I’ve been vacillating about the pinafore/overall trend that has been bubbling around the sewcialsphere for awhile. I think they’re adorable, but I couldn’t really see myself in them. The last time I wore overalls (the only time I’ve worn them post-adolescence) was when I was pregnant with Tyo, and then only because a friend gave me some giant pairs (since I had no money for maternity clothes) and I felt able to get away with wearing my beloved crop-tops with them. In hindsight it was a pretty cute look, though, and I kinda wish I had pictures but that was long pre-selfie.
Anyway, it wasn’t until Helen came out with the York Pinafore this spring that a pattern really clicked and said “yes! This is you!” Maybe because of the stripped down, no-hardware style, but largely because the exaggerated hip curve reminded me of the strange shape I loved so much in my striped sweater-dress from this past winter. Anyway, it suddenly struck me again as a perfect vehicle for getting away with a crop-top when I once again find myself in a physical state where I don’t feel comfortable with my belly hanging out. (And yes, there’s a whole other conversation about body positivity and acceptance, and I’m all about that, but anyway.)
The pattern is kinda stupidly simple, front, back, pockets. No darts, fastenings or anything.
I spent a few weeks dithering over my fabric choice. I liked the idea of denim, but I didn’t really want a stretch denim and I wanted something not completely plain. Then I remembered I still had some pinstriped denim in deep, deep stash, left over from my Kasia pencil skirt. (Wow, was rereading those posts a walk down memory lane! That was from my first summer of blogging, way back in 2010.) Anyway, my Kasia is long gone (it was cute but every time I wore it I ripped the back seam while walking), so another straight-ish skirted thing in this fabric seemed ok. I was a little apprehensive about the width though, since I have issues with narrow skirts (see above comment about my poor Kasia).
I didn’t have QUITE enough fabric, technically, since my remnant had some odd bits trimmed out of it, but I was determined, so I made it work by featuring some raw lapped edge piecing. Hopefully it looks cool and intentional and doesn’t completely fray away. And of course I had to cut the pockets on the bias, which necessitated some more piecing. I finished the pocket edge with a band of denim on the straight grain, and of course managed to sew one of them onto the part of the pocket that goes into the side-seam, not the actual top. Because I’m that good.
You can see the pockets have some pretty prominent topstitching, which is cute but not reflected in the stitching on the bias tape finish. That was mostly fear that my first pass at stitching down the tape was going to be all over the place, but now I’m not sure I want more visible topstitching. It’s kinda nice and sleek how it is?
The pattern as a whole is super simple, but the bias tape finishing, on the other hand, is not the easiest technique ever, in my opinion. I know how to do it—it’s actually a bit of a motif in my summer sewing this year—but applying everything I know in theory is the trick.
I made my own tape. Actually, this is tape I made for my first corset way back when—I have a whole box of leftover bias tape from various projects. I ran it through the bias-tape folder doodad.
I guess here’s my first issue. I make continuous bias tape, because it’s efficient, but I tend to wing it on the cutting part so my finished tape is often pretty uneven. That’s not a big issue for most of the things I use it for—Hong Kong seam bindings, corset edges, finishing the edge of the inside waistband of jeans—but it gives the bias tape folder doohickey fits. For this particular tape, I had actually marked and cut quite a bit more carefully than other times, and the width was pretty good for my 1/2″ folder. The second problem was that this fabric is a lightweight twill. Still lighter than my denim, so this was a good project for using it, but heavy enough that getting the seams through the folder took a bit of finessing.
Then there was the application. Before applying your bias tape to a curved seam like these ones, you should really press it into a curve. The curve doesn’t have to match your finished one, but it gets you into the right ballpark, shrinking one edge and stretching the other. But for some reason I thought I could skip this step. I could not. If you look real close in the pic up above you can see two seams where I had to add in 1″ of tape at the center front because I didn’t have enough tape there to stretch the outer edge round the curve. I’m not even going to complain about the not so even folding to the right. Once I curved the bias tape, the rest of the finishing was much less harrowing.
I was pleasantly surprised that the walking ease in the skirt seems to be quite adequate.
