big my hips really are (I cut a 40–should have gone for the 38, possibly a 36 with some added room for my hips–Burda maternity sizes are larger), and picking a thin but sturdy denim, I have cones off my back end.  Cones, people.  I have only 8 more weeks, and I was very conservative in fitting my flat backside because I was afraid that I’d overfit and then not have anything in the last couple weeks.  I also couldn’t see too well to really get an idea of what I needed to do because several weeks ago #1 broke my small full-length mirror I use for fitting (he was walking on it–thankfully, on the backside and it was covered with fabric on the wrong side because I used to use it as art in our apartment and took it down when I needed to fit–so no bleeding child, just a broken mirror).  He’s been paying me back a quarter at a time (thankfully, it was a $10 purchase–easily the cheapest thing he could have wrecked in my sewing room), and he finally finished yesterday.  Bright side: my topstitching is great on these jeans, and I really like the color of this denim, so saggy bottom or not, I’m going to enjoy these.  

Solution: Don’t fit pants without the aid of at least 2 mirrors that give you a proper view of your tushy.

It’s really hard for me not to take all of this personally.  I’m the type that likes to do everything excellently, and I generally stink at realizing that there are times that my ability to do just that is limited and that that in and of itself is not some sort of moral failing.  The thing is I can’t control everything that happens anywhere–I can let it get me down, or I can wear my saggy bottom but smashingly pink topstitched jeans with pride, knowing that someday–soon, likely, I’ll get back to where I want to be.  Failure is part of the creative process.  Failure is part of the creative process.  Blech…I could use less failure.

Frankenpatterning for better shorts

When I was pregnant with the boys, I didn’t have a choice not to wear maternity pants.  I started sewing when I was pregnant with Noah because of the lack of maternity clothes in non-soul-killing colors and prints, and I couldn’t fit pants yet when I was pregnant with Sam.  I remember wearing this particular pair of Old Navy maternity jeans and feeling, well, fat with all of the extra fabric hanging off of my legs in the back and I remember vowing to figure out how to fit pants Scarlett O’Hara as God is my witness style.

So after the first trimester sleepiness has gradually worn off and after we’ve all started to get better from the summer colds we’ve managed to get, I was going to figure out some shorts to get me through the remainder of this summer.

I initially muslined a pair of Kwik Sew 3324 shorts, but they didn’t pan out.  They were way way too big for where I’m at, and the panel had no shaping at the side seams where I really need it.  It occurred to me to pull out my Burda 3-2011-131 shorts that I outgrew in June and see how I could make them work for where I’m at now since the fit was good on those.  Already made garments count as muslins too!

According to what was going on, I needed to add at the side seams about 3/4″, and then I’d need a rib knit panel tall 3.5″ at CF and about 2.5″ at CB (I just measured in both places to where I wanted the top of the pants to hit).

I took out Burdastyle 6-2010-129 and grabbed the panel, just cutting it down to what I needed and gambling that I could just sew it to the top of the shorts without any need for alteration.  This panel has a little bit of shaping at the side seams, so I figured that it would work better for me over the straight-sided side seams of the Kwik Sew.  I sewed a quick muslin just in case and it worked like a charm.  On #1, the linen version, the panel + elastic enclosed inside for more support needed to be a little more snug between the loose weave factor of linen and the stretch-out factor that just happens in knits on your bottom half over the course of the day.  They’re still way crazy comfortable and cool, and the extra space in the waist will probably serve me well when I’m still trying to wear these next month.

I used a heavy linen chambray I picked up at Denver Fabrics a couple weeks ago on a trip with my good non-sewing friend.  Mentioning that I could no longer stand sitting around the house in workout shorts, she wasn’t letting me leave without some quality fabric for shorts, and this fits the bill nicely.  I added some denim-style topstitching because you all know I’m a sucker for contrasting thread.

I also grabbed a lightweight denim for another pair.  It has a similar cross dyed texture as the denim and it has more drape and flow than most denims, which was perfect not only for the shorts but for the season.  It definitely wrinkles more than most denims as you can see, but I care not.  I resisted the temptation to buy more yardage only because come fall this fabric will not work for actual jeans and I can’t stash denim.  It’s the first thing to go in the stash.  I become too obsessed with it.

