Reflections on a Sewing Plan #2

Speaking of reflections:






The last post has generated a bit of interest, so I thought I should round it out with a couple of previous points that have come to me since I started sewing again. In the past year-and-a-half I've learned and re-learned a mountain of stuff, and have tried to make planning part of my sewing passion.....not altogether successfully, I might add.

The following points, however I hope I have taken to heart:

Reflection #6: Stifle thyself. There will always be more fabric. There will always be another sale. I remember vividly my first visit to Fabricville after at least 20 years of not sewing. I was overwhelmed by the selection, and afraid the sale would end before I could make up my mind. At the same time, it hit me that all this variety, in its continuous seasonal rotations, had been here for the past 20 years while I was away. Even though I cannot resist sometimes, I now tend to wait a bit before I rush into a purchase with no immediate purpose.

Reflection #7: If you must stash, stash wearable colors. I am a "winter" by complexion, and I love bright colors. In the fabric shop, however, I tend to neutrals, which are safe and flexible, but which don't make the most of my coloring. Neutrals will always be available, but my favorite bright royal blue may not. The current fashion season seems to be very neutral. I wish I had some stashed prints in jewel tones. Even prints with the bright fuchsia's and turquoises that I am looking for also feature beige, yellow or orange, all of which make me look awful.

Reflection #7B: Don't buy orphans. This means a great piece of fabric must sometimes acquire a companion before leaving the store....unless it already has one waiting patiently in the 3rd suitcase under the spare bed. Mostly this idea just slows down the fabric addiction chemicals in the brain to a point where logic can prevail once more.

Orphans that other people give you are ok. You can use them as an excuse to go shopping for siblings for them.

Reflections on a Sewing Plan

Today I read a post about layering on Marcy Tilton's website. Three garments were suggested whose necklines fit together so that a shirt, vest, and jacket could be worn on top of one another (and presumably removed as temperatures dictate.) I've never been much for layering other than bringing a sweater if I think it's going to be cool, such as in air conditioned restaurants when traveling in the summer heat.

It's fall here now, and raining today. We heat our house with wood, and the fire has been on all night and all day for the first time this year. It's very hot in here, and I started my day in a long-sleeved t-shirt, a treasured gift from a friend who lives far away.

As I prepared supper, and sat later in front of the stove, I realized that a long-sleeved shirt is not routine apparel for me in the winter...at least not when I am at home. Then I realized that of all the shirts I have made in the past year or so, most have been long sleeved. I've only worn them when going out, or in the case of cotton shirts, as an over-shirt for cool days or unknown weather conditions.

Reflective Lesson #1: Sew what you will wear. Since I am home much of the time, I should sew what I will wear around the house, ie: short sleeved shirts, sleeveless shirts and tank tops.

Reflective Lesson #2: Think of layering. I should choose patterns that can be worn over the shirts above, as you would wear a sweater. Long sleeves with uncomplicated necklines and coordinating colors. There's a bit of opportunity here for some neat styles, and embellishments.

Referring back to Lesson #1, I think we all spend more time sewing what we won't wear much than what we will wear often. The challenge of more complex garments I suppose is a factor. Having made the Burda Cape/jacket, and I am considering making another. Does a person need more than one of these, especially when she is also making another cape by Vogue? A cape has a life-span of what? -- 3 years maybe, before the fashion police snatch it away.

More than one person has suggested red wool crepe would make a fabulous version of the Burda Cape. My sister, who is much more practical thinks one is enough...but then, she does not wear red.

As I was reflecting on all of this, I was stretching my legs and feeling glad I had on my taupe stretch cords, made for SWAP last year. Suddenly, it occurred to me that I really love these pants, and also the brown ones I bought from Northern Reflections, and will probably also love the green ones waiting for hems and a 5-lb weight loss:

Reflective Lesson #3: Sew what you will wear. I like stretch cords. Therefore, make more. I could/should make them in every pattern and color I can find. Make them in NAVY for heaven's sake. My potential SWAP has a navy base -- make it work. Good grief, if I can find the fabric, I could make them in fuchsia and see if I have the nerve to wear them. Other stretch fabrics might be just as great!

Yesterday and today I worked on 2 Jalie T-shirts, trying to get the pattern adjusted for a good fit. Knits frustrate me, and I mostly still don't get them right. On the first round, the fit was tight because the fabric did not have quite enough stretch. I knew that would be the case, but figured my daughter could wear it. It was the sleeves that surprised me....so high, and so tight,...and so uncomfortable.

Rather than give up in despair (after I had already made copious notes about what to change on the shoulders and bustline) I impulsively chopped off the sleeves very short. Well! Now the shirt fits half-decently, the shoulders are not off nearly as much as I thought, and if I make that 5-lb weight loss, my daughter will not be getting a new shirt.

I enlarged the sleeves and lowered the armholes on the pattern by using the armscye of a larger size. It was moderately successful, but the forward shoulder adjustment still results in a strangely twisted sleeve. If you are still with me, I am getting to my reflection. It happened when I came upstairs to get out of the long sleeved too-hot shirt. An old black T-shirt from Reitman's was on the bed, and I put it on. It is made with a ribbed knit, a bit stretchier than the fabrics I have been using, but it fits perfectly -- even in the shoulders -- which is saying a lot because my shoulder seams are always too far back.

Reflective Lesson #4: If you have an old perfectly fitting shirt, take a pattern off it instead of fighting with alterations on other people's patterns. Duh.

Reitman's still carries this fabric and style of shirt, but they have changed their sizing, or perhaps the stretchiness of the fabric has changed. I have several of the old version. Best get to work tracing them off.

I should never have accumulated a stash. Now it takes forever weighing options about what to do with this or that. I read a post by Kathryn showing a princess style dupioni shirt. I decided to use my green dupioni for a similar pattern......decisions: short sleeve or long? muslin first or not? Is this really what I want for this dupioni? OK. Better make a muslin since you will have to do some alterations for sure, even though this is a Simplicity B-C-D cup pattern. Around we go again. What to use for the muslin? Junk fabric, decent cotton -- what will go with the potential SWAP. This is nice, but there are 2 whole meters. Never mind, use it anyway. Do I really want a short-sleeved shirt from this beautiful Asian cotton?........around and around.

Reflective Lesson #5: Sometimes you have to just do it. I muddle too much. There are no right answers, maybe not even any best answers. Pick a fabric. Pick a pattern.

Reflective Lesson #5A: If there is something #5 will go with, made or unmade, carry on. Use crappy stuff for a minimal fitting muslin and quickly get on with the fashion fabric that you really want to work with.

So there you have it, a rainy day's ramblings, and maybe some focus to very unstructured sewing of late. I hope this helps my progress.

Making pictures

I've taken a lot of pictures during this SWAP. Not many of them have been terrific ones, and I suppose it doesn't really matter. For the past few days I have been thinking of which pictures to take for Julie's site, and how to present my wardrobe. I've been hoping for some warm weather to take advantage of the natural light, but that is not to be according to the forecast.

To entertain myself, and re-visit some rusty skills, I created a collage of some of the details in my collection. Hopefully I'll get it done tomorrow, and SWAP will be behind me.

On to the next challenges.

Winding-Down Weirdness

The SWAP is coming to an end. So is my sanity.

