Communing With Fabric

Au Bonheur Jeans

2012-01-28T23:19:00.000-08:00

Table of contents:

The Usual Stuff
The Dreaded "Mom Jean"
More Pictures

The Usual Stuff

Last week I tested the Au Bonheur jeans pattern in ponte. The only problem I encountered was the gaping front pockets (though I didn't test the back pockets).

I decided to forge ahead with the denim version. I found in my stash a piece of stretch denim that I had purchased from Fabrix and washed/dried several times. Unfortunately, it turned out that I had less than 2 yards of the fabric, barely enough, but I was able to squeeze them out.

Materials:

Stretch denim from Fabrix. I believe it's 3-4% lycra. 5" stretches to 6.5", which translates to 30% stretch. The ponte stretches from 5" to 8.5", or 64% stretch. Because the ponte had more stretch, I cut the denim with 5/8" seam allowances at the inner leg and side seams, rather than 3/8". But I ended up sewing them with 5/8" seams, so I didn't need the extra ease.
The pattern calls for two rivets to secure the flaps on the back pockets, but I used 2 metal buttons, from Fabrix.
Topstitching thread. I used Guterman color #272, navy blue. Not sure I should have used blue, as it doesn't really show up.
1" waistband elastic.
I did not use a zipper, or a waistband button, since I made the pants with a mock fly with an elastic waistband.

Alterations and Modifications:

I outlined the alterations and modifications on the previous post. There are a couple additional things I did for this pair:

The vertical pocket was gaping unattractively on the ponte pair. After much consideration, I decided to use an angled pocket. This echoes the other angles in the pants and creates much less gaping.

Closeup of fly front and angled front pockets

I wanted the look of a fly, without an actual fly front, so I used my favorite fly front tutorial, Debbie Cooks' Jeans Fly. I followed the instructions, but left out the zipper. This made the process so much easier. :) Since there is no zipper, the fly is quite flat.

Look Ma, No Zipper!

On the ponte version, I did not make the back pockets. I had just enough denim to cut one set of pockets. These feature a back flap and darts, so they are three dimensional. To be honest, I don't like the look of the flaps, but I didn't have enough denim to re-make them. I left them as-is for this pair, but if I use this pocket pattern again, I would leave off the flaps.

Back pocket pattern piece

Left back pocket

The Dreaded "Mom Jean"

For a long time now, I've heard references to a horrible phenomena. One that women, past a certain age, who may or may not have borne children, should avoid at all costs.

The Mom Jean.

I've heard it referred to on numerous style shows, in numerous articles. But, to be honest, I had only a vague notion of what a "mom jean" was. Then, blogger Robin, of A Little Sewing, posted a 2009 article she found to Stitcher's Guild.

In this article, a woman took some mothers who were guilty of wearing "mom jeans" shopping for a better fitting, more youthful jean. This post generated a lively discussion on SG.

Evidently the size, position, and location of the back pockets has a large contributing effect to the "mom jean." Once I got to the point that the pockets were constructed and ready to be attached to the pants, I then carefully read the article.

Based on the article, as well as style shows I've seen, my understanding is that a Mom Jean has one or more of the following characteristics:

A light wash denim.
High waisted.
Muffin top.
Camel toe.
Pants that fit the butt poorly, contributing to a "una-butt" look, or a long flat butt look.
Pockets that are too high, or that are parallel to the back yoke and, therefore, point outwards to the "saddlebag" area, or that are too small, making the rear look big, or that are too far apart, also making the rear look big.

My take-home point from this is that the back pockets are important. I therefore spent some time playing with the placement of my back pockets, ignoring the suggested placement on the pattern. I moved them closer together, and made them parallel to the CB seam. There wasn't much else I could do as the pockets were already constructed and I was out of denim. Not that I cared that much, but I wanted to test the theories I had learned.

Do my jeans fit like a mom jean? Yeah, I think they do. Oh well. I don't really care that much. :)

What do you think? A "mom jean" sort of derriere? :)

Conclusion:

I do like the funkiness of these jeans, but I would change the back pockets in future pairs - I am not loving those flaps. I really like the angled front pockets much better than the vertical pockets on the original pattern. I also might try using a contrast top-stitching thread to highlight the interesting lines of the pattern.

Originally, I was going to enter these jeans in the jeans contest on Pattern Review, but now I'm not so sure that they would stand out enough.

More Pictures

Front knee

Back knee

Spring Vogues are Out!

2012-01-26T12:50:00.000-08:00

Just in the last day or so I started stalking the BMV website. I figured the spring Vogues were due to be out soon. And there they were this morning!

I guess I am feeling spring, which is ironic because we've barely had winter.

Anyway, there are some gorgeous dresses for the demographic that my daughters belong to. I will leave those to other reviewers. (Well, kinda sorta...) For my demographic and my lifestyle, I see some nice patterns, too! Here are my favorites.

(By the way, what is up with some of the model poses? Some of them make it really hard to see the designs. For example, in the Betzina skirt, why is the funky hem mostly covered? Are they hiding something? Did the photographer/stylist not like the hem? I always look at the line drawings, but it's especially important with some of the pics from this spring collection, though most of the pics I've highlighted below are ok.)

Vogue 8795: Marcy Tilton jacket

Vogue 8793: Katharine Tilton top

Vogue 8792: Vogue Easy Options top

Vogue 1292: Sandra Betzina skirt with a great hem.

Vogue 8791. This very easy Vogue reminds me of a Mizono design and features a mock wrap front.

Vogue 1293: Anne Klein. I love the design lines on this jacket. Love. It would be amazing in a denim fabric or even a ponte. Think outside of the box. :)

Vogue 1294: Anne Klein. You know, I've never noticed Anne Klein patterns before, but I also like the lines on this top. I'd modify the flounce on it and lengthen the sleeves, but it has real potential.

There is also this Sandra Betzina top, but it would be a horror on me, I'm sad to say.

Vogue 1291

And now, because I can't stand it, here are a few completely gorgeous dresses. For someone else. :)

The BMV site is also having a sale right now. I am not buying any patterns this month, so I'll let you guys have the first shot. :)

Testing the Au Bonheur Jeans Pattern

2012-01-23T10:56:00.000-08:00

(No, I did not make this silk jacket, I bought it second hand.)

I've been meaning to try this pattern since I bought it almost two years ago. Unlike some of the most recent Au Bonheur patterns I've made that use only 2 or 3 pattern pieces, these jeans require many pieces and I spent time translating the pattern and trying to get my head around the construction.

This pattern features top-stitching, contrast knee insets, front and back, front and back shaped yokes, a back patch pocket, front pockets with an inset vertical opening, a fly front and a contoured waistband. The front knee yokes and back pockets have darts to create unusual shaping. There is lots of top-stitching, some echoing seams and some more freeform/artistic.

I was unsure what size to trace off, so I finally decided to go with my hip size and I traced off a size 42, with no changes. I figured I could make any necessary changes after testing the pattern in black ponte. The alterations I made were minimal:

Omitted the back pockets - though I plan to include them in my denim version.
Omitted the fly front zipper - again, I plan to include this in the denim version.
Replaced the contoured waistband pieces with a rectangular elastic waistband. Not yet sure how I want to handle this in the denim version.
For the most part, construction was straightforward. However, when I sewed the front leg to the back leg, the pieces didn't match up. The front leg was approx 4" inches longer than the back leg. I chopped off the excess from the front hem and the resulting hem length was perfect for my 5'5" height. I could be wrong, but I think the pattern has a significant drafting error.
Omitted the more decorative top-stitching.

The only problem I had with the finished pants is that the vertical front pockets tend to gape, as you can see in the second photo below. This is a phenomenon I've seen on men's pants and it does not flatter the hips to have pockets that gape as you move. (As you can see in the third photo below, they do not gape if I stand straight and still.) Short of omitting the front pockets, or employing some sort of closure, such as snaps, buttons or a zipper, is there some other way to handle this gaping?

Closeup of front vertical pocket

When I move, the pocket gapes

Standing straight, no gaping

Input is welcomed. :)

I was surprised how well these pants fit! They have a good fit through the crotch, which has not been my experience on previous Au Bonheur patterns.

The back doesn't look so great on the hangar, but fits quite well. You can see the back knee inserts and the back yoke.

More Tablecloth Skirt Goodness

In other news, Tablecloth skirt pics continue to arrive in my inbox. The most recent offering is Kathryn O's beautiful striped version:

This, and all versions, are available in the Tablecloth Skirt Gallery (link at the top of the page). Thanks, and keep those photos coming!

Pattern Pics

Saturday Night Notes

2012-01-22T00:36:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend!

We finally got some rain in San Francisco - it's been a dry winter, so far. And, of course, rainy days encourage one to stay inside and get creative.

I've been working on another Au Bonheur pattern and have the "muslin" (black ponte) version almost finished. This pattern has one squillion pieces - something is not quite right and I haven't yet figured it out. So stay tuned.

I've also been doing some dusting and cleaning on the blog: I've deleted 11 blog posts. Don't worry, I am not deleting anything that people would care about - I doubt anyone would even notice had I not mentioned it. This effort has allowed me to delete some of my Picasa photos, freeing up quite a bit of space. (In the early days of my blog I was storing pictures at very high resolution unnecessarily.) I've also reorganized some of my Picasa albums.

All this cleaning feels good. :)

From time to time I think about some of my favorite blogs that don't seem to have a lot of visibility. I think about highlighting them, then I worry about all the other blogs I might overlook. This is one of the reasons I don't participate in blog awards - it's too stressful. Nevertheless, last Tuesday I started thinking of which blogs I would like to highlight, planning a post on the subject and making a mental list.

At the top of that list was a great blog, Rhonda's Creative Life. So, I am musing along these lines on Tuesday, and then, on Wednesday, Rhonda published a post highlighting my blog! I decided to wait a bit before posting about hers.

Let me tell you why I like Rhonda's blog:

Every Friday (or thereabouts) she posts a free pattern or tutorial. These usually involve a piece of clothing created using simple shapes. She has posted some very interesting and cool designs. In fact, one of her designs was highlighted in the January 2011 issue of Threads, called the "Spin Around Top." (I couldn't find an online link to the article.)
She highlights blogs and other resources on Wednesdays.
Beginning this March, she is highlighting a sleeve pattern every Saturday. Based on her preview, it seems that she will be using sleeves from vintage patterns. It looks to be quite interesting.
In January, she posted an invitation to folks interested in following the Artist's Way, which includes daily morning pages and weekly artist dates. I was interested, but haven't made the time.

I recommend adding Rhonda's Creative Life to your blog list!

I'm tickled, because in May, I will have a chance to meet Rhonda. She invited me to come see the Haute Couture Fashion Show in Chicago and I'm planning to attend. I'm really excited to visit Chicago and to meet some fabulous sewists!

I was sewing recently with the television tuned to PBS, and I saw an episode of the Red Green Show. I thought this "Handyman Tip" on making cutoff shorts was cute. Enjoy!

Au Bonheur Knotted Tee

2012-01-18T16:58:00.000-08:00

Worn with my Style Arc Laura Leggings.

It's high time I made another Au Bonheur pattern! I actually made this top over the three day weekend. It took longer to alter than to make - it's a quick and easy sew. I was planning to make a second one, a non-black version, easier to see on the blog, but I couldn't identify a fabric I wanted to use, so here's the black version. The fabric is a very stretchy rayon-lycra from Fabrix.

Even if you don't have a stable of Au Bonheur patterns, many of the creative ideas, such as the hem on this tee, can be applied to other patterns.

This pattern is a simple tee, with four knotted points at the hem. It is sleeveless with a scoop neck. The four points of the hem are formed thanks to a pattern piece they call the Coté. Coté translates to "side", but I would call this piece a gusset - to me a side piece would extend up to the armscye. But, and get this, the gusset is shaped like...

the Eiffel tower! How French is that?!?! So cute!

I traced off the largest size, a 54, and then made several changes:

I preserved the scoop neckline, but I traced the shoulder, armhole, and width for the front and back from the Style Arc Adele. This meant that I ended up with a bustline that had 4" of negative ease - it's less boxy than the original. I like negative ease with a highly stretchy fabric.
I used the long sleeve from the Adele.
I left the hem raw.
I used the same finish on the neckline that I used on this Liberty pullover.
I shortened the sleeves by 1.5" and hemmed them by hand.

Conclusion:
I really like this simple and easy tee! I definitely will make more, once I have identified more fabrics.

One other thing I wanted to mention. I created a separate page, French Sewing Resources and Au Bonheur Gallery. I want to keep these resources alive and, in fact, added more clarifications to the glossary when I made this top. This page is available at the top of every page in my blog, along with the Tablecloth Skirt page. Enjoy!

More Pictures

Sewing Workshop - Hibiscus Top

2012-01-15T20:05:00.000-08:00

It was blustery and sunny today, making it tricky to get good pictures. But more pictures here.

I traced off the Sewing Workshop Hibiscus shirt over a year ago. I knew that a swing silhouette is not good for me, but I wanted to make it work.

Probably because of this, I traced a medium, which is too small for me, but would also have less volume at the hips. At the time, the only FBA techniques I knew would have added *more* volume at the hips, and would have distorted the lower panels. Unable to solve this problem, I reluctantly put the tracing away.

Last week Martha, of Now Sewing, made her first Shirt of the Month for 2012 and she made a beautiful Hibiscus. This inspired me to pull out the tracing and apply FBA knowledge I have acquired in the year since making the tracing.

This time I chopped off the left and front bodice patterns 1" below the bust point, did the FBA, and re-attached the bodice bottom. Other alterations followed.

I have not been feeling shirt collars lately, so I omitted the collar. Note that I did not shorten the sleeves and they are a good length - this pattern has short sleeves. Also, I widened the upper sleeve, but not the lower sleeve - it is fairly close fitting below the elbow.

Alterations and Modifications:

3" FBA.
Widened the back 5/8" (1-1/4" total).
Narrowed the shoulders by 1-1/2".
Widened the upper sleeve by 1-1/4.
Removed most of the swing shaping, which meant modifying the side seams (front and back), bottom facings, and bottom panels.
Omitted the collar and stand and finished the neckline with a 1/4" bias band.

Materials:

A wonderful homespun striped cotton fabric purchased over a year ago from The Spirit of Cloth in San Diego. I'm sad that this store closed before I had a chance to visit again.
4 3/4" buttons from my grandmother's button box. They were the only buttons that were the right size, the right color, and that I had enough of. I did not want to go to the fabric store. :)

Conclusion:

I'm not completely sure how I feel about this top. It's less flattering than I'd hoped. I thought that if I didn't make it too long, used an open neckline, and removed most of the swing shaping, that it would be a good top for me, but the pictures say otherwise: it looks ok, but not great.

More Pictures

Can you see the pocket on the lower left? It's hiding amongst the well matched stripes. :)

RTW-inspired Navy and White Check Shirt

2012-01-08T10:56:00.000-08:00

More pictures

First, I thank all of you for the wonderful comments and feedback you left on my Marcy Tilton top, both on the blog post and the review. I am really overwhelmed!

Marcy Tilton featured pictures of Margy's tops on her blog. What a nice surprise! Also, Vogue patterns asked if they could feature my top on their Facebook page (which hasn't posted yet). It seems that this top, with my machinations, struck a chord with many.

I have tops on the brain. There are no less than two separate year-long top sew-alongs on Stitcher's Guild - one for "top of the month" and one for "shirt of the month". I have not joined either, formally, but my mind seems to be in "top" mode so it's possible my sewing mojo has signed up on its own accord. (I try to follow the mojo where the mojo leads.)

Several months ago I was in a boutique and I saw an interesting blouse, very briefly. It had a hanging front band, which I loved. I looked at it for maybe 5 seconds and moved on. I didn't take notes or draw pictures, or even try it on, so I can't remember that much about it, other than the hanging front band. I can't even remember what color it was. I believe it was a Kedem Sasson top, but am not even 100% sure about that.

Often I see interesting details in RTW and forget about them, but not this time! I decided to use a pattern I had as the basis for this top. Butterick 5034, recently out of print, is a good basic pattern.

Somewhere along the way I had cut the tissue paper pattern as a size 16. Now why did I do that? I am not a size 16. I am a size 18, and I still need a hefty FBA, in most patterns. But I can deal with a 16 if I widen the back and pay even closer attention to the FBA, so that's what I decided to do. (And it helped that this is not a fitted pattern.)

I wanted the front of the top to be shorter than the back, and I wanted side slits. At first I planned a regular shirt collar, but in the end I went with a plain neckline, finished with a bias strip. Since the front band extends below the hem, I had to use separate front bands, rather than a cut-on facing which folds to the inside.

Materials:

Drapey navy/cream check fabric from Fabrix. I think this is another rayon/poly blend and is very crepe-like. It ravels like crazy, but has a great drape.
11 5/8" mother-of-pearl buttons from Fabrix.

Alterations and Modifications:

3" FBA.
Widened the back by 1" (2" total).
Narrowed the shoulders by about 1.5".
Shortened front to 2" below the waist. Marked the waist point because I wanted to stop the side seam at the waist, leaving side slits.
Shortened the back to 4" (or so) below the front.
The upper sleeve measured narrow, so I widened it by 1".
Folded out (removing) the cut-on facings. Instead, I cut two front bands 2.5" wide and several inches longer than the front. I used 1/4" seam allowances for the front bands, so the finished band is 1" wide.
Originally I was going to use a standard shirt collar, but, while sewing, I decided not to. Instead, I stay-stitched the neckline at 5/8" and trimmed off 3/8", leaving a 1/4" seam allowance. I cut out a bias strip 1-1/4" wide and longer than the neckline. I sewed it at 1/4", wrapped it around to the inside, folded the raw edge under, and hand stitched. I really like wearing this sort of easy, casual finish.

I decided to finish the front bands by sewing them together, at the bottom, wrong sides together. I trimmed close to the stitching, turned them right side around (after pressing), and top-stitched close to the edge.

When it came time to put on the buttons, I raided the button box. I didn't have any fabulous buttons, but I did have the ubiquitous mother-of-pearl buttons that I have used for other projects. These cost 10 cents each at Fabrix, so I stocked up. (I probably would have preferred navy buttons.)

During construction, I put the blouse on many times. (Don't you love to sew wearing a bra and PJ bottoms?) I realized that the blouse is loose enough that I could pop it on and off over my head, so I decided not to use buttonholes. The buttons are merely sewn through both bands. All but the top two - those are sewn to the left band only. I never planned to wear it buttoned all the way up anyway.

I know, it's pretty cheeky of me to cheat and leave off the buttonholes. But I won't tell if you won't tell. :)

Conclusion

I really like this top! It will be great in warm weather. I made it a tad too short in front, so it won't be the top to wear to a revival meeting, or a sporting event, or anywhere one might want to throw up one's arms, unless one wants to exhibit one's belly button. I will definitely make this again.

By the way, I wrote this blog entry last night, as I often do, but waited to post it until I could take photos in daylight. I accidentally hit "post" instead of "save". Once that happens, even when the post is deleted from the blog, it can't be removed from blog readers.

More Pictures

Worn with my cream corduroy Linda pants

On New Years Day (morning) I took a walk and discovered this abandoned New Years top hat on the side of the street. I love to take shadow pictures and that morning I was wearing a skirt. After taking a few pictures, I picked up the hat and was walking along when a man, walking his dog, asked if it had been a good party. :)

Vogue 8709 - Take 2

2012-01-03T11:27:00.000-08:00

Conclusion, with more pics

In the fall of 2010, Vogue came out with this Marcy Tilton swing top. I liked the top very much, especially the peplum with the cool pockets and the draped back, but was pretty sure it wouldn't look that great on me. Swing tops are not flattering on my figure.

So I resisted, though I did buy the pattern when during a BMV sale. I pretty much buy all Tilton and Betzina patterns as a matter of course. :)

Then Peggy made one, and I loved it on her. I was well aware that Peggy's tall statuesque figure was quite different than mine, but I could no longer resist, so last May, I made one. It is a fairly intricate pattern, and I wasn't sure how to alter it, so I made a size 22, almost out of the envelope. (I usually start with a size 18 and FBA up.)

Version #1. Click the picture to read the blog post.

I loved it, at first, because I was blinded by the pattern's coolness. But I had to finally admit that the style, as it was, really didn't work on me. I have said, many times, that a swing shape just doesn't suit me and the photos don't lie. I'm embarrassed to admit that, not only does it look like a maternity top on me, enhancing my butterball shape, but it appears that my boobs are about to jump into the pockets, perhaps to feed diminutive babies hiding in there. I wore it exactly once, then the top went into the closet and languished.

Fast forward.

I was talking to Margy last week during the holiday break. She had also made this top (with much better success) and wanted to make another, incorporating some changes sparked by something she had seen on Marcy's site.

Margy's first version. So much cuter on her!

Margy suggested a mini sew-along - we would both work on the same pattern over the 3-day New Year's weekend.

Materials:

A wonderfully drapey fabric from Fabrix. It is woven with black and cream threads, giving an overall appearance of grey. I am not sure if it's rayon, poly, or a blend. The threads are minimally twisted and fluff out when they unravel from the fabric.
For the buttons, I had some "button stacks" I bought from a vendor at PIQF two years ago. Each button stack consists of 3 buttons in graduated sizes. The buttons are purely decorative.
5/8" clear snaps from Britex, positioned under the buttons.
Fusible interfacing, from Fabrix, for the front plackets.

Auditioning buttons. I ended up using the stacked buttons on the left. The color in this picture is a bit off - the metal is silver in real life.

Final button and snap configuration

When I made the original version, I used a size 22 and made only one change to the pattern: I lowered the darts by 2". For this revised version, I made significant additional changes:

Removed the swing shaping from the left and right fronts.
Removed the swing shaping from the left front placket.
Lengthened the bodice by 2" - this affected the back, left front, right front, left front placket, and right front placket.
Widened the back bodice by 2".
Straightened out the side seam of the back bodice, at least somewhat.

During construction, I made even more changes:

Additional fitting of the side seams and the center back seam. Removed 2" or 3" from the bottom of the CB seam, tapered to nothing at the bra line.
Fitted the peplum to the modified bodice, removing about 4" to 5" from the width, prior to cutting it out.
Inspired by the version Marcy shows on her website, I cut the collar with a lowered neckline and finished it with a pleated strip of the fabric selvedge.

Marcy Tilton's gorgeous version in apricot taffeta. The neckline on my top was inspired by hers. (Is it my imagination, or do I spy fish-eye darts in this version to make it more fitted?) Click the top picture to see this version discussed on her website.

Collar

I wasn't sure how to make the collar. When I tried pleating the fabric directly to the neckline, it did not work for me. My fingers were too clumsy and the fabric too "sproingy." So I then pleated the fabric on it's own. I cut the strip roughly twice as long as the finished neckline (plus a little extra) and much wider than needed. I then pinned in the pleats, not attempting to make them even in depth or distance - I liked the random effect.

I held it up to the top to adjust as desired. I then did three rows of basting. The first row was at the desired seamline. Then, I did a row of basting on each side, to help tame the "sproinginess." I finally basted it to the neckline, along the seamline. I did a second row of basting on the inside of the seam allowance. There is a lot of handwork in this collar. :)

The pleated strip. I removed the pins after all three rows of basting were completed.

The pleated strip has been basted to the neckline. On top of that is the bias strip which finishes the inside neckline edge.

Conclusion

I love this top! I think I will wear this one a lot. Make sure you check out Margy's second version, my partner in crime. Her modifications show how versatile this pattern can be. Buy it before it goes away!

And, just to drive the point home, here are both tops, side by side.

Did I lose weight? Noooo. Did I get taller? Noooo. Did my hair turn red? Well, yeah. :)

Also, did you know that Marcy started a blog? I hope she adds a proper feed for the blog, so we can subscribe to it, and be notified of updates. There is lots of good information on her site, especially in the Marcy's closet, t-shirt gallery, pairing pattern and fabrics, and tutorial areas. It's interesting to see what people are pinning from her site.

More Pictures

2012 - The Year of No Goals

2011-12-30T12:57:00.000-08:00

Table of contents:

Year of 12 Jackets and Coats
Pinterest
Funny Video - "Like the Costume Fairy, Only Taller"

Click a picture to see the related blog post.

Year of 12 Jackets and Coats

You may recall that last year I joined the "Year of 12 Jackets and Coats" challenge on Stitcher's Guild. I completed 8 jackets. I started (and made good progress) on more than twelve, but I now have several UFOs.

hanging head in shame

Why so many UFOs?

Well, a variety of reasons. For two of them, I needed more supplies and they languished (and lost momentum) while I waited to acquire said supplies. One was too oversized and needed major alterations. One had "bleh" issues and another had issues relating to my alterations.

So, there you go.

In fact, because I did not finish this goal, nor did I finish my Autumn 6-Pack (though I came close), I decided, no more such commitments in 2012. Despite the fact that "Shirt of the Month", "Pants of the Month", "Top of the Month", (not to mention the 2012 Swap), are proliferating on Stitcher's Guide, I am resisting. It does not help my creativity when I start to feel pressure to complete something in a specific time.

