The shelves are down, and the painters have been and gone leaving a boring beige swath in their wake. (Who are these mythical beige-loving people, anyway?) All the good stuff (I.e. pins, buttons, scissors, fabrics, books) is packed and ready to move.

Trouble is, we aren’t getting anywhere fast.

Home selling is slow and painful. Home buying is almost as bad. My SIL promises that is will be like labor pains and that in a few months we won’t remember any of it.

Let’s hope so.

TTYL…

Project: Summer Dress
Pattern: Simplicity 2371
Size: 12 altered
Fabric: Rayon challis from Hancock Fabrics this season

As predicted, this dress came out great for summer. I won’t be making it again ’cause it has some warts and I have plenty more dress patterns to play with. First, the finished photo:

See how I closed up the excess neck slit with the little square of fabric? I simply folded over a rectangle of fabric, served the raw edges and stitched it in when I topstitched the neckline.

Easy peasy.

See how the slit flops open?  Imagine how far that would be hanging had I not inserted the little extra fabric.  Wart #1.

Wart #2 is the depth of the armholes.  Maybe that is a by-product of the looseness of the dress, but they could definitely be raised an inch or more.

Wart #3 is the width of the shoulders.  I cut this at the shoulder width of the 10, in fact I cut the entire upper back on the 10 width lines.  It still hangs off my shoulders.

Other than that, it’s perfect.

I’m wearing it today, and expect to love it!

Project: Summer Dress
Pattern: Simplicity 2371
Size: 12 altered
Fabric: Rayon challis from Hancock Fabrics this season

I hate it when this kind of thing happens! There’s fully an inch of bra bridge showing at the lower end of the neck opening. Yuck. Why I didn’t notice that on the tissue fit, I’m not sure.

Of course I’ve *got* some plunge bras that will work, but they aren’t everyday bras and this is an everyday dress.

Not to mention that the dress isn’t fitted for those.

Fortunately (or not) I like the dress enough to try and fix it.  I may put a little dickey in that space, or I may do some hand embroidery to close the gap.

The little dickey would be faster.

Finished is better than perfect.

Project: Summer Dress
Pattern: Simplicity 2371
Size: 12 altered
Fabric: Rayon challis from Hancock Fabrics this season

In the interest of using the *other* length of rayon challis that my trip to Hancock Fabrics yielded, I decided to break out another of my untried dress patterns, Simplicity 2371. This one has that loose breezy vibe the so appeals to me in a caftan, but it has a more fitted neckline and shoulders. Perhaps I won’t look so much like a sack of potatoes–particularly if I don’t add the belt.

This should be a cool dress for summer, which I *thought* had already arrived.  Recent nighttime temperatures, having returned to the 40s, tend to make me think otherwise…  No matter.  I’ll have a dress to wear when the occasion arises be it April or July.

The reviews for this pattern are somewhat mixed and tend to be negative for one reason or another.  I figure it’s a plain loose-ish dress for no special occasion–how bad could it be?

My fabric is a pretty color–a violet mock-batik, which teased me by presenting two nice sides.  I picked one, then changed my mind after cutting.

Despite its pretty color, it’s printed off grain so any attempt at pattern-matching will be a hair-pulling experience.  The print can match, or it can hang off grain.  Which would you choose?

I’m going for hanging on-grain.  Print matching in this shifty rayon would be troublesome even without the off-grain print.  I’ll just learn to live with the Picasso-effect along the seams.

Or not.

I’ve been know to can a project before it ever sees the inside of my closet!

I did place the hemlines at the same level in hopes of some sort of symmetry.

Keeping this house ready to show is a full-time job.  Just about the time I get the machines threaded, I have to put everything away for a showing.  (I’m thankful–don’t get me wrong!)  Hopefully I’ll finish this dress before I have to neaten things again!

Project: Caftan
Pattern: Butterick B5652
Size: S
Fabric: Rayon challis from Hancock Fabrics this season

For a while now I’ve been fixated on caftans.  I even have a whole board on Pinterest devoted to them.

Though I’m something of a shrimp, I tend to adore fashions that only a more statuesque woman (Maude, for instance) could pull off.  Fortunately I (now) recognize that this stuff is all wrong for me and only occasionally succumb to the desire to sew the yards-and-yards it takes to make them.  Knowing I could never wear it *to* anything, I planned for an after-shower caftan-style dress that could be seen in public should I be required to go out and chase a dog or something.

I headed over to Hancock’s and bought two large chunks of rayon challis.

Yes.  Two.

I remain eternally optimistic that *this* time the style will work.

Ahem.

This is Butterick B5652 plus some inseam pockets and an elasticized waistline.    It’s the blue dress on the pattern envelope, which appears to have pockets in the illustration but does not.  I knew I’d never have the patience to deal with a belt, so I installed elastic in a casing just below the waistline.

It needs some flip-flops adorned with a big rubber chrysanthemum.

I’m glad I raised the neckline a little.

I’d best not raise wave my arms around when I’m chasing dogs in this thing.  Perhaps I should invest time in some house bras…

ROFLOL!!!

Project: Anorak vest
Pattern: Simplicity 2153, View F
Size: 12, altered
Fabric: Water resistant mystery fabric from stash

James 1:2-3 says “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”

I’m a really joyous girl these days and reaping perseverance by leaps and bounds!

The house is on the market and cleaner than it has been in years.  I had gall bladder surgery last Wednesday, and the knee surgeon wants me to have a knee replacement ASAP. He does not, repeat, DOES NOT want me to wait until we move.

Eh.

I’ve been sewing.

Funny how leaving a project to rest in it’s box for weeks makes you forget what you had planned to do.  Funny how you somehow end up with the wrong collar on it when you’re done.

Funny how you like the thing anyway!

Me, too.

Last Sunday we had a little wake up call. Everybody’s ok, but we’ve decided that it’s time to sell the house and find one that’s more suitable for us. That means no stairs and more accessible fixtures.

It’ll be good for both of us.

Eventually.

For now it means a tremendous amount of work for me and even less time to sew. I doubt I’ll even have time to keep up with what you’re doing.

But it will be worth it in the long run.

I’m envisioning sewing while Mr H works away at his therapy in the next room. Dinner is cooking a few steps away and there are no knee-crushing stairs between me and any of it!

So. All that to say I’ll be taking some time off from the blogging. If I get to sew at all, I’ll take photos and tell you about it when the dust settles–which may be after we move or just after I get this house in shape.

I hope it won’t be long–maybe I’ll get back to blogging in April or May. Please keep us in your prayers, and don’t forget about me!

Project: Anorak vest
Pattern: Simplicity 2153, View F
Size: 12, altered
Fabric: Mystery fabric from stash

The supplies have all been gathered. The fabric has been cut.   The machines are threaded.  The new vest will look something like this:

I seem to remember that the fabric came from a clearance sale at The Sewing Studio last winter. I cannot recall any details, but I think I planned to make some sort of anti-rain garment from it.  I can’t imagine what I was hoping to sew with a yard and a half of the stuff.

I can’t imagine what circumstances might benefit from a water resistant vest, but you never know!  If a need arises, I’ll stay nice and dry.  ;-)

After reading through the reviews at PatternReview.com, I decided to upscale my vest a bit by adding metal eyelets.  The stash turned up some nice 1/4″ antique brass ones complete with an applicator and instructions!

Love that.

The pockets look really cute so far.  They are very similar to the pockets on my Ottobre Ms Marple coat. When I sew them on, they’ll gather along the top just like the Ottobre pockets.  I want some sort of tips to go on the ends of the drawstrings–I’m sure there’s something in the bead stash that will work.

So far so good!

Thank you, everyone, for the kind compliments on my coat.  I really appreciate your taking the trouble to leave them!