Nothing is going very well. Mistakes everywhere. Someone on the board mentioned not being in the Zone, and I think that is what's happened. All my hobbies are done when I "feel like it." Otherwise, the quality suffers. In an effort to finish this project, I've been working when I should not be, and mistakes and errors of judgement abound.

However -- the Stippled Jacket is done, except for buttons, and I'm not sure I even want buttons on it. I know about all its shortcomings, but it seems to be getting lots of compliments, so they must not be too noticeable. There are a few things I would do differently next time....I think they are noted, or will be, on the Instructions Page which I was bold enough to write with ZERO experience beforehand.

The bamboo cowl neck top has turned into a wadder. The neckline seam doesn't want to go together correctly, I've misplaced the sleeves, and I generally got sick of it.

Arrival: Burda WOF for March!! I chose a pattern for a tunic style top. (#103) (without the decorative buttons)

I should note that the pattern pieces for this shirt are very oddly shaped, and should be carefully marked as to where the top of each piece is. I spent awhile looking at my unlabelled front pieces trying to figure which of the 4 sides was the shoulder seam. (Tip: a friend last evening, at our Sewing Group meeting suggested that when tracing a pattern, you should only put the upward facing arrow on the grain line. That way, you always know if your pattern pieces are headed the right way.)

By happy chance, this shirt is Burda's Sewing Lesson of the Month, so there are detailed instructions. This is a cool shirt. Not being in the Zone however, I messed it up miserably by making my muslin from a lovely soft viscose fabric that slips a bit when being cut, and a lot when being sewed. It drapes beautifully, and anyone in the Zone would have used fusible interfacing on the bands, especially with soft flowy fabric. Not me. I chose this moment to experiment for the first time with slippy soft flowy silk organza. DUH. Long story short: There are a few wrinkles where they aren't supposed to be, a few seams not quite straight. But not so terrible as not to be wearable. (I am a poet in another life).

The worst part of the tunic experience is that I decided to actually follow the given directions. Not something I necessarily do, but something I have learned in this SWAP is that I can get into trouble inventing my own rules. BUT...in this case, the Burda instructions leave raw edges of seams at the neckline (where there is a zipper), and at the bottoms of the sleeves -- where I know they are essentially invisible, but still.......As well, the interfacing is exposed on the inside of the garment. Never saw that before either.

After realizing that I should have followed my instinct about the bands and sewed them on so as to hide the seams, I decided to try to do that after the fact, ripping out a bit of seam/topstitching and trying to undo and redo stitching, all to no avail and resulting in loads of frayed ends and frustrations. After all that, the sleeves seem to pull awkwardly and hang crooked.

As we speak, I have decided to forgo the bands on the sleeves, totally remove them and hem the openings. This presents its own set of fitting issues because of the kimono type styling to the sleeve/side seams.

On another point, this pattern calls for a 24" invisible zipper in the back. I could only find a 22" one, and even though I added an inch to the length of the garment, the zipper is still extra long.

Though I don't like its directions, most of my troubles are self-induced on this pattern, which of course is another way of describing a learning experience. It has intriguing construction and fashionable syle, and I will make another one of these someday, but probably not for the SWAP. My nice red cotton which was to have been my post-muslin shirt will be made into something without so much oddness. Meanwhile, off to supper, and then another attempt to get this one finished.

Later: I got the sleeves organized in an acceptable manner; I'm leaving the zipper until morning. I have to figure out how to finish the seams, as they want to fray all over the place. I probably should have serged as I went along. (Note to self about next time!).

I think there's hope for this shirt, assuming the zipper goes ok, but it won't be a masterpiece.

Stippled Jacket Instructions

Pictures here - more to come. This picture shows the shoulder seam. To the right is the collar, edges unfinished.


I found a dearth of Stippled Jacket instructions on the web, so I wrote my own. If you want to go directly to the instructions, such as they are, please scroll down.



Stippled Jacket: How'd I do that?? (edited March 13 re binding instructions; edited March 15 re bindings; Edited March 25 to tidy things up)

These instructions were written as I worked my way through a 3-class course on making a quilted reversible jacket. I did not have written instructions until the 3rd class, and did not find any online. Thus I have written what is here to be helpful but NOT AUTHORITATIVE. Remember, it is based on my vast experience of my ONE and only jacket:

1. Pick a pattern that is easy. Make sure it fits. My pattern was Rochelle's Reversible, by Saf-T-Pockets. (This pattern is available from Timmel's )
   
2. Choose colors for back, front, collar or other decorative accents, and binding of jacket edges. You need enough fabric for both sides. Good fabric makes this a very expensive jacket.
   
3. Calculate enough fabric for each side of the jacket to cut all pattern pieces (no facings required) with 2" of empty space all around. You will need the same amount (as one jacket side) of plain ordinary flannellette (or other batting of your choice).
4. Add enough extra fashion fabric for bindings. You need to bind all seams on ONE side of the jacket. (Decide which side will have 'normal' looking seams, and which side will have the seams covered with a 1/2" of self-fabric.) I am sorry I don't have much feel for how much binding you get from any amount of fabric. You will need bias for the armscye for sure, and whatever other seams have any shape to them.
• Note the width of the seam allowances on your jacket pattern. If you have 5/8" seam allowances, you will need binding that is 2.25" wide for the seams that cover the raw edges (#5). If your seam allowances are 1/4" your binding will be 1.5" wide. (In our group, the rest of the people are quilters, who are used to 1/4" seams. I left mine at 5/8 and cut them down after the fact.) Save all this info for later.
• Also note, that you also need bias binding for all around the edges of the jacket which may match or coordinate with your other colors. I was advised that 1/2 meter would give me enough bias for this, and it turned out that I had plenty leftover. The width of that binding depends on whether you want it single thickness or folded.
  
  Experiment until you find the width you want before cutting your strips. My binding is 2.75". I am using a folded binding, which I am stitching a bit over 3/8" from the edge, using my presser foot as a stitching guide. The edges of my binding are set back 1/4" from the garment edges. This reduces the bulk in the binding, and allows sufficient fabric to fold over the edge and have approx. 1/2" on the other side. The binding which you turn to the other side must be wide enough to cover the stitching line. I am hemming it down by hand. Important edit March 15: In hindsight, I would not try to stitch the binding offset from the jacket edge. I would make my binding 1/4 - 1/2" wider, stitch it aligned to the edge, and trim after the fact if I thought there was too much bulk. It was altogether too difficult to keep the edges the correct distance, and to be sure that the underside of the binding was caught in the stitching line. As previously suggested: Experiment.
  
  
5. Wash the flannelette. Iron the fashion fabric. DO NOT WASH the fashion fabric. Flannelette shrinks a lot, so it's best (so I'm told) to wash it once first. The fashion fabric (usually cotton of some sort) will shrink a bit and cause the jacket to become puffy after stippling.
6. Make a fabric sandwich of the 2 sides (right sides facing out) with flannelette between. You can cut each piece separately, and make the sandwich later, or you can stack the 3 pieces and cut all together.
   
7. Cut each pattern piece so there is at least 2" of space all around. Watch grain lines as you would laying out any pattern. Mark the grain lines and other significant info on the piece of fabric, remembering that you will be recutting after stippling and washing the pieces. Its helpful to know at that point where the grain line is, and the center of the sleeve, center front etc.
8. Stabilize the sandwich so it won't move as you stipple. I sprayed very lightly with 505 between the flannel and the fashion fabrics, but pins will work. Don't worry about small wrinkles.
9. Practice your pattern. Using sandwiched scraps, practice stippling in any design, or combined with channel stitching. In my reading, it is recommended to stipple a bit on a scrap each time you go back to your jacket work, just to get into the 'flow' of it. Suit yourself.
   
