Waiting. Patiently.

These lovely rayon jerseys have been waiting for me since I cut them out at the end of September.  Waiting.  Waiting very patiently.  I finally got my serger threaded (no large feet, Bernice the Serger and I are long time friends) this weekend, and proceeded to sew them up.

They turned out wonderfully.  The fabric, a beefy rayon knit was actually a dream to sew.  I was concerned it would be slippery, like some of the ITY knits, but it wasn’t.  No skipped stitches even when using the regular sewing machine.

These two are both from HotPatterns.  The one at the left is a their Plain & Simple T in the bateau neckline variation.  Sleeveless, of course.  I had to cut the armhole down a bit, but that was the only adjustment to leaving the sleeves off.

The purple at the right is a free download from Fabric.com – Fringe Festival Scarf shirt – sans scarf.  I thought it best to leave the scarf off, since these are destined for summer wear, and I am prone to dunking things like scarves into my soup.

Lastly is another rendition of New Look 6569.  No adjustments on this one, as I’ve made it several times.  The shirring in front adds just enough interest.

I used fold over elastic on both the purple and green shirts.  Originally I had planned to use a contrasting color, then decided against it.  What you can’t see in these small photos is that the elastic is stitched with variegated thread, which provides subtle interest.

I know, tank tops in November.  Not something I’ll be wearing any time soon, even here in Cactusville.  However now they are finished, and I can move on to holiday sewing.  About time too, as Christmas is coming early this year.  Or rather GrandMeow is visiting early, and she will want to open gifties.  (Grandmeow – grandmother to the cats).

New Look 6873: Repeat

While it is technically September, and traditionally time to think about fall clothes, with their dark rich colors, the truth of the matter is that it’s still over 100 here in Cactusville.  In fact, it was a lovely 109 yesterday.

So, Flora sports some new shorts.  Another pair of New Look 6873, this time in a mint green and white stripe.  The fabric is textured, but it’s not quite a seersucker.  A little thicker.

The last time I made this pattern, I fussed a bit with the waistband, getting it to fit, as Goldilocks would say, “Juuust Right”.  I migrated those changes to the pattern, but there was still some tweaking to be done.

Enter the November issue of Threads.  (And what’s with this being the beginning of September, but the magazine saying it’s for November?  What calendar are they operating on?).  I digress.

Anyway, this issue had an article about a different way of attaching linings that allows you to do alterations without completely ripping out the waist.  It works!  That’s what I used on this pair, and was able to remove a part of the seam holding down the facing, then take in the necessary 1/4 inch.  Perfecto!

New Look 6873

Flora’s New Shorts

Here we are, most of the way through summer (well, end of July) and the current crop of shorts are starting to show their wear.  It’s been several years since new ones made an appearance.

These are New Look 6873, a pattern I’ve had for a while.  These were supposed to be a muslin, but careful comparison with my pants sloper, along with some pattern tweaking, has actually made them wearable.  Woohoo!

The pattern comes with a skirt, which I will probably never make.  The long pants are a definite possibility.

These shorts are made from a homespun-type of cotton, with my usual leftovers / scraps used for the waistband facing and pocket linings.  This works nicely, as the body fabric is a somewhat loose weave, and the tighter fabric for the facing provides more stability.

The waistband is a bit wider than usual, and there is a box pleat in the front.  Different from the traditional chopped-off-jeans style.  Last thing to do – buttons!

They are loose and cool.  Just the thing when the temperatures are consistently 105 and higher.  I know they will get a lot of wear.

Europa + New Look = Outfit

Flora Fashions an Outfit

My wardrobe is almost entirely separates.  They mix and match, sometimes well, sometimes not.  Pieces wear out at different times.  This is the first time, in many years, that I can say I have an actual outfit.  A real, honest to goodness ensemble.  Pieces that are meant to be worn together.

I don’t know why, but I find myself inordinately pleased by this.  Now I just need somewhere to wear it!

New Look 6569 – Finally Finished

I stopped working on this skirt over a year ago.  In fact, I blogged about it too.  Since then, it’s sat in a stack waiting for it’s fate to be decided.  Would it ever be finished?  Would I find the patience to do all the niggling little tasks that were needed to “make it work“?

