Category Archives: Sewing

August 21, 2010 · 3:25 pm

Hyperventilation

I cut out my coat!

Yes, that is what you think it is.

It’s what, until a few hours ago, was 5 m of 60″ wide “unknow fibre” coating. Yup, this stuff.

Winter Coat Supplies

This is Progress On The Winter Coat. The project that, really, started it all.

I might just pass out with excitement. Or is it exhaustion?

I’ve probably rambled about this before, but not in a few months, so here it goes:

I wear long winter coats. Now, I live in Canada. The climate I grew up with is very similar to the climate of Siberia. The area I live in now is somewhat more moderate, but still, a nice warm winter coat is a must.

A nice, stylish winter coat, on the other hand, is almost impossible to find. Those which are warm enough are mostly down-filled parkas with all the flair and panache of the Marshmallow Man, and those with an ounce of style are never, ever, ever warm enough.

All right. I admit—I have not worn a full-length fur coat out in real cold. It’s possible that would be warm enough, and still stylish, depending on how much you wish to enrage the PETAns. But even this delightful, and very Canadian, Hudson’s Bay Blanket coat I had in University wasn’t really warm enough. Shortly after I

Old Winter Coat

tearfully acknowledged that I had worn it to death, my mom scrounged the coat to the left out of a duffel bag found in an alley. Thrifting at its best, right?

It’s lovely. (Well, it was, except for the sleeves being too short).  I would call it a fall weight, however; it’s a single layer of medium-weight wool coating and a thin lining. No tag indicating fibre content, but it certainly feels like wool. Made in Belarus, if that’s of interest. I’ve worn it for the last four or

My worn-out winter coat

five years, through two sets of buttons and some serious pocket surgery. I got through winter by the practical but not overly stylish method of layering two to three hooded sweaters underneath it, at least one as long as the coat itself, depending on the temperature. By this past spring, however, the back was getting… a little worn out. I won’t even show you the lining.

But—I had a plan. After Christmas, when I was searching out patterns for my girls’ coats, I had also stumbled upon this:

My Winter Coat Pattern

Butterick 5425. Everything I could possibly want, as far as I could tell, in a winter coat. I was going to make my own! It would be lined, underlined, interlined, and super-duper warm! It would be classy and stylish! It would have long enough sleeves! And really, considering that the kind of coats I like really cost hundreds of dollars, and still wouldn’t be warm enough and would have too-short sleeves, I could spend an awful lot of money on fabric and still come in cheaper.

Now, I will make a confession: if I were picking a pattern now, I might not choose this one. I’ve seen a lot more patterns for coats now, and having made the muslin I’m not totally thrilled with the armscye of this one. But I still love the princess seams and the full, long skirt and the pattern was almost twenty bucks, so I’m going with it. I made some alterations to the upper bodice (shortened the whole thing a touch) and I’m going with a different, two-piece sleeve. With any luck this will fix my dislikes, although given my recent track-record with jackets I’m not feeling as optimistic as I was a few months ago.

This spring, in the depths of the spring clearance at fabricland, I found my fabric. Like the pattern, it’s probably not perfect—I don’t think it’s pure wool, for one thing—but it will do. At least for this first coat. More recently, I finally got my other materials together. So for the last month or so I’ve been dodging around actually starting the damn thing.

But—as of today—it’s cut. Progress! I actually gave up on tracing the pattern, as that step was blocking me too much. Yes, I confess, I cut a pattern. I’m disappointed, too; I’m sure I’ll regret it later. I’d like to have it finished by the end of September, so I’ll be able to devote my full attention to the Lady Grey Coat Sew-Along!

(I know, a little weird to be making the winter coat before the fall one. Sorry, can’t be helped.)

All right… that was a lot of words for not a lot of actual progress. But it is progress, nonetheless.

5 Comments

Filed under Sewing

Tagged as , , ,

August 20, 2010 · 8:24 am

Lydia… progress

Lydia, v. 2: pulled down

I was actually hoping to title this post “Lydia—Redemption” but… well, we are not quite there yet. However, v. 2 is a world better than v. 1. In case you need the reminder, we’re discussing the Lydia pattern from Burdastyle.com, my only paid downloadable pattern to date. $1, woo big spender.

I cut a straight size 36 (my usual Burda size) this time. I also lowered the neckline quite a chunk, since it’s quite high in the original (especially since I use a bound neckline rather than a facing, so there’s no seam-allowance taken in). My binding isn’t great, by the way, but it looks decent in the photos so it will probably pass muster.

