Tag Archives: whining

September 19, 2011 · 9:53 pm

I met Oona!

My only picture of the two of us. I look a little spastic, I fear. Oona got better pictures, as her camera is much cooler than mine...

The infamous Oonaballoona from Kalkatroona, of course.

And she is, indeed, Oonalicious.

Oonatastic.

And many more fabulous oonjectives as well.

Sadly, the crushing Forces of the Universe were conspiring to keep us apart—despite her recent Rocky Mountain stint only a stone’s throw from my personal stomping ground, two weeks of email tag just couldn’t seem to mesh our schedules together, so the best we could do was a last, desperate meetup in, yes, the airport. We had just under an hour to squee, squeak, bounce up and down, and probably thoroughly confuse everyone around us (Not to mention nearly giving Ruggy an aneurysm as we delayed their passage through customs. I’m sorry, Ruggy, I really am!). Dearly beloveds, it was not nearly enough. I’m pretty sure I could spend HOURS squeeing with Oona (especially if there was a fabric store in range). Days just chatting it up. /sigh. I can report that she is just as adorable in person as online, and Ruggy is just as much a southern gentleman as claimed, even under extreme duress. She was also excessively impressed by my jacket and dress. Especially when she creates stuff like this. And this. *envy*

Obviously I need to start saving my pennies so I can visit New York City…

A rather better picture of her Oontastic Loveliness

The ONLY photo of me in NYC.

Anyway, hopefully she’s home safe by now, enjoying her goodies and her own bed (the worst thing about travelling, IMO, is sleeping in other beds). I miss her already.

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September 17, 2011 · 9:04 am

Fly Fronts

Fly Front

As I’m working on one, I thought I’d muse a bit on fly fronts.

I am not an expert, mind you. Not by a million miles, and this is not a tutorial. So long as I follow a tutorial closely, I don’t find them horrifically traumatic to put in, but how well they turn out, that varies dramatically.

First off (once again) I’ll link to my two favourite tutorials. I mostly use Debbie Cook’s because I have a hard time following video tutorials. But for those of you who like to see it in action,  Sandra Betzina has a gread video on the Threads website. It’s pretty much the same technique both times, except Debbie uses double-sided tape to hold the zipper down instead of pins.

Anyway, here are some thoughts. Insightfulness, organization, and usefulness are not guaranteed.

Cut-on vs. stitched on fly facing

This is the part of the fly that folds back to the inside to make that nice little flap that hides the ziper. The flies I’ve used in patterns all have a cut-on fly-facing. The ones in my ready-to-wear jeans all have a stitched-on fly facing. I don’t know if this reflects cutting economy (not sure how, but who knows) or if the added reinforcement of the seam is really so important that RTW feels the need to include it. It does reinforce the edge of the fly-front. I think you’d have to do the construction slightly differently, though, as I don’t think you’d baste the front seam all the way to the top before installing the zipper. On the other hand, you’d only need to add the fly facing to the overlap side, which would make it (possibly) less confusing about which side is which.

Pockets, including extensions into the fly.

Interfacing/reinforcement.

I have varied a lot on the amount of interfacing I put into my flies (and how I put it in) and come to the conclusion that, at least in my opinion, more is better. Maybe if I can find some really nice beefy stretch denim it won’t matter so much, but most of the stuff I can get my hands on is fairly thin and wimpy.

Layers of interfacing: fusible and pocket-lining.

I generally interface my flies two ways: iron-on interfacing in the fly-facing area, and with fabric from the pocket extensions. Often in the same pairs of pants. I’ve tried omitting one or the other, but so far I’ve usually been happiest when I included both.

The iron-on interfacing is pretty obvious: it’s a piece cut to the same shape as the fly facing extension, plus a little bit, and fused in place. I generally do it on both sides, although I could probably do it just on the overlap side. I’ve used a variety of interfacings (woven fusible, knit fusible, Armoweft), but been happiest with a sturdy, medium-weight woven fusible; it looks like muslin with a fusible side, if you ask me. Once this is fused on, continue construction as normal.

When I was first researching making jeans, I came across the concept of pocket-extensions. Basically you re-draw you pocketing pieces so that they extend all the way to the front fly-extension. They provide sew-in interfacing to the fly and a non-stretch tummy support if that’s your thing. (My jeans run below my tummy, so I don’t really benefit from that aspect. I do like the interfacing-aspect, though.)

