Aphrodite for Me!

I already had the size 6 cut out, and so to make a version of HotPatterns Mighty Aphrodite top for myself, all I had to do was to taper the waist and hip area to about an 8 while cutting. Oh, yes, and trace out the long sleeve. So this went FAST! Finished in about a day, in between driving kids to activities and cooking meals.


While cutting out the pieces, I discovered a great way to get the grainline more accurate. This fabric, a rayon knit, I think, has very wavy selvedge. I think these knits are usually knit in a tube, then the tube is cut open and the edges glued so they don't unravel. So there was no way I could use the selvedge as a grainline reference. Here's what I did, using 3 quilting rulers.


1) Line up a large quilting ruler somewhere off the pattern piece, right along a row of knit stitches. You may have to pick up the fabric and rearrange it so that it is straight.

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Lining up the stitches along the ruler

2) Use one 12" ruler to measure from the large ruler to the grainline marked on the pattern piece. It is much easier to place the piece and the rulers so that the mark is to the nearest inch. That way you won't have to remember fractions of an inch.

3) Use another 12 ruler down at the other end of the pattern piece to measure the same distance as the first 12" ruler. If the measurement doesn't match, then pivot the pattern piece without moving the other end, so that it does. In the photo I used a shorter ruler because I couldn't find my other 12-inch(these things are so handy, everybody in the family uses them.)

Other sewing details
1) While reading the instructions more closely this time, I figured out how they wanted me to sew the hem flounce on, though it still leaves out a couple of steps. There is no "slit" needed for the drawcord to pass through because you turn it up at the hem, then open the wide seam allowance out and stitch the channels. The drawcords will come out of the bottom of the channels. The flounce is supposed to be sewn on, tapered to the drawcord area. It just needs a snip to let the seam allowance free from the drawcord channel. So you bypass a triangular piece of the flounce as you sew it on.

2) In the comments section of my pattern review of this top, Nancy K provided some very helpful info on sewing the shoulder pleat. Yesss!

I traced this out and couldn't figure out the pleats either, so I emailed Trudy and got a diagram back. The notches line up as follows: the first notch which is single, lines up with the first of the next two notches. The second one lines up with the first of the next two etc.


3) I used my serger to sew a 2-thread rolled hem at the edge of the flounce and at the sleeve edges. In the ITY versions I did not finish off the flounce edge at all. (Check RTW--they do it all the time now!)

Goddess T-shirt

Well it seems I'm drawn to designs reminiscent of classical Greece. While browsing through Off the Cuff   I was intrigued by one of the new HotPatterns she was exclaiming over. I had tried two HotPatterns before, and though I liked the concept and loved the drawings, the actual garments I had made seemed a bit, well, not right on. But okay, so it's easy to click on links and soon enough I found the absolutely charming HotPattern videos. I have to admit, it doesn't take much to sell me on anything having to do with sewing! These videos are wonderful and I just loved that there is a story behind each design--of course! Found myself ordering 3 patterns, one of which is the Deco Vibe Mighty Aphrodite Draped T-Shirts pattern. I was thinking of making it for Isabel, my 16-year-old Greek Goddess. 

A while ago, I was going crazy over ITY fabric, and bought a boxful from FabricMart. I still have quite a bit left, and when I saw the Mighty Aphrodite pattern, I knew ITY's drape and stretch would be perfect for it. Also, it seems wrinkleproof and almost indestructible.The chocolate color was supposed to be my muslin, but I think it actually looks better than the red, which, even for the holidays, seems a little bit unnatural. Take a look at the two different colors. They are both exactly the same size, except I noticed on the red version, that the sleeves were a bit loose so I cut the hem off, tightened the sleeve and re-hemmed so it is a little shorter. Isabel also prefers the chocolate. I thought it would look quite dull, but it actually looks great with her hair color.

 And good news! I found a stash of fine rayon knit to make a version for myself! It will be in dark gray, maybe a size up.

