What happened?!?

Yup, it's the same blog! I have been working on the FabricMart challenge, but I needed a little break, so I changed up the blog a bit. A bit of de-cluttering was in order.

The break is over now. Back to the machine!

It's a Contest!

More than a week ago I tentatively entered a sewing contest. I entered the FabricMart Fabricista Fashion Challenge. I did not know if I would be selected, so I kept mum about it.

I just learned that I am one of the ten sewists selected to compete.

This could be a little intense, especially given my work schedule.

They chose the following picture (off my blog) for their post. It was taken before my weight loss.

I assume they chose this picture because it uses a gorgeous Armani fabric that I purchased from FabricMart.

But this project features two gorgeous coatings from FM:

And this is a wool I also bought from them:

And I think I like either of those selfies a bit better. lol. (If you are new to the term "selfie", it is a picture of oneself.)

The first challenge, which begins today (though it will have to begin after work for me), is the following:

First Challenge: Recycled Challenge

You have one week to complete this challenge.

The challenge: Make a garment out of recycled materials or materials that would have otherwise been thrown away, such as scraps from your sewing room or grocery bags. You can reconstruct a garment to make it more fashion forward and utilize unconventional items to add accessories and embellishments. Be creative!

This challenge will be judged first by the Fabricistas on creativity, functionality, personality, and fit.

Then our readers will get a chance to vote for their favorite design.

This is particularly ironic, as just yesterday I was reading Marcy Tilton's blog post about the fall cleanup of her studio. I asked her, in the comments, what she does with scraps, as I could be buried alive under mine. (And I just now see that she answered me!) I am too embarrassed to even take a picture of my scrap stash, but it consists of many bags under my kitchen table.

And then some.

So this challenge is quite exciting, as I first get to do some excavating. I hope it doesn't trigger any allergies. :)

By the way, I am very excited that my friend, Peggy, is also participating in this challenge. I admire her work and her free spirited style. We met through my blog (I don't believe that she was blogging at the time) a couple years ago and then she invited me out to Pennsylvania for a road trip. Our entire itinerary was planned around a pilgrimage to Fabric Mart! (I also extended invitations to Carolyn and Noile, which is how we met in person! All four of us had so much fun shopping at FabricMart.)

How fitting. :)

So stay tuned. I will be posting the projects I make for this competition. When it's time to vote, I hope you participate!

Road Testing the Coverstitch Machine - Butterick 5954

This pattern came out in the recent batch of Butterick patterns, on August 23rd. I liked this top very much, but I knew I'd have to customize it a bit for my aesthetic. I particularly liked views C and D, which feature an overlapped front that is attached only at the shoulder.

Another reason this was a great pattern to use is, with that long hem, it gave me a great chance to use my new coverstitch machine!

I haven't been sewing a lot of knits of late, but I have quite a healthy stash of knit fabrics, so it was easy to grab this red and black stripe knit. I can't remember where I purchased this fabric, as it was more than a year ago, but it was (I think) at the brick and mortar Harts Fabrics in Santa Cruz. Maybe. It also might have been Stone Mountain and Daughter.

This fabric features textural stripes in addition to the color stripes. Some stripes are created with a rib knit. And then, sprinkled over the entire fabric are small (seemingly) randomly placed tucks. This texture makes it a bit difficult to hem evenly, as the ribbed stripes cause the plain knit stripes to "blouse" out. I like textured fabrics and this has a great texture, but also present a bit of a challenge.

The pattern features a huge swing hem, which begins just below the bust. The swing emanates from the side seams and the back seam - there is no swing at center front, which is good, because it would otherwise have a maternity effect. You can see what I mean by looking at the pattern pieces:

Front
Back

I removed all of the swing. My bust is bigger than my hips, so a straight column is enough swing for me.