Extra-long zipper

A lot of people recommend using a somewhat longer zipper so you can stitch on the fly without worrying about stitching around the pull. I like this because I hate stitching around the pull (I am not a zipper queen), but also because the shortest jeans zippers I can find are about 8 cm long and as you can see from the top photo, in the rise I use the zipper opening is about 6 cm long, tops.

Yes, this is about the same as in my RTW jeans.

When applying the waistband, you use needle-nose pliers to take the teeth off where you’re stitching, and trim the zipper tape to fit. You do lose the little top-stops this way. This isn’t a problem except that if you  remove too many teeth and have a gap between the last tooth and your waistband, it is possible to pull the zipper-pull right off the top. This was the fate of these jeans. (It didn’t help that I had positioned the button wrong so they didn’t zip up easily.)

Folding back the fly shield

Fly Shield

This is a weird and mysterious rectangle of fabric you stitch to the under-lapping side of the fly, behind the zipper. It keeps zipper from catching undies/flesh/whatever, and gives the under-lapping part of the waistband something to attach to. I never even realized it wasn’t an integral part of my usual jeans until I was making a pair and actually took a good look at the fly construction. Who knew? Anyway, I always find this piece a bit suprising—oh, yeah, I almost forgot that! Now how do I put it on straight again?

Fortunately, no one will see it. The only external evidence of it is the little zig-zag bar tacks that adorn the bottom part of the fly curve in most jeans. They keep the bottom of the fly shield more-or-less in place and reinforce the bottom of the zipper.

Pockets!

Topstitching and Pockets

I just gave in and made a cardboard template to trace around for my fly-topstitching shape. The Jalie pattern comes with a piece, but I can never find it and usually end up free-handing the shape. Which can end up a little wonky.

Bar-Tacks on a jeans fly (and on the belt-loops, for that matter) (you can see this is one of the less-interfaced flies)

I’ve been doing the topstitching in my Featherweight, which means I can keep the Janome threaded for regular seams (which speeds things up considerably), but it does mean that it’s a little harder to do bar-tacks (those short bars of zig-zags that reinforce the pockets and help hold the fly shield in place under the fly. I guess I’ll do them at the end when I put the belt-loops on.

I am a little worried about this cotton topstitching thread’s longevity. I broke  it about fifty times while topstitching these back pockets (more shapes courtesy of my itty-bitty French Curve set). To make the design a little heavier, I stitched over it three times. I’m totally going for a bit of a free-hand, sketchy kind of look with the stitching. Totally. Not because I suck at free-motion embroidery or anything. (It’s a little better on the Featherweight, which is much happier to go slow than my Janome, but I still suck. One of these days I need to get one of those little round darning/embroidery feet to see if that helps.)

OK, I know this mostly has nothing to do with the fly front. Oops.

I need to start sketching out pocket ideas when I’m NOT in mid-construction. There are a bazillion and one cool things you can do with jeans pockets, and I never can think of any when I’m in the middle of making a pair and realize: oh, yeah, I need something cool and unique for the pockets. I managed with my cream capris, but that’s about it. Also, I need to start photographing my kids’ jeans pockets. They have some nifty, nifty pockets.

I like my pockets smallish on the theory that they make my butt look bigger by comparison. I also like them highlydecorated; according to the fashion magazines I don’t read, this is also better for those of us who are under-endowed in the derriere department. They could probably be a bit bigger than this, though, and still look fine. Thoughts for the future.

Can I just have my jeans now? I feel like it’s taking forever. I could’ve finished them yesterday, perhaps, except that we were out (are you bored of hearing this yet?) at the creek. Today is supposed to be cold and rainy, so there may be sewing hope, but I also have a house to clean.

Tyo, Fishing Queen

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August 30, 2011 · 9:39 am

Self-Stitched September, and a poll

Self-Stitched September?

Folks, I’m in a quandary. It’s the eve of Self-Stitched September, and I don’t know whether to participate or not.

