Sew Distracted

tee time

I started with the simplest sewing project, the purple cotton interlock tee.

I cut the fabric using this old pattern, which I have had for many many years.  I used to use it quite frequently for both knit and woven fabric tees and shells.  It is fairly over-sized and meant for shoulder pads but I just ignored those.

I cut View C, the v-neck, the only version meant to be pull-on although the patterns are all easily adaptable.  I cut the size 8, much smaller than I now usually wear, but remember that this pattern is meant to be over-sized and I did not particularly want an over-sized tee.  Looking at the finished project, I could have cut the body a size smaller, but should leave the shoulders as an 8.

It worked out very well and looks good on.  The v-neck on the illustration is a bit lower than on the actual garment, at least as it hangs on me. The armhole openings don't seem quite as low as illustrated on the pattern envelope either, although in the photo on Matilda, it looks as low as in the illustration.  Matilda has no arms though and I do so it is possible that my armscyes take up more space than hers.  I suspect this is because I am taller than average and sometimes have to lengthen patterns to increase the armscye depth.  Some patterns that are meant to be very close fitting are too tight for me in that area.  Although there appears to be ample room here in the sleeves, this does fit under most jackets.

I like the top and it took very little fiddling to get a nice fit.  It is looser than the more fitted tees that are currently popular and I have had a lot of struggles with those kinds of tops.  In the end, this kind of loose, drapey tee tends to look better on me, but I still feel it less finished when I want a top to wear with a more tailored outfit.  It is boxy enough to skim the body but not as big and over-sized as a purchased men's tee.  I can also make it long enough.

Generally this is a pattern that I still think I will use a lot, for knits and maybe again for silk or other woven tops.  It is certainly easy and good for casual and knock-around tees and is more flattering than most purchased tees as well.

I could easily curve the sides seams in for a little more waist shaping and I could add darts which would eliminate some of the pull lines which I get on all tees that don't have darts.  I always get boluxed up in this darts v. no darts issue with knit tops.  The tops fit better with darts but somehow we are so used to not having darts in knits that I sometimes feel it is funny to put them in.  I guess I should make up my mind someday.

Cutting

I spent part of yesterday afternoon and evening cutting out a few simple projects to work on during the next week or so.  I probably could have cut more but as usual I spent a lot of time diddling about daydreaming, playing with patterns, caressing the fabric, and just generally enjoying the process.  It is really nice to be able to indulge myself this way sometimes, instead of just rushing to get something finished.

Most of these projects are simple and somewhat experimental.  I have no idea if a couple of them will even work out, but that is not really the point, I want to try them, and although in a way it sounds wasteful, I am not as interested in having a new garment as I am in the process itself and making it work, or if it doesn't work, learning something from the experience.  Of course, having new clothes is usually a wonderful by product of my efforts.

First I cut the yellow linen, which has a stripe of a thin sheer thread, almost like a lurex.  I have had this fabric for quite a few years, from the days when I was mis-cast as an autumn, and I have been unable to part with the fabric because I love it so much even though I could never wear it next to my face. 

It is a lightweight linen, probably more of a top weight but I am going to make wide drapey pants.  I thought I would try making a pair of drawstring pants, perhaps only modified drawstring this time.  I still like the idea of drawstring pants more than I have liked the actual results on me.  As the fabric is quite light and sheer, it will be suitable for having extra width and the pants will be lined with matching bemberg.

I took a lot of time cutting out the pants, partly because I had to press the linen again as it had been folded on the shelf, and I allowed myself the luxury of pressing at leisure and enjoying working with the fabric and day-dreaming a little.  I traced the pattern pieces onto the fabric, as is my wont,  inspected everything before cutting and then finally cut and stacked the pieces.  I find that I am much more accurate using this technique as opposed to pinning the pattern to the fabric and cutting from that.  I like having the actual lines and markings on the fabric and it saves me much time later on when I am tired or distracted with other things.

Then I cut out the green knit.  This is one of the cotton knits I ordered from Nancy Erickson in January.  I never got around to cutting this one.  The pattern is a designer vogue pattern, Vogue 2483, probably OOP,  meant for non-stretch wovens, the only part of the pattern I am interested in is the top.  As this knit is really not that stretchy it might work, but I tried to allow for that when cutting.  This was the pattern I originally wanted to make from this top but had second thoughts earlier in the spring.  The knits are nice and I wear the periwinkle pieces a great deal but I am not as happy with the fabric itself as I had hoped so I don't mind experimenting with the green.

