Yarn Crawl

Two Days in a Row - Kwik Sew 3542

I can't believe I'm blogging two days in a row! I guess it felt good to be back in touch with everyone again.

Here is an outfit I made for the ASG's Dress a Joplin Child for the First Day of School initiative. I really enjoyed making this pattern. I may even actually (gasp) write a pattern review later!

Pattern: Kwik Sew 3542

Size: L (girls' size 10) - same as McKenna - I plan to make her a few of these for Christmas and then cut it down to a M to make a few for her younger sister Mia

Mods: I eliminated the "modesty panel" triangle as it had to be attached with a snap on the inside and I thought it looked kind of goofy. She can wear a cami or T-shirt under it if it's an issue, which I'm not sure it would be at this age (at least it wasn't for me then!) I also coverstitched the bottom hem instead of doing a single stitched hem, and did a rolled hem on the sleeves. Originally I had planned to just serge finish the sleeve edges as per the pattern and then turn them under and stitch, but my machine was accidentally already set on rolled hem mode and I also liked the way it looked so decided to leave it as is. I think the black hems cohesively tie the black background of the main fabric to the contrast hot pink tie-dye fabric.

front with ties hanging

front, tied in back

back

flat, on the table (a little blurry)

Verdict: I really enjoyed making this pattern. It was fun and easy to follow, and I liked that as with many Kwik Sew patterns, they have a very nice way to finish the insides as well as the outsides, for example I liked the treatment of the contrast bands. I felt it made the bands solid enough to look very professionally finished. I also liked that it only took me one evening - I started it at about 5 pm on the 4th of July and finished it by about 9 pm.

New B5147 with the Mood Fabric!!

Hi everyone, here is the newest B5147 dress I made with the suiting fabric from Mood that Carolyn picked out for me. I love it! This time I did 5/8" seam allowances on the side seams (instead of the 1/2" I did last time) as well as making the other adjustments I made before (basically cutting a 10 at the neckline and armholes and shortening from shoulder to bust and from waist to hip.) I think I am going to narrow the sides next time to be less A-line and more like the straighter version of this.

shown as I actually wore it to work, with a black silk sweater over it

close up

In other news, I got the new "express Keratin treatment" at my local salon and it has SO improved my hair texture. I didn't think I really needed it, but it makes my hair as smooth as if I flat ironed it (without flat ironing) and added so much shine. This version takes 45 minutes and lasts six weeks as opposed to the traditional kind which takes three hours and lasts three-six months. My salon gave me the treatment for free to thank me for being such a good customer (LOL, needing color touchups every three weeks will do that) and I am hooked now.

Drafting Linings for Any Garment

I just wanted to quickly share a link to an e-book I recently bought entitled The Easy Guide to Sewing Linings by Connie Long. This book is out of print but (thankfully) is still being offered in pdf format.

The new Kwik Sew 3334

jacket I'm working on

(there's that teaser photo again)

doesn't include a lining (the majority of Kwik Sew jacket patterns don't, which irks me) and so I wanted to figure out how to draft one using the existing pattern pieces. The e-book I mention above tells you EXACTLY how to do this for any garment and even how to line (or re-line) garments you already own. Since I'm so far along with this jacket (Version 1.0) already I decided not to add a lining to it, but as I expect this to be a TNT jacket pattern for me, I definitely want to do it for the next one.

Just thought I'd share!

Muslin #2 of B5147, Beautiful Blogger Award, and Anniversary

After reading all of the comments yesterday on my B5147, I decided to take an entirely new start to this and make the slightly A-line sheath version of the pattern as I hadn't yet adjusted those separate pieces and I wanted to redo the adjustments more systematically this time.

Back with nothing pinched out to shorten from shoulder to bust - excess fabric in upper back, but the waist-hip looks decent. It looks better in the next picture once the upper bodice is shortened.

Back with shoulder to bust excess pinched out - see how that makes the waist-hip section look better?

Side without anything pinched out in upper body - see upper back excess fabric

Side with excess pinched out - I think this looks good

Neck closeup without any adjustments - part will be taken care of like before by shortening to shoulder to bust; the rest should be OK once taken up by the sewing to the lining step

Front - I know the tummy part is too snug, but I think this is a length rather than a width issue as it's sitting in the wrong spot (too low) because of the above issue of the shoulder-bust being too long. However, after making that adjustment I'll check it again and may still opt to let the side seams out 1/2" each side by doing 3/8" side seams instead of 5/8".