Helen spends quite a bit of time in the instructions on fit (aimed at beginners) and I did absolutely none of it. Other than combining the pockets from one view and the length from the other, I made no changes at all to the pattern—I even did the specified 2″ hem. (Actually, on re-reading, the hem should’ve been 2″ total, 1/2″ folded over and then 1.5″… so mine is 1/2″ shorter than intended. And I’m quite satisfied, though a version with a deeper side scoop might be nice.
It feels fun but bordering on cartoony—I’m very curious if it’ll be something I reach for or something I only pull out for novelty value. On the other hand if it lets me wear my crop tops more, that’s a big reason to wear it because otherwise why do I even have them? So I guess I’m not certain, but hopeful.
And on that note, let’s finish with some cat butt!
The plan was to make Burda envelope pattern 
Let’s be honest here—he needs clothes about as badly as I don’t. If he were a little more fun to sew for, I’d just make them, but he’s wildly picky so anything I make (including this shirt) is a big risk.
However, for Father’s Day I couldn’t quite resist trying a slouchy, comfy, yet tux-inspired style using this pale rayon “denim”.
This would’ve worked very well for the pintuck topstitching, except that I wanted to sew them on my new-to-me Elna, which handles topstitching thread better than any of my other machines. However, I don’t have an adaptor to use my edgestitching feet with her, and getting high precision pintucks without precision feet is tricky for me. If your sewing skills are up to it, I salute you! Mine fall short. The resulting pintucks were very far from as neat and regular as I would’ve liked. I could only hope that once they were washed and slouch-ified all would be forgiven.
I was, however, dispirited, and a few other things that irked me about the pattern didn’t help: there was no separate back yoke, and the cuff placket was made with just a simple bias strip rather than a tower placket.
I realize these are stylistic decisions that probably say more about my own prejudices about a “proper shirt” than anything else. Regardless, my enthusiasm had distinctly waned, and there were other projects with more pressing deadlines.
So the whole thing languished for several weeks waiting on a hem and buttons because I just couldn’t stand it. But finally, just in time to be late for Father’s Day (and for no particular reason except that I didn’t have enough time for a serious project and had run out of other quick things I could tackle), I found the motivation to finish it off.
So anyway, at the end of the day I like it and I think it fulfills the vision I had in my head. Let’s just hope it also works for my husband.
This sundress was supposed to be done a LONG time ago—it was supposed to be the one project I kept out while everything else got packed up for the basement reno. That was back at the beginning of April when it was basically still winter. Unfortunately, packed up it did get, so things got delayed.
Anyway, the dress, (
I didn’t help myself by deciding that my fine fabrics deserved the special treatment of French seams.
And I decided to change the hem border construction to double-layered to add heft and swish. Not a bad idea in my fabric of choice—but the way I went about constructing it was very far from the easiest it could’ve been, especially considering how soft and easily distorted the fabric was. I ended up topstitching with an embroidery stitch to make sure I caught all the backside of my double layer to hold it closed. A cute detail in the end but very far from the quick and simple I was going for.
Then there was the bit about the lining showing. See it in the photo above? Well, in the pattern instructions there was a mysterious band of outer fabric facing the outside of the lining hem. How odd, I thought. What a strange feature. I want things simple so I’ll skip that. Well, little did I realize that the lining actually SHOWS quite prominently at the sides. The handkerchief upper layer is knee-length in places but quite scandalously short at the sides. After some thinking I concluded that I actually love the depth and complexity the double-layer gives the design—but it definitely needs that hem band. So I had to back and add that in after the fact.
Considering how frustrating the actual make was, I’m pretty charmed by the dress. It’s another foray into tent-shapes, which I realize everyone else has figured out but I’m still a bit hesitant about. I did try taming it with a belt:
But I actually think it’s mainly at its best flowing free. In particular it’s relaxed enough that while I’m happy to wear it to the office, I think I’ll be equally happy to toss it on for a Sunday at home, which isn’t the case for much of my wardrobe.
My challenge this year was to wear things I made as Fabricland projects—a way to commemorate my time working there before my store closes this summer, and remind myself that as unhappy with the chain as I might be at the moment, it has also given me a lot. Also a way to contemplate the dangers of free fabric.
What it also did was drive home HOW MUCH I have made over the last few years. I have a lot of clothes now—I know that. Way more than I had when I was shopping for my clothes. I was able to do the entire month without repeats—aside from some weekend loungewear, anyway—and it wasn’t even that much of a stretch.
