The Slapdash Sewist

A Fond Farewell to 2009 and Looking Toward 2010

2009-12-31T10:27:00.004-05:00

Last year's resolution was pretty much just to keep on keeping on, which I've done. I actually had a bit of a resolution to sew less, as discussed in my stash resolution post, as crazy as that seems! I devote a lot of time, energy, and head space to sewing and it seemed possible that I was using it as an excuse to hide from the world a bit.

Although I didn't really end up sewing that much less I felt like I did slow down a bit--no fewer garments (actually a couple more than last year, based on my imprecise counts for both years), but I think overall the average of my projects was much less complicated so there was less time involved. And it totally worked out for me, whether setting my intention really did have an effect or it was just random. I know it has been a bad year for many, so I hope my happiness doesn't seem inappropriate but 2009 has been *my* year in my personal and professional life. One of the best years ever for me. I still love sewing and have missed it when I haven't had time to do it, but the tradeoffs I have made have been worth it. I am happy, and this is not something I've always been able to say.

The Stats

50 Pattern Reviews for the year (some of those were for garments made in 2008, which is why the numbers don't seem to add up).

photoed and reviewed: 42 garments (I'm calling the hat a garment since it took a fair amount of sewing)
5 knit tops
3 woven tops
5 skirts
15 knit dresses
12 woven dresses
1 coat
1 hat

Awaiting photography and review: 17 garments
3 knit tops
1 woven top
4 skirts
2 knit dresses
4 woven dresses
1 pair PJ pants

Totals: 59 garments
8 knit tops
4 woven tops
9 skirts
17 knit dresses
16 woven dresses
1 coat
1 hat
1 PJ pants
2 belts
Plus
Misc. projects: 2 belts (braided ribbon and obi), 4 aprons, 1 refashioned sweater, several pairs of underwear

UFOs:
Suit Jacket. Ugh. I need to recommit to this project and either tackle welted pockets with flaps or just leave the damn pockets off already.

On the bright side, I think that's my only UFO from this year. I cut out a skirt of the same fabric at the same time but haven't started sewing it. I don't know if that's a UFO or not.

I had a UFO of a crappy attempt to alter a so-so pattern out of horrible fabric that I hated but I threw it away. It was very liberating.

Failures:
Two projects turned out awful. One was my fault, the other was a gross pattern. I haven't reviewed them yet. The Butterick 5079 Twist Dress was so so. Another unreviewed project needs some fixing, I guess; it's not wearable as intended at the moment, but is still not horrible. Everything else ranges from fine to awesome.

Favorites are very hard to choose this year! I had a ton of projects I loved. It's a lot easier to choose the duds.

Favorite special occasion dress: Birthday dress of silk jersey from Drape Drape Japanese pattern book. I've only worn this once, but I love it.

Favorite Knit Dress: BWOF 03-2009-102

Best day-to-night piece: BWOF 02-2009-124 Lace Dress

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So for 2010 I will continue to maintain my balance, in all senses of the phrase.

Stash balance, of course, is part of it. In the end I greatly exceeded my six yard monthly allotment--around 166 yards. *gulp* I had no idea it was so much. I thought I had bought way less than in years past and in fact began composing this blog post to that effect. But it turns out that when I actually tallied it all up it was almost half again as much (my average the past two years was about 110 yards). I guess not keeping track didn't work.

I found a place to give away my 2008 stash cull (DC Threads), and gave a few more pieces away this year. My shelves look emptier than at the end of last year, but maybe I just did better at distributing the fabric. However, with the huge exception of all the fabric I bought in NYC in June--I have sewn only four of the fourteen pieces I purchased--I have done better at buying fabrics that I am inspired to sew right now, and I love most everything that has been added to stash.

Knit and woven balance is also something to contemplate. I fall back on the easy knits quite often. I enjoy wearing them, but sometimes I'd like to be a little dressier. But sewing "too many" knits doesn't really bother me. They travel so well!

Dresses and separates are another imbalance in my sewing life. I love dresses. In Spring/Summer I wear them almost exclusively, which is what I want. In winter I am always wanting more separates. For some reason I am a little dressier in Fall/Winter, so those separates are more work than their summer counterparts, and then I get impatient and end up in knit dresses for Fall/Winter. So I'd like to add a few more separates to my closet.

But above all, I want to maintain my work/sewing/gym/life balance. I am prone to going overboard in one area of life so it is not an equilibrium that is reached and then easily maintained. Mindfulness is always useful to me!

Here's to a wonderful, healthy, happy 2010!

Sweater Refashion: A Hole New Look

2009-12-30T11:11:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday! I was in Texas last week visiting my family. I missed DC's big snow (boo) but experienced the biggest snow"storm" that I've seen in Texas, which was fun. My nephews thought it was a blizzard. It was nice to see family, but I am very happy to be home!!!!

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I bought this sweater last year when I was gathering materials for sweater refashioning. I debated about it because it is an XS, so there was not enough fabric there to cut down into anything else. However, it was so nice I couldn't leave it there and just wore it as is. It is a really soft lambswool, and the sleeve and sides are straight rather than having a dated cuffed look at the bottom.

It wasn't until the second time I'd worn it that I got home from work and realized one of the elbows was worn through! I am guessing that's why the previous owner donated it to the thrift store, because it was a well cared for sweater. On the one hand, I thought it was kind of rude to donate a holey sweater to the thrift store. On the other hand, I was so I glad I happened to be the one who picked it up! Because there is no need to throw away a sweater that is otherwise in good shape just because of one little hole and now the sweater has a new life.

The first step was to cut off both sleeves at the hole. The other side wasn't worn all the way through, but it was definitely thinner at the elbow.

Next, I went in my stash and found some gray wool jersey (Nikki so kindly gave it to me ages ago and it has come in handy many times!). I cut out rectangles for the sleeve puffs, each at 22 inches by 12 inches. Then stitch the short edges together. If you don't have wool jersey, you can use cotton or rayon.

I put strips of tulle inside the sleeve puffs before folding them in half to keep them poofy. For additional poofiness I also followed the technique in BWOF's balloon skirt dress 10-2008-117 of twisting the balloon when folding it in half, so that the side seam is offset rather than matched up.

Next you put in your double row of gathering thread, pin the gathered puffs to the sleeve edge, and stitch in place.

This was all well and good, but because my sleeve puffs were a lighter gray than the rest of the sweater I needed to bring the jersey in another way so it didn't look like a non-sequitor. Also, the fancy sleeves needed a little added fanciness. I have been enjoying the crazy feminine ruffles that Ruffles and Stuff and My Mama Made It are into lately, so I decided to go with that. I can't find the exact tutorial I used, but here is one for a rose made of strips of jersey fabric. My fabric strips are one inch wide, and rather than machine stitching I hand-stitched (I thought I could do it on a long car ride at Thanksgiving, but it made me carsick). I didn't gather the ruffles, but made them "ruffley" by twisting and looping them.

I finished it off with a layer of gathered tulle on top of the rose to emphasize it, and a few sew on jewels I had purchased in Hong Kong. Despite my best efforts that the jewels be random, they are in fact quite evenly distributed. *sigh* I am completely incapable of asymmetry.

After I'd sewn on the jewels, I wasn't sure if I loved them. I can't tell if they are Eighties or Aughties. The 80s sweater is from Leslie Hall's Gallery of Glamore gem sweaters project; it is awesome and if you've never seen it you must go check it out. The current embellished top is from J. Crew.

All photos of this project are here.

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I love sweater refashion, as you may be able to tell, so I check out the web for project ideas. Here are the most recent ones I've found.

This is such a clever way to get a drapey front cardigan. The result is almost like an overdress and would be great to winterize a sleeveless LBD.

I like this cardigan idea with the inset fabric at the waist.

There are tons of refashion ideas on the Craft blog (although not limited to clothing). There are *hours* of entertainment to be found at the Wardrobe Refashion blog, which is mostly clothes and a fair number of sweaters (although unfortunately the posters don't generally use tags so you have to wade through some introductory and other miscellaneous non-project posts).

PatternReview just announced a quick challenge for the first two weeks of January and it's...refashion! I have another sweater project in the hopper, so I just have to wait a few more days to start!

Patrones 284-24, Twenties Inspired Knit Dress

2009-12-16T10:36:00.000-05:00

While I was in Spain I managed to find three issues of Patrones. The first (the one this dress comes from, which was the most recent at the time) I picked up my first night at a regular ol' newsstand on Las Ramblas in Barcelona. This is the main tourist drag, not exactly a hotbed of sewing. Can you imagine being able to get Patrones at whatever newsstand you happen to pass? Crazy! The other two I found in the train station in Sevilla. Random back issues of Patrones, just sitting there. I bought two copies of each, one for me and one for Cidell. The woman working the newsstand was baffled, but I explained that I had una amiga who wanted them also.

One of the things that's great about Patrones is the photography is appealing and fashion-y (not catalog), but at the same time actually shows the clothes. What a novel idea. Alas, this dress came from a spread where the dresses were just laid out flat, so I couldn't tell what it would look like on a person. However, it looked cute, I loved the line drawing, and it seemed well suited to some fabric I'd gotten from G Street's $2.97/yd table back in October so I traced it out. Although I can translate Patrones instructions without too much trouble, there was nothing confusing about this so all I checked was the collar application (fold in half, right sides together, and stitch across short ends and to markings for tie ends; turn right side out, fold wrong sides together along unfinished edges and serge to the neckline).

Although I knew I was going to sew down the pleats in the Burda 06-2009-101 knit dress, I wasn't sure how I was going to handle the front bodice pleats here. Sewing them shut would defeat the purpose of the design, but I also didn't want any bagginess. I sewed them about 3/4 of an inch past the seam line at the top and bottom before putting the dress together. While I normally hate baggy, somehow I really like the look of these blousy pleats. They have a bit of a 1920s vibe. I always feel like the 20s are due for a revival, and there is usually something on the runway to evoke them. For Spring 2010 Proenza Schouler had an art deco vibe going in some of its pieces; here's another look from Balmain. Nobody really went full on 20s inspired (though I haven't looked at all the shows), but the ideas are there.

I was somewhat short on fabric based on what the pattern called for, so I did not use the skirt pattern. My fabric was 60 inches wide, so I just cut a rectangle and then eyeballed approximately even pleats all around. It was a little fussy and I probably could have just used the pattern and saved myself some trouble, but the skirt flows well and is fun to wear so whatever.

This pattern is called "Vestido Manga Larga," which means "Dress with Long Sleeves." I had to cut the sleeves on the cross grain due to my somewhat limited fabric, but I have not noticed any ill effects. Because I was cutting on the crossgrain I had plenty of room for length and cut them really long. I do the sleeve and lower hem last on a project, so I was fussing with the sleeves trying to get them to look right. I experimented with gathering them up or having them very long but it just wasn't looking great. Finally I pinned them up to 3/4 length and WOW what a difference it made. It reduced the target age for the style by at least 10 years. It had been kind of matronly looking, and suddenly it was young and fresh. It was startling how much a small alteration changed the entire look. To add a little interest to the sleeve I added an inverted pleat at the hem. This means it is snug below the elbow, and the blousing echoes that of the bodice.

What I really loved about this pattern was the loose cowl-y collar and tie. Unfortunately, the tie really disappears in my dark fabric. I'm not sure a lighter fabric would be that much better because a knit bow is always going to be floppy. It took me several experiments to tie the tie right; the key, it turns out, is not making a knot first. I keep thinking I should tie it perfectly and then hand sew to keep it from ever coming untied, but I'm not sure it will work. The tie is rather heavy when tied in a bow, which distorts the shape of the neckline a little bit and pulls it open. If you look closely you can see that my clear bra strap is a little exposed.

I am happy with the way this dress turned out. The style is fun and a little different than I would usually wear. And I'm glad to have sewn from my Patrones!

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

'Tis the Season...