The top is designed to be close-fitted at the bust. A medium (the size I sewed up) is designed for a 34"-36" bust. The finished top measures 35-1/2" at the bust, so this is designed to have (close to) zero ease. My bust is 40" and my upper bust is 36" - I always choose a pattern size based on my upper bust measurement and then I alter from there. I like my knit tops to gently hug the bust, so I like negative ease. This knit is quite stretchy, so the only FBA I did was to add 1" to the vertical at the bust line. (I really could have skipped it, since the hemline is uneven, but I do like putting a little extra fabric at the bust to go up and over the fullness.

(For more information on this subject, see my posts on FBAs in Knits - Advice for the Uber Busty and Vertical Only FBA.)

Here are the pattern pieces after my alterations. (Yes, I should have used a dry iron on these to flatten them out).

Front, with 1" vertical-only FBA
Back

Other alterations:

Besides removing the swing hem and doing a vertical-only FBA, I made a few other modifications:

• When sewing up the top, I removed 1" from the waist at the side seams, tapering to the bust and hips, for a total reduction of 4" at the waist. I like a bit of shaping in my columns. ;)
• Since I removed the shaping from CB, I cut the back piece on the fold.
• This is a droopy knit fabric. (I love Margy's explanation of droopy vs drapey.) I did not want a limp, lifeless collar, which can be a Sad Thing, so I used a technique that Marcy Tilton introduced in a pattern she released several years back, Vogue 8582. The pattern piece for the cowl is rather generous and looks like this: To construct, you first sew the side seams together to form a tube.
  
  You then fold the collar, wrong sides together, so that the CF mark on the top layer meets the CF mark on the bottom layer, and the seam allowance (S/A) on the top layer meets the S/A on the bottom layer. (Sorry if this is as clear as mud, but if you've ever made a cowl neck, or a turtleneck, it's quite straightforward.)
  
  What I did differently was to introduce a twist. So, after folding the collar so that the upper CF mark met the lower CF mark, I then moved the top mark over by 3". You then continue to pin the edges together so that there is a 3" offset between the layers. This introduces a twist in the collar. It gives the collar a bit more body and causes it to lay nicely on the neck, especially in a limp fabric. Here is what the collar looked like after it was pinned:
• I also wanted to cut the collar so that the stripes were vertical. The conventional way to cut it (and the way the pattern layout suggests) would have put the stripes on the horizontal. This would be nice, too, but wasn't what I wanted.
• I did not narrow the shoulder, which suggests that they might be on the narrow side. I would have narrowed them by 1/2" or so, but I forgot that to do this, I should also narrow the shoulder on the side of the front that has the drape. In the end, I decided it was fine, but it's something to think about. (I usually narrow the shoulders in the construction phase, but this would have been easiest to do at the pattern stage.)
• Finally, if I had followed the suggested layout for cutting, it would have placed the stripe horizontally on the sleeves. I definitely didn't want to continue the horizontal line on the sleeves, which would have the effect of making me look wider, so I cut them with the stripe going vertically up and down the sleeve. If I had cut them the suggested way, I could have made full length sleeves, but I only had enough fabric for 3/4 length sleeves (from view A) in the vertical direction. I wanted 3/4 length sleeves anyway, so I didn't mind.

The Hem:

The entire hem is sewn in one fell swoop (from shoulder to shoulder) and it's quite long. As I mentioned, this fabric is rather challenging to hem evenly, with it's different knitted textures, but the coverstitch machine handled it like a champ! I didn't even have to change the black thread to another color. ;)

Thanks, again, Susanne!!

Closeup of collar and coverstitched hems.

Conclusion:

I like this top! We've had some wonderfully warm San Francisco weather the last few days (usually September is one of the very nicest months in SF) but today cooled off a tad, so I decided to wear my new top. I met up with my eldest daughter and we went to church. I can tell you that this top holds up well to active dancing, clapping, and drumming. It did not open up to display the goods. Later, when I was walking outside, a gust of wind caught the flap and just a tiny triangle of belly showed, but it wasn't bad. If you are concerned, you can tack it, or pin it, but I don't think I will bother.