We'll see if this helps my floundering mojo. Yesterday I had to take to my bed with a full batch of fudge, so I can use some mojo resuscitation.

I must be one of the last people around who has talked about Pinterest, at least on my blog.

Have you used Pinterest yet? Have you heard of it? I resisting signing up for it, at first. For a couple of reasons. First, the idea that everyone could see what I was pinning creeped me out a bit. If you didn't know, Pinterest provides a facility for creating virtual bulletin boards. You can create any number of bulletin boards, with any categories you wish. You can then "pin" any picture you see on the internet to one of your bulletin boards.

When you pin a picture, Pinterest saves a copy of it, so even if the web page goes away, the image is still available on your bulletin board. If other Pinterest members like what you pinned, they can "re-pin" it to one of their boards. Or they can "like" it. They can also comment on it.

The other reason I was reluctant to join, is that you are required to create an account using a Facebook or Twitter account. But once you create a Pinterest account, you can "unhook" your Facebook or Twitter account, and you can create a pseudonym, so you don't have to use your real name or have it exposed to the world. I did this immediately, so my Pinterest name is "Shams", as it should be. :)

I should also mention that you either register a request for a Pinterest account, or you ask someone who *has* a Pinterest account to extend an invite. I registered a request and it took only a few days, but I am happy to invite anyone who is interested, until I run out of my allotment. Just drop me a line, or leave me a comment.

Having said all that, I have been using Pinterest now for several months and I find it to be an invaluable tool. I have learned about new shops, new products, new creative ideas. Let me give you a few ideas about how I use Pinterest.

First, I created bulletin boards based on creative things that interest me. For example, I have a "stripes" bulletin board where I pin images of clothing that use stripes in interesting ways. I have a "polka dot" board. I have a "techniques" board, where I pin techniques I have come across that are interesting. In this board I have pinned various youtube videos as well as other techniques I have found on blogs and whatnot. This is one of my favorite boards. I have a "recipes" board of recipes that look yummy, and a "healthy recipes" board for when I don't want to be tempted by the unhealthy yummies. :) I have a board for saving cool ideas for a Sewing Room. You can pin just about anything!

Whether or not you create your own boards, you can then follow other people. You can choose to follow an individual, so that you will see anything they pin to any board. Or you can choose to follow specific bulletin boards that they have created, so that you see new items added to those boards.

I have used the "search" feature to find some of my favorite pinners. For example, by searching on some of my favorite brands of clothing (like Oska or Eskandar) in the search field, I found Karyn A, who has a fabulous sense of style. At least for what I like. :) I don't know Karyn personally, nor have we ever spoken. That's the way it is on Pinterest. You aren't "friends" with the folks you follow, or the folks who follow you. You are interested in what they are pinning, and that's as far as it goes, at least inside of Pinterest. It is not a "social app", the way Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace, are.

So, not only can you search for things, and follow people and their boards, but you can see what sources people are using for their pins. I find this to be one of the most fun ways to use Pinterest. For example, say you love clothing from Anthropologie (as many pinners do). You can find out what people are pinning from Anthropologie by entering, in the URL window of your browser, the following string: http://pinterest.com/source/<website>/. Where it says <website>, enter anthropologie.com. So it would look like this: http://pinterest.com/source/anthropologie.com/. You can now see what other folks have pinned from Anthropologie's site, even if the items are no longer available on the Anthropologie site itself.

I have spent a lot of time playing with this feature and it's very fun. If you have a blog or a website, you can see what people are pinning from your site. I've provided a few sites for you to get started:

My Pinterest boards - I haven't added much to these recently.
items pinned from the Alabama Chanin site
items pinned from one of my favorite blogs, Handmade by Carolyn
items pinned from my blog
items pinned from Emma One Sock

Anyway, you might see that Pinterest can be an addictive site. I don't tend to spend a lot of time on it myself, but I find it to be a wonderful resource when I do browse there. I do often find that their servers are slow, or down, so I presume these are just growing pains and that it will improve over time.

Just be warned, it can be quite addictive. :)

Funny Video - "Like the Costume Fairy, Only Taller"

Finally, one of my Facebook friends posted this very funny video on her wall. Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

Dancing Skirts ... and Post Christmas Wrap Up

2011-12-25T21:22:00.000-08:00

Happy Christmas!

Table of Contents:

Dancing Skirts
Photo Shoot
Christmas Booty

I have been quite busy the last week, or so, cooking, baking, cleaning... preparing for the holiday. Though, to be honest, very little decorating. This year we placed our gifts under the Christmas Poinsettia, and I drew a stocking shape on two grocery bags. That, plus a wreath, and I was done. I've been working a lot and just couldn't get into the decorating, especially as the kids weren't around much to help/inspire/motivate.

Lazy? I like to think "efficient." :) You see, my week of vacation, and sewing, begins tomorrow and I'm ready to go! My house is all tidied and ready for some serious creative work.

I hope. :)

Dancing Skirts

I may have mentioned that younger daughter is now into Swing dancing. She had many dancing activities recently, so this week I whipped up three dancing skirts for her. For all three I hit the stash. I drafted up a gored trumpet skirt pattern. I was going to post a tutorial, then I googled and discovered there are many such tutorials, so why create another? In particular, I recommend this one and this one. It really is easy. :)

I first made an 8-gore skirt in red. The fabric for this one is a red sweater knit from Fabrix. This sweater knit is very "sticky" and wanted to grab onto itself. It was highly annoying to sew. I should have lined it, but couldn't be bothered. To help force it to behave, I took a couple dryer sheets and rubbed them all over the skirt, inside and out. That helped quite a bit. It's hard to pin down DD2 for pics, as she has a very active social life, but here is the hangar shot. It's a little bumpy at the waistline where I topstitched it, but that disappears on her body. I hemmed this skirt by hand.

Next up, I made her a 10-gore skirt using a slinky green fabric, also from Fabrix. This one has no hem, and is 3" shorter than the red skirt.

Finally, I made her a black skirt, also using a slinky fabric from Fabrix. This is a 12-gore skirt, with an asymmetric (raw edged) hem. Unfortunately, I have no shots of it on her, but here are a couple hangar shots.

The technique for creating the pointy hem is quite easy. Once you create the gore pattern piece, just draw in the asymmetric hem. I made the hem shorter on one side by 4" and then drew a curve to connect it to the other side. It would have been interesting to make it even shorter on one edge and to use a straight line to connect the points - to create a more dramatic effect.

Drawing the 12-gore asymmetric pattern. The original 10-gore skirt pattern is on the left.

The resulting 12-gore skirt pattern. I photographed the back side because it continued to curl up when laying on the right side.

Note: If you do try this, make sure that you cut all 12 gores with the same orientation. Unless your fabric is the same on both sides, you need to cut them all the same - do not fold the fabric in half and cut them out and expect it to work out. You have been warned. ;)

Photo Shoot

Several weeks ago my kids and their two cousins asked me to do a photo shoot for the grandparents for Christmas. I am not a professional photographer, by any means, but I enjoy taking pictures so I enthusiastically agreed. We had to wait for finals to be over, but we finally had an hour last week where all the schedules aligned and I was able to corral the cousins at the Palace of Fine Arts in the late afternoon. It was so much fun! Besides the jumping photo at the beginning of this post, here are a few more pics, out of the more than 500 that I took.

I think you can see that these cousins are more like siblings.

Christmas Booty

My two girls gave me some fun gifts this year. Nothing sewing related, but it's not like I need much in that area. ;)

Fun felted slippers!

I love this whimsical reindeer so much, she's staying out all year!

I saw a profile about Vienna Teng on PBS recently. I was waxing rhapsodic to one of the girls about her music and was gifted with one of her DVDs.

Here is one of her songs. She is classically trained and amazing. Prepare to be enchanted!

I also received a pair of knitted gloves that had not yet arrived, so no pictures, though DD wrapped up a printout. They have polka dots!

I expect to be sewing more than blogging this coming week. We'll see how it goes. :)

Tuesday Twitterings and Scrap SF

2011-12-13T12:05:00.000-08:00

This cartoon has been making the rounds on Facebook. (It is uncredited, if you know the name of the artist, please let me know!) If you re-colored her hair to red and replaced the brick wall with the Fabrix storefront, it would be eerily familiar... For some folks, just replace the word "fabric" with "sewing machines" or "yarn". ;)

Edited to add: I searched on the cartoon image (did you know you could do that?) and I discovered that this cartoon depicts Mrs Bobbins, created by Julia Icenogle for the Kansas City Star's quilting website, Pickledish. I also learned that there is a 2012 Mrs Bobbins calendar!

Scrap SF

Have you ever heard of Scrap SF? I usually describe it as a thrift store for craft supplies. Years ago, when my kids attended a cooperative nursery school, I first learned about Scrap. It's a huge warehouse filled with all sorts of stuff. You just never know what you'll find - both companies and individuals donate goods. It's the perfect place to buy supplies for kids projects, though plenty of artists shop there for their own projects.

Today I noticed a corner filled with photos that people have taken and discarded! They have tons of foam core board and the like. They also have lots of buttons and fabric pieces. Today I saw an old Kenmore sewing machine for $5. (Nope, wasn't even tempted, as I'm not a sewist who collects sewing machines.) Anyway, it's unlikely you will see a fabulous, high quality fabric/button goodie at Scrap, but you never know and it's fun to poke around.

Eldest daughter recently needed to create an inspiration board for a fashion class she was taking at Academy of Arts University. I took her to Scrap and she was able to gather most of her supplies. That, plus a quick trip to a paint store for paint cards, then a quick trip through my own scraps, and, for an outlay of less than $5, she was all set. (She also found a huge bin of bathroom signage and she scored a Womens sign for her pad for 50 cents.)

I follow Scrap SF on Facebook and yesterday they posted that they had gotten in a lot of Natesh rayon embroidery thread and were selling it for $1 a spool. This is a very nice brand of thread, so I ran over very quickly, with Alabama Chanin thoughts in my head. I selected 35 spools in scrummy colors, and took them to the register. The sales clerk charged me $26 - they usually give a discount off the posted prices. I was dumping them into my purse, when she mentioned that this thread wouldn't be good for machine embroidery, but should be fine for hand embroidery.

This puzzled me as Natesh thread is for machine embroidery and, as 100% rayon, should be strong enough. She handed me an opened spool. (Mine were individually sleeved in plastic, as you see in the photo from their Facebook page.) I gently tugged and the thread immediately snapped. This thread, while looking perfect, was obviously ancient and brittle. Grateful that she had mentioned this, I retrieved my $26 and dug the spools out of my purse. Thanking her profusely, I told her I would not even use these for hand sewing.

This was a good lesson for me. It's easy to assume that thread is sound if it looks good. But thread ages. If I had, say, bought this on ebay, I might have been out of luck.

On the sewing front, I have been altering a coat pattern. I cut it out along the wrong size, so I *really* have to alter it, because I don't want to buy the pattern again. I also have plans to make youngest daughter a dancing skirt. And I have a jacket that has been in timeout for some weeks now. I really should pull it out of timeout and finish it. ;)

Sweatshirt Mash Up (Jalie, Au Bonheur, Style Arc) & General Bead

2011-12-10T09:08:00.000-08:00

I had a small, but wide, piece of nice fleece from Fabrix in a sage green color and wanted to squeeze out a top. I also had Jalie 2911, which had a cross-over folded back collar I wanted to use. (And I love the creative version of this top that JillyBe made last winter.)

After reading reviews of the top, and looking at pictures of the finished top, I decided to transfer the collar to one of my TNT patterns. In this case, I used the pattern I recently used for a color blocked tee.

I made a new tracing of my top (sans seam allowances) and transferred the collar and shoulder from the size AA (sans seam allowances) to my pattern. I traced off the size AA collar (sans seam allowances). I eliminated seam allowances because each of these patterns uses a different amount of seam allowance (or none at all) - I then added 3/8" seam allowance to all pattern pieces.

The sleeve and armscye are from the Style Arc Adele. The body is from the Au Bonheur Asymmetric tee, though I used just one side, making it symmetric, and I lengthened and straightened the hem. (The Au Bonheur tee had already been significantly altered to fit me.)

Other than constructing the top with side slits, I made no additional alterations, though I should have added a bit more fabric at the side seams, because this fabric, while stretchy, isn't as stretchy as the ITY knit I used for the Au Bonheurs top, so this top is a bit va-va-voom on me. ;)

Make sure you align the collar properly before sewing the bottom seam - I had to re-pin several times because I kept inserting a twist.

I think the collar is ok. I don't quite like how it behaves where it folds back at the shoulder - it seems a bit wide to me. There are 5 thicknesses under the presser foot at the bottom horizontal collar seam, which is a bit unwieldy, especially in this thick fabric. Maybe this collar would work better in a lighter weight fabric.

Thoughts?

The nice thing is that I started this top at 6pm last night (Friday). I traced it off, cut it out, and sewed it up. It's nippy in the air this morning, so this is the perfect top for this weather!

General Bead

I wanted to mention a mini outing I had after lunching with BadMomGoodMom. I decided I needed more of the fun brass balls used in this necklace:

General Bead is one of those quirky San Francisco institutions. Though, before you go, you should check out the reviews on Yelp. I've never reviewed it on Yelp, but I won't dispute the comments on the location, smell, pets, or inventory. Nevertheless, I enjoy popping in there from time to time when I need beads, particularly seed beads or the like.

There is also a second floor with plastic beads, and sequins, including vintage sequins. Unless those have sold out... I took classes from Kenneth King twenty years ago and he used to buy the vintage sequins in massive quantities, as well as beads and findings, before he moved to NYC. :)

The object of my desire. Funky brass beads.

Also, there have been additions to the Tablecloth Skirt Gallery, so check it out!

Blogger Meetup - Meeting BadMomGoodMom!

2011-12-08T08:33:00.000-08:00

We match!

I had the opportunity to meet another fellow blogger! BadMomGoodMom was in town recently for a science conference, 'cause she's a scientist, and she contacted me to have lunch. (Had the both of us had more time available, some fiber-related activity would have ensued.)

BadMomGoodMom (I couldn't find her first name on her blog, so it's not here either) and I have lots in common, such as both attending Cal Berkeley and obtaining a bachelor's degree, mine in computer science, hers in math and chemistry, (though she attended a few years after me), as well as our interests in knitting, sewing (including a shared love of Issey Miyake) and (formerly, for me) quilting. Not to mention motherhood and, yes, we talked about that too. ;)

After a long lunch, we accosted a stranger in Yerba Buena Gardens to take a photo. BadMomGoodMom knitted the beautiful sweater she is wearing. We are hoping to connect on a future visit where we plan to spur the local economy a bit, and she mentioned the desire of recording a podcast.

It was so nice to have lunch and gab with someone I just met but felt like I knew for ages!

Edited to add: BadMomGoodMom just posted about our meeting! And, yes, we really did talk statistics about fitting. I'm telling you, she's smart. She has to do a SBA (Small Bust Adjustment) for her tops, but it's a good thing that our brains have a hard shell casing, 'cause otherwise she'd have to do a FBA (Full Brain Adjustment) for her hats!

On an unrelated note, I urge you not to visit Margy's blog and, most especially, not this post. Unless you are willing to accept the consequences, that is. Because of Margy, well, just look at this...

And, I'm sorry to say, there is another pair which I was wearing here:

Now, in my defense, both were purchased for half off. The boots are in the "Smog" color, but it's a mix between grey and brown and, I think, it's often called Anthracite.

Ahem.

Tablecloth Skirt - Hexagonal Edition

2011-12-05T11:14:00.000-08:00

This is a long-ish post. Here are some quick links:

Why a Hexagon?
Creating a Large Hexagon Pattern
Creating the Rest of the Pattern
Cutting Out the Skirt
Constructing the Skirt
Pictures
Conclusion

Why a Hexagon?

When I posted the review for my Tablecloth skirt on Pattern Review, one of the comments I received was from one of my favorite sewists, rivergum. Rivergum thought that the inspiration skirt was possibly based on a hexagonal shape, rather than a square shape.

I found myself wondering what the skirt would be like when created with a 6-sided polygon, 6 rectangular extensions, and 6 corners. I couldn't let it go, so I finally decided to try it out myself.

Obviously, creating a large hexagon is a bit more complex than creating a square, but it's really not hard. I love math, but you don't need to know math to make this work, so don't let that intimidate you.

If you have not read the basic Tablecloth Skirt tutorial, please familiarize yourself with the basic version, based on a square.

Creating a Large Hexagon Pattern

I made my hexagon using a circle with a 23" radius. Note that I felt that the completed skirt was short. I would have preferred a circle with a 25" or 26" radius, but I didn't know that until the end, since I didn't muslin this. :) (In my photos, I pulled the skirt down a tad, since the tunic is long enough.)

Supplies:

A ruler or yardstick the length (or longer) of your desired radius.
A piece of paper that is large enough for a circle with your desired radius. So, if you are making a circle with a 25" radius, you need at least a 50" by 50" piece of paper. I used pattern paper, pieced together. In the past, I have used the back side of wrapping paper, newspaper, etc. Just tape it together to make it big enough.
Writing implement. I used a Sharpie permanent marker.
A large surface to work on. I used the kitchen floor.
Making the circle: If you have a giant protractor, wonderful. I've never seen one this size, so I used my 24" Olfa ruler. You can use a yardstick to measure out increments, or you can tie string (the length of the circle's radius) between a writing implement and a nail, or a pushpin, etc. Whatever works. (I just now googled "making a large circle" and found many useful links, including some youtube videos.)

Instructions:

Tape your paper together to make a piece large enough. Set it on your surface.
Mark the center point.

Use your preferred technique to make a circle. I put the eraser from an unsharpened pencil into the hole in the Olfa ruler intended for hanging it on the wall. (I turned the pencil around for the picture - I used the eraser end which provides more traction.) I then held the marker in the center of the other end of the ruler (for a total length of 23"). I then rotated the ruler around the pencil, holding the marker in place, and walked around the center point. Voila, a 46" circle. (Again, in hindsight, I would have preferred a 50" circle.)
This next step marks the corners of the hexagon: Make a starting mark anywhere on the circle. Measure from that mark, the length of your radius (in my case, 23"), to the next point on the circle that intersects that distance. So, I measured from the first mark 23". Where 23" hit the circle, I made a second mark. (You are measuring straight across, not along the circle's curve.) Move the ruler to the next mark and measure another 23" to the next mark. And so on. If you have done this right, you will end up exactly at the same mark where you started, after creating 6 marks, total. Isn't math great? :)

Connect up the marks with straight lines. You now have a hexagon! Cut it out on the straight lines and you now have your basic pattern piece.

Creating the Rest of the Pattern

Since the hexagon has 6 sides, you will need 6 identical rectangles - one to sew to each side. The width of the rectangle will be the radius of your original circle. In my case, the rectangle was 23" by 15" (I used the same length as I used on the square skirt.) You can rip these rectangles, if your fabric allows that. My fabric, a cotton lycra, did not like to be ripped, so I rotary cut the rectangles directly into the fabric using measurements (no pattern pieces).

Again, I leave the waist construction up to you. Some folks do better with a zipper, other folks sew the skirt to knit ribbing. I prefer an elastic waist casing. Refer to the original post on the square skirt for my tips on calculating the waist hole. I used the same waist hole that I used for the square skirt.

Cutting Out the Skirt

Supplies:

For this skirt, I used a cotton lycra woven from Fabric Mart in a giant polka dot pattern. It was a wide fabric and I used less than 3 yards for the total skirt. (My hexagon measured 40" by 46".)
Elastic for waist. I used 1.5" waistband elastic from Pamela's Patterns.

I first cut the hexagon from the fabric. I then removed the paper pattern and folded the hexagon into quarters - the corner point is the center of the hexagon. I laid my waist hole pattern onto the corner, pinned, and cut it out.

I cut the 6 rectangles and the waistband, another rectangle, from the remaining fabric.

Constructing the Skirt

I used the same construction as for the square skirt. To summarize:

Complete the waistband.
Hem the long edges of the six rectangles.
Sew the six rectangles to the hexagon. The stitching for each seam begins in by the width of the seam allowance (I used 3/8") and ends before the end by the width of the seam allowance.
After all the six rectangles are sewed on, press the seam allowances open.
Sew the short edges of the rectangles together, again, starting the seam exactly at the point where the other seams begin and sewing all the way to the hem.
Press the short seam allowances open. I then serged the edges of all the seams, but you can finish them how you prefer.

Voila! Skirt completed.

Pictures

Conclusion

As you can infer from looking at the diagram of the square skirt versus the hexagonal skirt, this creates a skirt with more fullness at the hem. I think I like the lesser fullness of the square skirt better. Also, the corners are less pronounced in the hexagonal version. Of course, the busy print of my skirt hides the detail a bit, but I think I prefer the square skirt version - it is a bit more dramatic, or at least more "funky" and I prefer the funkitude. :) But this creates a nice skirt too. Next time I will add paper strips around the hexagon pattern to create a larger overall hexagon.

If you create either version of this skirt, please let me know so I can include your pictures in the Tablecloth Skirt Gallery. I have gotten a big kick out of watching the creative versions that have been produced.

Ball Necklaces (or ... Where Did You Get Those Balls?)

2011-12-04T21:03:00.000-08:00

This weekend I needed a gift for a holiday party featuring the "Greedy Gift Grab" game. After much pondering, I decided to create a necklace inspired by a RTW necklace made of resin beads. I ordered the beads and waxed linen cord.

One day, weeks later, I wandered into my local bead store with a Groupon coupon burning a hole in my pocket. I came upon some very funky brass beads and fell in love. These beads came in two colors and different patinas and were all mixed together in a bin. Resembling small-ish Christmas ornaments, I decided to use these to make a necklace for myself - I know the funkiness of these beads isn't for everyone. For this necklace, I used an inexpensive cotton cord that is quite thick, to anchor the beads in place.

I decided to wear the brass necklace to the event, along with my Style Arc Shaza pant, Style Arc Debra Zebra top, and a purchased jacket.

And what did I receive in the gift exchange? A gorgeous set of eight napkins! These napkins are impeccably made and beautifully mitered - 32 miters total. I do not have that sort of patience! Along with the napkins, I received a tube of hand cream and a bottle of Grannie's Spot Remover.

And that concludes all holiday parties for me this season!

Blogger Meetup - Meeting ReAnn!

2011-11-30T22:22:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of a mini-blogger-meetup last Monday!

ReAnn, an internet sewing friend for the last couple of years, was recently visiting San Francisco and we finally got to meet in person!

It was fun, fun, fun!

We hit fabric stores, such as Stone Mountain & Daughter in Berkeley, and Piedmont Fabrics in Oakland, which had just moved up one block three days prior to our visit.

We petted (and drooled over) fabrics!

Doesn't ReAnn have the most gorgeous smile?

We did our most serious damage at Fabrix in SF, but we were too busy shopping to capture the moment. Well, one of us did the most serious damage at Fabrix. I only bought one small piece of fabric. ahem

We snoop shopped. (Well, after a quick detour to FedEx. I'm just sayin'.)

We ate and we laughed!

It was so much fun to meet another sewing soul-sister. We've talked about it for a long time and finally both our schedules coincided. It was nice she came out west. As DD1 will be attending university in Oregon next year, I don't expect to be doing any traveling for some time to come. ;)

P.S. In case you wondered, ReAnn is wearing a really cool Shapes High Five top that she made from a white crinkle fabric purchased in San Diego on a recent road trip. Her beautiful coat and scarf are purchased. I'm wearing my new Au Bonheur tee, my Au Bonheur raincoat, and my latest Marcy Tilton pants (not blogged, Vogue 8712). My scarf is purchased.

Au Bonheurs Asymmetric Tee and Thanksgiving Weekend Wrapup

2011-11-27T14:35:00.000-08:00

Wow, I have been having way too much fun the last few days. Thanksgiving was lovely at a friend's house. I made the bread rolls and they also asked for an extra recipe of the bread dough so they could make cinnamon rolls over the weekend for their house guests. I was happy to comply and will, eventually, post the recipe over on my recipe blog (which is not very active in general).

Then, DD2 came to visit and we had fun cooking (made my first fudge of the season, also to be posted later), watching movies, walking, and driving. (She is about to get her driver's license and loves to just drive.) Then she went off Swing dancing so I even had some time to sew!! (Seriously, how many 16-year-olds love to Swing dance and play boogie woogie music?)

Since time was limited, I wanted to pick an easy pattern. I decided it was time to make the Au Bonheur asymmetric tee that The Amazing Dorothy made recently.

It's sad that this company is now out of business, but I know some folks do have their patterns. This one goes up to a size 46, though the finished bust measurement is 41". This is not nearly enough for my 48" bust. However, I have recently worked out that in stretchy tees, I like a finished bust of 44", or about 4" of negative ease.