T-shirt Rebellion

I refuse to wear T-shirts. They look absolutely terrible on me and worse, make me feel completely dowdy. But souvenir T-shirts are still fun to receive, and they can be great conversation starters for meeting strangers with a shared interest. 

So this is what I do with T-shirts. I cut them up with no regret! Slash, lop and snip! No more chokey neckline! No more baggy waist! 

The Jalie pattern I like to use as a template is a tank/camisole top with a marvelously flattering cut which I have used over and over and over again. Unfortunately I do not think Jalie prints the pattern anymore, but it wouldn't be complicated to draft your own. 

 For the Chicagofight top, I used a strip I cut off from the hem to create straps. One side is "hemmed", the other side is a double raw edge. I needed more strips to create the lattice effect, so I cut more strips off the bottom of the T-shirt and  "hemmed" them to match the cut off hem.

For the Aldo Nadi top I created wide straps/sleevettes by cutting rectangles the length of the measurement over the shoulder from front bodice to upper back, and about 6 inches wide. Then I simply gathered the ends of the straps and sewed them onto the fronts and backs.

So don't be afraid, cut into them! Your T-shirts are bound to look better than before!

Goddess dress

Okay, I've decided to fire this blog up again, after a long absence. I was somewhat annoyed by how long it takes to load photos, but I think it might be better now.

I made this dress from Burdastyle magazine pattern 7-2010-117, for my niece, Malia. Available for download at Burdastyle.
It looks fine in the photo, but it is about 2 sizes bigger than I would have made for myself. The ITY fabric is really stretchy. This is the second version of the dress I've made. 

The first was in white, for my daughter, to wear at a wedding. And yes, she looked almost too fabulous. We were concerned about her having exposed shoulders in the church so we added a dark blue military style jacket which I think went perfectly with the dress. She loves contrast, too. But guess what--all the bridesmaids were shamelessly wearing completely strapless dresses! Yes, you knew it! At the reception, my daughter had a little bit of slippage of the upper edge of the bodice while she was dancing, but well, she moves around quite a bit. Malia really liked the dress so I promised her one, which conveniently  arrived around her birthday. 

Some sewing details: On the white version I underlined the whole dress with self-fabric. This was necessary, as it is white. However, this thickened the seams. It was okay, as no one but me would notice this. The directions have you doubling the fabric for the drape but I didn't think this was necessary, so I used a single layer for the navy version. You should experiment with positioning the lower end of the drape before sewing it in, somehow. An afterthought on my part. I think different fabrics definitely drape differently. On the navy version, I twin-needle stitched the hem, but on the white version because of the underline, it would have been too thick, so I used the pseudo blind-stitching feature on my Pfaff.

Winner!

Patternreview.com had a Sewing for Men contest, and I entered the pea coat I made for Eamon. This was the first thing Eamon ever asked me to make for him so I had to admit I was delighted, and worked on it steadily until it was finished. The pattern is Burda Magazine 10-2006-129. They made it up in leather and their pockets were placed much higher due to the belt in the design. I eliminated the belt and made it in black heavy wool. My pattern review

I also entered the Pendleton wool shirt I made as a Christmas present for Mike. Got some nice comments on this, too, but the pea coat was very popular, and it won 1st place! The prize is a free online class at Patternreview.com. Excellent--I will use it!

By the way, I have a group on flickr.com called Sewing for Men. I've been trying to get it going, but it has bee tough attracting entries, so spread the word!

It's been a while

Well, I guess I would be more motivated to blog if it were easier to load photos. So now it's been a whole year since I posted anything here, but I actually have been creating lots of projects!

Make it easier for me, Google! It takes so darn long to load photos...grrr!

At left here is a photo I took in a store window of an outfit both my teenage daughter and I fell in love with. It has sort of a Burdastyle flavor. And somehow I have tons of pinstripe fabrics. Just not any red metallic ones, like this here. My daughter loves lots of hardware on clothes. The other day she saw a hoodie sweatshirt, normal style except for 4 metal belt buckles fastened to the front, over the center zip. I thought, "How impractical!" and then realized the buckles actually had snaps behind them. Ha, more hardware! She was so drooling over that jacket... I think I'm finally starting to understand what her clothing preferences are. Stuff that will ding my dryer until the family screams, "Stop that awful noise!"