I did manage to wear a few things I haven’t worn out before. This mostly served to remind me of why I hadn’t worn them. I had also been feeling a little bit out of love with my fit ‘n flare dresses, and this month somewhat rekindled that. I love wearing them. I feel cute and girly.
So what did I learn, other than that I have way too many clothes?
The only store bought stuff in regular rotation now are my socks and bras. I will tackle bra-making more seriously at some point, when I have a bit more money and attention to throw at it. Part of the problem is that I like firm, foam-cupped bras—most of which I’ve acquired dirt cheap at the thrift store. The bras I’ve tried making have all been soft-cup—widely considered the best fitting, but not something I’ve voluntarily worn since I stopped breastfeeding. Which, my youngest kid is in high school. It’s been a bit. I might take another stab at bralettes, though. I’m starting to feel an urge for something soft to wear for lounging around the house when I don’t want a tight band and underwires. We’ll blame that on my late thirties, but that doesn’t change the fact.
Probably the only area I could use a few more clothes in is casual loungewear. I have two pairs of Jalie yoga pants, neither of which should go out in polite company. A handful of Tropo and other camisoles which are mostly fairly new additions. I don’t have any shorts, and the capris I’ve made in the past no longer fit.
Really, though, I don’t need clothes. What I should be focusing on is slower and less selfish sewing. Stuff for the house, and the people in it—and there are several projects for family and dear friends that have been on the back burner for literally years.
So–slowing down, taking care, picking my projects.
there were a few things I pulled out I’d been afraid to try, thinking they were too small. Mostly, thankfully, I found they still worked, though it was a bit traumatic to retire the last of my first generation of me-made jeans. (Except the very very first pair, because although they’re in tatters the SUPER stretchy denim still fits)
Now that the month is done, it feels weird not to take my daily selfie. There’s a little caption in my head that I have nowhere to write. I don’t think I really want to start a separate Instagram or anything to document my outfits—it’s pretty boring to anyone who isn’t me—but I can see the urge.
I didn’t really think the
Until last winter when I went looking for a basic dress to teach a beginner garment-making type class at 
I’m a little less at ease with my choice of fabric. It’s a muted greeny blue that I LOVE but combined with the simple cut it reads dangerously close to hospital gown, which is not helped by the fact that the fabric (a cotton-linen blend) really has a bit too much body for the design. But I’m a sucker for linen.
I added some lace motifs at the neck to hopefully distract from this.
I blended from a 38 in the upper body to a 40 at the hips, and did a swayback adjustment, which I think helps but it’s a bit hard to assess given the loose shape.
I have mixed feelings about the dolman sleeves. On the plus side they’re super simple and quick—on the minus I think they’re a bit low under the arm (duh, that’s how sleeves like this work). I might try playing around with raising them and adding a gusset in the future, but I didn’t want to go too far off the grid with a class sample.
Also did I mention it is SHORT? Ok, again in the pattern’s defense I did a one inch hem instead of 3/4″, so it might be slightly shorter than intended, and I am technically taller than most patterns are drafted for… but I rarely have to add length to skirts. It’s technically mini length, but because of the style of sleeves it comes up quite a lot when you raise your arms.
In the meantime I might have to try another. It was seriously quick and fun to put together.
One of my final projects, taken out right before the news about our store closing dropped, was Butterick B6556, a newish pattern from Gertie. It’s a cute retro style and I loved the square neckline. And it was PERFECT for this linen-rayon blend border print.
I often struggle with gathered skirts on me, but pleats can be an ok substitute when you still want a straight edge to use with a border print.
It was fun to tackle a VERY limited amount of pattern matching—just at the center back of the bodice. I used the print upside down in the bodice so the flowers would trail down from the neckline; a bit more flower might’ve been nice though.
I ended up with a serviceable lapped zipper in the end, but it was a struggle. I should’ve interfaced the area to stabilize it—with the fabric cut on the cross-grain, it stretched out like crazy! And then there wasn’t enough fabric for the overlap I wanted, so I added a little facing piece to the upper edge. And THEN when I was topstitching somehow things got misaligned and the whole bottom half got stitched closed. Grr. Not aided by being in a hurry, of course. Hand-picking it might’ve been faster.
And yes, it has pockets!