10. Stipple all your pattern pieces, extending into the 2" of extra fabric. (Note: my stippling pattern involved alternating 1/2" wide and 2" wide vertical channels, with free-motion stippling in the 2"wide sections. In retrospect, I would make the narrow channels about 1/8" wider so they would be a little more emphasized after shrinking.)
    
11. Throw everything into the washer and dryer, including any SCRAPS which will be used for BINDING, or fabric specifically purchased for binding. Your jacket pieces will be lovely when they come out of the dryer.
12. Lay out your pattern pieces on the stippled work, and cut. Pay attention to previous markings and grain lines.
    
13. Cut seam bindings (2.25 or 1.5" -- see #4) sufficient for side, sleeve, armscye, collar and shoulder seams for one side of the jacket. Bias is preferable but not always necessary.
    
14. Cut bias bindings 3.00" - 3.25" (for approx 1/2" binding from folded bias) sufficient for the front edges, bottom edge and collar edges from your chosen fabric. (Note: I am no binding expert...consult with a quilter to get the bindings right.)
    
15. Fold the bindings in half lengthwise, right sides facing out and press.
    
    INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL SEAMS: HOW TO BIND THE SEAMS: The seam bindings are stitched when the seam is sewn, with the raw edges lined up with the edges of the seam. The seam allowance is then graded and bulk reduced. The seam is pressed to one side, and the binding laid over the raw edges and hemmed or topstitched down.
    
    DETAILS:
    
• Determine which side to put the binding on when sewing the seam. )Think about how the binding will face when folded over the raw edges):
• Shoulders, side seams and sleeves --binding on the front, press seam to back
  
• Armscye, binding on the body, press seam to sleeve. (Edited note: My jacket has slightly dropped sleeves. Turning the binding toward the sleeve, though it makes it easier to deal with the fullness of the sleeve, tends to make the sleeve look more dropped than it should. If I were to make this jacket again, I would sew the binding onto the sleeve edge and turn it toward the jacket side. -- just a personal observation, and perhaps not at all helpful)
  
• Collar - binding on the body, press seam toward collar - not sure about this, as I did my collar differently.
  
• Reduce the bulkiness of the seam by trimming the seam allowance to 1/4", then further trimming one of the allowances on an angle to grade. (On the armscye, be sure the sleeve allowance is the one you grade, as it is bulkier than the armhole edge.)
  
• Press the seam to one side using a damp cloth. Press hard on both sides of the jacket. I pressed both before and after trimming away the bulk.
• Pull the binding over the raw edges, press and baste into place. The binding should be about 1/2" wide. If you are going to topstitch, baste I closer to the seam than where you will be stitching so that your basting does not get caught up in the topstitching. It's easy to baste right at the ironing board while the seam is damp and warm, then everything stays put while you try on. I found pinning in this thickness of fabric to be less than joyful -- also occasionally painful.
  
  YOU'LL USE THESE DIRECTIONS AS YOU PROCEED WITH SEWING YOUR JACKET BELOW
  
• 
  
  
16. FINALLY YOU CAN START SEWING YOUR JACKET!! Pick a side to be the "right" side. The other side will have the seams showing, which will be bound as above. Use a stitch length of 3 or 3.5. At each step, bind as above.
    
    
• Stitch SHOULDER seams, right sides together, with the BINDING on the FRONT.
  
• Fit the SLEEVE and sew with the BINDING on the BODY before stitching up the side seams. Finish as above noting removal of bulk on the sleeve side.
  
• My sleeve was set in and slightly dropped. In this bulky fabric I am not thrilled with it. Next time I would either go with a raglan type sleeve, or I would have a sleeve that rested on the shoulder as in a suit jacket -- this would mean fighting with ease in the sleeve cap, but I think it would look better than the dropped shoulder in the bulky fabric.
  
• Sew on the COLLAR with the BINDING on the BODY.
  
• I made my collar (a stand-up one) in two pieces, and sewed it on conventionally so the neck edge seam was not bound. The instructor thought it might be bulkier than using the binding method above. But it worked well for me with careful trimming. It probably depends on the pattern. If I were to do this again with this pattern I probably would not use any flannel in the collar pieces.
  
• Sew the SIDE and SLEEVE seams. The bulk at the underarm will be problematic. It takes a lot of trimming and pressing to make it work. Use bias if you can to bind the seam. If not, be sure there is a little extra working length in the binding at the underarm to help it go on easily.
• Technically, I think the binding on the back of armscye seam should stop 1/8" before the side seam. Thus it would NOT be sewn into the side seam when it is stitched. The side seam's binding would then cover the raw edge, substantially reducing the bulk at this spot. Insight too late, but maybe next time.
  
  
17. Decide what you are doing about CLOSURES before finishing the front edge bindings below. You may have to stitch something into the same seam as the binding.
    
    
18. Sew the EDGE BINDINGS around the edges of the jacket, sleeves and collar, lining up the folded edges of the binding with the edge of the jacket. Press and fold over to the other side. Stitch in the ditch or hand stitch in place.
    
    ENJOY YOUR NEW JACKET!!
    
    
    

Back in the Saddle

Today was a rather lazy day, no committments until later tonight, and Tuesday is my usual sewing-for-sure day, so I tackled the taupe pants, which are not finished except for waist fastener and hems. I think I'll wash them once again before hemming.

Taupe Stretch Cords
These are the pants that gave me much grief awhile back, and even today they made sure I was paying attention at all times. A back seam adjustment had to be transferred to the waistband; the sewing machine had to be stroked nicely a few times; and the pocket fitting will be forever elusive; but for the most part the final bits of getting the waistband attached and fitted went quite easily. Stretch cord is an odd fabric to work with. I haven't decided if I like it or not.

I probably should have interfaced the waistband as it seems quite stretchy, but then I thought maybe it was supposed to be stretchy being cut on the crosswise and all. If I used this pattern again, I would figure out a way to put some elastic in the waistband.

There's also a fitting issue related to sway back, fitted waist-band and/or low rise or perhaps all of the above. The back yoke of these pants is a nice feature but does no favors for my butt, so I will likely not choose this pattern again. Apart from that, these pants ended up being very comfortable in spite of a few flaws here and there. The Joy of Stretch! Hopefully with wear the fabric will soften even more.

Stippled Jacket (previous reference)
Class #2 for this jacket was cancelled due to a storm. I may have to figure it out for myself if I am to get it done before the SWAP deadline. Meanwhile, of course I must fix the front where the hole is. I spend quite a bit of my sewing break figuring out how to make a pocket to cover the worn area. It turned out to be a major design issue:

• I stippled a square of fabric to match the design on the jacket front.
• I drew a pattern for a suitably sized pocket that would both cover the worn area and look like it was supposed to be there.
  
• I figured out how to attach a patch to the front of the jacket which would be covered by the pocket, and not be noticeable from the inside of the pocket. (who would be inside my pocket I don't know, but it seemed the right thing to do.
• Then I had to figure out how the outside pocket piece was to be attached to the jacket without looking clumpy which included binding the pocket opening and turning under the edges so they could be hemmed down to the existing stipple lines on the jacket front.
• I sewed the patch to the pocket at the bottom edge, so it would be finished with as little bulk as possible.