If Burberry Made Sarongs

• Sarongs
• New Sewing Machine!
• Leaving

Sarongs

My daughter, the 18-year-old who is traveling the globe this year, asked me to make her a sarong - something that could be worn but also be used as a towel. She has to fit all of her gear into a small-ish backpack and it has to work for multiple countries with a variety of climates, so things have to be multipurpose.

Stoked

She asked me to do this about five days before she was slated to get on a plane.

At first I was excited by the idea of using one of two patterns suggested by sewing pal Karla Kizer: the Style Arc Fabulous Freda, or Burda 7207.

However, my daughter really wanted a simple rectangle, so I had to simplify.

I didn't have time to shop for fabric (I've been swamped at work), which meant that I had to use my stash. Most sarongs I've seen are made from fun floral prints. I do not own floral print fabrics. After puzzling it over, I did some stash diving and came up with two fabrics that would work.

One fabric is (I believe) a cotton rayon blend. It has a nice drape and is reversible. The other is a cotton double gauze. I love double gauze fabrics, which are also reversible. The best quality double gauze fabrics are from Japan, but I own several pieces made in China that, while not the same quality as the Japanese double gauze fabrics, have a soft drape. I sacrificed a fuchsia double gauze fabric to the cause.

Both fabrics are plaid on one side. The double gauze has a check on the reverse side. The light blue fabric is striped on the reverse side.

My friend Heather told me that she likes her sarongs made with the dimensions of 1-5/8 yards by 45".

I hemmed three rectangles in all. I made the first from double gauze and, once it was completed, I realized I had cut it out to the wrong dimensions - it was 1-5/8 yards by 36". Luckily, I had enough fabric to make another. In the end, I was glad to keep the smaller one. I've been wearing it around the house as a skirt and it's so soft and comfy!

It amuses me to think that my daughter may be the only person circumnavigating the globe sporting a plaid sarong. ;)

New Sewing Machine!

A week ago I received an email from a local sewist who reads my blog. She was cleaning out her sewing room and offered me a cover stitch machine that she no longer needed. Was I interested?

Was I!!!

Susanne J and I planned to meet at the fabric store over Labor Day weekend. We had so much fun chatting and enriching our already-bloated stashes. (We definitely enabled each other.) She gifted me with a Bernette 009DCC. It's a beauty!

This machine does both a cover stitch and a chain stitch. I didn't want to un-thread the black thread from my serger, so I ordered several cones of black Maxilock thread from Wawak. I was impressed by how quickly my order arrived - my Tuesday order arrived on Thursday, using regular shipping.

On Thursday night I spent some time figuring out how to thread the machine for the cover stitch. My first project was to hem some RTW yoga pants that DD2 wanted to take on her trip.

My next project (already completed) is a knit top. I was excited to road test this baby!

I usually hem knits by hand, but this is going to be fun! Thanks so much, Susanne!!

Leaving

DD2 and I spent some time playing on Friday afternoon into the evening. She got on a plane early this morning. I am not sure when I will be able to speak to her next, as the students leave their cell phones behind once they leave the U.S. I am going to miss the rascal!

Here are a few pics from our Friday outing.

Giveaway Winners!

And the giveaway winners are:

A Style Arc Pattern

CynthiaCC of The Creative Cafe!

Set of 3 Striped Zippers

Alison of Acorn Cottage!

Set of 3 Customized Black Zippers

Terry of Firefly Designs!

Congratulations, everyone!

Winners, please contact me via email (in my profile) with your mailing address. Cynthia, I will also need to know the specific Style Arc pattern and size you desire.

I have been very busy not sewing. I have a big deadline at work, and when I'm not working, I've been helping DD2 prepare for her big trip. She just got her last shot (for Yellow Fever) and is quaffing her typhoid meds. She's started her blog. This blogging mama is quite proud. ;)

I have sewing plans, but no current projects. I also have a new (to me) machine, but more about that later!

