Finished x2 Jalie 2921

I was originally going to sew a cowl neck Renfrew for my 6 PAC, but Jalie 2921 kept calling to me. I had 3 yards set aside for this project, so I had lots left over to sew a little dress for Laila. I hope to take some better detailed pics soon, but I wanted to get this post up before 2014 :)

Pattern: Jalie 2921

Fabric: Cotton/Spandex knit from Girl Charlee
Notions: Just thread and seam stabilizer.

Size sewn: I sewed a G (size 3) for my DD and for my self: T in the bust, grading to a U in the waist & a V in the hips.

Alterations/Design Changes: I cut DD's top off at the waist marking & added a pleated skirt. This was my original "vision" Don't be jealous of my mad fashion sketching skillz.

For mine, aside from grading out at the waist and hips, I raised the neckline 1/2" and will raise it another inch next time. I also lengthened it 3/4" and did a double fold 5/8" hem.
Likes: The results are so professional!!
Dislikes: I could have stuck with size T all the way through I think. The sleeves are symmetrical, which is a pet peeve of mine. But, they do seem to have a better fit than other symmetrical sleeves I've sewn.

Time to Complete: Not much! I think mine took one nap time to construct (90 minutes?) and another 20 to hem? Fast.

New Techniques: Rolling the shirt into the collar (the "burrito"). Drafted a pleated skirt for DD.

Total Cost: I had all the notions on hand, so.....about $15 for each.
Fabric: $18 for 3 yards 
Pattern:  12.98

Looking back on 2013

2013 was a good, solid year for my family and my sewing. I fell a bit behind in blogging, but that's just the rhythm of things, I suppose.


I delved into bra sewing, which was more of a miss than hit, I suppose.  It was a confidence booster construction wise, but it was a bad idea to take it on while I was breastfeeding. Too many fluctuations in size & I've never really loved breastfeeding, so I'm a bit more self-conscious then anyway.

That aside, though, the things I did manage to make this year were more solidly built than things I've made in the past & I'm also getting a knack for sewing what I *need*.  I still carry my Necessary Clutch every time I leave the house and it ALWAYS gets compliments. I've been told more than once that I should make & sell them.

I actually had quite few wadders this year. I'm at an odd place technique-wise. I think I'm a solid advanced beginner, moving into Intermediate territory. But when I come across a technique that I'm unsure of, instead of proceeding with caution & being diligent in my actions I just plow through.That's precisely what happened when I attempted the Bombshell swimsuit. I have every confidence that I'll be able to conquer that this summer. A large reason that one blew up in my face is that I was determined to add a bra to the pattern. Which, in theory should have been straight forward. Because I make bras. Or I did. Then. So I think if there is ONE thing that will help me to advance my skills in the next year it will be to SLOW.DOWN. My Minoru jacket is an excellent example of what I'm capable of when I take my time.

Speaking of which, my pièce de résistance was my version of the Minoru jacket. I just love it. I've got my eye on the Robson coat for this spring. It's rated as Advanced....but maybe, just maybe I can pull it off.

It seems that my sewing projects of 2013 were either raging successes or dismal failures that didn't even make it to the blog. :)  Hopefully 2014 will be a little more consistent. And I plan to start blogging my failures a bit more just for my own personal record.

Sewing Space Makeover Reveal

Ages ago I announced my intention of prettying up my sewing corner.  It is in our "office" which happens to be the first room guests walk into when they enter our home.  We've been remodeling our house room by room & for some reason, this room was the last one to get done.

I've been combing the archives for a suitable "before" shot, but can't really find one. This is the room when we first moved in. The blue carpet, unfortunately, remains. We've decided to wait until the kids are done spilling things on a daily basis to replace it. Oh, how I yearn for that day.

 
The unsightly wood paneled walls adorned every room (except the kitchen) in our house. We've dry walled over it in the master bed, wallpapered & painted over it in the living room and just flat out painted over it in the remaining rooms. I dislike the look of it painted, but I hate the look of it unpainted. And of course, time and cost is always a factor when remodeling.