All in all, this was a peaceful project for an afternoon, and is finished but for the hand hemming required to sew it on so as not to be visible from the other side of the jacket. It may look a little odd to have only one pocket on the jacket, but I am not going to do this again.

So the day was a good one as sewing days go. A bit closer to being done. A bit more hopeful and confident. Still to go: finish the bamboo shirt if it is not a lost cause, snaps on the jean jacket, hem on the bamboo skirt, hems and hooks on the taupe pants, cut out and finish the stippled jacket, one shirt not yet conceived. Sound like a lot, but not impossible in the 3-4 weeks remaining....especially given that we will not be travelling in April, which I think was making me stressed about the sewing.

Bamboo Top - another reason for a break

his all happened Feb 25 - whenever that was.

Black Bamboo Cowl-Neck Top
There are many reasons for my recent sewing break. The latest is my bamboo, cowl neck top, being made from a previously used pattern. Supposedly a quick study, to mentally get over the problems with the stretch pants and the stippled jacket. It will make a "dress" when worn with the bamboo skirt (not yet hemmed), and will make a nice top with the other SWAP pieces.

Here's my post to the Stitcher's Forum regarding this particular episode of my endeavors:

"I think it's time for a break! Today I decided to cut out a cowl neck top from the same black bamboo as my gathered skirt. A nice pleasant Sunday morning task. I found the bias and cut out the back, then the front, making sure I still had some fabric somewhere for the short sleeves. I even cut a little band for the back of the neck so I wouldn't have to do a regular facing. Tootling along chatting with myself and generally having a great time, I did all the little markings that make things work and had only the sleeves left to cut. I poked around the remaining fabric pieces looking for the bit that would leave the largest chunk leftover (for what I don't know, I never use those chunks of leftover stuff). I picked a piece that would work nicely if I cut it in two and laid one piece on top of the other. Brilliant I am. The piece was my bias-cut front!!! Nothing clicked until I was all done the sleeves, and went looking for the front to fold the pieces all together. Duh! This makes the third idiot garment in a row....like I said.....time for a break.

I have enough to re-cut to front if it has a diagonal seam across the middle somewhere. That, or make a traditional little T-shirt out of the bits and pieces that remain. Good grief.

I think I may not be a deadline person. DH has been talking about a road-trip to Utah in April (driving from here in Atlantic Canada) and I think I got panicky about finishing everything). One should never sew when not in the mood. I shouldn't anyway.

I must say, its nice to have a place to vent."

Since then, I've taken a few days off, doing very little in the way of sewing, and including a long weekend in Halifax where I bought some silk, and some notions. I took some hand sewing with me, but failed to notice that the quickly packed thread was topstitching thread.....not exactly great for basting or hemming. I really am meant to be on a break!!

Taking a Break - Stippled Jacket

Stippled Jacket - written last Friday, Feb 23

On Sunday I learned that Class #2 for the stippled jacket was to be this Friday (ie. today). I had been mulling over some stippling designs in my head, procrastinating the actual start of the project. I got together with my friend Lynn, who is also making a jacket, and we 505'd our sandwiches together in her garage. She's done this sort of thing before. I have not.

With Lynn pushing me I decided to get started on the stippling and stop thinking about it. I drew a pattern of parallel channel stitching along the curved bottom of the jacket, and the bottom of the sleeves, and parallel lines up the center front (where I hope to put a zipper, not being overly fond of those froggy type closures).

The sleeves were just 2" columns of stippling , separated by 1/2" empty columns. I started with the sleeves, and they looked great, so I took at the front pieces. I had a notion to create some flowers somewhere in the business, so I stitched vertical rows of 2" wide stippled panels, separated by 1/2" wide unstippled strips. In the middle of each side, I left the two center panels unstippled, where I created a design of roses and leaves, that looked quite lovely on paper. Quite stunning actually. I developed a pattern from a clipart image, and traced it onto 'heat-away' stabilizer. This was my only mistake in this otherwise nicely percolating project.

There always has to be one idiot move. I never used this sew and burn stuff before, and did not take the trouble to test it first. It was not a lovely experience. It did not sew nicely, it did not burn off nicely, it stinks and is very dusty. Brushing off with a toothbrush works fairly well, but bits of the stuff stuck between some of the close-together stitches. There is no way I can explain (other than working in a rush instead of in my own good time) why I did not use a water-soluble stablizer for this....the whole damn thing has to be washed to shrink it anyway. (This is why I have used the word "idiot").

I stippled amongst my flowers on the first side, then decided it would look better unstippled, leaving the flowers alone in the wide panel on each front. Unstippling is a nice thing to do while watching TV.

My sewing machine decided to have a few grumpy moments during the process, and will likely need a trip to the doctor soon. There is a noise I do not like, and it fetches up every once in awhile and kicks out the bobbin case. I think I forgot to speak nicely to it, and to the fabric each time I sat down.

The good news, though, is that I have dragged out my mother's sewing machine table, and DH put a solid bottom in the 'hole' of it so I now have a level surface to work from. This is great except when I have to lower or raise the feed dogs. Then the whole machine has to be lifted to reach the thingy at the back. It's a very bad design for anyone who changes the dogs frequently. Huskystar C10, new last May. Works well most of the time, but has a couple of chronic hiccups.

Finally, Friday morning around 11am I was done with the sewing, thread snipping, and trimming away of visible flannelette (to prevent fuzzies in the wash). Into the wash the whole thing goes. Out it comes later, looking shrunken as expected, pretty good as far as the effect of the stippled lines on back and sleeve, and so-so on the front. The flowers are not as effective as I had hoped, but alas, one major problem: There is a little hole in the middle of one section of flower, worn totally through by a combination of too much brushing to get rid of the stabilizer, and the subsequent effect of washing. I really think there must be something caustic in that stabilizer because it seemed to act almost like bleach on the fabric surface. Some of the stitching in that area is also pulled out, so I am CRUSHED, that I have managed to ruin this expensive fabric, not to mention all the work.

This makes it slightly less annoying that the course leader called to change the date to next week! Meanwhile, I discovered that I forgot to do the collar, so that is yet to be sandwiched and stippled, and now, rather than purchase yet more fabric and do another front, I think I will make a repair using a pocket. It will have to be sewn on my hand, but that is ok. I guess its good I have another week, more really, because I will be away next week anyway, and won't make the lesson.

It's all repairable, but I cannot hide my disappointment. Also makes it difficult to 'get back on the horse' with enthusiasm, especially after the weekend's disasters with the stretchy pants. I think I need to make a very simple top to regain my confidence.

Perfect Light, Imperfect Sewing

This was not a perfect sewing weekend, though it started out to be. In spite of all you might read here, it's still fun (and educational) or I wouldn't be doing it. Sewing reduces stress. Blogging reduces the stress of sewing. What does one do when the blog won't work?


Earlier I had cut out a Burda WOF 02/07 #120 trousers for stretch fabric. I had nice taupe corduroy, a perfect match to the taupe in my print skirt and jacket. I love stretch cords, so I had high hopes for this stuff.

I never sewed stretch cord before. I didn't think this was particularly heavy material when I bought it , but soon discovered it to be extremely bulky to work with...something like cardboard in a funny way....maybe its just that the color reminds me of "shirt" cardboard that my mother used to save, and that we used as kids for various projects -- before the days of cheap paper -- (my Grandfather used to save the cardboard that separated the shredded wheat in the box -- before the days of plastic individual wrappings. A thrifty lot we were.