Shoulder Talk

Thanks so much for all of your feedback on my jacket!

Recently, I have received questions (some via email) about narrowing a shoulder, similar to this comment from MaryMary68 on my last post:

The jacket looks great!

Please, please, please do a tutorial on narrowing shoulders. Or link us up. Or refer the book you used to learn this technique.

I'm seriously struggling! I see this topic frequently on PR and know I'm not the only one.

I sometimes hesitate to share my particular alterations, as I am not a fit expert. I am pretty good at fitting me, but I do not see myself as a fit expert in general. A lot of my particular alterations are things that I just figured out, so they most likely do not represent what a professional pattern drafter (or other alterations expert) would suggest.

Given this disclaimer, let me tell you how I deal with this situation. My shoulders are, apparently, narrow. I took a proportions class once with Sandra Ericson, where we traced our shape onto a giant piece of paper (by standing against a wall in bare feet and working with a partner). Once we did this, we overlaid proportion lines on our silhouette to determine how we varied from "classic" body proportions. You can read more about the workshop here.

What I learned from this exercise that surprised me is that my shoulders are not particularly narrow. They are quite in proportion to the rest of my body.

Another interesting note is that when I sew a Style Arc pattern, I only have to remove maybe 1/2" from the shoulder. When I sew a Vogue (or one of the Big 4) I have to remove 1-2". Before I lost weight, and was sewing larger sizes, I typically had to remove closer to 2". Now that I've lost weight and am sewing smaller sizes, I typically remove closer to 1". If you sew from these patterns, you already know that the pattern companies think that, if you weigh more, that you are taller, have longer arms, wider shoulders, and so on, resulting in more alterations unless you are taller with longer arms and wider shoulders. ;)

But, as far as the pattern companies are concerned, I do have a narrow shoulder. So, how do I narrow a shoulder?

There is a pivot and slide technique. I am aware of it, but have not learned it.

The "technique" I use (if you can call it that) is a direct result of taking a tailoring class at Cañada College back in the 80s. I remember well when I got to that point in my jacket and learned, much to my chagrin, that the shoulder of the jacket was too wide. I was making a Claude Montana jacket with triangular suede appliques on the shoulder. I had gotten to the point where I had carefully attached the triangular appliques. Ronda Chaney, teacher extraordinaire, was about to hang the sleeves onto the jacket while I was wearing it.

Ronda told me that I would have to narrow the shoulder, meaning that I would have to chop off the tips of my carefully applied triangles. I was mortified and worried that the aesthetic design of the jacket was compromised.

Ronda marked where the sleeve should go. I cut it down and attached the sleeves.

Pshaw. Such drama! It was fine.

Here are the steps I follow:

• I get to the point where the shoulder seam is sewn and I need to attach the sleeves.
• Try the garment on and mark the desired shoulder placement with a pin.
• Take the garment off and lay it flat. I cut off the excess fabric, tapering to nothing approximately where the notches are - where the armhole seam goes under the arm. I do this for the front and back, so what is removed looks like a sliver of new moon.
The sliver that I removed from the Anne Klein jacket - the back is on top and the front is on bottom. Note that I remove more width from the front of the garment than the back.
Actually, this looks more like a Eucalyptus leaf!
• I save the bits I cut off. I keep them in the plastic gallon bag with the pattern and samples of the fabric. If I make a pattern multiple times, I cut those slivers off the pattern, too.

The next question is, what about the top of the sleeve?

First, I always cut my sleeves at the very end of the process of making a garment. I have short arms, so I never cut the sleeves until the shoulders have been adjusted.

I pin the sleeve hem up on the pattern tissue and pin the underarm seam so that it's shaped like a tube. (For a 2-piece sleeve, I pin all the seams together.) I put the garment back on and pin the paper sleeve to the top of the shoulder with a single pin to check the sleeve length. (Note that I am not checking the fit of the armhole sleeve on the body, I do that while the garment is flat on the table.) I shorten the sleeve pattern, if needed.