2009-12-14T09:50:00.001-05:00

...not to have to time to sew. Boo. But there are compensating factors

Three friends and I have been making mounds of cookies for the holidays for about 6 years now. One of the girls is in Moldova, but her roommate joined us in her stead. We skyped her in and it was almost like she was actually there.

Let's take a closer look at those cookies, shall we?

Clockwise from top left: Sugar Cookies, Mexican Wedding Cookies, Peanut Butter & Chocolate Whirls, Rolo Cookies (also at lower left), Snickerdoodles, Macaroons, Chocolate Crackles, and Chocolate Chips. There would have been lemon bars but I managed to burn both pans. There were more cookies on the cooling racks, but this is most of them.

This is an all day affair!

I leave for Texas on Friday so no more sewing for me until I get back. I'm scheduled to be back home on the 26th so maybe I'll have time for one last project in 2009 when I get back. Although I won't be sewing this week I hope to review a couple more projects before the year ends!

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I have been getting a rash of spam comments lately. Is this happening to anyone else lately? For now I am just deleting them as they come and don't intend to change anything (they're not anonymous comments, so disallowing anons won't help), but I'll keep you posted.

Butterick 5079, A Twist on the Twist with Twists

2009-12-11T10:40:00.001-05:00

Here is a random project from my backlog, Butterick 5079. Because what better time to review a summer dress than when I've had to pull out the wool knickers? Perhaps it will do our Australian/New Zealander friends some good!

I liked the design of this dress in concept, but I have to say, it's kind of a lackluster result.

Rather than the twist being at the neckline, the bodice is cut with an overlay and the twist is several inches below the neck using the overlay. It's an interesting and creative design (that looks fab on this 3.1 Phillip Lim top)...but in real life it just makes you look like you have saggy boobs. Or the saggy boob issue could be related to my flat chest--if your bust is large enough to be differentiated from the twist it might be flattering and interesting. But on me, where the bust and the twist can't really be distinguished, it looks like saggy boobs.

The pattern envelope photo (though not the line drawing) makes it appear as though there is some gathering on the skirt at center front, or at least plenty of fabric. And there is waistline ruching, which always works for me. But again, once made up, these things don't quite add up. Although the skirt is pleasantly full, it is cut as an A line rather than with any gathering at center front and there is no extra fabric there for tummy camouflage. And although there is ruching, it is fairly high up at an empire line, and also provides no tummy camouflage. So I feel like the ruching merely provides a frame for my belly, rather than disguising it.

My fabric was somewhat sheer and needed to be lined. I did not follow the pattern instructions, which were needlessly complicated and involved (1) woven lining and (2) a zipper, both of which are nonsensical in a knit. I cut the bodice out of a knit lining, and then trimmed away 1/4 inch from the neckline and armscyes of the lining to ensure a good turn of cloth that would not show the lining from the outside. I stitched the shoulder seams of the lining and fashion fabrics. Then I sewed them together at the neckline and armscyes, turning right side out through the strap tunnels. The photo at right shows one half turned right side out, and the other right sides together to show the stitching at neckline and armscye. Then sew the side seams.

I really liked this print and was a little disappointed in the result, although at least I only paid $2.97/yd for the fabric. The dress is wearable, but I don't feel great in it so I only wore it a few times over summer and I don't know how many times it will get worn next summer before it gets the boot.

In general I have found the Maggy London/Suzi Chin line of patterns for Butterick to be excellent, so I think this is just a blip and I will certainly continue buying the line.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Simplicity 2754, Cowl Neck Empire Waist Knit Dress

2009-12-08T10:35:00.003-05:00

Thank you for the suggestions on the panties! I make them with black cotton crotches, but that is not enough to contain the unexpected flow I sometimes get. I am intrigued by the idea of building in an extra layer, though. I make my pads of cotton flannel and even one layer of flannel might be enough. The crotch pocket idea is also interesting, but I would have to figure out some sort of closure for it; it would be horrifying if the lining wormed its way out when I was changing clothes at the gym! Will consider these suggestions.

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I will buy pretty much any pattern for a knit dress (as long as it's not a glorified t-shirt), so at some point I picked up Simplicity 2754. I liked the empire waist, cowl neck, and full pleated skirt (so much nicer than a gathered skirt in this style).

When I bought this yellow/gray fans fabric from Jomar in Philly it really said maxi dress to me, but I plan to use my rayon knit from Spain for a maxi-dress (it's too lightweight for a Fall/Winter dress) *and* I need Fall/Winter dresses more than Spring/Summer dresses. So I stuck to my guns and made it for Fall/Winter. With the shorter elbow-length sleeves it will be wearable into Spring.

When I initially put this together I hated it. I thought it looked like a nightgown. I almost wadded it. So I spent some time analyzing it and I realized a big problem was the front bodice. I had cut it without really paying attention and it was pretty much a single big pale yellow fan. I didn't take a photo then, but I pinned it back on and took the photo at left so you can see. I had already serger constructed everything, all that was left was hems. But I knew I would hate the dress if I let it stand.

So I cut out a new bodice, being careful to balance the motifs so that I had three instead of one. Then I carefully cut the old bodice out of the dress, clipping just outside the serger seams (luckily, there was adequate ease, so it was OK to lose some; I do not seam rip serger seams unless it is really, really necessary). It was a little challenging to pin the new bodice into the space, keeping all the seams in the right places, but I managed it in the end. I overlapped the seam allowance on the new bodice so that it extended out beyond the clipped off seam allowances of the other pieces and serger stitched with the new bodice on top, clipping off the seams allowances of the new bodice and just barely catching the edges of the original back and cowl.

It went together pretty well; I lost a bit of the reverse V shape on the empire seam and there is a little seam distortion on the lower right bodice seam (*my* right side, which is on the left in the photo), but in wearing this yesterday I think it has to do with the perpetual problem of my serger not keeping tension on the right needle thread. I have rethreaded, turned the tension dial, and done everything else I can think of the keep that thread from looping and nada. When I went to clip my work badge to the seam I noticed that the seam is almost doing a flatlock thing because of the loopy right needle thread. So I'm going to have to go in and sewing machine stitch that seam to make sure it doesn't pull apart.

The new print motif looks SO MUCH BETTER. The pale colors of the print combined with the relaxed fit do make it look a little nightgown-y in general (had I made a fitted wrap dress it wouldn't have been as much of a problem, I don't think), but I'll just have to live with that.

One of my mom's pet peeves that she passed on to me is that ready-to-wear, even on the high end, often doesn't match the back and front. So the front will have some sort of neckline embellishment, for instance, that should logically go all the way around the neck, but the back neck is plain. I think this looks so cheap! This dress suffered from that syndrome. While the front is designed with the empire waistline and pleated skirt, the back is just a single t-shirty piece. Cheap!

I lined up the front and back pieces and marked the empire waistline on the back. The front skirt is shaped to fit into that upside V waistline, so I just folded it down so that it was flat and even with the side seam and cut the back skirt like that. It looks so much better this way. I didn't make a swayback adjustment because of all the volume, and I think I lucked out here.

There's not much to say about this dress! It's cute, easy, and goes together well. The cowl is supposed to be cut on the bias. Because I had plenty of fabric I went ahead and did it, but honestly as long as you're using a lightweight knit I really don't think you need to. I have been into deep twin-needle hems on knits lately; the skirt on this ended up being really long (didn't want to shorten it in cutting as I keep getting burned by that) so I did the deep hem. It gives a little weight to improve the hang of the dress.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Unmentionables and Stashoholism Confessional

2009-12-07T09:40:00.000-05:00

I have been ordering fabric like a mad woman lately! But I have also been sewing like crazy lately and the fabrics have been good stash fabrics (if you accept that there is such a thing)--silk cottons and now wool. I ordered this fabric really just to make it to $35 at Fabric.com for free shipping, but when will I not need a good quality stretch wool? I pre-shrunk it by wetting it in the shower with hot water and hanging it to dry. Cidell and I were talking about how much we love the smell of wool. This smelled so good!

The real reason for my order was the pattern. Fabric.com was having a 20% off sale and I just couldn't hold out any longer for a 2-for-1 deal at HotPatterns. I've never used a HotPatterns before, but I loved this one as soon as it came out and people have been making nice things out of it. My serger is gray right now and I have a list of gray projects to complete (including a dress of the stretch wool), but when I change it to red this pattern is on the list! Probably won't happen until after the holidays, alas.

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I also ordered two sets of a 30 yard stretch lace assortment from SewSassy. That is one set rolled onto cards, and one set loose, to give you an idea. I really don't know why I ordered the bundles. Well, I mean I do know why I ordered the bundles--because I like the surprise element. It's like getting a sewing present. But in reality, I pretty much wear black underwear every day because (tmi) I spot 24/7/365 and anything else gets ruined on the first wear. So I should have just ordered a crapload of black and of course the bundles didn't come with any black at all!

I was pleased with the quality and service, however. I like that you can choose USPS shipping because USPS is the only delivery I can get at my house and I hate sending all my packages to work. The shipping charge was totally reasonable and it came super quickly! I will probably go back and order some black picot lingerie elastic for legs, and can use the light colored laces at the waist.

I had actually made some panties before ordering the lace, if you can believe it! I bought some H&M underwear a few weeks ago when I had forgotten to pack any and ended up really liking the style. I prefer a low waist, full coverage rear, separate crotch piece, and lower cut legs so they don't ride up and they fit the bill perfectly. Of course, the downside of my preference for full coverage is that I cannot really make them out of "scraps." This takes a not insignificant chunk of yardage, around 3/8 yard.

The only thing about the H&M panties was I had bought a size too small. Luckily, I have the technology to correct that! So I laid tracing paper over them and traced them with a pencil (my pattern is not symmetrical, but the resulting panties are fine so I haven't bothered to clean it up), added a bit to the sides, and voila! I have what I hope is a TNT panty pattern. I won't really know if it's TNT until the Spring, though. You can't tell if panties are going to ride up if you're wearing tights over them. So I feel like I shouldn't make *too* many of these until I know for sure!

Anyway, I made the prototypes using clear elastic and a twin needle. They fit well and wear well (although I can't really wear them since they're not black), but the clear elastic feels chintzy. Also, the allowances roll out out and expose the clear elastic, which again is not uncomfortable but just isn't cute. So I decided that I was allowed to order the stretch lace, since I had demonstrated that I actually would sew panties.

So much better, right? They look better at any rate. Can't actually wear them because they're not all black. I switched Pills several months ago and now I have a few days' window where I don't spot so I have to wear all my cute underwear on those days. I just overlapped the lace at the seams, and one leg already had one of those long strings you pull from all the way around the lace, so I'm going to have to figure out how to finish those ends. I guess just zigzag them in place.

Next time my serger is threaded in black (and I have black picot elastic in hand) I'm going to have to do a black panty-sewing extravaganza. They're quick to cut and assemble, but it does take some time to pin the lace/elastic around the legs and waist so each pair takes about 40 minutes. I thought it would be like popcorn, but it's more like gummy worms.

So I guess I'm making my own underwear now. But there's still no way I'm going to attempt a bra.

Vogue 1056, Triple Keyhole Knit Dress

2009-12-04T09:55:00.001-05:00

This was a stashbusting project; I felt like I needed to sew something from stash to balance out sewing exclusively with new fabrics, which is always a problem with me! I bought this about a year and a half ago from G Street's $2.97 table. At the time I was seduced by the turquoise in the print, as this is my favorite color. However, I got it home and realized that it was a stealth stripe fabric. For some reason, I often just don't like stripes that much. I like them sometimes, but they are not my favorite. I find stealth stripe prints to be such a nuisance because then you have to think about directionality and which way is more flattering and it is all too much trouble. So this sat in stash and I fell more and more out of love with it, to the point where I thought I might have given it away. But there it was, at the back of the shelf.

I was iffy on the pattern, Vogue 1056, as well. I don't normally wear anything with a high neckline as I have a very low choking feeling threshold, and plus I like my collarbones. But I was really intrigued by the design and it is something a little new and different for a knit. I figured I'd combine the so-so fabric with the so-so pattern and wouldn't be too sad if either turned out to be the wrong decision, and I'd finally get the blasted fabric out of stash.