I needed an FBA, as usual, and decided to try a new-to-me technique, the pivot-and-slide FBA. You can see it explained on the Sharon Sews blog. I pivoted the top 1.5". This worked well at the side seam, but had an undesired effect in the armsyce by making it too wide. I will explain how I fixed that in a bit.

As I traced off the size 46, I straightened out the extreme waist shaping, as I do not have a tiny waist, and I removed the extra hip width, as I have narrow hips.

The top features asymmetric cap sleeves, which are very cute, especially on Dorothy, but I do not wear cap sleeves. I decided to take the sleeves from the Style Arc Adele top that I recently made. This meant that I had to transfer the armscye from the Adele top to the Au Bonheur top. This took care of the unwanted width added from the pivot-and-slide FBA and also narrowed the shoulder by about 3/4". Another good alteration for me as I narrow the shoulders of most patterns.

The pivot-sand-slide FBA also did not add length to the front. I need additional length to get up and over the boobs (cause it's a mountain, not a rainbow!), so I used the same alteration that I used for the Adele top, where I sliced the top horizontally at the bust point and added 1" across the front. This extra length is eased back in at the side seam.

Finally, I shortened the sleeves by 2".

I will not kid you, it felt like the alterations went on and on and took several days to accomplish in time snippets. I think that the alterations took longer than it too to cut and sew the top. But it was totally worth it!

I raided my stash to make this top. The stripe is a fabric from Marcy Tilton, purchased long ago. The polka dot fabric is left over from this Sandra Betzina dress. The solid black is left over from the Debra Zebra top.

I have a slight aversion to raw edges, so I serged all of the exposed raw edges. The top was very fast to sew together and I was happy with the fit. I left off the overlay on the right front, for two reasons. First, I was not sure if it would lay nicely over my bust. But, I mostly left it off because there was so much going on that the top didn't need any additional visual noise.

One thing I want to point out. If you look at the pattern, it appears that the center front seam is on the diagonal. This is not the way the pattern is drafted. It is drafted with the seam straight up and down along center front.

I will definitely be making this again! Now that it's altered to fit me, I can use it over and over and may even cut it more conventionally for a regular tee.

Tomorrow I am taking my last vacation day of the year to hang with an internet friend whom I have never met in person. More on that later. :)

More Pictures

ETA. This is too funny! I just realized that the back was supposed to echo the front, with two pieces, seamed at the CB, with asymmetric hems and necklines. I somehow missed this and traced only the back with the deeper neckline and cut it on the fold. I will trace it off for next time.

Walking up the Mosaic Steps

The top of the hill.

Seam Allowance Ruler and Tablecloth Skirt Gallery

2011-11-27T08:53:00.000-08:00

Here's a clever new tool! A woman named Claire Tharp had the idea of a french curve designed for adding seam allowances. It comes in two widths - 3/8" and 5/8". I have both widths and these rulers are very easy to use. Discounts are available if you are a member of ASG, Pattern Review, etc. The pricing and discounts are explained on her blog, SA Curve Ruler. There is also a video demonstration. Claire's Etsy site is ctharp1.

These rulers would fit perfectly into a Christmas stocking! ;) (And, no, I get nothing for this plug; mine were purchased and I think they are a useful product.)

I am currently working on a top that has no seam allowances included in the pattern so I am actually road testing the rulers.

Tablecloth Skirt Gallery

The pictures have been flooding in from folks who are making the Tablecloth Skirt. You guys are fast!

I am having fun seeing all of these versions of the skirt. If you look at the top of my blog, there is a permanent link to the Tablecloth Skirt Gallery. Drop me a line (email is in my profile) if you'd like me to include a photo your skirt! I also include a link to your blog, pattern review, or picture set, if you have something along those lines.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T09:12:00.000-08:00

If you celebrate, Happy Thanksgiving to you! I'm thankful for all of you, whether or not you celebrate. :D

Mary R was busy with gift sewing when she took a break to whip up the TableCloth skirt and send me photos. It looks great, Mary! I love seeing your projects, so please send me pictures - my email is in my profile at the top-left of the page. I am especially curious to see the seven Tablecloth skirts that neighborhood gal is going to make out of polyester organza this weekend. :)

It Seemed Like a Good Idea

I wore this yesterday when I ran some errands. I love me a funky scarf and this one is funky and fun. It's a loooong infinity scarf of rectangles made from a beefy, textured, felted sweater knit. What a great idea!

I am loving all of the crisp, snuggly weather! Yesterday, after getting my hair cut, I stopped at one of the best coffee establishments in San Francisco, Blue Bottle. I was actually there to pick up some beans as a gift, but I had a hot chocolate and a Fruit Brackle sort of dessert - it featured apples poached in brandy and a nut-based streusel.

Ah-maz-ing.

This place is very near Westfield Mall in Union Square, but a bit hidden, so check it out if you are in the area.

And now, I'm off to finish two recipes of bread rolls for Thanksgiving dinner.

StyleArc - Adele Top

2011-11-19T16:51:00.000-08:00

First, thanks to all of you for your enthusiastic feedback on the Tablecloth Skirt. Marec (on Pattern Review) suggested a sew-along. I've never even participated in a sew along, but I'll consider running one in the new year if there is enough interest.

I have very little time to sew in the next couple of weeks, between work, kids, cooking, and visitors. In fact, I'm busy tomorrow (Sunday), so I decided that today I needed a quick project I could complete in one day. But which easy project to choose?

Several weeks ago I decided that I wanted to make a Style Arc pattern I had purchased last June, the Seaside Sue top.

Seaside Sue Top

I was planning to make some changes, namely to raise the neckline and to add sleeves. When I pulled the pattern out to work on it, I saw that they had accidentally sent me the wrong size, it was a size 10 rather than an 18. I emailed Style Arc about the error, asking for the correct size. In my email, I told them I was planning to add sleeves to "winterize" it. (I've teased Chloe in the past, asking her, what have you got against sleeves? Since then, she has been releasing more sleeved top patterns.)

They quickly responded to my email and told me that the free November pattern was a sleeved version of Seaside Sue and that they would send it to me in another week when it was available, if I preferred. You betcha!

Adele Top

(It's not the first time I've asked them for something that was already in the works. Get out of my head, Chloe!)

Materials:

Green print rayon lycra jersey from Fabrix.
Black viscose spandex "Annabelle" jersey for contrasting neckband from Vogue Fabrics.
Twill tape to stabilize shoulder seams.
1/2" Steam-a-Seam Lite 2 to stabilize hems.

Alterations and Modifications:

The finished bust measurement of the size 18 is approx 44". My bust is closer to 50" but this is a stretchy fabric. I held 22" of the fabric against my bust and decided that I didn't need to add width. This top is more flattering if it gently hugs the bust anyway, so I decided that the negative ease worked for me. But I didn't want the top to "ride up" in front, so I sliced the pattern at the bustline (front only) and added 1" horizontally. I did not alter the back because I just eased the extra 1" in at the side seam.
The sleeve was a bit narrow, so I widened it by approx 1-1/4".
The sleeve is too long - I shortened it by 1-1/2".
The pattern instructs you to interface the neckline. The contrast neckband is optional. If you left that off, you would need to interface/stabilize the neckline somehow. I left it off and used the contrast fabric, which functions as a ribbing.
I hemmed the top and the sleeves using Steam-a-Seam Lite 2.
I did NOT have to narrow the shoulders!!! What the heck??? I *always* have to narrow the shoulders! Always! On the "Big 4" I often narrow the shoulders a full 2", but even on Style Arc I have to generally narrow them 3/4"-1".
I did not modify the neckline. If you notice, it's higher than is shown on the drawing. Thanks to Sigrid for asking this question. :)

Conclusion:
Wow, do I LOVE this top!!! I LOVE the easy FBA! In fact, I think I want to revisit the funnel-neck tee and try this FBA instead of the other FBA I used.

I can easily see straightening the side seams and chopping the hem, making it a standard horizontal hem, to make this my go-to standard tee. It fits that well. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

More pictures

Closeup of side slit

Self Drafted - TableCloth Skirt (with Tutorial)

2011-11-18T19:47:00.000-08:00

The outfit I'm planning to wear for Thanksgiving.

More than a year ago a cyber friend, ReAnn, sent me a link to this dress and asked if I knew how it might have been drafted.

I didn't.

Over time, this dress has shown up in various incarnations - with sleeves, without sleeves, with different fabrics. I have only seen it online, never in person, so I did not have a chance to study it. Then, a month or so ago I was looking again at the web page when, bam, I realized how it was drafted.

Gotta love that!

I quickly did some math, and whipped up a version using a worn out flannel duvet cover with rosebuds that my daughter had decided was no longer cool. I was happy to see that my idea did, indeed, work. Then I hung the muslin in a closet and forgot about it.

I needed to sew a quick skirt for a meeting this week and I decided that it was time to make a real version of this garment. I made it in one evening - it is so simple.

Materials:

A very lightweight, crisp fabric from Fabrix. I believe it's a nylon taffeta. It is two-sided, but I used the autumn-colored side. The other side is cream/black.
1-1/2" Fantastic Elastic from Pamela's Patterns.

This skirt is made entirely from rectangles. It is basically a circle skirt, except it uses a square instead of a circle. I did not even cut out the fabric. I just measured and ripped. The only time I used scissors was to cut the circle for the waist.

The "TableCloth Skirt" name came from one of my sewing pals, Sarah. I was holding it out, showing the shape, similar to the following photo, and she declared, "It's like a tablecloth!"

Yes, indeed, if you need a quick Halloween costume, just wear a board underneath this skirt to hold it out and, voila, a table with a tablecloth.

The following layout shows the essential shape of the pattern.

There is a square piece of fabric (blue), with a waist hole cut out (yellow). Then there are four rectangles (green). There is also a rectangular waistband (not shown). (I made this with a elastic waistband, but you can put in a zipper if you want.)

Instructions:

Cut, or tear, a rectangle that is 44" by 44". (Note, I am 5'5". If you are taller or shorter, you may want to adjust the proportions.)
Calculate the circle you want to cut out for the waist. The math is not hard, but you can use a calculator. I googled "circle circumference calculator" and ended up using this one. I decided to add 2" to my waist measurement and plugged in the number. I needed a circle with a 6.5" radius. I created a quarter-circle template using printer paper.
NOTE:: If your hips are larger than your waist, use that as your base so you can pull this on over your hips!

Fold the square of cloth into quarters. Pin the quarter-circle template to the center corner. (Make sure you pin it to the correct corner!) Cut out the waist.

Sew the waistband to the waist opening in whatever way you prefer. (I ripped a waistband piece that was 4.5" by 45" because I was using very wide elastic.) I stay-stitched the waist, clipped, and attached the waistband.
NOTE: The waistband should be the length of the waist hole at the seam line (not at the cutting line), plus two seam allowances. I cut it longer by a few extra inches, just to be safe. After I stay stitch the waist and clip, the seam always seems to grow another inch or two. I don't sew the short edges of the waistband together until the waistband is mostly attached to the skirt. I leave a couple inches unsewn at the beginning, and the end, of the seam. I then mark where the waistband should be sewn closed. I sew it, press it open, and then stitch the last few inches to the skirt. I am also too lazy to leave an opening in the short seam for the elastic. After the waistband is completely sewn and topstitched to the skirt, I use my seam ripper to open the short seam, on the inside, for the elastic. I insert the elastic, fit it to myself, and sew the edges of the elastic together. I don't even stitch up the little opening. Now you know. :)

Cut, or tear, four more pieces of fabric that are 44" (or whatever size square you used) by 15" (again, modify as needed).

Hem the long edge of each of the four rectangles. (I like to hem it first, but you can wait if you want to see about the length.)

Sew the unhemmed long edge of each rectangle to one of the edges of the central square. (If you look at my crude diagram, you are sewing the green pieces to the blue center square.) I used 1/2" seam allowances. You want to start sewing 1/2" in from the edge and stop 1/2" from the other edge. If you are using a different width for the seam allowances, start and stop the seam by that amount.

The final step is to sew the four short edges of the rectangles together. (As shown by the arrows in the diagram.) This creates four corners.

That's it! Not counting the waistband or the hem, that is a mere EIGHT seams! If you want to recreate the inspiration dress exactly, sew the skirt to a cropped bodice. I'm not really a "dress" person, so I decided to make it as a skirt, but it would not be hard to do.

A few more pictures:

A little twirling action

A closeup of two of the corners

StyleArc - Debra Zebra tops

2011-11-16T16:36:00.000-08:00

Like my new hat? Everything is more jaunty with a hat. :)
More Debra Zebra pics here.

More Style Arc goodness!

Many folks have made the funnel-necked tee from the Sept 2010 issue of Burda, most recently, Margy. This Style Arc funnel-neck tee is very similar and, bonus, and I didn't have to trace it! I've had this pattern for awhile and now that winter is coming, I'm ready for a funnel-necked top or three.

I made two tops in a few hours. With only 3 pattern pieces and 6 seams (total), you can whip these up very quickly.

Materials:

Top #1: Black Annabelle knit (94% viscose, 6% spandex) from Vogue Fabrics.
Top #2: Red/Pink Wool Jersey (97% wool, 3% lycra) from Fashion Fabrics Club.

Alterations and Modifications:

I started with a size 18, which is usual. This has a fairly relaxed fit.
Removed the hip curvature from the side seams.
2" FBA. I eased the fullness from the dart into the side seam. I didn't sew it as a dart or gather it. I steamed out the fullness that was created by the easing.
Removed 1" from the shoulder.
The upper arm seemed narrow so I widened it by 1". To be honest, I don't think this was necessary.
This makes a long top. I shortened it by 2-1/2".
I did hem the sleeves and the top, but I did not hem the neckline.

Conclusion:

This is a great basic!!! I will be making more of these. Super quick, well fitting, and a great wardrobe staple.

More Pictures

This pic has been lightened.

Fashion Fabrics Club called this color red/pink but I would call it coral.

You can see my FBA. I always fit the side seams on my body - it always benefits from further tweaking.

Alteration to widen the sleeve.

All Wales Welcome! National Corduroy Appreciation Day

2011-11-10T09:29:00.000-08:00

I love corduroy and tomorrow, November 11, 2011, is Corduroy Appreciation Day. This date, 11/11/11, was chosen because, in numeric form, it resembles the wales in corduroy. And, it's on a Friday! There are ~~many events planned all over the world~~ a handful of events planned in a few cities. In 2111, it will be on a Wednesday, so don't expect quite so much hullabaloo next time, being a school night and all. :)

I wish I could properly celebrate the day, sewing some corduroy, for example, but at least 11 hours will be spent in a car, heading with DD1 on a college tour to Oregon. Though, doesn't Oregon seem like a proper corduroy-wearing state?

Let's hope so, because I will be wearing cords that day. In fact, in the photo above you see me wearing one of my favorite corduroy pieces, a jacket made from a corduroy that alternates wide wale and very wide wale. I found this garment on ebay many moons ago but, hey, one day I may knock it off.

I'm also wearing cream-colored corduroy Jalie Jeans, but these are going into the Goodwill bag, as they aren't nearly as comfy to wear as the Linda pants I made with the same fabric.

I know I have been quiet on the blogosphere, but my sewing has been proceeding very slow of late. I'm not sure if it's preferable to find other (sewing-related) things to blog about, or to wait until I have something to show.

The jacket I am working on is close to being done, but due to the impending road trip I can't work on it this weekend or I could finish it. It's been a bit challenging to fit, so I'm hoping it will turn out ok, but the jury is definitely out.

I also continue to walk at one to two hours a day, which also eats into my free time. And, in an effort to eat better, I am cooking and doing more food prep. (Kale smoothie, anyone?) For me, at least, a healthier lifestyle takes more time. :)

I hope you have a wonderful Corduroy Appreciation Day. May your wales be true and your nap smooth!

P.S. Inspired by the snow picture, I specifically looked for corduroy textures on this morning's walk. The best I could find was this bit of sidewalk, at a crosswalk near my home, in concrete. I would buy fabric like this!

The Autumn 6-Pack that Wasn't

2011-11-01T16:29:00.000-07:00

You may recall that I decided to join the Autumn 6-pack on Stitcher's Guild. Most of us tweak the plan to suit our needs and my planned version of the 6-pack was actually 7 pieces: 3 bottoms, 3 tops, and a jacket that would go with everything.

I was making great progress, initially. My color palette was inspired by a beautiful piece of wool I purchased from Emma One Sock. This striped woven wool contains several shades of blue, plus grey, and cream and almost looks like a knitted fair isle.

I got stuck on the jacket. I "auditioned" a jacket pattern - McCalls 6294. I liked the jacket, but decided I didn't want to use my special wool for that pattern. I spent countless evenings making plans for the fabric, but I could not settle on a pattern.

What I did make, starting from the upper left and going clockwise:

Periwinkle blue rayon jacquard Liberty top (Sewing Workshop pattern, fabric from FabricMart).
Navy blue rayon lycra jersey Teagarden T (Sewing Workshop pattern, fabric from Emma One Sock).
Aforementioned McCalls jacket - the version I auditioned. (Yes, it goes with the other pieces, colorwise, but this was my test version.)
Midnight blue Marcy Tilton pants (Vogue pattern, fabric from Emma One Sock).
Charcoal no-wale corduroy Linda pants (Style Arc pattern, fabric from Fashion Fabrics Club.
Cream pinwale corduroys (Jalie pattern, fabric from FabricMart).

It's all good, though. I will get lots of wear out of the pieces I did finish. And I still have the gorgeous piece of wool. :)

Style Arc Shaza Pant

2011-10-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

It's not every day that a pattern is named after you. What a huge honor!

I haven't been sewing as much lately, but this pant had to be first up. I made a size 10 - my normal pant size in Style Arc. I made zero changes when cutting. The only change I made during construction was to change the direction of the pleats - I find the pleat direction I used to be a bit more flattering when one has a belly.

These pants are very loose above the knee and snug below the knee. I did not shorten or hem them. They puddle a bit at the ankle, which I like, though you can't see that in the pictures because I am wearing an ankle boot.

Materials:

Black rayon lycra jersey from Fabrix.
1.5" Fantastic Elastic from Pamela's Patterns. I trimmed off about 1/8" for it to fit the casing. (This elastic is designed so that it can be cut to a narrower width.

Conclusion:

I love these pants! I really like how the side drape transitions to a pocket. These are quick to sew up and easy to wear. If you like a harem style of pant, I highly recommend this pattern!

Proof that there are pockets!

Here you can see how the drape looks. The pockets are still tucked inside. (Worn with the red Teagarden T I made last Christmas.)

Vogue 8754 - Marc Jacobs Wool Coat

2011-10-16T11:38:00.000-07:00

More pictures

New!

I am introducing a new feature! From time to time, I plan to talk about something that Seemed Like a Good Idea! And maybe it is a good idea. Or maybe it isn't. :)

The Coat

Time for another coat! Though I am no longer suffering from a coat deficit, I continue to make coats. My climate loves a good coat, most of the time. I now have 8 of my 12 jackets and coats completed for 2011. Will I finish all 12? Who knows!

It seems like it took me forever to finish this!!! Started weeks ago, before moving to the sewing room, this is the first item to be finished in the sewing room.

This pattern was new in the fall Vogue collection a couple months ago. I liked the neckline and the binding. And I had a piece of fabric that I thought would work. It does, mostly. But more about that later.

Materials:

Marc Jacobs wool blend, black with harbor blue dashes, from FabricMart (300619). You need to treat this fabric like a stripe. It is super soft and thick - kind of spongy. The design is woven - not printed - so the back of the fabric has floats where the harbor dashes appear; it's a good candidate to be a lined garment. A friend received this fabric in her free mystery bundle from FM and gifted it to me. It's *really* nice. This had disappeared from the FabricMart website and then more yardage recently reappeared. They also have it in a blue colorway with cream dashes. I've also seen this colorway on Fashion Fabrics Club, though it is more expensive.
Scraps of Vera Wang pebbled silk for pockets.
Lining: blue polyester charmeuse from Fabrix (and left over from another project).
Trim: black organic bamboo doubleknit (98% bamboo, 2% lycra) from FabricMart (891855). I cut 2" strips.
Interfacing: black tricot fusible from Fabrix for collar and fronts.
3 giant square snaps from Britex.

The fabric front is on the left. The back of the fabric, with the floats, is on the right. The strips of bamboo doubleknit for the binding are at the top.

Alterations & Modifications:

Started with a size 18 and made View C.
Lowered and enlarged the dart - added 2.5".
Lengthened the front interfacing to correspond to the additional length from the FBA.
The pattern, just released recently in the fall Vogue collection, is described as a "semi-fitted lined jacket." It is semi-fitted through the bust. It has a dart in the back neckline (2 darts total) and I widened the back another 1" (2" total additional width). I took up the extra width at the neckline by adding another dart for a total of 4 neckline darts.
From the waist down, the jacket is much wider through the hip area. I chopped off the hip shaping.
I straightened the edge of the inseam pocket because I'd removed the curve at the hip.
Narrowed the shoulder seam by 1".
Allowed for turn-of-the-cloth at the collar. Because this is a thick fabric, it was a noticeable amount of excess. You can see it in the photo - it was a bit more than 1/4" that I removed.
Turn of the collar. I cut off the excess. After basting the outer coat to the lining, 5/8" is trimmed off all around the edge and then the binding is applied.
I sewed the binding to the coat with a 3/8" seam allowance. I stitched the other edge of the binding by hand.
I shortened the sleeves by 2".
I hand sewed the sleeve lining to the coat. Lots and lots of tiny stitches.
I used three giant navy snaps from Britex as the closure. In the flash pictures, these snaps appear to be a bright blue, but they are actually such a dark navy that they almost look black.
An accurate depiction of the snap color.

Comments and Conclusion

It seems like these pattern companies make very specific decisions about what constitutes a "Very Easy" pattern, and they don't always make sense. One measure of a "Very Easy" pattern seems to be the number of pattern pieces. In this case, they avoided making any facings. They also avoided any lining pattern pieces. This has some ramifications:

There is no back neck facing piece. I went along with this idea, and I didn't love it. I did not sew the four neck darts in the lining, but turned them into pleats. I usually prefer to draft a back neck facing when one is not made available.
The back lining. You can see, I hope, the four pleats into the collar.
There is no front facing. You cut four fronts. This means that the coat is two layers of the main fabric at the front. The coat also has darts, which I made a lot bigger. Since I used a fairly heavy coating, that is a LOT of thickness in the dart area. I think it would be better if they had broken down and created a front facing and front lining pattern piece, to avoid bulk.
In general, I had trouble with the darts. No matter how much steam and pressure I applied, I could not make this spongy fabric lie flat at the darts. This bothers me, but I finally gave up, after several attempts.

In the end, it's a serviceable coat. A little boring. The pattern could have been designed better. I probably won't make it again, or if I do, I will draft proper facings and a front lining.

It Seemed Like a Good Idea

You may have noticed the sweater I was wearing in the coat photo shoot, though only a bit of it can be seen. I bought this two years ago at one of those multi-designer sales that happen periodically. It is the softest black alpaca. What attracted me to this piece was the attached scarf. Yes, the scarf begins at the hem of the garment, and then narrows and extends for quite a ways. You can loop it around your neck any way you like, but I generally wear it knotted, as you see.

Doesn't this seem like a good idea?

I thought so, which is why I bought it. I've worn it maybe 2 or 3 times in the last two years.

Why has it received such minimal wear?

Well, I first wore it to Thanksgiving, two years ago, at a friend's house. It was a nice chilly fall day. But once you enter a heated house, you are stuck wearing a scarf that you can't remove. Unless you want it trailing on the floor. It's hard to find an event that has a suitable mix of fancy-ness and chilly-ness to wear this piece.

Oh well, I still like it. :)

More Pictures

Open

Partially closed

Fully closed

The lining fabric is used only in the back, sleeves, and in-seam pockets.

Sewing Room Update - Babysteps

2011-10-12T20:44:00.000-07:00

Wow, my last post struck a nerve. Too many people thought I was wrong to throw out DD1's stinky, filty, worn-out toe shoes. I did think about keeping them - for all of several seconds. Then I thought, heck, I have the pictures. Let them go. :)

Besides, who needs the toe shoes when I have pictures like this?

Several folks have asked me to please show the sewing room as it is now.

OK. Though I warn you. I am not a decorator. I am not that well organized. I have already lost interest in spending a lot of time on the room. I'd rather sew. It may be a long time before I make any major modifications.

I hope I haven't disappointed you.

The ironing board had to go in front of the windows. For two reasons. One, the view. Two, when it rains, it can leak, and I don't want any power cords or machines in the area until I get it fixed. And that's why you see the towel - because we did have rain this week.

DD1 left her desk behind. I removed the hutch (it was not attached) and am using it to store my serger, felting machine, and my Janome Gem. When I want to work in here, I also use the desk. All I need is my laptop and my iPhone and I can work anywhere. :)

My sewing corner. My friend Heather gave me her Bernina table when she upgraded to a more modern machine. I finally set it up and love it. It is so great to be able to use the knee lift again! I gave up using it during the years that I was sewing on the kitchen table.

