Sew Distracted

Sew and Go

Not the way to sew a wardrobe.....

Starting at 7:30 AM the morning you intend to wear the garment, especially when you went to bed at 2:00 AM.

Still, despite my best intentions it happens.

I knew I wanted to sew these silk pants when I bought the fabric at Mood in mid March. I had been planning a series of separates that could be dressed up or down for evening wear, I was hoping for a light gray, I saw the perfect fabric at Mood.  As soon as I got home I realized I had the perfect jacket to wear with these pants, and I had an event at the end of April.....

"But April 29 is six weeks away I told myself.  I am still redoing my sewing room.  I have lots of time."

Every week the same thing until two weeks ago.  "But I still have two weeks" I said.  "Lots of time for these simple pants".  But time creeps by without being noticed. 

I did realize that I didn't have a zipper.  I had been meaning to sort through the zipper supply and place an order with zipperstop .  The local selection of zippers is minimal and there are no good YKK zippers to be found.  In recent years, 9 out of every 10 coats and clarks zippers I have purchased locally have broken within a few wearings. 

The zippers were ordered.  The zippers were shipped.  Usually zipper orders come right away.  I expected the zippers by Tuesday, Wednesday at the latest.

In the meantime I started the periwinkle cardigan. 

The zipper did not arrive.

By Thursday I was getting rather desperate.  But it had been a long day.  I had not been sleeping well, even less than my normal level of short intense bursts of sleep.  I told myself I should cut the fabric the next day.

I was tired Friday and we had plans to go into NYC.  I washed and pressed the lining.

Saturday morning at 7:30 AM i was out of bed and in the sewing room.   Truth be told the pants only took 3 hours, and would have taken less but I had to put the wasitband and the elastic in twice.   Perhaps the old mental neurons were not firing as efficiently as could be hoped.   I did realize that I was down to a choice between hand hemming the pants and taking a nap.  The nap won.

The pants were done, hanging, and waiting to be worn.

Then I realized that I had shoe issues.  Impossible you might say if you have seen my shoe closet.  But it was true.

I have lots of evening shoes. They never get worn out.  Yet something new is always calling to me.  I will not state how many evening shoes there are  in my closet, but I can honestly state that I now know I need more. 

There are no gray or silver evening shoes, or anything that went with the planned outfit.  There were many black shoes, several pairs of gold or gold and bronze shoes.  There are two pairs of red shoes.  But no silver.  No gray.  No pewter.

I pulled out the closest choices from the summer heel department:

I wanted the turquoise, they seemed more festive, more like good time party girls.  But they didn't really go.  The sturdier blue shoes with the wider heels were perfect.  Actually better suited to standing on an uneven lawn, martini in hand.

I was tired.  Too tired to take a good photo.  But I had a great time and I knew I looked great (well perhaps if I had enough energy to suck my tummy in, but then I was too tired to care).

And now I must go shoe shopping.

Up, Down, or All-Around?

Thank you everyone for your help and comments.  The sleeve problem ended up being simple to solve.  G gave me a hint when he saw it the next morning.  “The grain changes there” he said. “ Right! Of course!” I thought, actually a little facetiously at the time.  I knew that.  But the other side of the sleeve, where the grain also changed, stitched together perfectly.  By the time I read your comments, and Liana also hit hte nail on the head, I was close to determining the solution.

Then it hit me; the problem was with the directionality of the stitches.   I was attempting to sew the sleeve into the body of the sweater in a continuous circle.  The stitches that took were sewn from underarm up to the shoulder.  The stitches that were not working were being sewn from shoulder seam down to the side seam.  A simple change of direction solved the problem.   

On the second sleeve I simply sewed it in two passes.  I figured that if the first sleeve wanted to be sewn from side seam up, so would the second.  Wrong.  Gaps on both sides.  Reversal of direction from shoulder seem down to side seam on both front and back halves and perfect sleeve setting ensued.

I must not have cut the sleeves in the same direction.  I don’t remember.  I cut this months ago.  The fabric has no nap so it doesn’t matter, although I often cut things the same direction anyway, just in case. 

