Houston Fabric Part II

So this is part two of the Houston Haul from my husband.

First, he knows I've been obsessed with jeans lately. This is two yards of 12oz. black stretch denim. It has already been washed.


This is an interesting cut of fabric. It's like a crinkly woven but I think it's a knit. It has four-way stretch but not as much in one direction. It's not as RED! PINK! ORANGE! as it shows in the photo. I mean, it's bright- don't get me wrong, but this photo is hard to look at.



This is also interesting. I thought it was a sweater knit but it's not a knit at all. The top fibers are chenille but the back is more like a woven backing. I have no idea what it will be made into.


Here's the back. I'm pretty sure that I've seen this kind of backing on upholstery fabrics.

This is a rayon/lycra knit. The stripes are quite wide. I'm thinking this will make a cozy turtleneck for the winter.

Another knit. It's an organic cotton.

This he found in the remnant bin. The color is darker and deeper than this photo shows.

I did find the faded line. It's one line where it was folded and it's only on one side. I think I can work around that, thank you very much.

A bottomweight pique. It's cotton/lycra. I'm thinking a skirt from the June 2009 BWOF. You know the one, the one that's a faux wrap shirt.

A Ralph Lauren twill. I want to make this into a set of capri pants. It's nice and soft.

This is an odd one too. It's coated on one side like almost laminated. It's a coated poplin. As you can imagine, it has a lot of body and zero drape. Maybe a jackety-shirt? It's hard because it's lightweight poplin. Hmmmmm . . .

This is not from the Houston Haul but it's new. I got one of those, "Hey Dawn, I know you sew. I'm cleaning out my closets and I'll never use this, do you want it?" emails. Hell, yes I want it. This is a wool flannel as you can see. There are several yards of this.

A cotton (?) gauze. This would make a great summery tunic.

I've been looking for a piece of wool like this to make a new plaid pencil skirt. This is perfect and it was free! Even better! She must have had the same plans because there is just enough for a pencil skirt and the red Ambiance lining was there too.

That's it. That should keep me busy for a while. He won't have any time next time he goes to Houston. This will keep me busy. Oh, and to answer a few questions. I usually have him buy me two yards. That is more than enough for a top, pants, and most dresses. He buys this stuff at High Fashion Fabrics. We are a big fan of that store.

That Darn Kat -- Kids' Underwear

Mother-poop-talk coming up. If you don't have kids, are easily disgusted, or just don't give a crap (ha! get it??) you should skip this blog entry.

I downloaded this kids' underwear pattern from that*darn*kat on etsy quite a while ago. Now that I'm in the midst of potty training it seems I need a lot of underwear. My girls are not catching on quickly to the whole "pee in the potty" thing. So I'm have lots of accidents times two. The other day I had gone through eleven pairs of underwear before noon. Thankfully not one of them were of the solid variety. So, new underpants are in order. I made the size 4 and they fit well. There is no elastic so they are super easy. The pattern does say to make sure you use knit with lycra and recovery for the leg and waistbands. This is what keeps them staying on. All of the pieces are made from scrap knits.


The backs are my favorites. I don't know if the embroidery is going to itch but I figure they will only have them on for 56 seconds anyway so it really doesn't matter.



Both of these cute embroideries came from Emblibrary.com.




There is only two main pieces. The front and back overlap to create the extra layer of fabric for the panty lining. See that label on the back? I've realized after making some kid clothing that they always need to have a tag in the back. If you want your kids to get dressed by themselves (I do! I do!) they need to be able to identify the back of the shirt, underwear, pants, etc.

I used variegated thread on my serger. The girls will think it's cute.

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And if you haven't popped over to the Sew Along section of PatternReview today, you should go and see the thread I started. I read all 74 pages of the Jeans Sew Along and condensed it into a really loooong thread. Cidell had written to me last week and asked me to start a new thread with a condensed version of the information. It took a while because there is so much great stuff in that Jeans Sew Along thread. Hopefully this will make it a bit easier to find information.