But I digress. These pants have a front yoke/pocket arrangement similar to one I had sewn early in my re-entry into stitchery. A oiece of cake one would think.

Annoying time-waster #1: POCKET-YOKE INCOMPATIBILITY: In stretch fabric, the pockets seemed to acquire a mind of their own, and one in particular developed a little wrinkle/twist, that would not go away no matter how many times I ripped out seams and re-laid things together. This is not a pattern problem, but may be a directions problem. I would have to think about when to sew the seams that hold the pocket to the yoke (so your kleenex doesn't fall throuth). Maybe not until everything else is done.

Annoying time-waster #2: TOPSTITCHING WRONG WAY UP: These pants have a back yoke kind of like you see in jeans. Topstitched, like the front pocket edges. I had a tiny bit of exactly matching thread, so I topstitched the yoke (accidentally forgetting to take the stitch length off basting -- oh well, nice long topstitches don't look that bad, I guess) with the good thread, then used up the rest as I went along. I tried on the pants at some point and noticed that this yoke seam makes a delightful wide curved line across the largest part of my butt -- not one bit attractive. Fortunately, my butt is not as big as it used to be, so I guess I'll just have to live with this....I still like stretch corduroy.

In the morning, I tried the pants on again, and lo and behold, the topstitching is done upside down. I turned the seam down instead of up. My DH, observing my enhanced butt said, "water wont run off that seam." Leave it to a man. Fortunately I had already noticed, and had come downstairs, seam-ripper in hand --- but now out of good thread.

I hate it when people say "Everything happens for a reason." I don't believe that for a minute, however, I have to say I was glad I had used bastings to topstitch, because I would still be there trying to get small stitches out from among the serging of the seam edge.

Annoying time-waster #3: Fitting without knowing how : A trip to the store for thread and I'm back checking the fit again. In spite of measurements matching well, I still had to take in the side seams, and there's still that baggy bit in the back where I likely have to take up the back inseam...then there's the very low level of the back waist seam which is chronic with pants. Is it length or something to do with the crotch design? With every change results in another wrinkle. Are the wrinkles real, or just because I have an inch and a half of bunched up fabric and pins in the crotch seam? ...I really need a crash course in pants design for this. I fiddle and farted around with the fitting on and off through the day, until time for my sister to come for supper. I am beginning to not be so in love with stretch corduroy, even though it's been washed twice, it still feels stiff and unfriendly. BUT... my sister just came back from India, and brought me some heavenly silks. Something for after SWAP.

Annoying time-waster #4: FLIPPING OVER THE FLY: Any pants I made before in my limited experience get the fly over with before sewing the legs seams. And, though I never had much problem with any fly I have done (all 4 of them) the Burda fly directions were impossible to fathom, and of course, I was anxious to see if these pants were going to be a good fit, so I did the inseams first and basted the side seams. I found Burda's detailed fly directions in one of their sewing lessons in the January 07 issue, a happy coincidence resulting from drinking too much coffee after supper, and not being able to sleep. In the stupor of night, I really did not know if I could follow them or not, but decided I might try in the morning. In the light of day, I decided to go with Sandra Betzina's fly which I had used before.

Long story short. Twice I have had SB's fly turn out on the wrong side. The first time I thought it was supposed to be that way, and thought nothing of it. This time , I know my fly is different from the one in the book, and I think I have made some fundamental left/right error that I will surely fix before the next time. The fly is ok even though it's backwards and has too much space between the fold at Center Front and the attachment of the zipper. Also, the extension of the front yoke is supposed to interact in some way with the fly, where everything comes together and gets joined up. One side of the extension has to be cut off at center front to accomodate the fly design. Guess which side I cut off! Of course, the wrong one, because now my fly is on the wrong side. No, I'm not taking it out -- the stitches will show in the corduroy, even if I wanted to put myself to the grief of a re-run. I am beginning to not care if I have these pants.

Time-wasting annoyance #5: FORGETTING TO PRESS: Now things just start adding up. I forgot to press the inseam seam before sewing the outside seam. I could not serge the inseam until I had the fit right at the crotch, which I could not do until I had basted and re-basted the crotch seam, which I could not do until I had fit the side seams around the hips. So, given this vicious circle, I am now having to do both the pressing and the serging on the long legs instead of at least having one of those tasks on a flat surface. This is nothing I suppose compared to some of the other fiddle and fuss.

Upcoming time-wasting annoyance #6: WAISTBAND: The fit around the waistband has me worried, as the back is too low, and risks plumbers butt when seated -- which is why I am still in the adjustment phase from up there in #3. Perhaps all will go well, maybe even a tad of elastic will solve everything. Should a stretch corduroy waistband have interfacing -- is that an oxymoron?

Hey!! It's all still fun, right?

SWAP #5: Beige Blouse -Finished

I mentioned this a couple of days ago. The Burda WOF 10/06 #106, but these are my first pictures.

I wore it today for the first time. That shirt gave me a lot of grief, mostly self-induced, but it sure looks great, and garners compliments galore.













Changes I made:
No gathered sleeves. Next time I would make the sleeve narrower at the bottom and face for a turned-up cuff. The gathers might look ok in another fabric, but not this almost sheer Swiss dot, a kind of cross between beige and ivory.

Less fullness in sleeve cap: I had to adjust the sleeves because of a post-cutting fit problem, hence much of the design fullness was lost. I don't like too-full sleeves so it did not matter. Might make a difference in another fabric, or for another sense of fashion.



I would like to try this in a very drapy rayon fabric, something not not sheer at all. I think it is designed for a polyester print, but I try, on principle, not to wear polyester -- at least not smooth, slippery, incredibly hot versions of it.






Other progress:

• Taupe Cords: I cut the stretch corduroy after a lot of measuring and tracing the Burda WOF 02/07 #120. The measurements are almost exactly those of a favorite pair if stretch cords I have now, so here's keeping the fingers crossed for the fit.
  
  
• Bamboo Skirt: Yesterday I decided on the hem length for the bamboo skirt, and have it pinned. Waiting for DH to check the pinning before stitching it in.
  
  
• Reversible Jacket:
  I practiced my stippling on a test 'sandwich' . I like my sunflower idea with varieties of stippling moving away from it. - but as I pass by my sandwich sitting on the ironing board, I can't help but wonder if maybe more than one flower, randomly thrown into a chaotic blend of stippling might just work.
  
  On the black side, the stippling shows well, on the green print side, I have not found a color that really pops, so I think a green much like the print will be best for a rather subdued presentation. This picture does not do justice to the colors.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Black Cami: I tried to sew some lace to the top of the black sparkly cami, but the neckline tipped outward in the middle, as often happens with necklines that I fold under. This time I sewed the lace to the front right side and turned the seam to the back, topstitching on the right side through the seam. Looks good, but for the sagging forward in the middle. This little item will likely be a scrapper -- not a SWAP thing anyway.
  

• Bamboo Cowl Neck shirt: I opened up the rest of the bamboo, and found I had enough for the cowl neck shirt I was thinking of, but I couldnt' get into the mood to work with the bamboo. Very soft and stretchy, this pattern is cut in one layer, the whole front and whole back, all on the bias. You can see why I need to be in the mood. Corduroy is so much easier by comparison.
  