A word on having TV in the sewing room. There were some comments about the idea of having a TV in the sewing room. I do understand that it is not for everyone. For example, my ex-husband hates TV. Early in our marriage, I realized why. If he walked into a room that had a TV on, he was unable to resist it. It commanded his attention. His face, turned to the TV, would go slack, and it was hard to pull his attention away, even if all he was watching was an ad. I am not like this. I love to have TV on for company and I multi-task. In fact, I have a hard time actually watching a show to the end. Some folks prefer music. Or quiet. It's a personality thing. :)

DD1 left her armoire behind. It is now full of fabric, patterns, and notions. She also left the stack of yellow boxes behind. I have filled them. One holds lingerie elastic. One holds purse parts. One holds snaps and hooks/eyes. The last one holds fusible tape. The photo is one of the only pictures I have of my mother. She was an amazing sewist. This is her class picture, taken at the age of 13. It feels right to have her watching over the sewing room.

When my kids were 6 and 8, I let each of them choose a kitten at the pound. Later, I found these painted rocks on ebay. Each one strongly resembles their respective cats. Both girls left the cat rocks behind, but I am happy to have the whimsical kittuses. :)

DD1 left her tree of toe shoe keyrings behind. This is one thing I am keeping in the room. Oh, the clock is hers too, but I hope she doesn't remember to come collect it, because it amuses me. :)

Several of you told me that you were not happy with the track lighting in your sewing rooms. So, for now, I'm going to leave this fixture here. I have several area lights and Ott lights, so I don't have a current need for new overhead lighting.

I really thought I would have my coat finished today. All that remains is to hem the sleeves and the snap closures. I still have some evening left, so maybe I can get it done. :)

October Status Update

2011-10-10T20:14:00.000-07:00

One of my outfits this week. The jacket is purchased and the cream corduroy pants are Style Arc Linda pants.

Sewing Room Pictures - Before

I feel like I've been absent for awhile, though it's really been just over a week. What has been going on at Chez Shams:

I spent the entire weekend before last working on the house. Over the last couple years I have taken over the living room, dining room and kitchen with my sewing. Now that I have a real sewing room, it's time to move the sewing out of the rest of the house. So I spent time sorting, organizing, moving. Some things went into the sewing room, and some things into the basement (formerly my bedroom). This is a herculean task and I have cleaned out the kitchen, and most of the living room, but I still have a fair amount of work to do in the dining room. It's getting there.
Last week I went into work twice, for fun reasons. One day to play team-building bocce ball, and another day to have a team lunch with the uber boss (my boss's boss).
On Wednesday, DirecTv came and I now have TV in my sewing room! For me, this is an essential part of a sewing room. ;)
For some reason, I was reluctant to actually start sewing in the sewing room. To be honest, I think it's because I miss my kids. But I finally forced my way through that reluctance this weekend and made a bit more progress on the coat.
This weekend I had several activities, which also limited sewing time. I had an appointment involving DD2 on Saturday morning. On Sunday I went to the Picasso Exhibit at the De Young with friends (so much fun!), and then on Sunday evening DD2 and I had a movie date. We saw The Third Man (1949) at the Castro Theater. It's a wonderful Art Deco theater in the Castro district that shows old films. I had never seen this film before but really enjoyed seeing Joseph Cotten and the young Orson Wells. DD2 tells me she wants to learn swing dancing and she's taught herself to play the theme from the movie (which was quite famous) on her ukulele. Kids. ;)
I am now back to sewing in the evenings. I have decided to take time on the sewing room "fixup". There is no rush and, for now, I can keep cutting out in the dining room.

Sewing Room Pictures - Before

Here are some "before" pictures of the sewing room. I took these before DD1 started to move out. The room was not cleaned to take these pics. I'm glad I have these to remember what a neat room she had. :)

The door on the left exits the room - this kid has always had a passion for calendars and wanted 5 or 6 every Christmas - 4 for my house and a couple more for her dad's house. The mirrored door on the right is her closet, which is now full of my in-process pieces, overflow clothing, and some fabric that needs to be hung.

Her bed and stuffed chair. When she was young, there was a chiffon canopy over the bed, which hung from the ceiling. She took the mattress but left the bed frame and the chair behind.

The view from the door. I love love the windows, the light, and the trees. The best view in the house. It's so quiet and peaceful - you would never think you were in San Francisco.

Three females and one bathroom? I could see the writing on the wall and bought her this vanity and makeup stand at the age of 11. It saved a lot of bathroom arguments, believe me. She spent a lot of time at this table.

The crystal chandelier. I feared you might think it was some huge thing, but my ceilings aren't that high. For her, this was one of the most important features in the room, along with the colors. She really wanted yellow walls, a blue ceiling, and a green carpet. "Like nature." Well, she was 11. ;)

Her desk and armoire. I gave her the tall bookcase as a Christmas gift last year. She took it with her (rats). She left behind the desk and the armoire. The armoire is now full of fabric, patterns, notions. The picture on top of the armoire is my senior picture - I was 17. She took it with her. :)

She left behind her toe shoes. While she continues to dance recreationally, she is done with toe shoes. I took a few pictures and then threw them out.

This kid started dancing at the age of three. It is her passion. Before having her, I never knew much about ballet. I didn't like ballet. At all. But after all these years as a ballet mom, I do respect it. These dancers look fragile and dainty, but are tough as nails. Blood and sweat are their daily fare.

So, stay tuned. Over time, I will update with pictures as the sewing room develops.

Saturday Notes - Au Bonheur, Where Art Thou!

2011-10-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

Edited to Add: It's Official

I love you guys!

I woke up this morning and really enjoyed reading your comments on last night's post and on the post before. You really know how to make me smile. Thanks soooo much for your insights on your experiences with your own sewing rooms!!

Several of you asked about the independent pattern company Au Bonheur des Petites Mains. Actually, I was planning to bring that up, but hadn't gotten around to it yet.

I think the news is not good.

The last time they put up patterns for sale (which was last spring - in early April), they immediately took some of them down again. A few people who ordered quickly, managed to get them, but most (like me) were out of luck, as those patterns never reappeared.
Over the last six months or so, they have closed two of their stores in France.
Their website has consistently been down for some time now. I've been checking and checking.
They have not answered any email I have sent to the address that, in the past, they used for correspondence. But my emails have not been returned as invalid, either. So, either it's unmonitored, or it's unmonitored by anyone that speaks English.

I was on their mailing list. The last bulk email they sent out was on 6/21/2011. I dumped the text into Google translate. It says is that they are having a big sale, which is possibly right before they dissolved (if, in fact, they have dissolved). Here is the original French, for those of you who can shed more light on this mystery.

Mesdames, Messieurs, Chers Clients
 
Votre magasin « Au Bonheur des Petites Mains » de CERNAY
vous propose ses

SOLDES de FOLIE
Des centaines d'articles soldes entre 50 et 80%

   Apartir du mercredi 22 juin 9h00 et pendant toute la duree legale des soldes

aux heures habituelles d'ouverture du magasin.
(9h-12h et 14h-18h jeudi et vendredi
samedi 9h-12h et 14h-17h)

  Rappel: nous ne prenons toujours pas la Carte Bleue,
donc paiement en especes ou par cheque

A tres bientot
dans votre magasin de CERNAY
8A rue de La Sauge
68 700 CERNAY
03 89 37 44 60

Vous recevez ce message en tant qu'ancien client de www.patron-de-couture.fr 
Si vous ne desirez plus recevoir nos messages, cliquez ici
Conformement a la loi informatique et libertes du 6 janvier 1978 (art. 27), vous disposez d'un droit d'acces et de rectification des donnees vous concernant.   

Copyright © patron-de-couture.fr  - Tous droits reserves

I think they are gone which, if true, is a real shame. I am so glad I bought as many patterns as I did.

In fact, Dorothy just posted an Au Bonheur's t-shirt review on Pattern Review that is so amazing, I am sure that many have been trying to buy the pattern and are wondering what the heck is up. I've included the picture here so you can drool some more.

Don't you just want to climb into this picture and have some tea and scones with Dorothy and talk sewing?

Both of these t-shirts are from pattern 60005, T-shirt Effet Asymmetric. I never bought this pattern, thinking it would not work on my bust but, after seeing Dorothy's, I am rethinking that idea. Lucky for me, Dorothy is in my sewing group and may let me borrow the pattern.

Pure gorgeousness, Dorothy! Though, to be honest, if you were wearing the proverbial gunny sac, you would still be pure gorgeousness! (And if I had better Photoshop skillz, I just might prove that point. ;) )

If you have any further information on the status of this company, please post it here. I am sad if a source of such creativity has dried up forever!

Here are some related links you might find useful:

My Au Bonheur posts on this blog.
All Au Bonheur reviews on Pattern Review. (You have to have a Pattern Review account to see these, but the free account works fine.)
Au Bonheur's size chart, converted to Imperial measurements by moi.

Edited to Add: It's Official!

Thanks to Véro, who commented on this post, we have confirmation that Au Bonheurs liquidated their business on August 7th. Thanks so much for investigating this, Véro! I wish the designers all the best. If anyone hears that any of these designers have resurfaced and are designing for another pattern line, please let me know!!!

Friday Ramblings - incl. Vogue Website Anomaly

2011-10-01T01:30:00.000-07:00

Table of Contents:

Where is Shams? (and Sewing Room news)
Vogue Winter Patterns
And Sewing!
Artistry in Fashion 2012

Where is Shams? (and Sewing Room news)

Just a quick update. When I've been quiet people start to email me and ask me what's up. ;)

Work is keeping me pretty busy. The usual. Next week is some team-building bocce ball. That should be fun. ;)
DD1 has moved out! Yes, she is embarking on the next phase of her life. She is attending a local university part time (she's not sure what she wants to ultimately study, but is considering fashion merchandising) and she has secured a retail job at the gigantic Westfield Mall in downtown SF. That place has been her mother ship for many a year, so she's enjoying her new, deeper, mall relationship. Along with these developments, she decided she wanted her own place and she has moved into a tiny studio apartment. She and I now schedule lunches and time to see each other. It's all new.
DD2, a high school junior, is primarily living with her dad, who is closer to her school. We also schedule time to get together, such as the movie night we have planned for next weekend - this kid has a special love for old movies and we are seeing some movie her British grandmother loved as a girl - I've never heard of it.
That means I have my house to myself! Just me and the unsociable, but demanding, cat. After much cogitating, I decided to reclaim DD1's bedroom (the former master bedroom) as my sewing room! WOOT! And every closet in the house is now MINE! WOOT! WOOT! (Twenty years ago, before having kids, I used DD2's smaller room as my sewing room.)
When DD1 phoned to say she was on her way, a week ago, to come get her mattress and her most needed items to start sleeping in the new place, it wasn't 10 minutes before I was moving my sewing machine and ironing board into her room. When she showed up an hour or so later, she just stood, staring and blinking. I don't think she expected me to move so fast.
Building a sewing room will take time. I plan to do this in phases.

Phase 1 is to get DirecTv in the room. I have an appointment for next week.
Phase 2 is to get rid of the bed frame.
Phase 3 is to get a cutting table.
Phase 4 is to replace her crystal chandelier with some cool tract lighting. (Wow, I was a nice mom to get her a crystal chandelier - and how weird is it for an 11-year-old to desperately want a crystal chandelier?)
Phase 5 is to get some sort of seating that converts to a bed. The research has begun.
Later phases include getting new work tables so I can have all my machines up and to get more storage. This will take time.

So, what to do this weekend? There are a lot of sewing activities this weekend, such as PenWAG, and I may participate in one or two, but mostly I plan to work at home. Do I sew? Or do I dismantle a bed and get rid of it?

You see my dilemma.

Also, I've been walking. I am so inspired by my walking friends, like Margy and Peggy. I've always loved to walk but haven't done much lately. Then, on Monday evening, I walked 4.5 miles, towards the ocean, returning in the dark, with blisters on my feet. Today (Friday) I had an appointment in downtown SF, and I decided, very impromptu, to save the $2 bus fare and walk home. Six uphill miles later, I returned home with blisters under my blisters.

I need some better shoes. :)

Vogue Winter Patterns

Did you hear about (or notice) the weirdness on the Vogue website on Thursday? They were having a 4-day BMV sale that ended Thursday night, central time. On Thursday, they released their new winter patterns. After a short while (during which many people blogged and talked about the new patterns on various forums) they were yanked from the website. Evidently, they didn't intend to post the new patterns until after the sale.

Then, at 9:15pm Pacific time, they re-appeared. (Thanks to Marlene who alerted me!) There was a 45-minute window that they were on the site and the sale was active. I swooped in and bought a dozen patterns, half of them new. I love the new Koos coat, the Tilton patterns, the Mizono top. There is some good stuff in the winter offerings! Then, at 10pm Pacific time, the sale was over. Phew! I got in just under the wire and my 12 patterns were less than $40 (plus shipping).

And Sewing!

I am very close to finishing a coat. In fact, I accidentally published the post before the coat, or the post, were finished. I took it down immediately, but the partially completed post (I write my blog entries as I sew), still appeared on Google Reader. Several eagle-eyed people asked to me about that.

Progress has been slow because I have been too tired, or too hot, to sew most evenings. (We had a little heat spell, which is not conducive to sewing a wool coat.) But it's coming!

Artistry in Fashion 2012

Oh, by the way, did you notice that Ronda Chaney commented on my Artistry in Fashion review post? The date for next year's AIF is Sept 29th. Just so you know!

Happy weekend!

Artistry in Fashion, 2011 - Review

2011-09-25T15:40:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure I can add much to JillyBe's excellent review of yesterday's AIF event. But it was the best one ever! This year was the 20th anniversary of Artistry in Fashion. It is "must do" event if you are anywhere in the vicinity and love to sew, and/or to wear beautiful clothing and accessories. It is like immersing yourself with a hundred kindred spirits and is a sure-fire way to jumpstart one's creative mojo.

This year Margy (Margyh on SG) drove up from southern California. She and I have talked via email, and she recently started a blog, but this was the first time we've met in person. I was also happy to meet Leslie (Lessalt on SG) and her sweet husband, who drove in from central CA. I was happy to see other friends that I have seen before, such as JillyBe and Joan (Joan71 on SG). And, of course, there were many other people whose company I enjoy and are without blogs or internet presence. ;)

It was really nice to see Lyla Messenger speak and present a trunk show of her designs. I also enjoyed both "stylist" presentations, which showcased items for sale, styled into outfits. And, for me, one of the highlights of the show is shopping. :)

Here is what I bought yesterday:

I have wanted one of these sweaters for years. Finally, this one is mine, and it's red and black! With polka dots!

I just love the simplicity of this necklace! This is a stone tumbled in the ocean.

The artist who made this scarf had a beautiful, hand painted, silk chiffon top featured in the stylist presentation. I would have bought it, but even though it was "one size fits most", it didn't fit my bust. She hand stamped this silk scarf, but she also paints and silk screens her scarves.

I bought this fabric from Lyla Messeger's booth. This interesting piece is double sided, contains lycra, and the black centers have little holes in them.

Three of us who closed down the show were in no rush to end the fun, so we decided to have dinner. JillyBe, Margy, and I headed to Redwood City and drove around until we stumbled on a restaurant. We had a great meal, sharing experiences of the day, and our favorite shopping resources. Finally, I drove them back to their cars at Cañada and we grabbed a few pictures with JillyBe's camera. But, by now, it was windy and cold! There are no pics of all three of us because we were completely alone in that parking lot.

Yes, it was cold and extremely windy, but they still look good!

Can you tell how cold and windblown we are in this pic?
A fun end to a fun day.

Color me Tickled - StyleArc's Shaza Pant!

2011-09-25T04:52:00.000-07:00

Wow, I have never had a pattern named after me before! I'm pretty stoked!

Have you seen Style Arc's new Shaza pant yet? If you have followed my blog for long, you know I love me a good harem pant. In fact, the Alexi pant was one of the first Style Arc patterns I made:

And, if you are wondering just where the name Shaza originally came from, it's my Klingon name and I have been using it on the internet for over twenty years.

And how does one learn their Klingon name, you ask? Well, you take the first 3 letters of your first name + the first two letters of your last name. So, if your name were Shams Zackary (mine isn't, but if it were) your Klingon name would be Shaza.

So my geekery is now fully exposed to the world.

Shaza is my married Klingon name. My unmarried Klingon name would have been Shabi which, you have to admit, isn't nearly as cool. My Klingon self would never answer to that.

Here are the Klingon names of a few of my sewing friends. You will know who you are: Suskr, Heani, Sarbu, Carno, Ronch, Pegst, Marho, Marmc. (Who doesn't love Ronch!!)

This algoritm works better for some names than for others, but I say you can craft your Klingon name however you want, because no one is going to gainsay a Klingon, not unless they are a total petaQ.

Artistry in Fashion 2011

Yesterday was Artistry in Fashion and I was there for the entire day. It was that much fun. The weather gods smiled and granted us gorgeous weather.

I met several internet friends in the flesh, such as Margy (Margyh on SG) and Leslie (Lessalt on SG), which was great! I hung around with lots of fun people, which was super great. I bought a few things, which are great. I heard a lecture and saw two styling shows, which were great. I had butterscotch pudding with toffee bits and whipped cream, which was pretty orgasmic.

I did not take my camera though many pics of me were taken. One picture has already been sent to me, so here is me and Margy. I met her in the flesh yesterday and we both bought the same sweater! (And isn't she gorgeous? She just started the greatest blog, A Fool 4 Fabric.)

Not my best photographic moment, but Margy looks great! We are modeling our new sweaters. Thanks to Sarbu for this picture!

When I have more pics, I will do a full post.

Today will be a day of sewing! Artistry in Fashion never fails to inspire the mojo!! By the way, I don't have the Shaza pant yet, but you know I will get that puppy in my October order and sew it up!!

Happy Sunday!

Woah! Whatta Week.

2011-09-16T23:47:00.000-07:00

My summary of this last week:

A daily commute to a clock tower, where I and a dozen others were closeted, creating three certification exams.
The fun of choosing clothing to wear to work, as opposed to choosing attire for sitting on the sofa and maybe walking to the post office, or the coffee shop.

Getting up at 6am, leaving the house at 6:45, and returning somewhere between 7 and 9:30pm.

Sore feet, unused to wearing the same pair of shoes for 12 hours straight. Yes, even comfortable shoes.

Spending $160 on gas.

The delight of having catered, delicious meals: breakfast, lunch, snack and, on one evening, dinner. Plus endless supplies of coffee, sodas, and OJ. (My favorite day was Indian lunch day. Mmmmmmm.)

The mental exhaustion of non-stop intense concentration.

The exciting news, on the second day, that I've gotten a promotion.

Not one second of sewing. Barely even thought about it.

It was fun, it was challenging, and thank goodness it is over!!! I like being with people, but am ready for some alone time!

In order to avoid traffic this afternoon, after work I checked out a mall near work and a couple boutiques. The boutiques are more interesting and much more dangerous. :)

Here it is Friday night and my feet are still up. I have no idea what I will do this weekend. I may do a certain amount of finding myself standing still, staring into space, and wondering, "what next?"

Yup, that feels about right. :)

Just Thinking - the Creative Process, 9/11

2011-09-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

Today is certainly a day of thinking for me. Lots of thinking.

First, there's the 10th anniversary of 9/11. It is hard to believe that ten years have passed already since our world changed. The event is still so fresh. The only reason I do know ten years have passed is because my kids were little back then, and they are almost adults now (well, one is an adult). They grew up in a different world than I did. That makes me think, too.

On a much lighter subject, yesterday I heard Kenneth King speak at PenWAG. I took classes from Kenneth over twenty years ago at Sewing Workshop when he lived in San Francisco. I lost track of the doings of the sewing world in those years I didn't sew. When I came back to sewing and learned he had moved to New York, I was surprised. He touched on that topic yesterday and how 9/11 factored into his decision to move to NYC.

But what was interesting, to me, was his creative process. The talk was called "DeMystifying the Creative Process" which, of course, was about his creative process. It was interesting to watch the evolution of his work and what inspired it. He was (and is) greatly inspired by architectural detail, especially architectural detail of the Belle Epoque. This shouldn't surprise someone who knows his exuberantly embellished work, but it's interesting to see how certain inspirations translated to specific pieces. He is also inspired by Art Nouveau jewelry, such as the very stylized pieces of Lalique.

It's just so interesting when a designer can absorb pieces of art, works of architecture, or sights in nature, and then re-interpret these things into their garments. I am in awe of that creative process.

How many times have you heard an artist, when speaking of his/her creative process, say, "I don't know where that came from." Kenneth says that, too, of some of his innovative pattern designs. (And I wish he'd release a pattern or two with Vogue!) It feels as if this creative process, in that phase, is a result of a connection with some higher energy.

Having worked with some of Issey Miyake's designs, it's clear that one of his influences was origami. I wonder what other things inspire him. He is able to work in the 3D space with such a unique language - it's hard to fathom what his thought processes are like. (I speak in the present tense, because he is still doing interesting work, though he has handed off his design house.)

I have often wished I could climb into Issey Miyake's brain and watch his creative process. But, then, I would no doubt be very confused and frustrated, because I don't understand Japanese. :)

I have an intense work week this next week, so I am doing some simple sewing this weekend. A few more Teagarden T's are in process. This pattern, which I have made many times now, is an Issey Miyake design, and I never cease being amazed at how this single pattern piece (plus a gusset) morphs, with various seams, into one of the best fitting garments I've ever had on my body. It's a magical process.

Have a peaceful day.

Tutorial - Style Arc Jacqui Pocket

2011-09-06T22:48:00.000-07:00

Finished pocket

First, I want to thank everyone for your kind comments on my Jacqui coat!

I just love the curved pockets featured on this coat. However, I found the instructions a tad terse. What confused me most was one of the terms used. Have you ever heard of a pocket bearer? I hadn't. Once I realized that one of the pattern pieces is named the "pocket bearer", the text wasn't quite so confusing.

Out of curiosity, I googled the term. It is an industry term. Apparently, it is the term for the part of the pocket that is against the body. (Perhaps it is so-called because it bears the weight of the pocket.) The pocket lining is the part of the pocket against the garment. That is probably not the most correct description for pocket bearer, but it seems to be pretty accurate.

Empirically speaking, anyway. ;)

By the way, I'm sorry I don't have better pictures, but I took these as I went along and I was very focused on making the pockets correctly. I made the pockets last - the entire coat (sans lining) was finished, so it was a bit nerve-wracking as I could have ruined the entire coat with one fell snip.

To make this pocket you need:

the pocket bearer - cut from the fashion fabric (though I don't see why you couldn't use the lining fabric)
the pocket lining - cut from the lining fabric
the ribbing - cut from the hem of the cashmere sweater (in my case)

There is a pattern piece provided for each of these.

Note: it occurred to me once the pockets were well along, that it would have been prudent to reinforce the pocket area with a fusible interfacing on the wrong side of the coat fronts where the pockets would be positioned. I suggest you consider this step - I was a bit surprised at myself for not thinking of it sooner. Oh well. :)

Step 1

Oops. I thought I took a picture before I sliced into the tracing, but it wasn't in the camera.

Trace the pocket placement from the front pattern piece onto tracing paper. (I don't cut the slit at the time I cut the coat front for several reasons, but you can do it then if you wish.) Make sure you mark the location of the side seam on the tracing. (Ignore the wonky side seam lines on my tracing - my side seams vary from the original because of my unusual FBA.)

Step 2

Lay the tracing onto the coat front, exactly where you want it to be located. (Mine was 14-1/2" up from the bottom of the coat.)
Pin the tracing to the coat (triple check that it's in the correct location). Cut through both the tracing and the fabric, along the "split" line. Transfer the "x" mark at the end of the split to the fabric. (I used a tailors tack.)
Unpin the tracing and set aside. You will use this for the other pocket.

Step 3

Pin the "pocket bearer" to the top of the slit, right-side-to-right-side.
Sew with a 1/4" seam allowance. Stop stitching exactly at the end of the slit - do not stitch past it or you will have trouble when you turn the pocket to the inside in Step 6.

Step 4

Prepare the ribbing. I was using a single thickness of ribbing, so all I needed to do was to turn under the raw edge about 1/4" and whipstitch it to itself. The other edge is secured into the side seam, so I left it raw.
Pin the ribbing to the bottom edge of the slit, right-side-to-right-side and raw-edge-to-raw-edge.
Stitch with a scant 1/4" seam allowance. Sew up to, but not past, the end of the slit.

Step 5

Pin the pocket lining to the bottom edge of the slit, on top of the ribbing, right-side-to-right-side.
Sew the lining with a 1/4" seam allowance, on top of the previous stitching.

Step 6

Push the pocket bearer and the pocket lining through the slit to the wrong side.
Arrange all the pieces so they lie flat and aligned. The ribbing folds up to the outside of the coat, but the ribbing's seam allowance folds to the inside with the rest of the pocket.
Making sure everything is flat and aligned, pin the pocket lining to the pocket bearer.
Stitch around the curved pocket shape, creating the pocket bag.