I’ve been thinking hard about what I want to sew next.  This amateur therapist/dog trainer lifestyle has changed my closet.  I still need clothes–the brush-off-and-go kind that can go from coaching Mr H to dragging a dog out of the bushes in the wink of an eye.  Here’s my typical day:

• Wake up and get myself together
• Eat/drink tea/read email.
• Take Pearl for her morning run around the neighborhood–about 2.5 miles.  (She runs, and I ride along in the golf cart.)
• Therapy exercises with Mr H until lunch
• Lunch and free time, usually spent playing outdoors with Pearl.
• Afternoon appointments–usually professional therapy of some sort
• Walk Pearl (on foot!) about 2 miles
• Make dinner and eat
• Watch some TV with Mr H
• Free time for sewing, Bingo on Facebook, reading, blog writing
• Shower and bed

I’d really like to follow Lori’s Wardrobe Basic sew-along, but my schedule is light on tea parties, business meetings and dinner dates.  I have no desire to wear black *anything* (it shows dog hair)  and sweaters, skirts, or the tights I might wear with them don’t stand up to doggie paws.

I can still sew something.  It’ll just have to be *rugged* and mix in with the things I already have.

So here’s what I think I’ll sew:

	Blue violet Anorak vest from Simplicity 2153, View F.  My fabric is water resistant and should cut the chilly wind.
	Blue Chambray Tunic from McCall’s 6167, view C.   I’ve been wanting to make this since last Fall!
	Some red jeans from my TNT McCall’s 5894
	Some sort of light raincoat like this one from Coldwater Creek
	A couple of v-neck knit tops from Jalie 2805.  These are cut and waiting–a blue violet one and a burgundy.
	A new apron from Butterick 4945, view C

The vest is first! I bought thread and a zipper yesterday, so after a tissue fit I’ll get started.

Project: Winter Coat
Pattern: Simplicity 2311, View A
Size: 12, altered
Fabric: Double-faced wool from Gail K’s last year

One week later than anticipated, but it’s done at last! I’ve no real excuse other than I’ve generally been feeling yucky and the weather has offered no encouragement to finish a heavy coat. Of course there’s no way I’m wearing it in the balmy 72 degree weather we’re having today

not even to model.

Sorry.

The long range forecast is showing some cold weather around Valentine’s day, so I might get to wear it before next winter. The first time I wear it there will be photos.

I promise.

Here it is on Brunhilde. You might notice some pins–the collar is in training to lay flatter.

As I expected, the pattern (mis-)matching doesn’t offend me in the least. The way the patterns arranged themselves on the finished coat might have been a problem in another fabric, but not in these shades of gray.

Here’s that polyester satin lining. It’s sort of hammered looking–JoAnn’s had a name for it, but I can’t recall it just now. I really like the unobtrusive way it turned out. Matching the lining to the fabric was the way to go with a project like this.

I did have one lining snafu. There being no separate lining pieces for the pattern, I simply shortened the lining by the length of the coat’s hem. Due to my slovenly marking habits, I forgot to mark the large dot at the bottom of the side front lining before I removed it from the cutting table. When it came time to sew it to the facing, I positioned the pattern wrong and marked the dot too high.

I thought there was an awful lot of facing to ease in…

When the coat was nearly done and the facing would not hang level along the hem, I realized my mistake. I ripped that seam loose and sewed the lining to the facing by hand.

I’ll mark it properly next time (sure I will…)

All’s well that ends well, of course, and it only cost me some time.

For the backs of the bound buttonholes, I made windowpanes on the facing and stitched them together. I’m sure you’ve seen the method. It works very well as long as you mark carefully.

I’m very happy with the coat and even happier to be done with the coat! I knew it would be a long project, but I’m never really prepared for the weeks that it takes me to finish a multi-step garment like this.

Now that I’m done, it was worth all the time it took. I’ve needed this coat for a long time and I expect to wear it for many years!

Project: Winter Coat
Pattern: Simplicity 2311, View A
Size: 12, altered
Fabric: Double-faced wool from Gail K’s last year

My goal for today was to install the under collar and finish the sleeves. The sleeves still need a little bit of work, but I’m calling my goal met!

The under collar was a piece of cake.  Luckily sewing through the bed sheet version prepped me for doing it “live and in color” so to speak.

The bed sheet version of the sleeves, OTOH, did nothing to help me with these!  Virtually no easing was required on the muslin.  This thick wool was totally different.  Necktie interfacing saved me–that’s another trick in the Palmer-Pletsch Jackets for Real People book, which I’ve also seen Peggy Sager do.

(I just realized that I haven’t tried the coat on with the shoulder pads, and the sleeve length is perfect as-is.  Hmm.)

At any rate, the sleeves are in.  Mostly.

I did find buttons at Hancock’s, thank goodness.  They had quite a nice selection–much better than JoAnn’s.  These cost more than I wanted to spend, but considering what I’ve already got in this coat–and how much more I like it than I thought I would–they weren’t too much.

Though I wanted a sew-through button in shell or plastic, I think these metal shank ones look nice with the coating.  Here they are on the sleeve:

My goal for tomorrow is to sew and install the lining, then finish the coat.  I’m pretty sure that it will be too warm to wear the coat on Sunday, but I really want to get it ready for any cold weather that may come along later.

Plus there are plenty of simple projects wanting to be made!  I think I need an apron.

Project: Winter Coat
Pattern: Simplicity 2311, View A
Size: 12, altered
Fabric: Double-faced wool from Gail K’s last year

Funny how a project feels as if you are taking one step forward and two (or three) steps back for so long, and  then suddenly you’ve got something.  That’s what has happened today with my new coat.

I sewed the front to the back at the shoulders, and wowza!  It’s a coat!!

There’s still a long way to go, but with sufficient sewing time I could be wearing my coat to church this Sunday.

Tomorrow I’ll head over to Hancock’s to see if they have any suitable buttons.  If they don’t it will sure throw a monkey wrench into my plans.  I’ll keep my fingers crossed that I find the perfect ones!

Project: Winter Coat
Pattern: Simplicity 2311, View A
Size: 12, altered
Fabric: Double-faced wool from Gail K’s last year

As I expected, the machine buttonholes were just wrong for the coat. Working them was not really a problem. My Bernina has a buttonhole with a wide stitch, and I hoped that it would cover enough of the coating to keep the buttonhole from pulling out. It seemed to, but the problem was cutting them open. Once cut, they weren’t pretty. Plus, I couldn’t be certain that I wouldn’t cut some of the buttonhole stitches–even though I was using a chisel.

So I settled on the bound variety.

At first I planned to use the strip method that I used last year.  That worked really well in the boucle, but was kinda fiddly.  When I was doing some blog reading today, I was reminded by Sharon Sews of the patch method of making bound buttonholes.  I like that method because you have good control of the corners with the little windowpane.

I did make the lips differently, however.  Palmer-Pletsch, in Jackets for Real People, details a way of using two rectangles of fabric basted together and pressed open to make the lips.  Once the buttonhole window is constructed, the basted lips are aligned at the center of the window and and stitched in place.

That eliminates handling the tiny individual lips, plus they are already basted together.

It seems less fiddly to me and it looks pretty good, though I can see some of the lining fabric that I used to make my window peaking out on this sample.  If I don’t get the actual buttonholes any better, I won’t worry about it.

I only have to make three.  Let’s get at it!

Project: Winter Coat
Pattern: Simplicity 2311, View A
Size: 12, altered
Fabric: Double-faced wool from Gail K’s last year

Lest you think I have fallen into the abyss never to emerge, I offer photographic evidence that I am indeed finding a bit of time to sew.

This first image is of my coat’s undercollar resting on the tailor’s ham whilst the fold line steam-sets.  The front of the coat is resting on the guest room bed with the lapel turned back similarly, though there are no pins involved.

And my back belts, which I sewed differently from the instructions.  My super-thick coating did not need to be bunched in a seam along the edge of the belt, so I first sewed the long edge then centered the long seam before sewing the end.

They turned out nicely that way.  After testing several different grays, I chose a lighter thread for the topstitching.  It is 1/2″ from the edge and the stitch is lengthened considerably, though the stitches look short in these photos.