Allow me to be smug about the back fit.  It feels simultaneously vain and triumphant to know that I won’t have to have yards of fabric flapping in the wind behind me this pregnancy.

I made the panel a little smaller at the side seams, and used a little less elastic, stretching to fit, making this pair much better fitting.  I also added side vents in this pair via one of the Power Sewing videos (thanks Lisa for the b-day gift of the subscription!).

Mostly, this was a great project to help my sewing mojo working.  I feel like the world is my oyster 9 months out of the year in the creativity department, but summer I’m a mondo pile of blah.  And being pregnant has not helped.  Heat fries my brain, but the promise of fall and jeans (can you tell I’m excited about them?) and shirts with actual sleeves and the hope of being able to sew knit dresses I won’t suffocate in keeps me going.

Do you have a season when you’re out to lunch creatively speaking?

Off to get caught up on t-shirts for the project!  I finished one and about to get started on another which will get me caught up and back on track.

Loden and grey linen Shorts

Shorts have never been high on my love list in garments for the same reason that pants never have been either.  Trying to find RTW ones is an exercise in seeing just how bad you can feel about yourself in a dressing room.  Needless to say, since I started the pants fitting journey, shorts have been kind on my want to sew list.

I had planned to pick up McCall 5391 at the next pattern sale but only if I couldn’t find anything in my Burda mags.

JoAnn is not as close to me as it used to be, so I have to be more strategic when going there.  Add two kids in the mix and just avoiding going there usually works out better most of the time.  I’m sure that the McCall’s is a lovely pattern, but I really prefer working with Burda because they fit me better and I don’t have to guess at their sizing like I often do with big 4 patterns.  And if I’ve learned anything from working with Burda mags, you can almost always find basic patterns for things like shorts if you dig hard enough.

What I came up with was Burdastyle 3-2011-131, a classic Bermuda short with hip pockets.  I liked the slight flare of the line drawing.  One of the problems I have with shorts as a style is that many of them are more pegged at the knees which is not the best look on my 5’2.5″ self.  In real life, they are a little straighter, but at least they aren’t pegged.  I wasn’t so crazy about the hip pockets, which are poofing out here on the model (like hip pockets always do):

I substituted the totally awesome angled pockets from Burdastyle 5-2010-130.

I sewed it up in this great two-tone loden and grey linen from Denver Fabrics.  They have a surprising number of linens that I can attest are really nice quality for not a lot of money.  I found a heavier weight berry and cream herringbone linen that I’m saving for some more casual pants too.  This one is lightweight but not sheer with really beautiful drape and flow.

I used some lime Mettler Metrosene for contrast topstitching and added some back pockets from Jalie 2908, so I guess technically this is a Frankenpattern.

I’m totally going to sewing jail for this one, but I hate interfacing in waistbands.  I always save the selvages from lightweight fabrics and use them to stabilize waistbands by just basting them 1/8″ away from the seam but leaving enough to cover the seam so that it gets sewn into the seam when you add the other side of the waistband.  The selvage from this linen in particular was perfect–it added no bulk but kept the linen from distorting and stretching.

I thought about adding some hem details like tabs or vents to these, but I decided to keep them plain.  I have a nice bit of linen/cotton/wool/silk tweed that I picked up last year at Elliott Berman’s anniversary sale (which I didn’t shop this year since I stocked up elsewhere–boo) that will definitely be made up in these shorts, so perhaps I’ll add some details on that pair.

I’m really proud of the fit.  I think I’ve finally cracked the back fitting code for myself.  They’re wrinkly here only from wear–they are completely wrinkle free from fit.   Yay!

If you’ve never made pants before or are completely utterly intimidated by it, I can’t urge you more to try it anyway.  The end result of pain and tears and frustration is well-fitting pants every time, and we all know how rare it is to find 1 pair of pants in RTW that gets even close.  The pockets sit a little funny in front and in back, but it’s because of the linen.  I was asking it to be all crisp when it just wants to flow.  I’m okay with them looking a little slouchy though–it’s linen after all.  Ah, linen.  I’m going to be really glad I made these in linen when it’s 90+ outside.  I’ll enjoy them today when it’s 81.