This was a vast improvement of fit, especially in the shoulders. I’m also quite happy with how my cap version of the sleeve

Lydia, v. 2: after moving around. Note the looseness between bust and shoulder.

turned out, since I basically had no idea what I was doing (but no way in hell did I have enough fabric left for another try at the long-sleeve version.) They are a little snug—maybe I could spread the pattern a touch next time.

But—and there’s always a but, isn’t there?—there are still some changes to make. Most seriously, the neckline gapes if not pulled way down: when wearing it the whole thing creeps up until it looks more like the picture on the left. This bring the neckline up to a more comfortable point (yes, I lowered it a wee bit too much, even for my dubious modesty). I am going to try the “cheater” method of just taking a tuck out of the pattern along the neckline to bring it in about 1/2″. Another possibility is that it’s the tightness of the cap-sleeve that’s pulling it up; I really don’t think the entire armscye region needs to be shortened (if the problem is the sleeve cap, I will still need to raise the neckline). The bust-to-waist portion of the shirt does need to be shortened; the narrowest point of the curve is definitely a good inch below my (rather high) narrowest point. This also doesn’t help with the riding up. I also brought in the sides a good

Lydia, v. 2: back

half inch each (for a total of 2″ less around the whole shirt, so that’s another alteration to make.

The back view looks pretty good aside from the usual puddling at my sway-back. I’m not sure it’s actually possible to fix this without doing wonky things like adding back seams, so I’m not going to sweat it in a knit. Every other shirt I’ve worn in the last 10 years does the same thing.

All it needs now is a hem!

By the way, that’s 2 shirts from 1m of this fabric, which cost about $8… even if I include the cost of the Lydia pattern and notions, that’s still less than $5 a shirt.  I’m not going to get much better than that, even at the thrift store. And the time it takes to sew up is not much longer than a shopping trip, either. This one was cut and sewn in about 2 hours before bedtime last night—including piecing together the pattern.

2 Comments

Filed under Sewing

Tagged as , , ,

August 19, 2010 · 1:59 pm

Kasia—Complete

Kasia---view 1

Well, for better or for worse, it’s done. I am going to need some major help styling this… so far the black JJ (pictured) is the best (though it doesn’t show up well at all in the photos). I’m wondering if it would work well with a

Kasia---view 2

Port Elizabeth top—something blousier. I don’t know. This is a foreign concept to me. Also this skirt craves heels. It demands them. For a girl who lives in ballet flats, this could be problematic. I can rock a pair of platforms if necessary, but those wouldn’t be right, either. And I just can’t imagine wearing these pumps all day. I would cry. Maybe with my big kneehigh boots… I could see spending a whole day post just trying on different wardrobe items with this skirt.

Kasia---view 3

I’m not sure if the red buttons are for keeps; they’re the only big-enough ones I had a set of lying around. I do like the colour, but I wonder if something silvery/blue, more in keeping with the colour scheme of the skirt, would be more flexible.

Sorry for the crummy pics; the indoor light isn’t great and

Kasia---view 4

the neighbour was out in his yard so I felt kinda funny clomping around on the deck in my (loud) heels taking pictures in front of him.

In other news, I bought a remnant of ivory tulle at Fabricland yesterday when I picked up the topstitching thread. So fun! I want to use it with the mass of ivory chiffon left over from my sheer JJ blouse to make a crinoline/full petticoat. Y’know, for all those full-circle fifties skirts in my wardrobe.

Well, if I have the petticoat I might make one, right?

This is assuming, of course, that I can get the tulle away from the seven-year-old.

7 Comments

Filed under Sewing

Tagged as , ,

August 19, 2010 · 7:54 am

Kasia—fitting

Or, A Window To My Insecurities

Kasia: front

I hate fit photos. I have a really hard time making myself take them—straight on, rear view, side view, with no posing or angling or

Kasia: side

twisting to give me the illusion of a figure I don’t have. Also, as usual, any kind of a waistband at my waist makes me feel like an absolute blob. (I am trying very hard to remind myself this is just a feeling and does not necessarily reflect how I actually look in the item) But, for your amusement, here they are.

Obviously the waistband needs to come in a bit, chiefly at the centre back. Big surprise. Also, despite my grading of the waist up a size, the curve of the hips is still a little generous (aka poufy. This hip-pouf is the reason I originally abandoned high-waisted anything), so I will need to take that in. It’s

Kasia: rear

especially obvious in the rear view.

Other than those fairly minor tweaks it’s looking not bad. I think the length will be nice once it’s hemmed. (This is also outside the comfort zone for me… I traditionally wear my skirts really long, like full length, or really short. For functional reasons, this mostly means I don’t wear my skirts. However, the one skirt in my wardrobe that actually gest worn on a regular basis is just above knee-length.)

