Irons - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

In the past, I have been a huge fan of the Reliable Digital Velocity v100 iron. Mine, which arrived in October 2010, has seen heavy use since that time. I use it almost daily, often for many hours.

Then, earlier this week, it died.

Pffft.

Looking back, I realized I had a clue that I wasn't paying attention to. The last few times I refilled it, I would later notice wetness on the ironing board. At first I thought I was being sloppy while pouring in the (distilled) water, but the last time I was careful and there was still quite a bit of wetness. I believe that the leak shorted out the electronics, because I can no longer get anything to display on the digital readout.

At first I was pretty irked. This is an expensive, premium iron. It should last longer than 3 years, right?

But what to replace it with? Up until it's mysterious leaking and sudden death, it behaved perfectly. It heated up fast. It produced tons of steam, even at the lowest setting. I loved that I could override the auto shutoff feature. It has a substantial weight, which I want in an iron. (Though if you have weak wrists, it may not be for you.)

I know there are many fans of gravity feed irons, but I am not ready for that investment or for the care and feeding of a gravity feed iron.

As I was mulling over this crisis (seriously, I can't sew without an iron!) I did some calculations. I had the iron for 35 months. The cost for using the iron came to less than $4 a month.

I realized that this cost is completely worth it to me. I ordered another Reliable V100 Digital Velocity Steam Iron, which will be arriving next week.

Meanwhile, I ordered something I've been wanting for awhile. I ordered a dry iron, the Continental Electric CP43001 Classic Dry Iron. This iron does not produce steam and has a perfectly flat sole plate, so it's very nice for fusing interfacings - no little "circles" of unfused interfacing where there are corresponding holes in the sole plate.

It arrived today. Within minutes I was fusing the interfacings on my current jacket project.

I love it! This is a small iron, but it has some heft to it. There are no computerized bits to break down. There is no water reservoir to leak or spit. There is no automatic shutoff. (Though I plug my irons into a power strip that also has a light, so I know right away if my iron is on.) It isn't super fast at heating up, but it did get quite hot. It also feels less stable than my Reliable, so it's extra important not to leave it on where it can tip over and start a fire.

It was so weird to use such a quiet iron! No steam means no noise. No purring, nothing. I felt very retro while using it - wearing an old-style apron over a fitted dress would have completed the "June Cleaver" effect.

This iron will be a great supplemental iron and a backup for my seam iron. (One of these days I will get a clam-shell press...)

On another note, Margy and I are participating in a little sewing challenge, in the sense that we are both sewing up the same fabric. I hope to make some major progress on my project this weekend, though my kids often derail my plans at the last moment, so we'll see!

New Marcy Pants! - Vogue 8929

I was very excited to see Marcy Tilton's pants pattern, 8929, in the recent Fall offerings from Vogue. Unfortunately the smallest size that this pattern comes in is a size 8, which is too large, as I like my pants to be close fitting.

So I took my well fitting Style Arc Barb pants and laid the pattern on top of the size 8 Marcy pant pattern, view B. I removed a large amount from both the front and back crotch. I also removed quite a bit from the front side seam.

I am a butt-less wonder and the crotch curve that fits me is shaped like this, narrow and deep. (The pants front is the left side.)

My alterations did not affect the pants length. My horizontal alterations ended above the knee, so the pants are designed as you see them at the knee and below.

I love the front pocket!

I used a wonderful stretch woven to make these up. In fact, it's the same fabric I used to test the Barb pants. This fabric is an anthracite color (which goes equally well with blacks or browns) and it washes and wears beautifully.

I apologize that it's a bit hard to see the detail on these pants in the pics on me. We are having a rare gorgeous day, so that makes it harder to see the subtle detail. I don't have a striped bottom-weight fabric, but these would be great in stripes, as you can see on the pattern envelope. The front features a great pocket and the front and back feature a giant oval inset, once the side seams are sewn. I love this detail!

I LOVE these pants! The length is perfect, so if you are taller than 5'5", you may need to lengthen. They taper at the ankle, but are not super tight - they lightly skim the body. It's a wonderful pattern and I will be making them again, especially when I find the right fabric!