Today for MMM ’12, day 9, I’m wearing them with my Ottobre 5-2007-2 shirt and some gold flip flops.

My review of the shorts is here.

Sewing without your right arm

It’s quite seldom that I do not use my serger for at least part of any given garment.  But when it started feeling “clunky” last week, I decided it was time to get it serviced (it’s been I think 3 years).  But I only had a pair of knit pants to make (ponte pants–my last item for the Wardrobe Basics Sew along, specifically), and theoretically, you don’t need a serger to make knits.  I say theoretically because I didn’t realize how crazy dependent I am on my serger.  Good sewing went out the window.

My inspiration pants were the City Knit Luxe pants from NY and Company that I tried on at the beginning of the challenge whilst on a little snoop shopping expedition with my sweet friend Lisa.

I started well enough with Burdastyle 12-2009-104–a skinny stretch woven pant with faux front pockets, and 2 piece front.  I took out a little more than usual in my flat seat adjustment and added a little more in scooping out the front crotch to account for the additional stretch in my fabric (a nicely draping rayon poly lycra doubleknit from Denver Fabrics).  I cut 1″ off the top to make it more low-rise, as low-rise is normal rise for me.  It decidedly being Spring, and it being far too warm to wear jeans tucked into boots, I also decided to add some flare from the knee down.  But this sewing trip was not all a trip through the roses.

Exhibit A:

Ack!  This is the ugliest waistband ever.  I think I thought that I’d serge it as one piece, except that I didn’t have my serger.  Ick.  It’s all wrinkled and such because I tried to do Lori’s tutorial for adding hidden elastic in the waistband.  Don’t go on my mistakes here–it really is a good tutorial.  I think a couple of things happened:

1.  My elastic should have been longer so that there wouldn’t be so much disparity in circumference in each part of the waistband.

2.  If I had thought about it, I might have tried to stitch the elastic to the seam allowance in the waistband.  I ran out of matching thread in my bobbin, so I’m not fond of the 3 part zigzag on the inside.

3.  My topstitching on the waistband went seriously awry.  I say mysteriously because it looks perfectly fine on the two part seam on the body of the fronts as well as the faux pockets.

I do really like that this method helps keeps the pants from doing the knit pant creep down towards the knees that happens over the course of the day.  Though, they still are a little saggy in back after a day’s wearing.

Exhibit B:

I put on the pants to do a final check of the fit, only to discover that they were mysteriously breezy.  Breezy because there was a big hole I slashed at the bottom of the fly.  A little extra bartacking fixed it, but it’s not exactly pretty.

Exhibit C:

Where are the pockets?  I feel a bit exposed in these pants, so I reckon I’ll be wearing them with longer tops.  A quick patch pocket could have fixed that.  I’d retrofit these with some patch pockets, but my layout was too tight and left me with very little extra, and certainly nothing wide enough for a pocket, and there’s the problem of topstitching on this fabric again…

From the fly down, I’m okay with these pants.  The great thing about messing up a waistband is that you can cover that.  They are extremely comfortable.  Actually, they are more comfortable than sweatpants because they fit my body while allowing the freedom of movement that make us all love knits in the first place.  As a bonus, they look more like slacks, which is what I wanted over a yoga type pant which I probably wouldn’t wear out of the house.  I also really like the 2 piece front…it’s a fun design element and it’s flattering.  All this said, the next time I attempt a pair of knit pants, I will wait until my serger is back in her proper place.

As for you readers, do you have any salvageable mess ups that you’ve made?

My full review is here.

Heather is the new pastel

My good friend Vanessa is dotty over orange.  The way I love aqua, she loves orange.  I’ve been content to let her own that color for a good many years, but what with the pretty corals I keep coming across and the fact that coral is pretty much opposite aqua on the color wheel, I’ve been attempting to branch out from my #1 favorite color.

Enter this pretty peachy pink heathered poly cotton rayon knit from Harts Fabric.  I bought it with some Christmas money and it’s been ageing in my stash as I’ve pondered how to do it justice.

Burdastyle 12/2009 has proved to be one of the better issues of Burda in my stash.  While working on my motorcycle jacket, I kept coming to this pattern–a basic henley.

