Recycling a bed topper....

My sofa cushions have compressed over time, and I had bed topper that I was getting rid of because it had started to sag a bit. Last year, I cut the topper in half and popped it in under the cushions on the sofa, it made the sofa very comfortable. I decided to cover it, because sofa lint was getting stuck in the foam. So I gave it a good vacuuming last night and started.




I had used an electric carving knife to cut it, but as you can see, I had a little difficulty keeping the edges sharp. I rolled out the fabric on the floor and put the cushion on top


I put another layer on top of it, and started to pin one side. Pins along the side

I sewed up the end with the "wings" first, and fixed the corners. Since I had to attack the corners (inner and outer), I finished the rest of it by hand (yes my hands hurt now).



I had been dragging my feet with this project because I have limited space, and the foam is heavy and difficult to manipulate.

Happy to be finished!

And kitty approves!


Glad to have this behind me though.

The topper was a 4" memory foam topper from Overstock.com, purchased 5 years ago. It lasted 4 years with light use before it started to get that dent around hip level in the foam.

Kwik Sew 717 slip

I needed a slip, and I had the perfect flesh tone fabric in the stash, you might recognize it from a previous post. I also made a v-neck cami with the same fabric. I think I'll get a lot of use from it, I have many yards of sheer fabric in the stash that I will be sewing up soon.

The slip has nice lines, and fits very well, but I'd like to make it out of tricot. This fabric is very heavy and has a lot of drape, I think in the heat the tricot might be a better choice, but I'm searching for a matt version of it (not asking for a lot right?).

Vogue 1224 Dress

While I hammer out the design details on the trench, I decided to cut this dress out. How I laughed when I saw the pattern, it's so small. I measured the front piece and calculated where it would fall on my body, and added 2 1/2" to the center front, added 1" to the back, and 4" to the skirt (because I didn't want a tunic :).





I couldn't get a nice photo of it, the black comes across a little darker in person. I don't like how it looks unbelted, the elastic used wasn't tight enough to hold it, so I belted it, this raised the hemline another 2".

I made adjustments to the pattern including...
2 1/2" increase front bodice length
1" increase back bodice length
4" increase skirt length (although 6" would be better)

I think this pattern would look nice as a blouse or tunic, and I'll try that next time I make it.

Holy Cannoli, what was I thinking?

My first LMB, I don't have any trench patterns for the 10 essential pieces, and I received two copies of La Mia Boutique from a pattern buddy (you know who you are), and I found two trench coat patterns. One with a 3/4 sleeve and the other with wrist length sleeves (below). It's taken me the afternoon to look through the pattern insert, and some research, to figure out what size to cut. Then I doubled checked after tracing to make sure I followed the right lines.



In this month's issue of Vogue they featured a model wearing a Red Jil Sander trench.

Vogue Magazine Feb 2011


From Style.com

If I win the lottery, I'm getting this trench coat :), I love that red.

In the meantime I think I want to "borrow" the flap welt pockets on the front for my trench, in exchange for the patch pockets. This is not a classic trench, there is no topstitching on it, so I will need to waterproof the seams. It doesn't have the classic trench coat lines, it's a little simpler, and dressier. I'm debating on whether to line it or not.

Did she ever finish that housecoat??

Step 1. Ignore pattern instructions for seam finishes. It would have been fabulous to do that hand finished overcast, and I think this is why the pattern is unused, the previous owner was probably daunted by all of the suggested hand work. What are sergers for anyway?


It really needed it, this fabric frays wildly...



There were a few challenges, I found two defects in the fabric, one landed on the center back bodice, and the other on the skirt.

Once I tried it on, I couldn't get the cat to stop dive bombing at my feet, he likes the hemline.


The other was the space I needed to lay out the fabric and cut, it was a floor job.

There are just a few things to finish, like the sash, but the majority is finished. I also need to find some larger shoulder pads, the ones in there now, are pretty thin.

Who needs sleep, I don't need sleep...Vintage Housecoat Simplicity 2236

I don't think the vintage patterns had the same amount of ease as today's patterns have. Some grading was involved with this project.





First I hit the home dec fabric stash again, a nice jacquard stripe silk tafetta.


I didn't want to make this into a dress because it's just too curtain like, but for a housecoat, it is fine. I also needed 6 yards and this was perfect. So I tossed it into the wash, and let it dry in the sun, it is quite wrinkly, but I like it.



I also like the fact that the tafetta doesn't weigh a lot, and since it required so much yardage, it won't feel heavy, and that's important as I expect to float around the house in my 1947 Housecoat. Hopefully it will be completed tonight.

Cynthia Rowley 2406 dress view C finished

I traced this pattern out last year and never got around to making it. So I'm happy to have it behind me.


This came together in about 5 hours, I made some adjustments (slashed the pattern and added tucks from the neckline to the hemline) because I wanted it to look more like the pattern illustration than what was on the model.
View C




I thought the vertical tucks made it look better.



I think I was successful, but the neckline is not good on me at all, it just makes me look wider, which is not something I want to do. I'll keep this one in the closet and see if after I've lost a few pounds it doesn't look better.

My state of mind...38 yards and counting

I've been participating in a stash contest, and my personal goal was to get through a 66qt storage bin. Since I've been sewing some thin fabrics, I haven't made much headway, but I'm at about 38 yards since January 1st. So far, it's my personal best, but there the bin sits taunting me. I have a few projects floating around in my head, I don't want to get bogged down with the number and need to focus on what I really need right now.

So here is my list of projects, in priority (but I reserve the right to change things around:)

Trench coat - La Mia Boutique (4 yards)


Headboard slipcover - self draft (4 yards) No pic.