The fuchsia is a remnant of a cotton knit I had made a dress out of a long time ago.  I had enough for a top and I saved it but never made it up.  I spent a lot of time with this piece of fabric because I couldn't decide what pattern to try.  My first choice wouldn't work because I did not have enough fabric, the second idea was a design adaptation I couldn't work out in my head, the third choice just didn't appeal to me somehow.  In the end I decided to use this to remake an old t-shirt type pattern from the 80's that I used a great deal, Vogue 7128.  It is pretty over sized and was meant for shoulder pads at the time.  I thought I would play with re-doing the shoulders and sleeves and trying to reuse the pattern.  I always loved this top and surprisingly some of the tops I made with this pattern still fit pretty well.

Of course I will regale you with the details of my successes or failures as they occur.

5 Reasons

Five reasons I might be able to sew this weekend:

1.      The mason is still working on the foundations in the areas occupied by raised beds which are attached/next to the house.

2.        The 4x4's needed for the raised beds are not completely stained yet and then have to dry.  The top 3 sides will be dry by Saturday morning, when I can turn them over and stain the fourth side.  Even then, they will not be ready to use before Monday.

3.       The iris bed is not next to the house, but I have no place to put the irises as all my pots are filled with the plants that belong in the beds where the mason is working; therefore, I cannot dig up the iris bed.

4.        My back is too sore from bending over painting 4x4s, and the arthritis in my hands is acting up, so it will be hard to dig.

5.        I haven't yet purchased the gravel for the french drain that will have to run through the middle of the iris bed.  Even if I purchase the gravel, my back is too sore to unload it from my car.  My DH would happily purchase the gravel and unload it, but then I would feel obliged to start digging and nothing else is ready (see items 1-3 above).

Surely, given the above, I can find some time away from the distractions of  a summer weekend to play in my sewing room.

Pattern alteration info -- Purple Rain

I forgot something when I posted about my purple rain jacket yesterday. 

As a reminder, the jacket was made from this Vogue Pattern:

The pieces went together very easily and I really had no problems putting the top together.  The fit issues I have complained about are more my own fit issues than problems with the pattern.

However I did need to alter the sleeve a little bit.  I first cut a draft sleeve and basted it in and found that I had drag lines on the sleeve.  This is not that unusual of a problem (hence the draft).  To solve it I simply added 1/2 inch in height to the sleeve cap, which was originally pretty flat.  This made it slightly curved but did not add so much length as to make easing the sleeve difficult. The coated silk was somewhat difficult to ease and if it went in without difficulty, I would imagine that most other fabrics would as well.

Here is a picture of the original pattern piece, with my altered pattern underneath it.  I cut my pattern out of "soil separator paper" and it is very sheer and hard to see so I traced the line on a piece of paper just so you can see the edge a little better.

I make the sleeve cap 1/2" higher at the center dot and tapered to nothing at the seamlines.

Purple Rain

I finally stopped looking at the purple silk water-repellant top and just finished it.  Here I am celebrating:
I am pretty happy with the way it turned out with a few qualifications.  I like it better worn open than closed still.  I still don't like the way it hangs on me closed.  Partly this is due the the way the front closure hangs.  The center front line doesn't hang straight at the center front, if I measure and check it.  To make that happen I would have to reshape the pieces.  I think this is due to my own particular architecture not the pattern.  I also don't like the drop shoulders, the way they bunch under the arms.  It might be better with a stiffer fabric as this one tends to cling to the body; although there is lots of room the garment looks closer fitting that in actually is. The drop shoulders would also be something that I might want to fiddle with on the pattern.  I do like the basic shape and the basic idea.  I will hold on to the pattern for now and see if I fiddle with it and explore the options.  I always want to do this -- some perverse determination to make everything work if at all possible -- but the pressures of time and always shifting interests often keep me from accomplishing these goals.

I had originally thought I would line the top to hide the white underside of the fabric and the seams, but then thought it was too much work.  I think it would have just made the garment heavier and more hot.  One of its main advantages is that it is incredibly light and not particularly hot to wear, even on muggy humid summer days.  The lining would have just been more work and my own conflicting emotions about this piece would have made the lining process that much more of a burden.  As it was I did not always take as much care as usual.  Unfortunately, I am no perfectionist.

Below is a basic flat shot of the garment, very shiny in the light.  I decided to ditch the button and use hidden hooks and thread loops to close the jacket, closing the buttonholes and moving the closure over just a little, ending up in a compromise position between center front and the larger overlap shown earlier.   Both pictures will enlarge if you click on them.