Sewing’s been a bit slow this summer, for various reasons, and with the fall looming I can’t really see that changing. If I even think of the mountain of things I have to accomplish in the next eight to ten months, I’ll collapse into a wriggling ball of jelly. I know SSS doesn’t MANDATE daily posts (really, what’s the point if I don’t take daily photos, though?), I’m just not sure I”m up to the commitment. Which sucks because I’ve really enjoyed documenting the me-made months in the past, and I’ve been proud that I’ve been able to include at least a LITTLE bit of sewing/discussion in each post. I don’t think I can do that this time, though.

I’m so totally torn.

On a lighter note, it’s my birthday next week! (Hmm, somehow I’m less excited about that than I used to be…)

I’ve really enjoyed some of the things other bloggers have done for their birthdays—week-long giveaways, Oona’s rocking party (which I could only observe, being on vacay, but man it looked like some awesome fun). But I’m rubbish at mailing ANYTHING, and let’s face it, I just can’t party like a New Yorker.

What I WOULD like to do is share a pattern. I’ve been playing with several over the last few months, but haven’t quite gotten any to a point where I was ready to share them. Partly because I’m not sure how they’d be appreciated.  So I figured I’d ask you all to choose, and then finish up the instructions and grading and put up a PDF. The ones I’m thinking of are:

The Cropped Jean-Jacket:

Cropped Jean-jacket

The Flutter-Sleeved Tunic:

Flutter-Sleeve Tunic

The Grecian Sundress:

Grecian Sundress

The tunic and sundress both had some minor issues that will easily be resolved by a tweak of the pattern before it gets to you—lengthening the tunic, eliminating the waist-seam in the sundress. I’m pretty happy with the jean-jacket pattern as is, but the construction is a lot more involved, which might deter people. I would do my absolute bestest to grade the patterns and make up some proper (hopefully even illustrated!) instructions. And probably do up another version of the final pattern while I’m at it.

Anyway, hopefully I’ll be able to get the poll feature working and you can all vote below (click through to the site if you’re reading this in a feed reader)—otherwise just leave me a comment letting me know. *crosses fingers that there actually ARE votes*

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August 16, 2011 · 10:08 pm

Oof-Da

Vacation

So, now we’re home, it should be back to life as usual, right?

Erm. Not quite yet.

You see, memory is a finicky thing. Much as we swear that we’ll never forget the little things, they still get fuzzy as the years go by. I no longer remember which of my children was born at 4:00 am vs. 6:00 am.  I don’t remember whether Syo walked at nine months or ten (either way, it was far too early…)

And I didn’t remember quite what it was like to have pre-schoolers in the house. So when my stylish sister-in-law asked if we could watch her girls (yes, the ones I occasionally sew for, currently aged 4.5 and 3) for a couple of days while she and her hubby take their first-ever post-child vacation, I blithely said yes. She took my kids all freakin’ July, people. It was the least I could do. Especially since we shanghaied my father-in-law to provide “childcare” for us for the rest of August.

So, yeah. I have a serious infestation of pre-schoolers. And while they’re both past the everything-goes-in-the-mouth-first stage, there’s such a lot of, well, chaos. Syo, freshly turned eight, can whip up a jug of orange-juice from concentrate without me having to do more than wipe the counter after. Syo assisted by the three-year-old niece gets orange goop all over said counter, floor, stack of mail, and the orange-juice has bran flakes in it when finished. And they don’t know that the sewing room is a no-play zone. Same with the furnace room. Same with—ARGH! WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU NEED YOUR BUM WIPED? WOULD YOU JUST GO PLAY OUTSIDE NOW? NO, WE DON’T HAVE A PADDLING POOL! WHY ARE YOU CRYING NOW????

Ahem.

So I’m feeling just a wee bit like I’m running around like a chicken with my head cut off. >_<

On the plus side, I did retrieve my Janome from the sewing-machine hospital, and she seems to be working again—at least, the flywheel turns freely and there was a nice little piece of fabric decorated with some gorgeous stitching stuffed under the needle when I picked it up. I haven’t had a chance to actually set her up and give her a run (see previous paragraph).

So instead I’ll show you a couple of glimpses of stuff that was in-progress when I left, lo these many moons ago. Ok, two weeks back. That’s, like, forever in internetland, people.

A handsome cuff

Of course, there’s Serena’s jacket. I really need to get cracking on this one.  But doesn’t the cuff look nice? I should’ve used more interfacing, though. When in doubt, add more interfacing. Ah, well.