I include this pic only because a) it shows that I am still quite busty as a DD, though maybe not uber busty as when I was a G, and b) I am still plagued by a tummy I have not been able to get rid of.
On Thursday it was a typical summer day in San Francisco: cold and foggy. I ran some errands and wore my NYDJ jeans (cheetah print), and my new-ish Sandra Betzina coat. Fall in San Francisco often has gorgeous weather, and we are starting to have some, as you can see in today's photos where I am wearing my Marcy pants and Burberry-inspired shirt!

I have started my next project. It's a top and I have spent hours altering the pattern, as I want to retain elements of the pattern, but I want a different shape, not unlike the changes I made to the recent Mizono top. I was recently musing to some friends, wondering if my extensive changes affect the integrity of the design, and one (highly creative) friend said she changes every pattern she makes; she sees the commercial pattern as a starting point, only. I like that interpretation!

Today I wore this outfit to my wonderfully funky church and then to a blogger meetup. I am also entering it into Visible Monday, so no sewing for me today. Have a great week, everyone!

Swamp Green Mizono Top - Vogue 1246

It's not a coat!

I had an interesting double-sided fabric in a murky green color (swamp green!) that is, roughly, the color of my eyes. It features thin blue and burgundy ribbons inserted in rows. On one side of the fabric, the ribbons appear inside the circles; on the other side of the fabric, the ribbons appear in the background. I'm not sure which side is intended to be the right side and I can't figure out how this fabric was made. It was a fairly crisp fabric, until I washed and dried it, when it became wrinkled and gauze-like. It's a fairly fragile fabric and, I think that it is all (or mostly) costton.

Closeup of both sides of the fabric

It took me awhile to figure out what I wanted to do with it, but I finally decided to make it into this Lynn Mizono pattern, Vogue 1246, view A. Views A and B are quite different. View A has a modified-mandarin neckline that appealed to me, and sleeves have a very cool hem detail where there is a slit and one pointy corner is pulled up and over the other and fastened with a button and buttonhole. It is designed to be a wrap top with ties and it has an A-line shape that is quite wide through waist and even wider through the hips and hem. There are deep, asymmetric slits in both side seams. There are 8 mitered corners - four at the side seam hems and 2 on each sleeve hem.

Because I am busty, I find wrap tops annoying to wear, so I decided to convert the pattern to a button front. The size 8 (the smallest size) has a finished bust measurement of 44", so I cut out a size 8 (smaller than my usual size 10) and did a vertical-only FBA of 1-1/4", as I didn't need additional width.

Before removing 8" through the waist and 12" through the hips. (I am also wearing some older Style Arc pants that are now too big, but are sooo comfy that I kept them for knocking around.)

Once the top was mostly constructed, I decided I didn't like how loose it was through the torso, so I cut it down. From the side seams, I removed 8" at the waist and 12" at the hips which results, I think, in a more flattering look on me. Other than that, I didn't make any changes.

I also had an issue with the collar. The collar didn't lay as well on my neck as I would like. It needed to flare out a tad, but I would have had to deconstruct the top to replace the collar, so I decided to play with the styling. It lays well when folded down. It also lays better when the top is worn open, over a shell. If I make this pattern again (and I may) I will tweak the shape of the collar.

The pattern did not call for any interfacing, but I interfaced the collar and front facings. Another feature of this pattern is that all raw edges are finished. The shoulder seams are sewn with French seams. The side seams are folded under and stitched down, which I did by hand. The neckline and armscye seams are covered with self made bias binding. It makes for a very nice finish.

The top closes with 7 chunky, burgundy-colored buttons from Britex - 5 down the front, and one on each sleeve.

I like this top! I especially like the fit through the upper chest, which required almost no tweaking. I narrowed the shoulders by 5/8" which is far less than usual for a Vogue pattern. And I didn't shorten the sleeves at all, and they are perfect, also unusual for a Vogue. I wonder if it's because I made a size 8 and I am usually making a larger size...

