When the Universe Aligns - The Holiday Wardrobe part 1

I am on a shirt making binge, looking for that magical shirt pattern, when I stumble into a thrift store to find a full range of fine cotton shirts with their tags still on, and even a linen tunic and a silk bias skirt.  Is the universe telling me to stop trying and just buy them?  Or do they want me to use them as patterns?

Here is the first shirt, Ralph Lauren Blue Label, $4.00, how could this not come home with me?

I especially like the sleeves, fitted along the armhole and full at the long cuff, and the mother of pearl buttons.

So what to wear with it if it's warm?

Black poplin skirt Butterick 5756.

What to wear with it if it's cold?

Vintage Navy Suede skirt

And it can be worn with jeans or navy pants, a winner!!! One outfit option identified for cold and warm weather, 14 more to go...

Holiday Sewing....from a different persepective

I'm not talking about quilts or bags, or fleece, I'm talking about my wardrobe.

Right about now I'm thinking about the holidays and how the next 10 weeks will be a blur.  I'm also thinking about those holiday photographs and how they become part of history.  I am determined to get my holiday wardrobe together with plenty of time for contingency plans, so here are my priorities for the 2012 Holiday wardrobe plan.

1) Articles of clothing that look good photographed (with me in them)

The flashbulb phenomena

- I still remember that shot of my niece back to back taken in the kitchen.  I was wearing a black Patagonia zip top - it was like a cool max fabric light but opaque, underneath was a nude colored bra but it was a shiny fabric, like a power tricot.  Once the flash went off, all I could hear from behind the camera was, uhmmm we need to take that one over, and no matter how many times they took it, that shiny bra was all you saw.  So make sure you ask gleefully to see the camera so you can view the pic and delete it before it makes it into any family album.

The shiny fabric phenomena

It will add weight, no matter what you do, but if that doesn't bother you then go for it.

The placement in the group phenomena

My family have mastered getting behind me, or having me be the one closest to the flash.  Then I look all lit up and huge a little like this.

Oh no but not this year, I will have the quarter turn mastered, and will shuffle behind everyone.

2) Articles of clothing that look good with jewelry and shoes that I never wear any other time of the year.

I have a few pieces of jewelry that are never worn, mainly because the stuff I wear every day is small and streamlined and practical.  Since I won't be cooking, working out, cleaning etc, I should like to use them.  I've made this an after thought in the past, then decide not to wear it because it just doesn't look right with what I'm wearing.

3) Pieces that can be layered and can tackle changing temperatures

I remember one year asking my SIL what the temperatures would be and she said "Oh it's warm, bring light things", the following day it dropped down into the 40's.  I had to run out and buy a few things, an unnecessary expense.  Lesson learned, check the weather report and ave temps.

4) Make sure my foundation garments are in order.

I will not look lumpy this year, or have any wardrobe malfunctions.

I have some time to get things in order if I start now.  Which reminds me I need to have my hair done soon.

Vogue 8833 finished & shoulder placement

Just when I was ready to blame Vogue..... I realized that this pattern is a little different than most.  The back bodice actually extends onto the front, so the shoulder line is aprox, 1 1/2" from the sewn seam.  My marks had worn off on the body, so I defaulted to the normal placement (top cap of sleeve at the shoulder seam).

  The edge of the ruler would be the sewn seam, and the red dash is the shoulder placement on the wearer.

That's when I ended up with this..... horror!!

When it should really look like this....(I know black and shiny, really difficult to see that this is infinitely better).

The true test of gaping is wearing it and lifting your arms, and seeing if it rides up and opens down the center front.

I wore it for a little while and even after the changes I made there is still slight gaping on me, also, I wear my sleeves rolled up, and it was tight around the arm.  The sleeve placket would have to be deepened.  It's really a shame because the shape of the princess line is nice, and there isn't a lot of excess ease in the sleeve cap. I think that breaking the code on the non gaping wrap top (excluding knits), is that the armhole would need to be higher, or it would have to be a flutter sleeve.  I think with either I would not have gaping.  There were a lot of good points, but at least for me, there will need to be more work done, in the meantime, I have a new pajama top.

Vogue 8833 - Progress on the muslin

Can you say shiny? 

