I finally got some pictures of these kids IN the stuff I made them (well, some of them). (And wow… everyone really does say you should make them stuff. So far I tell everyone I’ll make them something if they come up to visit for the duration. That shuts ’em up)
The kids’ jean jackets are done! In all their pain-in-the-butt imperfect glory. Be amazed. Be awed. Rejoice (with me) that my fingers survived all that snap-setting.
Second Kids' Jean Jacket
As usual, I can’t wait until the thing is fully finished. Sorry. Also I ran out of topstitching thread, so I’m not going to be able to finish it until tomorrow.
This project has been such a brat, and it’s all my fault. It’s like my brain was broken; I was incapable of
Second kids' jean jacket---back
thinking logically about the order in which it had to be constructed. Not looking at the instructions didn’t help, but I didn’t really look at them last time and it went much better. I have no excuses. It was simple incompetence, with perhaps a dose of hubris. Hopefully I’ll learn my lesson, o great Sewing Gods.
I figured out my problem with the collar being too big, by the way. I had been trying to fit it on only the jacket part. It is, of course, supposed to extend to the centre front on both sides—that is, about halfway across the front placket. The collar on the JJ blouse is exactly the same (except its button placket is cut on, not sewn on). Heck, pretty much any collar that doesn’t have a stand is done like this.
Inside---pocket linings and bias binding
And it took me two tries to figure this out (too late). In my defense, the illustration shows the inside (facing) so you can’t really tell where the collar should end relative to the band, but still. My bad. My stupid.
Ok, let’s look at the positives. The lace worked out surprisingly well. I might have used a bit more, but I ran out (seriously, I bought two metres. Who could imagine a jean-jacket could use up two metres of lace??). The pearl snaps are very cute, and much easier to put in now I have the proper tools. The topstitching is relatively flawless. The wider bias-binding inside
Snazzy under-collar
worked very nicely, and there’s only one seam I proceeded to fold and topstitch the wrong way (can you spot it?). I like the touch of colour and pattern inside, and on the under-collar (I should probably have interfaced the undercollar, too, rather than just adding a second layer of the seersucker. I am reasonably confident that my seven-year-old will not give a crap at all about my various booboos.
I may still give in and get some crystal iron-ons or something equally twee for both jackets. Even with the lace, this one’s very plain, and the other even more so.
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My new Button Stash
Yes, I am weak. I think we’ve established that. Today, I gave in to the lure of the Bag of Mixed Buttons. These things call to me. You see, my mother has a button stash. My grandmother has a button stash (two or three, actually). In fact, a good chunk of my mother’s button stash used to be my great-grandmother’s. Me, I have no button stash. And my forebears are not yet ready to part with theirs (they get real squirrely when I ask, too.)
So today, when I was at Zellers to buy thread, they had big mixed bags for five bucks, and I caved.
Now, this is not the way to acquire a button stash, I know. Ideally one should be accumulated over the years from buttons snipped off of worn-out garments, or at least bought at a garage sale or thrift store from some old lady’s accumulation. Added to here and there with truly magnificent finds, like a fabric stash. Doing what I did is kinda like buying a garbage bag full of random fabrics to create your stash. But I couldn’t resist any longer. I’m sorry. There are lots of fake pearl ones, which I love. A few big funky ones that might be worthy of a Lady Grey coat some day. Some brightly coloured ones that would be good for kids clothes. And some that are just butt-ugly and cheap looking. A fair number of sets of six to twenty matching ones, which was one of my fears of buying a bag like this. I don’t know if this will actually curtail my project-related button buying, but you never know. At least this way any extra buttons I have left over will have company.
On the sewing front, as you may have guessed, I’m struggling along with the jean jacket for my younger daughter. This got off to a really good start last night.
Today, not so much.
I really should read pattern instructions. Even the second time round. It’s not that I don’t know how things are constructed—I just forget steps. Or do them out of order. Like forgetting to attach the front button placket/facing before I sewed the shoulder seam. Or forgetting to leave the gap for the sleeve placket when I stitched the two pieces of the sleeve together. And then topstitched them. And then sewed the lace down over that. Frankly just a lot of stupidity that could have been avoided by actually thinking. Or, failing that, reading the instructions. Also some of the same issues from the first version are occurring—the front yoke was a smidge too wide. I did manage to get the front band/facing fitting right this time, so my issues last time around were presumably user error. And, most distressingly, the collar is too big. This was not such an issue last time; I just shortened one side. The difference isn’t noticeable.
This time, I had lace sandwiched between the upper and under collar, so that its edges would just peek out when it was folded right-side out. No shortening that. I managed to get the undercollar side sewn on (with a few tucks… fortunately, it’s made oft the same seersucker as the pocket linings, so it was much more amenable to easing than the denim would be) and I’ll sew the denim upper side in by hand, which should let me fudge it. Pooey. Possibly this is also user error—I’m not the best at collars—but I haven’t had this much trouble with the other collars I’ve done this year, which is actually at least eight. Eight collars! Wow, I’m a pro!