Step 7

Finished pocket

Stitch the finished edge of the ribbing in place - this is the upper edge of the pocket. If there is any wonkiness at the end of the slit, you can probably tweak the ribbing to cover it. I hand stitch this short seam, but you can machine stitch it if desired.
Finally, secure the pocket and the ribbing to the side seam. I pin it and then stitch, but you can baste.

Step 8

Flip the tracing and place on the other front, at the same relative location. Repeat the process.

VOILÀ!

StyleArc - Jacqui Sweater Coat

2011-09-05T17:34:00.000-07:00

More pics

Labor Day weekend is almost over. I used it to make a Style Arc coat. Yes, it was fun. :) I'd hoped to get more done this weekend, but shopping with daughter, and napping also occurred. Who says my life isn't full? :)

I bought this wool sweater knit from Fashion Fabric Club last winter. This fabric is interesting. If you look at one of the closeup pics, you will see little "white" patches. You can actually see through those areas if you hold the fabric up. In the "non-white" areas, it's pretty beefy. The knit is stable, but I knew this was one I didn't want to preshrink by tossing into the washing machine (I could tell it would felt like crazy), so I took it to my local dry cleaner to have it steamed.

Has your dry cleaner ever argued with you that it was pointless to get wool steamed? That it would "do nothing", not even shrink it? Mine did. Her English is poor, so I didn't belabor the point, other than to say that I wanted them to use LOTS of steam and for it to be single layer - no creases. I didn't measure it beforehand, but I do think it shrunk; the texture felt different afterwards. She charged me $10 for the 4 yards. Lazy me felt it was totally worth it.

I wanted wool ribbing for this coat, which, as you know, it harder than heck to find as yardage. I went to Thrift Town to see what I could find ready-made. Wow, too many people are upcycling these days, because I could find almost no wool sweaters of any kind. I looked in both the men's and women's sections and they were almost picked clean. All I could find was a black sweater and this red 100% cashmere turtleneck in a women's medium for $10. I was plenty grateful, believe me.

I mail ordered the zipper and the Bemberg lining. Sometimes it takes awhile to collect the things you need for a project.

Materials:

100% Wool Sweatering from Fashion Fabric Club (no longer available).
Black Angel Weft fusible interfacing from Apple Annie's for the front and neck facings, and for the hem.
Red 100% cashmere sweater from Thrift Town ($10). I harvested the ribbing from the sweater for the neck, wrists, and pockets. The sweater tag indicated that it was a Bloomingdale's brand.
YKK #5, 30" black, antique brass, two-way, separating zipper from ZipperStop. (I bought the 36" and had them customize it to 30" for $1.) I don't like an overly long zipper.
Bottom of separating zipper
Black Ambiance Bemberg lining from Vogue Fabrics.

Alterations and Modifications:

I started with a size 18.
3" FBA (into raglan seam) in both the front and the front lining pattern pieces. Also lengthened the front facing to match.
I did not use any of the ribbing pattern pieces, which are intended to be doubled. I used the single thickness ribbing from the sweater. The dimensions of my ribbing (both width and length) weren't exactly the same as the pattern.
The collar, in process
Shortened the sleeves by 2".
Moved the shoulder "bump" at the top of the raglan sleeve inwards. The pattern is drafted for a wider shoulder than mine.
I tapered the side seams in about a 1/2" at the high waist. I could have fitted it even more, but I wanted this coat to have a relaxed fit.
Once again, I used Marcy Tilton's video instructions for inserting a separating zipper that is featured on her Inspiration Paris CD.
The instructions tell you to bag the lining, but I am not a fan of the bagged lining. I sewed mine in by hand.
I was a bit confused, at first, by the instructions for constructing the curved pocket. I took a few pictures and created a tutorial. Once I figured it out, it was not at all hard.

Conclusion

I really like this coat! It's not too heavy, and it will be perfect for chilly San Francisco. The fabric is a bit scratchy, so it's perfect with the lining and the cashmere at the neck and wrists. Yummmm...

Once again I am impressed by Chloe's attention to detail when she drafts her patterns.

When I went shopping with DD1 at the Thrift Store on Saturday (she needs clothes for her new job), I found this great gathered red scarf. It still had the brand-new Limited Edition tags but I got it for $13. Shams likes. :)

(In these pics, I am wearing my favorite pair of Au Bonheur pants.)

More Pictures

Partially zipped

Fully zipped

Sunday Notes & Artistry in Fashion 2011

2011-09-04T22:13:00.000-07:00

Oh, the deliciousness of writing Sunday notes and knowing I get one more day of sewing! :)

Apparently this mini sewcation will yield only one garment. I was hoping for more, but then I spent some time shopping/eating with DD1 on Saturday and napping today.

I am working on a Style Arc coat. The shell is complete and the lining is complete. I am going to hand sew them together, because I like the control I get by hand sewing a lining, so that will take me some time. (The pattern instructs you to bag the lining, but I am not a huge fan of the bagged lining. At least not when I sew them.)

So stay tuned for a new coat on Monday or Tuesday.

You might have noticed that I added an Artistry in Fashion button to the blog (on the left). AIF is one of my favorite annual events - I look forward to it all year. Let me tell you why:

The setting, at Canada College, is just beautiful. It's up in the Redwood City hills in an almost retreat-like setting. In fact there is a monastery or nunnery somewhere in the vicinity - I've read about it. Sometimes it can be very hot on that day, by the way, but I kind of doubt it will be this year.
The guest speaker. This year it's Lyla Messenger, pattern designer and owner of The Sewing Place. She will be giving a lecture and fashion show in the theater. I've never heard Lyla speak, but I've heard she is good.
The vendors. OK, I admit it, my favorite aspect to the event is the shopping. Many of the vendors are artists who make wonderful things. There are accessories, wonderful artsy clothing, jewelry. There is usually a vendor or two that sells buttons (sometimes vintage, sometimes handmade, it varies) and possibly fabric. Lyla will no doubt have a booth selling items from her store.
Usually this is the event where people buy wonderful accessories to complement the garments they sew. I will often admire a necklace or scarf on a friend and she'll say, "Oh, I bought this at Artistry in Fashion." They don't have a massive number of vendors, but they are carefully selected.
In addition to the big lecture/fashion show, there is usually one or two smaller talks given by the guest speaker in one of the classrooms. As part of the open house, impressive student work is on display and you can see the excellent facilities used for the fashion classes.
The social scene. It's one time of year I run into lots of sewists that I don't often see. I usually meet new people who read my blog. And many friends from the various sewing groups I attend are there: members from BABES (Pattern Review group), PenWAG, ASG.

In addition, this year they are trying something new. There are two stylists who will be selecting items from the vendors and styling them on several women. This will be happening at specified times in the outdoor amphitheater. It promises to be very interesting.

If you aren't local to the SF Bay Area, I'm sorry to taunt you. But if you are in the area, it's worth checking out!

I have many friends who teach and study in the Canada fashion program and I, myself, am an alum to this excellent program! There, full disclosure. :)

Opinions Needed: And the Winner is...

2011-09-02T18:35:00.000-07:00

Linda pant front

Linda pant back

I mentioned in my Jalie Jean post that FabricMart had given me an extra 2.5 yards of the stretch cream Jones New York corduroy because it had spots. (They came out in the wash.) I decided to use the fabric whip up my fourth pair of Linda pants (from Style Arc) and do a side-by-side comparison.

So, what do you think? Do you think one pair is better than the other? One pair is sure more comfortable to wear than the other. :)

Linda on the left, Jalie on the right

Thanks to the Labor Day holiday on Monday, I am looking forward to a 3-day sewcation! (Term borrowed from Carolyn.) I have the supplies for several projects and we'll see how it goes. I've also made up some eggless salad and roasted some veggies, so I'm ready to go!

I am still waiting to hear from two of the giveaway winners. I plan to put in my Style Arc order on Sunday night. BBinGA, please contact me! Where are youuuuu? :)

Giveaway Winners Announced!

2011-08-31T23:02:00.000-07:00

Style Arc has put up their September freebie, so it's time to draw the winners for my Blogiversary Giveaway!

Without further ado, the WINNERS are:

For the "choosable" Style Arc pattern up to $15 in value: BBinGA.
For the Style Arc Samantha top in size 8: Mary! Mary, you left the following comment:
For the $10 gift certificate from The Button Shop: Mary of the blog, Mary is Sewfast.

Did you see that Julie, owner of The Button Shop, has a special coupon for all of my blog readers, good through Sept 10th?

THANKS, JULIE!

Congratulations to all the winners! Please contact me via the email address in my blog description (upper left of this page). If I don't hear from BBinGA in the next few days, you will have to wait until my October order to select your pattern, because I am itching to put in my order. :)

Zipper Talk

2011-08-28T14:08:00.000-07:00

Let's talk about zippers for a moment.

I love zippers. I loved zippers even before they were so "in fashion", but that certainly didn't hurt. I usually buy my zippers via mail order, or I pick them up at Britex or Stone Mountain.

When I made my cream jeans last week, I didn't have a cream jeans zipper, and I was in a rush, so I picked one up at JoAnn's. JoAnn's carries the Coats & Clarks brand, which I haven't used in many years.

Can I just say... ICK!

This zipper felt so cheap. The teeth are sharp and unfinished and the zipper tape is so inflexible and... it feels cheap.

If this is the brand of zipper that you are using, please know that there IS BETTER and your clothing deserves it.

My favorite brands are European, such as YKK or Riri. Riri zippers can be hard to find, though Marcy Tilton usually carries some, but they are often decorative/specialized.

When you just want a good, but regular, zipper, I prefer the YKK brand. In fact, if you look at European RTW brands, such as Deca Paris, they use YKK zippers. I see them used quite often in RTW. This brand is available at your better fabric store (which you should patronize), however, if that is not an option, let me tell you about my favorite online vendor.

ZipperStop is one of those special shops located in the Garment District in New York. I worry about them, as so much of our garment manufacturing is now off-shored, many wonderful shops in the Garment District are closing. It's very sad. I am very happy to give ZipperStop my business and to get the word out.

First of all, their shipping is super fast. I can get a zipper in a couple of days, with no special expediting. They have an amazing selection. They carry decorative zipper stops. And, (this is my favorite thing), they will cut a zipper to a custom length for a measley $1 fee. Do you need a medium-weight separating zipper with antique brass teeth in a 23.75" length?

No problem!

Their prices are very reasonable and I hear they are super nice if you call them on the phone, though I have never needed to. Shams says, check them out!

I have a few more projects in the hopper, but have also done some cleaning this weekend. I may have more things to show early this week, assuming my evening energy holds.

I'm glad that Irene wasn't the monster storm they predicted, although the inconvenience and damage seems bad enough.

Fix for Blogger Comments

2011-08-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

I posted this in a comment on my giveaway post, but I want to elevate this so others see it. I have never had problems posting comments on blogger, but many people have. Gwen posted this fix. Give it a try!

Gwen's Fix for Blogger Comments.

Thanks Gwen!

Jalie Jeans - My Second, and Last, Pair

2011-08-27T10:21:00.000-07:00

Almost exactly one year ago I made my first pair of Jalie Jeans. Initially, I was pleased with the fit and authentic RTW look. When I completed my jeans, there were already 70 reviews for this pattern on Pattern Review, so I didn't bother to add one more. I just checked and there are now 93 reviews of this pattern, which was ranked as one of the "best patterns of 2009".

Popular indeed.

As I wore my jeans, I liked the look of them, but I quickly realized that they were less than satisfactory. When it comes to pants, my shape is akin to...

The phenomenon boils down to this equation:

     Lack of waist + Smaller hips = Pants that fall down

I am not ready for suspenders, and don't ever expect to be (not with my bust!), so I resort to using a belt. But, even with a snug-fitting belt, my pants have a tendency to fall down. This is crazy-making.

And then there was that time that I couldn't find my belt, and I was in a hurry to get to work, so I threaded some elastic through the belt loops and left the house "Jethro style", hoping that the ends of the elastic wouldn't work their way out from where I had tucked them into my jeans, and peek out from under my top. (I couldn't risk a wardrobe malfunction at work!)

Sigh

There was one other annoying issue I had with my first pair of jeans. I had hemmed them in the traditional way, with a narrow hem top-stitched in contrast gold thread. From the first wash after the jeans were completed (I had prewashed the denim fabric more than 3 times), the hem flipped to the outside. No amount of ironing would make those hems behave. This drives me nuts.

I posed the question on how to eliminate the "hem-flipping-to-the-outside" problem, both to Carolyn, Jeans Queen, and on Stitcher's Guild. The consensus seems to be that the only way to avoid this is to use a wider hem. So that's what I did.

(By the way, I covet Carolyn's jeans and cords, in particular her purple jeans, her rust cords, and her black cords. I thought she also had an olive green pair, but I couldn't find them on her blog.)

I thought I would give the Jalie Jeans pattern one more try. This time I would put elastic in the waistband. The result? It helps, but already I can see that I will be tugging these pants up endlessly, even though I made the elastic fairly tight.

Pffft.

You know, I wish people would stop deriding elastic waist pants. For some of us, they work better than a more fitted pant.

Materials:

Pinwale stretch corduroy, in cream, from FabricMart. This is no longer on their site, but it was a Jones New York fabric and I think it was 97% cotton, 3% spandex. I have seen pinwale corduroy described as lightweight, but this stuff is very beefy. Much heavier than the denim I used for my first pair, though that does not impede the stretch. I ordered 2.5 yards, but FabricMart sent me 5, along with a note stating that there were some spots on the fabric, so they had given me another 2.5, and to let them know if the spots did not come out, or if I had any other issues. Customer service, indeed. (The spots did come out in the wash.) I machine washed/dried the fabric twice to eliminate shrinkage.
1" elastic for the waistband.
In addition to regular sewing thread, Guterman white top-stitching thread.
A Coats/Clark 9" jeans zipper in white w/ brass teeth from JoAnns. (I cut it to length.)
A pewter "heart" button from Fabrix.
Scrap of a beige-colored flesh-toned silk charmeuse to finish the cut edge of the front pocket. (These were faux pockets because I didn't want the pocket bag to show through the cream fabric.)
Scrap of beige-colored linen to use as fly shield.

Alterations & Modifications

Inserted 1" wide elastic in waistband.
Used a wide hem.
I didn't want the front pockets to "show through" the cream fabric, so I made "faux pockets." I used scraps of silk charmeuse in a beige-flesh-tone to cut shaped facings to finish the pocket opening.
I used a scrap of beige-colored linen to cut out the fly shield.

This pic shows the faux front pockets (the back pockets are real), the pewter heart button, and the elastic in the waistband, which I ended a couple inches from the front so I could make the button and buttonhole.

The back of the faux front pockets. You can see the silk charmeuse (on the left) that I used to face the pocket opening.

Conclusion

I can see I will still need to wear a snug belt with these pants. I think in future, if I need jeans, I will adapt the Linda pant from Style Arc. I have made 3 pair of Linda pants, and none of them fall down. :)

Oh, these pants are garment #4 in my Autumn 6-pack. I have 2 tops and a jacket left to make. (Yes, I know that is 7 pieces. :) )

More Pictures

I took these pics at 8:30am today (Saturday). It has been so dark and foggy the last couple of days. After I took these pics, I took this picture of my street.

I then turned and took this picture of the alley, where I take most of my pictures. Can you see the car coming down the alleyway? It's not that far away but, with the fog, you can barely see it even though they have their headlights on.

And speaking of weather, I hope everyone in the path of Hurricane Irene stays safe, and with electricity! I hope to see new projects that happened because folks are staying indoors. Even if said project is a baby or two. ;)

Blogiversary Giveaway!

2011-08-27T07:18:00.000-07:00

I promised a Blogiversary Giveaway, and here it is!

This giveaway involves some personal sacrifice, but I think it will be appreciated. You might have noticed that I order 3 patterns per month from Style Arc. I do this because, after that first month when I ordered more, the shipping was *really* high. Chloe, of Style Arc, suggested that I tweak any future orders to stay at the $33 rate, which is usually 3 patterns. (Though it can be less if the pattern is very large.)

So, for my giveaway I am going to give away one of my three patterns for September. If you win this giveaway, you can select a pattern from the Style Arc website, with a value up to $15. Tell me the pattern number and size, and I will add it to my September order, in place of one of my three. I will then mail it to you.

Good, eh? In addition to this, I have a Style Arc pattern to give away. A friend ordered the Samantha Top in a size 8. According to their size chart, a size 8 is designed for a 34.3" bust. When her pattern arrived, she was surprised at how much negative ease this pattern features - the finished bust measurement is 29-3/4" – over 4" of negative ease. She kindly gave me the pattern to offer as a giveaway.

In addition to these, I am also giving away a $10 give certificate to Your Button Shop. I discovered this site because it is run by the owner of my favorite sewing forum, Stitcher's Guild. Julie has some lovely button and bead offerings.

So, to summarize, there are THREE items you can win:

A Style Arc pattern valued up to (and including) $15.
A Samantha Top pattern in a size 8 (29-3/4" finished bust).
A $10 Gift Certificate to Your Button Shop.

Please leave a comment on this post indicating what you are interested in. If it's all three, that's fine.

Here's how it will work. In early September (wow, that is SOON), I will draw names for the three prizes. I will mail the Samantha top to that winner, and I will email the gift certificate to that winner. The lucky winner for the choosable pattern will let me know (within a few days of the win) their pattern choice and size. I will add it to my order. It takes a couple weeks to arrive. I will then mail it to the winner. So, feasibly, you will not receive your pattern until the end of September. If you need longer to decide, you can get into my October order, but you will then receive your pattern around the end of October. Capische?

Thanks SO much for all your supportive comments and well wishes on my blogiversary post. I am very grateful to all of you!

Second Blogiversary!

2011-08-25T00:05:00.000-07:00

Today, August 25th, 2011 is my second blogiversary! WOOT! (Details of first blogiversary.)

Table of Contents

Statistics
Year in Summary
What Have I Sewn?
The Coming Year
Celebratory Giveaway

Statistics

I have made it to year #2 of blogging and a simultaneous return to sewing. And I still love both. First up, some statistics, 'cause it's fun:

End of Year	Number of Posts	Number of Followers	Number of Subscribers (via Google Reader)
1	125	130	Was Google Reader in use?
2	107 (232 total)	341	482

Hmm.... fewer posts than last year. I suspect that was due to a dip in mojo (with some family/work distractions) in the late spring. Also, some of my garments this year have been more involved.

I am happy to see new followers – I truly appreciate all of you and you know I love your feedback!

Year in Summary

I scanned through my posts of the last year to see what I was up to. Good thing I can refer to that, because I don't think I'd remember much, otherwise.

I participated in Self-Stitched-September 2010 (wrap up here). That was a great learning experience. I then participated in Me-Made-March 2011 (wrap up here). I had to push myself to complete it. Finally, I participated in Me-Made-June 2011 (no wrap up). I petered out on the photographs and on challenging myself, though I did wear me-made every day. Until I have a motivating reason to do this again, I'll be taking a break from the me-mades. But to do it at least once is very educational and I highly recommend it.
I am participating in the Year of 12 Jackets and Coats (blog posts here), which ends in December. I am a bit behind schedule, with only six of the twelve completed and here we are at the end of August, but there is still time. I have several in progress, so just finishing those would get me back on track. Adding jackets to my wardrobe has filled a real need and I may do this again next year.
I am participating in the Autumn 6-pack on Stitcher's Guild. In the past I have not been successful at Sewing With a Plan, but it seems to be working out better this time, so maybe I have learned a thing or two. ;)
I figured out my "new way" to do an FBA so that it doesn't create too much volume at my hips. This has had a huge impact on the fit of my clothing. I have no dedicated post on this, but I've described the technique in several blog entries.
I took a fabulous fabric acquisition trip back east where I met several wonderful bloggers. In fact, this was my year of meeting bloggers both local and distant. I met Peggy, Carolyn, Noile, Rose, Georgene, Robin, Beth, Jean, JillyBe, Joan, and Ann Smith. (I apologize if I've missed anyone!) What a rewarding experience it has been to meet all of you! I hope to meet even more internet folks in the coming year.
Besides fabric (which we won't talk about), I also acquired a few great tools this year:
- My Janome 725 felting machine.
- My Reliable Digital Velocity v100 iron, which.I.LOVE.
- A hand made pressing ham which was smaller than I expected, but has become a beloved tool.
- Just last month I got an iPhone. I wouldn't mention it, except that I have been playing with some of the fashion/sewing apps that are available. Nothing to rave about at this point, except I do like to play Boggle. ;)
I found a new pattern company which I have been loving: Style Arc. Last year was my year of Au Bonheur des Petites Mains, but this has been the year of Style Arc. (Though I also made some Au Bonheur patterns this year.) This is aside from Vogue and Burda, of course. I also made my first KnipMode garment this year (which wasn't particularly successful).
My local ASG group leader asked me to give a talk on Sewing, Blogging, and the Internet. I gave the talk last Friday and it was a lot of fun. I doubt I created any new bloggers, but I know I inspired several folks to start using Pinterest!

What Have I Sewn?

Good question.

Well, I don't actually keep count and I don't really want to start, just as I don't want to count how many yards are in my stash. ;)

I have continued to play with techniques. Most particularly, felting:

I have made some great patterns this year. Some of my favorites (besides the aforementioned felted pieces):

The Coming Year

I have a few goals for the coming year ('cause you know I set my goals now, rather than in January when I'm too busy sewing to stop and take stock):

Complete the Year of 12 Jackets and Coats.
Make even more jackets and coats.
Complete the Autumn 6-pack, which I have well underway, with 3 of the 6 garments finished. (I actually plan to do more than 6.)
Push myself further creatively. I feel that I haven't done enough this year, except for the felting. And I do want to do more felting.
Continue to have fun, which means I often just follow my muse and do what I feel like. I don't like to over plan because it then starts to feel stressful. I keep very loose lists of ideas and plans. Like most sewists, I have more ideas than I could ever make.

Celebratory Giveaway

I have planned a giveaway to celebrate my second blogiversary. Look for another post with details very soon. :)

Vogue 9162 - A Dress Bathrobe

2011-08-22T09:22:00.000-07:00

More pics

Let's talk for a moment about bathrobes.

It seems that the bathrobes of the world fall into two styles. Style #1 (by far the most common design) is the infamous wrap robe. It's ubiquitous.

Style #1

It's a great style if you are a women with a waist (and modest boobage), or have a fairly straight up-and-down figure, such as that of a trim man, or a child.

But what if it doesn't suit your shape? What if you don't have a nicely defined waist, or you have a large bust, or both, and it requires constant fiddling to stay closed, resulting in a completely unsatisfying garment? And what if it looks awful on you, making you feel like a complete schlumpadinka (ie. frump) for the short duration that you endure it?

Fresh out of the shower. It might appear to be securely cinched, but I assure you, the slightest movement and all is revealed. Not the sort of "oh la la" I am going for.

Style #2 is the "housecoat" sort of robe. The type of robe that Marie Barrone (Everybody Loves Raymond), or maybe your grandmother, wears. Generally they are fairly shapeless, zipped to the neck, and pretty much shroud the body with little-to-no fit. Functional, yes, though some might say that wearing one is tantamount to declaring that you have "given up." As practical as this style of robe may be, I don't think you can say that it makes you feel pretty, or sexy, while wearing it.

Style #2

So, what if you want something else? Something that is cute, covers you, makes you feel pretty/sexy/glamorous, but doesn't rely on unfeasible dynamics in order to stay closed? Unless I have missed something, the world of RTW has overlooked this need. They are myopic in their definition of the bathrobe. Thus, we have a "bathrobe gap."

A sorry state of affairs, indeed.

I've been thinking about what type of garment would satisfy my robing needs. After much thought, I decided that I wanted a princess seamed robe with a flare at the hem. To achieve this goal, I decided that a princess seamed dress pattern could be adapted with minimal fuss.

The search began.

After combing through current pattern offerings, out of print patterns, independent offeringss, you name it, I came up with Vogue 9162.

Vogue 9162

This particular pattern is out of print, but I found it on ebay. It had the features I wanted, including an attractive yet simple neckline, and it was available in my size. Vogue pretty much always has a dress similar to this in its catalog, but the design details vary. There were a couple versions I liked even more, but they weren't available in my size.

I collected a few fabrics that would work for a robe. I wanted a cozy robe, so no silks this time. I am not a fan of polyester fleece, in general. There are exceptions, of course, such as authentic Polar fleece, but many of the copycat synthetic fleeces feel awful and "plastic-y" to me and I hate to touch them. I also dislike Minky fabrics which, while soft, are not absorbent and make me hot.

FabricMart had a poly Berber Fleece in stock that looked promising - I liked the design of the print and the colors. I ordered some, hoping to use it for a jacket, but when it arrived, it definitely felt like robe fabric to me. The fabric content is poly/lycra content, but it has a better hand than some fleece fabrics and I decided that it was tolerable. I had to order a couple more yards, as this pattern burns up yardage. (As of this writing, they have 34 yards left.)