I said earlier that I didn’t think the print of the coating would mind not being matched.  I think you can tell from the lower belt piece in the photo above that it’s gonna be just fine without the additional terror of matching the print across all the seams in this coat.

Bound buttonholes will probably be required, but I hope to do some tests tomorrow to see if I can get by with a machined buttonhole.  My gut says no.

Pearl TWD is working her way into my daily schedule so that I beginning to get more done than simply playing with and training a dog all day.  Honestly, I don’t know how anyone who is employed has time to deal with a dog.  She takes almost as much time as a baby and can make a much bigger mess…

and I love her.  

Project: Winter Coat
Pattern: Simplicity 2311, View A
Size: 12, altered
Fabric: Double-faced wool from Gail K’s last year

• The coating is all cut.
• The interfacing is all cut and mostly fused.
• The Singer Magic Press makes it all better. I can’t even imagine what this task would have been like without it.  Just thinking of fusing all that with my iron which has a footprint of–oh–possibly 10 square inches makes me shudder.
• Even with the big press, some of the pattern pieces required four repositions to fuse the entire piece.
• Imagine 54 repositions with the iron.
• 15 seconds each…
• For one pattern piece.
• I went to JoAnn’s today for thread and to look at lining and buttons.  I came home with thread and lining–a fairly nice match in a polyester satin.
• I know.  Polyester.  But I didn’t want to have $54 more in a coat that I don’t expect to even like much when I’m done.
• The only decent buttons were too big.
• I took Pearl TWD with me.
• She waited in the car.
• I swear she’s been taking lessons from Mr H when I take him to JoAnn’s… whining, eye-rolling, hanging out the window barking at the people in the next–oh wait, Mr H doesn’t bark.

Project: Winter Coat
Pattern: Simplicity 2311, View A
Size: 12, altered
Fabric: Double-faced wool from Gail K’s last year

The problem of rotary cutting the coating has been solved.  There will be no further need for me to resort to using my scissors for cutting out this project.

During one of my late night “thinking-instead-of-sleeping” sessions, my inner-engineer whispered that I could easily control the loft of the coating and possibly even finish cutting my coat before the end of the year if I would listen carefully to what she had to say.

She knew I tend to be a bit dense not as quick when I’m supposed to be sleeping, she led me to the obvious conclusion in a round-about way.  She pointed out that most of us begin using a rotary cutter with a clear ruler. That ruler controls the fabric and gives us a guide to roll the cutter against.  When we begin cutting out patterns with a rotary cutter, we have to grow accustomed to having no guide and feeling a bit out of control until we learn to love the speed and accuracy.

What I needed with the coating was something to compress the fabric while I cut. I didn’t need it to guide my cutter–I’ve grown well-accustomed to cutting around patterns. I just needed the fabric control. Anything would work, really, as long as it was long enough to allow me to compress the fabric and roll my cutter for a few inches.

My Dritz Ezy-Hem, for instance:

It didn’t even have to be on the pattern to work.  It could compress just as easily from the side that would be cut away.

A-ha!

Now that the wool cutting issue has been solved, I’m ready to move on to interfacing and lining.

Progress.

It’s taking for-e-vah!!!

This thick coating is almost impossible to cut with my rotary cutter, and I’m having to use the scissors a lot.

I hate cutting with scissors!

About the only real sewing fun being had is reading about yours!

Sigh.

The lining and interfacing will go faster if I ever get done with the coating.  It would help if it would get cold and add some urgency to the task.

I mean, it’s got all sorts of accessories.  There are endless opportunities for embellishment.  I spend my Bingo time browsing for cute bits to go with it.

It’s always there and ready for me to play.

It works night or day to entertain me–even when the electricity goes off.

There’s never a dull moment with this.

My friends all want to play with it, too.

What is it?  Well, I’ll give you a hint:

That not enough?

Does this help??

This is Pearl the Wonder Dog, named after the dog in Robert B Parker’s Spenser series.  She’s a 6 month old rescue puppy.  Her foster did a great job getting her ready for a new home.

For me, having had no pet of my own for 25 years, I’m not sure I could have handled a dog that wasn’t at least partly trained already.  I can’t believe that I have a dog who can sit, fetch, come, and is housebroken.

All I have to do is make doggie treats!

And play

A lot

It gives me great pride to be here today, judging what must be the most abundant selection of home-sewn goodies produced in my personal sweat shop in many years. It is a great honor to have been given an opportunity to present them to you in their entirety, highlighting the most exemplary of the 56 presenting pieces.

It was indeed a tough competition to judge. The level of performance has been absolutely stellar this year, with outstanding attention to pattern acquisition and stash augmentation.  Contenders were judged on wardrobe compatibility, wearing comfort, technical difficulty, and sartorial elegance.

Without further ado may I present the It’s-a-Wonder awards for… (drumroll please)

1. Most used pattern:  The award goes to McCall’s 6355 (#’s 25, 38, 52, 54, and 55) from which were made 2 short sleeved dresses, 2 long sleeved dresses and one inset cowl top.
2. Most worn project: The award must go to #9. New Pajamas from McCall’s 6249 worn frequently, but seldom seen in public.
3. Pattern most likely to be revisited in the New Year:  The award goes to #49 & 51.  Retro pants and mods sewn from Simplicity 3688
4. Project requiring the most intervention by the inner engineer:   The award goes to #39. Cotton jacquard jacket sewn from Ottobre Woman 02/2006 for the largest number of muslins required to achieve suitable sleeves!

On the other end of the performance scale, the Eek-bummer awards are presented for….

1. Excessive Award for being too heavy, too bulky, and just too much: #3  Holiday jacket from Butterick 5399.  Disposition: Goodwill.
2. Excessively Brief Award for being too short. #7 Blouse sewn from Folkwear 232–Wall Street Blouse and Skirt.  The elastic waist continually wedged somewhere just south of my bust and had to be tugged downward.  It was too short and voluminous to remove the elastic–imagine the draft!  Disposition: Goodwill.
3. Erratic award for being just plain wrong in a multitude of ways:  #47 Twill Slacks sewn from McCall’s 6361.  Both pants sewn from this pattern have been a disappointment.  The tan twill pair being the most offensive of the two with it’s too-large waist and sticky cotton twill fabric.  Disposition: Trash, button returned to stash
4. Black sheep award that proves that a bad project can come from a good pattern: Capri length jeans from McCall’s 5894. They were really cute, but just too low for my, uh, tastes.  Disposition: Goodwill.

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes the awards presentation.  Thank you for your kind attention.  If you wish to remain in the arena, you may peruse the projects at your leisure in the gallery that follows.

Thank you and Happy New Year!

