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Just when you though she didn't sew anymore, coming soon to a blog near you: The Notary Dress, in the world's most lint-attracting fabric, just a zipper and a hem (and some hand-finishing) away!
The Lady Grey Sew-Along: My first attempt at a coat!! (But first to find some fabric for the muslin...)
For Memorial Day weekend my friend Kasey came out from Chicago for a visit - we got to do some catching up, get in some shopping, eat some seafood, and soak in the sun.
We had a picnic at Evergreen and saw baby ducks and snapping turtles.
Played a string of candlepin and a few bucks worth of pinball.
Caught the sunset at Prout's Neck
Picked up lupines and local food from the farmer's market - including some tasty greens from my favorite farmers.
We did some shopping for clothes in Freeport.
And some shopping for shellfish in Portland
Caught a game at the ballpark (the first time I ever saw the Seadogs win!)
Made a fabulous local feast - including Mr. Cleaver's scallops, Kasey's lobster and clam chowdah, and my first (quite successful) attempt at crab cakes
A trip to the chilly beach and a slightly warmer lighthouse.
And don't worry - Mr. Cleaver didn't miss out on all the fun - he just didn't make it into all that many pictures!
(and thanks to Kasey for the great time and the use some of your photos - you're welcome back anytime)
It's a very rare experience for me to make a pattern twice - I made the same shirt from the Built By Wendy Sew U book twice, but that's about it. I'm changing my perspective on this though as I get more into pattern drafting and perfecting fit on commercial patterns. If I'm going through all that effort, it seems silly not to use the pattern again. And so, I give you two takes on McCall's 5591, both done, strangely enough, in fabric that reminds me of old wallpaper patterns.
In many ways, the turquoise skirt on the left is my highly-wearable muslin. Having matched the pattern envelope measurements exactly, I cut out the pieces exactly to the pattern size suggested, with the exception that I added about 2 inches to the main body length.
After putting it together I found the waist to have way way way too much ease in the waist, so I took it apart, then took the waist band in a few inches. (Of course, the time between taking it apart and putting it back together was about a month - I was a bit bummed). After which the waist band fit great. I love the skirt - especially the secretly rabbitty fabric (sew below) - though I did think it hung a bit squarely from the hips down.
I love the skirt - especially the secretly rabbitty fabric and the look of the pocket facings- though I did think it hung a bit squarely from the hips down (see the top photo).
So on version 2.0 I did some skimming on the waistband pieces and did some slash & spreading on the skirt - adding a total of about 6 inches to the lower hem circumference- for a more flared look. Also, being short on contrasting fabric, I did a single layer on bottom hem, as opposed to the folded hem on the original (though I think the folded hem looks/hangs better)
In the end, I prefer the fit of the yellow skirt, but love them both.
What about you? Do you have favorite version? Are you a once-only pattern sewer or do you find patterns you love and make them over and over?
When I got the the summer dress code at my current job last I could have sworn it was written in 1962. Along with khakis and polo shirts, acceptable "business casual" wear includes: jumpers and culottes. Jumpers and culottes!
When was the last time anybody wore culottes, or even knew what they were? Now granted my portion of the office is generally casual-casual, because I have no air conditioning and Chicago gets rather hot and humid this time or year, so really I can wear pretty much anything within reason.
But for those days when I feel like following the code, I could always pull out this jumper I made a few weeks back.
Jumpers always make me feel a little like I'm five. Hence the theme of this particular bunch of photos. Also, I'm running out of things to do in front of a blank white wall, so I'm up for any suggestions.
This particular project had been sitting on a back burner for about 3 months, largely because I planned to make it out of this beautiful blue linen and I was afraid to cut into it. More to the point though, I wanted to change up the top a bit, and had little-to-no experience with pattern alteration.