Another interesting note. When I weighed more and was sewing larger sized patterns, I almost always had to shorten the sleeves by 1-2". Now that I am sewing smaller sizes, I sometimes don't have to shorten the sleeves at all, or I shorten them 1/2-1".

I guess the bottom line, is that if you are sewing Big 4 patterns, and the shoulders are too wide and the sleeves are too long, and you hate pattern alterations, just lose weight. ;)

But to be serious, another reason to cut out the sleeves later, is that once the shoulder is modified, you can then check to make sure that the sleeve will fit into the armscye. In a set-in sleeve, the top of the sleeve is drafted to be larger than the armscye, usually about 1-1/2" larger, though it can vary. This is why, of course, setting in a sleeve can be a bit of a pain - because you are squeezing a larger amount of fabric into a smaller area. (If you want to see a very compelling, opposing view to this accepted bit of drafting wisdom, see Kathleen Fasanella's post on Sleeve Cap Ease is Bogus.)

I compare the top of the sleeve to the armhole. Usually it is fine - in fact, it is pretty much always just fine. If there is still a question as to whether this will work, I cut a sleeve out of a muslin (or test) fabric, sew it up and baste to the garment, to be triply sure of the fit.

Once I am confident of the armhole fit and the sleeve length, I cut the sleeves out of the fashion fabric, and proceed.

You can see why I sew half dressed. I do lots of trying on and tweaking. For me, this is key to achieving a good fit, especially when using new patterns, but I even tweak the fit of TnT (Tried 'n True) patterns.

This is another reason I love Style Arc patterns. I find that they fit better through the upper chest and shoulder area. I still need to tweak the fit, but much less than for the Big 4 patterns.

But YMMV (your mileage may vary).

I am interested in hearing from other folks who narrow shoulders. What have you tried? What works? What doesn't work? Please share!

Red Alligator Anne Klein Jacket - Vogue 1293

It's done at last!

This jacket has been a long time coming:

• I bought the fabric in May, both for myself and for Margy.
• I started sewing it in early June.
• I then realized that I needed the correct interfacing and a custom zipper. In mid June, I ordered the zipper from Zipperstop and the interfacing from Pam Erny (Fashion Sewing Supply).
• I had to wait for the things I ordered, so I had to put the project aside. (Never a good thing, since I am then very likely to get distracted.)
• The interfacings and zipper arrived, but there was a slight problem. I ordered the zipper by phone. I ordered the zipper to be 19.5" long and a donut-shaped zipper pull, to match the 4" zippers I purchased locally that also came with donut-shaped zipper pulls. I am pretty sure that I asked them to put the zipper pull ON the zipper, but the order was not in writing, so I couldn't verify. The zipper pull was not on the zipper.
• Rats. This meant that I had to change out the zipper pull and I was not eager to do it, though I ordered some zipper stops from ZipperStop, so that I could do so. They arrived some time later, but the project continued to sit.
• Sometime in July (maybe late July), I sent Margy her piece of the same fabric. My project continued to sit.
• A couple weeks ago, Margy told me she had cut out her fabric and had started a jacket.
• OH! OH! This was the excuse I needed to get mine back out and finish it up. I suggested to Margy that we do another of our little mini challenges and she readily agreed.
• I searched and was lucky to find all the bits and pieces and supplies, which were kind of all over the place. Phew.
• I started by changing the zipper pull. I had not done this before. It's not technically difficult to do, but it requires some brute strength and some care so as not to shred the zipper tape.
• Finally, I was back on track with the jacket, but Margy was having some technical difficulties. She had ordered some special zippers and then realized she did not have the quantity she had ordered. She ordered more, but there was a delay of about a week getting them shipped.
• I didn't mind the delay, since work has also been rather demanding lately. But I finally finished my jacket last Wednesday night and was not in a rush to take pics and blog it.
• Margy received her zippers on Friday and hit the sewing room hard. She finished sewing the jacket Saturday - yesterday.
• Phew!