In the end, I am very happy with the dress! It was quick and easy to put together (I omitted the zipper because it's a knit for crying out loud) and the woven lining (ditto). The neckline is not stretchy because of the facing, but it slips over the head. I did it over my *crazy* I-haven't-sewn-in-forever-so-I-must-do-nothing-but-obsessively-sit-at-my-machine weekend and it took around 4 hours. The only remotely tricky part is the neckline facing, and it's really not that tricky and the pattern directions and illustrations are good.

Although it's evident in the line drawing and should be a logical conclusion based on the design, I was somehow surprised when this turned out to be a triple keyhole. I was focusing on the center keyhole, which the model photo emphasizes, and you can't even see the side keyholes in the pattern photo. When I first put it on, I thought I had done something wrong! The side keyholes were very prominent and the center keyhole completely disappeared. I ended up inelegantly just bunching a couple layers of fabric together on either side of the center keyhole and tacking it down to make sure that it stayed open.

Because of my "striped" fabric, I couldn't follow the cutting layout. The front is kind of crazy as the two halves are cut as one at the neck, and then has a center seam below the keyhole (so the final cut out front is sort of a butterfly-shape variant; I feel like I'm not explaining this well) so you have to cut it out single layer and it's on the bias. This would have made my stripes all kinds of crazy, so I put a seam at the center neck joining spot and laid the front out on grain. This knit is thin (not to say cheap) and I used serger construction so that front seam neck isn't *too* bulky, but I would not recommend adding that seam rather than cutting as one in anything but a thin, drapey knit.

I ended up loving the way the stripes fall on the front--their subtle curve makes my bust look big and my waist look skinny! Perhaps I should give stripes more credit in the future.

As with the Butterick 5130 Muse dress I was a little too enthusiastic about how much I needed to shorten the skirt in cutting. Oops. So, as I did for that dress, I added a band at the hem. Here I actually thought this was a very fortuitous accident, because the horizontal striped band at the hem I felt really added something to the design (and helped balance the play of stripes at the back neck yoke) and made the dress look more finished than it had with just a normal hem rather than just being necessary to cover a mistake! Wearing this yesterday, however, I still felt like this dress was a skootch too short for work. But since it's for Fall/Winter I'll always be wearing it with tights, so I guess it's ok.

I clearly felt I needed to review this soon because I took pictures of it both times I've worn it. I totally forgot I'd done the first set of photos! So you can see it with different legwear in the photos. The review is here.

BWOF 06-2009-101, Pleat Front Knit Dress

2009-12-01T08:25:00.000-05:00

You couldn't see a thing of this dress in the magazine, what with the dark blue color and the scrunched down loungey pose, but I loved the line drawing and this has been a very popular dress/top pattern with lots of cute examples of it made up.

I decided to go with the tweed-ish, metallic-ish cotton/poly (based on a burn test) knit from Jomar in Philly. I totally fell in love with the fabric even though it's slightly weird, but having now made it up I think I was totally justified! This was one of my projects on my happy sewing day.

I wanted this to be for Fall/Winter, so I lengthened the sleeves, as several people have also done. Luckily, Burda's directions explicitly tell you that the drafted cap sleeves are joined at the bottom seam, so I didn't have to do anything to the drafting. In my heavy-ish fabric I didn't want the top seam to be weighing down the sleeve so I combined the two pattern pieces, laying them together at the stitching line and marking the resulting dart where they diverged.

I stitched the dart and then clipped it open to reduce the bulk. This knit fabric, unlike some, takes a press to some degree so I pressed it as flat as possible, and I think the end result is nice--it sits well at the shoulders and there is no noticeable bulk.

Burda claims that leaving the pleats unsewn will enhance a small bust. Have they ever met anyone with a small bust? Because nothing looks worse on a flat chest than an empty, billowy, echo chamber of fabric. I did not take this particular suggestion, and instead stitched the pleats down from the inside all the way along the bodice. I put in the full width pleats at top and bottom and sewed them about half-width along the length. However, after the dress was put together I went in and sewed the pleats even deeper, almost to the full width for the top and bottom. I think with the pleats sewn down it is flattering for a small bust. I also narrowed the bust dart drafted into the bodice front and lining.

I followed the instructions for the front lining, even stitching the darts together, which is really kind of silly and unnecessary because the "lining" is really just an underlining, so it's anchored at all the the seams and not going to shift around. I used the rayon(?) jersey I bought in Hong Kong and man, is it good stuff! I can't wait to sew it into something, but now that I know how fab it is it has, of course, become Too Good To Use for any old project.

I used *gasp* facings, which I generally hate and never use. But here I was able to hand stitch them down in the front to the underlining, and then stitch in the ditch at the raglan sleeve seams and center back, so there is no chance of it flipping out. I used self-fabric for the facings and because my fabric is a fairly thick knit I think there is a little too much bulk going around the back neck, but I can live with it.

When I put this together it just wasn't looking great. It took me a little bit of playing but I finally figured out the midriff was just way too wide for me. I've made plenty of projects with wide midriffs, so it's not that the style doesn't work for me, it was just something about this dress. I narrowed it to about half the drafted width and it made a huge difference in the look of the dress.

I also had to take it in about two inches at the midriff/waist. I think it probably had to do with my fabric, which doesn't have great recovery. Burda doesn't usually draft with too much ease and I cut my normal size (though I think maybe I should do a 35 at the waist, instead of a 36, if there is such a size), so I'm not sure what was going on there.

I did my usual swayback adjustment, although I see I could have taken a little more. But it's not a swayback that makes the back look so bad, I don't think. Man, it looks awful! I had no idea this was my rear view until taking the photo. I don't think I have those teardrop dewlaps under my shoulder blades yet, I think it's just something horrible about the way this sits on me. I hope. I have no idea how to fix this.

But at least it looks cute from the front! It's really fun to wear, although now I'm going to be totally paranoid about how I look from behind. I will be walking around backwards to prevent anyone from seeing it.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

The Last Knit Print Standing

2009-11-23T10:26:00.001-05:00

I was in a frenzy of sewing over the weekend. A frenzy, I tell you!

All except the far left houndstooth project (from hell) were cut and sewn entirely over the weekend. By Sunday night I felt like I needed to stop and perhaps, you know, live some life...but I couldn't stop. Then I had the thing where I couldn't go to sleep because I was thinking about sewing too hard. Oy.

Anyway, the upshot of the frenzy is that I am way low on knit prints. I only have two Fall/Winter prints left in stash, the black/white/gray from Philly and the pink scales I recently purchased at G Street (the green/black/white from Philly could go either way, season-wise). I suppose I should turn my sights to wovens, but I really needed a Quick Knits Pick Me Up this weekend after finishing the not-entirely-successful houndstooth dress from hell.

I decided to browse through Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's looking for ideas for those last two knit prints. I think the winner for the pink scales is this Kathleen Dress from Black Halo. I love the "now" silhouette. The skirt is very clever, and having made the Drape Drape dress I thinking I have an idea how to do it, although that bubble hem is going to be a real fabric hog because the skirt will have to be doubled to get that look and I'm not sure I have enough fabric to do that. I have a vintage Stretch and Sew raglan sleeve peasant blouse pattern from my mom that I have, oddly, only made out of wovens, but I assume it will work for stretch fabrics. It would be pretty easy to adapt, I think.

I love all the drapey sculptural bits going on with this Maggy London dress. I would never take the time to figure it out, but the Maggy London Butterick pattern collection is pretty comprehensive with lots of great style in it, so I'm hoping she'll release this one as a pattern! It would be fab for the black/white/gray print.

This is an interesting use of the fauxlero. I recently decided to purge my Vogue 2980 Sandra Betzina fauxlero top from my closet because I just hated the light blue color and felt it was a little too tight across the belly. I also thought the fauxlero looked kind of dated and aging. But on this dress it is suddenly new and exciting again. Hmm. The draft on V2980 is quite good so it's a shame to write off the pattern entirely. It would take a lot of frankenpatterning to get to the ABS dress from the Betzina pattern, but I have all the elements in other patterns, and it would only be the upper bodice that would take some fussing--the midriff and skirt are just rectangles. I can handle rectangles. This is a definite possibility for the black/white/gray.

I'm not wild about the boring, shapeless body of this dress, but how clever to create a carapace-shape by leaving the lower seam of a raglan sleeve unsewn! I'm sure there's a little more to the sleeve shape to get it to drape like that, but I'm not exactly sure what. It can't just be extra width, I don't think. You might be able to imitate that drape just by running a gentle bit of gathering along the upper sleeve seam. This isn't very practical for winter, but I thought it was an interesting bit of design. Then again, poly knit isn't warm at all, so outerwear has to do all the work anyway.

I go hot and cold on velvet, especially stretch velvet. When I was in high school stretch crushed velvet was the HEIGHT of elegance. However, in the intervening decade(s), it has lost its luster and it can look kind of cheap to me. This is lovely, though. The fiber content includes here is rayon/nylon/silk so I don't think it's a stretch velvet and you can see that it has a nice weight and drape. I love the kimono shape of the sleeve and the, plain stark diagonal line of the wrap. This would make a fabulous party dress.

And finally, this is neither for knits nor for winter, but how much do we LOVE this lace dress? I really enjoy the lace dress I made earlier this year (I went back in and fixed that terrible zipper--I should show that sometime), and I probably don't need another one and I can *guarantee* you that I would not end up with perfectly straight rows of lace if I attempted this method, but man, I love the dress. The black lace on white, the rows, the cuteness. Love it.

You can see my Fall/Winter 2009 designer inspiration photos here.

Really Up Close and Personal Snoop Shopping and Stashoholism Confessional

2009-11-19T09:15:00.001-05:00

I know I am an addict and powerless over my addiction, and yet this knowledge does not empower me to stop! I have been feeling a little overwhelmed by my stash lately, so what do I do but buy more!?!?! It's totally that thing where you have don't have time to sew, so to stay connected to the hobby that you love you buy stuff you *would* use if you had time to use it.

I already HATE all my Fall/Winter clothes and I haven't even worn some of them yet this year so I need to do less shopping and more sewing. This coming weekend should be low key (last weekend was nuts and I felt like I wasn't home for longer than 2 hours the entire time) so hopefully I will sew! I have a woven dress in process and at least 3 knit dresses planned. I managed two knit dresses and a woven when I had my sewing orgy a couple weeks ago. If I can come up with two weeks of new work clothes maybe I will be less grossed out in the mornings.

Anyway, two of the above fabrics were planned purchases. I need a new pair of PJs and the flannel on the right from Joann seemed cute for the pants (and the price was right!), and the orange jersey from G Street's $2.97/yd table matched to make a t-shirt top. I was hoping to find the lime green from the flannel print for the top, but you take what you can get. The knit print...well, you know me and knit prints.

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One of the Fall/Winter things that I don't hate yet is my Tippi Hedren dress. Sadly, though, it is not long for this world. The fabric was from the $2.97/yd table and I didn't notice until I'd made the dress that it was fairly heavily damaged; there are rows of tiny holes all over it and within the next few wears one or more of those spots is going to outright tear. Boo.

I can't decide what to remake it in, though. It really needs a heavier knit to support that collar (though a heavy knit would be very heavy indeed at the knot/wrap skirt portion of the front) and all my knits are lightweight ITYs. I'm thinking *maybe* of the abstract green print I got in Philly, but I think it's only because it's green! The pattern would probably benefit more from a less busy print. I would think about this red print, but (1) I also learned the first time around that a linear print is not the best for this style, and the print, though huge, has a regular repeat, and (2) I have a thing about not wearing colors out of season and the white in this makes it a Spring/Summer print for me. Ditto this hot pink print and this aqua and white polka dots, both of which would be really cute in this dress. Maybe I'll make it with short sleeves when I can think about warm weather clothes again. The pink scales above are on the diagonal, but I think still too regular for this pattern. Other than the green abstract print, the only thing I have in stash that might work for this pattern and of which I have enough, is the black/white/gray print from Philly...but it's more busy than I'd like so I might as well go with the green. *sigh* I really don't need to get worked up about it--I do have three knit dresses in mind before I reach the end of my Winter Knits Inspiration and I've gotta find a pattern for those hot pink scales. I love hot pink.