  
• Fleece Jacket: I bought 2 zippers, neither of which is right, but in this town you can't usually get what you want. I also fiddled with some lining fabric to put inside the bottom of the front pieces for hidden pockets, and to stiffen up the jacket a bit. Undecided about the outcome; maybe I should just put pockets on the outside. I'm also undecided about whether to try to stiffen up the bottom of the back a bit. The fleece is quite lightweight, and I think I should have interlined the whole thing. I own a Woolrich Fleece jacket which has the inside pocket bit, but only the binding gives some body to the bottom edge in the back. These kinds of things I set aside for a day or a week, and when I go back to them, the answer seems to be there.

End of today's meanderings.

SWAP #7: Black Bamboo Skirt

Recently I bought some 60" tubular black bamboo jersey from Wazoodle, just to find out what it was like. It's a very soft lightweight, quite stretchy fabric, that feels wonderful. A friend suggested a softly gathered skirt, with an elastic waistband.

Since I had just finished my OneSeam Pants, I decided to use the principles of the waistband there, to apply to my skirt. However, in the interests of keeping the waistband as un-bulky as possible, I decided to make it separate, and just long enough to fit over my hips.

The whole thing went together quite simply, considering I had no pattern, and really little idea how full the skirt should be. I don't generally like gathers at the waist, but this is so soft, I figured it would be ok. I decided to use the full 60" width, thus avoiding side seams.

There was only one major hassle, from which I easily recovered. I am sure there is a better way, but I'm happy with the result.

How'd I do that?:

• Cut the band 4" wide and just long enough to slide over the hips when stretched
  
• Measure 1.25 inch sports elastic to be snug at the waist, about 5-6" shorter than the waist measurement
• Seam the short edges of the band, leaving an opening for the elastic.
• Fold the band in half and serge the long edges of the band together
• Topstitch at the fold, one presser foot width - be sure you have enough band remaining to hold the elastic.
  
• Quarter the band and mark with pins, then divide each quarter in half, and each of these halves in half again. You will have 16 sections of band about 2.5 inches wide, depending on the original band length.
  
• Decide on the length of the skirt and cut off the appropriate piece of fabric. Leave a generous hem. [I'm not done hemming yet, so this idea may change once I see the effect of a wide hem, but my instinct says that the lightweight jersey will need some body in the hem to keep it from rolling, and to make it drape well.]
• Quarter the top of the skirt, then divide into 16ths as for the band. You can eyeball the divisions once you get the eighths marked, as there will be more gathering once the elastic is installed.
  
• Match the pins, and fold the extra fabric into a box pleat in the middle of each section of the band. [I am sure it would be simpler to run a gathering thread around the top of the skirt, and pull it in to fit, much as you would do to set in a sleeve, but the pleats were my experiment of the day.]
  
• Once all the pleats are pinned in place, BASTE, remove the pins and serge the band onto the skirt top with a 4-stitch overlock, keeping the folds in the skirt perpendicular to the line of stitching.
  
• Feed the elastic into the band. Try on the skirt, and shorten the elastic if necessary.
• Butt the ends of the elastic with zig-sag stitches onto a light piece of fabric (per Louise Cutting's directions, which works beautifully)
• Close the opening with slipstitches.
• Evenly spread the gathers around the band, and put pins vertically at each quarter.
• Topstitch 3 rows approx 1/4 inch apart through the elastic, keeping it stretched smooth by pulling in front and behind as you stitch (also per Louise Cutting).
• This is where I ran into a bit of a problem: There was a bit of space, rather uneven ugly space between the bottom row of topstitching, and the actual serged seam holding the bottom of the skirt to the band. This was the result of having seamed the waistband to the skirt. This did not pass muster at all.
• My solution was to fold back the band, and re-stitch the skirt and band together inside the serged seam, along the bottom topstitching line. I stretched each quarter of the band flat, and sewed with the band on top follow the top-stitching. This strengthened the waist seam, and made all the lumpy unevenness disappear.
• A nice fit at the waist, comfortable, soft and light for travelling.

If anyone has a way to do this better, I'm happy to hear it. I think with this fabric, it would have been fine to proceed totally as for the OneSeam Pants, as there is not a lot of bulk, however, some fabrics would be better with a less bulky waistband, and this is what I decided to experiment with.

SWAP #6 - OneSeam Pants -- Fait Accompli!!

Everything that could have gone wrong did...but the OneSeams are done, and they look terrific!

I decided to make these pants because they seem to be one of the online community's favorite wardrobe items. Knowing they were elastic waist, and quite roomy, I figured I could use them for tai chi pants, but honestly did not think they would suit me as a true 'wardrobe' item.

Things that went wrong #1: Cut the wrong size: My friend and I cut our patterns together, and helped with our alterations and size choices. After cutting, I lost a bit of weight, and did a bit more careful measuring and decided I should have cut a smaller size. My friend meanwhile, came to the same conclusion, fortunately BEFORE she had done the cutting. She finished her pants, I tried them on, and re-cut my pieces. It was trickier than I expected to get the smaller size to fit completely within the medium pieces without changing the grain line. Also, I had to re-measure for the length and crotch adjustments.

Things that went wrong #2: Used lining for the pocket: I decided to use the elephant ear pockets as my fashion fabric was quite heavy, and I did not want 2 more layers of it in the front of the pants. I used a piece of lining fabric, a bit lighter in color than the pants. It did not occur to me until the pockets were sewn in that I should have faced an inch or so on the bottom pocket piece with the same fabric as the pants. The difference in the fabric is obvious if the pocket opening is pulled in the least way. I adjusted the bar tack at the bottom and moved it further up, and stitched down form the waist a bit to make the pocket opening smaller, and hold the front ovelap in place. All's well that ends well.

Things that went wrong #3: Sewed the pocket onto the wrong side: This happened AFTER I got the directions clarified by Louise Cutting herself. Feeling especially gratified and confident, I proceeded to put in the second pocket up to the point where the first one had stymied me. My plan was to follow Louise's new directions on both pockets at once. Fine idea, until I came to the part where it says "turn pocket to the wrong side" whereupon I discovered it was already on the wrong side. These pockets have a long slit into the side of the pants, the seam is sewed with tiny stitches tapering to nothing at the bottom. These I had to remove, re-sew, re-serge the edges and finally get the pocket done right. This is when I decided never to do elephant ear pockets again. I would rather get used to stuffing a kleenex in my sock.

Things that went wrong #4: Made the elastic too long: I have difficulty knowing exactly where my waist is, but I measured the elastic snugly, and 6.5 inches shorter than the top of the pants, per the pattern recommendations. It went in nicely, but when I tried it on, it was not snug enough. I cut about an inch and a half off.....and let go of the ends!! It took me 2 TV shows and a phone call to fish out the ends with a pin, bit by bit, at the end of which time my daughter said "Why didn't you use the kitchen tongs?" I pinned both ends back a couple of inches and tried the pants on. The fit was good, so I decided to cut the 4" off.

Things that went wrong #5: The elastic would not stretch enough: Early this morning, thinking I would be able to finishe the pants in time for tai chi class at 10:00 am, I sewed the elastic ends together and proceeded to make the first topstitching line. Delightfully even, nicely matching thread, machine purring and happy.....until I got to about 10" from the starting point and had a pile of gathers accumulating and no way for the elastic to stretch through them. All this before breakfast yet! Now I know why Louise has an instruction about making a tuck in the waistband if the elastic will not stretch as long as the top of the pants. This must be done at the start, however, not after cutting another 5.5 inches off the recommended length. I figured I would just cut off the whole band and sew on another one, but when I returned to the task I found that if I removed half of the topstitching row and paid more attention to the stretching I could get it to work, just barely, but it did work.