I love that it uses snaps instead of buttons, and I like the easy go with everything feel it has.  I knew I had found my pattern for this pretty fabric.  But I was less enchanted with the smallest size being a 36. I’ve made my peace with grading, but for such a basic top, I figured it really wasn’t worth my time to do so.  So out came my TNT.

I traced the shoulder, armscye, neckline and a couple of inches below the armscye without cutting out anything yet on my tracing paper.  I also quickly transferred the seamlines since Burda does not use them (and can I say how much easier that is than dealing with those monstrous 5/8″ things on Big 4 patterns?!) I superimposed that over the Burda tracing sheet and copied the neckline, and grabbed the CF placket, and boom.  A complete graded pattern in 5 minutes.  When it came to cutting out, I then just overlayed the tracing onto my TNT front, secured with pattern weights and cut away.

The top came together in 100 minutes (I’m timing myself for t-shirts now just for your benefit, readers).  It typically takes me about 90 to sew up a t-shirt, but it took a little longer to hammer the snaps in.  I wished I had added 1/4″ extra along the side seams.  Because my TNT is based on a rayon lycra with a little more stretch than this fabric, it’s perhaps a bit more snug than it would otherwise be.  I’ll give myself a little grace for that because this is the first time that I’ve used something other than rayon/lycra with my TNT.

But mostly, I love this color.  Pure versions of colors can often wash out my fair skin.  My solution  to this has always been to gravitate towards pastels, but I often think that pastels can be ageing and dated.  Thankfully, there have been a lot of heathered knits and chambrays that I’ve come across lately that do the same work of a pastel (mixing in white with a more pure color) but with a fresher, more textured, less Easter-egg look.

ETA: For more info on snaps (and because Julie asked):

I got lucky and was given some vintage pearl snaps from a lady who was cleaning out her stash a while ago.  They’re called Ginger Snaps, and they’re definitely better than the Dritz snaps…I’ve had 100% success with them and it’s about 50/50 with the Dritz snaps.  The nice thing about them is that they are colored on the side that fits into the pearl prong, so you can’t mess it up.  There is an excellent tutorial on pearl snaps here:

Pearl Prong Western Snaps tutorial 

I didn’t interface my placket either because I find that it can sometimes can outweigh the fashion fabric and then I have gaping issues.  The two layers of fabric really are enough, but if your fabric feels unstable or like it needs some beef, by all means, interface it.

Etsy is an excellent resource for pearl snaps, and really a lot of different notions.  I’m finding that the more I use Dritz products and the more I use non-Dritz products, the less I like the Dritz…I have a lot fewer headaches with them for whatever reason–and I don’t even use a snap setter–just an old wooden spool, a fabric pad under the snap to protect it, and a mallet.  There’s a store here that sells pearl snaps: Cowgirl Snaps

You can also find Ginger Snaps on Ebay and Etsy: Green Ginger Snaps, Orange Ginger Snaps, Spiffy Red/White/Blue Ginger Snaps

Snap Source also sells good quality snaps and setting tools.  Their setters are the ones that Sandra Betzina uses.  I keep meaning to get some every time I’m at Denver Fabrics…

How do you break out of color ruts that you find yourself in?

My full review of the top is here.

For you T-shirt Project followers, this is an unofficial entry.  I’ll take another look at the henley at some point in the course of the project because it’s kind of an interesting shirt. Also, I love this one so much I’m so in for making another one.  You’ll still find it in the Flickr page for the project.  You can now click up at the top of the page to a special page just for the project, listing participants and a few other links.  Enjoy!

What I did with my melted collar

Whew!  I got a little over my head the past few days what with my birthday and preparing to host like 30 people for a Seder dinner tomorrow.  My brain’s been stuck in flashback mode from my former catering planning days–very fun, but also all consuming.  So while I’ve had the jacket finished for about 2 weeks, I haven’t gotten around to writing about it properly until now (which is funny because it was something like 86 today!).

Thank you all who contributed to helping me decided about my melted collar.  As I let the jacket hang for a couple of days in the sewing closet, I came to agree with all of you–the pieced collar didn’t look all that weird.  So I sewed it on in and finished off the jacket.  And now I can present you the final jacket!