The original pattern (McCalls 5577) looked like this:
Yes, I copied the color exactly. Not so creative I know. I loved the skirt of the thing, but the top seemed a little low, even if I was going to wear a shirt under it, and I didn't quite get the v-shaped piece on the upper back. So I pulled out my ruler from my college scenic design class and wrapping paper and started drawing. I added about 2 inches (plus seam allowance) to the top lines of the top piece blending it in with the existing straps and leaving the bottom bit the same so it'd line up as per the original. Then I transferred it to muslin and sewed the top up.
I quickly discovered that I'd need some darts, which I also had no clue how to do and didn't look up how to do until my next project. So I guessed and basted and ripped and guessed and basted until I came up with something that seemed to work. Of course, without the skirt bit attached I wasn't sure how it would all hang, and sure enough when I made the actual jumper I totally had to move the darts and I'm still not sure they're in the right place, but ah well it works.
For the back straps, I took the existing lower straps and lengthened them to about 23". Because of where they fell on the back of the jumper, I eschewed buttonholes and tacked the straps straight unto the dress, as well as securing them to the top of the back of the jumper.
All in all, it came out fairly well, though definitely not perfect. But to those seeking perfection, I say this:
I don't know what it is about the week leading up to a big to-do that makes me want to sew so much, but it seems like whenever would be the least likely time to whip out the machine is exactly when I choose to do so.
I'm going to admit. I'm not an everyday stitcher. I'm not even an every-week sewer, but book me a plane ticket out of the state and I'll set up the machine in the dining room.
I, of course, realize that some of this has to do with my need to show-off (seriously, I have a blog to document it all for goodness sake). Mothers and mothers-in-law are great audiences for showing-off my handmade stuff.
For example, just before leaving for my bridal shower back last summer, I sat around hand-sewing the hem of a summer dress. Just before I left for my wedding in October, I made this dress:
Just before I went to my mother-in-law's for Christmas I made this one:
This time around, I'm doing crazy-tons of theatre stuff and I make a shirt. I know you were expecting "dress," but I'm branching out.
So yes, I made a shirt. The last time I made a shirt, I was in high school and it was a very simple, very boxy men's bowling shirt and my dad got one of the folks at his work to stitch "Miss Leah" over the pocket. I still have it, and maybe after I add some much-needed darts to it, I'll post it here.
But after a 7 year or so break from shirts, I decided to dive back in again. You see, I have this *crazy* idea about slowly crafting an entire wardrobe - except t-shirts and underwear, because I'm not that crazy.
Of course, about halfway through the shirt I realized that I didn't have a clue how to make buttonholes on this machine.
Let me say, I love the buttonholer on my machine. Love it! It made the whole process so easy I just want to run around putting buttonholes on everything. Forget cute as a button, how about cute as a buttonhole? And the more I type "buttonhole" in a row the less it sounds like I should be typing buttonhole. Also - did you know you can sew on a button with a machine? I'm so excited by this development in my life!
This was definitely A learning shirt, between the pin-tucks and lots of curved seams. But I'm super-proud of the hem and it was the best go I'm had with sleeves recently. So it's all to say I'm getting better - even if the collar on this shirt is a bit of a mess.
My other confession about this shirt? The contrast stitching was totally unintentional. I bought some dark blue thread for another project, which when I went to sew the shirt was the only blue thread I could find, so I assumed I got it for both projects. About halfway through the shirt I found the light blue thread. Ah well. As for that other project? I'm going to have to buy more thread, because this is ow much thread I had left at the end of this shirt:
PS - for those who are curious. The pattern was McCall's M5322 version A without the trim.
Day 35.
Day 29-31.
Day 32-34.
Whenever I do a fast like this, there comes a time, without fail, that it becomes habit. As in, I don't miss wearing jeans anymore. Now when I pick out my clothes in the morning it isn't "what do I want to wear instead of jeans," it's "do I want to wear khakis or slacks today?"
Good thing too, since I realized today that Lent is 40 days until Palm Sunday + another seven days after that.
