2010 Accomplishments & 2011 Goals

As 2010 comes to a close, I thought it would be worthwhile for me to look back & see how much I've grown as a seamstress. Here are the projects I've completed.

Crepe Progress...

I got my fashion fabric cut out yesterday. It took me forever to iron the 10 yard of fabric (fashion & underlining) And have I mentioned how much I hate the cutting phase?

Style & This Stay at Home Mom

Being a stay at home mom entails many challenges. Quite possibly the least of which is what to wear. I find myself more & more confused as how to dress lately. I'm 24, but while most 24 year olds are just finishing college & partying, I'm a mother of two. The fact that the garments in the juniors department typically fit me better than those in the women's department only complicates matters.

After having kids, my day to day activities shifted from those requiring slacks & blouses to garments that are more suited for, well, getting stained by various fluids. Which is ok. I love what I'm dong now. But I find myself in a wardrobe rut.

I've never felt compelled to follow fashion trends. I've always been more of a jeans & t-shirt type of gal. I mean, sure, I like to look nice, but I've never put an abundance of thought (or money) into my wardrobe. I wouldn't be caught in my pajama pants in public (unless it is an absolute crisis) but I don't go all out on a day to day basis.

Sewing & fashion trends seem to go hand in hand & I must admit, I do find it interesting. I'd like to have a style. To branch out from jeans & a t-shirt to maybe trousers & a blouse. And then there is always accessories. I appreciate a well accessorized outfit...I just don't know where to start.

So, I snatched up this book for $7 on half.com. From the preview on Amazon, it seems that the author points you to your own inspiration & what you are drawn to rather than touting his designs or what the current trends dictate. Should make for interesting reading at the very least.

How about you? Is fashion something you struggle with? Care about? Do you feel like you have your own style?

The Newest Addition to my Sewing Nook

It all started with a Craigslist ad. (Doesn't it always??) I don't know why, but last week I caught my husband perusing the sewing machine ads. Now, I don't need a new sewing machine. The one I "have" is actually my mom's that she's letting me borrow. She's had for 20 years or so (too old to be new, too new to be vintage) & uses is mostly for mending. Now aside from producing the most inconsistent buttonholes imaginable, the ol' Singer 3214 does alright. I've learned her quirks & together we've created some pretty cool stuff.

Anyway, Austin found this ad for a used Brother for $150. It was right in my price range & seemed to have all the functions I wanted. I did a little research, though & found that they sold for about $10 more brand new. I had just figured that the kind of machine I wanted would cost triple that. So I did some more research. Turns out that Brother I had been looking at was made with plastic innards. And the reviews were very hit or miss. So, my search continued.

I ended up stumbling across the Kenmore 19110. It was computerized (which I wasn't sure I wanted), had all the functions I was looking for (and then some) and the price was about right. I did more research & found that it had good reviews. It is also actually made by Janome. After hemming & hawing, I finally ordered it one Wednesday. I never got an order confirmation, so I wasn't sure if it had went through or not, but during the process the delivery date was between 12/29 & 1/5.

Imagine my shock & surprise on Thursday when I looked out the window & saw the UPS lady carrying this:

I haven't got to do a lot with her, just a few test seams (still not at the actual sewing part of the Crepe) but I really like it. I'll write up a more thorough review after I've actually put her to the test. :)

What kind of machine do you have? Are you happy with it?

Crepe Muslin #4

Ah. Crepe muslin numero cuatro. Also to be known henceforth as my limit. I'm calling it. Final Answer. Leaving well enough alone, as they say. I'm very sick of darts. :)

A few days ago I got a really insightful comment. It had some how got filtered into my junk mail folder, but I caught it. I'm going to go ahead & just copy it here.

Jenna, I've just read about your muslins backwards and I hope you don't mind me saying but your first muslin of the front looks the best. This design with the cut-on sleeves is tricky and not really meant to be so form fitting.... If you notice in this muslin you have no shoulder wrinkles/creases as you do in the later ones. In fact the sleeves look perfect in muslin one. Beware over-fitting. If I were you, I would go back to the original muslin and just make a few changes to the back to eliminate some width and length as Vanessa above said. Good luck!

At first I thought it was crazy. No way was I going backwards. But once I looked at the pictures, I saw she was right. My first muslin was the best (as for the front, anyway.) Possibly even better than muslin #4. I'm going to be tweaking muslin #4 before I cut out my fashion fabric, but I won't be doing a whole separate muslin.

Muslin #4

Muslin #1

I went back to my first muslin & took in 1/4" from the side seams. I shortened & curved the waist darts. I also took an inch from the shoulders (which was way too much, I can barely get my arm through. LOL).

As for the back, I simply lengthened the darts by 1.5 inches. One of the gals from the flikr group said it worked well for her so I figured I' d try it.

After writing this post & agonizing over the pictures, I've made up my mind. :) Here are the alterations I will be making form the original pattern:

• Take side seams in 1/4 inch
• Take shoulders up 1/2 inch
• Shorten waist darts by 1 1/2 inches
  
• Curve waist darts

In all honesty, I think the fit (silhouette) is better when the waist darts go right up to my apex, but, I think it draws attention to, well, my apex. And I'd just rather not go there.

Now to get myself geared up to hand baste the underlining to the fashion fabric. Sigh.

Muslin 3: Upclose & Personal

The first time I put on my 3rd muslin I was incredibly irritated. For some reason, I expected it to be just right. Which makes no sense because I didn't do some alterations that I knew I should have. But I wanted to nail down the darts first. Which I did. Sort of.

Like I mentioned before, there is a wrinkle above my waist darts, right at my apex. Not good. Also, I am blown away by the amount of wrinkles at the shoulders. That being said, though:

Look familiar?? Yep. These diagrams are from Fit For Real People & they depict what sloping & broad shoulders would look like. I know from my body graph that I have both. Hence the wrinkles. Right? Gosh. I sure hope so. Because I think I'm going to have to fix that next. Which makes me nervous because, since these are cut on sleeves, the sloping alteration requires that the sleeves be cut off. *Shudder*

Onto the back. Mmm. Shoulder wrinkles present & accounted for. In this picture I had my husband do some tucking, but I think I'll ignore that until I get the shoulder issues fixed. So, all in all...3 muslins down. Minimum of 1 more to go. Sigh. At least I'll be able to give the darts another go & decide definitively if the wrinkles are there to stay & what needs to be done to evict them.

Muslin Update

Muslin 2 was a complete & utter disaster; much worse than muslin 1. However, I whipped up Musilin 3 last night & it shows promise.

Muslin #2: AKA: The Hot Mess

I had botched the waist & bust darts on muslin 2. I chose to completely cut out the bust dart & move it down, thinking (incorrectly) that using that method would be more accurate. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. On muslin 3 I simply redrew the point & kept the dart legs & it turned out much better.

I also chose to curve the waist darts on muslin 3 & had much better results. I do have an odd wrinkle right above my left waist dart. I'm not really sure if that's just me being bad at darts or if it is a fitting issue. I did not have that problem in the 1st muslin, so could it be that the wrinkle was caused by shortening the darts? I just don't know.

I now realize that I may have made a major mistake in altering the front before the back. Nothing to be done about it now. :) As for the back, it's quite baggy. I am hoping that simply tucking will be the solution. We shall see. Muslin 3 pictures to come.