Rest, Repeat – 5857

Flora flaunts more Shorts

Another pair of McCalls 5857.  These went together a bit faster, since all the tweaks and twiddly bits were worked out in the first pair.  The way sewing should be.

It is very much like me to be making shorts at the end of shorts season.  These were supposed to have happened much earlier in the year, or better yet, in the Spring of last year, which is when I got the pattern.  Better late than never!

Modifications to this pair was adding some pockets to the back.  One can never have too many pockets!  I used an existing pair of pants to determine pocket placement, matching up the waists, then chalking in the pocket edges.

The second photo provides a truer color representation.  These are a dark purple.  Like the previous grey pair, this fabric was  finished incorrectly, making it difficult to get a prefect straight edge.  I haven’t purchased much yardage from the local Craft Emporium of late.  This reminds me why.

McCalls 5857

Flora says it’s still warm enough for shorts

These are McCalls 5857, a pattern that’s been aging in the stacks for at least 2 years, possibly longer.  The plan was to sew up several pair before the weather warmed up.  Obviously, that never happened!

Still, today is in the 90s, and tomorrow 100 is expected, so I shall get some use out of these.

I used the pants sloper that I made at our ASG work shop back in February to adjust the fit.  This meant that I could do the majority of the sewing without all the fitting and twiddly bits, until it came time to put on the waistband.

The fabric is a cotton twill from the local Big Box Craft Emporium.  It was finished off-grain, so even pulling a thread across the width did not yield a true straight edge.  OK for shorts; I would not have turned this fabric into pants – the legs would have skewed crooked.

The pockets are my usual leftover print.  I put the label inside the pocket so the edges don’t even have an opportunity to scratch my skin.  Simple Sewing.  Shorts.

Butterick 5525

Or the shirt that almost wasn’t.

I thought about calling this post Butterick or Bust, then decided to try a few more things, like actually stitching the side seams and trying the shirt on a second time, before declaring it a total wadder.  I even tried it on right-side out.  Am I the only one who tries on muslins wrong side out, so I can fiddle with the seams?

Imagine my surprise when doing so produced something almost wearable, and not the tweak infested nightmare I had during the first try out.  There are still some things that need to be modified – like raising the neckline in front, and reducing the curve in the body, but these are minor and simple to achieve.

Other things I took note of – this fabric is a cotton knit.  While it has enough stretch according to the pattern envelope, the recovery is not as nice as it could be.  I think this pattern would benefit from a stretchier knit.

I am undecided if I need to make a forward shoulder adjustment.  Probably, but then I’ll have to get out the fitting books to learn how.  The back neck gaps a little as well, so perhaps taking the seams in there.

Overall, what has surprised me the most about this is my attitude towards it.  I had thought it would be a fast & dirty shirt to sew…and was disappointed when it didn’t turn out perfectly the first time.

Having set it aside for a while, then tried it on the way I would wear it in real life (right side vs. wrong side – and what is this life if not real?  surreal?) I am more likely to twiddle and see if I can get it to fit.

See, there’s nice fabric in the stash waiting for this pattern.  In particular the gathered light-blue version in the envelope picture.  A nice soft printed knit.  Maybe a stretch lace, with the body backed by a different color, and the sleeves left lacy.  I like the combination of raglan sleeves and a quasi-cowl neck.  It’s a nice variation from the standard knit styles.

New Look 6407: Fitted Shirt

This pattern has been in my stack* for ages.  It’s also gotten rave reviews on Pattern Review, so I thought it was about time I give it a try.

It’s been literally years since I’ve made anything for myself from woven fabric, with the exception of some Hawaiian-style shirts, where fitting is a non-issue.

This pattern seemed like it would be a good segue back into the world of wovens.  I’ve been having quite good luck with New Look’s knit patterns, so how difficult could the woven be, right?  Umm. Yeah. Sure.