Collar: a diptych

And there’s Tyo’s shirt. Here’s my nice collar. I had to show you both sides so you could see how (not) awesome my stripes are. I managed to cut one of each piece on-grain. Obviously this is one of those situations where you (I) should cut your pieces individually. Or match the freakin’ plaid. Either of which I was too lazy rushed  to do. However I did swing it so that the nice-looking side of the collar will fold out over the nice-looking side of the stand, which is why they’re on opposite sides in this flat view. Having just tried it around her neck, I may have to junk the whole thing and cut out another anyway, as this one’s going to be a bit snug. Perils of using a pattern that’s technically too small even if it is the right chest measurement.

Tyo's shirt back

I’m pretty happy with how the back is looking, though.

Hmm, have I even mentioned this shirt properly?

Tyo wanted a shirt. Way back before she went on vacation. She picked out the fabric back in the spring, and then found a pattern (7171) off the Lekala site. Their sample size is for a child of 120 cm height, which Tyo is far beyond, but the chest measurements were the same, so I went for it (with considerable lengthening of the sleeve). As I mentioned, the collar is small, so I may end up regretting that.

Technical drawing of the pattern

As you can see, instead of buttons, I’ve opted for loops of elastic on each side, which will be threaded with black velvet ribbon. Because everyone loves lacing, don’t they? You can also see my clever use of bias to avoid all semblance of having to match my plaid. Except at the side-seams, but I wasn’t even thinking about that. Figuring out how to finish the seam where the little loops are inserted was a little, ah, mind-expanding. There was seam-ripping, and possibly even a little swearing. I wound up basically doing a

You can perhaps see how I flared out the bottom of the side-back and centre-back pieces a little bit. This will hopefully accomodate Tyo’s generous derriere. I’m a touch stalled because I need to go back over the Men’s Shirt Sewalong before I get much further, to do the cuffs and plackets.

And I don’t multitask well (at sewing or at anything else) so I really need to just hunker down and finish Serena’s coat. Before I do anything else.

Dammit.

I want to make my Lonsdale…

EDIT: Just got a call from the MIL that Niece #1’s tests just came back positive for strep. And Syo is already showing the same symptoms she had… Life just keeps getting better. >_<

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July 12, 2011 · 8:08 am

I want to work for Colette Patterns

If I can draw this…

Colette patterns is looking for a technical illustrator to do contract work. I want this job. If I can illustrate Carboniferous lizard pancakes, I can totally illustrate sewing instructions, right?

Of course, they’re looking for someone experienced. Y’know, someone who’s an expert with Illustrator and InDesign. I’m almost passable with Illustrator. I’ve never even looked at InDesign (although now I’m curious). The extent of my experience readying illustrations for print is making sure my DPI is within the journal’s recommended range.

Who prides themselves on meeting deadlines. Um, well, as long as I don’t put my supervisor as a reference…

Who answers email quickly. Um. See above.

Can easily translate complex sewing tasks into clear visual instructions. Hmm. I’d like to be such a person. I haven’t tried yet. Although having tried to write up instructions for a couple of patterns at this point, I gotta say, that’s the hardest part. And not nearly as fun as drafting up the pattern itself.

And there’s that whole thesis thing I’m supposed to be working on. Y’know, that little detail.

So basically, they’re not actually looking for me, and I couldn’t really jump on it if they were. /Sigh.

But if that description is you, go for it, and know that at least one person out there will be green with envy…

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July 10, 2011 · 12:14 pm

McCall’s 3415: Pride, fall, yadda, yadda

McCall's 3415

I am feeling summery-dressy.  What better way to move on to my next sundress triumph than to finally get around to the lovely McCall’s 3415? I love this pattern so much—the sleek line, empire waist, CF seam. The high, round-neck version is my favourite. And I just happened to have this fabric perfectly matching view C on the pattern envelope. I pulled out the pieces, did some quick tracing, pin-fitting, and even made up the bodice-lining as a kind of muslin to check the fit. Everything looked good.

What could go wrong?

Those of you with keen eyes may have noticed that this pattern is Misses’ size 10. Most of the 70s patterns I’ve made up to now have been a size 12.