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There's a website called "Daily Lit" that sends you small chunks (around 8 paragraphs) of a short book each day. I'm getting one called "Shoes, Bags, and Tiaras," which is sort of a catalog of some of the shoes, bags, and tiaras in the Victoria and Albert Museum's collection. Each installment is headed with a lovely photo and brief information follows. I am loving it. It's free to subscribe! Just click on the linked title above; on the right hand side of the screen there is a blue box that says "Subscribe."

I have not noticed an uptick of spam and have received only one non-book email from DailyLit--through which I discovered that Diane von Furstenburg is sponsoring Madame de Staël as another free read, so I subscribed to that too.

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My friends know I enjoy fashion so they often clue me in on new websites. I don't always love that they've given up my email address, but I know they do it with the best intentions. There are a ton of "sample sale"-esque type websites where there is a "crazy" deal (only $700!!! Usually $1000!!! You will save so much money if you put hundreds of non-essential dollars on your credit card bill!!!!) on something each day, but I haven't clicked on any of the invitations because I'm not looking to buy anything. However, a friend sent me an invite the other day to "Rent the Runway," the clothing version of Bag, Borrow, or Steal. I don't know exactly how Bag, Borrow, or Steal works and I don't want to join to find out, but it looks like you pay a monthly membership fee and then a rental fee for the bag ($15-100/week) and keep the bag indefinitely.

On Rent The Runway, there is no monthly fee (as of now), and you can rent designer duds for $50-100 for 4 days, plus $5 insurance. Postage both directions and dry cleaning are included. For dresses that cost a couple hundred dollars, I'm not sure it's worth it but there are several $1000+ gowns ($200 rental fee on those, natch) on the site. It's an interesting concept, especially if you somehow score an invite to a once in a lifetime event and want some major wow. Of course, designer clothes come in a limited size range so it won't work for everyone. You do get two sizes sent to you, which I think is a nifty feature. I'm guessing that will quickly cost extra.

This isn't something I'll ever do, but it raises intriguing snoop shopping possibilities. If there is a designer piece that you just *have* to do an in-depth study of, you could rent it for a few days and figure out how it's put together. Expensive, but if it's not something you can visit in a local store it could be the only way to get hold of it. The website also has good photos, including detail shots. As of now the inventory is quite small, but once they get more capital from rentals (I'm assuming it's a fairly new website) I'm sure they'll expand the offerings.

Unfortunately, you have to join to website to see anything, and right now it's invitation only (so silly). If you're interested, let me know and I'll send you an invite.

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Here are some pieces from my recent inspiration file (none from Rent the Runway). This Ann Taylor dress is adorable. I love the shape of it. It's simple, but the pleats make for a very flattering fit--at least while the tulip silhouette is in style. It took me a while to warm up to tulip skirts, but since Burda started pushing them about 2 years ago I've had a lot longer than the rest of the American populace to get used to them and now I'm totally on board. I do think, however, that this is a trend we'll consider ugly when they go out of style--we'll say, "Why did we add volume around our bellies and hips? Ugh." For now, I am all about room for the belly!

Anyway, the interesting thing about this dress is that it's so simple. The sleeves are cut on, so it has only four pieces (bodice front and back and skirt front and back). Easy. It's in a ponte knit; my only exposure to this fabric is the awful, awful, scratchy polyester nightmare available at Joann. I'm thinking this might be a little nicer? More photos of this one here.

I am loving the huge origami sleeves Marc Jacobs put out on the runway. They are interesting and sculptural, and even though they're exaggerated I think they're fairly wearable. Both of these women are celebrities, of course, but I can see a regular person wearing them if the rest of the outfit is fairly fitted. I'm thinking you could get a toned down effect by lengthening the short sleeve of Simplicity 2733, which AllisonC just made

And finally, I have been watching some 30 Rock episodes online and how much do we love Liz Lemon's shirtdress here? Her character generally dresses very frumpy, so I'm guessing Tina Fey decided she just couldn't take it anymore and gave herself one cute outfit in the episode. I love everything about it--the subdued plaid, the princess seams, the pleats at the waist, the puffed sleeve, the self belt, the rounded collar. So. Cute. It's not really for Fall, but I had to share. This was the best screencap I could get, unfortunately. Why do they never show people full length and unobscured so that we can pause and snap their outfits???? Television executives do not understand my needs. Of course, I can hardly blame them for ignoring me as I don't own a functioning television, so I'm not exactly the target audience.

You can see my Fall/Winter 2009 Style File here.

BWOF 06-2009-128, Dandelion Dress

2009-11-17T09:43:00.000-05:00

This dress, 06-2009-128, was one of the many patterns in the awesome June issue of Burda World of Fashion that I wanted to make as soon as I got the magazine.

When I bought this fabric in Hong Kong I thought it was snowflakes and that I would need to make a wintery dress out of it. I don't know why I thought snowflakes when each "flake" has many more than six points. I finally decided that it looked more like dandelion seeds or fireworks than snowflakes, and that the batiste-weight cotton was more suited to a Spring/Summer dress than a Fall/Winter dress so in my frenzied run-up to Spain I decided to move this up the project list.

The downside of the batiste weight is that it was no fun to sew. The needle kept breaking threads in the weave the way that silk chiffon does, even when I used a sharp or a ballpoint. This was particularly a problem on the overlay, where a lot of the sewing is on the bias because of the shape of the piece, so the thread snags would run along the longest possible line on the piece. It also had to be entirely lined, but that doesn't bother me too much. I'm glad I'm writing about this one so long after the fact (sewn in September) because now I've mostly forgotten my frustration and am just enjoying the dress.

The pleated overlay sits on top of the front bodice and is sewn as one with the bodice at the shoulders and waistline. In the editorial photo on BWOF, the overlay neckline and bodice neckline are the same so the bodice doesn't show at all underneath the overlay at the neckline. However, when you click on the dress form photo the bodice neckline shows. I'm not sure which way it's supposed to be, but I sewed it as drafted and my bodice neckline shows.

Anyway, you finish the neckline and diagonal lower edges of the overlay before attaching it to the bodice. The instructions are concise (BWOF says "Allowance of bodice front extends at neck edge"); I figured out this meant I needed to attached the finished neckline edge of the overlay right along the stitching line of the bodice, so that the bodice seam allowance is exposed beyond the overlay. The lower diagonal edge of the overlay begins below the armscye at the side seam, so you need to baste the raw armscye edges of the bodice and overlay together. I wouldn't normally go to the trouble of basting, but I had trouble keeping the pieces together here.

Rather than use BWOF's facings, I lined the bodice with batiste, and finished it in the usual way for sleeveless dresses (leave side seams and center back unsewn; assemble fashion and lining fabrics by sewing shoulder seams; place right sides together and stitch along neckline and armscye; turn right side out through strap tunnels; sew side seams). In stitching the lining to the neckline, be careful not to catch that finished neckline edge of the overlay in the seam allowance.

The pattern is designed so that the pleats are folded and sewn into the lower edge of the overlay, but it was billowing and gaping over my bust so I stitched them up almost all the way to the bust, which I tried to capture in this closeup. The batiste really worked me over here and the lines are wonky as hell, which really bothered me when I first made it (I was rushing to get everything done for Spain and didn't have time to go in, undo, and deal with it). Now that I have distance I really don't care!

The overlay could have used an SBA here (shortening along the neckline as I normally would for a wrap style), and it gapes a little in wearing, which annoys me. But because it's just an overlay it doesn't show anything, so I'll live with it.

This dress is a real winner. The lightweight cotton travels beautifully--very comfortable to wear in hot weather and easily washed in the sink and air-dried overnight. I don't know that I necessarily would have gone straight for batiste, but this could have a lot of bulk in anything with a much heavier weight, so I kind of lucked out there.

Since I didn't make this until September I was sad that I'd get so little wear out of this dress this year. But then I realized I could totally wear it through Fall with tights and a cardigan! I could also wear it as a jumper. So many possibilities and now I'm excited for wearing it a little bit longer.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Linings v. Underlining; Coco Before Chanel; Stashoholism Confessional

2009-11-13T10:07:00.001-05:00

So it had been quite a long time since I did any fabric buying online, since June, I think. The problem with buying fabric online is that it is not quite as satisfying as buying fabric in person and I buy twice as much!

I was really taken by Simplicity 2473; I love it with the collar for a bit of a coatdress feel with much less work. However, I didn't have anything in stash for it. I decided since I'd finally had the chance to sew up some stash fabric last weekend I would treat myself, since this will be a great work dress throughout Fall/Winter. Before I started looking I saw some gorgeous silk/cotton on Fabric.com in exactly my color on The Selfish Seamstress and *had* to have it. I have worked with silk/cotton once before and found it a really wonderful fabric to sew; as soft as silk but much less unruly.

Luckily, Fabric.com had the perfect hounsdtooth wool blend as well, and at a crazy price. I was hoping for 100% wool; this is 70% rayon, 20% wool, 10% linen, which is an interesting blend. I don't generally have much use for rayon because all the rayons I've tried wear incredibly poorly, but I'm hoping the wool and linen (both of which wear well) will offer some durability.

After I placed my order I had a bit of buyer's remorse in choosing the turquoise. Yes, it is my favorite color, but maybe I should branch out?

When the fabric arrived it was so luscious, so gorgeous, that I decided I absolutely had to have more. Given the price of $12.98/yd (or $11.03 with the 15% discount code they had put into my first order), which is waaaayyyyyy more than I usually pay for any fabric, you know it's good. The red color is a gorgeous lipstick blue-red, exactly the color red I love. The purple is more of a red-purple than a blue-purple, which is not quite to my taste. I bought it with the idea of making a dress for a friend's wedding but I don't know how much of that color I can wear (this is the Violet; I probably should have ordered the Royal). I'm thinking of somehow toning it down with gray accents.

Unfortunately (for you), I bought up the last of the houndstooth, but there are still plenty of yards of many colors of the silk cotton available.

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I pre-washed the houndstooth in cold and air dried. It didn't shrink too much along the length, but holy cow did it lose a lot of width! It went from 44" wide to 38.5" wide, and really fluffed up. The fluffing up I don't mind--it will add to the coatdress feel.

But now I am in a quandary. I was planning to line this dress and have the lining cut out. But then I thought, Hmmm, I am thinking that because this shrank so much along the width in the wash it is liable to have some stretching. Should I use that lining as an underlining instead?

What is better to prevent a fabric from bagging out, lining or underlining? Right now I am leaning toward underlining, as that will reinforce the seams as well. Wisdom appreciated.

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Wednesday I had the day off for Veteran's Day, so a friend and I hit up a matinee of Coco Before Chanel, a French film starring (who else?) Audrey Tatou as a young Coco Chanel.

I knew this wouldn't be primarily a fashion film, but I am always curious about people's lives. I have to say, I didn't love this movie. Coco's character is frustrating and not especially charming, and it's difficult to see why everyone around her is charmed (I think it's a French thing). There are some sewing/fashion bits, but instead of being exciting they feel forced. She really wasn't that interested in creating fashion until later in her life, and it doesn't work to pretend that there is some foreshadowing. However, it was interesting to learn about her life, which was not a very happy one. My favorite part was the very ending sequence, in which she has become Chanel.

I would say there's no reason to see this in the theater, but put it in your Netflix queue if you're interested.

This was shown at our local "arty" theater (E Street Cinema) and they showed a preview for The Young Victoria, which looks like it will be a Costume Drama in the strongest sense of the word. It's not my favorite fashion era, but I will take luscious costumes from any era! And I have loved Emily Blunt since The Devil Wears Prada. I will definitely try to catch this one in the theater.