I decided to use this fabric: a cotton stripe.  If you look closely, you can see that inside the black stripes is a silver lurex thread, and in the middle of the wide white stripe (say that 3 times fast!) is a thin satin stripe.  I liked the fabric well enough, but was not totally enamored of it.  Good thing, as it turns out.

I cut a standard 12 and started slowly piecing things together.  The bust darts fit, and were properly placed.  Check!  The fish-eye (vertical) darts in the front not so much.  Uncheck!  They had to go.  Completely.  I couldn’t even get the bottom to button.  In case you were wondering this is a standard problem for me, not the result of too many holiday cookies!

Fish-eye darts in the back were reduced by 1/2 their width.  Check!  This still maintained the design lines on the back.  At this point, I am undecided if I will just leave out the front f-e darts, or put in a tiny tuck to maintain the style element.

Next up I added the collar and collar stay.  Simple and straight forward.   During most of this sewing, I was using a fairly large basting stitch to fit things, then going back and sewing / serging as necessary for the final seam.  Then I got cocky… (You knew something was up, didn’t you?)

Insert Sleeves.  Pin side seams.  No fit.  No fit at all.  I stopped sewing at this point.  Oddly enough I wasn’t all that upset, or surprised either (and when did I become such an adult?).  I knew something would have to be modified, and chances of actually wearing this shirt were slim.  After all, it’s been years!

What needed to change?  The back was too tight across my shoulder blades.  The sleeves were also too tight across the bicep.  Prince Charming helped with the tape measure, so I got an idea how much extra ease I need.  At least 1 inch across the back (maybe sizing up to a 14?  16?) and 1/2 inch in the bicep.

In the next post, I’ll show you the ol’ cut & slide method of pattern alteration I used to get this extra ease.

*For some reason I don’t stash patterns, I stack them.  Like library stacks.  Rows and rows of pattern stacks.

Maximus Cat & Claire (aka Mademoiselle Moonbeam)

Butterick 6838

Hello, and Happy New Year! In following through on the premise of quality over quantity, this is Mom’s Christmas present, which wasn’t completed until she came to town so I could fit it properly.

A couple months back, she mentioned how difficult it was to find nighties that had wide straps and were comfortable (sans synthetics) to wear.  I saw this pattern during one of the pattern sales, and thought it would be most appropriate.

Mom came to visit for New Year’s, as she usually does, and I took the opportunity to fit the pattern to her.  The result was this nifty number:

It was a delight to sew, being made from a silk/cotton twill fabric from Fabric Mart Fabrics.  The yoke lining is a cotton/poly weave to counteract the stretch of the twill.

Besides a couple of tweaks to compensate for body versus stylistic issues, this was a very easy pattern to put together.  Being a nightie, there weren’t a whole lot of fitting issues to consider, beyond making sure the yoke fit appropriately.  It was an easy pattern to sew up, all straight seams on the serger for the most part.  I skipped much of the pattern instructions, since the yoke went together the same as a stand-based collar.  What can I say?

Merry Giftmas Mom! Maybe another for your birthday, perhaps?

Bead Crochet

Whenever I fly, I always take some hand work with me to while away the hours waiting in airports.  This usually means bead crochet.

What is bead crochet?  Mostly, you string beads onto crochet thread, and armed with your trusty crochet hook, go round and round and round, putting one bead in each slip stitch.  I’m not about to try and show you how it’s done in this post.  There are much better web sites for that here and here and here.  Suffice to say, it’s what I do while waiting.

I did the ropes for these bracelets recently.  They are made with clear, size 6° beads, which were strung on tan crochet cotton.  There’s a little added sparkle because the crochet cotton also had a metallic gold thread spun into it.

The crochet tubes are about 2 1/2 to 3 inches long.  The focal beads, and clasps were picked up in Tucson, during the February Gem Fair.  They will end up being gifties for someone, though I’m not sure who just yet.

This rope is pretty hefty, about 5/8 inch in diameter.  It’s also pretty flexible, which makes it nice for jewelry.  Kind of flows and slinks along.  Feels good on the skin too.