Here's what I did to make this version:

1.) cut a "10" (bust 32.5") instead of a "12" (bust size 34) for the shoulders and armhole (last time I cut a straight "12" all around.) I continued to cut a 12 everywhere else (armhole down.)

2.) made all of the petite adjustments marked on the pattern (there is one from bust to waist and one from waist to hip) but did not yet add in the shoulder-to-bust shortening adjustment I did on the last versions

3.) was more careful about cutting out the fabric (the last version had shifted a bit but I figured it wouldn't matter much - it did as the shoulders and overall "hang" of the dress were uneven)

4.) on the darts, when doing the petite adjustments, the darts need to be redrawn because of the length change and you have to decide whether they should be narrower or wider. I didn't dramatically redraw them, but on the front fisheye darts, I took Elizabeth's suggestion and made them wider rather than narrower at the top section. On the back fisheye darts, I made them narrower. I also was very precise about sewing the darts this time around.

5.) sewed 5/8" seam allowances all around instead of doing 3/8" side seams

Here's my analysis of this muslin:

I think making the "10" in the upper body helped a bit in that it's no longer falling off my shoulders, but I still need the shoulder to bust adjustment. My back waist length is 14" so it is 2" shorter than the standard of 16" (at least I think that is the standard.) With having the 1" out from the petite adjustment marked on the pattern,

I think I only need to shorten shoulder to bust 1" instead of the 1.5" I did on the previous version. I think between making this adjustment and the natural shrinking effect of sewing the neckline to the lining, it may lay flat without any further darts, etc. I would make this shoulder-to-bust petite adjustment on both the front and the back to keep it consistent, although I'm wondering if I need as much of an adjustment in the back. I want to see what that does to lift the garment so that it eliminates the excess fabric in the upper bodice and also moves it upward a bit off the tummy and butt before I decide whether to do 3/8" side seams instead of 5/8". But I do think I will end up needing to do that as well.

(Again, I'm trying to be more disciplined about these adjustments so I'm trying to make them one at a time, kind of like the scientific method of experimentation of changing one variable at a time.) I also figured something out about adding the 3/8" to the side seams - this actually added 3/8" x 4 = 1.5" instead of the 3/8" x 2 = .75" that I was thinking as I added it to both the front and back (DUH). Even though this one is a little bit snug, it's a lot closer to being right than that loose one, and no wonder that last version was so loose after adding so much to it. A little goes a long way when multiplying it by 4.

In other news, I won the "Beautiful Blogger" award

from Kristine, one of my partners in crime at last year's Patternreview runway show at the Sewing Expo (who I will be seeing again this year in just a few weeks...which reminds me I need to mail in my garments!)

So the deal is I am supposed to share ten things about myself that people don't know about me and nominate five other people for the award. I haven't played along with blog awards in a long time, but I am trying to be less of a slacker and appreciate the great sewing and knitting community that I am so privileged to be a part of!

This is going to be a long post, I see this now.

Here's my list of ten things - I'm pretty open with everyone, so I know some of these will not come as a total surprise to some of you, but maybe there'll be something new to you here.

1. I'm more of an introvert than people think, and than I used to be. I like my quiet time and like spending time alone to get engrossed in my projects. However, sometimes I get too self-absorbed and get out of practice with interacting with other people and I need to avoid getting to that point. This NY trip reminded me that it's great to interact with other people and learn from them as well as share.

2. I need to be a better listener. I don't listen very well sometimes. Usually it is driven by nervous energy and thinking about what I'm going to say, other times it is because I go off on monologues. Usually that happens when I've spent too much time by myself recently and forgotten that other things exist beside the conversations going on in my own head with myself.

3. I actually like being in my late 30s. I've really never felt more comfortable in my own skin and known myself better. I would never want to go backwards.

4. Although I love the way I feel after running and am doing it every day now (interspersed with periods of walking within my sessions) I'm not planning to get competitive about it or do any races. I am perfectly happy to work out on the treadmill while I'm watching TV and have no desire to do anything else.