Anyway, bedliness beckons. Here’s hoping tomorrow brings smooth sailing, or at least smoother sewing. Once I get this one done, I can make something for ME!!!
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Do YOU see what's wrong?
I would be less ticked if I hadn’t broken my seam ripper last week, and forgotten to get a new one when I picked up thread this morning.
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2nd kids' jean jacket, under way.
how having the right tools at hand makes all the difference? You may (or may not) recall how nuts I went trying to install these pretty pearl snaps on my older daughter’s jean jacket. I never did get any put in that actually functioned. The one at the link above looks cute but doesn’t stay snapped to save its life. I couldn’t get any other ones to even attach properly.
So, last weekend, I put on my big-girl panties and bought the little tool (along with a bunch more snaps, since they had a colour they hadn’t had before, that I liked better… I know, I know). And last night I cut out and got started on the construction for the younger daughter’s jean jacket.
So far, it’s going well. I like the lace around the pocket flap; hopefully I’ll remember to put it in a couple of other seams so it doesn’t look totally weird. I get to use up more of that damn seersucker fabric (featured here and here) for the pockets and bias binding. Actually it’s a perfectly good fabric, I just didn’t realize how far 2m would go when it’s not really suitable for anything but clothes for little girls. I made the bias binding much wider this time (a whole 5 cm!) and it’s much easier to sew evenly. I think I’m slowly getting a bit better at cutting bias binding. The amount I have to trim off kills me, though. It’s almost as wide as the entire binding I used in the first jean jacket.
There is one problem, however. When I was purchasing this denim, I didn’t have the envelope with me. I had written down about 1.5 m for each jacket—actually 1 5/8 yards, but of course fabric is sold by the metre. I figured this was a good, if slightly generous, conversion. I forgot that this was the yardage for 45″ wide fabric, and the denim I got is more like 60″. I bought 3m.
Each of these jackets took less than a metre of fabric. I have at least a metre and a half of sparkly denim left over.
I guess I’m going to be sewing more kids’ jeans.
Just not right now.
And, on that note, I should really get to work. Also, I’m out of white thread.
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A ruffly halter for my younger niece
Aww, I’d been doing so well at posting daily, too. Ah well. I have good news and bad news. The bad news is twofold. On the one hand, I ran out of tracing paper while trying to trace out a full version of my winter coat. I’ve been using one of those big Ikea rolls of kids’ paper; not ideal, but cheap. However, maybe for this I should deal and get the real pattern tracing paper, that might have wider piece? Either way, it’s not likely to be before this weekend. So much for my resolution to do at least one thing per week on the winter coat. Meh. The other bad news is that I wore my nifty cowl top today, and once again this fabric has like no recovery. I swear it grew a good two inches all around on me today. Also I should’ve ran some elastic inside the cowl itself to help it stay on my shoulders better. Next time. If there is a next time. So not really a problem with the pattern or even my sewing, just the crummy fabric. That’s what you get for $2/metre.
back view of ruffled halter top
On the plus side, I got this twee little ruffled halter from Oliver + S finished for my younger niece. Because I am teh awesome at placing, it used up less than 1m of fabric despite the bias ruffles, so I am thinking of making some shorts (with a ruffle) to go with it. I have a pattern I could use from my store of “vintage” (mostly eighties) kids and babies patterns. Heck, with the fabric I have leftover I could make a whole nother popover dress (not the gathered version, though, which took a bit over 2m of fabric.)
I think I’d enjoy sewing kids clothing much more if I weren’t doing it in such candy-sweet colours. My own fault, I know. My hubby’s best friend is expecting a second baby this summer… I should really make something for them (especially as his wife, who terrifies me with her sewing prowess, has done the same for our girls a couple of times. I finally feel like I might be able to make something worthy of her children. Actually… this exact same halter in black would be awesome for their older daughter… :D) Just what I need. More sewing for kids. At least it’s quick and doesn’t take up much fabric. Just not nearly so satisfying…
I should probably bite the bullet and cut out my hubby’s next shirt, since the pattern’s out and lying on the livingroom floor (no doubt driving him nuts… he’s the neat freak in the family). But I don’t wanna! I wanna sew something else for meeee. Something that’s not out of crappy knit. I have another knit to try, after all. Or I could give the Anna top another try. I really think it would work if I switched back to the original cup piece (I had reduced the size and it was too small, believe it or not. My hubby says my breasts are nowhere near as small as I think they are… I think he’s on glue, of course). There’s still some issues with the back, but I could just add some lacing in back there to make the fit adjustable. I love lacing. :). And then there’s this awesome pattern I’m just salivating over… I think that might be the winner for what to do with my striped denim, except there’s no way I’d have enough to do the flounce. I could do that out of something else, though… another denim, or maybe a cotton eyelet (would that be too country?).
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Pink ruffle dress---complete!