Look Cute Every Day: A Wardrobe Philosophy

2009-11-12T10:46:00.003-05:00

There is an interesting thread on Pattern Review about how to edit your closet, and it got me thinking as to what my criteria are. Not that I am not, *ahem*, overdue for a major closet weeding. I pull random things on a regular basis and put them in the giveaway pile, but I haven't done a systematic cull in a while.

A couple of years ago I made the decision to Look Cute Every Day. I don't mean this in a "be decorative" or "attract men" or "be presentable because if you don't make yourself pretty you are a blight upon humankind" kind of way (please see this fabulous post by Erin at Dress a Day for a more coherent explanation of what I mean)--it has entirely to do with how *I* feel, and I am happier when I Look Cute.

I'm not 100% there, but I am much closer than when I started (now I feel cute probably 90-95% of the time, versus about 70% before). My solution--and this isn't for everyone--was to ditch "practical" clothes that were totally functional but I felt blah in--plain t-shirt tops, plain work pants, plain anything. I would rather wear a dress than pants any day...and now I do. I'm not talking about a straw man of frumpiness here--I mean even in well-fitting trousers and a good quality solid colored top I just don't feel Cute, so I don't wear them. Your mileage will vary.

Cleaning out my closet involves answering a single question: "Do I Look Cute (i.e., feel cute) in this?" Not, "Is this useful? Is this a staple I 'should' have? Is this in good shape? Does this fit well?" All of those questions get you part of the way there...but they don't guarantee you love the piece in question and that you Look Cute when you put on. It's silly to keep clothes out of an obligation--they don't have feelings and there is no Tally Sheet in the Sky that puts a black mark next to your name for getting rid of serviceable clothes you don't like--but I used to do it all the time. I'd keep a perfectly good item of clothing that I didn't like wearing just because it was perfectly good. Perfectly good is not good enough!

I am not a mom, and I know that changes things (a lot), but when I hang out with my many nephews and niece I still look cute--adorable polyester knit dresses wash up just as well as boring polyester pants. When I met my twin nephews for the first time Fox spit up directly into my cleavage and then overflowed his diaper into my lap. I also crawled through a foul, disgusting playland with the older kids. The next day I played baseball with my other nephews in another cute dress. As long as you're not afraid to get cute clothes dirty, you can wear them every day. Cute Clothes are generally not more expensive (or more difficult to make) than "serviceable" clothes. It seems more of a tragedy if they get ruined, but it's actually not. Don't fall into the trap of Too Good To Use (which is a whole other rant).

Another aspect was finding a way to describe my style, which is "Retro Fantasy." When I'm contemplating what to sew, I can ask myself "is it retro? is it fantasy?" If neither question can be answered with a yes, I probably won't love it so I look for a project I will love.

There are issues.

Because cute clothes are more often distinctive I have a *lot* of them so I don't feel like I'm wearing the same things over and over. Acquisitiveness is not a virtue, even when you acquire all those clothes by sewing. Minimalist and low impact I ain't, and this disturbs me sometimes with all the environmental and consumerist implications.

There is also a concern about shallowness, and focusing too much on looks. This is a personal balance issue. You have to get dressed every morning, and you might as well Look Cute. Once I get dressed I don't think about it much for the rest of the day, although I might occasionally look down at what I'm wearing for a little burst of "I look cute!" confidence. The rest of the day my focus is on my career, my friends, working out, reading good books, etc.

You also can't Look Cute if you hate yourself (because Cute isn't objective--it's a subjective assessment of yourself by yourself). I wish I had some advice to offer here but I don't. The best I can say is that when I am depressed (the chemical kind, not the situational kind) I hate myself and nothing will make me feel Cute. I've tried medication but unfortunately didn't find one that worked, but exercise has been proven to be as effective as a mild anti-depressant so I exercise.

And adequate omega-3 fatty acid intake has also recently been shown to treat depression. I am allergic to walnuts and don't eat fish because I'm a vegetarian, and these are the major sources, so until recently I have NEVER had adequate omega-3 intake over the course of my entire lifetime. After reading Dr. Walter Willet's Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy I started taking flaxseed oil capsules (fish oil would probably be better, but there's the vegetarian thing for me) and sprinkling ground flaxseed on my morning oatmeal (also a good source of fiber!) a few years ago and it has made a huge difference in my mood. There have been confounding factors in that my life in general has improved, but I do think that giving my brain an essential nutrient of which it had long been deprived has made a difference (and a neighbor has had the same experience). I am not a pills and potions kind of person, but clinical research and my personal experience say that this is a pill that is worth it. Even better if you can eat the foods from which you can get it straight from the source.

When I address my depression and don't hate myself it's a lot easier to feel Cute.

And of course we all have our body issues (everyone is well aware of my obsession with my belly). But I have seen evidence that any size, shape, and age can Be Cute.

But there is a bit of a chicken-and-egg thing here. You don't have to wait until you love every aspect of yourself to Look Cute Every Day. You can look cute without *feeling* cute...but eventually the feeling cute part will tag along.

Look Cute Every Day might not work for everyone, but for me it is a useful wardrobe philosophy, and contributes a great deal to my happiness.

Burda 7866, Kimono Sleeve Knit Top

2009-11-10T10:17:00.000-05:00

I bought this fabric back in April of 2008, so I think it counts as fairly deep stash at a year and a half old. I bought it with the idea of making a skirt, but was totally not enthused by the idea and obviously didn't get around to it. Over time, I got the idea in my head that the fabric had an icky texture and I mentally wrote it off.

Then I had a sudden flash of inspiration to use it for this pattern with a bias cut lower band. I went hunting for it and thought I'd given it away in my Great Purge, but then I found it way back at the back of the shelf. And it turns out that it actually has a lovely hand, more beefy than an ITY knit but a very soft cottony texture (although I think it's actually poly). So then I was really excited to make the top!

When reviews for this top started showing up on Pattern Review I totally loved it (although my interest in the style was first piqued by Deb Thompson's review of New Look 6648 back at the end of 2006!), but didn't see the point in buying it because it would be soooo easy to draft. Of course, I knew I would never actually draft it. But then when I won the Refashion contest for my sweater hat the prize was a free pattern so I decided to pick it up, even though it would be soooo easy to draft and I was "wasting" my prize. And really, it would be easy to draft but you know what's easier? Using a pattern!

I was also inspired by the maternity wear of one of my co-workers (we had six pregnancies at once in my small division of around 36 people, so there was a lot of maternity fashion going on). She had a gray top similar to this style, but with more room for the belly of course. I thought it was very chic, and liked that it reversed the usual maternity style of more fitted on top and looser below. I complimented her on it one day and she said that her husband hated it and called it "The Sack." Men have no taste, LOL. Every time I saw her wearing "The Sack" it made me giggle to think of her husband asking, "Ugh, are you going to wear The Sack again today?"

This project, Burda 7866, was my first time sewing from a Burda envelope pattern, oddly. I found the directions more clear than in the magazine, and they were accompanied by helpful illustrations. The seam allowances are included, and are a standard American 5/8" (I wonder if they print different patterns in Europe with a different seam allowance?).

My dislike is that important information is printed on the pattern tissue--the cutting layout and the directory of symbols. I don't actually normally use either of those items, as I am familiar with symbols and jigger the cutting layout to fit my fabric, but in this case the upper bodice pattern piece is a little weird (it's hard to tell what are the sleeves and what is the lower edge) and I needed the cutting layout. I cut it off the tissue paper, but I hate that it is a fiddly little piece waiting to float off at the first deep sigh.

The neckline is bound in an interesting way to preserve the boat shape. Inexplicably, one of the neck binding pieces is about 1/8 inch longer than the other. They are treated fungibly in the instructions, so it's very unclear what the purpose of that small difference in length might be. I also found the bindings skimpy for the 5/8" seam the pattern is drafted for. They are only 1 1/8" (or 9/8 of an inch) wide, and if you sew them to the neck with a 5/8 seam that leaves you only half an inch to turn to the inside and stitch down. The illustrations seem to show a more substantial turned under binding, but nowhere does it say to use a narrower stitch at the neck. If I made this again I would definitely widen those bindings, and also cut both from the slightly longer piece (piece #5).

I shortened the lower pieces at the lengthen/shorten line to suit my frame. And having just made a BWOF that turned out way too large somehow, I decided to cut a 36 at the hip instead of my usual 38. However, the lower band still turned out way too large. My fabric isn't *that* substantial (not like a double knit) so to get the lower band to stay in place rather than just melting under the weight of the upper bodice (I think it looks best if it blouses over a little) it needs to be quite fitted with negative ease. I ended up taking a total of four inches of width off the lower band. Now it's snug but definitely not tight, and the band stays in place. Perhaps this is a design choice rather than a drafting error--the model's pose on the envelope (shown at right) makes it hard to tell how they envisioned this fitting.

I had only a yard of fabric and the pattern calls for 1.5 yards, but I didn't really have any trouble cutting it out. I liked that I had only small scraps leftover--easy to throw away! In the end, I'm not sure that cutting the lower band on the bias was the right choice, because I feel like it shows the bulge of my tummy more than a straight plaid line would. I happened to place one of the lower band pieces (there are two lower band pattern pieces but they are identical) so that the pattern is centered, and this one is the worst, so I wear it at the back. I love that this top is the same front and back, there's something hilarious about it.

With this project, I felt I was back to the good ol' days. I started it around 4:30 Friday afternoon before I was set to meet up with friends to go to a trendy wine bar around 8:30 or 9. It was a race against the clock, but the clock didn't stand a chance because it's so easy. I was done by 7, even with having to take apart the seam between upper and lower bodice, tighten the lower bodice, and sew it back together.

I totally LOVE this top now that I've finally gotten around to making it. It is very "now," trendy, and chic. And by "chic" I mean it will be a "what was I thinking?" piece in about three years. Heh. However, I am of the opinion that if you wear a garment knowing that it is a little silly and will eventually be horrifyingly dated, you probably won't look back on it with shame, but with a little bit of chuckling nostalgia at how much fun we had looking silly.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

A Very Happy Day

2009-11-06T19:20:00.002-05:00

I have a terrible memory. Not the kind of terrible memory that loses keys (because they always go in the same place the second I walk through the door), but the more embarrassing kind. My emotional memory is very weak. Vocabulary words from high school? I got those right here. "Remember that one time...." from high school? Um, did I even *go* to that high school? Because I don't remember a thing. It is more problematic than the regular kind of bad memory, I think, because it involves meaningful experiences with other people, who might be a little miffed that I can't remember it at all.

There is an upside to this, though, because things are new to me much more quickly than to other people. I have not been able to sew much lately because of travel, visitors, and general life stuff. The last time I spent a full day sewing was before my trip to Spain in early September.

By this week I was so frustrated that the same project had been on my sewing machine for a month that I decided to try to work on it each evening for 30 minutes. I'd force myself into the sewing room around 9:15 (after getting home from the gym and having dinner), accomplish some small task, and head to bed. I don't usually sew during the week because I'm just tired after a full day of work and working out and want to spend time relaxing. It wasn't much fun, although I did see progress on the dress.

Because I have no emotional memory I thought that my purpose in sewing was to get clothes (I stopped buying clothes other than jeans and workout clothes about 3 years ago). So I motivated myself by thinking about wearing the dress when I finished it.

I had the day off work today and earmarked it as A Sewing Day--I was going to take the whole day for myself and just sew. And, although it sounds silly to say this is an epiphany, considering I write a blog about sewing:

I LOVE TO SEW!!!!!

It was like rediscovering an essential component of myself to sit at the machine all day today. I love the creativity, the problem solving, the intellectual challenge (I have a strictly 2D brain and 3D sewing projects blow my mind), and of course the clothes/fashion/styling/outfits, but the other parts are just as integral to my enjoyment.

Man. I had a great day.