Just as a reminder, here's my initial inspiration board:

And here is how everything turned out. This is close to what it looks like all tucked away when I'm between projects or in the middle of projects but expecting company. It is incredibly easy to reconfigure. Please note these photos were taken while the kids were napping. Typically the hot and/or sharp objects are far out of reach :)

You can just see a peek of the curtains I made. My fantastic husband and I made the sewing table ourselves using Ana White's Collapsible Sewing Table woodworking plan. We put it on 4 caster wheels so that it's easy to maneuver.

Originally I planned on using one of the leaves as a pressing board, but decided against it since I didn't want to have both leaves out while I was sewing. When I'm cutting or tracing patterns, I fold out both leaves like this

If/when we make this table again I'll make it taller & deeper with thicker legs, but it's working out just fine so far. Once I'm ready to get to the actual sewing, I collapse one of the leaves & voila....

I didn't make a pressing board, but I still wanted to use the green fabric so I recovered my mini ironing board. It fits perfectly underneath when it's not in use.

I'm still trying to figure out the ideal pegboard configuration. Right now everything is just kind of thrown on there willy nilly. The baskets are from the dollar store. 

So that's my sewing space. Or as I like to call it "Where the magic happens" LOL.  I'm really happy with my little corner and I just adore how easy it is to put it all away while keeping it close at hand. 

Two Strikes.

I'm off to a miserably bad start with my SWAP. I picked out a cheap, polyester suiting from Joann Fabrics for my Hollyburn & it shows. It just looks all wrong. I'll be saving the zipper but trashing the skirt.

And as for my Red Velvet Dress. Yeah. That was just one disaster after another.

Firstly, had I realized the dress featured facings, I never would have bought it. I have no love for facings, particularly in knits. And throughout the sewalong Steph (the pattern designer) reiterated time & time again how easy this particular neckline was to stretch & distort. Which made me nervous.

I hemmed & hawed and finally worked up the courage to draft my own binding. Which was successful! THEN the pattern designer said some rather ugly things on Debbie Cook's blog & that totally robbed me of my motivation to continue participating in her sew along. Yick.

Then I hated the bust pleats. But I decided they were well camouflaged in the print of my fabric & continued on. Then the "scissor" pleat looked silly (I think this was an issue with me rather than the pattern). Whatever. But now I am blissfully in the final stretch--hemming.

And I've run out of thread. Completely. After hemming one sleeve.  I don't even have "this will do" color. Nearest notions shop is an hour away.

So I think it's time to call it quits. Despite the fact that the dress would have been wearable, I've just got too much resentment built up toward it I think. It will likely end up as a dress for my 3 year old daughter.

So that's 2 wadders in a row. But my Minoru is still fabulous, so I've got that to hang on to :) I keep using that as proof to myself that I can, indeed sew.

On to the next thing, then! I'm going back to the land of knit tops for now. :)

Red Velvet Dress and Winter 6 PAC

I was pretty excited when Steph released the Red Velvet Dress pattern. I've been looking for a knit dress pattern that had neither a pencil skirt nor an a-line. I didn't know what type of skirt I wanted, but when I saw the RV pattern, I knew it would be worth a shot.

Steph is hosting a sewalong starting on the November 11th & I'm hoping to join in.  The fabric I have picked out (but not ordered) is this fushia polka dot knit.

This dress will actually be the first piece of my Winter 6 PAC. I recently discovered the Artisan's Square forum & they host a myriad of fantastic sewalongs. This "6 PAC" means making a mini wardrobe (6 items) & is hosted each season. I'm completely going against the recommended guidelines, but they are just recommendations & the most important thing is making things that I need in my wardrobe. Here's my initial inspiration board. This color scheme is what I've been shooting for in my entire wardrobe the last few months. I'm in dire need of skirts, so that's my focus right now. I've already started on the grey Hollyburn. I'd forgotten how easy that skirt is. Unfortunately I was dumb and didn't look very closely at the fabric I bought & it's a bit sheer (c'mon Joann Fabrics-really? sheer suiting? I hate you.) so I'll also be making a slip :)

Anyway, I realize all these colors look incredibly bright when put together :) but I'm hoping for a mustard yellow for the pleated skirt, so that will -hopefully- tone things down a bit. But even though it's very colorful, they do all "go" together. That's the brilliance (not my brilliance) of picking a color scheme & building off that.

Finished Object. Goal Accomplished.