First Recital

I enjoy singing, but in preparing for this, my first solo recital, I may be trying to be too professional. Therefore, I am fussing and spending too much time memorizing words. So there goes practicing in the Musical Sewing Room. I try to work on memorization and as I get distracted lining up the next seam, it degenerates to la-la-la.

Can you believe I took this photo myself with a tripod? Gi'me the look, baby...
Um, yes, I made that dress.

Sword & Skull Bag

Last year when I took up fencing I made myself a fencing equipment bag, just because I could. As a true designer might expect, contemplating the design took longer than making the bag. Not wanting to go through this again, I thought I would never make another one. But as it turned out, I really wanted to contribute something original to our fencing salle's fundraising event, so I donated a "custom-made fencing bag".  Before I made this one, I wrote down instructions for myself with the intention of making it available online for free eventually. Burdastyle.com is inspiring me to create my own patterns and share them. They even have the instructions for creating a .pdf file for patterns and uploading them.

The person who "won" this bag at auction really likes red. And I had the cool silver skull brocade fabric which I snatched up on ebay--I knew somebody would like it! 

 Who knows if anyone else is interested in sewing a fencing bag, but if fencing becomes more popular, maybe those grammas could get involved...

New Bundle Assortments!

Just got the 4 assortments I ordered from Fabric Mart today. What a deal! Corduroy assortment, blouse weight assortment, semi-sheer dress weight crepes assortment, and dark-colored stripe and plaid suiting assortment, a total of 48 yards for $60. But since I ordered it when there was a sale on the website, I got it for even less--the equivalent of free shipping, so about $1 a yard!

I like ordering the assortments because it allows me to try different fabrics that I might not have chosen, stretching my design imagination. Outrageous colors get relegated to Halloween costumes.

Check out the huge heavy box--so much fabric!

Silk Jacket

What drew me to this Onion pattern was the simplicity of the design. Ties instead of buttons. No pockets. Band collar rather than notched.

This became the chosen pattern for the silk tweed in my stash. I once had a cream wool jacket(from the 80's!) with wide black banding at the edges which was really me. So, keeping that in mind, I deduced that black details would make this jacket successful. I am surprised at how good it looks in the photo. 

One small problem is that--maybe you knew it--this jacket cannot be worn open! So it's a good thing I made it from breathable silk, and silk lining which feels like a dream.

Another small problem with it is that the wide overlap in front creates quite some bulk right there. I suppose I could get used to it. But if the jacket is always worn closed, why put up with the overlap? Maybe the underlap side should be cut a few inches narrower on the inside, or angled a bit.

The back view

I added an extra pair of back darts. I am beginning to realize this is a consistent alteration.

One other thing, this jacket sure reminds me of a karate ghee!

Blue Velvet Gloves

Why make gloves?What attracted me was that gloves take hardly any fabric. No interfacing, and seemingly little time. It's just another thing I wanted to be able to make.

Vogue V8311 offers 9 different variations on the woman's glove. I chose view A, without sewing on the jeweled embellishments. The blue velvet needs no embellishment, don't you agree? In fact, I was surprised at how elegant these make my hands look, elongating my fingers and slenderizing my wrists...  My amateur photography just doesn't show any of this.

I was expecting to be doing a bit of hair-pulling, but maybe because of my choice of fabric, this project was actually fairly easy. The stretch blue-velvet panne hides any sewing imperfections, and does not unravel at all. 

Next project-- After finishing these, I started diggi

ng in my stash and scraps for fabric for the next pair of glamour gloves. I found just enough fine milk chocolate-colored kid leather! Makes it not so bad that my DD just ran away with the blue ones...

The thumb piece sewn   Glove pieces

 

Before adding gussets