Bead crochet isn’t just for bracelets.  There are some fantastic necklaces, lariats and other creations which artists have made.  You could even make a Schmoo!

Jalie 968

The jeans are done!  Here they are, modeled by Flora.  The pattern is Jalie 968, described as straight leg jeans.  Alas, the last time I checked the Jalie web site, the pattern was not listed, so it may well be out of print.  I’ve had it for years, but only recently gotten around to making it.

Jalie is a pattern company out of Canada, which specializes in a lot of athletic wear – think skating patterns, workout clothes, etc.  But, they also carry a series of regular clothing, of which this is (or was) one.  Check them out, they have some lovely styles.

Similar to Burda World of Fashion, Jalie comes all sizes in one envelope.  All sizes – from 2T, as in toddler to US 22. Sizes are again, printed on the same piece of paper, so you have to trace your lines carefully.  Like Kwik Sew, they are printed on heavy paper, so I generally trace off onto tissue.  This multi-sizing makes Jalie useful for lots of different family members.  Unlike Burda, they also have excellent instructions.

I did my usual, non-matching fabric for the pocket lining and fly placket.  In my mind, this helps both the fly area, and the pockets have less thickness.  The stretch denim I used is pretty beefy, and, well, let’s face it, no one wants extra heft around their mid section.

The fabric is from Big Box*.  It’s been washed and dried once, but the last piece of denim I got from them continued to shrink in length (go figure!) with successive washings.  I took care with these to have a larger than usual hem, so there’s room to let them out if needed.

I toyed with the idea of using an actual metal trouser zipper on these, but in the end time won out over authenticity, and I used a nylon one from stash.  These jeans got the Prince Charming seal of approval too!

*Joann’s

BWOF #112 6/2009

The capris are done! Don’t they look lovely on Flora?

Burda World of Fashion (BWOF as it’s sometimes called) is a combination fashion / pattern magazine from Germany.  Besides en courant photos of up and coming styles, the magazine also includes a center tear out section, where you can trace off all, I repeat, all the clothes shown in the magazine.

Of course, since all sizes are included on the same pages, following the lines for the right pattern and size can be a bit tedious.

The style is for capri pants that are beachy, with wide legs, a shaped waistband, with small front pleats and in-seam pockets.  I liked that idea!

That said, these didn’t turn out quite as well as I had hoped.  They are certainly wearable, and I will wear them, but they’re just not what was in my mind’s eye.

The fabric is a an embroidered cotton / linen blend from Big Box*.  A very limp linen.  It stretched in the waist once cut; but I was able to corral that by increasing the size of the front pleats, and doing a little judicious gathering and button placement.

The in-seam pockets went in very well.  I like those!  I did my usual waistband facing – something from the leftover bin.  In this instance, it helped, as the yellow cotton provides more stability than just interfacing the fashion fabric would have.  It doesn’t alter then exterior look either.

These will work in Cactusville.  What I’ll do on the next pair: take in the overall width of the front by a bit, narrow the legs, us a fabric with more body.  Yes, Virginia, there will be a next pair!

*Big Box, aka the chain store that begins with J.

McCalls 5817

A little bit of sewing every day after work, and it’s done!  The skirt, as worn by Flora.

The fabric was very easy to work with.  It’s a cotton lycra shirting weight, from the Evil Fabric Queen’s Yahoo co-op.  There’s a little bit of stretch, which is enough to allow room for dessert.  The back has a double kick pleat, which contributes walking ease.  That makes wearing it quite comfortable.  This is quickly becoming my go to pencil skirt pattern.

I didn’t agonize over lining or underlining this one.  While the fabric is light, with the busyness of the print, and being awake when I select my undies, I shouldn’t have to worry about VPL*.  Awake is the operative word.

It’s rather odd though.  When I worked corporate, I never wore skirts.  Always, always, always in pants.  Even when I advanced beyond pulling cables and racking servers in the data center.  Lately, though, it’s been a slurry of skirts.  Go Figure!

*Visible Panty Line