Materials:

Poly Berber fleece (poly/lycra blend) from FabricMart
Black 1mm elastic (for button loops)
5 "used" carved wooden buttons from my grandmother's button box. My grandmother didn't sew, but she cut buttons off of clothing and saved them. Most of her buttons are sad and not really usable. In this case, she rescued 5 carved wooden buttons. It appears that the original garment was well used - several buttons still had tired, original thread attached and they almost look singed around the edges, which I assume was intentional. I'd hate to think that Gramma was cutting buttons off of burned clothing. :)

Alteration and Construction Notes:

I made a size 18, view B - the longer version.
I did a fairly large Princess Seam FBA. It went awry, however, and I had to do some darting to fix it. Luckily for me, it doesn't show in this fabric. If I make this again, I'll have to fix the FBA.
Narrowed the shoulder seam by 1".
Used the fabric selvedge as trim for the front opening and the sleeve hems.

Narrowed the front facings.
Drafted a back neck facing.
Added in-seam pockets.
Eliminated the collar (as much as I liked it, I decided to forego it in favor of the self trim.
Used 5 large (1-1/4") buttons with elastic button loops. I had planned to use 3 large buttons, but found these in the button box and decided to keep them all together.

Shortened the sleeves about 1-1/2".

Conclusion

I like it! This is warm, snuggly, and I don't fall out of it when I sit down or bend over to pick something up. And I feel a bit like a Russian princess when wearing it. ;)

More Pictures

Oops, a couple motifs are on the bust. No worries, when I wear this without a bra, which is how I will almost always be wearing it, it's not quite so bad. ;)

I've covered all the bases. In both of these pics, I am not wearing a bra. I hope you agree that the new robe is more flattering. :)

Twirling

StyleArc - Terry Tie Cardi

2011-08-18T20:22:00.000-07:00

More pics

To be honest, I bought this pattern against my better judgement. It was in my first order from Style Arc, so I've felt guilty as it languished. I just loved the design, but I was not sure that the style would work on me. And yet, now that it's finished, I think it does. At least I hope so. :)

This cardigan has shoulder tucks and ties to close the front. As designed, the ties are sewn into vertical darts. I changed this detail a bit.

Materials:

Organic bamboo double-knit in slate blue. 98% bamboo, 2% lycra. As of this writing, they have 46 yards remaining. One side is a small rib and the other is smooth. It is a double fabric - you can actually separate the two fabrics. It is very soft and I machine washed and dried it. It came from the dryer a little worse for wear. I think that this fabric might pill over time, so it might last longer if it's not machine dried. The following pic shows the ribbed side, but I used the smooth side for the cardi, which seemed a bit less distressed. I would almost describe this fabric as a fine sweatering.
Black tricot knit interfacing to reinforce the back neck and the two buttonholes.

Alterations and modifications:

I started with the size 16. As usual for a size 16 Style Arc pattern, I added a 3" y-shaped FBA. However, this time I did a "normal" FBA, where the fullness extended to the front hem. I did this because I suspected I might need the fullness for the tied front, as my waist is much larger than a size 16 indicates. I think this was the correct decision. I rotated the dart fullness to the shoulder, where it translated into additional tucks.
I didn't mark the location of the ties when I cut out the cardigan. I knew that if I used the ties, I wouldn't place them where the pattern indicated. Once I had the garment on the body, I decided I liked the fullness gathered at navel height. But I didn't want to use the ties. I liked how it looked when I secured the fullness with a safety pin. When I was talking to Chloe (about something else), I mentioned that I had to figure out another way to secure the draping, and she suggested inserting the tie between two buttonholes. I loved this elegant but simple solution. I put the garment on and marked where I wanted the buttonholes. I reinforced the area with fusible tricot.
I widened the upper sleeve 1" (1/2" on each side) and tapered that to nothing.
For the tie, I wanted a thin tie. I cut over 3 yards of fabric from the selvedge. It was approx 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" wide (I didn't measure it.) I sewed 1/4" from the fold for the entire length. I didn't trim the 3/8" raw edges so when I turned the tube inside out, the tube was slightly "stuffed." I trimmed the ends to clean them up and tied them into a knot.
I didn't hem this, but I might need to if the fabric starts separating on me. To be honest, I used this fabric because I didn't mind if the project was a wadder. Now I want to make it up in some favorite fabrics.

Conclusion

I love this top! It is more flattering than I expected. The gathers at the waist detract from the bust and also detract from the belly. I love the shoulder tucks. I plan to make this again, maybe even several more. :)

Pictures

StyleArc - Sailor Sue Palazzo Pant

2011-08-18T17:52:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've ever taken pics in my back yard before.

Another great pants pattern from Style Arc!

The Sailor Sue pant is, at first glance, similar to the Linda pant.

What are the differences?

The Linda pant is designed for stretch wovens. The Sailor Sue is designed for knits, such as a "cotton jersey with spandex, or any knit with spandex that is soft and drapey." I used a ponte for mine. Both pants have a straight leg. (The drawing for the Sailor Sue pant suggests that it might be a bit flared, but it is not.) The Sailor Sue pant has a wider leg than the Linda, but both are straight. For my size 10s, the Linda pant has a hem circumference of 18.5 inches and the Sailor Sue has a hem circumference of 22.5 inches. The Linda pant has a shaped waistband, and the Sailor Sue has the elastic sewn directly to the pant.

Both sew up in no time and I love both! (It takes less time to sew either pant that it does to drive to the mall and shop for pants.)

I used a cranberry ponte from FabricMart. I bought this fabric several months ago its no longer on the website, so I'm not sure of the exact fiber content, but I hope it's not the ponte that pills badly. :)

I made the pants exactly out of the envelope with a couple minor changes. First, I sewed on a waistband. I prefer a waistband. :) I cut off two inches from the hem, so they are a bit long for me. That's it!

I also sewed up another Linda pant but have no pics of it. I have a stash of stretch wovens, so I may be making several more pair. ;)

Sunday Notes

2011-08-14T21:54:00.000-07:00

Well, this weekend wasn't as sewing-intensive as some. Both kids were here and there were inevitable (though enjoyable) distractions.

You may recall that about a month ago I purchased a handmade ham and seam roll from Stitch Nerd on Etsy.

The ham, in particular, was smaller than I expected, so I wasn't sure how much use I would get out of it. I've now used it for several projects and, I have to say, I LOVE this ham! (I don't use a seam roll too much, in general.)

First, it has a nice smell of sawdust. I really like the smell. The ham I've been using is a Dritz brand and I'm not sure what stuffs it so firmly, but it is not sawdust. I love how the steam can really penetrate the sawdust filling. This new one is just a bit malleable - that little bit of give makes it much easier to manipulate and use. I like it much better than the hard-as-a-rock Dritz ham.

At some point, I will be ordering a custom ham in a larger size so I can have small and large options. I will then retire the Dritz model. I really use my pressing tools, and this one is definitely Shams-endorsed! (I get nothing for my review, so don't worry about that. :)

Other than finishing my Liberty top this weekend, I also have another Style Arc cardi almost finished. It's a quick project, but I am tweaking it a bit, so I'm not sure when I will be posting it.

I hope you have a great week!

Sewing Workshop - Liberty in Blue Jacquard

2011-08-14T10:49:00.000-07:00

A couple more pics

I'm a bit surprised at myself that I haven't yet made the Liberty shirt as designed. This is a great pattern - based on a Miyake design originally - but I have seen many boutique versions of this great top. If you don't have this pattern in your arsenal, you should.

The first few times I made this top, I used Heather N's pullover version. For those versions, I had traced off a Large and performed a 2" FBA. Since that time I have been doing my FBAs a bit differently, so this time I traced a size Medium, chopped the front off at the waist, performed a 3" FBA, and re-attached the bottom, merging them together at the side seam. I definitely prefer the fit of this version which hangs closer to my hips.

Both versions.
Left: Size Large with standard 2" FBA. Right: Size Medium, sliced at waist, 3" Y-shaped FBA on top, bottom re-attached, and side seam merged.
Result: Much better fit through the hips.

I have been meaning to make a buttoned version of the Liberty for over a year, but it took the Autumn 6-pack to get me to do it. This is my first top for the fall 6-pack.

The fabric is a 100% cotton jacquard from FabricMart. As of this writing, they have 14 yards remaining. I really love the drape of this fabric. The recommended care was dry cleaning or hand wash, but I tossed it into the washer and dryer and it came out like an heirloom tablecloth - such beautiful drape with heft to it. It's so rare to see woven cotton with such lovely drape.

Materials:

100% cotton jacquard in cornflower blue from FabricMart
white Angel Weft interfacing from Apple Annie's for the front and neck facings
6 5/8" Dritz buttons from JoAnns

Alterations & Construction Notes:

I decided to alter the collar. I changed the neckline and drafted a new collar. It wasn't quite what I wanted, so I left off the collar, but the neckline is lower/more open than the original pattern. I plan to play with this more in future versions.
I used a size Medium with a 3" y-shaped FBA.
I widened the back, creating 1" darts on each shoulder.
I removed about 2" from the outer edge of the shoulder, tapering it to nothing.
The pattern instructs you to do French seams on the shoulder and side seams. Because I had darts in both sets of seams, I did hand-sewn flat felled seam instead. I also used hand sewn flat felled seams on the sleeve seams.
The size Medium sleeve is a bit too long. Next time I should shorten it by an inch.
I used six buttons, spaced in three sets of two.

Pictures

Love the texture of the jacquard

Vogue 8397 view A - Midnight Blue Pant Funkiness

2011-08-07T17:11:00.000-07:00

Now WHY didn't I make another pair of these pants before this??? This is possibly my favorite Marcy Tilton pants pattern. And that is saying something, because I really love my Marcy Tilton pants patterns!

I made this pattern more than a year ago in black ponte and they have been worn and worn and worn.

First pair in black ponte

I keep saying, "I need to make these again," but I haven't. So I am grateful to the 6-pack for making me follow through. I love the 6-pack already, as it encourages me to use patterns that have been successful but maybe haven't percolated to the top of the todo list.

I have been rather disillusioned with much of the ponte I have used in the last year or so. Some of it has held up ok, but some of it has pilled quite badly and some has even run at the seamlines. I am wondering if pontes with a higher percentage of polyester might be the problem. A friend found this fabric on Emma One Sock. This "midnight doubleknit" has a fiber content of 38%rayon, 35%poly, 23%nylon, 4%spandex. I decided to try it.

Emma One Sock's Midnight Doubleknit. It might look like black in my pics, but it really is a pretty shade of navy.

This fabric is 54" wide, nice and beefy, and SO soft. It sewed beautifully, though it's best to press from the wrong side because even on a cool-ish heat, it can get shiny. (Or use a press cloth.)

This pattern, by the way, is now out of print, but still available on the Vogue site for top dollar (unless they are having one of their clearance sales). You can probably also find it on ebay.

I am loving these pants already. They are garment #2 for my 6-pack. I really hope they hold up over time.

Now, I know folks will ask, where did you get that jacket?" This Nuno-felted jacket is from an Etsy vendor, FeltFieltroFilc. It was a custom order and I don't see it listed at the moment, but she has some nice stuff! I had planned to wear this jacket as part of Me-Made-June, because it's one of those purchased items that I haven't worn much, but I petered out on the MMJ challenge I had given myself of incorporating purchased items in my wardrobe and wore my standard me-made-my that I always wear. (And, by the way, I am not participating in Self Stitched September.)

As to this weekend's productivity: Other than these pants, I also cut out another pair of pants and I have a top almost finished. Both are for the Autumn 6-pack, so I am making good progress! I keep finding more fabrics in my stash that would work with this 6-pack, so I could easily turn this into a 30-pack. ;)

Friday Night Notes

2011-08-05T16:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday!

Thanks so much for your feedback on my black jacket. I really appreciate it! I met DD1 for lunch downtown this week and I wore it. This "meet at center front, but doesn't overlap" sort of jacket seems to be very popular right now - I'm seeing it in numerous Fall lines. I think the style is growing on me.

I got a bit of sewing done this week. I made most of another Teagarden T in one evening. (Shown above.) The rayon lycra "trendy" knit was from FabricMart, though fabric.com also carried it. I also finished up a pair of charcoal stretch no-wale corduroy Linda pants from Style Arc. I am not sure what the difference is between no-wale corduroy and cotton velveteen, but they seem pretty much the same to me.

Charcoal No-wale Corduroy Linda Pants

Also, the buckles have been coming in. I now have some nice options, so thanks, again for your collective help. I was prepared to go to Goodwill to see what I could harvest, but I no longer need to. (It's too bad that the Goodwill just blocks from me is a Boutique and the clothing is too nice, and too expensive, to cut up. The nearest true thrift store isn't nearly as convenient.) I'm still collecting the more mundane hardware and supplies for the purse, and I haven't even selected the fabric for sure, so I'm not ready to start it yet.

You know what? Shopping for the buckles remind me how much I love hardware. I think many sewists do. I love hardware stores - always a pleasurable errand. I love using hardware in my garments: zippers, grommets, toggles, cord pulls, buckles, you name it. The only thing I don't like is when I don't have the right hardware for a project and it slows me down. :)

Autumn 6-Pack

So glad it is Friday! Unless something comes up, I plan to have a productive weekend. I have decided to join the Autumn 6-Pack on Stitcher's Guild. This is where you sew a coordinated set of clothing for a season. I have alluded to it, but not really talked about it. I have a plan, which I hesitate to share because it will, undoubtedly, change. But I have a pile of coordinating fabrics in charcoal, cream, and blue (including navy and some other shades of blue). I plan to mostly use TNT patterns. You will see at least one more Teagarden T - maybe two. :)

I will modify the suggested 6-pack somewhat. I've been reading the blogs of other folks who are also participating and this seems to be the norm - modify to make it work for you. The charcoal Linda pants (pictured above) are intended for my 6-pack.

Even though I rarely sew with a plan, I don't usually have clothing orphans because most things I sew go with black and I have a variety of black bottoms in different styles and shapes. But this will be an interesting experiment. I have intentionally not used black in my plan, but most everything should go with black. We shall see how it goes. :)

Not sure what to work on this weekend. There are three patterns that I want to sew and I can't find any of them. I guess it's time for a cleanup.

Have a great weekend!

McCalls 6294 - Black Jacket

2011-08-02T21:51:00.000-07:00

More pics

I've been needing (and wanting) a black jacket for years. (A black coat too, for that matter, but it must wait for another day.) But I keep making outerwear that is more "visually interesting." I love my unique jackets and coats, but sometimes you just need black.

In fact, I wanted to use this pattern for my fall 6-pack but before I cut into my special Emma One Sock fabric, I tested it out in this black, novelty J.N.Y. (Jones New York) fabric from FabricMart. (As of this writing, they have another 10 yards.)

This novelty fabric, an acrylic wool blend, is very unusual. The right side is almost a textural plaid, where the plaid is formed by smooth and fuzzy areas. The reverse side is shiny. I am not a fan of shiny, so I used the right side. When you cut it, it sheds fluff. It looks something like a boucle, but it is not. It behaves as if it is primarily a metallic fiber. It is not a particularly soft fabric, especially the shiny side, so it's a good candidate for a lined garment. It's weird, but I like weird.

The fabric is somewhat sheer. Because I did not want the polka dot lining to show through, I fused the entire jacket with black Angel Weft interfacing from Apple Annie's. I really love Angel Weft and must thank Kathryn of I Made This! for the recommendation. Angel Weft retains the hand of the fabric - it does not make the fabric stiff when fused. (If you don't know Kathryn's blog, you should. Everything she makes is utterly impeccable.)

Materials:

J.N.Y. Novelty weave, wool blend from FabricMart: 32% Acrylic, 32% wool, 37% nylon, 9% polyester. (812735)
Lining: Black and white, rayon twill polka dot border print from Gorgeous Fabrics. A more wiggly, ravelly fabric has not been known to man. But it was polka dots!
Angel Weft interfacing, in black, from Apple Annie's.
Hook closure from Britex.

Alterations and Modifications:

3" Princess seam FBA in the side front.
Narrowed the shoulder by 3/4".
Removed the hip shaping making it more rectangular - more like me.
Nipped the side seams and front princess seams in 1/4" at the waist to give it a tiny bit of shaping. This little tweak created a more flattering, less boxy, silhouette.
Shortened the sleeve by 3/4". (I first shortened the sleevy by 1-1/2", but it was too short and I had to back it off by 3/4".)

Construction Notes:

When I did the FBA, I goofed. When performing an FBA, after altering the side front pattern piece, it becomes longer. You then have to lengthen the center front pattern piece by the same amount so the pieces will fit together. I accidentally lengthened the side front instead - so the side fronts were too long and the center fronts were too short. I had cut out the entire body of the jacket and fused each piece with interfacing before I realized my mistake. Because I had enough leftover fabric, I re-cut the front pieces to the correct length, and I cut the pockets out of the former front pieces. I also shortened the side fronts to the proper length. Rather than re-cut the front facings, I pieced them to the correct length. It was merely an annoying mistake and not a disastrous one.
As directed, the pockets are not lined. I lined them.
Lined pockets. These pockets are sewn into the front princess seam, so the inner edges are left raw.
The collar was too wide. I narrowed it at the points by approx 1.5".
Amount I cut away from the collar points
This pattern is designed not to close. I believe this jacket is inspired by a very popular Givenchy jacket from 2008. The Givenchy jacket uses a hook closure at the bust and I also used a single closure at the bust line.
Auditioning closures

Final closure

Conclusions

I was considering this jacket for my Fall 6-pack. Now that I've tested it out in this fabric, I think I will find another pattern for that project. It's fine and I will use it, but it's not quite what I had in mind. Also, this jacket is a bit snug through the back. I started with my usual size 18, and tried on the pattern tissue and the in-process jacket many times, but once I put the sleeves on, it was too snug. If I use this pattern again, I need to do a narrow back adjustment, which is unusual for me.

Pictures

Worn closed

Worn open

Polka-dot lining peeping out

I lightened the photo a tad so you can see the interesting seaming at the back.

Sunday Notes

2011-07-31T23:50:00.000-07:00

Thanks for your suggestions on buckles! I also had two very gracious readers who volunteered to send me buckles from their personal stash. I ordered from two of the places you recommended, and was particularly liking some I found on the M&J Trimming site, so something is bound to work out. I was surprised how hard it is to find good buckles. Almost as hard as finding good zippers!

It's almost midnight, but I did finish my jacket. No pictures yet, and I'm not sure how practical it will be, but at least I now have a black jacket. I hope to get some pics in the next couple of days.

That's two lined jackets in two weeks. I think a break from jackets!

I hope you have a nice week!

Saturday Notes

2011-07-30T12:23:00.000-07:00

I hope all of you are enjoying your collective weekends. I have been making good progress on my jacket. Tweaking the fit always slows me down but I don't skimp on this part of the process. The shell is almost done, sans sleeves. Maybe, just maybe, I can finish it this weekend.

Marcy's free shipping sale is in full swing. I decided against buying any fabric this time around, but I made a sizable order this morning of some notions and a couple of silk screens. And then I remembered something I hadn't mentioned when I reviewed the Style Arc Safari Jane jacket.

This jacket closes with a zipper that extends into the collar. My favorite technique for applying separating zippers is one Marcy demonstrates in her Inspiration Paris CD. Whenever I need to insert a zipper of that type, I quickly pop in her CD and review the technique.

I have a question for you. I want to make a purse that requires a buckle. The buckle will be something of a focal point. I have been searching in vain - mostly on Etsy at this point. I'd like it to have the appearance of antique brass or something along those lines. It needs to have the little piece of metal that inserts into a hole (not sure what that is called). It can be either a circular type, or the d-shaped type, so long as it has the little metal pokey thing. I need the bar to be about 1.5" long (where the fabric attaches).

When I google buckles, I tend to find sites that sell men's buckles with charming thoughts, such as "Got Beer?" or charming images, such as the mud flap girl.

Please let me know if you have any good resources to recommend!

Happy Thursday! Marcy Fabric Sale Goodness

2011-07-28T07:16:00.000-07:00

First, thanks to all of you for your kind comments on my Style Arc garments! They are so well drafted that they are a pleasure to sew. I told myself that I need to sew quite a few of them up in order to justify ordering more. I plan to order another three in August. ;)

My kids return from Europe today. That will affect my productivity. I'm not sure why, but having people around just tends to do that.

I cut out another Style Arc project two evenings ago, but I do not have the right color thread (slate blue) to sew it. Until I get to the store, I will be working on a McCalls jacket. I altered the jacket pattern last night and plan to cut it out this evening. I am making the first version in a test fabric and, if it works out, I plan to use a special Emma One Sock fabric to make a version for my Fall 6-pack.

It's easy to do fall sewing here. I look outside my window and my street is thick with low-lying fog and it's 50 degrees F. It feels like fall to me! In fact, I am feeling distinctly Halloween-ish.

Big news at work. A project I have been working on for FOUR YEARS is published today. This project involves many people and it feels great to say that it's done!

But the reason for this post... did you hear that Marcy Tilton is having a free shipping sale? It begins tomorrow, Friday, and goes through Sunday. She announces these sales in her newsletter and if you don't already subscribe, you should. (The link takes you to her newsletter which has instructions for taking advantage of the sale.) It's always a great read! I am eyeing three fabrics and trying to decide if I can justify buying them.

Style Arc - The Laura Legging

2011-07-26T20:16:00.000-07:00

Jegging goodness!
More pics

Here's a nice quick pattern! Style Arc's Laura Legging is a one-piece pattern. There is no side seam and no waistband, though I added one. I like a waistband. :)

As usual, I ordered a size 10, based on my hip measurement. I have made two other Style Arc pants and both pretty much fit out of the envelope. (In the case of the Alexi pant, I made zero alterations. In the case of the Linda pant, I substituted my own waistband but made no other changes. I love that one so much, I've made it twice already.)

Let me point out that this pattern has serious negative ease. Let me share some measurements for the size 10. If you look at the Style Arc size chart, a size 10 (remember, this is Australian sizing, not U.S. or European sizing), is a 38.6" hip. When I measure the pattern, the finished hip is 29.5". The upper thigh (at the notches) measures 16.5" and the ankle measures 9.25". That is approximately 9" of negative ease at the hip, so you either need to use a nice stretchy fabric with lycra, size up, or both.

For my version, I used a knit that is designed to look like charcoal-colored denim. Perfect for jeggings. I think I bought it from Emma One Sock, but I know it's been in the stash for about a year. I made zero alterations, other than adding a waistband, cause that's how I swing.

The fabric, up close. The right side is on the left, the wrong side on the right.

This pattern uses 1/4" seam allowances. It sews up in no time at all. When finished, I did not think I could get it on my body because the pants were so narrow-looking. I forged ahead and they did fit, though I will only wear this with a longer top.

'Cause let's just say if I had moles on my rear, you could connect the dots. ;)

The legs are long and puddle at the ankle. I love this look, so I did not shorten them. I also did not hem them. I will definitely wear these! They are sooo comfortable. I just might also buy the pattern in a larger size, so I have options.

More Pictures

Ankle puddling

StyleArc - The Safari Jane Jacket

2011-07-25T18:56:00.000-07:00

More pics

I have finally made my first Style Arc pattern for the upper body - the Safari Jane jacket. I've been wanting to make an anorak-style jacket for awhile and have been studying various patterns, both in print and out of print, and this pattern won out. This pattern features:

A fairly fitted silhouette.
A shoulder yoke that ends at the shoulder seam. It does not extend to the back.
An optional, removable hood. Included are instructions on how to add a fur trim to the hood. A fur trim is overkill for my climate.
The jacket features a waist seam. Stitching in the ditch of the waist seam, and then above the waist seam, creates the channel for the elastic.
The jacket is fully lined. There are separate front and back pattern pieces for the lining, as well as separate hood and sleeve pattern pieces. The lining does not have the shoulder yoke or the waist seam - those pieces are cut on.

I had an interesting fabric I wanted to use. This Georgio Armani fabric, no longer available from FabricMart, is very unusual - it is very textured. It is blue, but where the texture has little "valleys" or "dips", the color is black. The back of the fabric is black and so shiny it's almost metallic. I don't recall the fiber content, but it ravels like crazy. I suspect it contains rayon and plenty of synthetic.

Fusing the Angel Weft to the sleeve hem. You can see the shiny black reverse side of the fabric.

This fabric irons beautifully and I had no trouble fusing interfacing to it, despite the texture. The selvedge of the fabric is hand stamped with the words "Giorgio Armani." The order form from Fabric Mart states: "891546 Giorgio Armani Navy abstract Cloqué design 56" Wide." I have never heard of a cloqué fabric, but I gather it's a puckered, or blistered, weave.

Anyway, I loved this fabric, but it is "fancy" and I don't really wear fancy clothes. I decided to dress it down by sewing it into a casual style that I can wear everyday.