Done, done, diggity done!

You'll probably have to click on the picture to see everything. Now that his mini-wardrobe gig is over, I think I'll whip out some June BWOF items. There are a few things in there that I really (really!) like. Oh, and I have to make some neoprene binocular covers.

I love this tank -- Ottobre 02-2009

So I had sworn off Ottobre back in October of 2008. Then Paulette shows up at our sewing class with one. Well, what's a girl to do? I just had to try it again right? And, boy am I glad I did. I love this tank pattern. Yes, it's super easy and I probably could have drafted it myself. No, there is nothing really special about it; except that I love it. It's a size 34 and yes, I'll probably be tacky and wear it like this with the bra. At least I got my pink bra and not the mom-Saturday-morning-husband's-gone bra.

Not too much to tell with this pattern. I did do something weird and use a lightweight sweater knit. It has a lot of stretch but it's cozy. I'll be making more of these to use for layering in the winter. I have a lot of odds and ends to wrap up for the mini-wardrobe contest. I need to write a formal review for the tank and the BWOF jacket. I have to actually enter the mini-wardrobe contest. Hee hee. I need to do the formal review for the mini-wardrobe. Hmmmm, what else. Oh, create the collage of all the outfit photos.

And my June BWOF showed up today. I feel bad about the May one. I always try for three patterns out of each issue. That surely didn't happen with May BWOF. But, now that the June issue is here, there are several things I want to make out of it.

Burda 04-2009 #116 Cropped Jacket

Okay, finally a garment to post! It seems like I've been working on this forever. It hasn't been that long and I haven't really worked on it that much. I've just been so busy with school, family, and everything else. Here's the line drawing and a model photo.



I know these photos are not very good. The light wasn't the best this morning. I will get better photos with details of everything. I love looking at the "guts" of your outfits so I assume (perhaps incorrectly) that you'll like looking at my guts. I like it best buttoned up. The top pockets are faux pockets but the bottom two are functional.


I took about an inch out of each side piece above my butt. I still need to give this a good pressing. Some of the ripple in the hem will go away when I do that.


I don't think it's nearly as cute with the buttons undone. I really like the color and the weight of the fabric. This will be a good chilly-morning jacket. I'll do a proper PR review tomorrow when I get better pictures.

Next up: A simple knit tank from Ottobre. I will finish this mini-wardrobe.

Houston Fabric Part I

My husband once again hit a home run with his Houston fabric purchases. Notice that the title of this blogpost says Part I. Oh yes, there is more than just this.

First up this beautiful jacquard silk charmeuse. It's blue, gold, and white with burgundy centers. This was a remnant so there is only 1 1/8" of a yard.

I've loved this BWOF 12/08 dress since I saw it. I may try to use this remnant for the bodice and a deep burgundy wool crepe for the skirt. What do you think? Would this be too much for a bodice? I think it would be grand but I'm really smitten with this dress so that might be clouding my judgement.

This is a polyester charmeuse and I love it. This one might be the lining for my coat. There are so many options now. I am leaning toward this one.

This would be a great pop of color on the inside.

Another silk charmeuse. Yummy. I have 1 1/4" yards of this one. He bought the end of the bolt for me.

This is not a husband fabric. This is the one I bought from Thai Silks. I talked about it here on this post.

I promise (really!!) that I'll be posting some finished garments in the next couple of days. I feel like it's been for-ever since I posted something substantial. I promise., maybe tomorrow?

Slow but Steady

I always like to do samples before I sew things. One of my favorites is topstitching samples. For the BWOF 04/2009 #116 jacket, I'm using a baby wale corduroy. I did pressing samples to see how it would behave. You have to worry about the nap when you use corduroy. If you crush it with the iron, it's really obvious and looks very over-pressed. It's hard to see in this photo but the left most pressing is the best. I hovered the iron over the seam and finger pressed the seam. It left the least amount nap flattening. Ironing on the back with a pressing cloth was the second best. Ironing on the front was the absolute worst though it doesn't look that way in the photo. You'll just have to trust me. :)

My mini-wardrobe plan will have to modified to finish this in time. I think I'll make a knit top to to go under my jacket.