Now technically both my bust and hip measurements are in between these two sizes, and I’ve read advice that when choosing a size from the big 4, if you’re between sizes, go with the smaller one. And with the few modern Big 4 patterns I’ve made for myself (hmm, that might actually only be one) I’ve ended up with the 10. But 12 seems to be a more common size in the single-size vintage patterns that have thrown themselves in my way, so I’ve often gone with that, and, at least for Simplicity, have my alterations pretty much worked out. The addition of a padded bra to bring my bust up to the official size-12 range, and I’m good to go.

I’m not nearly so clear for McCall’s patterns, having only made up one for myself, and that one being basically unfitted. And a size 12.

Pockets

Still, when you’re using $2/metre thrift store fabric, you can’t really justify much in the way of muslining. So off I went. I liked where the under-bust seam was falling, so I didn’t petite the bodice. I did do a small swayback alteration in the back, but that was all. I blithely added side-seam pockets, even remembering to interface the front side seam allowance (a tip from the Marcy Tilton book) so they don’t bag out. The bodice is intended to lined, with lining and shell cut from the same pattern piece. This is of course just asking for the lining edges to roll out, especially as it would be pretty near impossible to understitch those narrow parts around the neck, and I wasn’t feeling up to painstakingly making a lining piece taking into account turn of cloth, so I went with my old standby: piping. Yay! Is it possible for a wardrobe to have too much piping? We shall see…

Piping and button-loops

The pattern instructs you to use hooks and eyes for the non-overlapping closure at the back of the neck. I’m not a fan of hooks and eyes generally, and this definitely seemed a little flimsy (not to mention Becky Home-Ecky), so I made little tiny spaghettie strap button loops. I cut them on the bias, used the bobby-pin method to turn them, steamed and stretched and ironed the crap out of them until they were as skinny as I could get them, and I think I’m in love. I’m also a little astonished I was able to find a bobby-pin in my house, but anyway. The cute little buttons are from the stash, and probably are of a similar vintage to the pattern, if not older.

Zip

And then I got it all stitched up, minorly flubbing the invisible zip because I was too lazy in the zone to re-read Sherry’s tutorial. It’s okay, not great, and I did have to rip to re-position the waist seams so they matched.

And then I made my worst mistake yet. I tried it on.

hmm

Oops. Ok, so it’s not totally, totally awful. The bodice is pretty much perfect, barring a small amount of gaping at the sides that probably has more to do with my poor fabric-handling technique than anything else. But that is, ah, a wee bit MAJORLY tight through the hips. And there’s the wrinkling in the back. And a bit of gaping over the pockets, probably to do with the tightness in the hips (the Marcy Tilton book also discusses the amount of ease you need to have side-seam pockets in a skirt, and I’m pretty sure I don’t have it here. Also the side-seam swings back, suggesting I need a bit more booty room. This is, shall we say, a bit unusual for me.Hmm.So, depending on how you squint your eyes, I did one of two (possibly three things wrong. Arguably I should have shortened the upper part of the skirt to accommodate my short waist, which would basically bring up the wider part lower down to where the width is needed. Alternatively, slashing and spreading to widen the skirt from waist down would’ve done much the same thing. For fun, I took a tuck with a bunch of pins.

Pin-tucked

I didn’t do as good a job pinning up the back (it’s tricky with the zipper) but I think that’s a definitely improvement in the front. The side-seams are still pulling back a bit, though, which I think means that more booty-ease is still needed in the back.

All of which is fascinating, but doesn’t help me save the dress’s current incarnation. At this point I’m considering removing the pockets and just making the side-seam as small as I can, but since I already serged the seam this won’t increase it by much. Maybe enough to at least lose the worst of that stuffed-sausage look, though… Alternatively I could try an add a godet at each side-seam, but that seems risky, too…

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July 9, 2011 · 8:20 am

More thrift-store fun

Thrift-Store Pattern Fun

I’ve had a little bit of luck at the thrift stores in the last little bit I thought I’d share, for lack of sewing since I currently have no kids at home to keep me from spending LONG days at the office.

While home last weekend I went shopping at Value Village with my Stylish Sister-in-Law. (I have two sisters-in-law, the stylish one and the crafty one. I have hopes of getting both of them sewing, although it’s a bit tricky at this remove.)