I usually plan ahead for a project, but not in this case. I decided on Friday night that it would be my weekend project. I did not have a suitable lining fabric, so I ran to Britex on Saturday morning - I wanted to start on the project as soon as I got home. I immediately ruled out silk because the silks at Britex suitable for lining are $40 per yard. (I sure wished I'd picked some up from Thai Silks the last time I was there.)

Britex had no remnants that would work, so I bought Bemberg lining. At $12 per yard, even this was not cheap and two of the employees urged me to spring for the silk for this special fabric, but that would have meant that the lining cost more than twice than the Armani fabric. Not going to happen. This was the first time I'd used Bemberg lining, but I can see why it has so many fans. It's delicious to wear and it won't be my last time using it.

Materials:

Blue Armani cloqué fabric (891546) from FabricMart. I cut the jacket on the cross grain of the fabric, because I liked the texture better.
Black tricot fusible interfacing for collar.
Black Angel weft interfacing from Apple Annie's for the hem and sleeve hems.
26" Antique Brass Separating Zipper in black by YKK (purchased at Britex over a year ago for another project).
Blue Bemberg lining from Britex.
A soft oval-shaped "velvet"-coated black elastic from Britex - approx 1/8" - for the waist.
Two black grommets for the elastic. These are inserted into the lining and are not seen from the outside.
Two toggles for the ends of the elastic. I purchased these either from Fabrix a year ago for my Au Bonheurs raincoat.
Round cord elastic for the button loops (very thin, to attach the hood to the jacket).
5 1/2" La Petite buttons (from JoAnns) to attach hood.

Toggles

Alterations and Modifications:

I started with a size 16, which is designed for a 42" bust, my high bust measurement. The finished measurement at the bustline was about 45", so I had to alter quite a bit as my full bust is closer to 50".
A 3" Y-shaped FBA. (See Fit for Real People.)
A 1" wide back adjustment - adding a total of 2". I removed the excess shoulder seam length by taking a dart in the back shoulder seam.
Lowered the waist seam (front and back) 1-1/2".
The finished hip measurement was about 51". I narrowed it to 46".
The upper sleeve was narrow. I added 1" to the upper sleeve and also 1" to the upper side seams.
Shortened the sleeve by 2".

Construction Notes:The pattern required a fair amount of tweaking to fit. I do not blame the pattern for this, as I typically have to extensively alter garments to fit my torso.

The first thing you do is sew the collar. The instructions say to "bag" the collar, which is an unusual use of the term. On my first try, I sewed around the three edges of the collar, and turned it inside out, without thinking. You don't want to do this because the zipper extends into the collar. I then re-cut the collar, re-interfaced it, and only sewed the outer top edge of the collar - the side edges are sewn as the zipper is inserted.
I found that the shoulder was too square. This is an unusual alteration for me, but I removed about 5/8" from the shoulder seam at the armscye, tapered to nothing at the neck.
There were 4 darts in the outer garment: 2 for the shoulder, and 2 for the bust. On the lining, I treated all of these as pleats.
I shorted the jacket several inches. It was for this reason I used a 26" zipper, because that gave me leeway for shortening.
I found that the waist seam was not the ideal location for the elastic channel. I tweaked it by diverging from the seam when I stitched the channel. I didn't like doing this, but I got away with it because of the texture of the fabric.
When I sewed the second seam to create the channel for the elastic, I sewed it below the first seam, rather than above it.
The Armani fabric was hand stamped on the selvedge with the words "Georgio Armani". I cut this bit of the selvedge off and sewed it to the jacket lining.
The instructions suggest that you bag the jacket lining. I prefer a hand sewn lining, so there was much hand sewing.

Conclusion

I love this jacket! The lining makes it so yummy to wear. It is perfect for my climate. Today, for example, is July 25th - mid summer - in San Francisco. The high in my neighborhood today was 62˚F and it's foggy and windy. This jacket was the perfect layer.

Some folks are having questions about Style Arc sizing. I am finding that the pants are perfect, for me, when purchased by the hip. But I know of one woman who carries her weight in her thighs and finds that this is not accurate for her.

I purchased this jacket based on my high bust measurement of 42". A sewist on Pattern Review says that for her that she needs to purchase a jacket pattern based on her upper back measurement, not her high bust. I am not sure what is best for me. I did have to add 2" through the upper back and 6" to the front via the FBA. I had to remove about 5/8" from the shoulder seam (even after removing the 2" from the back shoulder seam via darts). I also had to add to the upper sleeve and the upper side seam to correspond. But I removed several inches through the hips. So I am not sure if I should go up a size for a top. At any rate, these patterns are beautifully drafted.

I already have my August order planned. ;)

More Pics

Worn open

With hood.

Hood buttoned to collar

July Miscellany

2011-07-23T20:57:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone is staying cool! Reading various blogs gives me a lot of sympathy for the sufferings of many of you in the extreme heat.

I have been working on finishing a jacket I started last weekend. It's a Style Arc jacket. It's the first upper body garment I've made from their pattern line and I think I may have bought the wrong size, based on the alterations. (I still haven't decided yet.) I was hoping to finish it today, but I spent the entire day working on the elastic casing (it required much tweaking to get it in the right location for my figure) and the hem. Lots of fiddly work.

The torso is completed now and I only need to cut out and sew the sleeves. But then I realized just a few minutes ago that I hadn't cut the hood out either - I wasn't sure at first I wanted a hood. So, given that all I have to do tomorrow is the hood and sleeves, I should have no problem finishing, right? Believe me, this has required a lot of discipline as I have been suffering from sewing ADD and many other projects beckon that are more fun than finishing up a jacket with lots of handwork. But I am determined.

I may not blog it until Monday, though, depending on whether I can get photos taken.

My kids are in Europe, so I really have no excuse. Yeah, poor babies, they started in Lake Como where my grandfather was born, and are now in Paris. They leave in the next few days for London. I received an excited email a few days ago because they met Queen Latifah at the hotel where she (and they) are staying. (Queen Latifah is one of DD1's favorite actresses.) She was very gracious about speaking with them, posing for photos, etc.

Anyway, I am definitely in "bachelorette" mode at the moment. ;)

I don't have too much to report, though I was enabled by one of my blog readers, Andrea, who had just ordered a handmade tailors ham and seam roll from Etsy. I haven't had a seam roll since I lost the one my mother made and used for years (I vaguely recall it falling apart), and my ham is rather dull and boring, so I bought a set also. They arrived in just a couple days and were beautifully wrapped. Here's the picture from her Etsy shop.

They are so cute, and so well made, but they are rather small. Perfect for daintily-sized sewists or folks who sew for kids, but I have never found myself thinking, "gee, I wish my ham were smaller," especially not when pressing my ginormous bust darts. So if you do order from StitchNerd, I would suggest you order her custom ham which comes in a larger size. They are cute and well made. Plus, she threw in a free piece of tailor's chalk. :)

Oh, one little request. If you are in the Bay Area and use Facebook, please look up the "Artistry in Fashion" group on Facebook and "like" it. If they get 100 "likes" by August first, they will do a random drawing for a free entrance. The event is on Sept 24th this year and it's something I look forward to all year!

Burda 2730 - Anna Sui Silk Chiffon Blouse

2011-07-11T15:42:00.000-07:00

So blustery! More pics

It's funny how one can absorb fashion trends by osmosis. Sheer fabrics have been on the runways for some time now, and, for some time now, without thinking about it, I have been collecting them, but not sewing them up. I'm not sure what was holding me back, but I finally broke through the barrier.

I don't know when this Burda pattern was published, but it's perfect for chiffon fabrics and it's very on trend. It's too bad it's out of print, but I found it on ebay for a couple of bucks.

Materials:

Silk Lurex Tie-Dyed Crinkled Chiffon Panel by Anna Sui 48" Wide, 98% silk, 2% lurex (890928) from FabricMart. I used three panels, one for the back, and one each for the left and the right fronts. I needed two for the front so I could match the design at CF. It almost looks as if these panels were intended to be scarf blanks, but I'm not sure how Anna Sui used them. I would have preferred the fabric without the lurex threads, but oh well.
3 pair of black snaps.
3 buttons from Fabrix.
Black silk organza to use as interfacing for the collar.

Construction Notes:

The pattern comes with 3 sizes in the envelope: S (8/10), M (12/14) and L (16/18). I made the large, using view A with the collar and button front. View B is a button-less, collar-less cardigan with sleeves.
I made no alterations. I decided I didn't mind if the hem is uneven, so I did not bother with an FBA.

This is very easy to sew, though I didn't follow the instructions, exactly. I used French seams on the shoulders. I hemmed all edges and then sewed the side seams - it's just much easier that way. If you use the pattern instructions, you will have exposed seam allowances.

I didn't want to sew buttonholes in the silk chiffon, so I used three snaps and then sewed the buttons on top of each snap - they are purely decorative.

When I was cutting out the collar, I fussy cut one layer on the black part of the fabric and the other layer on the white "stripe". After constructing the collar, I decided I liked the black collar better, so the white stripe version ended up as the undercollar. You can see it here:
The stripe ended up as the under collar. You can really see the lurex threads here.
The solid ended up as the upper collar.

I was planning to wear this top for my birthday outing, and I put it on, and took some photos. It was so foggy, cold and windy, that I thought the photo shoot was a failure. But when I uploaded them this evening, they were better than I had thought. So I am using the pics from that shoot, even though it was blustery. But isn't all that floaty movement the reason that chiffon is fun? :)

I ended up changing my outfit to a warmer one for my outing.

I love this top. It is so billowy and fun to wear. I have already cut out a second one, using another silk chiffon border print. I am changing the front on that version, but this is a great pattern and I will use it again and again.

I am now ready for a pool party!

More Pics

I tried changing locations, but it was just as windy.

It's a bit hard to see, but I carefully matched the pattern on the front. It's also hard to see the three buttons/snaps.

Back. You can see the door's window through the top. It was breezy when I took these hangar pics too.

StyleArc - The Alexi Harem Pant

2011-07-11T00:38:00.000-07:00

More pics

I am a fan of the harem-style pant. I know this style does not suit everyone, but these pants with fullness at the hip gives my unbalanced figure some balance. When I made a recent order from StyleArc, I had to toss the Alexi pant into the cart.

Materials:

"Trendy rayon challis" from FabricMart (812569). This black and white print, 91% rayon, 9% spandex, has a linen-like texture but when washed became very limp and drapey. Perfect for these pants. When you tie the ties, the wrong side of the fabric will show.
Waistband elastic.

Construction Notes:

I made a size 10. I cut it out without any alterations.
The pockets tie. The instructions say to "double neaten the rabbit ears." Or something along those lines. I wasn't sure what they meant, but this is the time when you'd want to use a rolled edge on the "rabbit ears" which are the ties. I don't have the rolled edge plate for my serger, so I used the regular overlock stitch, but I went over it twice to make it a little more substantial.
I did not shorten the pant legs and the length was perfect. So, if you are taller than 5'5", you will probably want to lengthen these. At first I was concerned that the ankle was a bit too pegged, but they've grown on me.
Before the pants were completed, I was not sure I liked the ties on the pockets. I tried tucking the ties into the pocket and I liked that look very much. After the pants were finished, I decided I did like the ties, so I took photos with them both ways.

That's it. These pants were very easy and they came together quickly. These will be perfect if I ever find myself in some hot weather. The last few days have been cold, foggy, windy. The weather has been in the 50s, so these summery clothes don't feel very relevant. :)

More Pics

Here the ties are tucked into the pockets, creating a nice drape. I didn't realize my rumpled t-shirt would be quite so obvious in the pics. Ahem. ;)

Here the pockets are tied. Again, sorry for the rumpled pics.

Close up of tied pocket. Wrong side of fabric will show.

The necklace my girls bought me for my birthday. All three of us picked it out. :)

Post Birthday Reflections

2011-07-10T03:45:00.000-07:00

I want to thank all of you for your wonderful birthday wishes! I was really touched by all the comments here, and on Facebook, wishing me well.

The day was great! My daughters planned to take me out for the day. They wanted to treat me to lunch and to a gift of my own choosing. We headed for the east bay, first to the Stone Mountain & Daughter fabric store and then to my favorite shopping area in Berkeley, called Fourth Street. I hadn't been to Fourth Street in many years, but at the Bryn Walker store I managed to find a beautiful pewter necklace that the girls bought for me, as well as another necklace and bracelet I bought myself. At the Japanese import store I found a couple pieces of Japanese fabric, as well as a gorgeous scarf. And, of course, there was a bit more stash acquisition at Stone Mountain. (I think I must be part Ferengi.)

We also had fun at the Bare Escentuals store and later, at home, we had a marathon makeup session.

It was much better than last year when both kids forgot my birthday. <ahem> :)

We had a heat wave last week, so I planned to wear my silk organza top. I put it on and tried to take some photos, but it was freezing cold, foggy and windy, so I changed to another outfit. I need to try again to get some photos before I can post that top. I also have another pair of StyleArc pants almost finished, so look for that post too.

Meanwhile, let me leave you with some eye candy I recently discovered. This fiber artist has created some truly wonderful designs that you can see in person in New York, Paris, and Sao Paolo: Yasmine Studio. Make sure you look at all three of her collections! I want to be her when I grow up. :)

July 9th!

2011-07-09T02:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to me,
I'm now fifty-three!
Or maybe fifty-two,
I'm forgetful too!

(Seriously, I can't remember.)

Pajama Bottoms Galore!

2011-07-07T23:50:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. PJ bottoms are boring. So how about SIX pair of pj bottoms? Does that make it a bit less boring? No? Oh well. :)

I decided I need a pair of new PJ bottoms for my trip to Pennsylvania in April, so I made a pair using a fabric I'd bought on sale at Eddie's Quilting Bee in Sunnyvale. When I was staying with Peggy, I just loved her African print PJ bottoms, so I picked up a couple African prints at JoMars in Philadelphia. Then I bought a paisley flannel, also at JoMars. I also made a pair out of a pebbled silk from FabricMart. And then I had a plaid light blue flannel lying around from Fabrix -- might as well sew that up too.

I forced myself to stop at six pair - I was getting a bit obsessive. Most of these use the Louise Cutting One Seam pant pattern. It may be the last time I use this particular pattern because she has come out with a modified One Seam pant that is a bit more fitted. I'll have to try that one — but it may supplant this pattern as my go-to PJs. The black flannel print was too narrow for the one seam pattern, so for those I used Burda 7400, without the band at the hem.

So, here's the gallery!

Most Gender Neutral	Most Luxe
Best Matched Print	Most Likely to Disintegrate
Most Snuggly	Most Funka-delic

Which reminds me. I think this is the first time I've owned a pair of silk PJ bottoms. How do you guys store yours? Do you hang or fold?

Fabric Goodness - Enabler Alert!

2011-07-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all your kind comments on my last couple posts. In the comments here, on SG, and on PR, there was some serious coveting of the fabric I had used in my Teagarden T. I bought the lightweight rayon/lycra from Emma One Sock several weeks ago and she no longer has any in stock. But one of my readers managed to find what looks like the same fabric at Mood.

Thanks, Carol in Denver, for letting me know about it!

When I went to their site to nose around, I found two other fabrics that seem to be a similar print, but in different color ways. (I'm not saying they are identical to the original fabric, but they seem very similar. Also note that the first fabric may not be identical to mine, but it sure seems similar.)

Clicking each fabric takes you to the corresponding page on the Mood Fabrics website. As usual, I have no affiliation.

FR259083

FR25736C

FR29845C

Vogue 8499 - Brussels Washer Linen Pants

2011-07-06T17:40:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I bought three coordinating pieces of Brussels Washer Linen from Dana Marie Design. Brussels washer linen, made by Kaufman, is a 55% linen, 45% rayon blend. I had heard good reports of this fabric, which wrinkles less than a 100% linen. I decided to use the natural-colored piece for a pair of pants that I had made before: Vogue 8499, one of Marcy Tilton's pants.

I've been wearing the first pair a lot lately, and the pattern screams summer to me. That first pair, made with a floaty, drapey Taslan fabric, was great in this design. If you recall, the pattern is quite oversized and I went down many sizes, making a size 6 - it was perfect in the Taslan.

The first pair I made in March, 2010

This pattern is not perfect in the linen/rayon blend, at least not in the size 6. It's too stiff, which I should have realized up front. As a result of the stiff fabric, these pants are less flattering. The pattern is great, but it needs a fabric with more flow and drape, or I need to remove more fullness.

I will still wear these, but any ideas of what to do with the other two pieces of Brussels Washer linen? :) I do like its softer wrinkles, it's just beefier than I expected.

Alterations and Modifications

The only change I made to this pair was to lengthen them about 3/4" - the last pair seemed a tad short. If I were to make these again out of a similar fabric, I would remove additional fullness through the back hip.

This is the third garment (out of seven) that I made this last weekend. Stay tuned for more reviews. :)

Detail of topstitched knee darts and front seam

StyleArc - The Linda Stretch Pant

2011-07-05T16:34:00.000-07:00

More pics

Have you heard of Style Arc patterns yet? This Australian-based pattern company is quickly gaining popularity, thanks to the internet.

I first became aware of them when, mere days after the royal wedding, they were offering a knock-off of the Pippa dress. You know the one:

I have to say that I loved Pippa's dress much more than Katherine's. :)

Not interested in making the Pippa dress, some of their other offerings caught my attention. Folks were starting to order a few of their patterns to test them out, with very favorable results. For example, Ann of Gorgeous Things, made up the Cruise Club Kim dress and the Creative Cate top, which was May's freebie pattern. The general consensus is that the Style Arc patterns are drafted the way RTW is drafted and that they fit much better than the Big 4, from the get-go, with less "extra" ease through the upper chest, for example, and a more RTW-like crotch curve. You can read more StyleArc pattern reviews on the PR website.

I was particularly interested in the StyleArc pant offerings. Despite the high cost of shipping to the U.S., I ordered several pant patterns, a couple jacket patterns, and I also received the June freebie, a camisole pattern.

The Style Arc patterns come in one size only, though the range of sizes they offer is quite large. These patterns are hand drafted and do not use multi-sizing and so, like the Italian Marfy patterns, you have to commit.

Australian sizing is different than U.S. or even European sizing, so you need to take your measurements and compare them against their sizing chart. But even then, I was not sure what to order as I don't know how generous their ease is and my waist, hip, and bust measurements each correspond to very different sizes. So, I started a conversation with Chloe at Style Arc, gave her my measurements, sent her to a picture of me on my blog, and we worked out that I should order a size 10 for bottoms and a size 16 for tops, with the understanding that I needed to alter for my waist and bust. (She even checked the ease on the jackets I wanted - such great customer service!)

When my package arrived (via Kansas City, for some reason, where the envelope was torn in transit, and then taped up again and stuck into a plastic baggie), the patterns were intact, thank goodness. The pattern paper is similar to Kwik Sew pattern paper - fairly substantial. I have not yet seen a pattern piece that requires that you lay it out on the fold. So you get the entire front, for example, and the entire back. That is very handy when matching prints or plaids, or cutting on the bias. But what I liked most, is that for each pattern, they enclose a small swatch of the recommended fabric. It's tiny, but it's much better than nothing.

The Linda Stretch Pant

I decided to start with the Linda Stretch Pant, which is a fitted pull-on pant for stretch wovens. They recommend a stretch bengaline, which is almost impossible to find in the U.S. and, thanks to the enclosed swatch, I discovered that it is not a particularly stretchy fabric. I had some fabric in my stash from Fabrix that I though would be a good substitute. (Some enterprising Aussie might want to try selling some stretch bengaline on Etsy, which is widely available in Australia in different colors and a couple different weights. I'd buy some!! :) )

Since the size 10 was based on my hip measurement, I knew I would have to enlarge the waist, but I was not exactly sure where/how much, so I decided to forge ahead and make the pattern as designed, adding a bit at the side seam. Oh, these patterns use 1cm, or 3/8", seam allowances.

These pants sewed up quickly!

Materials:

A stretch woven wool blend (?), gabardine (?), dark taupe fabric from Fabrix. I love this fabric and almost hated to use it as a test, but I have enough for another pair of pants or two and I have already used it for a pair of Sewing Workshop Trio pants that I love. So I put on my big girl panties and forged ahead.
1" waistband elastic. The pattern calls for 2" waistband elastic, which is optional.

Construction Notes:

I added another 3/8" to the side seams, for a total 3/4" seam allowance, but cut the rest of the front and back pant out as designed. Their construction notes utilize RTW techniques and instruct you to sew the inside leg seams first, so I did not add more seam allowance fabric there. You then sew the crotch seam flat, using their stretch woven techniques - these were new to me, but seem to work quite well. I then pinned the side seams and tentatively tried them on. They fit quite well! Yes, the pants were a bit snug through the belly, and there was a bit of muffin top, but nothing I am not used to in RTW. The rise and crotch curve were perfect!
I did not use the shaped waistband that came with the pattern. It was far too small for my waist. I used a rectangular waistband, as I always do. If you have a waist that is smaller than your hips, I'm sure the shaped waistband would be great.
I very slightly tapered the pants at the knee. To be honest, I would probably omit tapering next time.
I shortened the pants by 1", so I would assume that these patterns are drafted for someone who is around 5'6".

Conclusion:

That's it! For me that is minimal changes, especially for such a fitted pant. These pants came together so fast and I love the fit! Yes, they do feel very much like a good pair of RTW pants. It's hard to believe that there is no zipper, especially since this stretch woven is not that stretchy, but they are so comfortable! Next time I make them (and there will be a next time), I plan to enlarge the waist a bit to avoid the muffin top, though it really doesn't need much tweaking. :)

Another Teagarden T

My top is also new - one of the six things I made last weekend. I can't remember exactly how many Sewing Workshop Teagarden T's I have made, but it's approximately ten. I love this pattern – it is my go-to t-shirt. For this one, I used a lightweight rayon/lycra knit from Emma One Sock. I just loved the wild print. Also, because the fabric was so wide, I was able to lengthen it a couple of inches, which is a nice change. The first Teagarden T that I made, the one from a black rayond/lycra blend, is starting to wear out. I need to make another black one, but it's not the most exciting sewing. :)

More Pictures

I LOVE this outfit. Love love love. These pants are so darned comfortable!!! So is the top and I just love the soft, lightweight rayon knit that just skims the body. UBER LOVE. :)

Blogger Meetup - Meeting Ann Smith!

2011-07-04T12:44:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to meet Ann Smith, an amazing and prolific sewist, for a long time now.

I first became aware of Ann when I returned to sewing (two years ago) because of her excellent reviews on Pattern Review. She and I love many of the same patterns and her versions are wonderful - she has a special ability to match patterns to fabric and to style her outfits in wonderful ways. I also soon became aware of (blogless) Dorothy K on PR, thanks to her excellent reviews. I managed to meet Dorothy in person, and a more lovely person you can't imagine, but she's so chic and stylish too. She's only been sewing for five years, and I don't think she ever has to alter a pattern, but I forgive her totally. Well, mostly.

Dorothy and Ann are longtime friends so Dorothy arranged for us to shop together when Ann was in town a couple months ago. On the day we were scheduled to get together, I came down with the plague and they were forced to shop and eat without me. I would have been more upset had I not spent most of the day in a near-coma.

Dorothy arranged another get together recently and this time, it all came together. Meeting Ann was like meeting someone I already knew. The three of us had a great day together, all arranged by Dorothy - she even fed us an amazing meal, while sporting her cool Sewing Workshop Tamari Apron. (I really do forgive her.) Later, we made it to the sale at Thai Silks and did a bit of nearby snoop shopping

One of our big topics of conversation was the task of taking good photographs for pattern reviews. We all find it challenging and I shared that when I recently met my blogging friends back east, they went on for a considerable length of time at how I look better in person than in my photos. A colleague once told me that I don't even look the same as I do in my photos, but that I look good in my photos. Huh? Given that I work hard to take the best photos possible, I am not sure what to make of these comments. :)

But all in all, it was a perfect day.

There are no pictures of all three of us, because someone had to take the photos. I didn't even think to bring my camera, but luckily Ann had hers, no doubt planning to capture the shenanigans of her grandbabies. You know, I forgive her too. ;)

Ann is enjoying Dorothy's spread. Dorothy and husband grew most of the salad fixings.

Me and Dorothy

July 4th Sewcation

2011-07-03T22:15:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Carolyn for the "Sewcation" term. :) For me, this is a 3-day weekend with no obligations or diversions.

And the mojo fairy made a little visit.

It's been like a one-person retreat!

I haven't wanted to stop sewing this weekend to blog or take pictures, but I am taking a quick break this Sunday evening for a little update. Since Friday evening I have made:

A pair of pj bottoms.
A silk organza OOP Burda top.
A pair of Style Arc Linda pants.
A pair of Linen Tilton pants (Vogue 8499).
A Teagarden Tea from an Emma One Sock rayon/lycra knit.
Another pair of Loes Hinse Cruise pants - these were a wadder!