This is interesting because when I am seaming hand-knitted garments I always set in the sleeves in two steps, sewing from the shoulder seam down each side.  But I have not necessarily been doing that with knitted fabrics.  Perhaps I should.  I am sure that, had I looked at the actual fabric at the top of the sleeve cap, and noticed the directionality of the change from straight-of-grain to bias along the sleeve cap, I could have determined which direction to sew the sleeve to the body. Knits are notoriously unstable on the bias, I am sure some knits are more stable than others. I am surprised this hasn’t happened to me before, but then I haven’t really sewn that many knits.

There is always something new to learn.

The cardigan is not quite done.  I need to do a little topstitching and the buttonholes.  I would like to make the matching top. 

In the meantime another project has leapt to the top of the queue.

Sewing Room Photos

I have posted the photo album of the sewing room remodel so far.  There is also a link to the before photos.  You can see the photos from the link on the sidebar, or by clicking here . 

One wall remains undone.  I have sorted through all my stuff and determined what is staying but I haven't yet figured out how I will reconfigure the shelves on that wall to make them more attractive and functional.  In the meantime I need to sew.

The walls are also rather bare and I will work on decorating a bit as well as putting shades or blinds on the windows.  The microblinds that are currently installed don't appeal to me much.  Although I thought I could leave the window frames alone, they are in need of repaining but it is not yet warm enough to leave the windows open.  Once windows are repainted I can work on window treatments.

Lost in a black hole

I spent an hour today on what should have been a simple sewing step with no success.  Has this ever happened to you?

I can’t explain it.

I had an hour between returning from work/gym/errands and knitting group.  I thought I could set the sleeves in my periwinkle cardigan with little difficulty.  Although I once considered this a daunting project, that was long ago.  Perhaps I should reconsider. I spent the entire hour trying to set in one sleeve.  I stitched.  It looked good.  I turned the cardigan right side out, there was an area about 3 to 4 inches long where the seam did not exist, a gaping hole, surrounded on either side by firm stitches.  This seam was sewn in one continuous pass.  What happened? 

I tried re-stitching over the gaping area.  As I ran the machine over the seamline everything looked fine, the machine sounded normal, the stitches looked good.  Still the stitches did not adhere in this one area although the rest of the seam was fine.

I ripped and began again.  The same thing happened.  I tried a different kind of seam stitch.  Repeat of the same problem.  It seems that one section of my sleeve eats stitches, dissolves them on contact.  The stitches disappear, as if into a black hole. 

I can’t explain it.

I see one tiny hole in the fabric, this could explain one stitch slipping, but a 4 inch section?  Why is the stitching tight on either side but missing in the middle.

I had to leave to go to knitting group.  I hoped to return to this problem, but dinner and conversation ensued.  It was late.  I was up early. Getting up at 5:30 pretty much kills me for any sewing after 11 PM. I am sure a glass of wine with dinner did not help.

Perhaps tomorrow will shed a little light on the situation.

We have Lift-Off

Sewing has commenced:

I am working on a cotton sweater set that I cut out before Christmas, ages ago, and never really got inspired to sew. 

Having space to work and everything organized for easy access is great.  Work went well, it was easy to work and easy to clean up, and I had space to play.  I remembered a piece of cotton and decided to play with putting some piping along the front band of the cardigan.  I wear plain sweater sets all the time, I don't know why this one seemed so boring, but the piping seems to add the perfect touch. Sleeves, buttons, buttonholes and topstitching still to come. 

Back Tack 3

I signed up for back-tack3 and I am Sooo excited! 

I have never done anything like this, and although I primarily like sewing clothes I admit to sometimes doing other things.   I received match-ups and I will be making a softie for Justine  and babybug will be making one for me.  I think this is really really cool and it is neat to know who your partners are so you can check out their sites.

I think the patterns for the softie, by WeeWonderfuls are just adorable and I am sure I will be making more.

Perhaps I just have softies on the brain due to the thoughts of impending grandmotherhood.  I am dreaming of sewing things I never considered before.  This whole experience sounds like so much fun and is kickng off a whole new series of adventures for me.

Meanwhile dreams of little creatures, both knitted and sewn, are dancing through my head.

Sixty zippers

via six and a half stitches, a handwriting meme using a pangram.  No brown foxes for me.  Since the meme specifies the pangram to be used, mine probably doesn't qualify even though it is a pangram.  Always had an ornery streak, I.

Check out the photos at the fickr pool .