While Stylish scoped out the summery dresses, I did my requisite scope of the fabrics, but (fortunately) found little to tempt me. There was a piece of what I think must be someone’s home attempt at shibori. Sadly, though, it was very narrow and, frankly, looked kinda like what I think shibori would look like if I tried to do it at home in my kitchen—the basic technique was definitely there (the silk was still wrinkled where the threads had been releashed), but the overall pattern was uneven and generally meh. And it was expensive (by thrift store standards, not by shibori standards), so I left it. I also walked away from a fairly comprehensive-looking Simplicity sewing book, chanting to myself: “someone else needs it more… someone else needs it more.”

I did not fare quite so well in the old-patterns section. I walked away with the above bunch, probably none of which I really need. But they are so cute…

"New" desk for sewing machines.

On returning home and setting up my featherweight, I realized that the compromise of setting my machines on the end of the cutting table, which was barely adequate for two machines, was not going to be at all functional for three. So I had a mission. I needed a desk for my machies, preferably with plenty of drawers. I generally don’t like shopping at Value Village for furniture, as most of what they have in that department is pretty depressing, but for something that just needs to be functional and inexpensive, I figured it was a good place to start. After all, it’s going to be keeping company with my alley-salvage cutting table.

Happily, I found this blue desk. It’s real wood construction, quite sturdy, and has big drawers. It’s pretty nicked and beat-up, but I think it will serve its purpose nicely. Also all those drawers have considerably relieved the pressure on the stand of drawers holding my notions. I still need something more for the patterns, though.

While I was thrift-trawling, though, I couldn’t quite resist a couple more sewing books, one by Sandra Betzina, another by Marcy Tilton, whose name I think I’ve heard before.

No Time to Sew---Sandra Betzina

I have to admit, on closer inspection I’m not super thrilled with the Betzina book. It’s basically a wardrobe/style guide with sewing suggestions. There’s probably some good techniques and suggestions buried in there, but let’s just say that my idea of a stylish wardrobe and Sandra Betzina’s idea don’t have much in common beyond both being made of fabric. Exactly the wrong kind of dated.

Easy Guide to Sewing Skirts---Marcy Tilton

I’m much more excited by the Tilton book. It’s about making skirts. I know, you never would’ve guessed. There’s lots of detail, from beginner tips on fabric to a fairly comprehensive fitting section to some more couture finishes, and a lot of discussion of which techniques are suited to which fabric types, which I like. Not all the techniques are exactly what I would use, but then I don’t know everything so maybe I should give them a try. Lots of tips on the finer points of finishing waistbands and vents and things (although not on lining a vent!)

Oh, and the Featherweight is fixed. Or rather, I am even more astonishingly clueless than I thought I was. Oona nailed it—when I replaced the needle after the break, I put the flat side to the right instead of the left. Apparently, like threading from right to left, this is a Big Deal for Feather.

*headdesk*

Well, colour me embarrassed. Especially since I had swapped in and out several needles BEFORE the one I broke, making sure the Singer ones were the same as my regular ones. Apparently all those times, I managed to put it back in properly by pure accident, while this time, when I was actually paying attention, I got it wrong. Five or six or ten times.

ANYWAY. She’s working happily again, albeit somewhat dripping in oil from all my attention. I’ll get her figured out yet…

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June 13, 2011 · 8:18 am

My (almost) sewing room

From this...

From this... (MMJ 8)

On Saturday, the last day of his visit, my brother and I braved the rain and Canadian Tire in springtime to procure me a shelving unit and a stacky-plastic-see-through-drawer-kinda-thing (like my technical terminology?), in the hopes of helping to transform my basement catacomb into something more closely resembling a functional sewing room. I won’t say I couldn’t’ve procured said items myself—I could have—but it’s nice to have a partner in crime for once. (Also Hubbykins recently made some less-than-well-considered bike-related purchases so I’m feeling psychologically if not actually fiscally justified in my splurge.)

... to this. (MMJ 11)

As a result, I spent the bulk of Sunday getting the mess under control.

This was done mostly in fifteen-minute bursts, as that was about all I could manage before being overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the disaster nearly two years of neglect had wrought in the room.

To my surprise, however, only about three grocery bags of actual garbage came out of the room. Everything else was either fabric-scrap or actually usable in some way.

