Category: Sewing

I’d say that close to all of my clothes are made of one natural fiber or another, sure there are blends, but there is a natural component.  I also love color and cute prints.Can you blame me for buying this shirt a few years ago?The birds, the adorable lace trim on the collar!

This shirt is 100% polyester and I knew it when I bought it, but so what right?  Turns out that unless they are heavily engineered (microfiber, underarmour tee shirts) polyester is an extremely uncomfortable fabric.  Natural fibers will react to my body heat, polyester seems to react to the environment.  So on a chilly day, although this shirt has long sleeves, it felt like I was wearing a refrigerator. The opposite happened on warm days, I was in a sweat box.

So, this is going into the goodwill pile and I don’t care how cute or cheap, impulse buys cannot include polyester shirts or dresses.

Oh, Serger is back from repairs!  This may have some polyester in it, it’s one of those Michael Levine Loft knits. I love the color and it has the feel of cotton.Combined with a cute knit I found at JoAnn’s I have myself an adorable outfit.I found an easy tutorial on You Tube  (no I didn’t bookmark it) for a pencil skirt.Really, I should stick to buying fabric,  I get double the enjoyment, cute clothes as well as the pleasure of creating somethingNow if only it would get a little warmer,  as I age, I’m one of those who feels the cold more, so mid 70’s finds me in long sleeves. But no worries, in a few days I’ll be wearing this cute outfit.

On a recent trip to Michael Levine’s loft I bought some lovely rayon challis and was anxious to get sewing, too anxious apparently.I misplaced an important pattern piece, then when I discovered the mistake, there wasn’t enough fabric left, I pieced some together.  Guess what that didn’t work out so well, so into the trash the whole mess went.

Instead I used some quoting cotton I got from a friend and a whole different pattern that felt like it could handle the stiffness of the fabric.  New Look 0125.  Serious seamstresses always say – make a muslin. Sorry, I sew for pleasure, I’m not a couture seamstress. So I didn’t.  And guess what, same mistake, I cut 2 of the pleats instead of 4.This time it worked out better than expected, I went into my fabric stash and found something to tone down the busy floral print. I think this look works much better. Yay for being forced to find creative solutions! Imagine my surprise when WSJ had an article about Sharp Florals, combining florals with solids in high fashion. As in $4000 high fashion. I don’t try to follow trends or create them, but when it happens I don’t complain.I like a full skirt that has some swing!  Once again, one of the big problems I have with quilting fabric is that it is so often one directional. Maybe you can’t see it in this busy print, but I can’t help not seeing it.  I spent many years studying, then working in the industry creating pleasing all-over prints. When I am out in public, I am always looking at  printed clothing, figuring out where the repeat is. Judging the pattern, yes, crazy I know.I’m sure I could have flipped some of the pattern pieces and no one (except me) would have noticed. But I just couldn’t do it. Oh and back to fitting, yeah, I had some issues. The waist was too low, I don’t like this gaping armhole.  When I first tried it on, it just looked frumpy. Lucky for me the issue was taking in seams, so I was able to adjust most of the issues, except this armhole, which will remain as is.The dress has a pocket, since the skirt is so full, a pocket is a great thing to have. If the dress is tight and form fitting – then I find the extra bulk of a pocket unflattering.  My serger is still in the shop, 5 weeks later!  I did get a call saying the missing part was sent out, so I really hope to have it back next week. I cut out all the pattern pieces with my pinking rotary cutter, we’ll see if I like the result after a few washings.A big reason why I ran out of the floral print was the hem of the skirt.  The skirt was cut in pieces but is pretty much a full circle skirt, this kind of separate hem give the skirt body and structure. The pattern called for interfacing, seeing that I used firm quilting cotton, I skipped that step.  After mistakes, tweaks and work arounds, I am very happy with this dress. So much so that I might make another version, one where the top and skirt are different fabrics and the skirt is straight.  At least now I know what adjustments to make before I cut into the fabric, not to mention that it won’t take 4 yards to make.

Oh and I found some more Rayon Challis in my Michael Levine’s bag!  So I can go back and make the original pattern after all!

I am sewing garments again!!  The Granville shirt by Sewaholic.  I have a number of button down shirt patterns, so I”m not sure why I spent $18 to buy this paper pattern. I like the big four pattern companies and often the independents aren’t worth the extra money.

Well Tasia really knows her stuff. Her patterns are well written and have interesting details that put them above your average pattern.

Most patterns give you the simplest of plackets, not Tasia.  I have tried to draft this placket on my own, with moderate success so it’s a pleasure to simply have it included and of course, I can transfer it to any other cuffed blouse as well.If you look closely you can see that there is a separate buttonhole band on the right side of the shirt, but the left is simply interfaced and turned. My serger is in the shop. Grrrrr! Of course it needs parts that are backordered.  This is what I hate about bringing a machine in for a repair, invariably something is wrong (I do work my machines very hard) and of course the part has to be ordered, often taking months to arrive.  So I made French seams instead of simply serging them. Yes, they are nice and clean and very professional looking.

And now for the fit. People talk about pattern fit all the time, sometimes you will find a company or style that works just fine with no alterations. This is why people tell you to make a muslin. Well I didn’t make a muslin, but I did make some adjustments after the fact.There is nice shaping at the waist here. Problem for me is that the bottom of the shirt is simply too wide and to my eye, not flattering on me.I just feel the shirt should be a little tighter on my body.The sleeves are a little long, but folding back the cuffs just looks messy.  You can see here how the shirt has too much fabric and even tucked in it’s bunching up.

I did some hacking, as in I took off some fabric from the side seams. I may have take a little too much, since now the shirt bunches up a bit in the back. Don’t know what’s up with my hair, it’s not that windy.  You can see that the fit is better.I figured if I keep the cuff buttoned and just fold it up half way, I’m fine.  I will probably shorten the sleeve in the pattern.

Yes, I will make this shirt again, I like a nice button down shirt.  As a quilter, I clearly have to combine more than one fabric, but that makes it my shirt.  And I really hope to get my serger back soon, I have some knit shirts and dresses I really want to make.

You have probably noticed that it has been quite a long time since I’ve made an item of clothing.  A lot of quilts, bags and smaller projects.

I don’t know if it was the weather, I enjoy sewing light weight skirts and dresses.  Well with our summer like weather,  it was time to get back to garment sewing.  My serger is in the shop, I thought it would be just a simple cleaning, but no, I need parts replaced,  any knit sewing will have to wait.

So a simple skirt was in order.Shaeri over at Sew LA designed this skirt as a beginners project. No zipper, elastic in the back. I love the front pockets, so what the heck, instead of modifying and putting in a zipper I followed her instructions.I’m not sure I like the combination of elastic in the back and none in the front.But the front looks fine and this is just a simple skirt, took me an afternoon to make.Pockets are always nice and big yellow hibiscus from the garden (now in the house) is a lovely prop.Not every project has to be ground breaking, sweet and simple works.As does playing with camera settings.