I also love the sleeves with the unusual hem. The pattern is worth buying for the sleeve alone.

Here's a question for you. I have styled it differently in the next three photos. Which do you think is the best way for me to wear it?

Worn open over a shell Worn closed, collar up Worn closed, collar folded down. (It was breezy and foggy!)

Thanks for all of your feedback on my old, but classic, Montana jacket! I can't say what I will be making next, because I often change my mind at the last minute, but maybe a skirt or pants!

Flash from the Past - Vogue 2853

I am joining with Patti and the other fabulous ladies of Visible Monday!

Yesterday I went shopping in Union Square with DD1, who (among other things) wanted to buy a birthday gift for DD2. DD2's birthday isn't until February, but she will be in Ecuador or Thailand or some such country on her actual birthday, so DD1 is thinking ahead.

DD1 took this picture in Yerba Buene Gardens in downtown San Francisco. I am wearing the first tailored jacket I ever made, back in 1984 or '85, when I took tailoring from Ronda Chaney at Cañada College. I am also wearing my Barb pants (gee, I wear these a lot! I need to make more...) and a tank purchased from Uniqlo. My necklace is a fabulous art piece I bought in Lititz, Pennsylvania on my East Coast blog tour of 2011.

The pattern is Vogue 2853, a Claude Montana jacket. The jacket is fairly conventional, with two welt pockets, a notched collar, and set in sleeves. The interesting twist is the contrasting trim at the upper collar, the sleeve hems, and triangular appliques on the shoulders. The plaid cashmere fabric was from Britex, the contrast is green pig leather that I mail ordered, and the lining is a scrumptious, beefy silk charmeuse from Thai Silks. It was in this class that I first learned that I have narrow shoulders, as I still remember my dismay that I had to chop off the tips of the triangular points to accommodate my narrow shoulder width. (In the end, it was fine!)

The jacket also features a Spanish Snap buttonhole. Ronda Chaney worked, way back when, with Roberta Carr, who later published this technique in her book and video. At the time I'd never even heard of a Spanish Snap buttonhole, but it's a great technique.

When I made this jacket in the 80s, I weighed approximately 130lbs. I didn't wear the jacket much before I outgrew it and it's been in a closet for years. About a year ago, DD1 spied it and tried it on. She loved the retro feel and asked if she could abscond with it to college. I wasn't quite ready for it to become college wear, but I told her I'd think it over.

Recently I started thinking about the jacket again. I now weigh 125lbs (40 lbs lost since last October), less than I did when I made the jacket, but the weight is distributed differently, so I was a bit nervous about actually trying it on. When I got dressed for my outing with DD1, I decided that I would attempt to wear it, and I tried to find clothes that fit me and would coordinate with the colors in the jacket. (I can see I need new basics in a wider variety of colors!)

After I was dressed and ready to go, I retrieved the jacket from the back of the closet and, cautiously, slipped it on, prepared for it not to fit me and already planning an alternative outfit.

It fit!

It felt so weird to wear this yesterday, but it's so soft, comfy, and luxurious. In fact, my first stop was to Britex to buy buttons for my current project. As I entered the store, on the first floor where the woolens are located, I found myself staring up at the ceiling-high fabric stacks, wondering if they still have a similar fabric and thinking about my mom, who was diagnosed with the cancer that killed her while I was taking the tailoring class.

DD1 noticed my jacket right away yesterday and said, "Hey, that's the jacket I wanted!"

She may have to wait a bit longer. ;)

Miscellaneous Fun Stuff

When it comes to designing clothing, there are two basic approaches.

Pattern drafters work in two-dimensional space, on flat paper. This method for creating patterns uses simple math and requires some visualization skills to map from 2D paper to a 3D body. This approach is right up my alley. I have an engineering mind. I love math and am very comfortable in 2D space. In middle school, I even took (regular) engineering drafting classes, where I was one of two girls in a sea of boys.