And then, on top of a day spent having FUN, I ended up with three finished projects: the lingering month-long project and two quick knits (love those quick knits). I am so in love with all three projects. There's something from old stash, something from new stash, something blue...nothing borrowed, though. There's a classic piece and a trendy piece and a piece that will fit into most years' trends. There's one thing for work, one for day-to-night, and one that's strictly for fun. There's a tailored piece and a voluminous piece. Dresses and a separate. All will work for three seasons depending on how they're styled, and I might even be able to squeeze the fourth season out of two of them.

I even have a teeny bit of hand-sewing to do (I never have hand-sewing when I need something to occupy me, and I'm sure I'll have an opportunity to do it shortly).

And since posts without pics are no good, here's a sneak peek. I hid all the details but at least you can see the fabrics whose serger clips are the newest ones littering my sewing room floor.

Retro Air Hostess Pillbox Hat Tutorial

2009-11-05T10:48:00.003-05:00

When planning this costume, I knew a pillbox hat would be an essential element. While making the uniform and realizing that there is a fine line between Air Hostess and Diner Waitress, I knew the hat had to make up the difference so I wanted to do a fabulous job. I wanted to make the hat out of the blue fabric, because the green poly was just so awful (as previously discussed). I had enough scraps to cut the band; I had to piece the crown, but I just barely got everything cut out!

For the dimensions of the hat I turned to (what else?) Down With Love. Based on the movie costume, I planned for it to be four inches tall. However, once I got it in process I realized that was a bit too tall so I cut it down to 3.5 inches, and I think the height is good. Someone taller than me with a bigger head (I have a child-sized head at 21.5 inches) might do well with four inches.

You may recall that I went through a millinery mania last year but, as with so many of my manias, I lost enthusiasm after buying my relatively inexpensive but still pricey hat block and supplies without actually producing anything (other than my sewn hot pink newsboy cap from a pattern, which made use of exactly none of those supplies). However, now that the weather has turned cool again my interest is renewed and for this hat I went back into my hat-making resources to see what I could learn. I learned quite a bit!

MATERIALS

Outer fabric
Lining fabric
interfacing
Frame material (I used plastic needlepoint canvas, available in large sheets for cheap at fabric and craft stores)
duct tape or yarn
needle and thread (i used my sewing machine on this project, but it is totally possible to do it all by hand and it is not endlessly laborious or time-consuming)

STEP 1: DRAFT YOUR PATTERN

This step was fairly easy for me as I just turned my pillbox hat block upside down and traced around the crown, and then made measurements of the brim side for the brim pieces. I think the brim pieces should have had curved top and bottom edges, because the grain is a little weird at the side seams, but flat pieces worked just fine for my purpose.

If you don't have a hat block to trace, you can just make a circle for the crown (mine is a bit oval), though it will involve a bit of math. To get the dimensions of the circle, measure around your head. This will be your circumference. To draw your circle, figure out your radius (remember the formula is 2лr (that's 2 x pi x radius, where pi=3.14).

So, for my child-sized 21.5 inch head:
2лr=21.5
лr=10.75
r=3.42, or approximately 3 1/2 inches (or if you want to get more precise, 3 7/16, or you can use cm)

You can either rig up a compass-type arrangement to draw your circle, or you can double the radius to get the diameter, in this case 6.84 inches, around 6 7/8 inches, draw a + in which the two arms are 6.84 inches and cross in the center, and draw your circle around that.

You'll need to add a seam allowance around the circle.

Then draft up your side band (a rectangle 4 inches tall and the width of your head + 1/4 or 1/2 inch ease + seam allowances at top, bottom, and side seam).

STEP 2: CUT OUT YOUR COMPONENTS

To cut out my frame, I put the pattern underneath the canvas and traced around the pattern (omitting the seam allowances on the tip altogether, and the omitting the upper and lower seam allowances of the band) in highlighter, then cut it out. To assemble the frame, I used duct tape. This was fine for the side "seams" and the top, but I also ran duct tape around the bottom edge to ensure the canvas wouldn't be sharp. I really, really regretted this when I was sewing the hat to the frame so don't follow my lead there.

I interfaced both my outer and my lining fabric to make sure everything would be sturdy and crisp looking. I used medium weight fusible interfacing.

STEP 3: ASSEMBLE THE FRAME

Then it's time to make a frame. I actually started by making a buckram frame, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the buckram that Joann sells is not--gasp--hat-making grade. There was no way the frame would have provided any kind of structure when my fashion fabric had about 10 times more body. So I set that aside and went for my costuming/make it work favorite material--plastic needlepoint canvas. Tape the top and the crown together on the inside and the outside with duct tape. Easy.

STEP 4: SEW OUTER FABRIC

The next step is to assemble the outer fabric. It helps to have (1) stretchy fabric and (2) largish seam allowances because you're going to assemble it on top of the frame. This means that the outer fabric will be slightly larger than the frame and slightly larger still than the lining. I didn't account for this in my pattern (I cut all components--outer, frame, and lining--the same size), I just dealt with it at the construction stage.

Once my frame was constructed, I hand stitched the outer fabric in place around it. I went back and reinforced the stitching by machine, but the hand-sewing would have been enough to keep it in one piece.

STEP 5: ATTACH OUTER FABRIC TO FRAME
This is not necessarily an essential step, but I felt the hat would look better if I stretched the fabric over the frame and sewed it to the frame. Normally, I would just sew the outer fabric and lining together and sandwich the frame in between, but I wanted this to have a tight fit. I used a curved needle and took advantage of the properties of needlepoint canvas (i.e., that it's intended to be sewn upon and has little square openings for the purpose). Sewing through the duct tape was horrible. I should have just stopped and ripped off the duct tape but I did not because I am dumb. But once the fabric was sewn in place the hat was already looking pretty great.

STEP 6: ASSEMBLE LINING

Next step is to make the lining. I assembled it on my hat block because I have one, but if you don't you can just sew it with slightly larger seam allowances than drafted (this is assuming you have used perfect seam allowances on the frame and slightly smaller seam allowances on the outer fabric). Because the outer edge will be hand-stitched to the outer fabric, there is no need to leave any seam openings for turning.

STEP 7: HAND-STITCH LINING TO OUTER FABRIC OVER FRAME

Once your lining is assembled, place it into the hat, turn under the lower edge and pin in place, and hand-stitch to the outer fabric. It really doesn't take that long and gives a nice finish on the inside. I sewed little loops of ribbon on the inside that barely stuck down below the edge of the hat to put bobby pins through to make sure it wouldn't fall off.

STEP 8: EMBELLISH

The hat needed a little something once it was finished. In Down With Love the decoration is a hat pin, but since (1) it is ludicrous to pretend that I have enough hair to make use of a hat pin, and (2) I do not have a hat pin, I went with a cockade. I cut a circle out of my sheer print (using a bowl with a diameter of around 6 inches, I think), serged the edges, gathered it up in a yoyo, and pinned it in place with wings.

And voila! LOVE the hat. It totally made the costume.

All photos of this project are here, and you can read more about the concept and the uniform if you're interested.

Retro Air Hostess Uniform: Simplicity 2927

2009-11-03T10:35:00.001-05:00

When planning this costume for last year I had been unable to decide between and Simplicity 2927 and Simplicity 3559, a 1960s reissue, but I ultimately decided that S2927 offered more opportunity for using two colors and went with that one.

I had only one day to sew the dress because of my travel schedule, but it's an easy pattern to make. I picked up the blue fabric, a sort of faux-linen with a lot of stretch, from G Street Fabrics' $2.97/yd table; there was only a little over a yard and a quarter, but since I was making a short dress I figured it would work. The green is a poly crepe from Joann's Casa Collection, $4.80/yd with coupon.

I kind of hate to rip on Joann, because it is handy to have a brick and mortar store I can pop into for notions and I don't want them to go out of business, but can we take a moment to talk about how awful this Casa Collection poly crepe is? If my "special occasion" dress was made out of this sh!t I would cry. I mean, it goes without saying that the hand is horrible; just touching it makes you cringe. It is thin and flimsy *and* it ravels. The crepe-y texture is mystifyingly gross (like, what higher class fiber could this possibly be imitating?). And it's not even cheap! I really hope all the sewists out there who don't have physical access to anyplace other than Joann have discovered that you can order better fabrics at a lower cost online.

Anyway, I had planned to make the side princess panels out of the contrast green, but the thought of having this fabric up against my skin other than at the neck was unbearable so I cut the side panels out of blue; I had to cut them off grain to fit everything onto my limited fabric but it doesn't appear to be pulling the dress out of shape. I really wish the pockets had been drafted onto the side princess panel, it would have been much more sophisticated than just a patch pocket. But I did not have time to redraft so I stuck with the patch pocket motif. I really liked the way EvLouise's version on Pattern Review turned out with the contrast collar and pockets, so I went with that. Of course, after I went back to look at the reference photos I saw that color-blocking was a popular thing!

To bring in the green more I finished the armscye and keyhole opening edges with bias tape made of the green. I am not sure there is really any point to polyester bias tape as it doesn't steam into shape, obviously, but it actually worked better than I expected. I used my bias tape maker and got faint iron impressions onto the bias strips, which allowed me to line things up. As usual, the Simplicity armscye was too tight on me as drafted, so I trimmed off about an inch at the bottom, scooping out more at the lower front than the back, tapering to nothing at the shoulder (other than, in this case, trimming off the seam allowances for the bias tape finish).

The keyhole opening is to be accomplished, according to the pattern, by cutting a small rectangular facing, placing it right side to right side, stitching around the small keyhole opening as drafted, clipping, and flipping. Yuck. That is asking for the worst kind of flapping floppy facings. I wanted a more exaggerated opening so I cut a teardrop shape keyhole and finished with the bias tape.

I took a huge swayback tuck out of the back pattern piece, as per usual. Even with the tuck I had to majorly contour the center back seam to get a decent fit. This ended up shortening the back hemline significantly--I cut about two inches off center front to hem and zero off center back--but luckily this is meant to be worn short!

I had deliberately chosen a green regular zipper (rather than my normal choice of invisible), and was considering making it an exposed zip but decided that would be going too far. Then I thought of doing a lapped zipper, but (1) this is a technique I have only done once before, and (2) I feared with the highly contoured back seam the lap would gape open. So I just did a regular zipper installation. I used to be so good at regular zippers, but I have been on invisibles so long that I have totally lost my touch!

As the dress took shape, I began to get concerned. It turns out there is a fine line between "Retro Air Hostess" and "Diner Waitress." Diner Waitress just does not offer the glam I'm looking for. I knew the hat and scarf would make a difference, but I wanted to jazz up the uniform to make it look a little more "martini" and a little less "milkshake."

I wanted the pockets to be functional so I wouldn't have to carry a purse (did not have time or inclination to make or find an old school flight bag), so I added buttonholes and used gold buttons to close them. The collar is not intended to have functional buttons, so I just sewed three buttons there for decoration. I felt that this added the necessary punch to the uniform.

I loved this pattern for the uniform, but I don't really see it as regular clothes for me. It's very similar to Simplicity 6276, a 1974 pattern I made last year and I haven't ended up loving that dress (I think it will get purged in the next Goodwill run). This has a narrower profile, while S6274 is more A line (which I am down on right now), but the band collar is just not my scene.

All photos are here and the Pattern Review is here.

Halloween 2009: Retro Air Hostess

2009-11-02T08:55:00.002-05:00

Cidell and I had the idea to do Retro Air Hostesses last year, but I ended up being in Germany for work and had to miss Halloween. I had already purchased the fabulous poly chiffon print for the scarf last year and didn't have any other burning ideas, and in fact, didn't necessarily plan to dress up at all, as discussed previously, until my brother and sister-in-law decided to come visit for Halloween. So the Retro Air Hostess was back on and here it is:

I'll discuss the costume in a three part series. This is the introduction, then I'll cover the uniform and then the hat.

First, there was research. OK, that's not really true. I did some research last year but this year I didn't have time before I started my uniform. After I'd finished the dress, I poked around a little.