This version was made from a Black Japanese herringbone cotton, it has a sheen on the right side.

After tissue fitting, it was apparent that the front wrap was going to gap.  This lead to adding a tuck where the tie is attached to the front panel (on both right and left sides).

Before and after pattern adjustments front bodice

Close up of tuck adjustment

 So far the adjustments are

+ adding length to the front pieces (about 2 1/2" which was done not on the pattern but at the time of cutting)

+ adding length to the shoulder front and back (cut the next size up at the shoulder)

+ adding fabric for the tuck at the front tie

- shortening the ties 12" (I may add the length back in or remove it altogether and replace it with a button closure)

Since dropping the waist, the proportions are a little off, so the hemline is exactly where I would like it to be. For the final version I'll add 7/8" to the hem for the turn up.

Vogue 8833 - tissue fitting

 

 This is a funny pattern, although it is fitted for cup sizes, the front hem rides up so that will need to be 

corrected.   What's not apparent from the photo is that it has front and back princess seams as well as darts, so you can achieve a very close fit.

Back waist placement - ok

  

 Front waist placement, my waist is about 1 1/2" below the pattern's

   

Also the crossover on the front is very high, the tie placement is also very high, so onto tweaking.  If you are 

going to make this adjustment, take into consideration the valley between the breasts, I have several bras that fill that area out, and others that do not.  So if you wear a cami, or something that bridges the area between the bust points, the cross over will need to be a longer length, if the cross over falls between than it will be shorter (clear as mud right?) 

 

 The shoulder seam comes past the shoulder to the front bodice, and I will need to add a bit to that, as I'm coming up short on the front for that 5/8" seam.

  I wonder sometimes if they just don't take these things into consideration in the larger sizes, or if grading is the issue. I'll keep an eye out for people making this top in the smaller sizes.

Modern Quilt anyone?

I'm still sewing but only in straight lines :) Here's where I am with the first quilt top I've ever pieced. (except for the other one I found in my stash, which I will get around to, once I'm over my fear of doing the actual quilting).  The tips look great in the photo but triangles are not for the fainthearted. I thought a large quilt block would be good for a beginner, but thinking now a jelly roll might have been a better choice.  Live and learn!

I want to add more to it, and have all sorts of ideas running around in my head, like origami swans, or mini versions of the motif in the white areas, or I can just add visual interest in the quilting pattern.

This is my practice quilt after all, so may just keep it simple, there are just so many possibilities.

Next up after this, in my continuing search for nice shirt patterns.

To dye for Dharma Trading Brazil Nut

Wow is this dark...

So let me show you something interesting.... I sewed the garment with a poly cotton blend thread .

I basted it with cotton, and when I hemmed the bottom, I wound a cotton thread in the bobbin and completed the hem right side down so the cotton thread is visible.

Along the bottom is the cotton thread, on the top you can see the blend, which took on some of the color but the polyester didn't so it remains on the "white - ish" side.  The next time I do this I will do all of the top stitching in cotton, and dye some buttons along with the fabric to see how that does.

Dye Job....

I was thinking about using Khaki, but Brazil Nut was already opened.

This is not my first dye job, but it is the first time in the kitchen sink.  All other attempts were in the washing machine.

I don't recommend the kitchen sink, but if it's all you have know that...

It will splash and probably dye the counter top, the clothes you are wearing (including shoes).

You will need to be stationed at the sink to agitate the fabric

You should wear a mask, since the dye and soda ash is in powdered form.

Wear a mask, old clothes, wear gloves and have a rag at hand to clean up the spills.

Believe it or not this is the same color as this fabric which was a rayon spandex jersey.

Dyed in the machine the dye was diluted to achieve a taupe color, instead of a dark version.

I was a little bold with this attempt, throwing caution to the wind and winging the dyeing, by this I mean, I doubled the dye amount required, but kept to the recommended dyeing times on the dharma website.

I don't recommend the kitchen sink, but if it's all you have know that...

It will splash and probably dye the counter top, the clothes you are wearing (including shoes).

You will need to be stationed at the sink to agitate the fabric

You should wear a mask, since the dye and soda ash is in powdered form.

Wear a mask, old clothes, wear gloves and have a rag at hand to clean up the spills.  I'm waiting for the creature from the black lagoon to emerge.