I think the wadder told me it was time to take a break. :) It earned the status of "wadder" because of the horrible fabric, not because of the pattern. When I bought the fabric, I was so entranced by its pattern and texture, that I neglected to notice the awful quality. It is that horrible cheap-o polyester that would be good for making pot scrubbers. I think I have enough fabric to make 500 pot scrubbers. At least I didn't waste my time making the circle pocket I had originally intended and only spent 30 minutes on the entire project.

I contacted Martha, the winner of the Marcy Tilton purse pattern giveaway and she is happy to have the pattern. I have prepared it for mailing, but not yet gotten to the post office. I hope to get it out next week, Martha!

One thing I wanted to mention in the bag post and then completely forgot is a wonderful book that I consulted when working on the project. The Bag Making Bible is a great resource. I read through various sections before starting the purse. I didn't use any of the techniques for this project, but there were good techniques, well documented. I look forward to using the book in future projects.

What Next?

I need to decide what to work on next. How to use the Monday holiday, my last free day? I have some fabrics I really want to sew up, but can't quite seem to settle on a pattern. (Don't you hate that?) I've been enjoying quick projects, using mostly tried and true, or simple, patterns, so maybe I should start a larger project, or tackle one of my UFOs. (I don't have too many, but there are a few.) But it has been so nice to work through some stash.

Well, for the remainder of my evening, I think I'll work on the other pair of pj bottoms that are cut out.

Happy 4th!! (If you celebrate, or Happy Monday, if not.)

Loes Hinse Cruise Pants w/ a Funky Pocket!

2011-06-22T18:05:00.000-07:00

Oops, I am a bit rumpled.

More pictures

For awhile now I've been wanting to reproduce a pocket detail I've seen in boutique ready to wear - a big round funky pocket. For my first attempt, I started with a pant I'd made twice before, Marcy Tilton's Vogue 8712 made from, you guessed it, black ponte. You can see that version in the pictures below.

It was not quite right. The pocket was too big for the pant leg and the pant leg needed to be looser for the pocket. It's wearable, but I'm glad I didn't use special fabric for the first pair.

I searched for a better pant pattern to start with, but it was tricky. Most of my TNT pant patterns have been fairly fitted through the thigh and I needed something looser. The pant that does fit me loosely through the thigh (which is why I use it so often for PJ bottoms) is the Louise Cutting One Seams, but those pants have no side seam. I asked Louise, via Stitcher's Guild, if I could add a seam on the pant, but she recommended against it, so it was back to the drawing board. (It's nice that she monitors the threads on SG that pertain to her patterns and she is very responsive to any questions or issues.)

A friend then reminded me that the Loes Hinse Oxford pant has a nice relaxed fit and a side seam. I spent probably two hours searching, but I could not find my copy of the pattern. I obviously never put it back after using it several months ago. Rats.

In my search for the Oxfords, I came across the Loes Hinse Cruise pant, which is more tapered at the ankle than the Oxford, but the thigh looked like it had a nice relaxed fit. Deciding to try this pattern, I traced off an XL because I was using a woven fabric for this version and I wanted to make sure I could sit down in these comfortably. :)

The fabric I used is a heavyweight, slightly crinkled, homespun cotton. I bought it in Healdsburg at Fabrications after a retreat last March. (Fabrications is a great store that caters mostly to quilters, but does have some nice non-quilting fabric, like Brussels Washer Linen and silk brocades. It's located in charming downtown Healdsburg which has lots of great shopping and restaurants!)

This fabric is the sort of thing you'd want to use if you were making peasant wear for the Renaissance Faire. ;) I really like it.

When cutting out the pants I realized that, even for the Cruise pattern, the pocket was too big. I finally had a D'OH moment and I tilted the bottom of the pocket pattern several inches outward at the side seam to make it smaller, while retaining the opening size at the top of the pocket. I also placed the pocket lower on the leg so it won't be covered by a longer top.

So, here is version #2, with a smaller pocket. :)

Materials:

Brown homespun cotton from Fabrications.
Waistband elastic.

Alterations and Modifications:

Many sewists on Stitcher's Guild cite the Cruise Pant as their favorite Loes Hinse pant. This is saying something since there are many ardent fans of her pants patterns (and her designs in general). Her patterns are designed, by and large, for drapey woven fabrics, especially rayons. They work best in drapey fabrics with some "heft" to them, so silk is not always the best choice, unless it is a 4-ply silk, or a silk burnout, or something along those lines with some weight to it. However, the pattern does say it will work with linen and cotton, so I decided to run with it.

Loes's skill is in drafting her patterns so they really work for women, especially women with maturing figures. For example, the Cruise pant has an elastic waist, and it has darts in the back, but not the front. For those of us with fluffy tummies, this is excellent. When I saw the crotch curve on the Cruise pant, especially on the front crotch, I knew I was in good hands. It has a shallow front curve, similar to Burda and very similar to my TNT crotch curve. I decided to use the curve straight from the pattern. (I usually trace my crotch curve onto a pants pattern from the get-go.)

I made no alterations! I cut out the XL, which is larger than I would ordinarily use, but this version uses a woven and I wanted a relaxed fit. If I make this pant again, in a ponte, for example, I would trace off a large or maybe a medium. By the way, her patterns use 3/8" seam allowances, so take note.

Construction Notes:

For my first pair of pocket pants, using Vogue 8712, I cut the hole for the pocket about 4" below the raw edge at the waistline. This placed the pocket too high up and it actually "bumped" into the waistband. For this pair, I cut the pocket hole 9.5" below the raw edge at the waistline. I could have placed it a bit higher, but I wanted the pocket to show, even when I'm wearing a long top.
These pants came together so quickly. In one evening I traced the pattern, cut, and sewed the pants entirely, except for the hems. The pockets were the most involved part of the process and they weren't that bad.
The pattern allows for a 1.5" hem, and I used a 2.5" hem (approximately) so they were a tad long for me. I usually have to shorten pants patterns, so this is normal.

Conclusion:

I am really happy with my pants! I hope to get lots of wear out of these. And, while I love all my black pants and wear them all the time, it's nice to branch out a bit. :)

Pants #1 - Marcy Tilton Vogue 8712

Here you can only see the silhouette of the pant, but I sure like these Marcy pants!

Pants #2 - Loes Hinse Cruise Pant

Burda 3251 - The "Shuffleboard at 2pm" Tunic

2011-06-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in my last post that I've been unfocused lately (mostly distracted by work) and it's affected my sewing. Seriously, what is UP with me? Apparently I am sewing for my alter ego and my alter ego is my grandmother-on-a-cruise. (Though both of my grandmothers passed long ago and neither one ever got anywhere near a cruise ship, but you get my drift...)

This is a long out-of-print Burda, but I really liked the silhouette and I thought it would work for me. Maybe it still would work for me in another fabric. Or a shorter length. Or worn with leggings. This is a fairly fitted top and I liked that. The button front is open below the waist and there are side slits. I like all of the above. Or so I thought.

I started with a size 16 (42) and altered the heck out of it. I usually start with a larger size, often a 20, but this time I decided to use my actual high bust measurement (42") and go from there. I think that did work well and I should do this more often.

The fabric is a pleated rayon that I bought at Yardage Town in San Diego last July. I intended this for a skirt that I drafted a couple years ago. I'm kinda sorry I didn't save it for that project. :/ This fabric is very stretchy (due to the pleating) and very unstable in the selvedge-to-selvedge direction. It also ravels easily and is very wiggly. And, of course, because it's a stripe, I had to match the pesky stripes. (It would be so much easier if I didn't like striped and plaid fabrics so much. :)

Materials and Notions:

Pleated striped rayon fabric from Yardage Town in San Diego.
Coordinating solid cotton for the facings, from Fabrix.
4 7/8" buttons from Fabrix.
Twill tape to stabilize shoulder seams.
Fusible tricot interfacing for facings, also from Fabrix.

Alterations and Modifications:

This pattern has a dart and it actually pointed to the right place on me! (Wow, that never happens, though using a smaller-than-normal pattern size did raise it up a bit.) The dart was too long and too small, so I did my usual FBA, AFTER chopping the bottom of the pattern off. After the FBA I re-attached the two pieces, so the hip was not modified.
I lengthened the sleeves to below elbow length.
I shortened the shoulders by 1/2". Usually I have to shorten the shoulders by 1" when I'm using a larger size.

Construction Notes:

I stabilized the shoulder seams with twill tape cut to the length of the shoulder seam on the paper pattern.
Stabilized shoulder seam and contrasting facing.
I did not want to use the same pleated fabric for the interfaced facings, so I use a coordinating solid blue fabric. It's a cotton "linen-like" blend. I have enough to make some coordinating pants. :)
I used 4 buttons that were larger than what the pattern called for. I found them in the giant button bin at Fabrix where you can buy 100 buttons for $5, but you have to sift through them to find matches. I used four buttons in three different shades of blue. Just for fun. You can see them in the pattern picture below.
I matched the stripes as well as possible. It wasn't entirely possible. For example, look at the picture below, where I am twirling. See how the stripe tilts down just below the armscye. This is because of the mammoth 6" bust dart. I matched the stripe at the top of the sleeve, at the CB, below the dart at the side seams, etc.
Twirling exposes the stripe matching and the effect of the large dart (just below the armscye).
After the top was mostly completed, I tweaked the fit and removed even more width from the hip. I have started pinning the bust dart right on my body and, wow, does it improve the fit.

So, what do you think? I will wear this top, I'm sure, and maybe it will grow on me.

Pattern Giveaway and Miscellaneous

2011-06-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

I want to thank all of you for your comments on my purse and the dress from my last post. I really I appreciate all of your points of view, though the dress certainly had folks on both side of the fence. :)

I had 35 comments on the Hobo Bag post, so I plugged in 1-35 into the random number generator. I figured if the chosen number belonged to someone who did not want the pattern, I would just try again. The number 7 came up, which is Martha from SG! Martha, it was not clear from your comment if you wanted the pattern. If not, let me know and I'll generate a new number.

Last week was another very intense work week, including a couple of 12-hour days. It was draining and no sewing happened, but I did sew this weekend. I just finished a top and will blog about it shortly. Lately I have been rather unfocused, and my sewing has suffered for it. This top is no exception, I think. Oh well, at least it fits well. ;)

Oh, the picture up top is from Me-Made-June. I missed photographing a number of days during the week, but was wearing (self made) jammies on those days anyway and was glued to the sofa, working. The challenge is to wear self made every day for the month of June, which I have done. Luckily the challenge does not include taking a picture every day - that is optional. :) This picture is from Friday, when we were challenged to take a pic with a loved one. I was home alone, but went to the mall at 9am to get a picture with my daughter's poster. Sheesh, the embarrassment, me and my tripod. I had to take a lot of pictures to get one that was halfway decent. :)

Off to write another post!

Vogue 8726 - Mother-of-the-Graduate Dress

2011-06-11T23:34:00.000-07:00

I am not a dress girl. Let's establish that fact up front. :)

I made a dress last October. It was a black and white Sandra Betzina dress. I have never worn it once, though I do like it. A week ago I asked my daughter, who graduated from high school today, if it would be a good dress to wear for her graduation. She replied that she'd rather see me in something with color.

Rats. Why did I ask her, anyway? :)

I took this as a challenge. I decided to make a dress with some color. I quickly went through the Vogue, Butterick, and McCalls offerings. I clicked on parts of the pattern catalog that were totally unfamiliar to me.

Dresses.

I came up with this Vogue pattern. I liked the side panels, but there was much I knew I would have to alter.

I bought the pattern and fabric on sale at JoAnns. I rarely go to JoAnns, but I was under a time crunch. Did you know that, according to the unfriendly sales associates at this particular JoAnns, that they have removed all mirrors from all JoAnns? It is (so they told me) a corporate-wide edict. If true, that tells me that JoAnns has really decided they are done with garment sewists.

But I did buy a colorful, wild print, even though I was unable to hold it against my body to see if I liked the print/color on me.

Materials:

Sweater knit from JoAnns.
Black poly/lycra knit used for contrast bindings.

Alterations and Modifications:

The pattern drawing is misleading.
Note how it shows that the insets land on the waistline. This is not accurate. It's hard to see the details of the finished dress on the envelope, because it's black, but the insets actually land on the model above the waist.
I lightened these photos and added arrows pointing to the top of the inset seam. It is definitely above the model's waist, not at her waist.
When I held the pattern tissue to my body, the insets landed on my bust, not below it. This is not a good look for me. The first alteration I made was to slash the pattern, both front and back, between the armscye and bust dart (about an inch below the armscye) and added 2". This lowered the inset and the bust dart.
The back bodice, lowered, and the back neck, raised.
After lowering the entire bodice, I sliced the front pattern horizontally, about an inch above the inset. I then did the FBA just on the upper portion, as I did not want to add width to the lower portion. I then merged the upper and lower portions together.
The pattern piece is upside down, but the bodice has been lowered, then the lower part has been sliced off and the FBA added. Finally, the upper and lower portions were merged back together. This is how I do an FBA without adding width to the part of the garment where I don't need it.
The pattern is designed for wovens, but I made it out of a knit. I eliminated the back zipper.
The pattern has no pieces for facings, as it is intended to be completely lined. I omitted the lining and finished the neckline with a narrow contrast knit binding in black. I didn't follow this technique exactly, but here is an excellent video on a neckline binding by Threads magazine, featuring Sarah Veblen.
To echo the neckline binding, I put flat piping on the side panel seams.
I lengthened the cap sleeves to below elbow length. I finished them with the contrast binding.
I topstitched all seams.
At the end, during the fitting, I raised the bodice by re-sewing the shoulder seams one inch further down. I think that my original alterations were fine, per se, but the knit was stretchy and a bit heavy, so it hung lower.
I sewed the bust darts and upper side seams towards the very end, so I could pin them right on the body.
I narrowed the shoulder about 3/4".
I made the longer length on the pattern and just did a 1" hem. It's pretty long, and I'm not sure if it's the most flattering length. If I wear this dress again, I can always shorten it further.

Notice how I show the dress with a wrap. This is because I do not think it is a flattering dress on me, even though it fits me pretty well. Is this because of the wild print? The silhouette? The fabric? I'm not sure, but I did wear it, with the wrap. Later today, when the same daughter had a ballet performance, I wore my black and white Sandra Betzina dress. I just think it's a more flattering dress, though I wore the same wrap with it.

Ready for the ballet, though I should have photographed it with the same wrap.

The best shot I could get of the dress, sans wrap.

Pic taken when I got home from the graduation.

Vogue 8741 - Marcy Tilton Hobo Bag & Pattern Giveaway!

2011-06-07T09:47:00.000-07:00

More pictures

Pattern Giveaway!

I rarely sew purses. I always think I will, but I don't.

I purchased this fabric a couple years ago from Fabrix. I love this fabric and would have bought yards of it (at $3 a yard), but only one yard remained. It is a woven rayon blend (I think) that has been embossed with a leather texture. It is very easy to cut out and sew - it's nothing like a pleather - and it has a great look and feel.

I decided it should be a purse and, finally, it is.

The pattern calls for a fashion fabric and two contrast fabrics. The difference between View C and View D is in how the contrast fabrics are used. This bag is reversible. This fact is not made obvious on the website or on the pattern - you would only know this when reading the instructions. I think this is unfortunate and it's a side effect of the minimal description Vogue now provides for each pattern.

The purse is reversible, but it's wonderfulness doesn't stop there. It features compartments and a zippered pocket. If you like purses with lots of different places to put things, this one is for you. I used one contrast fabric, not two. If you choose to use different fabrics for contrast 1 and contrast 2, it would be much easier to find things in your purse, based on the different fabrics/colors, but I am happy with my single contrast. :)

This purse is, essentially, a purse within a purse. It has four layers: the outside, the lining, the inset, and the inset lining. Sometimes the bag is sewn to the lining, and sometimes the lining is sewn to the inset lining. This creates the inner compartments that makes this bag so useful.

My inside fabric is a waterproof print that I purchased long ago at Fabrix. I bought this fabric to use as bias trim on another project, but I ended up not using it and it sat in my "donate" pile (because I had no real use for one yard of a waterproof fabric) until I realized that it matched the outside fabric perfectly. I used it for both contrast 1 and contrast 2.

By the way, I don't plan to use this purse as a reversible purse, but if it were pouring rain, I might!

Materials & Notions:

Textured (embossed) brandy-colored rayon blend, from Fabrix.
Pellon fleece, to underline the outside fabric. This is optional, but it made my fabric look even more like leather. I did not use fusible fleece, but I don't see why that would not work.
Dritz Spray adhesive, for adhering the fleece to the outer fabric. (Or a similar brand, but this is what I had in my sewing closet.)
Waterproof chartreuse fabric, with a monochromatic tropical print, from Fabrix.
7" zipper. I used a decorative zipper.
Thread. I purchased regular thread to match the outside fabric, and the lining fabric, and top-stitching thread for the outside fabric. Or so I thought. When I got home, the "top-stitching" thread was 100% cotton thread (oops), so I used regular thread for the top-stitching. But top-stitching thread would have been nice. :)
A tool for turning a narrow bias tube. I used my favorite technique which requires a bobby pin.
Fray Block. This is optional, but I used it on the end of each knotted, bias fabric tie.
A Dritz tool for making 1" bias tape and a safety pin to pin the tape to the ironing board as you create it. You can make the bias tape in any method you prefer, but this tool worked well for all the yards of bias that this purse requires.
Sewing pins!! I mention this only because I bent many pins on this project. When pinning the final layer onto the base layer, there are 16 layers of fabric, including the pleats on four layers, the two base layers, and the fleece layer throughout. Many of my glass head silk pins bit the dust during this process.
Sewing machine needles! For most of this project I used a single MicroTek needle (by Schmetz). This worked well, until near the end when it was trying to go through many layers and it shattered. I finished the project with a jeans needle.

Construction Notes:

This pattern uses 1/2" seam allowances. It is easy to miss this fact.
This purse confused me at first, so let me explain how it works. It is made from 4 layers: the outer layer, the lining, the inset, and the inset lining. The inset and the inset lining are used to create compartments, so the purse has the inside bucket, and two compartments on either side. In the innermost layer (called the inset), there is a zippered pocket. There are self ties to keep it closed and the purse is reversible; if you turn it inside out the zippered pocket will be on the outside. This is a large purse.
I made the 1/2" opening for the zipper in the inset as directed. At first I planned to use a standard zipper. But after the opening was completed, I noticed a decorative zipper in my stash and decided to use that.

The standard zipper opening is too wide for the decorative zipper, which was an afterthought.
The 1/2" opening was too wide for this zipper, so I added a strip to narrow the opening - I could have added a strip to each side of the opening, but decided to put it on the top only, so the raw edges would be absorbed into the top of the pocket. When applying the zipper, I folded the ends under, at both ends of the zipper, and top-stitched it to the pocket. The rest of the pocket was constructed normally.
The narrow strip added to the top of the pocket.
The completed zipper. This is the first time I remembered to use one of my new fabric labels!
In step 8 of the pattern instructions, you put the lining layer together with the inset lining layer, right sides together, and baste the lower edges together. From here until step 20, these are treated as a single layer. In step 9, you stitch them together, in the ditch of the lining seams, to form a pocket. It was not clear from the directions whether you should do this on both sides of the purse. In the end, I did do it on both sides, because I decided that the compartment would be very large if I didn't. But I don't think it matters that much, so do what you think is best.
I found some of the construction steps confusing. Therefore, I took pictures as I went. Hopefully these pics will help clarify the steps for anyone else who might also find them confusing. The numbers of the steps correlate to the numbers on the pattern instructions.
- Step 16: The bag has been pleated and pinned to the base. I was concerned that the pleating would be difficult, but the instructions recommend that you not obsess over this and I agree. It's actually fun. Also, the instructions state that the size and spacing of the pleats will depend on the fabric. I found this to be very true, as the outer layer/batting pleats were a very different size than the pleats in the lining fabric.
- Step 17: The bag lining/inset lining (the two layers are basted together at the hem as one layer) have been pleated and pinned to the base, on top of the outside layer.
- Step 18: The lining for the base has been pinned, wrong sides together, to the base. After each step, I machine stitch that layer.
- Step 19: The inset, which contains the zippered pocket, has been pinned to the base. After this is sewn, the inset is pulled up over the rest of the purse and all four layers are now attached.
A pattern piece is included to create the ties that can be used to hold the purse closed. At first I followed the directions to turn the raw edges under to make the ties. But this created very chunky (approx 1/2" wide) ties. I hate chunky ties, so instead I created a 1/4" tube from each piece of bias. I trimmed the edge of the sewn seam and used a bobby pin to turn the tubes inside out. I tied a knot in the end of each tie, as directed, and finished with a dot of Fray Block. This isn't strictly necessary, since the tie was bias, but I prefer to use a dot of Fray Block.
I found an error in the pattern. A pattern piece is included to create a continuous bias strip. You cut one of this pattern piece. However, it does not create nearly enough bias. Bias trim is attached to the top of the purse, which has 4 edges. There are another 4 edges on the inside layer, for a total of 8 edges. Finally, you cut four 10.5" strips from the same bias strip for the purse handles. There was only enough bias to finish 7 edges of the purse plus one 10.5" purse handle. I had to create another 40" or so of bias to complete the purse.

Conclusion: I really like this purse! The only disadvantage is that it is quite large. I didn't realize from the photo on the envelope that it would be this large. I will save it for those occasions when one needs an extra large bag. With all of the compartments, it would make a good travel bag.

More pictures:

Because this pattern hasn't yet been reviewed, and because there is a lot going on in the purse, I attempted to document it fairly thoroughly.

Hanging on a hook. See the lovely texture of the fabric.

If you look carefully, you can see the tie closure.

Reversed. I don't plan to use it this way.

The ties, up close. You can also see the various compartments.

Inside

The straps, up close.

It's big!

The End. ;)

Pattern Giveaway!

I was given a copy of this pattern, but had already purchased it, so I have an extra. If you would like it, please leave a comment. I sympathize with folks outside of the country who can only purchase these patterns at full price, or with extreme shipping, so this is definitely open to you, too. I will draw names in a week or so.

I'm Alive! Status Upate

2011-06-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

Channeling Judy Jetson

I have received a few emails asking if I'm ok. It's so nice that there is concern about me, but I am ok! I have not been blogging as much, because I have not been sewing as much. Partly because I was traveling and returned home to drama. Though things have settled down in that department, my work continues to be very intense.

But here is what I am up to (sewing wise, at least mostly):

I have a Marcy Tilton purse almost finished. Truly, I should have finished it last night, but instead I worked on a long blog entry about it. I just need to finish a tiny bit of hand sewing and then take a few more pictures. Look for that in the next day or two. I'm also doing a related pattern giveaway. :)
I have made several pair of pj bottoms! OK, not exciting stuff, hence no blogging. But I may do a mass blog when I finish a few more pair. ;)
I took my friend Renee out for some snoop shopping for her birthday last month. I got very inspired and I copied a pocket onto a Marcy Tilton pant. The pocket was great, but the pant wasn't the perfect pattern for it. I want to try again, but haven't gotten back to it.
I am participating in Me-Made-June! I don't generally post the outfits I wear daily to my blog, but you can follow my Me-Made-June 2011 Flickr Set and the Group Flickr Set. The picture above was from last Friday. Claudine had the fun idea of doing a common pose each Friday for the month of June. Last Friday's pose was twirling - one of my favorites. She is taking votes for this coming Friday's pose, but I do hope it is NOT in a grocery store as I don't think they'd welcome my tripod in there. :)
DD1's high school graduation is this coming Saturday at 11am. I was thinking I'd go outside my comfort zone and wear a dress. I only have one dress and it's black and white. When I asked her opinion (oh, why did I ask? :) ) she expressed the thought that I should wear something more colorful. Hmmm.... So, I bought a dress pattern and some fabric. Not sure I can get it made by Saturday morning, but stay tuned.
I attended a BABES meeting. BABES is the local group that was organized originally through Pattern Review. It was an excellent meeting, full of laughs, food, and fabric swapping. I took my Chado Ralph Rucci duster/dress, which I said I wouldn't bring to a sewing meeting, but everyone was very tolerant of the wonky inside and many people enjoyed trying it on. What a great group!
I attended the amazing Pulp Fashion show at the Legion of Honor. Wow, what an amazing exhibit. I enjoyed it even more than the Balenciaga exhibit at the De Young. I went with three sewing friends and we were dressed to the nines (seriously, I was the schlumpadinka next to these ladies.) Afterwards we had a great Burmese lunch and I ran an errand while they went shopping at Fabrix and Satin Moon. I was heading home after my errand, and I sideswiped a parked, brand new Porche SUV. sigh
Last week had some big events for work, including an all hands meeting that required commuting. Commuting is so tiring! I do not know how people do that every day. Then, last Thursday, we had a very fun team building event in the north beach neighborhood of San Francisco. It was a high-tech scavenger hunt run by TheGoGame.com. It was fun, but so tiring! :)
I haven't been feeling great lately, so I joined Weight Watchers. I know a bit of healthy living is the antidote.

So, that's what I've been up to! Thanks so much for your comments, feedback, and concern. I really appreciate all of you!