Bathrobe - vintage Simplicity 2236 (6 yards)


slip - Vogue 2978 (actually the slip pattern for that dress) (2.25 yards)


dress - Simplicity 2406 (which I will tweak because I have a little issue with the neck pleats, I want them to fold deeper towards the waist)

I wonder if I can get through this list in 6 days......

Honey where are your wire cutters?

I understand, it is more secure when buttons are stapled to the cards, but I have sacrificed a nail or two trying to get them off, especially with that last 19 button chiffon blouse project. So here is my painless recommendation, get yourself a small pair of wire cutters, you will thank me in the end.

Make sure they have small tips to get behind the button on the card.

You might want to do this over a sheet of paper or somewhere that you can easily pick up the little wires that will sometimes jump when you've clipped them.

Classic Dress Pants -- finished!!!

I really like these pants!!





I eliminated the cuffs, so that I can wear them with these shoes. I think the little gold button detail goes nicely with them.




I really like the couture method of setting the waistband, I've used it before on the grey YSL pants, and they give such a nice result, I'm really hooked.

Not a welt tutorial... Vogue 8156

The pants are almost finished, just a slight tweak on the CB seam, yoke and hem. They are looking pretty fabulous.



At some point in your sewing, you start to read instructions with some skepticism, I have a history with Claire Shaeffer, after experiencing a very expensive UFO last year due to instruction errors. So I read, and reread the instructions looking for questionable practices. I was very surprised that the welt instructions did not include stabilizing the welt opening before stitching and cutting. In her book "Couture Sewing Technique", this is a must. Not sure who checks the finished instructions at Vogue, but they should keep an eye on this:(


The fabric is pinned to the pattern piece beneath it before I applied the stabilizer. The fabric was very soft and drapey, and the grainlines are wiley.

I was so focused on the instructions, and not wanting the welt to fail on some very ravelly fabric. I completed the welt, and realized that I left the first layer of lining off. This wasn't a tragedy, I went back and attached the layer by slitting and hand felling the lining to the welt opening.



It's not perfect but it looks pretty good.

Here are some other online tutorials you might want to check out.
Kathleen Fasanella's tutorial
Palmer Plesch

So two friends walk into Joann's

Once inside the store they go their separate ways, when friend A finds a soft sided tote, that was so compelling, she shows it to friend B. Friend A starts, "Look at how lovely it is, such a nice color, and look inside, all of the compartments it has, and it's the perfect size, and I can put all of my scissors on this side, and there's a place for thread, and the fabric fits right in the middle...."

Friend B looks up from what was a very concentrated effort at finding the right buttons (which btw, are buy one get one right now!), and says to Friend A, "So go home and make it!"

There was laughter from 3 rows down.

Friend A took the bag back.


So I checked my stash before heading out to Joann's and came back with these buttons for my chiffon blouse. They are very lightweight (plastic), which was important for this blouse. I had thought of some half dome buttons but they were all too cheap looking, or too heavy. The pansy buttons are earmarked for a pair of jeans or a jacket, they are metal and need a heavier fabric to support them.



Joann's is also running their $.99 sale on Simplicity patterns, so I picked up these two.... one of these days I'll try my first "Fabulous Fit" patterns, (that I seem to be accumulating).





This weekend will be finishing up 3 projects, I certainly won't run out of things to do.

Next week, I'll start a trench coat.

Next up.... Claire Shaeffer Vogue 8156

For the 10 Essentials plan, this will be my Classic dress pant. I will make it in a Navy crepe, I am really excited to start these pants, this pattern has been pulled out of the stash repeatedly with no follow up:)for about 2 years now.



I really like this pant, so I will go slowly with the construction, which will follow the RTW instructions (and a few couture instructions for good measure). I've decided to line the pants as well to help minimize the stretch on this bouncy drapey fabric. I will also remove the carriers, they just look way too long for my eye, I would have considered them if I had enough fabric to do a self belt, but alas I do not.

Not a one day project.....

After my triumphant (fast) t-shirt project, I thought I could make all other garments in one day... so I was all hopped up on cupcakes tuesday and made significant progress, but between the poorly written instructions, missing information, I spent too much time digging through my sewing books looking for alternatives. This is officially my last Hotpattern project. I've bought two patterns at the same time in 2009, and this was on my pending pile ever since. I have so many others to try including 2 La Mia Boutiques, not to mention the backlog of patterns in my stash... Oy.



This is as finished as it will be until I can pick up the 19 buttons it will need at Joann's this weekend. Besides the buttons, I haven't hemmed it either, partly because I want to think about that front facing a bit more. I might narrow it a bit, but I want a clear head before I make that jump.





Fabric choice on this one was based on stash, crinkle flocked silk chiffon, included in one of my bundle purchases. Flocked fabrics are not what I would normally gravitate to but this was to be my test for this pattern, and I needed to practice on some chiffon (because I have so much of it in my stash). In 2009 I saw this shirt, and wanted it badly, but I didn't have any shirt patterns with a yoke and full sleeve.



(One of these days I'm going to make this blouse)

That's what initially led me to the Metropolitan Criterion Blouse. The style is not what I would call basic, it has some very distinctive full sleeves and blouson at the cuffs. The collar and neckline is also a little different than I am accustomed to, and once I saw what it looked like, I knew I wouldn't wear it, so I'm glad I left it off.





I think it would look good with a high waisted pencil skirt, or high waisted pants, both of which I have patterns for. I might try to "fancy it up" with some black lace in my stash to minimize the effect of the front facing, and untrimmed seam allowances in the yoke which I think can look better. One thing to keep in mind when working with sheer fabrics are the facings and seam treatments. It's important to clip any thread tails, and make sure they aren't "trapped" in the yoke or cuff, because it will drive you to distraction.

I think I might start looking for a shirt pattern that is a little more basic so I can make this shirt... which I believe I will get more wear out of.