Well, I must say I am quite pleased to both have kept it (this skirt narrowly escaped a trip to Wadderville on several occasions), and to have finally finished it.  Yay! Yippee! Happy Dance!

There were quite a number of things I had to do, not the least of which was rip out most of what I’d already sewn.  The facings had stretched, and were not going to work as they were.

Here’s what I did to finish it:

• Remove zipper
• Remove skirt bottom from yoke.
• Cut a new yoke and facing (same pattern piece) – thankfully I saved the leftover fabric.
• Attach new yoke to skirt
• Re-insert zipper very carefully as I’d cut off the top zipper stop, and I didn’t want to have the slider go zinging off, never to be seen again.
• Tack facing down
• Hem skirt
• Hem lining

Having a sharp seam ripper was most helpful.  I’m glad I went back and finished the skirt, as I really do like the print.  It’s bright, summery and puts me in a good mood.

Sewin’ at the Sew-In

Well, as usual, my sewing expectations for the Sew-In were considerably higher than my output.  Which is not a problem, at all.  These are the items I completed, which I am very pleased with.  Looking back, I was a bit full of myself, thinking I would get 6 garments and a quilt top sewn.  Still, a girl’s got to have goals!

Simplicity 3754.  A lightweight denim skirt with funky skull fabric used for the pocket bags and facings.  I’ve made this pattern in an upholstery weight cotton before, and found I really like it.  The pattern is one of those standards – easy to assemble and always looks pulled together.

There is a kick pleat in the back for walking ease.  Another nice feature is that the pockets are deep enough to hold car keys and coinage, always a good thing.

I also did what I swore I would never do again:  top stitch using a different thread, and only have 1 machine.  So, there was more thinking involved than usual on assembly.  How much could I sew regularly before I had to change thread and needle to do the top stitching? The top stitching thread is a heavy weight variegated cotton.   While the buttons look to be two different colors, that’s an effect of the flash.  They are the same.

New Look 6407:  I spent so much time fitting this pattern, I plan to get a lot of use out of it.

The fabric is part of “the good stuff” stash, which I got from Gorgeous Fabrics.  It is a stretch cotton with lovely weight.  Not too heavy, not too light.  Does this make it Goldilocks fabric?

I used a complementary fabric for the facings.  Little did I know when I cut it out this style of combining fabrics would be featured in Linda Lee’s article “Gender Bender”  in the September issue of Threads.  Basically it talks about adapting some of the trends in menswear shirting to womens garments – this is one of ‘em!

Lastly is another pair of Hot Patterns Marrakesh pants.  These also assembled pretty easily.

Unlike the two previous garments I still have a little bit of work to do – hemming, waistband button and changing out the ties.

I used the same linen the pants are made of for the ties, and find that I don’t like it.  Too bulky and it makes too big a bow on the front.  Picky, picky, picky, I know.

I have some silky lining fabric that will work just fine.  This little fix is on the agenda for today.  As usual, the pockets and facings are a different fabric.  So far as I know, this isn’t a trend in mens trousers, but maybe I’m ahead of the pack?

Ready. Set. Sew!

In 2 weeks, at the end of June, it will be time for Sew-In 2010, and I can’t wait!

I think I’m just about ready too!  Patterns have been traced.  Fabric has been cut and interfacing ironed on.  Thread, zippers and buttons have been acquired.  I’m sure there is something I will forget, but for now, whatever it is escapes me.

These are the six items I hope to finish:

• One pair of denim shorts which hopefully won’t look too Daisy Mae.
• A denim skirt. Always useful.
• Hibiscus Shirt from Sewing Workshop, finally cutting into some good fabric
• A shirt / jacket from Louise Cutting’s pattern line.  I plan to have a lot of fun with the stripes on this one.  They go every which way!
• Another New Look shirt.  I spent so much time fitting this pattern, I plan to get a lot of use out of it
• Lastly, another pair of Marrakesh pants with embroidered flip flops.

The Sew-In is a weekend  retreat, running from Friday through Sunday which is put on by my local ASG chapter.  We take over one of the local hotels in an all-inclusive sewing extravaganza.  80 people all sewing away in their grand ballroom.  We overnight, so can sew as late as we wish.  We are fed, so no need to leave the premises.  It’s wonderful! No worries.  No fuss.  No bother.