5. I am on the verge of a turning point in my career and I'm a little nervous about it. I've been very comfortable for a very long time and now the apple cart is about to be upset. I can either go in a safe direction (actually multiple safe options exist) or take a risk and I'm trying to figure out which way to go.

6. I need to be a little more focused in my energies but as part of that re-focusing, I need to be more selective about pursuing projects that I truly am passionate about. I'm sure it isn't a surprise to anyone that my energy is scattered in a million different directions and sometimes I resemble a chicken without a head. I've realized lately that my natural high energy level is a great gift that I've been blessed with and that I shouldn't squander it.

7. I need to be focused in my time commitments too. Spending time with and paying attention to the people who really "get me" and avoiding getting lost in the "noise".

8. I've cut out all artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup (as well as regular corn syrup for the most part) and transfats and I feel so.much.better. It's amazing what these additives are in. Even non-sugary breakfast cereals like SPECIAL K! I truly believe that "fake foods" (as well as out of control portion sizes) are a big driver in the increasing ill-health of the U.S and I feel passionate about it. I have gone on a mission to rid my house of this stuff and not bring any more in and I can't tell you how much better I feel. The only things I drink are water (regular and to a lesser extent, sparkling), wine, coffee and tea (and an occasional small glass of orange juice cut with Perrier.) That's it. Again, I feel great about this and it's worth reading every label and trying to make my own food wherever possible.

9. I'm a total "idea person" and not so much a finisher. I love to start stuff, but I am easily distracted and am usually all about that spark of inspiration or intuition instead of hanging in there and slogging through until something is complete. I'm trying to be a little better about this. (HENCE, this neverending muslining process....usually I would have given up long ago.)

10. I haven't been on a long vacation in two years and I'm really OK with it. At some point I want to start doing some international travel to some new places again, but right now, I'd actually rather be at home. My home has everything in it that I want or need so there's no need to leave! I never thought I'd ever say that.

OK, here's who I'm nominating for the Beautiful Blogger award and why:

1. Elizabeth of Sew A Beginner. Elizabeth is a great writer and a very precise, analytical sewist. She is determined to get things right (100%, not just the 85%-90% I usually satisfy myself with) and isn't distracted easily, unlike myself. These are traits I admire as I struggle with this.

2. Heather of Shamrock Knits. Heather was so inspired by our NYC fabric shopping trip that she fired up her blog again after a bit of a hiatus, and I'm glad she did. Despite her quiet exterior, there's a lot going on under the surface with her. She has a lot of interesting things to say.

3. Andrea of Knit-Knac. Andrea has stuck with me despite my sporadic blog reading and slackery response to her emails and phone calls, and I want her to know I appreciate that. She has a great energy about her and a positive outlook which is infectious when you're around her.

4. Jessica of Green Apples. Jessica is a very prolific sewist (and knitter, let's not forget that) and has a knack for selecting items that suit her very well and executing them perfectly, despite being fairly new to the sewing world.

5. Sheila of Sheilaz-CTK. Sheila was another person who I was blown away by when I met her in person. She's a neverending font of knowledge and practical tips and tricks to do almost anything in the crafting and non-crafting world. She seems a lot like me about just digging in and getting the job done without unnecessary hoopla or overagonizing (her stories about the use of darts come to mind) and I can relate to that.

I love so many other people and blogs, so please don't feel hurt if I didn't mention yours. These are just the ones that are "top of mind" for me now.

And finally, last but not least, today is the 15 year anniversary of my first date with my husband Jim. What a great 15 years we've had so far despite having our ups and downs. I think I finally really believe now that this will last. I look forward to many many more adventures together!

Now I am completely exhausted after writing this post, but am anxiously awaiting your thoughts!

Back in the Saddle!

I needed to make a TNT wrap dress as a confidence-builder and to get me back into sewing as I hadn't done anything for a few weeks and was feeling intimidated. Well, I am BACK!