	1. Black Velour Cardigan from Simplicity 2474 with modified sleeve.
	2. Black and gray nail head pants from modified McCall’s 6211.
	3. Holiday jacket from Butterick 5399.
	4. Kindle Sleeve designed by my inner engineer.
	5. Clear pouches for Mr H’s personal use.
	6. Long skirt sewn from Folkwear 232–Wall Street Blouse and Skirt
	7. Blouse sewn from Folkwear 232–Wall Street Blouse and Skirt
	8. Cross body Bag sewn from Studio Kat’s Bellagio Bag pattern
	9 & 10. New Pajamas sewn from McCall’s 6249
	11. 31-inch “Linen” skirt sewn from McCall’s 3341.
	12. Pants for Mom sewn from McCall’s M5239
	13. Simple sleeveless dress sewn from Vogue 8667
	14. 23″ gray twill skirt sewn from Ottobre 2/2010 #15.
	15. White pique camp shirt sewn from McCall’s 6249 pajama pattern
	16. White jet set tank top sewn from Vogue 1167
	17. Nightgown sewn from Ottobre Woman 2/2010 ‘Journal’ dress pattern
	18. Linen dress sewn from Butterick B5600
	19. Knit cardigan sewn from Simplicity 2206
	20 & 21. Turquoise silk jacket sewn from Butterick 5617 and skirt sewn from Ottobre 2/2010 #15
	22. Light taupe linen pants sewn from HotPatterns HP 1091 Wong-Singh-Jones Marrakesh Drawstring Pants
	23. Gym Shorts sewn from McCall’s 6249
	24. Jeans sewn from McCall’s 5894
	25. Dress sewn from McCall’s 6355
	26. Easy knit cardigan sewn from Simplicity 2206
	27. Silk shell sewn from Simplicity 2263
	28 & 29. Jeans sewn from McCall’s 5894
	30. Raggy Scarf sewn from miscellaneous charm squares
	31. Knit tank sewn from Vogue 1167
	32. Tricot nightgown sewn from Kwik Sew 3342
	33 & 34. Two knit tops sewn from Simplicity 3759
	35. Jumpsuit sewn from Simplicity 2187
	36. 2011 Birthday dress sewn from Style 2728 (OOP)
	37. Glider drafted for Mr H’s home therapy
	38. Easy knit dress sewn from McCall’s M6355
	38. Cotton Batik dress sewn from Vogue V8727
	39. Cotton jacquard jacket sewn from Ottobre Woman 02/2006, #15
	40. Safari style jacket sewn from McCall’s M5396
	41 & 42. Classic women’s shirts sewn from Ottobre Woman 5/2010, #5 “Bethie” blouse/
	43. Twill Pants sewn from McCall’s M6361
	44. Light Coat sewn from Ottobre Woman 2/2008 #15
	45. Corduroy Jeans sewn from McCall’s 5894
	46. Twill Vest sewn from McCall’s 5186
	47. Twill Slacks sewn from McCall’s 6361
	48. Ponte Gym Pants
	49. Retro pants sewn from Simplicity 3688
	50. Classic women’s shirt sewn from Ottobre Woman 5/2010, #5
	51. Linen Pants from Simplicity 3688
	52. Long sleeved knit dress from McCall’s 6355
	53. Faux Fur Vest from Simplicity 2285
	54. Long sleeved knit dress from McCall’s 6355
	55. Inset Cowl top from modified McCall’s M6355.
	56. Molly Monkey from a pattern by mmmcrafts.

I’ve always loved this week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Traditionally it meant a week off work, and time to do whatever I pleased. Now there’s a lot less pressure to pack as much fun as possible into my free week.

So I’m taking it slow.

I expect this will be my last sewing activity for 2011. I’ve got the coat pattern altered, but I don’t want to cut it yet. Mr H gave me one last Christmas gift which I may be collecting tomorrow, so I don’t want to be tied up cutting a coat!

In case you can’t read my list up there, the changes were

• Add sleeve vent
• Add pocket extensions
• Add a tiny bit to bust
• Reduce shoulder lengths by 1/4″
• Reduce back width 1/4″ to bottom of armhole
• Add 1/2″ to back from waist downward
• Add 1/4″ for high neck base
• Mark roll line

Not necessarily in that order…  I have not yet marked the roll line on the pattern, but I have marked it on my muslin following the instructions in my Singer Tailoring book:

When I’m ready, I’ll press that pinned line and take the garment apart at the seams so that I can mark it on the pattern.

I’m still waffling on how much interfacing I want to use.  Singer Tailoring says to interface the entire front if you are using fusible interfacings. I am using fusibles, but I don’t know that my coat needs *that* much body.  The fabric is thick and has a lot of body of it’s own.

I’ll read some more books and do some tests before I decide.

My year-end recap will post automagically tomorrow. See you in the new year!

Project: Winter Coat
Pattern: Simplicity 2311, View A
Size: 12, altered
Fabric: Double-faced wool from Gail K’s last year

This project is a go!  The coat is a lovely, shapely thing and even the bed sheet version causes me to swoop dramatically about the house.

Mr H has sighed “OOOHHHH!!!  Ahhhhh!!!” at the sight of it multiple times already.

I’m not nearly finished deciding what needs to be altered, but here’s how it looks on Brunhilde.

Besides the 3 inches I’ve already added to the length, I’m considering other changes:

• narrowing the shoulders 1/4″ to 1/2″
• adding 2″ to the circumference from the bust down
• shorten center back above waist 1/2″

If I planned to wear the coat with nothing underneath, it would be fine as-is.  With clothes, it needs more ease.

I plan to wear clothes to church.

Hahahahahahahahaaaaaa!!!!

Yeah.

At any rate, this is the wool I settled on.  It’s a double-faced wool,  60″ wide, and I bought 4 yards.  It’s thick and yummy and soft.  I’ll say right now that I would not have chosen this piece *this* year.  But there it is.  It’s what I have and I’m gonna make a coat from it.

The piece has been steam shrunk following Pam Erny’s method here.  (I have no idea if it actually shrank or not.  I just did it.)

I wanted a shawl collared coat with a wrap closing.  As I perused patterns, I realized that most coats of that style looked like bathrobes.

I do not want to wear a bathrobe to church.

I settled on this Burda pattern, thinking that it looked simple, a bit structured, and not too much like a bathrobe.

When I cut  out all the pieces and pinned them together and tried them on, however, what did I see but a bathrobe!  There were 10 1/2″ of ease at the bust and the shoulder seams were dropped more than 2 inches below my shoulder

Bathrobe.

I dug back through my patterns and finally chose Simplicity 2311–view A (the red one), which decidedly does *not* say bathrobe.  I had rejected it earlier because of all the seams and the print of my coating.

I will not be making any effort to match the print across the seams unless I change my mind.  I’m thinking the print looks chopped up already and a bit more from me won’t hurt anything.

On The Great Coat Sew-Along blog from a couple of years ago, I found a reference to a Threads article on changing a one-piece sleeve to a two-piece sleeve.  Since that is my preference in a coat, I gave it a try.  It looks OK in paper:

And the whole thing looks pretty good in pinned-together paper.

I’m working on a bed sheet version now to see if I want to proceed.  It is taking a long time for a muslin, but sewing through it will help later, I’m sure.  I’m paying close attention to this review and the associated blog entries, plus I’ll crack open the Singer Tailoring book when I get ready to actually sew the coat.

This will likely *not* be finished by the end of the year!

The Sprout wrapped up a new red camera for me, to replace my green one that disappeared after her wedding.  (I won’t promise that my blog photos will be any better…sorry…)  This one is a Canon, a brand I like because of the way you set the self-timer.  And it’s red.

Did I say it was red???

Love that!

Santa, not to be outdone, brought me some nice goodies, too.  First a copy of Simple Modern Sewing, from Interweave Press.  I had been seeing it around and was intrigued by the sample photos.  I’m not sure I’ll use any of the patterns in it, but the  wrap top and the shirt coat with pockets appeal to me.  I like the simple aesthetic and may attempt similar styles from TNT patterns.  You’ll be hearing more about this later as I spend more time with it, I’m sure.

The other sleigh-delivered gifty was the Threads Magazine Archive.  Whoo-eeeee!!!  I’m really happy about that.  I have full intentions of moving my back issues to the attic to see if I actually get them out and use them now.  The archive is awesome!  I don’t like that I have to install software to see it, but searching is fast and easy plus I can print relevant pages if I need to.  It’s a lot easier than pawing though the old magazines to find what I’m looking for, especially when I discover that the particular issue I want is not on the shelf–grrrrrr!

I’ve already printed one page to help me with my end-of-year project.  I’ll tell you about that tomorrow–

Or Wednesday…  ;-)

Molly Monkey is done and I’ve enjoyed answering the inevitable question “Who’s she for?”  with “ME!!!”  She came out exactly at the advertised 21 inches long and is a great size for kids, big or small.

Today Mom and I are making Cajeta Cashew Fudge.  It should be yummy!

Back next week!

Not that regular sewing isn’t creative, but I don’t tend to get this messy.  My doll projects seem to require me to drag out all sorts of tools and trims that I don’t usually use.  You can’t see the floor, but it, too, is covered with scraps and paper and thread trimmings.  It’s like I just can’t hit the trash can.

It’s a big fun feeding frenzy!