I also took advantage of this process to dye some additional orange Swiss dot for an upcoming quilting project.  Since it wasn't in the dye bath as long, it's a lighter shade.

Vogue 8747 almost finished

It's as finished as it's going to be, the next step will be the dye bath.  I like the fit of this blouse, for the next version I would change a few things.  The sleeve cap did have enough ease to form gathers on the cap, I would like to eliminate these in the next version, and the shoulder is too long and will be shortened, other than that, I love the fit, the sleeves are a nice width and have a pleat at the cuff that gives it wearing ease, I didn't have to bother with the FBA since the pattern has cup sizing.  

Since there will be topstitching on the front placket and cuff I will leave this off until after the dye and match the thread to the final color.... just in case the dye doesn't take well.  Or I could just wear it as is on the 31st to hand out candy in a most appropriate shade of Great Pumpkin Orange.

Vogue 8747 - continued...

It looks pretty good so far, hoping to finish tonight, and I'm glad I reduced the gathers at the bust.

I've only made small changes to this pattern, and it looks as thought the sleeve cap doesn't have an excessive amount of ease, we'll see once it gets added.  It is a very fitted shirt pattern. 

Vogue 8747 - Bust Gathered shirt

This fabric looked so nice when it first arrived, washing did not improve it.   Now it's a reluctant shade of orange and it's a bit fuzzy.  This will be an experiment on many levels, first I'll be reducing the fullness of the gathered area by half and  I'll be using cotton thread, and dyeing the shirt once it's been sewn up instead of dyeing the fabric first.

Tissue fitting

Back hip needs to be reduced a little

Since this is one of those patterns which is sized with a cup measurement I chose the "C" following the instructions.  This does not correspond to my bra measurement which is an F these days.  They differ in that the pattern calls for the difference between the high bust and full bust measurement, and the bra calls for the underbust and full bust difference to determine cup size.... and let's not forget that different manufacturers use different fabrics, and cups, and cup widths and so on.

Front 

Narrow the hip slightly at the hem, you can see where it forms a triangle at the hem intersection.

Then I'm going to remove some of this fullness.

Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And the wisdom to know the difference.

It's Sunday and this prayer popped into my head.  

My mother used to recite it whenever she hit a bump in the road. 

Since she hung it up in my father's study, I wonder now if it was he that she needed help with (wink), or any of her three children.

This post is not about sewing, it's about living with grace.

Whatever your denomination, today I wish you all peace.

It's a beautiful world, get out in it.

Tomorrow the striped project...

Facings are our friends......

I know, no one likes them, they flop around inside a garment and sometimes they're bothersome and bulky.

So we are trying an experimental treatment, it was how this dress is finished around the neckline, sleeve hem and skirt hem, I thought it was pretty interesting, we'll have to see if it holds up in the wash.  The dress below was finished with an edge stitch as well as a 1/4" topstitch, but I am leaving the edge stitch off.

Cut out your facing and add your fusible interfacing to it, stitch it onto the garment, sew it just as you normally would. Trim the seam allowance and turn the facing into the garment.  Nothing different than the usual treatment so far.  Baste the facing about 1/2" from the edge and topstitch 1/4" from the edge.  Make sure to roll the facing slightly to the inside when you are basting.

Trim very close to the stitching line.

You end up with a narrow edge to the armhole and neckline, but you still have the stability from the fusible interfacing.

Make yourself a blueberry crisp for doing such a great job.  This is the main reason I will never have a food blog.... I always end up eating the portion meant for the pic.

Also the blueberry crisp will take your mind off of the fact that you still have more of that striped fabric to deal with.....

Shorts anyone?

McCalls 5671 Getting Scrappy

I'm working on the shirt next (I swear I am).  Cleaning up the work area, I was stopped by the scraps from the navy striped pants and cream colored top I made a few projects back.  They are too big to put in a scrap pile and too small for yardage.

I have left over fabric from this project and instead of stuffing it back into bins it's going to be made up in another top to match those striped pants.

Can't forget the pants

Leaning towards these variations

And the stripes don't look bad at all..

Here we are, with the work in process.... not enough of the white for those lofty ideas above.  I like this version, the dart is hiding in plain site without the added bulk.  Maybe I can finish it tonight.