After telling Andrea and Sheila that I posted my other KS3489 dress with rolled hems, I looked back on my blog and realized that I lied - I never posted it! I think I was in a blah mood that day or something and not feeling like blogging. I will show that one the next time I wear it (probably next week) but in the meantime here's my latest version of the dress.

front

back

close up of the sleeve rolled hem

close up of the neckline rolled hem

The fabric is the very first one I ever purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics and I finally felt inspired to cut into it, now that I have so much more knit fabric stash after Saturday's expedition! Like the last one I haven't shown yet, I eliminated the facings and did rolled hems for all the edges on my serger. A new twist on this version was adding 3/8" to the bodice front and the front skirt to avoid any need for a cami under it, which worked out really really well and I don't have to keep checking to make sure I'm not flashing people when I do stuff. The front skirt didn't necessarily need more room but I figured I should be consistent so the pieces would line up, and it's even better as the skirt crossover section now goes all the way to my left hip. No gaposis, no free shows!

Otherwise I made it the same as the previous versions - 5/8" seam allowance at the shoulders instead of 1/4" for a lazy girl's petite shoulder to bust shortening adjustment, and shortened 1" from armhole to waist.

Onward and upward! (B5147 photos to come - version 2.0 - to be posted for honest critique before I cut into my new fabric that Carolyn helped me pick out.)

I'm in the Show!

I just found out that I made the "Top 10" in both categories I entered in the Patternreview Natural Fabrics Contest so both Jim and I will be in the runway show on September 25th! I had somewhat expected it for his "parrothead shirt" as it's cotton and they may not have gotten as many entries in that category (plus I do have to admit I am really proud of how it turned out) but getting to the top 10 in the silk category for my gala dress was a total surprise as there were so many great silk entries!

Looking forward to being in the show and meeting everyone!

(Now maybe my lost sewing mojo will return...)

NYC Fabric Shopping Day - 8/28

Elizabeth and I are organizing a fabric shopping day in New York City's garment district on August 28th. We've posted about it on Patternreview here but I'd also like to personally invite any of my blog readers who live in the area/surrounding area to come out to meet in person!

Here's the schedule:

9:30-9:55am Coffee/breakfast at nearby Starbucks for early arrivals (need to get address)
10:00-11:00am Metro Textiles (W 37th)
11:15-12:00pm Mood (W 37th)
12:15-1:00pm Pacific Trimming (W 38th)
1:00-2:00pm Lunch (TBD)
2:00-2:45pm AK Fabrics (W 39th)
3:00-3:45pm Rosen & Chadick (W 40th)
4:00-? (time permitting) Spandex World (W 38th)

I am flying in to LGA at 9:10 and my flight back to Chicago is at 7:35, so I will probably leave for the airport at about 5:30. Looking forward to meeting everyone!!!

Butterick 5147 Sew-Along: Muslin Fitting

I usually don't post pictures of myself wearing muslins, but I thought I would this time as I am playing along with yet another sew-along organized by the tireless Elizabeth!

We are sewing either the pencil-skirt shaped sheath version (View C) or A-line sheath version (View D) of Butterick 5147.

I had purchased my pattern on Ebay a few days ago but decided that as Butterick patterns went on sale again for 99 cents, I would just buy my pattern today and start my muslin.

I started with a pattern size 12 based on my full bust measurement of 34" and made all of the petite adjustments marked on the pattern. I suspected that I might need more adjustments than that, but wanted to start there for fitting. I also basted 3/8" side seams instead of 5/8" (as I tend to need more room on my sides than back with wovens) and sewed the 2.5" hem allowance up. I did not put in the zipper (I refuse to on muslins unless there's no way I can get the item on with the seams basted closed.) I will be using an invisible zipper on the center back seam instead of the centered zipper application called for in the pattern.

Here's the initial version with just the adjustments I noted - OK. Not great.

Front (before shoulder-bust adjustment) - just looks "off"

Side (before shoulder-bust adjustment) - major armhole gapping

Back (before shoulder-bust adjustment) - not as bad as the front and side, but still not great

I realized that I needed another petite adjustment from shoulder to bust and so I turned the muslin inside out and drew a horizontal line midway between shoulder and bust, cut along that line, and (somewhat sloppily) sewed a 5/8" seam to shorten. I will make this adjustment on the pattern tissue when making my final version so there won't be a seamline there. I think this was the right amount.