Then there is the more sculptural approach of draping. In this approach, you drape fabric on a dress form or (if you are lucky) a person. To me, this is the sexy side of garment design. You can achieve effects in draping that would be impossible to figure out by pure pattern drafting alone. And, of course, as the rectangular shaped girl who longed for the Audrey Hepburn waist, and the girl with thin, plain "dishwater brown" hair that wanted long luscious red or black locks, I have always loved the idea of draping and wished that I had that sort of artistic mind. Back when I was taking classes at Cañada College, I took a full year of pattern drafting, but they didn't offer draping. (They do now!)

I have done some very limited draping on my body. For example, when I made my wedding dress, I draped parts of the bodice. Every time I fit a bust dart on my body, that is a form of draping. But it would be soooo much fun to do some real draping. (Of course, to do that I would need a dress form in my shape, but that's another matter.)

Anyway, Laurence King Publishing informed me about a new draping book that will be published in a few weeks. The book, Draping, by Karolyn Kiisel, looks intriguing. (And Laurence King certainly publishes some very impressive titles.) No one has offered me a free copy, but I have ordered one from Amazon. And I have signed up for a one-night class at Apparel Arts (and hosted by Britex) where Karolyn Kiisel shows how to draft an Audrey Hepburn dress. (I paid for that, too.)

I'm mentioning it in case any local peeps want to join me. The cost is $25, which seems fairly reasonable for the one-night event on September 19th. The following pic is clickable and takes you to the book on Amazon.

Artistry in Fashion

And, don't forget, Artistry in Fashion is coming on September 28th! I had to miss it last year so I am really ready to go. (That link takes you to a page where you can print out a $1 coupon against admission, though I don't mind paying full price because it's a reasonable $10 and it benefits their scholarship fund.) The guest speaker is Sandra Ericson of the Center for Pattern Design. They have been posting pictures from some of the vendors on their Facebook page and I can't wait!

Meetup

Last night I met up with BadMomGoodMom and Jilly Be for some vittles and tea in Hayes Valley (near downtown SF). (BadMomGoodMom already blogged about it.) Lots of good conversation ensued and I even met BadDad, who met up with us for a second round of dinner. BadMomGoodMom, a theoretical physicist who doesn't care for one of JillyBe's and my favorite TV shows, The Big Bang Theory, wanted us to make sure to mention that not ALL theoretical physicists are nerdy geeks and can, in fact, be pretty sexy. Point taken, though I personally am pretty geeky and relate to geeky types. ;)

I am trying to do some sewing this weekend, but I will be taking some time off today to shop with DD1. Originally my kids wanted to go to Golden Gate Park today to ride the surrey bicycles, but this is the weekend of the Outside Lands festival, one of the biggest musical events in the country. I am staying far far away from that part of town!

I hope you have a good one!

Pleated Pewter Raincoat - Vogue 8934

A note about Pam Erny.

The weather here in San Francisco, at least in my little micro climate, has been very fall like: foggy, overcast, chilly, and drizzly. I decided I was ready to make a raincoat! This pattern, Vogue 8934, is Marcy Tilton's new coat pattern which came out a couple weeks ago.

This pattern has a fairly simple silhouette with some nice features. It has a nice stand-up collar and 8 pleats at the hem to pull in the fullness. Another appreciated feature is that the pattern includes an optional lining - I didn't use it on this raincoat, but I could see using it on a wool version.

I had an unusual, double sided, pleated fabric that I wanted to use. It is matte black on one side - the black really absorbs light. The other side is a glittery pewter color. I decided to use the pewter on the outside.

I chose a size small, because the finished measurement for the bust is 44" and my bust is 41". I didn't want to add width, so I did a vertical-only FBA, intending to sew a dart in the side seam. The pattern tissue came to my knee, so I added 6" in length.

Because the fabric is highly pleated, I treated it as a knit and stabilized the shoulder seams and neckline with twill tape. I finished the inside seams by hand, as I didn't want to top-stitch this very sproingy fabric.