The pattern I used for this jacket is Vogue 1293 - an Anne Klein design with some very nice vertical seaming. The jacket front consists of three vertical pieces and the jacket back consists of three vertical pieces and then there is a shoulder yoke. The collar is also very nice. It folds back and there is a separate pattern piece for the collar stand, but it doesn't extend to the CF - it's just in the back and it's very much a RTW collar style. The jacket is not lined, but I drafted a lining pattern. The jacket features a hidden button closure, but I switched it to a zippered closure. I also added three zippered pockets and zippers on the sleeve hems, for a total of six zippers in the jacket.

Collar stand with contrasting top stitching

Supplies:

• The fabric is a very interesting polyester (I believe) that is crinkled and embossed with a mock croco texture.
• The lining is a very cool fabric I purchased over two years ago. I used it to line another garment, a Sandra Betzina jacket, but I had some of this fabric left over and I was able to squeeze out this jacket. This fabric was designed to be sewn up as scarves.
• I used scraps of black silk organza to make the windows for the zippers.
• The 19.5" separating zipper and donut-shaped zipper pull were from ZipperStop.
• The five 4" zippers with donut-shaped pulls were from Fabrix.
• I used scraps of solid black lining for the zipper gussets on the sleeve hems.
• I top-stitched the entire jacket with contrasting black Gutterman top-stitching thread.

Sleeve unzipped

Alterations and Modifications:

• This is a rather fitted jacket. I started with a size 14.
• A standard princess-seam FBA, adding 1" in width.
• Converted the hidden button closure to a zipper closure. I extended the zipper all the way to the tip of the collar and ended it where the jacket angles outward at the hem.
• I drafted a lining pattern.
• I replaced the pockets with three angled zipper pockets, two on the left and one on the right. The one on the right is positioned vertically between the two on the left.
• I drafted a center back facing piece. (I hate it when patterns, even unlined patterns, don't include this.)
• I narrowed the shoulder by 1".

The Jacket Lining

Notice the lining?

If you look at the scarf fabric pic, you'll see that there is a red stripe separating each scarf.

When I drafted the lining, I added a pleat for wearing ease at CB.

And, of course, I placed the red stripe at CB to maintain maximum symmetry.

The consequence of this was rather... interesting. I can't help it, but it reminds me of the female anatomy.

I am too genteel to be more explicit, at least in writing, where it can be used against me.

Sorry I brought it up. :)

The Result

Both Margy and I experienced some difficulties sewing this fabric, though we are not sure why. The fabric itself was pretty easy to sew and easy to iron, but each of us experienced some fitting weirdness. Margy thinks the fabric might be at fault, especially since she made her jacket pattern before with a more challenging fabric, and did not have such problems.

I don't know... it's a mystery.

I am pretty happy with the jacket. It replaces the red jacket I made two years ago that no longer fits and I'm glad that I was able to use the last of this great lining, which makes me very happy. I will admit that, when I first put the jacket on with the sleeves in place, I looked in the mirror, and watched all of my dangling zipper pulls. I was wearing a very funky pair of wide-legged pants (that are really too big for me, but I enjoy wearing them at home), and my first thought was that I looked like circus ringleader.

But the next day, I tried the jacket on again, in better lighting and with different pants. I decided it would be ok. So if you do think I look like a circus ringleader, be kind and do not tell me. ;)

Make sure to check out Margy's jacket, made with the same fabric!

Collar up
Collar down and zipped. I couldn't bear to cut the bougainvillaea out of the pic!
Worn open
So.Many.Dangly.Zippers.

Hat Attack Addendum

I only own one summer hat! (I'll have to rectify that.) I love this straw hat, which I purchased second hand. The label says Laurel Fenenga, San Francisco. When I bought the hat a year ago, I googled this name. She is, apparently, out of business. This hat folds up to be perfectly flat. I love that!

It was sunny today (eventually) but not warm. Please check out Style Crone's Hat Attack #2!