The pleated skirt is too narrow to go over my crazy crinoline! I’m wearing it here with my “everyday petticoat”which is fine but not crazy exciting. Maybe I should have a “mid crazy” petticoat. Actually, I do but it’s black and a little bit longer, so not right for this dress. And I’m not inclined to find space to store another one!
I just missed out on the first 
Which is still kinda the case now, but a few things have changed. My position at my day job is different, both less stressful and more fulfilling. I have a house with bits that actually look nice without massive effort. (Yes, that makes a big difference for these kind of challenges. Also for my mental health.) And, a week or so ago, after years of rumours,we learned that the Fabricland where I’ve been working for the last five and a half years is closing this summer.
There are a LOT of feelings about that, but chiefly a deep sadness. I have met so many wonderful people through working there. Anyway, that’s a whole nother post. Working at Fabricland has had a profound impact on my sewing, as you may have noticed—a substantial chunk of my posts in the past five years have been shop projects. But the projects also influenced WHAT I chose to sew, both in terms of fabric—many of which i wouldn’t’ve been able to afford otherwise—and the patterns. Having the pick of anything ButMcVogue or Burda envelope, really let me try out a lot of new things, and I probably sewed a lot fewer TNT and Indie patterns than I might have otherwise. It also reduced the practicality of my sewing—instead of focusing on basic wardrobe needs, the party-dress temptation was pretty much irresistible.
I’m going to aim for daily outfit shots of some kind (probably mostly crappy mirror pics like above). I’ll post daily over on Instagram (
I’m hoping this will help me sort out some of these feels. I guess we’ll see.
Leggings are the ultimate quick make. They’re one of the few things faster to sew than to shop for. And while they’re easy and cheap to buy, I almost never get the particular fit I want in bought versions—the length is rarely right and the rise never is.
So why branch out? Well, both Espresso and Jalie 2920 are solid basic leggings patterns, a single pattern piece. A nice feature a lot of my kids’ more substantial storebought leggings have is a wide top band. I’ve been 
Obviously any of these features you could hack on your own, but we use patterns to make things easier, and easy patterns to make things effortless. When I got offered the opportunity to teach a leggings class at my local quilt shop, 
We’ll see how that works out, but at the very least I got the pattern and a chance to try out some of the cute knits they’re stocking from Cotton and Steel, which is a lot more swanky than I’m likely to find at Fabricland.
The Cotton and Steel jersey is a bit thin for what I like in leggings, and perhaps not quite as stretchy as the Avery calls for, but I wanted to give it a shot, even though in the grand scheme of things it’s probably better suited for a T shirt. I picked the arrow print mainly because the colour didn’t fade out as much under stretch as some of the other options. Also it’s super cute. And it had the most adorable slogan in the selvedge I just had to appliqué it on the back of the waistband as a label.
I also used a wee bit of those cute selvedge stars on one ankle, too. I cut the longer length, which is meant to have ankle scrunchies. No ankle scrunchies on me, but they are long enough.
For my second pair I added 3″ in length. Perfect ankle scrunchies!
For the crotch gusset, I made it two layers. Even though this isn’t like an underwear gusset, I just felt better with the gusset being thicker. Your mileage may vary.
I was curious about the construction of the waistband. Turns out it’s much the same as Jalie 3022, if you skipped the contrast band, which I always do. Good instructions.
I was sewing all these while my basement is under construction and most of my sewing gear is trapped in the depths of a storage container. And I didn’t think to buy elastic, because I always have elastic, but the only stuff that’s not buried is my 1/4″ clear elastic. That makes for a nice non-bulky finish—but maybe not ideal for the whole staying-up part. The pattern calls for 1/2″ elastic.
Partly because of my not-totally-optimal jersey, and because Avery calls for 70% stretch (Jalie 2920 only calls for 60%), I rounded my size up to the Large. This is comfy but may be a bit “big” technically—there are some wrinkles in both pairs, especially around the hips, that maybe don’t need to be there. A quick note on the % stretch—I had always read to measure stretch along a fold of fabric, since the raw edge will stretch out more. But the instructions for Avery don’t mention this. So if you’re measuring the 70% stretch along a raw edge, the actual stretchiness of the recommended fabric may not be much different than the Jalie pattern. I’d compare but, again, all my stuff is buried.