I also didn't want to sew buttonholes in this fabric, so I used 4 size 24 snaps from SnapSource in Antique Silver. I also decided not to use the inseam or patch pockets - I wanted to interrupt the columnar design as little as possible - so I put one of my 3D bellows pockets on the inside; it's made from a lining-type fabric with embroidery along one selvedge. I used this same fabric on the hem and the sleeves.

These inside bellows pockets are becoming my trademark!

I intentionally left the sleeves long so I could fold them back and show the reverse side of the fabric. I also sewed the inside collar and the inside front bands so that the black side would be visible when the front is worn open.

I didn't want to use fusible interfacing on this fabric, and the only sew-in interfacing I had on hand was too stiff, so I interfaced the collar and front bands with black silk organza.

I changed the order of construction around so that I could finish the side seams up last. I sewed the underarm seam and about one foot of the side seam (at the hem) early on, so that I could hem both, but I saved the rest of the side seams. I did this because I like to place the darts at the very end. At this point I noticed that I could ease the dart fullness in with this stretchy fabric, so I avoided having any darts. This is typically how I treat an FBA in a knit.

I didn't follow the instructions for hemming the sleeves. Instead I used the same technique used on the hem. This involves attaching a bias strip and turning to the inside. This gives a neat finish and lets more of the black side of the fabric show when I fold up the sleeves.

The coat is a little longer than I intended. I added extra length that I wanted, but the pleated fabric relaxed a bit and it ended up a bit longer. I don't mind this at all. Also, I narrowed the shoulders by 1-1/2", which is typical for me in a Vogue pattern. I checked the shoulders several times before attaching the sleeves and I stabilized the shoulder seams with twill tape. However, once I got the sleeves on and had hand finished the seam allowance, I realized that the fabric had relaxed a bit, despite the twill tape. The shoulders are a bit wider than I intended, but not so much so that I wanted to rip things apart to fix it.

Conclusion:

I loooove this pattern! It's simple, but the collar is perfect. I am not long-necked, but it's just the right height and it doesn't choke you at all. It slightly bows out in a pleasing way in the pleated fabric, but it is designed to stand up straight. I also love the darts at the hem. I finished the coat a couple days ago and have worn it every day since then. I feel so chic and elegant wearing it.

A note about Pam Erny:

Pam Erny, owner and sole employee of Fashion Sewing Supply had a very scary health crisis last week and ended up in hospital. She is now home and recovering. You may know that she sells some of the *best* quality interfacings around. She now has some expensive health bills to pay, so please consider replenishing your stash and ordering some of her interfacings. (I am not kidding, they are superior.) She may be a bit slower than usual in filling her orders, but this will help out a tremendously worthy small business and one of the nicest people around.

I hope you have a great weekend!

Collar open

ACC Craft Fair 2013

Attending the ACC Craft Fair is becoming an annual tradition for me! What an inspiring event, with vendors from across the U.S. who make such beautiful items. Plus, people watching is also fun because creatives show up in force. I went with my friend Sue, and we had lunch at of my favorite nearby eateries, Greens.

But mostly the point of post is that I'm also participating in Visible Monday and Hat Attack! I discovered both of these via Margy, who is having a lot of fun with these blog participation events.

I originally blogged the Geisha duster when I made it in June. I am wearing my Trippens, which I call my German Geisha shoes. Despite walking and standing all day, these are as comfy as flat shoes. The hat is a bit hard to see, but is a cloche style with lots of sewn-in pleats. It was perfect for the chilly, foggy, San Francisco day!

You can't see, but I am also wearing my Style Arc Barb pants, which I am wearing soooo much! (I need to make more of these.) I am wearing a black pleated sleeveless shell that I purchased at a consignment store in Pacific Heights.

Sue, who is wearing one of her gorgeous hand made, nuno felted, eco dyed scarves. She sells these but hasn't got her website up yet. She will have a booth at Artistry in Fashion (on 9/28) again this year and will be selling both her hats and her scarves.
Lunch at Greens in Fort Mason

I have started another sewing project. Surprise, surprise, it's another coat. I am very busy this weekend, and this requires some hand sewing, so it may take me awhile to finish. (Do I need a coat intervention?)