My stash, which looked pretty overwhelming on in the top photo, all fit neatly on the shelf, although I would’ve liked to have a bit more shelf-space for sorting purposes. The only shelf that is really approaching capacity is the one holding the coating fabrics. Go figure. The patterns are now all tucked in the bottom drawers of my rolly thingy, while the notions are filing (and overfilling—I really need more room for them) the upper drawers. I hadn’t quite realized how much space zippers and bias tape can take up. The buttons and snaps are still fairly out of control.

The view from the doors. The bags under the table are all fabric scraps.

But anyway. Although I haven’t actually sewn a stitch in it yet (or even plugged the machines in), the floor has been found, the scraps wrangled into bags (I am saving them to stuff cloth chairs for the kids. Hush, I’ll get around to it.), and the non-sewing crud mostly confined to one end of the room. There may even have been vacuuming*  There were a disturbing number of loose pattern pieces lying around on the floor in various piles, which I still have to sort out and decide what’s worth saving and what will be consigned to the rubbish.

Above is the view from the doors. Yes, my sewing room has French doors. Unfortunately, rather than opening into some lush and elegant European garden, they open onto the rest of the basement, which principally functions as a play room for my children. Sweet, but not terribly scenic, especially when Hurricane Syo has been at work.

To the right of the door

As you can see, I have failed at keeping my “cutting table” clear through the tidying process. Also the ironing board. I maintain I am allergic to horizontal surfaces… they make me break out in clutter. That being said, this is eighty million times better than the view a couple of days ago, so shut up. With any luck I’ll be sewing in it tonight!

To the left of the door

All right, this is not the room’s best angle. There’s a fair schwack of boxes of old journals**, fine china*** and wrapping supplies. Not to mention a bit of stash overflow (for sorting, not space purposes). But I am not one of those people who can’t work with a bit of clutter about. My husband would be much happier if I were, I promise.

Anyway, I think my first few tasks will be some little bits of mending and hemming, but I promise I’ll get to a real project soon. I’m thinking 70s Week won’t be complete without making up one of those blouses I posted a while back…

*A whole ‘nother adventure, I admit… I’m a firm believer that children should vacuum their own mess, but occasionally have cause to regret this, like when I spend twenty minutes trying to dislodge entire paper towels that are thoroughly blocking the vacuum hose, resorting to hot-dog-roasting-sticks and eventually my husband’s computer-repair grabby tool to get it out.

**Scientific, not personal. I’m not quite that prolific in my navel-gazing. Quite.

*** Yes, I do have a porcelain set. Yes, it’s been in a box for almost four years now.

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May 23, 2011 · 2:46 pm

Unintended stitching

I didn’t plan on spending this weekend sewing for my children. But no sooner had I finished Syo’s stretchy outfit (yes, there’s a shirt to go with the bike shorts, but frankly it didn’t work out so well and I haven’t even bothered hemming it. Which isn’t stopping her from wearing it, but anyway.) then Tyo had to assert her requirements.

Denim

You see, the other week Tyo and I found ourselves on the far side of town, in proximity to Fabric Depot, a large independent fabric store I hadn’t yet had the occasion to check out. So we did. Their website boasts that they are one of the largest single fabric stores in North America. Which may be true. I had high hopes of finding some good-quality stretch denim, having largely given up on my local Fabricland for this.

Initial impressions were quite promising. A whole room of zippers. Another of lace and elastics. Beaded and sequined panels and appliques to outfit a thousand bellydancers.  An entire upstairs devoted to home-dec fabrics—not what I was looking for, of course, but impressive and some very attractive.

Downstairs again, a series of crowded warehouse-type rooms, fabric bolts stacked on shelves all the way to the fifteen-foot ceilings, often wrapped in plastic to protect them from dust. And there were truly gorgeous fabrics in there, too. The problem was finding them.

There seemed to be, again, a lot of home-dec. A fair selection of swimwear/dancewear lycra knits. I don’t even kinow what else, really. Not only was the seleciton overwhelming, the layout wasn’t condusive to finding anything. Eventually I had to ask to be directed to the denim section.

It was a single shelf on a single unit. The denim range, though small, was gorgeous—a lot of lovely finishes and weights—but none of it was stretch. Not one bolt.

Tyo's pants---centre

My fantasies of sturdy denim in an interesting wash (or even RED!) with just the right amount of lycra came crashing down around my ears. However, the price was right, and we were on the far end of town, so I selected a lovely indigo wash with great texture (and a soft enough weave that there’s a hint of stretch) and Tyo picked out a metre of camo print.