With Christmas this weekend, however, I’ve got to stop and clear away the mess.  Tomorrow some sewing buddies and I are having a bead play day (at somebody else’s house thank goodness).  I think I’ll spend my time on Molly so that I can clear this project away!

Project: Molly Monkey
Pattern: Free from mmmcrafts.
Finished size 21″
Fabric: Corduroy, felt

I really had fun on the sew-in this week! Molly Monkey was featured on the Fabric.com blog recently, and I happened to see it during my blog reading. I just had to make her myself.

Printing the pattern was a little strange. There’s no size square so that you know when you’ve printed it properly, so I tried first at 100%. That looked ok and was what I eventually used, but my printer didn’t print some portions of the pattern at that size. I tried two other scaling options, which printed nicely but looked small–usable, but small.

In the end I guessed at the missing lines and drew them in. That worked fine.

Now that I’ve sewn and turned the larger pieces, I’m really glad that I didn’t try to go with one of the options that printed “right.”

During the sew in last night, I made some arms, legs and a tail:

And a body:

Made a head:

Embroidered it:

Sewed it all together and turned it inside out:

And came up with a real cutie who’s ready for stuffing:

I (natch) changed a few things about the pattern and sewing order, so her tail’s not on yet.  I’ll get to that.

You can’t have a monkey without a tail.

Tonight I’m sewing a present for ME!!  It’s Molly the Monkey from mmmcrafts.  And I’ve already started!

Mr H always held that the *proper* Christmas tree was an itchy cedar.

My ideal tree is a Fraser Fir.

Every year we’d alternate choosing the tree.  On my year we’d scout out the local vendors for the freshest Fir we could find.  On his year, we’d head out to a tree farm that had cedars–or he would, if I was feeling too cranky about being forced to make do with another flimsy cedar.

On my year, we’d be able to have my entire collection of Hallmark ornaments on display. His year, we’d have lightweight glass baubles, itchy rashes, and runny noses.

(Don’t think for a second that I wouldn’t put up with it every year if we could erase the stroke.  I’d throw the Hallmarks in the driveway and run the car over them.)

In any case, it’s my choice of tree every year now.  I get to pick the spot, move the furniture, vacuum, drag the (artificial Fraser Fir) tree and all the ornaments down from the attic, and set it up.  Then I get to buy and wrap all the presents to go underneath.

It’s a lot of work, this Christmas tree thing!

Fortunately Mr H is able to help decorate it.  I asked him today when he wanted to put up the tree.  He said “Soon.”  I took that as my cue to drag everything downstairs and get ready.

Yes that tree weighs nearly 43 pounds. I’ll need help getting it back to the attic. Gravity helped me get it downstairs–fast!

I cleared a space in front of the living room window and got it set up.  I wrapped the base with my c.1982 patchwork tree skirt, and stood on the back of the couch to put the c.2010 star on top.

Perhaps the time for decorating will come tomorrow.  For now, it’s nice to know we’ve made a start.

I usually throw them out–it’s not like I sew with anything precious.  All I need is one more sack of fabric to fall over and wish I had a use for.

Guilt.

Don’t need no stinkin’ guilt in the form of fabric scraps hanging around my sewing room. Of course if I think of a use for them before they hit the trash can, I’m very happy!

On these last two dresses, I made separate matching cowls from the remnants.  I had just enough, something like–in quilters’ terms–a fat quarter of the 60″ fabric left from each.  I squared them up and made sure the the length would go around my head.

Seamed them, wrong sides together lengthwise:

Then pulled one end inside the other, stitched around them and turned right side out through an opening that I had left.  They are a lot like those Infinity scarves that everyone is making now, but shorter.

They add some interest to the plain knit dresses:

Or I can put them on with any old thing that leaves my neck cold:

I enjoyed the ruffly look of the cream fabric’s selvedge, so I made it a feature:

It was a fun bonus project that satisfied my need to use it up!

Project: Long Sleeved Knit Dress
Pattern: Modified McCall’s M6355
Size: 12 altered
Fabric: Rayon/Poly/Lycra Ponte Roma

This is very exciting reading no doubt, but these two new knit dresses will be very useful for me this winter.  I didn’t even own a long-sleeved dress of any kind a week ago.  Now I have two!  Both will go with numerous jackets and cardigans in my closet, which is always a plus.

This dress is exactly the same as the green one, except that I turned the neckline under and cover-hemmed it rather than binding it.

I didn’t even try it on until it was completely finished.

Yes, I know better.  ;-)

Project: Faux Fur Vest
Pattern: Modified Simplicity 2285
Size: 14 altered
Fabric:  Faux Fur Snow Lynx White/Brown from Fabric dot com lined with black bemberg

The vest was a lot of fun to make *and* to wear!  For the first time in I-don’t-know-when, I actually had my challenge project done well before the due date.

Those of you who keep up with fashion and pass along tidbits to the rest of us, informed me that fur was *in* this season.  Thank you.

I searched around various retail websites and found several inspiration vests that I liked.  One was this one, which came from Nordstrom.com, I believe:

and this one which came from the same website and is part of a child’s outfit:

So.  My preferred vest features appear to be cheetah, center front separating zipper,  and high collar. First things first, I started looking for cheetah fur yardage and found…

nothing.

Fabric.com had some nice faux furs, so I chose their Faux Fur Snow Lynx White/Brown. It had sort of a striped pattern to it.

Next (after ordering only one yard of the $$ not-on-sale fur)  I started looking for a pattern and found…

nothing.

The closest pattern was (also not-on-sale) Simplicity 2285, which had the collar and the general shape I liked but no zipper.  I found some vest patterns with princess seams plus a zipper, but I didn’t want to cut the fur that much.  Think about it–fur, seams, stripes.

No.

The Simplicity pattern artwork looked better than it actually was.  (You are no doubt surprised by that revelation.)  In reality, it was a long box with the only shaping provided by the tie belt.  That might be fine for someone besides me–you know, somebody tall and thin.

I look better in a short, shapely pattern.

In the end, I shortened the thing three inches and added some shaping in the form of a bust dart and curved side seams. I considered putting in waist darts and decided I just couldn’t stand to deal with more seaming in the stuff.  Adding the zipper was enough of a pile-trimming nightmare.

(Once the trash went out, however, I didn’t lose anymore sleep over that issue.)

The belt is from some dark brown faux reptile knit that I had in my stash closet.

Now that it’s done, I love it:

You can see the shadow of the dart, but I don’t think it detracts from the vest’s appearance. Quite the contrary, in fact, considering what a box looks like on me.

When I laid out the pattern, I was careful to align the darker stripe with the center front and back.  The stripes were a good width for the vest, I think.

And of course, I used every fur tip I could recall:

• draw the pattern onto the back of the fabric, rather than pinning
• snip around the pattern with the tips of my scissors, being careful to avoid cutting the pile
• trim the pile from the seam allowances before and/or after sewing
• pick the pile out of the seams with a pin after the seams were sewn

The only photo of me wearing it is this group shot from the meeting on Saturday.  We had seven ladies to participate in the vest challenge–one of them left before I remembered to get a photo.  I wore it with my new McCall’s 6355 dress and my brown suede boots.

I had so much fun with it, that I’m toying with the idea of making some other faux fur garment before you inform me that it is passé

It seemed as if most participants were working on Christmas sewing, but I seldom sew gifts.  I had to think of something fast so I revisited the inset cowl that I was working on a while back.

This time, I drafted a regular cowl and extended the point downward.  It worked out pretty well:

I like it, but I’m probably done with this particular style. Let’s face it, I’ve never sewn things for the sake of having them. I sew things to see if I can do it.

I can do it.

YOU can do it.

Project: Long Sleeved Knit Dress
Pattern: Modified McCall’s M6355
Size: 12 altered
Fabric: Rayon/Poly/Lycra Ponte Roma

It was done by dinnertime, including a trip to town for thread.

Sure, showing it on Brunhilde is not much better than a hanger shot, but it gives you the idea! Just imagine Brunhilde with 20 pounds of padding. I initially sewed in the front waist darts, but a side view caused me to remove those post haste!