Egg or Oval?

Oops, I said I would be gone, but I had to check in.  Today's activities were rained out and have been postponed until next week.  This said, we have had time to putter about the house, working (not too strenuously) and relaxing.

One blog I check regularly, is Kathleen Fasanella's blog Fashion Incubator .  If I ever get around to putting up a list of links this one will have primary placement as it is so often filled with fascinating and useful information.

Today I read a really interesting post on Kathleen's blog called A Question of Thoracic Shaping.  The article is really about the way a bra is constructed and why they don't always fit.  There is an interesting discussion of torso shape, whether one is a "standard" oval or more egg shaped, and how these anatomical differences affect the fit of bras, which are made for the oval shape. The article is filled with all kinds of fascinating illustrations as well.  I found it very interesting and the article and its implications have been flitting in and out of my thoughts all day.

I immediately picked up on the fact that many of the fit issues she discusses describe my experience in the bra fitting room to a T, and upon reflection realize that I am most definitely an egg.  I have noticed this in other ways as I am narrow side to side but thick front to back, no matter what size I am but I have never really thought about variation in torso shapes or even if there was a "standard" shape that clothes were designed to fit.  I see it is not me. 

Head on over the Kathleen's site and take a look and leave a comment.  She is asking readers to comment if they have the thoracic shape she is discussing.  I think this could be interesting.  Although I know I have fit issues that aren't necessarily standard I also can think of at least three friends who are definitely egg shaped, and although we don't all discuss bra-fitting (perfect luncheon conversation don't you think?) I do know that at least one of my friends has these same bra-fitting issues.  It would be really interesting if someone did a study to see how prevalent one shape is over the other.

As I think about ovals and eggs, I am realizing that this issue really affects a lot of my upper body garment shaping problems, namely the problems with bust points being too far apart, that there is always tons of extra fabric at the side seams and not enough in the front and back.  My measurements might match the pattern but the distribution sure doesn't.  I see that if I explore with this idea further I can probably improve my fitting skills considerably.

Life in all its craziness has intervened the past few days so there has been litle progress on sewing or sewing room but some progress has been made.

The sewing machines are finally hooked up but I am still sorting through an accumulation of books and patterns and stuff.  There are many distractions now as it has been sunny warm and I itch to be in the yard as well.

The hyacinths outside the kitchen window keep calling...

but I am also eager to start sewing.  Spring is here and my wardrobe needs a few updates.  I have sorted fabric and put together a few collections of things I want to work on.

There are other, non-garment temptations as well, including several projects from this darling little book:

Unfortunately, after meeting with the contractors tomorrow (today already?) we are gallivanting about hither and  yon for the two impending religious holidays.   Regularly scheduled sewing time and blogging will return next week.

Update

Still no sewing but in my dreams.  Thank you for your patience, for sticking with me, if indeed anyone has.  I have thought about it.  I stated on Sewing World  that I would drill the holes in my countertop, install the hole grommets and hook up the sewing machines during the past week.  It has not been done.  Work got a little out of hand.  There is, in fact, still a big pile of it on my desk, at the moment sitting where a sewing machine should be.

The house is coming back together though.  I have thought about hiding in my sewing room, shutting the door, playing with thread and fabric, and pretending the external chaos did not exist, but I have resisted that urge.  Sewing should be my refuge not a way of avoiding life.  I will appreciate the ability to sew so much more once a little more order has been maintained.

Besides I want my workspace together; finally finished, ready to work and play. 

My mind was preoccupied early in the week by the fear that the dust which has blanketed everything in our house had also penetrated the fabric stash.  These fears were unfounded.   The fabrics piled on the guest room bed, those that had been removed from the sewing room, had a light coating of dust, easily dealt with.  They have been restored and put away.  The fabric already in the fabric closet were fine.  The acid-free boxes in which they are stored were tight and the dust did not penetrate through the closet doors and the tightly fitting box lids.  I was greatly relieved.

It has been nice to finally get all the fabric and yarn organized and put away.  I am very happy with the storage solutions I have come up with, some in the sewing room, some elsewhere, and feel I have achieved a happy balance between display and hidden storage.  Occasionally I get overwhelmed but the more I accomplish, the more I see how well this is working out and the happier I become at the prospect of the final outcome. 

There will be pictures soon.