Of course, Tyo could think of nothing for her camo but the centre pants from this pattern—draw-string-bottom capris. She was terribly excited until she realized that the pattern lacks the other attributes necessary of camo pants—waistband, belt-flaps, POCKETS.

So, we went back to our mainstay of kids’ patterns, that gorgeous Patrones Niños I got from Her Selfishnesslong and long ago. It has any number of jeans patterns, including a varietyof capris, including drawstring capris. However, the ones Tyo

Tyo's eventual pattern selection

eventually settled on (perhaps without too much thought, but anyway) were this pair. Which you can see almost nothing of except that they  have a loose, below-the-knee leg. The line drawing reveals slightly more (although it’s not actually accurate about the change pocket, if you look closely at the photograph…), including some nifty back pockets.

Line drawing

With terrifying, tightly-curved flaps.

Ulp.

Camo pockets

Anyway, we spent yesterday evening tracing the pattern (I remembered to add seam allowances this time!) and cutting it out. I even managed to track down a zipper of the kind I use for jeans—I thought I was out. We debated the merits of topstitching and settled on black. And this morning, I started merrily stitching away.

And now I’m out of black thread.

Back pockets, with flap

Somewhere in this house, I’m quite certain, is a massive jumbo spool of black thread. But can I find it? There’s plenty of serger thread, but I’ve been suffering catastrophic failure on the jeans I made last summer that I used it on, so I am reluctant to use it for regular stitching. And, of course, it’s May Long (aka Victoria Day) so nothing is open, plus it’s pouring. Which may not deter those of you from soggier climates, but I don’t even own an umbrella, much less a rain-coat.

So instead I’m blogging half-done kids’ jeans, and debating what I should do with my gorgeous non-stretch denim.

I’m thinking bell-bottoms.

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May 13, 2011 · 9:44 am

Pattern Envelopes and Sizing

Cutest pattern ever?

Both can be slightly frustrating. For example, I scored the pattern to the right at Value Village the other week (snatched from under the hands of a Hutterite woman browsing the patterns… though I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t’ve gone for this kind of pattern anyway. The Hutterite dress code is pretty strict, from my limited observation). Looks cute, right? and size 7-16, should be perfect for my kids. Includes cute pants, vest, and jacket with two sleeve lengths, adorably illustrated in a somewhat cartoony style.

To my delight, both children were highly enthused when I showed them the pattern (given their different taste in clothing, this is a rarity). I was cheerfully envisioning cute camo capris for Tyo, maybe a short-sleeved jacket for Syo (who’s always too warm)

“I want the bag!” says Tyo, pointing to the girl on the left.

“I want the hair!” says Syo, pointing to the middle girl.

*headdesk*

They were both extremely disappointed to hear that neither was included in the pattern.

Now, a case could definitely be made that I prefer talking about sewing for my kids to actually sewing for my kids… but anyway, in the interests of furthering the fantasy, I went looking up the sizes for my children. Syo will be eight next month, but she’s pretty small for her age so I was fairly confident she’d fit a 7, the smallest size in the package.

According to her chest measurement, she’s still a size 5.

And Tyo would be a size 6.

Neither of which are sizes I have. *headdesk*

Now, as we all know Tyo has the bootay. So her bottom half would be, apparently, a size 8. So I could make her the pants, at least. Here’s to runty children.

But then I had a thought. How big do these girls’ sizes go? I mean, if a size 16 fits an “average 16-year-old”… I’m not significantly bigger than I was when I was sixteen…

Yup. My measurements fit the girls’ chart MUCH better than they’ve ever fit a women’s chart. I am a girls’ size 16 (at least on a padded bra day). Well, aside from the six inches of length I’d have to add…

*headdesk*

UPDATE: Had another thought. That girls’ size 16 is drafted for someone who is about 5′ 1″. Now, a quick check of the girls’ height-weight growth charts for Canada (and I imagine American ones would be similar) shows that the median height for girls at age 16 is about 5′ 4″. 5′ 1″ is passed sometime between ages 12 and 13. Have average heights really changed that much since the sizes were compiled (in the 60s, I believe?) I am doubtful.

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