I usually take more than I ever complete, so I’ve scaled back this year.  Now my concern is will I have enough to do?  Maybe I better toss in one more thing….

New Look 6407: Finished!

It’s finally finished.  All the pattern adjustments are complete and I think I have a working pattern.  Whew!  I sewed the buttons on last night, and wore it out to visit with Prince Charming’s co-workers.

Since I was already in the throes of pattern alteration, I revamped the collar a la Louise Cutting.  This method cuts both the upper and under collar as one, swapping the collar side seams for a single seam in the middle of the under collar.  This also puts the under collar on the bias, with the upper collar still on grain.

I changed fabric for the facings, as you can see with both the sleeve photo and the collar band above.  I think this gives a nice design touch.  The body fabric has some lycra in it, and the facing does not.  I don’t know if this sort of stretch stabilization is really necessary.  I didn’t take that into account when changing the facings.  It’s just something I like to do.

While the back is a little wrinkly it really does fit much, much better than the original pattern.  Trust me!

I know some folks may be saying Why bother with all this fitting?  Why not just try another pattern? I must admit, I sang this chorus to myself several times.  Still, when all is said and done, I now have a nice shirt, and a basic pattern to compare other patterns to.  This should save some trials and tribulations further down the sewing road.

New Look 6407: Sleeve Changes

I got another partial muslin done for the fitted shirt.  In addition to adding width to the back (to accommodate the Woman-of-a-Certain-Age back fat syndrome) I had to add some width to the sleeves.

This change is a bit more destructive to the pattern, as it involves actually cutting, stretching and taping the original.  I suppose I could have traced off another sleeve, and cut that, but I wanted to see if this was going to work, and didn’t feel like spending a lot of time on it.

In the photo above, you can see where I drew the vertical grain line, and a horizontal line where I needed the width.  You leave little paper hinges at the edge of the pattern, then gently pull it apart at the armscye.  That has the effect of both lowering the sleeve cap, adding bicep width, and not at all changing the length of the sleeve head.  Pretty nifty!

I still have to true up the bottom of the sleeve, but that is easily done.  The sleeves on the muslin fit just fine.  I’m still debating about the back, if I need to add a bit more to the width adjustment or not.   Better try that muslin on again!

New Look 6407: Pattern Changes

In the previous post, I said you’d get to see how I altered the pattern.  First thing I did was get out the pattern pieces that needed changing.  Only 2, so far.  Then I checked my favorite pattern drafting book for “wide back” and “wide bicep” alteration techniques.

Like most of us who sew garments, I have quite a few sewing and pattern drafting books, the two I refer to most are The Sew / Fit Manual by Oblander & Anderson and Fitting & Pattern Alteration by Liechty, Pottberg & Rasband. I believe one or both of these may be out of print.  I was fortunate enough to find both of them at the local Half Price Books.

I like F & PA because it shows you multiple methods for making the same alteration, as well as how to do it on different styles (raglan sleeve, set-in sleeve, etc).  S/FM is a great basic text that explains what you’re looking at, and why you need to do things that way.  Both are worthwhile.

The first piece I tackled was the back.  I put some tracing paper under the pattern, then drew some horizontal lines out at mid-back and just below the arm.  Basically the places that corresponded to the area of my back that needed more room.

You can see the instructions in the alteration book at left. This is using the pivot and slide method, where you don’t cut the existing pattern, but pivot or slide it hither and yon on the tissue to get the additional ease.

I have marked the original pattern area, then out the 1/2 inch to handle the added ease.  Those are the 2 red dots out to the side.

The pivot point I used was the top edge of the shoulder.   You can see where I rotated the original pattern out to my marked ease line, and drew in the new cutting line using the original pattern as a guide.  That’s the skinny red sketch in the photo.

I moved the pattern back to the orignal starting point, so you can get an idea of how this works.

Now that my new cutting line was marked, I just taped everything together, front and back, and cut off the excess tissue.  I supposed if I wanted to be very professional and precise, I would have traced the original pattern, and done the modifications on the tracing, but I was more about expediency this time ’round.

Ta Da!