Front, after shoulder-bust adjustment

Side, after shoulder-bust adjustment

Back, after shoulder-bust adjustment

Now I see there is some gappiness in the front neckline that would lay flat if I tuck in about 5/8" at the front neckline.

I'm debating whether to adjust this or not. I'm wondering if some of the gappiness will go away when I sew the real fabric as it's fully lined and will take it in a bit through the "turn of cloth".

Another thing that I'm not sure about is that the shoulder seam looks like it's not straight on my shoulder - it's angling to the back in the photo, but it could just be the way I have my arm to take the picture. I didn't notice it when I tried it on in the mirror. I also wonder if I need a slight swayback adjustment.

Fitting is kind of like hypochondria - I start thinking I have every possible "disease" when I do it. I don't sound like it, but actually I'm pretty happy with the fit on this. It's comfortable, and I think it will be flattering in actual fabric (I was considering a solid forest green cotton sateen with 3% spandex - which might necessitate 5/8" side seams instead because of the stretch.) Besides my silk gala dress, I've actually never made a woven dress because I can eliminate all of these issues by sewing knits. But it's kind of fun to troubleshoot this stuff - I should pretty much know what standard adjustments I need to make in wovens once I figure this out.

Sewists - please feel free to weigh in with your thoughts!

First Sewing FO of July - Kwik Sew 3489

I did manage to finish one dress while I was on vacation - Kwik Sew 3489.

Here's the whole look as I put it together for work today:

Closer-up of the front

Side

and back

I had previously used the cap sleeves from this pattern with another TNT ("tried-n-true") pattern, Kwik Sew 3408, but hadn't sewn this one as I wasn't sure how to shorten the curved front skirt piece. Well, I figured it out, though I'm not sure if it's the official "correct" way to go about this. Basically I measured the pattern for the other dress that fits me well and cut off about half of that amount from the bottom curved edge, just eyeballing it. Then I used the cut-off actual curve from the pattern as a template to accurately cut off the rest of the amount.

Overall I shortened it about 4" (though there is a 1" hem allowed and I used a 5/8" coverstitched hem.) I also experimented with eliminating interfacing on this version and I think it lays flatter in the front, so I'll do that again. I made a mistake on one of the sleeves when I was setting in the sleeve and when I tried to rip it out I made a hole, so I sewed both with 5/8" seam allowances instead of the 1/4" included in the pattern to avoid the hole.

I also shortened the waist about 5/8" with the serger and sewed 5/8" seam allowances at the shoulders and neckline facing seams. I didn't totally pay attention to the front finishing instructions as I was using the coverstitch machine to finish all the hems, but I like how it turned out despite the sort of "winging it" attitude I took to this project.

I think I will make more of these - I think the curved hem is kind of cool and I like tying it in the center with a shorter tie belt (as compared to KS 3489.) I also think the neckline is better for me (a bit higher) than KS 3408.

Simplicity 2580 Dress: Cowl Neck Version

Here is the other Simplicity 2580 dress I made Memorial Day weekend - I really like this one and plan to make it again (with a few tweaks!)

Although I like this in general, you can see in the last picture that the empire seam is too far below my underbust (about 2") - I plan to take a larger seam allowance next time to fix this rather than messing with shortening the cowl neck, which is a little longer than I'd like but workable. It was NOT workable with the loop that they show on the pattern envelope - would have been obscenely low cut.

I think if I shorten the bodice, that will move the bottom skirt section up and then the waist will be in the right place (right now it is a little clingy as it is hitting me about 1" lower than it should.)

Lesson learned - even if you've made another view of the same dress and it fit fine, there can still be fitting issues. On the halter version, the bodice was shorter and also could be adjusted by tying the halter ties tighter, so I didn't notice that the waist wasn't really where it should be on the dress.

I haven't gotten around to the Patternreview review yet, but probably should do one including all of the different versions I've made of this pattern! I certainly got my $1.99 worth out of this one.

Also, my knitting mojo appears to be somewhat back after I fixed the mistake I made a few rounds back on the sleeve of the Miss Dashwood shrug - to celebrate, I took advantage of the fabric.com yarn sale today and bought two colors of Rowan Kid Classic, a yarn I really enjoy working with:

Plush

and Cordial (which looks more green in some other pictures I found online, which is good)