To lengthen the sleeves, I aligned the grainline of my previously altered short sleeve with one of the cutting mat’s vertical lines and put some tracing paper on top. After I traced the sleeve cap, I marked the vertical grainline and the desired length on the tracing paper. Once that was done, I marked the hem circumference and connected the hem line to the end of the sleeve cap.

With the sleeve drawn, I checked the elbow and bicep widths to be sure they weren’t too tight. After that I added a hem allowance and called it done.

The dress took less time to sew than all the prep–drawing the sleeve, buying the thread, and threading three machines.

The neck binding and hems were all done with the coverstitch machine. I don’t use that thing much, but I sure do enjoy it when I do. Thankfully I had marked the binder, so I didn’t have to spend much time getting it aligned properly.

I did something unusual with this dress: I sewed the sleeves in flat. Generally I prefer working with the smallest unit possible, so I always completely finish the sleeves and sew them in round. For some reason, (I had one at the time, but I don’t remember what it was!) I decided to sew these without finishing them first.

They came out fine, and it was fun doing something a bit differently.

While I’m on a roll, I may make another of these in a different color. I’ve got three or four lengths of Ponte Roma to choose from, and I can always use another of these versatile dresses!

Sorry.

I just finished it a bit ago, and I really like it.  It’s quite unlike my usual wardrobe choices.  Sewing a sep–OOPS!  No details.

Trouble is I don’t have anything to wear with it so I’m going to make a knit dress–another plain McCall’s M6355.  I’ve extended the sleeves to full length and will probably lengthen the dress proper an inch or so.

This dress will be made from a deep aqua blue Ponte Roma.  It’s a lovely shade that I would have called green until I got out my 3-in-1 Color Tool and matched it up.  I got the yardage on sale at Sewing Studio Fabric Club last winter and I have a number of coordinates for it.

When I started to lay out the pattern I realized that I had not reviewed the dress.  A trip to PatternReview showed me that there were only two reviews, so I took the time to add mine.  This is one of those patterns that is timeless and (I think) anyone could wear.  Too bad the pattern envelope makes it appear so unflattering.

I’ll cut it in the morning and provided I have matching thread, should finish easily by Saturday.

Project: Linen trousers with Cowgirl pockets
Pattern: Modified Simplicity 3688
Size: 14 altered
Fabric: Linen/rayon blend

Before it gets too much further into December, I wanted to show you my last November project. You know, those modified Simplicity 3688 pants.

The finished leg width came in at about 19 inches.  It’s a very nice width for casual, loose trousers.

Now I’m no pattern maker, but here’s how I did it:

1. First I decided how much narrower I wanted the pants to be (4 inches) and divided by 4 to get 1 inch per seam.  You divide by four because the pants legs must be narrowed evenly on each side.
2. I marked the horizontal crotch line on both front and back pattern pieces–it was nicely marked on the back already.
3. I drew in the horizontal knee line (halfway from hem to crotch) on both the front and back.
4. At the knee and hem lines, I marked a dot 1 inch in on each side. (That’s the 1 inch I calculated in Step 1.)
5. I connected the dots from the knee to hem–the legs are straight from the knee down.
6. I drew a pleasing curve from the knee line up to the crotch line on inseam and outseam.
7. I walked the seams to be sure it would sew together.

I was pretty sure it would work out fine since I didn’t monkey with the grainline at all.

And it did.

Here they are on Brunhilde:

And the finished pocket. I must confess it’s a pain to actually use the pockets. But they *are* lovely:

The first (and only up to now) time I wore them was with the aqua Ottobre shirt and an old dark brown corduroy vest.

And from the back:

These are my highest brown (casual) shoes, and you can see that the hems are about 1/4″ from the floor.  Casual being my shoe of choice, I hope they don’t shrink.

Pretty much perfect in a whole lotta ways.

Project: ASG Vest Challenge
Pattern: As-yet undetermined
Size: ??
Fabric: Faux Fur

The fur I ordered for my vest arrived yesterday. It’s the Faux Fur Snow Lynx White/Brown from Fabric dot com and looks like this in their photo:

Nice, eh?  Of course I realized that it might not look just like that when it arrived on my doorstep.  Still, I had a vision and the colors were the closest I could find to what I wanted.

When the UPS guy dropped it off, I immediately tore into the box and I was speechless:

It’s gorgeous!  I even like the backing:

I plan to make a vest for my sewing group’s vest challenge next Saturday (10 days from now, not 3).  I confess I’m a little intimidated, but I’ve sewn with fake fur before and know how to work with it.

I’ve just never *worn* any.

I’ll jump right on it soon I’m sure.

When I get done petting it.

Project: Linen pants with Cowgirl pockets
Pattern: Modified Simplicity 3688
Size: 14 altered
Fabric: Linen/rayon blend

OK.  Go here and scroll way down to the green and blue vintage pants:

LuLu’s Vintage

Now imagine those with a snap or a button at the peak.

That’s a cowgirl pocket.

Not that I am a cowgirl, but vintage western wear attracts me more than any other kind of vintage clothing!  I just love to watch those old Gene Autry movies and see what the women are wearing.  Since I sew, I don’t have to wait for something like this to be available at my local Macy’s.

Not that it ever would be…

I can take the bits I like best and apply them to more modern things.  Like my new pants.

This is another pair of Simplicity 3688 pants with the legs narrowed to about 20 inches.  I wanted to keep my side zipper and add the cute pockets.

Needless to say, figuring that out kept the inner engineer busy for a while.  Think about it:  You have to topstitch the zipper, but you can’t catch the pocket opening or the pants in the topstitching.

Besides that, I had to work out the shape and apply it to the plain pants.

In the end, I decided that I would put on the pocket facing and baste the pocket to the pants/facing at the side seam, then add the zipper.  Since the pocket was only joined at the side seam, I simply flipped the pants/facing back and topstitched.  It worked like a charm.

So first I drew the pocket, cut it out in a cotton shirting and aligned it on the plain pants front–I didn’t cut the pocket shape on the pants before I began. Then I stitched the top of the pocket and trimmed away the pants front:

Then I clipped into the corners, trimmed, turned and pressed:

Topstitched and with the pocket placed underneath and basted along the sideseam:

Then I forgot to take more pictures until I had the zipper completed, but remember that I left the pocket free except for the sideseam until it was done.  You can see the zipper topstitching at about 3/4″ from the edge going underneath the pocket:

Here it is with the zipper open:

And here from the wrong side:

I’m hoping to at least get these to the try-on stage later today. I think I’m gonna love ‘em!

Back in the dim mists of time when the world was younger and I weighed 20 pounds less than I do now, I made myself a duct tape double.  Her name is Brunhilde, and I’m sure you’ve see her lovely silver skin in photos here before.

Unless you’ve made one of these yourself, you probably never thought about the fact that they have to be supported in some way.

I mean, you can’t just let her lie around on the floor.  And like the original Barbie, her legs don’t bend.  She won’t sit on the sofa waiting for you to call her, then stand upright whilst you fit your garment on her.

Brunhilde, being mounted on a cardboard upholstery fabric tube, doesn’t even have a leg to stand on!

For the first 7 and a half years of her existence, she was held erect by a weighted floor lamp base.  That worked great except when I spun her around (counter-clockwise–lefty loosey) too many times, the little screw that lamps use to hold their bits together came undone and she fell over.  Although I managed to put it back, she never was the same.

Imagine my delight the day I came downstairs to discover Mr H dismantling his rolling chair.  He was taking it apart and pitching the pieces out the door.  (Well, I wasn’t delighted until I realized that I could use the base for Brunhilde…)

Brunhilde’s cardboard tube fit on the rolling portion perfectly! I can’t twirl her around anymore, but rolling is quite a satisfactory substitute.

Mr H, needless to say, is enjoying his new, working chair almost as much.