Things that went wrong #6: Hems don't match: Happy to be almost done, I serged the leg bottoms, turned them up on the hemline and tried them on. One leg is quite a bit shorter than the other. How can this be when both pieces were cut together? The mystery remains, and will forever. I got someone to pin the hems, cut and re-serged one leg, and stitched them up.


ALL IN ALL, the pants would have gone quite quickly but for correcting all these misadventures, and best of all, the final product looks quite sharp, and is incredibly comfortable. I would like to try the pattern again, just to get some value out of all these problems. I am going to try the tapered leg version, as the straight leg ones are quite large in the legs. I am wondering what they would be like made from a light knit -- perhaps I would have to downsize once more to allow for the stretch - research required.

Hitting Walls -- Climbing Walls

This has not been a particularly productive sewing week. Mostly I've fussed and fidgeted over things that gave me trouble earlier. It seems, though, that the fussing is gradually moving things forward toward the finish line.

The Beige Blouse: I tackled the sleeve alterations that I had been procrastinating. I had moved the shoulder seam forward, and ended up with a twisted sleeve. I could not alter the sleeve much as it was already cut. Ultimately, after several failed attempts to figure it out, I had to pull the back portion of the sleeve cap up a fair bit to get rid of the twistedness. This was strictly trial and error, mostly error. Many bastings in and out. Many coffee breaks. I ended up eliminating most of the fullness in the sleeve cap. All-in-all, it does not look bad, especially as I am not all that crazy about full sleeves anyway, fashion not-with-standing.

I did some fashion consultation with my daughter, and decided to leave the redesigned sleeves as is, but shorten the blouse an inch or so. This is a lovely design, but definitely should not have been made in a sheer fabric - (nor modelled as such with a black bra underneath). I actually thing the muslin is a better job -- though it is also a very soft cotton, and it also is not finished yet.

What's left: Re-do the hem, hem the sleeves, buttons and button-holes. So far, this shirt has hassled me at the shoulder seams, the collar, and the sleeves - so presumably, I have a few hassles left before I can kiss it goodbye -- or should I say 'hello.'

One-Seam Pants: These were cut out in December, but not made up - waiting on a friend's pair to try on. Last week, I re-cut from Medium to Small --which took far longer than it should have, and changed from patch pockets to elephant ear ones, which were too bulky for my fabric. The EE pockets require a slit to be made in the side of the pants. This is definitely a good thing to procrastinate -- no second chances.

I got one pocket almost finished and stumbled head-long into confusion over the directions near the end. It was only about 4 hours before Louise Cutting herself answered my plea on the Stitchers forum, telling me to do what made perfect common sense. The directions on the pattern have more recently been revised to eliminate the confusion. Did you know -- there are 40,000 OneSeam pants pattern out there scattered around the world.

Now I need to decide whether to put in the second pocket or leave it at one. Personally, I like to have a pocket in pants, but only for a kleenex -- so really, why do I need two?

Without the second pocket, I should have these whipped up in a couple of hours according to some online comments. Well, maybe no the first pair.

Jean Jacket: My wonderful jacket is fully done except for the snaps. I bought snaps. I tried a test snap using a cutting board on the kitchen counter for a hammering base. The result was hideous. This is where I learned that there are decent snaps with hard little pokey things on the underneath part; and there are idiotic snaps with little round springs, and bulky unattractive underparts. I checked out some of my store-bought clothes and lo, they all have the snaps with the little pokey bits. Off to the store, only to find they have only one package left....more waiting for me! But I am glad I did not compromise on the fasteners, because I really am quite thrilled with the way it turned out.

Reversible Jacket: This will be the second jacket of my SWAP. My friend Lynn and I have been planning to take this course for awhile. It's a stippled, reversible jacket, and I am using a Saf-T-Pockets pattern, sans appliques. I have no color sense, so I went to our local quilt shop and got some assistance picking good quality cotton for the 2 sides, and the binding. Not only did the 3 patterns have to go together, but they had to go with my SWAP pieces. It is amazing how many things won't work, and how few will in a case like this. $84 later I had my fabric, but not the batting or flannel for inside the two layers. I need to talk to people about that to decide what is best. At these prices, it's good that this will end up being 2 jackets. Comparatively, my lovely jean jacket of which I am so fond, cost a maximum of $20, all bits and bobs included.

It's good to have the fabric decision made on this. The first class is Feb 9. Between now and then, I should do some checking of the pattern for fit, maybe whip up a muslin with something in the stash -- or a vest perhaps to go with the SWAP.

SWAP update - Progress and Procrastination

I've been sewing almost every day since the last posting, but seem to have fallen off in noting my progress.

The beige blouse is on the back burner for a bit. I need to adjust the sleeve cap to accomodate the forward shoulder adjustment, but the sleeves are already cut so I don't have much wiggle room. I've learned it's usually better to let something annoying rest for awhile before taking it up again.


Jean Jacket - Change of Plan: Meanwhile, I started work on my delicious red wool jean jacket, starting with a muslin of my red and black print. This was to have been the lining, but the fabric is quite heavy, and of course it 'sticks' when you try to put it on. Not suitable for a lining, but quite spectacular as a jacket in it's own right.


So I decided to make it 'wearable' and cut the remaining pieces - collars, bands, etc. and spent about 3 full days working on it. It was a delight to make, and I discovered topstitching thread in the process. The jacket, Vogue 7610, is a Sandra Betzina pattern. The directions are meticulous, and though there area a lot of pieces, they fit together flawlessly. I found the waist measurement to be too large and had to take in the seams in the back panels, and the side seams to make a snug fit around the bottom.

I also decided to line the jacket with a red bemberg rayon lining. It was slippery and frustrating to work with, especially since there was no lining pattern, so I made a few boo-boos in the cutting. Nothing serious though, and I think the lining adds to the overall effect.

The only difficulty with this pattern was in topstitching the front lapel portion. On all the other topstitching, I could use regular thread in the bobbin, but for the fronts, the lapel turns so the 'wrong side' is actually the visible part for the first few inches. I had a problem getting the bobbin tension adjusted so that both sides of the topstitching were good to look at. A little more practice perhaps would have avoided some ripping out. My local sewing mentor suggested writing down the settings used, and the screw position for my bobbin casing, and saving those with the pattern. I also made notes of the needle position and what foot I used as a guide for the topstitching.

All that remains of the jacket now is to topstitch the bottom band and the cuffs, and to install the snaps down the front.

Impact on SWAP: Changing jacket plans definitely changes some of my SWAP plan. The flowered jacket will not go well with the plum pants, and only so-so with the red velvet skirt. However, it frees up the red wool to be pants or a skirt. My sewing club thinks I could pull off wearing red pants. I'm not absolutely sure about that, and I know skirt would work well, but probably get worn less. Regardless, my SWAP is reordering itself. I have lots of options and have not boxed myself into a corner yet. Though I still must keep in mind Julie's advice that the "PLAN" is supposed to be in place before the sewing starts. Not my style, but definitely good advice, and something to learn from.