Uck . . .

So, lots of drama here. I've been in Fairbanks at a family funeral. My sister's husband passed away last Sunday so I've been up there lending support and helping her organize. She's only 28 and has never been on her own. She needs some help with finances and sorting her life out. He didn't leave her in the best state financially so it's bit of a mess. Sigh . . . .

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Then I get home and the dishwasher is plugged and full of water. I took that sucker apart and it does work again. However, who knew that water would shoot so far out of this little white thing? I'm actually pretty good with the mechanical things around the house. I get to fix most of the stuff just because my husband is gone half the time. I don't mind because I learn a lot of things. However, most of it is trial and error. Error = lots of water squirting up to the ceiling.

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School ends in three days so there is plenty of things I need to accomplish there. Grades, room cleaning, loose ends, etc.

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I am going to try and finish the two jackets by the end of May but we'll see if I get it done. I've got a lot of stress goin' on here and I'm still trying to help my sister out by doing her resume, researching Alaskan state law, and putting her finances in order.

Patrones Oct 2005 #28 Muslin

Here's muslin take one of the Patrones pattern. I traced this off for a size 38. I have no experience with Patrones so I thought I'd make a muslin (or two or three). It's three main pieces for the body: front, side front, and back. The back has a center back seam. I didn't do any of my usual adjustments because I wanted to see how this would fit straight outta the box.

This is pinned at CF. I added another pin to keep the flap from sticking up. I know I'll need to take in the waist (or wasit, damn spelling) and let out the hip. The bust point seems to be hitting at about the right spot which is surprising. I usually have to do a 1/2" tuck to shorten the shoulder to bust length on BWOF patterns. It's snug across the bust but I think that's more of a back issue.


Here you can see that it is tight across the shoulders. I think this is why it's pulling just the teensiest bit at the bust. I certainly need that swayback tuck. A lot. I also need to let the hips out a little bit too.


Here's that forward thrusting neck thing I was talking about on my other post. That blue side seam should be perpendicular to the floor right? How do I get it there? I know I need to add a bit of hip room to the front and side front. That will let it have more room. I also think that bunching fabric in the back is actually pushing it forward too. The swayback adjustment may also fix some of that.


I have quite a bit of room at the waist. Also the seam line of the shoulders is right on the pointy shoulder bone. That is were it is supposed to be right? I think that is what our instructor told us last time. I am going to bring this Patrones jacket in on Sunday and see if she'll also help with fitting this jacket.

I have to run up to Fairbanks for a few days for a family emergency. If I don't respond to email, that's why. I'll be back Saturday night but I probably won't be on email or the computer until Sunday or Monday. I'm really hoping to finish this mini-wardrobe but all this family stuff just suddenly cropped up. I guess we'll see what happens. Until then, happy sewing!

Couture Jacket Class -- 2

I want a silk charmeuse for the lining of my couture jacket. If I'm spending all this time on it, I want it to be lux on the inside too. These are all stretch silk charmeuse from Thai Silks. I want the inside to be much more wild than the outside gray. The outside of the jacket will be a grey wool that has multi-colored flecks in it. It's super pretty in person but kind of blah on the monitor.




I thought about this one. Love it. Love the colors. How fun would this be to put on in the morning?




Then I saw the poppies. I love poppies. Lurve them. They might be my favorite flower. I love this red/black combo.


But then I saw these. I settled on this colorway. I'm really into pink/purple for some reason right now. I'm certainly not a pink-y froo froo type of girl. How fun will this be as a lining???

My next class is this Sunday and I think we are going to work on fitting the muslin. I'll keep you posted.