Project: Classic shirt
Pattern: Ottobre Woman 5/2010 #5
Size: 38 with minor alterations
Fabric: Cocoa French Twill from SellFabric.com

When I tell my Mom what I am sewing, she always asks “What color is it?”  When I say “Brown” she always replies (in a very disgusted way) “BROWN?!?”

Hee hee…

Yes, it’s boring.

But you need boring to make the more exciting stuff pop.  So here it is, another Ottobre Woman Bethie blouse.

and the back.  I added an additional 1/4″ rounded back alteration, plus changing the button placket to be wider.  I forgot to lengthen the collar stand, so I’ve got a bit of easing going on at the back neck.

Eh.  Nobody will notice.

It’s brown.

I am rather pleased with the sleeve plackets, which I was almost able to do from memory this time.

This the two-piece placket that I got out of a Burda pattern–kinda like this tutorial.  One day I want to make a set of sleeves using two different fabrics like in the tute.

I’ve just finished sewing on the buttons while relaxing off some Thanksgiving leftovers. Funny how I used to want to sew buttons on by machine to get it done as quickly as possible.  Ever since I learned to do a thread shank, I really enjoy sewing them on by hand–

Even when there are 10 of them.

There’s no project in the table for the weekend yet.  I’ve just ordered some new fabrics and interfacing.  Pam at Fashion Sewing Supply sent me an email advertising a sale until Monday, and you can bet I hurried on over there and got some of that!  Plus, I’ve got a vest challenge to work on for the December meeting of my ASG group, so I had to order some fabric for that.

It’s fur.

I’ll see what Mom has to say about that.

I’ll tell her it’s brown.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I’m thankful for pecan pie.  Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie, to be exact.

Found here: http://www.southernliving.com/food/entertaining/10-pecan-pie-recipes-00417000075787/

Yum.

Project: 1940s Retro Pants
Pattern: Simplicity 3688
Size: 14 altered
Fabric: Navy cotton

These pants have been such fun from beginning to end!

I bought the fabric a Saturday or two ago when my sewing group went on a fabric-fondling mission along I-20.  This particular piece came from a place called OHCO, which has mostly home-dec stuff.  I believe it is a light upholstery cotton twill, but it said pants to me.

At first I thought it might be too heavy for this pattern because of the wide legs.  (The pattern envelope says that these legs are 24 inches.)  I was afraid my scrawny ankles would be like bell clappers in such an expanse.  

But no.  They don’t look odd at all.  I think it’s because the pant legs aren’t flared at the bottom, they’re big all the way up and down.

Mom, upon learning that I was making pants from the 40s, had some stories to tell about that.  I had thought that pants would be considered simply utilitarian at that time and only for work–mucking out the horse stalls, feeding chickens and such.

Apparently not.  She implied that they were a bit daring.

Oh.

I don’t think that there is a wearable that anyone would consider daring these days.  I mean, think about it, when I have to constantly avert my eyes from some sort of offensive cleavage, well, what’s left??

Anyway, she told me a cute story about a school outing that she went on where the girls were allowed to wear pants.  She, of course, didn’t own any but she had 5 brothers.  Her mom got a pair from her next oldest brother and allowed her to wear them on the trip.  She said her brother was furious!

I don’t know how these stack up against Uncle Tal’s pants, but Mom might like them. IMO, they are fantastic–comfy, cute.  I love them, even with the side zipper.  And I’ve never loved a side zipper before.

The length is long–about 1/4″ above the floor with my highest shoes. (I found that length in an on-line article that I would like to link you to, but I can’t find it now.)  I expect the cotton to shrink more, though it’s been laundered twice already.  Shrinkage will allow me to wear other shoes later.

I wore them first with my new red Ottobre blouse and an old PatternMaster fleece vest.  I should have a few other things to wear with them before long.

Next time I want pants, I have two more fabrics that I bought the same day.   One of the new fabrics was not wide enough for these big pant legs.  So, first I’ll change the pattern for narrower legs.  After that, I want to add a back yoke and some front pockets to make more of a vintage jeans look with the third piece.  It’ll be a week or three before I can get to that, though.

I think there are some holidays coming up.

For my next pants, I narrowed my pattern choices to those more-traditional loose trouser styles. Unlike previous efforts, I was concentrating on non-Palmer/Pletsch patterns. I wanted to apply what I had learned from my P/P pants to another designer’s pattern.

Simplicity 3688 was not even on my radar until I stumbled upon some posts about 1940s pants. A perusal of the reviews showed me some pretty nice trousers! Pants sewn from he reproduction pattern somehow avoided the super-long crotch giving a trim, attractive fit. (Are these things modernized or are they supposed to be historically accurate?)

One thing led to another and I found myself scrutinizing photos of both vintage and reproduction ladies trousers. I found some nice details to add to my own new pants. First was this cute little right front pocket:

I saw a vintage advertisement with that same pocket on it. Only one, on the right front. I think it’s charming! I made mine just large enough for a cell phone, though I imagine that I will have to remove the phone to sit down.

Another thing I’ve added is a wide lappped zipper on the left side. With my one-inch side seams, it was easy to do. This one is about 7/8″ wide and I really like it.

The only time I actually looked at Simplicity’s instructions was to see how they finished off the waistband at the zipper. They had you extend the end of the waistband from the back to button underneath the front waistband.

I don’t like that dangly end thing, so I added a zipper shield to anchor the end of the waistband.

The waistband is all that is lacking, so by the time you read this, the pants should be finished. I’ll get a photo and a few more details up ASAP.

Project: Ponte Gym Pants
Pattern: Frankenpattern
Size: 12 altered
Fabric: Grey Polyester Ponte

Friday found me in dire need of some stretchy knit pants to wear to physical therapy. Having learned the previous Friday that the pain in my hip was due to not only bursitis but also a tear in my glute, I had had an entire week to make some.

You know me.  If it only takes an hour, I’ll wait until an hour and a half before it is needed–just-in-time processing.  I learned that in college…

I hadn’t been totally idle.  I had purchased some of the noxious polyester Ponte from JoAnn’s the previous Saturday in preparation.  It had been prewashed and lay folded on the table floor while I sewed other fun.

My thought was to construct the pants from McCall’s 6249, which I had already used for pajamas and for gym shorts.  I wanted loose, straight-legged pants, rather than the more form-fitting yoga pants I had made last year.

Long about Wednesday I decided that I would like to sew with a No Side Seam (NSS) pattern.

So I made one.

To make the pattern, I put both pieces of the pajama pants pattern on the table–overlapped at the hip seamline and with the hems level–and traced around it.  Then I measured across the hip to be sure it would fit. I already knew the crotch and length would work fine.  (There are instructions for this kind of thing at Leena’s, if you’re interested–scroll down on the page:  http://www.leenas.com/English/draw_women_pant_styles.html)

The finished pants turned out great and reminded me of some Zumba pants that I had seen on a lady at Curves earlier in the year.  Those had a knit waistband–like on my last year’s yoga pants, and some cargo pockets on the legs.  The fabric was no better than this Ponte, and those details could be easily added.

Since I had only allowed myself an hour and a half to sew, I didn’t add any details… the therapist didn’t care one way or another.

Project: Twill slacks
Pattern: McCall’s 6361
Size: 12 altered
Fabric: Tobacco cotton twill

Cotton pants are awful to photograph!  I promise you that I pressed these before I put them on mere minutes before taking these pictures.

I think you can see that there are nice everyday pants and that the waistband comes up just to my waist.  What you can’t see above are the pockets.

These:

They are kinda skimpy.  When I put my hand in, it doesn’t go far-enough inward though it is long enough.

I like these, but I doubt I’ll use this pattern again.  I’m finding that I prefer my everyday pants to come up to my natural waistline with a straight waistband sitting there.

It’s just easier to wear and to fit.

Thank goodness fashion is also headed that way.  I won’t be quite as frumpy as at present…

or will I?

You don’t need to know what a harpy I can be sometimes…

Ahem.

So the style I wanted was armscye princess, button front, and tummy length, with front pockets and an even hemline. McCall’s 5186 was pretty close, though it lacked an even hemline and pockets.