Well lookee here. I sewed myself a coat!! Early on in my sewing adventures, Gertie hosted a sew along for the Lady Grey coat & I was entranced. I couldn't believe people could actually sew their own coats. While mine isn't a tailored masterpiece, per se, it is definitely my proudest sewing accomplishment to date.  Here's the facts. And only the facts. After the facts I will ramble. Proceed with caution.

Pattern: Sewaholic Minoru

Fabric: Stretch twill from Fashion Fabrics Club
Notions: Thread & 2 zippers. Huge shout out to Zipperstop. I mailed a swatch of my fabric to them to match on Friday & had my zippers on Tuesday. Amazing customer service.

Size sewn:I muslined both a size 6 & 8. In the end, I sewed the 8 since I underlined with flannel & will possibly be wearing under bulky-ish sweaters.
Alterations/Design Changes: Added welt pockets. Shortened (at hem) 1.75". Raised elastic 1". Added .75" for broad back alteration. Omitted sleeve cuffs. Instead I made a self facing by lengthening outer sleeve fabric 2". I also graded down to a size 4 at the hips & probably could have gone down to a 2.

Also, instead of stitching the ditch for the collar, I hand sewed it. I just couldn't' get my stitches just right on both sides.
Likes: Loved the process. Love the finished product.
Dislikes: I do wish it had outer pockets, but there's about a billion different ways to add yoru own pockets, so it's no big deal. 
Time to Complete: I cut my fabric out on October 2nd, and wore my finished coat on the 20th. I didn't sew every day, and I took my time getting things just right.
New Techniques: Welt pockets! Separating zippers!
Total Cost: $57.85
Fashion Fabric $11.85. Lining fabric $27. Zippers $11. Thread $8. I'm not counting the pattern cost because I bought it almost 2 years ago :)

Alright. Let the rambling commence!  I actually pre-ordered this pattern when Tasia first released it. I was all set to participate in her sewalong and then I discovered I was pregnant. So it got set aside. For a year and a half.

With Fall approaching I decided to get this baby sewn. I muslined a size 6, which fit perfect. But in the end I decided I wanted a bit more ease to accommodate the flannel underlining & bulky fall sweaters.

The welt pockets were a major cause for concern. I've never constructed them before, but I also needed to figure out where to put them, what angle to have them & how deep to construct the pocket bags...without having them interfere with the hem or plackets. All in all, I'd say they're just right.  But I left the internal pockets just in case my welt pocket design was lacking.

I lined the hood, removing 3/8" to account for the seam allowance rather than a hem allowance. I also tacked it down by hand along the center seam so the lining wouldn't bag out.

The lining itself is a horrendous polyester; you know the type. It frays if you look at it wrong.  So even though the seams were all enclosed I was really diligent in zigzagging (and sometimes fray checking) my seam allowances. 

Instead of stitching in the ditch at the collar seam (couldn't get it to all line up just right even though I hand basted first) I just sewed it by hand. It took a little extra time, but all in all wasn't too bad. 

I omitted the sleeve cuffs, but I didn't want my lining to peek out at the wrist, so I created a self facing (I might be making that term up) by lengthening the outer sleeve pieces by 2 inches. This gave it a really nice, clean finish & if I sew another hooded Minoru, I'll likely use the same method on the hood.

In conclusion, I love this coat. A lot. And it was a good sewing exercise for me, too. It's the first 'Intermediate' pattern I've sewn (not counting bras) and I'm really happy with the results.

Minoru fabric choice

Left: Organic Canvas Cotton from fabric.com  Right: Magenta Pink Stretch Twill from FFC

I ordered 2 different fabrics for my Minoru. I never do that. But I wasn't positive either was what I wanted. I ordered on the same day, moments apart, and of course, my fabric from fabric.com arrived a week earlier than that from Fashion Fabrics Club.

Once I received the twill (from FFC) though, I was glad that I had waited to cut into my fabric. The canvas looks quite dull compared to the twill. But what really sold me on the twill was the price. The Organic Canvas Cotton cost $40 while the twill was a steal at $18 (including shipping). 

Since my sewing room makeover put a halt to all sewing for a couple weeks, I'm really looking forward to getting started on this! As it turns out, Pattern Review's Lined Jacket Contest starts today, so I'll be able to participate in that, too! There seems to be a number of us who are planning on sewing Minorus.