Burdastyle 12-2009-111

I made this up in a really pretty cotton twill from Denver Fabrics.  I was going to use wool for this jacket, but the realization that Spring was going to come quick and fast here dawned on me, so I went for the cooler cotton (that it was $5/yd vs. the $18/yd that the mint green wool I was eyeing probably pushed me over the edge).  It has a soft, brushed surface and a pretty drape.

I scored bigtime with the lining.  I’m always looking for prints to put in for lining.  I feel like if you’re bothering to sew a jacket, you might as well make it interesting.  After scouring the silks, the flat folds of polys (I did find a nice abstract floral that also would have worked), I found this print buried in the general flat folds that they have at DF.  It feels and sews very much like rayon Bemberg, but I haven’t done a burn test to confirm this.  But the print kills me–such lovely floaty feathers.  I love birds, and I’m so so happy that feather and bird prints are in right now.  The salmon and vermillion really go well with the blue–even if I’m the only one who notices or knows that it’s there.

I decided not to topstitch the collar as the faux leather proved difficult to work with in my machine.  Even with my nonslip feet, there was enough drag on the leather to make some dragging stress marks.  I also couldn’t take advantage of my friend Linda’s genius idea to piece the collar with a zipper in the seam because the “leather” tears apart when you try to pick out stitches.  I think I have a lot to learn in the way of spotting quality faux leathers vs. cheap ones.

It’s probably good that I put in the zippered welts before the collar incident because I don’t know that I would have had the heart to try after it.  The pattern just has you make a narrow little window around the zipper typical of most zippered welts and then topstitch around it in a big window.  Instead, I followed the advice of Ron Collins on the little extra DVD in Sandra Betzina’s Power Sewing Toolbox v. 2 and made it into a wide double welt with a zipper centered between the faux leather welts.  I’ve never had a welt pocket that I was really proud of, but these suckers turned out great.  Ron Collins is a great teacher, and it was entirely unstressful and simple (even with heavy brass zippers) to do this pocket with his instructions.

This was the first separating zipper I’ve put in.  I can’t believe how easy it was.  You sew one side to CF, and the other face down along the raw edge which will get flipped over as it’s sandwiched between the facing.  It was not a problem that my zipper was too long either because the tops of the zippers were covered on the left by the shoulder yoke and on the right by the top of the facing.  I still made a thread stop at the top of both sides, but really I didn’t need to.

I unfortunately cut the belt a little too narrow for my buckle, so I folded it to the right width and covered over where my raw edges couldn’t meet with bias tape which sadly shredded after I added the eyelets.  Can I rant a little about Dritz eyelets?  They only have one part, so after you smash them, they will not cover whatever hole you made to make room for them (presumably even if you didn’t have to cover over your mistake with bias tape).  Gross.  The belt looks fine from the right side, but I imagine I’ll have to remake it at some point.

The rivets are leftover from my jeans, that I bought from Cawaiiland.  They have lots of super fun accessories for really reasonable prices.

I made shoulder pads out of fusible fleece via this tutorial.  I did it without the toxic-o-rama spray glue and instead tacked down the layers with some quick basting stitches on my machine.  I will do this again as it makes for a pad with minimal height but good shaping–my preference indeed.

If you add the sleeve facing and the shoulder yokes per the pattern, it’s a little tricky lining up the topstitching lines.  You are forced to do this in the round, which super stinks.  To get the lines to line up, you end up with a hair too much ease in the sleeve cap.  I ended up with one teeny tiny pleat on the back of the sleeve cap just past the top of the sleeve.  Miraculously, I ended up with the same pleat in the other sleeve, so I left itbsx.  If you make this, either leave out the sleeve facing or I’d suggest adding 5/8″ SA on the bottom of the shoulder yokes and facing, and only fold back 1/4″ on the shoulder yokes before you topstitch.  This will place the topstitching lines a little further down the armscye on either side, so you’ll have more room around the sleeve to distribute the extra fullness smoothly.