I was much influenced by the highly underrated movie "Down with Love." (Seriously, if you have Netflix, just go ahead and order this movie. You can thank me later.) Jeri Ryan plays a stewardess character and the hair, hat, uniform, and overall manner are just fabulous. I couldn't find any decent places in the movie to do a screencap, though imdb has a better shot here (partly obscured by a suitcase). The late 60s vibe was what I was going for (though my uniform is more like early 70s, I admit), so I had to re-watch the movie of course to get it down.

There is a great series of images on flight attendant uniforms here (the link is to part 1; the post contains links to parts 2-4). The collection here is mostly the same but has a few additional images. The most comprehensive collection is here; the uniforms are on mannequins, which is fabulous for detail but not so great for getting the right "feel" for the time period. The Irazu Air and PSA uniforms were the most like what I was going for.

After seeing these uniforms I kind of wished I had done a contrast color in the princess panel, but oh well. I think I captured a bit of the spirit in mine. At any rate, I feel very kicky and ready to travel the world.

All the photos are here! Alas, I didn't have my trusty photographer so they're boring indoor shots, but I did have fun doing them.

Second Birthday Dress: BWOF 12-2007-109

2009-10-30T10:20:00.001-04:00

Thank you, everyone, for your kind comments on my birthday dress! I am overwhelmed!

I had to travel for work on my birthday, and not the good kind of travel, either. I was off to Las Vegas for a week for some particularly painful depositions and knew I'd be working like crazy. However, I was determined to do *something* to celebrate my birthday, hopefully a nice dinner out on the town in between working before and after. I didn't know how silk jersey would travel, and plus the casinos are always so smoky and you have to walk through them to get to the restaurants, so I didn't want to bring my "real" birthday dress. Time to come up with a quick backup!

I flipped through my BWOFs and came across 12-2007-109, which looks sophisticated but is made up in a knit. That deep inverted front pleat is great for tummy disguising and I loved the shawl effect of the sleeves. Because this is a knit, it was super-quick to trace out and sew.

I sewed it up in a subtly metallic jersey from stash (purchased way back when from the $2.97/yd table at G Street). Unfortunately, because I was in a hurry I didn't spend much time with the fabric in doing the cutting layout, and didn't realize it has a bit of a nap. I cut everything out in the same direction, but it is a little rough-feeling if you run your hand down the dress, and smooth if you run your hand up the dress. It would be nicer had I run the texture the other way, but it isn't uncomfortable to wear as the bodice and strap are lined with a softer poly knit.

Although the description of the sleeves says "The wide straps of this gown are tied in front before being attached to the back, creating not just a pretty neckline but also cap sleeves," this is not true in any way. There is no tying. The sleeve is sewn as a continuous line after threading through the keyhole, with the seam hidden inside the tab at center back. Nothing complicated there.

So it's not any kind of actual twist, just a keyhole opening that you thread the strap through. The keyhole opening is drafted to be quite long. I shortened it some, but even still my bra shows through the opening a little (a flesh-tone bra helps).

The sleeves, alas, don't work as advertised. My metallicized fabric has a bit less stretch than your typical jersey, and is a bit stiffer, so I'm sure that has something to do with it. But unless you stand perfectly still without moving your arms the shawl sleeves are going to push up onto your shoulders. This makes the look a little less sophisticated and a little more Betty Rubble, but since this was for Vegas the less classy/more trashy thing was fine.

I just left the hem raw. I love that this is an option with jersey.

Despite working until midnight most nights, we did manage to take one night off and have a lovely dinner at Circo in the Bellagio. We had a smidge of a view of the fountains and the food was fantastic. I think there is more metallic clothing per capita on the Strip than anywhere else in the world (including a couple I saw in which the girl was wearing gold metallic leggings and the guy was wearing one of those tacky Ed Hardy shirts on which every line was limned in gold), so I fit right in.

This is another project photographed by Cidell, so there are some great photos! The pattern review is here.

Birthday Dress 2009, Drape Drape #5

2009-10-27T10:44:00.001-04:00

Well, my birthday was a long time ago now (August 31). I was working like crazy at the time (and in fact had to travel for work on my actual birthday) but I made time for a birthday dress!

You may recall that I had a lust for avocado jersey when I went to NYC in June. I didn't find any, but Elizabeth (eword10), with whom we met up for shopping, had my back and when she found some avocado silk jersey for $5.99/yd she snapped it up for me! I was so excited.

When I went to Japan, of course I had to check out the sewing books and absolutely fell in love with Drape Drape. It has a lot of cool very Japanese designs that are conceptual and intellectual more than they are sexy, for the most part. Drape Drape Dress #5 is an exception with its very low cut front and back. The text is entirely in Japanese (although the numerals are Arabic, thank goodness). I am guessing this is intended to be made in a woven, judging by the zipper, but I thought it would look fab in a knit.

Unlike Stylebook, Drape Drape comes with a full set of patterns, each in four sizes. I traced a Small, which has a bust of about 30.5 inches; the waist is 23 inches and the hip is 33 inches--sizes I haven't been since approximately middle school--but because it is an empire line with a ton of ease at the waist/hip it didn't matter. If you think Patrones pattern sheets are confusing though, ugh, wait until you see this. All the designs on a pattern sheet are printed in the same color. This is frustrating because the design sheets are printed in green on one side and black on the other, so it's not that they saved money by printing only in one color! It took me a good hour just to find all of my lines, which I marked in purple pencil so that I could find them with the tissue paper over it. Intellectual, drapey designs take up a *lot* of fabric. I couldn't quite fit the skirt piece onto my yardage so I had to narrow it a few inches from the way it was drafted, and shorten it a few inches as well. Luckily, the design didn't suffer.

It was very interesting to sew. Although the directions are in Japanese, it was easy to figure out which piece was which and there are a few diagrams to help you put them together. Some of the less intuitive pieces in the book are beyond me, because I can't even figure out which pieces go where, but this one was easy.

I have been loving the look of the side skirt drape for some time, as in the Cynthia Steffe Paige Dress, DKNYC Cascading Ruffles Dress, and DVF Epana Dress I posted about back in June, and was so excited to find out how it's done. I cut it out, marked the pleats, sewed the pleats and was still entirely mystified until I was like, "Wait a minute, are they blowing my mind? Yes, they are. There is no side seam, the seams are in the front and the back." That doesn't sound so mind blowing written down but seriously, it blew my mind. Having made it, I love the draping even more; I am going to have to figure out how to make a skirt out of this pattern.

I feel like I should have more to say, but really, it went together pretty easily and I loooooove it. I felt so sexy and sophisticated on my birthday in this dress.

This is another of the looks that Cidell photographed for me, so there are a ton of great photos! The pattern review is here.

================

Unfortunately, the only source I have found for this book is amazon.co.jp. I just impulsively ordered a hat book from amazon.jp, so I can offer my experience.

First, go to the website and look way up in the right hand corner. There is a little "In English" link. You can find the book by searching "Drape Drape." The book itself is very reasonable--around $18 USD. Shipping is an eye-popping $35, however. It comes FedEx. I have not yet received my book, and won't for several days because I assumed they would send through the post office and had the book sent to my house. Alas, I cannot receive FedEx at my house so I had to contact amazon.jp (they offer customer service in English) and ask them to change the delivery address and heaven knows if I will ever actually receive the book. But had I not gone through this rigamarole I think it would have arrived very quickly. So you get good service for your $35, but it's a little painful (and I wish I'd done the research to order a couple more books to make the shipping worth it).

**EDIT TO ADD** Thank you to all the commenters who had helpful suggestions for finding this book!

It appears to be available on Yes Asia for $29.49 with free shipping.

Marie-Christine recommends this eBay store for Japanese books.

Megan recommends eBay and Etsy seller pomadour24 for Japanese books.

McCall 5880, Hilary Duff Negligee Dress

2009-10-21T08:15:00.000-04:00

I don't mean negligee as a disparagement of McCall 5880, just a descriptor. I think it's fun and has a little retro kick.

Cidell came to DC recently so there are some lovely outdoor project photos to look forward to. My new camera has a feature where it will take 3 shots in a row on the self-timer so it's a lot easier to do self portraits now (except that I can't get it to do a red-eye reducing flash and the red-eye feature on iPhoto keeps putting black spots in my hair and leaving my eyes red), but nothing is nicer than having a patient photographer who makes both the clothes *and* me look pretty. I end up with nice shots like the one at right.

While getting ready for Spain I crammed in as much sewing as I possibly could. I am forever lamenting the dearth of non-work appropriate clothes in my closet (it makes me feel old and boring that I could meet with my boss in just about every dress I own), and a vacation seemed like a good time to throw a flirty little dress in the mix. I had a flash of inspiration to make up the silk chiffon I got in Hong Kong with AllisonC into this pattern and just *had* to get it done.

And now, the public service portion of this blog post, by which I mean the public service you can do for me:

The next time I think that the only reason I don't like sewing with silk chiffon is that it has to be lined or underlined for opacity, somebody please slap me upside the head. The awfulness of sewing silk chiffon is inversely proportional to how lovely and luxurious it is to wear. Let's start with cutting. You lay it out aligned on grain and the slightest whisper blows it out of place. You pin down the pattern and carefully cut. When you lift your carefully cut piece up, it turns out to have been haphazardly hacked out by a blindfolded kindergartner almost directly on the bias. When you sew the threads snag, even when you are using the finest sharp/microtex needle in your collection, and of course that goes double when you're putting in French seams. And did I mention the seam puckering? Which goes double because you have to sew French seams? Seriously, sewing this stuff is an unfun experience.

But then! You put it on! And you decide you can live with the puckered seams and pulled threads and crookedness because look how it flows! Feel how soft! I think I am suddenly a Rich Lady Who Lunches! Who else gets to wear such fabulous fabric?

The pattern is cute and easy (just one instruction sheet), perfect to knock out for something to wear on a Saturday night. The pattern is actually designed to be lined, which is great.

The skirt is cut in princess lines, which adds little to the design if you don't plan to topstitch. Since I was working with silk chiffon I considered combining the pieces into a single front and back. While I was sewing my puckering, wonky seams I definitely wished I had, although there is such volume and flow that (hopefully) my bad seams don't show.

The bodice and skirt are separate pieces and the seam serves as the elastic casing for the empire waist. At first I thought this could be a little tacky looking, and in a heavier fabric it could be but in this fabric the final appearance is not much different than gathering would have been. However, as the pattern illustration suggests, this absolutely must have some sort of decoration at that line. I went with a ribbon tie, tacked on at the center back and sides.

The back is designed to have a short zip that stops a couple of inches above the waistline. I changed it because (1) there was no way I was putting a zipper into silk chiffon, and (2) I liked the idea of a split back more--it fits with the style of the bodice front and is a little flirtier. I just sewed the back as for the front and gathered it into the neck binding. I closed the binding with two hooks and eyes because with just one set the ends rotated. I may go in and replace these with snaps because the hooks and eyes are forever coming undone. I put a button on top for decoration.

This was a fab dress for Spain. It looks cute with leggings and a denim jacket for slightly cooler temperatures, and is very comfortable when it's hot. I feel fun and flirty in it--perfect for Saturday nights at home once vacation ends. (Although those Saturday nights are many months away in a warmer future.)

All photos are here and the Pattern Review is here.

Butterick 5130, Muse Grecian Dress

2009-10-19T09:30:00.004-04:00

My backlog of summer dress reviews don't make *quite* as much sense now that it is in the 40s (Farenheit) outside--I really hope this is a blip and we return to our regularly scheduled October weather soon--but I guess they might help for dreaming for next year and, of course, our friends Down Under.

This Butterick 5130 style was all over RTW and I was pleased to see it in the Butterick catalog. A few people on Pattern Review made it and I was totally sold.

I had a vision of actually making this (*gasp*) in a solid, specifically, an avocado colored solid. I was on the hunt for such a fabric the last time I went to NYC, but couldn't find any such color at Spandex House (they tend more toward primary colors) but then I found this print on the street-level floor and fell in love. It was $8/yd, which is steep for me, but I had to have it and knew it was specifically for this dress.