I have some issue with my zipper insertion (don’t I always?) but since it doesn’t show I’m not overly bothered by it. Now I’m debating how much topstitching to do (all there is right now is around the hip panels). Emphasize the waistband, or the vertical seams? (or both?) Invisible hem or topstitched hem at the bottom? I’m sooo tempted to peg the bottom sides in a bit, too, but I’m trying to resist, as it really looks fine and if it’s too narrow to walk in, I won’t wear it.

Then there’s the issue of how much ease I need in the waistband. Ease at the waist has always been tricky for me. The amount that feels comfortable (i. e. doesn’t leave me feeling like I instantly gained 20 lbs) is very little, which tends to produce rolls when I sit down. Now, muffin-top at my hips bothers me not at all, but rolls at the waist drive me nuts. But so does a loose waistband.

Funny how your feelings about how you look can be so disconnected from how you actually look, hey? Looking at the pictures, I actually don’t mind the skirt. There’s even some curviness at the hip there (aside from the poufy part) that is the main draw of a pencil skirt; though not seeing my bellybutton above a waistband is very disorienting. Wearing it, I feel big as a house. Pregnant. Like I’m driving a minivan. (Yes, driving minivans makes me feel fat. Something about the way they maneuver…)

Hopefully some careful fitting and lots of awesome photos later will help me take care of that.

Well, I hope that was an interesting window into all my little figure-insecurities. Now, I need a cup of tea.

Comments Off on Kasia—fitting

Filed under Sewing

Tagged as , ,

August 18, 2010 · 9:48 pm

Slow and (not so) steady…

Kasia skirt front, showing one of the inner panels

I thought I’d have more progress to report on the Kasia by now. I had hopes of prancing around in it by tonight. Alas… things come up. I did at one point today have the side-seams stitched together enough to try it on (so far so good… the waistband will be the make-or-break, of course), then I had to pull them apart to add the waistband. Which is really confusing, by the way, since it’s in about seven different pieces. Two of which are the same piece (centre front) in different layers. I thought skirts were supposed to be easy? And then I had to drive out to Fabricland to get more topstitching thread—more of that famous silvery-grey that I used on the black jeans and the kids’ jean jackets. It’s a pain in the butt to sew with, especially since using some normal “jeans thread” on the last pair of capris, which was much better behaved, but I love the bright silvery colour, and I didn’t want denim-gold topstitching on this skirt. Although it is denim, I’m looking for something that reads a bit classier than “jean skirt.”

I’m not totally sold on the colour of the contrast inserts (it’s the same sparkly denim from the kids’ jackets) but I like that it’s much lighter-weight (better for gathering) than the striped denim.

Sadly, the Cupcake Goddess’s tutorial on sewing a skirt vent came a day late for me to put one in the back skirt, so a slit it will have to be.

Next trick… get the sides all sewn up and figure out if I need to make any sway-back adjustments to the waistband. Shouldn’t be hard with all the seams in it, but here’s hoping it won’t be necessary.

Comments Off on Slow and (not so) steady…

Filed under Sewing

Tagged as , ,

August 17, 2010 · 2:54 pm

Buttonhole Elastic

Buttonhole Elastic

Because I’m not accomplishing much of anything today, here’s a random post on that miracle of modern children’s clothing… Buttonhole Elastic!

Now, I first met buttonhole elastic when I was pregnant with my second daughter. It featured prominently in the two pairs of maternity pants (real maternity pants! This was a Big Deal!) that I bought that pregnancy. As first impressions go, this was not a big win. The buttonhole elastic is threaded through the back of the waistband, emerging via a buttonhole somewhere around the front hip, where it attaches to a button. You can adjust which of the many buttonholes along the elastic is buttoned, and thus adjust the waistband.

Really it didn’t work so well. Partly because who really wants a bunchy, elasticized waistband at the back of their jeans, and mostly because you can make the waistband of maternity pants as adjustable as you want but when the waist is wider than the hips, the pants are still going to fall down. (I think the current trend for mat. pants is very long, wide knit panels at the top, reaching up almost to the underbust. I haven’t been pregnant in over seven years so I can’t comment on how any of these work, although it seems a lot nicer than having a jeans button poking through your shirt right at your swollen belly-button.)

But, a few years later I noticed them cropping up in the back of kids’ jeans.

Buttonhole elastic threaded through waistband

And it has found its niche!