I will save my “winter fox” faux fur that I was going to use for an extra detachable collar for when it’s not 86 degrees outside.  I was hoping to finish this jacket so I could get some use out of such a collar, but it’s not going to happen this season.  Expect this jacket to resurface with a collar out of this at some point though.  Even without the fur, I still think that the jacket is in the spirit of the Wardrobe Basics Sew Along.

There’s a funny little bit in the magazine about the jacket (you German speakers, it’s always my question–is this text as funny in the German version, or is it just bad translation on the part of Burda?):  “I can go anywhere in my biker jacket!  It’s perfect for walks in the woods or jaunts through the asphalt jungle.”  I couldn’t agree more.

My full review is here.

St. Patrick’s Day dress

While thinking about the Wardrobe Basics Sew Along, I was at first sad to see an LBD on the list, but felt much better when the video segment included a print dress.  Print knit dresses are basics for me–I love that you can toss one on plus a great necklace and you’re done.  I feel like black dresses do nothing to express the aqua I feel in my soul, plus black is a really severe color against my skin and hair.

This particular dress is Burdastyle 6-2010-109.  It sewed up really easily (minus a little wonkiness in CF) and it fits fine (the neckline for being a Burda v-neck is not revealing at all) , there’s just one issue.  Um, the dress’ “parts” are not where mine are.  It’s not like I wasn’t warned.  But still, I decided to give this dress a shot because it took very little fabric and only has 4 pattern pieces.  I’m glad that this print is really busy because it hides a lot of the saggy weirdness below my waist, and I really like the color.  I sewed in some ties made from scraps into the side seams to cover the sags, but it’s really difficult to see it because of the print.

I’ve been making a lot of things with belts lately, but still this was a good and easy fix even if I’m the only one who knows the problem with this dress.

It also occurred to me that I didn’t need to bother with making another jacket (to replace the puffy vest which is a rather unappealing style to me) because this jacket that I made in the fall

works really well.  I wore it today to a dear friend’s baby shower with the dress.

My full review is here.  Have a good St. Patrick’s Day.  Wear something happy and green!

Short naps and awesome things you learn during them

My family game is pinochle.  I grew up playing it with my great-grandma and her sisters and uncles and aunts and my older cousins and my parents.  It’s so ingrained that the whole process is automatic, but once in a while someone will miss a bid or play the wrong suit or forget that it’s their turn.  We started referring to that as taking a short nap.  And boy have I had a few short naps on this sweater.

I knew that this tie waist sweater was going to take some hand sewing of the ruffles to finish, but I wasn’t prepared for having to do so not once, not twice, but three times.  Mostly I blame Burda and the unclearness of its directions.  The first time I misread where I needed to gather the strips, the second time, it was totally Burda.

The directions tell you to gather in the middle (clear enough from the picture–not sure how I missed that the first time).  Then I realized that you need to sew that gathered middle the 3/8″ from the neck edge.  The first time I gathered the edge of the strip, not the middle and sewed on the gathered edge.  I hand basted and everything, but the ruffles don’t really look like what they look like until you take out the gathering stitches.  Hence why it didn’t work yet again.

The upside of all of my short napping is that I’ve been listening to lots of great information on Lori’s podcasts Sew Forth Now.  When I first started sewing, I’d listen to a lot of crafting sorts of podcasts like Craft Sanity and CraftyPod.  Both are hosted very well with good information, but I soon found out that I was not particularly interested in crafty sorts of projects or quilting fabrics.  At the time, I had no idea that Lori was around doing this wonderful podcast devoted to garment sewing.

Really though, it’s kind of great that I’m discovering this now because my knowledge has grown to the point that I can start really being able to understand what she’s talking about, and that is kind of fun.  If I had come across it earlier, I think I would have felt overwhelmed by everything.  So I’ve been enjoying the archives of these podcasts even when I’ve been sewing very poorly.

My only disappointment is that I was hoping to have traced and muslined this motorcycle jacket with a detachable fur collar I have planned in time for my fitting group on Saturday.  

Instead, I have a riff on the Ottobre blouse I made here cut out and a skirt muslined that I can take on Saturday.

My full review is here.

With this sweater finished, that leaves the camel skirt, white shirt, dress, ponte pants, and faux fur piece left for the sew along.  I omitted the puffy vest from my accounting, but that’s another tale that I will leave for another day.