My second version is in a deliciously beefy cotton spandex knit from the ends at Fabricland. It’s everything you could ask for for a pattern like this. I added a bit more length, as I said before, for ankle scrunchies, and went with the mid-rise version of the waistband. The high rise version I think is actually a little too high for my short body—the mid-rise still comes up to my waist pretty easily, though it does ride down a bit.
In the mid-rise, I think a little more height in the back could be a good idea—this happens with almost all my pants. I think the correct solution might be to use the high-rise waistband but lower the front rise on the leggings piece a bit.
But while there’s always room for a tweak or two, I gotta say these are pretty darn perfect.
It’s April, and it’s 
My basement got cleared out last week, finally, to make the repairs from our flood in February. I had left careful instructions for the sewing stuff that needed to come upstairs as opposed to going out in the storage cube. And everything did, except the one bag that contained the (prewashed) fabric and pattern for the project.
So instead, I pulled out a random fabric box that I could reach from the front of the storage cube (which is totally accessible, just very densely packed and I am not going to mess with that), and started rifling through the extremely limited selection of patterns I could get my hands on. (Because they happened to be on the kitchen table not in the basement where they belong)
And all of a sudden, apparently, McCall’s M7467 is at the top of my list, one final sweater dress for the season. In red velvet, because that was the best option in the box that I could reach. It’s actually good because I’ve been wanting to make this one for a while and it kept getting bumped down the list. And, well, who doesn’t love red velvet?
I cut view B, which in the drawing looks like a mini dress but is actually a tunic length, and not a long one. (Keeping in mind my petiting, but still). So when I got to try-on phase, I decided to add a big wide band at the bottom. I like the look anyway.
I didn’t really think of this sheer rayon-poly blend being a chiffon when I picked it out—technically it isn’t. But it shares all of the qualities that make sewing with chiffon unpleasant—shiftiness, slipperiness, a tendency towards fraying, and sheerness that means the insides have to be as tidy as the outsides. Also, hard to unpick. Yugh.
This boxy, oversized shirt dress pattern, McCall’s M7713, is really outside of my comfort zone, too. What I like is the lace-up belt. Also it was on the April mailer, so free extra project. Many an unwise project has been spawned that way.
While I may not be a fan of the boxy shirtdress, my husband is a fan of those scenes in eighties movies where the girl is wearing the guy’s shirt around the house the morning after. So I guess I’m hoping to channel that vibe.
This pattern does have a really cute little collar, so that was fun to try out. I did not like the instructions for handling the back yoke, though, so I kinda went off-road, and I’m not overly satisfied with my own version either. Possibly some googling would’ve been in order. Or, y’know, pulling out my old Colette Negroni instructions, since it’s basically a funny-shaped camp collar.
I like the faced hem, and the cute split sleeves, which I shortened to 3/4 length. This photo is of the good side.
Because the fabric wasn’t traumatic enough on its own, my iron’s tendency to spit yellowish water at inopportune moments is also well displayed over several parts of the dress. I think there’s some chocolate on there too. Just shoot me now.
On the other hand, I actually like it more than I thought I might. It’s pretty fun. There are a lot of cute details—the shaped faced hem, sleeve splits, obi/cincher belt, and of course the cute collar.
I made the split sleeves only 3/4 length, as I thought at full length they would be a bit much. I’m very glad I made that decision.
You may have noticed, as a dress is is SHORT. Especially with those side splits. (Mine might be split a little higher than the pattern intended, as I went a bit off-road from the instructions in that area, too. So it may be destined for tunic-hood. Though black boyshorts underneath would be pretty fun, I have to say.
The bottom half feels very narrow compared to the billowy, blousy top, which is interesting since the pattern is more or less straight and I actually graded up a size below the waist. The whole thing feels a bit top-heavy. On the other hand some over-the-knee-hooker-boots might offset that perfectly. Sadly my wardrobe is lacking in that department.
It was definitely fun to take these photos and try styling it with different underthings.
Even the unbelted view was fun—a lot more understated than with the belt.
So all in all, a harrowing process with an imperfect result that actually looks pretty cute in the pictures, if not up close.
And considering that it’s still firmly winter outside here as I write this on Easter weekend… at least it’s summery. I’ll take it.
Tanit-Isis Sews 