Meet Fat Max and Other Crap

First off, happy Mother's Day to you Moms! My kids and I went to Grandma's house, ate a lot of food, and hung out at the park. My husband is in Houston again (yay fabric!!!) and Grandpa is out Bar Hunting (bear hunting for you non-alaskans). Here are some requisite kid photos. Awwwwwww . . .

Son.


Sad daughter #2. Nice bruise, eh?



Happy daughter #1.


Happy daughter #2. They are 2.5 YO (someone asked me that in an earlier post).

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Next up: Meet Fat Max. I use this chisel to slice open buttonholes. I bought it at Lowe's and it stays in my sewing room. This is not allowed in the garage or near my husband. He'll actually use it for something chisel-y. I bought the smallest width I could so it will work for very small buttonholes.



To use this, put a board on a hard floor, put your jeans on the board, carefully line up the chisel and whack it with the palm of your hand. This puppy is sharp enough that it slices through just about anything. For a long buttonhole, lift, shift, and repeat.

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Speaking of jeans, I finished my third pair of Jalie jeans. These are the second item for my mini-SWAP.

And you guys are addicts like I am. Lots of you knew that Rocketboy was my inspiration. He's a jeans-making badass.

Pockets are the pink/purple silk duppioni from the dress. This picture shows the most accurate color of the denim.

And yes, they have a pink zipper. I couldn't resist.

Pop Quiz For Ya'll

Many of you know I am making another pair of jeans for my Spring Mini-SWAP at PatternReview.com. I know, I know, that's three pairs of jeans in less than two months. What can I say? I really only had two pairs of jeans that fit. And when I say "fit" I mean they had major gaposis in the back and a waist that was too big. So, today I'm working on those jeans.

Now, let's see who is as addicted to PatternReview.com as I am. Here's the pop quiz part. Which PatternReview.com member inspired these jean pockets? This is one of my favorite PR members. Mine aren't exactly like theirs but the pockets were certainly inspired by this member . . .

I did experiment with putting the octopus on the pockets. When my husband started calling me Octopussy and Tentacle Butt, I realized that 7th graders would have way too much fun with the motif too.

Burda 03-2009-101 Pleated Dress

Here is BWOF 03-2009 #101. It's basically a long, loose shirt dress. I really liked the model photo and the mannequin shot.


I thought the line drawing was uninspiring. But, it's accurate. It does look like a sack when it's untied.


I fixed the yoke piece and finished the dress last night. I love the color and the floofy hem a the bottom. It's a silk duppioni my darling husband bought the last time he was in Houston. He rocks. I cut it off at the knee instead of below the knee.

This is item number one for my mini-SWAP. I'm wavering on two jackets. Not that it's too much sewing but that the collars on the jackets won't go with the collar on this dress. I'll make mock-ups and then let you guys help me make the call.

I really like this dress. I think I need to press the neckline again.

Shoes a present from my husband also. He bought them last year for my birthday from DUO.com.

Dumbass Move #2

So this must be the week of dumbass. Can you see what is wrong with this picture below? Somehow I traced off the wrong pattern piece for the yoke. It is the same basic shape but much shorter in length. When I put the dress together the back of the main dress was too wide but I often have difficulties with the Burda pleating directions. Undeterred, I just pleated more and moved on. When I went to attach the yoke to the front sections, WHOA, something was really wrong.



As you can tell from this photo, it's considerably shorter. My clue should have been the markings on the sleeve. What are they for, I wondered. Well, they aren't for my dress . . . After looking at the piece with a critical eyeball, I realize it was for the men's shirt # 131. It's also a green tracing line but it's on the opposite side as the sheet I was tracing from. So, in other words, I traced the wrong side of the sheet. I always put my pattern sheets on the window. It's great because I can see the lines clearly but, I also see the other side of the pattern sheet.

Here's the wrong on top of the right.

The dress should be done tonight or tomorrow. I had to rip off the yoke and iron out the pleating I had done. Ever have a week where you feel like you are spinning your wheels?