In other news, my life has gotten less crazy enough between an opening and rehearsal and dealing with way too many emails about ticketing that I was able to pull out the full seven photos this week (though don't look at Day 30 too closely - I was wicked tired and it shows). As and added bonus, I actually have some non-Lent posts lined up for later in the week - yay!
In other other news, I need a hair cut. My hair flip is getting outta control.
In other other other news, it's supposed to be 50 degrees tomorrow, glory hallelujah!
So I'm still playing post-Christmas catch-up here, but if I keep my nose to the grindstone, I figure I might get all caught up by the end of January.
That said, here is the sewing-centric companion to last week's knitting update.
Project #1: Christmas Apron
I wasn't one of the many bloggers who made the handmade pledge because I already knew what I wanted to get my husband, and while part of it was handmade by me (record bowls) and part of it handmade by someone else (Wilco silkscreen), the rest was not and it wasn't really an idea I wanted to give up.
Not entirely handmade, but certainly appreciated by the recipient.
That said, I did do some additional hand-made gifting, namely the apron below (on left). The pattern was based on a vintage apron I had (on the right). This was pattern-making at its, uh, well it involved some paper bags, a lot of folding and some high-class technical eye-balling and guesswork.
Apron buddies!
I didn't have enough material or know-how to make bias tape for the edging, so instead I did some decorative zig-zagging. All in all, I think it turned out fairly well.
Lord love the zig-zag stitch.
And what did I get? In an awesome "Gift-of-the Magi"-but-in-a-totally-better-way turn of events, Kasey got me The Apron Book!
That is 100% Pure Excitement there.
Project #2: Plaid Wool Dress
It took seven years to get the dress made, so it's no surprise that it's taken me so long to post about the completion of this project.
I finished the dress about a week and half before Christmas and have worn it several times since then, including for my Breakfast at Tiffany's book club meeting, but every time I wore it I forgot to take a picture. Hopefully I'll remember next time and can post a photo of the dress actually on me, but for now, I leave you with this:
I bought my first sewing machine in May with some hard-earned stage management pay. I'm not super fancy when it comes to sewing, so I went for a basic machine, a Brother LS 2125i. I really enjoy this machine, but it's very intuitive and it works almost exactly like my mother's sewing machine that I learned to sew on. When it comes to choosing projects, I have, up to this point, almost entirely focused on sewing dresses.
I love vintage dresses, particularly from the 50s, but it's hard to find them in good condition (because really, it'd be fifty years old), and even harder to find them in my size. So I sew them! Having discovered the wonderful world of craft blogs, I have about a billion things I'd like to sew now, but for now I'm still working on a dress.
Several years ago, while driving from Napa to Salem, OR for my freshman year of college, my family stopped at the Pendleton factory store and picked up this amazingly beautiful wool fabric. The original intention was to make a skirt for the cold Oregon winters, which is a little funny now that I've lived in Maine and Chicago - no offense Oregon!
For whatever reason, the skirt never got made. So when I was visiting my mom this summer I dug out out the fabric and the old skirt pattern and snuck it into my suitcase. However, I was less enamored with skirt idea by this point, so I did some looking around found this McCall's pattern.
I have to admit, I was a tad terrified as I cut out the pieces, because I've never worked with plaid before, so I stared at it for about 15 minutes before I cut anything. Fingers crossed!
The cut pieces have been sitting in my sewing box for several weeks and I finally pulled them out tonight and did some sewing. Since space in my apartment is limited, I sew on the kitchen table, but since we use the table I have to set up my machine and put it away each time I want to sew, so its often easier to pull out the knitting (and I am working on sweater #2 - so that has a lot of work to do on it as well).
In any case, I finished the bodice tonight and I couldn't be starting this dress at a better time, since I'm seeing plaid everywhere these days from Domino Magazine to CBS Sunday Morning. Apparently the design world is mad about plaid!