A long morning’s labour completed. What do you think of the flower? I needed
Flower decoration
something to cover up my uneven ruffle, but I didn’t want something that would stick out too far. Loosely inspired by these.
Ok, I think that’s enough sewing for others. I want something for me now, please.
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Pink Overload!
I am in the throes of sewing a ruffly pink sundress for my niece. It is really, really sweet. I just might barf.
Can I just say, I am suddenly very proud that I never sewed anything pink for either of my daughters? Thank you, thank you very much. (Honestly, I don’t mind pink in moderation. but this… that’s a lot of pink. And it’s not cool, edgy pink with skulls on or something)
It’s based on the Oliver & S Popover Sundress, a free pattern. You can see the difference in my stylish sketch there.
My snazzy sketch.
I’m actually only using about the top 5″ of the pattern, since I needed the dress to be twirly (my niece is 3 1/2, and any skirt that doesn’t twirl out is “broken”). The rest is gathered tiers.
Which brings me to the second problem… the ruffler foot.
I learned to use a ruffler foot on my mother’s gorgeous, ancient 1960s Pfaff. You could ruffle, pleat, gather pretty near anything on that machine. And I did. Ok, I didn’t, but I made a number of tiered skirts for bellydance, which is pretty much anyone’s ruffling quotient for a lifetime (the one in that picture has 9 tiers, 7 of them ruffled, and the bottom hem consists of over 30 fabric-width (45″) strips.
When I moved away, my mom bought me a new sewing machine as a going-away present. Aww. It’s a lovely little Janome, and as you know it has sewn me through jackets and jeans with relatively little hassle. Things could be much worse. One of the little things I asked for when we got the machine, though, was a ruffler foot. I was still in dance-sewing mode, after all.
And I did, actually, manage to make one more full scale tiered skirt on my Janome. So I guess I can’t say the ruffler doesn’t work… it just doesn’t work as well. I don’t know if it’s the machine (not quite as sturdy) or the ruffler (also not quite as sturdy). It certainly can’t pleat to save your life. It does a roughly 2:1 gather on its lowest setting, and heaven help me if I want to change that. It’s little things, like the poky bit the needle sometimes hits on…
Of course, it didn’t help that last night when I was trying to start on it, I kept forgetting to put the presser foot down (it’s very hard to see the difference with the ruffler foot on… and it still ruffles, just even less well). And then somehow I managed to switch it to a zig-zag stitch…
Yeah, that doesn’t work. Remind me to pick up more needles when I’m out this afternoon…
But things are going much better this morning. I got the whole bottom tier ruffled. When I finish this post I’ll go do the second tier up. I always start at the bottom on these things, otherwise my brain breaks with the enormity of the task.
I always forget how the tiers multiply. That bottom tier was 6.6m long (6 fabric width strips) before I ruffled it. At least it’s done now!
The best thing about ruffled tiers? They use up almost ALL of the fabric. All I have left over of that ghastly pink solid is a 10″ square.
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Nearly done!
Sorry. Once again, impatience gets the better of me. It’s still missing the decorative snaps, but I’m showing it off anyway. In all its flawed glory. I did not include closeups of the places (cry) where I accidentally snipped the fabric with the scissors while trimming threads.
Kids' jean jacket---back
So… pattern? Nice. The front yoke seemed too wide and the front facing width was a little wonky in its width as well. Perhaps related? Perhaps due to flaws in my tracing or my failure to read the instructions carefully. I didn’t, by the way. Read the instructions, I mean. I’m not really such an advanced sewist that I should skip that, I
Front snaps!
know. It’s a bad habit. Otherwise it all went together very nicely.
As mentioned before, my bias bindiing on the inside is not the greatest. However, it is a nice flash of colour! You can see where I added in the pockets.
Today’s big experiment was the snaps. I went out and picked up two kinds, the plain silver heavy duty ones, and some cute little pearl ones. Unfortunately, I assumed that the hammer/punch tools that came with the heavy duty ones would be adequate to attach the pearl ones. (and if not, I’ve got a bunch of other punch/hammer/dies from grommets—surely something would work). Foolish, foolish me. I did manage to get one
Cute snap! Too bad it's broken!
installed on one of the waistband tabs (after cracking the pearl in two others). It looks good. But it doesn’t snap—it won’t stay shut. And I didn’t
Inside!
have enough of the big silver ones to do the decorative snaps (tabs, pocket flaps). So I’ll have to go back to the store. For more heavy duty snaps, or for the right hammering tools? We’ll see.
The sleeve shoulder topstitching was a pain in the butt.
Ooooh… look at how nicely I managed to get the undersleeve seam to match up to the back yoke seam!:
Back yoke seam matches sleeve underarm seam!
Too bad I didn’t manage to do it on the other side!
I am thinking of entering it (or the second one, which may be a little less imperfect) to the PatternReview children’s sewing contest this month. Exciting, no?
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Sewing is what I do when I'm cheating on all my other hobbies...
Tanit-Isis Sews 