Two parcels of fabric arrived recently, one from Timmel's, and one from Wazoodle. I have some lovely red jersey from Julie which has some substance, and will make a great t-shirt which will not stretch out of shape. I also have some sparkly black knit from Julie which is quite stretchy, and drapes softly. Then, from Wazoodle, I have some black bamboo jersey which feels like butter - very thin and soft, and very very black. I have never heard of bamboo fabric until recently, and I'm not sure what it will turn out to be like to work with and wear. I also have some $3/m red cotton jersey from W. which I am using as muslin material to test out some T-shirt patterns.



Knits seem to be problematic for me. This picture shows my first attempt at a Jalie T-shirt, and as I was sewing on the neck band, I was already composing the email describing how I had finally created a wearable T-shirt without stretching the neck. Then I tried it on and found the neck looks absolutely awful, and is terribly stretched in the back especially. Also, I followed Jalie's directions carefully, and still the band looks lumpy and wavy on the front. Something is not working here, most likely it's me.

I am going to cut the current neck off, and put a folded band on the front which turns toward the back and is stitched on the actual shirt rather than on the band itself. I have actually done this successfully once on a tank top. Now that I have a serger, the inside won't look too, too scruffy. Nevertheless, I still need to learn how to make a neckline that is not stretched out in the sewing. This particular knit is very stretchy, possibly exacerbating the problem, but I would really like to tackle one of those nice knits from Julie, and I want to get the technique down beforehand.

The grandchildren have a snow day, so its time to get my 8-year old grandson started on his flannel shirt. I think he will become bored after the easy seams are done, but we'll see.

SWAP #5: Beige Blouse - Continued

This was a stormy day. The first snow since early December, and more like freezing rain. Nasty to be out, so my plans for the day were cancelled. One would expect to spend the day in fabulous sewing, or at least in doing chores from the back burner. However, this was not to be so. Mostly frittered it away, and then finally decided to tackle the errant BB (beige blouse) collar.

I think this collar is giving me grief because of the interfacing. It is just too heavy and inflexible for what is required to fit the collar. The muslin collar went in much more easily.

The method used is to attach the stand to the collar, then sew the outside edges of the collar together. The under-collar stand is sewed to the back neck, then the front 2 collar pieces are sandwiched between the shirt front and the turned back facing. Sounds good in theory, but there is some interesting curve matching involved.

I finally got it reasonably in place only to discover that the front facing was not hanging right on one side. Took that side out, and re-did it only to find out that the bit of shirt that extends beyond the collar in the front is not the same on both sides. More obvious in real life than in the picture. There is something funny going on at the shoulder seam on the "bad" side. Once I fix that, maybe the edge will move back enough to match the "good" side. Back to the drawing board.

The lesson from this is to start at the front and fix the collar edge in place then work to get everything else to fit right. The other lesson is to use very fine interfacing, or at least not fusible. Then, there is the lesson that if one is to put those circles of stitching to help the collar stand up in the back they should NOT be on the undercollar, as this will show when the upper collar is standing!! DUH. The circles should be at the back neck of the upper collar, where they won't show regardless of whether the collar is up or down. Also, they should be very neat compared to what I did when I was thinking they would never show at any time.

Learning is such fun!!!

Tonight I will be at my tai chi class, so will not likely get to tackle the collar again. I think it needs to be totally taken off and reapplied. I am wondering if I should cut the seam back to maybe 3/8" and work from there. I think the side partially interfaced seam allowance is part of the problem. If the whole thing is apart, I can hopefully get all the seams the same width and start over. How I hate ripping stuff out - especially when I should have been able to do it right in the first place.

SWAP #5: Light Beige Blouse - Burda WOF

For the last couple of days I have turned my attention back to the Burda WOF shirt, Oct/06 #106. The muslin was partially done, and I had quit at the sleeves when I discovered that they were quite full at the sleeve cap, and I had done a sloppy job of gathering. Originally, this was to have been a wearable muslin, and perhaps one day I will remove the sleeves and re-do the caps. Meanwhile it has served its fitting purpose:

1. Added 1.5" to lower the bust
2. Added 1/2 inch to the fronts at the SA to accomodate full bust, and to the sleeve front so it will fit.
   
3. Determined that the sleeve requires a very fine elastic, narrower than 1cm.
   
4. Otherwise, the fit looks good.
5. There were also a few construction details that I was able to iron out, especially around the fitting together of the collar.
   

Further examination of the muslin resulted in

1. Not using an elastic at the sleeve, but simply widening it a bit at the bottom, and hemming. This looks much better than the gathered sleeve, at least in cotton
2. Adjusting 1/2" on the back shoulder seam at the outside edge, for a forward shoulder. This seems to be something I will have to do regularly.
3. Adding 2" to the length so the bottom of the shirt will fall at the first 1/5 point on the hip.

I made all these changes to the pattern, and discovered that I was very short of fabric. Not enough to make a collar on grain. Advice from Stitchers told me it would be ok on the cross-grain so that is what I did.

This is a fussy shirt. There are 3 tucks at each shoulder in the front, and the sleeve caps are quie full. It is intended to be made in a soft fabric, and this Swiss Dot cotton seems fine. It is a but fussy to work with however. The tucks went in smoothly, and I first sewed the shoulder seams making no adjustment to the front, just addint 1/2" to the back seam, tapered to nothing at the collar edge. The fit looked good, but arranging the sleeve became quite a problem -- probably one I should have solved before cutting them out. Essentially, I had added 1/2" to the back and made no change to the front. Where does this put the sleeve cap?? My original thought had been that the 1/2" would eat up some of the extra fullnes, but then there is the matter of keeping the grain straight. I had read a tip somewhere to baste a line parallel to the grain across the sleeve cap. This must be level if the sleeve is to fall correctly. The sleeve looked ok, but the line was not quite level.

This is where I decided to sew up the side seams and forget trying to get the sleeves in flat. When I did this, I found there were funny bumps around the shoulder area, so I undid the seams and took almost 1/2" off the front seam at the shoulder edge, tapering back about 2". This seemed to take care of the bump in the front, and should also eliminate some of the sleeve fitting questions. Not there yet.

I am planning to finish the seams of this blouse on my serger, but since I may have to take out the shoulder seams again, I did a self-fabric HongKong finish on them. I think it's a bit bulky, and may show through the shirt. But I would have to serge before putting on the collar, then if I have to take the seam out, there will not be enough of it left. The side seams and sleeve seams, I will eventually serge.

I made up the collar, remembering from before that the dots on the stand and collar are essential and have to be placed exactly to get the collar to fit onto the band. I am still not sure whether the seamline should be extended beyond the dots, or should stop there. Of ocurse, my machine decided to act up during the topstitching. An annoyance, but I dont think it shows too much -- it's where the band and collar join.

I also tried some circles of stitching at the center back of the under collar to see how it works to keep the collar up. I am not even sure this style will look good with the collar standing up in the back, but I wanted to try the technique, and it can always be folded over anyway.

I ran into some interfacing problems. I pre-shrunk the I/F but I don't think it was shrunk enough..I am a bit worried how this will come out in the wash, but I did not have any fabric leftover to re-cut, so I will just have to give it careful laundering and hope for the best.

I left the project after getting the collar ready to stitch on. I don't like to sew collars at night after several hours of work.

Next time, I'll get the collar done, and hopefully the sleeves. Then there will just be buttons and hem. I'm not sure yet what I will use for buttons, something small and dressy, or self-covered ones.