Reversible Shell

I finally finished the reversible shell.  It really did not take that long to make, I just worked on it a few minutes a day for a few days.

The view you see here is a mystery fabric that I found on a remnant table at Britex in San Francisco.  It is a kind of mesh like knit, very stretchy, and very sheer, with a sheer black net-like backing.  It is probably nylon.  It melts very easily but I did not do a burn test on it, just accidentally hit a corner of the backing with the iron.

Here is a picture of the fabric held up against the window:

 

 

You can see how sheer it is, much too sheer to wear by itself without layering, lining or significant draping (or all three).  I found a lilac rayon/Lycra knit that coordinates with the lilac color in the print very nicely.  The rayon is also quite light, almost a lingerie weight, lighter than I would normally use by itself, but perfect for combining with the printed mesh to make a two-layer reversible top.

From here on down, those of you who sew far better than I can ignore this post as I am going to go into all the boring detail about this simple top.  Part of my reason for making this blog is for myself, to keep a record of what I do and why because I am inclined to forget and then run around like crazy trying to remember where I put the instructions for something, or how I did something and so forth.  A blog is actually easier than filing pieces of paper, which I invariably lose.

The following pictures will all enlarge if you click on them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a picture of the pattern pieces cut out.  I cut one complete top out of each fabric.  No facings or other pieces are required.

The pattern is an OOP Butterick pattern, 3124.  It contains instructions for making the top that are quite clear.  I forget that they are there as I have applied this technique to so many things.  I think I originally got the instructions from Sandra Betzina's e-mail newsletter and they are available on her website  for those that subscribe.

Of course the first step on any top is to reinforce the neckline, I used a fusible twill tape.    Then I sewed the darts on the two fronts.  After that you combine the two fabrics to make a two-layer front and a two-layer back.  This is done by sewing the fronts together at the neck and armhole seams and then doing the same for the back. Sew the pieces right sides together, (you can see them pinned for sewing here)  LEAVE THE SHOULDER SEAMS OPEN!! It is important, when pinning the front pieces together at the armhole, to make sure that the darts are lined up on both pieces.  If one dart is lower than the other (from the armhole) the shirt will not hang and drape correctly.  This seems obvious, but it is easy to forget in thrill of construction.

Here are the two pieces, sewn, trimmed, and turned. The pattern instructions tell you to trim and press the front of the top but not the back.  I have found that, for me at least, it is better to trim and turn both pieces and press them very flat while they are separate.  It is then pretty easy to open the back back out, wrong side out and press the seam allowance flat again for the next step.  By putting in these few minutes of extra pressing you get a much better looking end result and I have fewer problems putting the pieces together.

The next step is to put the two pieces together and sew the shoulder seams.  You do this by leaving the front right side out and sliding it up inside the back, which has been turned  so that the wrong sides are facing outward (toward you).  This way the two right sides are facing each other when you sew:

Once the shoulders are sewn, trimmed, and pressed the top can be tried on for any final tweaking of the fit and the side seams can be sewn as one continual piece on each side:

 Then all that is necessary  is to press the seams and hem the layers, leaving each side hanging free.

 

Out, Out Damn Spot!

This is not an info-mercial, but it sounds like it could be.

George came home and announced a minor disaster had occurred.  Somehow, during the course of the day at the office, his pen leaked ink all over the front of his favorite yellow and white striped shirt.  There was a very deep blue spot, quite large at the bottom of the pocket and several smaller dots of ink lower down.

After trying all the usual remedys for ink of various sorts (it was one of those gel pens), and reading every article about stain removal in every book in the house that might contain such information, old or new,  the spot was still a deep permanent-seeming beacon of blueness.  It didn't look like it had faded much although many many blue spots through a thick white cleaning towel belied that impression.

The shirt was lost....

Then, because there was nothing else to do, I thought "Why don't I soak it in Biz".  Biz works for many things ( i have no association with this company whatsoever).  I use it every week to soak the sheets before I wash them.  I have white sheets that are 10 years old that are still as white as the driven snow and still in good shape (unlike chlorine bleach which destroys the fabric over time and doesn't just eat the dull prespiration stains the way Biz does).  I used Biz to get old stains out of my grandmothers's tablecloths many many years ago, and find it will still get a lot of old stains out as long as you are willing to use a goodly amount of biz and let it soak for plenty of time.