Elasticized waistbands and kids go together at the best of times—comfort almost always trumps stylishness (for the younger set, anyway), and considering the range of widths vs. lengths in kids, as well as the rapid changes within an individual child, an adjustable waistband is a wonderfully practical idea. An additional bonus for my booty-licious older daughter is that the drawn-in waistband at the back provides better fit for her J-Lo-esque backside.

So when I first made her the Jalie Jeans, back in May, I purchased a ton of buttonhole elastic and made the buttonholes (and attached the buttons) before sewing on the waistband. Amazingly forethoughtful of me, seriously. And then she tried them on—and they fit pretty much perfectly as-is, so I never bothered installing the elastic.

Re-sized jeans!

Well, fast forward three months and, of course, jeans that were perfectly fitting in the spring are WAY too small. Fortunately, I have two daughters, so all that work is not for naught… but the seven-year-old is still a fair bit smaller.

Finally, the elastic comes into its own! These are size K jeans on a size I body (so two sizes too big)

Alright, she probably won’t be wearing them quite yet, as they are also WAY long. But if she

Rear view---elasticized waistband

wants to, she can 🙂

Now, back to tracing up the Size M pattern for the older daughter…

2 Comments

Filed under Sewing

Tagged as , , , ,

August 16, 2010 · 6:33 pm

How to take cute pictures of a sucky coat

Burda Jacket... almost finished

Ok, the pictures aren’t even that cute. It’s not totally finished… not sure at this point that it will be, except for bloodymindedness and so I have something to wear during Self-Stitched September if (when) it gets too cold for my jean jacket. Note the hands on the hips in the first photo, creating the illusion of fit. Note how it’s pulled around to improve the rear fit in the second photo; this makes the front look super-doofy.

So, what are my issues?

Well, partly it’s fit. I never did get the shoulders *really* figured out. If I take them in, it’s too narrow in the

Burda jacket, back(ish) view

shoulders. If I let them out, there’s that bump that you see in the photo. And somehow when I put in the lining, the whole thing shrank (go figure :P) so that it doesn’t even overlap nicely in the front (without pulling at the shoulders). Instead of the lone visible button at the top and two hidden ones lower, I might just put in a low button, since that’s the only part that closes nicely.

And partly it’s my fabric. The jacket was designed for faux-leather, and my wool is MUCH thicker than that. I think this thickness is the main problem with the collar, which is sort of heavy and ugly without anything being obviously wrong with it.  I think someone with perfect tailoring skillz could have made a nice fitted jacket out of this wool, but I suspect that someone of my calibre should’ve stuck with something a little more basic. D’you think a sleeve-head or a shoulderpad would help?

On the up-side, the sleeve length is dead-on. And it’s super, duper warm.

Kasia skirt pattern

And, just to show that I’m truly a sucker for punishment, I printed out and assembled the Kasia skirt pattern for my next project! I’m going to grade it out from a size 36 at the hip to a size 38 at the waist and hope that gives me enough ease… I measured the pieces and according my calculations the finished size of the 36″ waistband should be 28″, which is technically the size of my waist but wouldn’t be comfortable at all. But one size up should be adequate.

Just for the record, I haven’t worn an item of clothing with a waistband at my waist, except for one Christmas skirt that fits like a dream, since I was a teenager.

Oh, and here’s a picture of the jacket before I put the sleeves on, inside-out to show all the

Interfacing

interfacing. This was all as directed by the pattern, but maybe it wasn’t such a good idea on my thick, thick wool. You can also see very clearly that rogue shoulder-seam.

9 Comments

Filed under Sewing

Tagged as , ,

August 16, 2010 · 11:21 am

We interrupt your regularly scheduled jacket mangling…

To bring you… a tailor’s ham!

Home-made tailor's ham

Based on the Burdastyle tutorial, it is one half wool, one half cotton twill, stuffed with cotton scraps, and a bit funny-shaped and triangular, not to mention lumpy. I’m not convinced the scrap-stuffing is going to be firm enough in the long run… we’ll see. I feel like a rice or barley stuffing might be a good alternative to the sawdust I don’t have ready access too. I’m not sure what the store-bought ones are stuffed with these days (feels light and plasticky, though). However, it was a lot better to try and shape the jacket shoulders than just the edge of the regular ironing board. I’ve been meaning to make one of these for a while (basically ever since I saw the Burdastyle tutorial), as I’m too cheap to buy one. Next on the list will be a sleeve roll…

3 Comments

Filed under Sewing

Tagged as ,

August 16, 2010 · 7:34 am

Jacket Suckitude

The sleeves on this jacket are driving me nuts! Is it me? Is it the pattern? Is it my punishment from the fickle Sewing Gods for daring to try to make a—ulp—petite pattern?