Questions and Answers

E Lohroff has left a new comment on your post "Couture Jacket Class -- 1": Why did you make the seam allowances 1" on the traced pattern?
E Lohroff, We use 1" seam allowances just in case we need to let the pattern out. She said that I probably didn't need to because the pattern is very loose in the chest and waist but she wanted me to add the extra just in case. .

JoanneM has left a new comment on your post "Couture Jacket Class -- 1": Dawn , I want to ask you a few things about your class.Is it offered by your local indy fabric store? Who is teaching the class? I recall you saying that Claire Shaeffer would be attending at some point. Do they run these classes all year or is it a special one time only? I am trying to gauge whether I should investigate the possibility of such a class in my area.Looking forward to your jacket and process.Thank you!
Hi Joanne, This class is offered through Seams Like Home which is our local fabric boutique. The teacher is a local woman who is a member of ASG and has attending several Claire Schaeffer classes. Claire Schaeffer herself is coming up and this class is to make a jacket for when we meet her. Our instructor and the boutique thought it would be great idea to run the class now so we would have plenty of time to get our jacket done before the event in July.

Rachel has left a new comment on your post "Burda 09-2006-115 Wrap Dress": I love the dress and the pattern. How do you draw on your pictures? I have tried to do that, but I can't figure it out.
Rachel, I use Paint.net. It's a free program and it does everything I need.

Elbee has left a new comment on your post "Burda 09-2006-115 Wrap Dress": Hi Dawn. The dress looks really great on you. Curious as to why you wouldn't have used the coverstitch machine on the neckline. I covet a coverstitch machine and imagine that I would have used it here. Thanks.
Hi Elbee, I have the Viking 936 and it doesn't like to coverstitch over narrow things. It's not the density of elastic, it's the width. I have a hard time keeping it lined up. I don't know if this is a Viking 936 thing or if it's just me.

Rhoto has left a new comment on your post "More Loot for the Necchi": Hi Dawn!!If you DIDN'T have the original sewing manual for your Necchi, where do you think you could be able to find it??Rhonda in Montreal (PR), whose friend just bought a machine without a manual (obviously ;) )
Rhonda, There is a Necchi Sewing Machine yahoo group and that where I would start. They are a wealth of information.

E Lohroff has left a new comment on your post "Here We Go Again": Are there two different "rises" on this pattern? You indicate this is low rise. Is there a bit higher one for us who have trouble keeping our shirts tucked in?
Yes, there are two different rises on this pattern. The ones I have made are the lower rise. I wouldn't call them really low but they are not at the waist.

Rachel has left a new comment on your post "Here We Go Again": In my previous post I forgot to ask, what type of needle do you use for topstitching?
I'm using a Denim needle size 100 or a topstitching needle in a 100. I just play around and use whichever one seems to be working at the moment.

melissa has left a new comment on your post "Jalie 2911 - Cozy Pullover Top": Very nice! It reminds me of that 11/06 Burda pullover we both made.And I'm really surprised to hear your love for wool jersey. I used it for the first time recently and found it awful to work with - curling hugely at every opportunity, and in both directions, and after only a few wears (and no washes), it's bobbled a ton, too. So for the money I'm not very keen to sew with it again. Can you tell me/us a bit more about why you love it so much?
Melissa, I'm surprised you don't love wool jersey. I have bought it twice. Once was from Gorgeous Fabrics and once was from the Fabrics and Notions coop yahoo group. They are very different from each other. The Gorgeous Fabrics jersey was very thick and had some lycra in it. The coop fabric was thinner and softer. Neither one of the rolled or curled while I was working with it. It acted like a beefy cotton interlock. Maybe you just need to find the right brand.

Michelle has left a new comment on your post "Jalie 2911 - Cozy Pullover Top": Just a quick question regarding Jalie tops as you have made so many of them...I have made the Choice of T's 2005 and the 2806 and love them both. However, I noticed that the arm hole is cut quite high especially on the 2005 (I made size U). What is your experience?
Michelle, I prefer the newer arm style of the Jalie patterns. The 2005 pattern is the older style and doesn't fit me as well as the new ones do. If you check this blog post you can see the differences between the old and new styles.