The bodice is designed in several parts and the seam allowances are used for the elastic casings, which is a nice, easy way of doing things. I would quibble a bit with the design/construction order, as you insert the lower elastic into the bodice back and construct the dress before creating the back neckline/raglan sleeve casing, and I found it difficult to keep my fabric flat and create an even casing with all that elastic ruching already in place. However, after completing it I tried to figure a way around doing this (the lower elastic ends are caught in the armscye seam) and couldn't come up with one so maybe it's unavoidable.

They do that annoying thing where instead of publishing a chart in the instructions to tell you what length to cut the elastic they have tissue pieces that you are supposed to use as guides. I really do not understand this. I totally understand including pattern pieces even for things that are simple squares like belt loops--unlike BWOF, which gives you the dimensions and has you draft it yourself--because they are aiming at both beginning and experienced sewists. But the elastic guides do not fall in this category. So I have attempted to create my own. I couldn't find a WYSIWYG application in Blogger for tables, so excuse me if I have bad code. (I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get rid of the huge space--I don't see it in the code.)

	Size 8	Size 10	Size 12	Size 14
Piece 9 (bodice upper and middle front)	13 3/4	14 1/4	14 1/2	15
Piece 10 (boduce back)	14 3/4	15 1/4	15 1/2	16
Piece 11 (waist)	28	29	30 1/2	32
Piece 14 (back and sleeve neckline)	22	22 1/2	23	23.5

I cut the elastic for size 8.

For the bodice upper front, I shortened the elastic 2 1/2 inches

For the bodice sleeve/upper back, I shortened 4 inches.

I expected the waist elastic be too big, but it fit surprisingly well. Perhaps having something to do with the fact that it was up on top of my boobs instead of under them.

So I added another row of elastic *under* the bust, using the selvage as my casing and my duct tape double to get it approximately parallel to the floor. I don't know how well I succeeded, but with all the elastication and gathering a little crookedness isn't noticeable.

I wondered if my boobs had suddenly dropped and I was now low-busted (quite a feat with an AA cup), but just about everyone on Pattern Review had the same problem and added another level of casing as well. I was a little surprised by this problem, as the pattern was otherwise well thought out, well-drafted, and well-designed, and my problem with the Big Three is the drafting for huge, low boobs that requires me to do massive SBAs. Odd.

The instructions for the sleeve are for a regular casing at the hem, but I decided to echo the topmost front bodice casing, which is stitched about 3/8" and 5/8" down from the top to create a little bit of a ruffle above the casing. I took about a 1 inch hem in the sleeve, and stitched two lines for the casing at 3/8" and 5/8" and I like the way it picks up that bodice ruffle.

This summer one of my comfort-zone departures was to make shorter dresses, so I shortened this one 1.5" in cutting. Because of my height, if I cut things as drafted they are massively long so 1.5" seemed very conservative. But perhaps having to do with my additional casing I felt that it ended up *too* short. I wore it unhemmed once, but was just unhappy with the length. So I thought about it and decided to add a band at the hem and topstitch with a twin needle to make it look like a design feature. It doesn't really show much in person or in pictures because of the busy print, but you can sort of see it here. When I wore this in Hong Kong (site of the thumbnail harbor photo and the walk at the peak on the right) AllisonC noticed the hem band, but thought it was an intentional design feature so I'm satisfied.

This was a great dress for summer. I took it with me to Asia and to Spain where it worked with footless tights for cool days. The shoulders are very wide set so I had to wear clear bra straps and make sure they were tucked away inside the sleeves, but other than that it is not fussy or uncomfortable to wear as the elastic need only be fitted, not tight. I hope it's still in style next summer!

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Snoop Shopping for Fall/Winter Tops

2009-10-15T11:34:00.001-04:00

Every single Fall/Winter I find myself (1) not having any long sleeve tops and (2) hating the ones that I technically don't even have because I have no long sleeve tops. Two years ago I embarked on "Two Weeks of Winter Work Tops" and I STILL have no long sleeve tops. Ugh!!!! While I wear dresses almost exclusively in summer, for some reason I turn more to separates in winter.

So, I decided it was time to look for some inspiration at Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom. It turns out that nobody has any good ideas for winter work tops, so at least I'm in good company. There were a lot of basic t-shirts and basic blouses, but we all know that I don't do basic.

I found a handful of inspiration pieces (and if you haven't seen SewBeDo's FABULOUS bow t-shirt variation of the BurdaStyle Lydia, check it out and encourage her to do that tutorial!).

The twist top is still popular, as shown by the 3.1 Phillip Lim Twist Front Cashmere Pullover - Nordstrom $495 and Nic + Zoe Twist Front Top - Nordstrom $63.90 on sale variations.

The Nic + Zoe I could easily pull off, as it just appears to be a twist overlay and at this point the cat is out of the bag on how to do twists. I can fantasize about somehow modifying Butterick 5079 (one of my unreviewed projects) for the 3.1 Phillip Lim, but I know there's no way I'd figure that puzzle out.

I love this Kate Spade blouse ($275, Bloomingdale's) from the front *and* the back.

The website doesn't mention a closure, so it appears that it just pulls over the head. This makes me wonder if it is clipped in the photos, because that cut looks too slim to comfortably wriggle over the shoulders, but of course if I made it I could always put an invisible zip in the side. Love the ruffles, the non-exaggerated sleeve, and the tame looking collar in front that ties in a bow in back. This is the kind of mood I am in for blouses this Fall--soft and feminine, not a traditional shirt-tailored kind of piece.

The peasant blouse still lives--here are some from Michael Kors ($64.90, Nordstrom) and a t-shirt version by Cameo Appearance ($48, Nordstrom)

I like the sleeve shape on the Kors version--that rounded opening appeals to me, and is a little different than the normal balloon with more fullness on the lower half of the sleeve than the upper--does anyone know what this style of sleeve is called? That style sleeve first came to my attention in relation to a DVF copycat controversy. I like the open sleeve on the tee, it's more laid back. The jury is still out on whether I can wear this style that balloons over an elasticated hip, though. I like my Simplicity 4020 top, so maybe.

LOVE this Tadashi Shoji blouse (Nordstrom, $238). The faux wrap and the peplum with the coordinating pleats is so cute, and the collar is excellent, so much more fun than a traditional shirt collar but not over the top.

I could live without the beading. I could also live without the zip all the way down the back (???--I don't get it), but I'd move it to under the arm.

I have Vogue 7998, a wrap top pattern that might be adaptable. (That I have all these ideas that could be done does not, by any stretch, mean that any of them will get done, of course.)

It also turned out I am ahead of the trend with some stuff I made for *last* Fall/Winter: the Knip Mode twist top I was so obsessed with and a BWOF dress.

The Knip Mode 04-2008-13 twist top, as far as I can tell, is an exact match for the TWO different variations at Nordstrom. I need to make one or two more of those! The BWOF 10-2008-115 dress isn't identical because the Bloomingdale's dress has a surplice/faux wrap neckline and no gathering in the skirt. I like the BWOF version better, actually. This dress isn't really for work, though, and I already have a million ideas for dresses anyway.

I found a few more ideas for ruffles and bows and more ruffles (though I would make that last one a blouse, not a cardi) but honestly it was slim pickings. You can check out the whole set here. Please pass on all your good ideas and inspiration!

Exquisite Fabrics Update, Trip to Philly, and Stashoholism Confessional

2009-10-14T09:02:00.001-04:00

I had a very productive weekend...if you consider stash-building productive. Ahem.

Cidell came to visit me in DC. We exchanged gifts from our recent travels; she picked me up a ton of knit lining and a cute little shirting print in Panama.

We spent Friday hitting up the Simplicity sale at Joann, where I picked up 8 patterns at 99 cents each. Score! My top picks are 2473, a princess sheath with faux-belt separate waistband; the Cynthia Rowley 2512 paper bag waist skirt with shaped waistband; and a tie-neck blouse 2501 that comes in both peplum and one piece variations with an awesome ruched sleeve.

Then we hit up G Street, where I SWORE I was not going to get any fabric. Until I did. Luckily only one piece. I could not get the color to come out right in the photo--the flash kept washing it out--but it's a dark gray (of the blue gray variety) knit. There is a dress in the Drape Drape book that I want to try, but it is a bit wild and crazy and has to be done in a sober solid color, not to mention that it will EAT UP the yardage so the $2.97/yd price was a big sell.

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Then it was some snoop shoppping in Georgetown. Embellishment is big, is all I can tell you. We went in J Crew and every t-shirt had some kind of ruffle, bow, lace, sequins, applique, etc. on it. I am all for girly details, but the indiscriminate application of sequins was a bit much on some of them. I NEED to do something with a froth (or bib, for the less poetical among you) of ruffles at the neck.

We also made a point of stopping into Exquisite Fabrics' new(ish) location at The Shops at Georgetown. They moved there about a year ago from their old K Street location, which was metro accessible and *ahem* easily drop-in-able from my doctor's office. It's still very high end, as it was before, with high end prices to match. There are a lot of very nice wools and a large selection of silks, though I found the vast majority of the silk prints...inexplicable. By which I mean hideous. They still have the "bargain" section, with yardages allegedly in the $2-10 range, though most were $8/yd and above. There was nothing much to interest me there. I will say, the notions section has expanded and I can definitely always find a zipper or thread here if I'm in a pinch, which is awesome. I ended up getting only one thing, an AWESOME gold bow buckle that, judging from the packaging, is actually from the 80s. It was marked down to $5. I'll be using that puppy at the first available opportunity.

I must say that service is crap. Ugh. Cidell and I were greeted when we came in, which was nice. But then after I figured out what I wanted I went and stood at the register, patiently waiting (that is to say, no sighing, eye rolling, finger snapping, or other boorish behavior) where I was PATENTLY ignored. I mean, the clerk went out of her way not to see me while standing a few feet away. She made a huge show of helping another customer, who obviously didn't sew at all, look for buttons. Had the other customer been there first, I would of course not complain at all, but I was waiting first and since I was at the register was probably going to be quick, while button chooser had no idea what she was looking for. It felt very much like the clerk considered me too young to be a "real" customer, and treated me accordingly. It left a very bad taste in my mouth. So, buyer beware.

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The next day we hit the road and headed up to Philly to meet Karen and sate ourselves at Jomar. I brought my camera but of course failed to take a single picture. Sorry about that. I had limited time so we got straight to business. Jomar is crazy, man. It is huge, there is so much fabric, it's a little weird, and the prices are insane. So I, um, went a little crazy.

In the fashion fabric category, I got two silks for blouses and four knits:

The dark silk is navy. I never wear navy because (1) I like black and think it looks good on me, and (2) what shoes do you wear with navy????? But I am branching out. I also got gray because I have been feeling the gray this year. It's a good color. On the knits, the three ITY prints are self-explanatory. Cidell maintains that the metallic tweed-ish knit defies explanation, which it sort of does but I was really drawn to it.

I also picked up linings in black and silver/gray (the lightest color I could find in an acceptable texture) for $1/yd. Sadly, I couldn't locate any rayon lining so I have either 100% poly or acetate, but I have often found myself in need of a silky lining, especially as we go into Fall and tights are necessary. Now I can never say I don't have any lining. Then there was the interfacing--also $1/yd, I got two wovens and a knit. But my total for all of this was right around $70, which is crazy for six fashion fabrics, two linings, and three interfacings!

After our shopping, Karen led us to the most delicious falafel place. The fries were made with onions and peppers along with the potatoes, which was divine and I don't understand why everyone doesn't do this. The falafel and hummus sandwich was incredibly delicious. Mmm. I have been thinking of this place ever since!

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So now I really, really, really need to stop buying fabric! My plan for this year was 6 yards per month. I am guessing I have exceeded that, although there have been several months where I didn't buy anything. I have certainly exceeded my sewing because I have been busy lately and not been able to spend an entire day each weekend sewing. I wish I could learn to sew during the week, but unless I have a deadline I've never been able to bring myself to do it. So, discipline in buying is really the only alternative. If only I could figure out how to develop it...