Biz says nothing about ink and I was not convinced it would work  But I made a concentrate of Biz in a bucket and put the shirt in overnight.  By morning, the ink was significantly lighter on the shirt, a shadow of its former self really and the soapy water had a definite blue tinge.  Another bucket of biz and another few hours soaking and the shirt was as new, no ink, no ring-around-the collar, a perfect shirt.

Thank you Biz.  Why did I never think of this before?  I have to go out of my way to buy Biz as most stores around me don't carry it.  I buy multiple boxes at a time because I have not found anything else that keeps the sheets as nice of that gets miscellaneous impossible stains out of tablecloths.

Knits are It

I finally succumbed to the lure of EmmaOneSock's new fabrics and ordered a couple of pieces.  I was actually far more moderate than if I had jumped right in and ordered when I first started getting the e-mails about new Italian fabrics and sales and so forth.   I would check out the fabrics a couple of times a week, dream about what I would sew, shop and sew vicariously through the posts on sewzine and otherwise remind myself that I have a big stack of fabric right next to my computer waiting to be sewn.

Nonetheless, the call of fabric is like a siren call -- it cannot be completely resisted for the fabric knows who is most tempted by its lures and sends out its signals sure and strong.  I placed an order this morning; the fabric will be shipped on Monday.

This is what I ordered:
  You can see the details here.   I  am imagining that it  wants to be a dress.  I'm not sure and will reserve judgment until it actually arrives.  I have sewn tops out of onionskin but have never sewn a dress and am not sure how that will work.  It could be just the pattern that says "dress" and the fabric will say something else when it actually lands in my sewing room.  It will be draped over Matilda and its true nature will come out.

I also purchased this cotton knit, one of the promised Italian knits:

Here are the details.

I think this one is REALLY COOL and must admit I looked at it for a week and drooled, but put it and aside in a folder and thought about it along with two other fabrics,  this  mosaic knit  which sold out and is not really my color anyway, and this Matte Jersey, which I still love but decided not to buy because I have a couple of pieces of matte jersey I have never sewn and there is no point to buying more, no matter how pretty.

My initial thought on this is that it will make a really neat sweater set that will go with a lot of things in my wardrobe.  Of course I still have to look at the actual fabric and see if I think I would wear it in that form, It depends on how busy the fabric looks draped over Matilda.   I know I love the fabric but I have trouble translating how I imagine the print from a picture, to how I think I will like the garment.  I need to let the fabric work its magic when it arrives, I know something wonderful will be born.

Damn the Computers

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth.  But I haven't sewn either. Matilda is still wearing the unfinished butterfly top; she is not sure she wants to give it up.  I washed some knit fabric for a simple top.  My sewing world stopped and is in a holding pattern.

My computer died Tuesday morning;  I was not happy.  The thought of having the Dell technician come crawl around in my sewing room to get at it did inspire me to finally clean the sewing room.  No more dust bunnies, no sewing stuff piled up willy-nilly.  A small pile of ironing still exists, better than the 9-mile high pile I started with though. 

While I waited for the missing technician (he was supposed to come Wednesday but showed up on Thursday instead -- after I spent a day and a half waiting) I caught up on a lot of housework, not usually my favorite task but good restless make-work, and a lot of weed pulling.

After the technician came and installed a new modem (such a little card to bring down a whole computer) I thought everything worked.  He played around with my desktop, "cleaning it up" and turned off all those programs that start up with the computer, like my firewall and anti-virus protection stuff.  Annoying I thought.    Apparently something else happened as well.  I could get on the internet but could not access any site that required any kind of password protection.  BIG PAIN.  HIgh frustration level.  I checked all the settings on my computer.  My internet provider checked all the settings on my computer.  MIcrosoft checked all the settings on my computer, reset them and checked them again.  Dell did the same.

By this time I am starting to run around, steam coming out of my ears, ready to uproot not just little maple seedlings but capable of pulling whole large plants out of the ground.

No one knows what to do.  I have backed up all my data and saved all my photos.  The agreed upon solution is to erase my hard drive and reinstall everything from Windows on up.  We know what I will be doing next week.  Putting the data back is the least of it.  Getting all the programs back is the painful part.

If this doesn't work --

Well, If you hear a really loud noise that sounds like an explosion and see a large cloud rising in the sky it is not nuclear armageddon.  It will just be me losing it.

I will close with a flower.  This one opened on Thursday.  I hope it is a barbinger of good things to come.