Part of the problem comes from the shoulder seam, which runs well to the rear of my actual shoulder. Actually, the neck-side of it is perfect. But for some reason it angles backward at the outside. (I had noticed this in the muslin but thought it was due to me distributing the fullness of the sleeve cap poorly. Now I suspect that this is WHY the fullness was all concentrated to the back. Also the shoulder seemed a bit too wide, especially at the front, and I’ve now tightened the curve of the front princess seam a bit. I am dangerously close to the kind of billiard-ball alterations that turned my Lydia Disaster from a well-constructed top that didn’t happen to fit me into something suitable only for my 10-year-old’s scissors. But wool is considerably more forgiving of stitch-ripping than a cotton knit (I’ve now had sleeves basted in at least five separate times, by machine and by hand… I like by hand, it only takes about 2 snips to rip it all out). I’m hoping if I give up on the shoulder seam as a reference and mark my actual shoulder point, I’ll have some better luck. I hope so. I sure love this fabric.

Seriously, though, this is a pain. I have pretty easy-to-fit shoulders. They’re a little broad (not for this pattern though!) and square, but they’re straight and even. No forward-shoulder alterations here. And I’ve set in plenty of sleeves before, even in jackets, with none of these problems.

Man, I wish I had a dress-form.

Comments Off on Jacket Suckitude

Filed under Sewing

Tagged as , , , ,

August 15, 2010 · 10:06 am

Fools rush in…

oops... a jacket.

Where wiser seamstresses fear to tread.

This is a jacket from my new Burda mag. This jacket, actually. Minus pockets, on account of I don’t really like patch pockets on coats and I’m too lazy to learn to do the welt pocket on the left breast right now.

Yes, THAT jacket.

Yes, I went ahead and cut it without doing a proper muslin or anything. I am not in the right headspace to be tackling this, by any means. I haven’t read up on my tailoring in a few months. I haven’t gone through my sole sewing book for whatever tips may lurk within. Most of all, I’m not feeling patient, although I am working on it.

I traced off a size 18; this is the Burda petite size equivalent to my regular size, 36. The arms of the pattern

front of lining/muslin

are long to begin with, but let’s face it, I’m no petite. I measured the pattern pieces, and my own arms (this is always touch-and-go as it varied by where the shoulder/sleeve seam falls), and added an inch for good measure. Plus a 4cm hem allowance, so really I should have plenty to play with.

I cut out the lining first and sewed it up quickly to test the fit. The bodice was surprisingly good, although I’m not quite sure there’s going to be enough overlap in the front. Odd, since that should be the one dimension it actually fits me in. Here’s a few shots of it, though they’re mostly terrible. The darts actually fall in a really good place for me (which never happens). The bodice length is awesome (Ok, an extra half-inch somewhere probably wouldn’t’ve hurt, but I like a short jacket so I’m not going to bother). The fit at the curve of my (sway) back is great, too.

Back of lining/muslin. Something is WRONG with those shoulders.

Something is WRONG with the shoulders. It’s like all the fullness is gathered behind the shoulder, pulling the shoulder-seam back and making it poufy at the back there. I think I got the easing in the right place according to the pattern, but it does not look right at all. I think it’s just a problem in how the ease is distributed, though (as opposed to how the pattern is cut.) Also, I sewed the side pieces in backwards, which may have thrown off the armscye a bit.

Don’t ever try to use your lining as a muslin. It’s way too slippery and hard to get right—and then you won’t know which fitting issues are genuine and which just come from your own screw-ups. And then you pretty much have to pull it all apart to sew the facings in anyway.

Also, Things I Learned Tracing My First Burda Magazine Pattern

  • even if you remember to leave space for the seam allowances, leave more, they are LARGER than you think.
  • try to get all the pattern markings, including the seam numbers, down when you first trace it. You WILL need this info, and going back and finding the pieces again on the pattern is a PITA.
  • However, you will miss some markings. Go back and add them as soon as you realize it.
  • Burda uses little lines instead of notches. Draw your notches in (or out 😉 ) because you will forget them, otherwise. Don’t forget to do this at the seam allowance line, not just the stitching line.
  • the information is there. It’s just not always where you think it is.
  • look up how to sew a mitred corner.

Ok the last one probably isn’t very widely applicable. That’s all the instructions say for finishing the rear vent.

Anyway, I have a bit more interfacing and a LOT more reading to do. I have a feeling there will be a fair bit of basting and fitting for this one, especially around the shoulder area. But if I end up with a nice fall-weight jacket for Self Stitched September, I’ll be swimming, right?

2 Comments

Filed under Sewing

Tagged as , ,