Couture Jacket Class -- 1

I learned a lot of things today in class. This was our first real class. Our job was to come to class with the stitching lines drawn in on our pattern sheets. I measured in at a size 10 so I drew a stitching line in 5/8" inside that line. In the following pictures, you can see it as the thin, red line.

The first thing we did was a tissue fitting. I've attempted this before but have never been successful. You really need another person to help you with this. We did the fitting with just the main body pieces; no arms or collar. I found out that I should be taking a 1/2" tuck out of the front between shoulder and bust (yes! it's what I have been doing!) and adding a 1/2" to the back (oops, I've been taking a tuck here too). It turns out I have a forward-thrusting neck and I need to add a bit more space to the upper back to make the collar come up where it is supposed to be. Can you think of a worse name for an alteration? So now, I've got to do a swayback adjustment and a forward thrusting neck adjustment. Both of these make me feel like singing The Old Gray Mare.

I also learned that truing your muslin is a job all by itself. I spent most of the class tearing my muslin, hand basting the edges together, and then ironing the snot out of it so it would go back on grain. Luckily, my muslin was nice quality and needed very little help to get on grain. Here you can see the hand basting, the tuck, and the drawn stitching lines.


Here you can see the additional tissue for the 1/2" addition to the back piece.


After attaching the pattern pieces to the muslin, we used tracing paper and a wheel to trace out all the markings, stitching lines, and seam allowances. We used 1" seam allowances on all the edges. I have a double wheel tracing wheel so this step went pretty fast. I will wait until May 17th to cut it off the muslin. There is no class on Mother's Day so I'm off the hook for two weeks. It's a good thing too. I need to get some stuff done for the SWAP. I did trace out the Patrones pattern and put it on muslin too. While I had everything out it seemed like the most efficient thing to do.


Hopefully I'll have the duppioni silk dress done in a day or two so you guys can see it. The Jalie jeans are already cut out and waiting to be made into pats. Then, it's on to the two jackets.

Urban Threads and I'm a Dumbass

Urban Threads has a great free embroidery pattern right now. I decided to put it on one of my girl's plain shirts as a trial run.


It's cute, no?


Well, it would have been cute had I not put it on backwards. This is what is really looks like. I had to hoop the shirt upside down because of the hem. So I flipped the image. Well, I should have just rotated it. Instead I vertically flipped it. Oops. Not a big deal unless you are using text.

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Tomorrow is my first real Couture Jacket class. I'll keep you posted. I decided on the hideous pink jacket. It's Vogue 8481. Our first few classes will just be making the muslin and fitting. I'm glad because I think I will need a lot of help with the fittings.

Burda 05-2009 #108 Vest

I feel like I've been working on this forever. I cut it out last week and finished it up today. With all this neighbor business, I've been pretty stressed out and busy. Then I had Kindergarten Round-Up with my son. I really need to get crackin' on the mini-SWAP at PatternReview.com. Yikes.

I love the cropped length of this vest. It will be perfect with turtlenecks in the winter too. It's a mini-houndstooth that my husband picked up the last time he was in Houston.



Here it is from the side. Does this make my butt look large or what? Sheesh. It doesn't bother me but wow, I forget it's back there. ETA: I guess I should say prominent butt. It's not large but it is very sway-backish and sticky-outy. How's that for scientific? :)



This finishes just below my natural waist.


I really like the wide collar pieces but got rid of the cap sheets.

Here it is turned inside out. I made sure that the lining was a little smaller so that the fashion fabric would be pulled to the inside.

I am so pleased with the Necchi buttonholes. Aren't they perfect? I'll have to show you my new chisel too. I went to Lowe's for sewing supplies the other day. More on that later.

The lining is shown up above and then pressed down. This make a little tuck in the lining fabric.

I'll do a proper review a little later today. I'm off to the library book sale. I am hoping to score some sewing books. We'll see what they have to sell.