Patch pockets are easy peasy. You only need figure out the size and placement. I simply cut a square of paper, held it up to the desired postion and looked in the mirror. I trimmed away at my paper until I was happy with the size, then added seam allowances and cut fabric.

The hem was a bit more complicated, but not much. First I had to know how long I wanted the finished vest to be.

I happen to know that my hip depth comes in at about 24 inches from the nape of my neck in back. (I say that like it’s magic or something…anyone who sews should know their preferred lengths.) I wanted the vest to end a couple of inches above my hip, but long enough to cover my cake storage facility.

That comes out to about 22 inches for the finished length. I checked the finished length on the back of the pattern envelope–I see that McCall’s is no longer providing finished garment measurements on new patterns (Boo! to you, McCall’s)–19 3/4″ for view C. I decided to use View C, the longest vest in the envelope, and add 2 inches in length.

I added to the bottom edge, since I wanted the vest to continue to flare out from the waist. I could not add at the shorten/lengthen lines because that might not allow the vest to flare out enough to cover my hips. I did my usual tissue fit at the end to be sure it was big enough at the hip without being ruffly at the bottom.

Since the vest did not have an even hemline, I had to straighten the other pieces.

To straighten and make all the pieces the same length, I located the waistline on the back piece and measured along the seamline to the bottom. With that measurement, I located (as best I could) the waistline on the other pieces and extended them to the new length. The front piece was longer and pointy, so I had to square it off and subtract length to make it match.

Even with all the measuring, my back pieces came out a little longer than the front. I corrected that when I sewed. If I had walked the pattern’s seamlines, I would probably have noticed before I cut the fabric.

A muslin would have been the smart way to go…

Project: Twill vest
Pattern: McCall’s 5186
Size: 12 altered
Fabric: Tobacco cotton twill

One of the things I enjoy wearing in the winter is a vest.  I have two zip-front vests, one in brown corduroy and the other in red fleece, that I wear constantly.  Since I had a fair amount of the tobacco cotton twill left from my recent jacket project, I decided to create a new vest from the remnant.

I didn’t have a vest pattern that suited me exactly, but I had one that was close enough. McCall’s M5186, now OOP, is your standard fitted button-front vest with armscye princess seams and fake pocket welts.  It was what I wanted, except that I wanted this one to be straight across the front hemline and longer in back with real pockets.

The inner-engineer had no problems with those changes, so it was a simple project.

Since that photo is dark, Brunhilde consented to model for you.  I didn’t bother to button it on her, as I don’t plan to button it when I wear it though with the state of my waistline these days I probably should!

I think you can see that it is quite fitted–I sweated that a little last night, but today it is very nice!  (Lesson:  Don’t fit at night!)  I also topstitched at the edge and 1/4″ away on all the outer edges.

My vest (but not the pattern’s vest) is lined to the edge with a mystery-fiber animal print.

I’ve got one more item cut from the tobacco twill.  It’s another pair of pants from McCall’s 6361. I don’t plan to wear any of the three pieces together, though I won’t rule it out at this point.  All should extend my wardrobe considerably as each coordinates in some way with almost everything I have. I even like the vest with the pink shirt Brunhilde is wearing!

Project: Blue corduroy jeans
Pattern: McCall’s 5894
Size: 12 altered
Fabric: Blue cotton corduroy

Here are some dirty-mirror shots of my new jeans. I’ve worn them all day and love them! They are a bit long, so I’ve got them turned under while I wait to see if they’ll shrink any.

The only real change from the pattern is the waistband and the topstitching. The waistband is a contour band from another pattern and the topstitching is copied from Mr H’s RTW jeans.

There will be more of these.

There are times for puzzling out cowl necklines on dresses, and there are times for just cranking out the TNTs.

This is the time for cranking!

I had mentioned that I had cut some things over the weekend, and two were pants.  One is another pair of jeans from McCall’s 5894 in blue corduroy.  This blue (the spots are chalk marks for the pocket placement):

I bought this and the shirt fabric underneath, from a new-to-me fabric seller,  sellfabric.com.  I discovered the site while (natch) reading a blog.  The fabric they have is basic stuff, but very nice basic stuff.

The blue is Blue Jean Bedford Corduroy.  I washed it twice despite the site pronouncing it pre-shrunk.  It shrank a tiny bit the first time, so I washed it again.  At that point I felt it should be good to go, so I cut!

At this point the jeans are nearly done.  I’ve only got to finish the waistband and I’ll have more jeans to wear.  Even though I’m counting the pattern as TNT now, I still did the pin fitting to make sure I hadn’t messed up when I raised the front an additional 5/8ths inch.

Just the way I want ‘em. They are tight across the front hip, but not through the crotch, which is the perfect reason to make your own jeans.

I could never have gotten this fit without Palmer-Pletsch’s tissue fit and fit-as-you-sew method.   My success with it took off once I finally took the time to carefully work through it, rather than measuring and cherry-picking the tips that I thought I needed.

The key for me was lowering the back crotch, taking out the flat back tucks all the way down the leg and then adding width to the outseam at hip level.  I still have some extra fabric in back between knee and tush, which I believe I could completely eliminate if I wished.  After taking some out for my lavender and periwinkle versions of this pattern, I put it back for these.

Those two pairs just aren’t as comfortable as my looser-in-back denim jeans.  Perhaps if I was working with a stretch fabric, I might try.  Since I despise stretch wovens, I doubt I’ll be going down that road.

Besides that, I tried on a closely-fitted pair of pants at Macy’s a few weeks ago.  They were the kind that have the s*xy seams over the hip and down the legs, and really did hug my tush.  If I needed any reminder why a woman of a certain age with bird legs shouldn’t wear that style pants, one backward glance in the three-way mirror told me in no uncertain terms!

I almost fell down in my haste to snatch those things off!

Ahem.

My own copy of Vogue 1250 had been resting in a project box along with a likely-looking knit print while I did other things.  (Frankly I was worried that the dress would get stuck on my wedding cake and not hang smoothly.  And, as I eschew shapewear, there would be no help for it.)

Musing over the pattern brought me to the realization that I already had a knit dress pattern that fit the way I like–that is, fitted with a natural shoulder line–with usable sleeves.  That would be McCall’s 6355, which I’ve made twice this year.  The only thing that pattern lacks is a suitable cowl neckline.

All weekend I worked on cutting other garments–which I’ll tell you about another day, allowing the idea of adding a cowl neckline to my TNT dress pattern to percolate in the back of my mind.

I could simply add a large floppy turtleneck-style cowl to my existing dress.  That would be easy and would give me some coverage on the back of my neck, unlike Vogue 1250. But it occurred to me that there was another pattern with a cowl neckline that I admired.  That one–The Sewing Workshop’s new Stella & Luna Tops–has an inset cowl.

I’ve never actually sewn (or seen) an inset cowl, but I couldn’t let that stop me now could I?

Aided by some drafting books, I traced my TNT, adding the collar in back and traced off the inset shape I wanted to use:

To get a big floppy cowl for the inset area, I laid the inset piece on a folded piece of tracing paper and simply pulled the top edge outward a few inches leaving the bottom in the same place.  Then I trimmed off the top of the resulting piece so that I could cut it on the fold.

I muslined it in some of that floppy rayon lycra that everyone has and no one likes. I also tried out the sleeve while I was at it.  No surprise that the fabric was totally inappropriate for this pattern, which seems to work better with a more stable knit.

It’s fine for a first attempt, but I don’t like the collar seams at the sides of the neckline. Plus the back facing is weird,  and it’s too high in front.

At this point I’m rethinking the inset–it really doesn’t hold much appeal now that I’ve seen (and sewn) it.  I may go back to the big floppy turtleneck-style cowl and call it a day. Since I’m not sure there are any more unloved knits in my stash, I want at least a semi-pleasing garment out of my next try.

While there *have* been months when I’ve completed more items, those items have not always been workhorses like these.  There’s not a trendy piece among them–they are all classics and should be foundations of my wardrobe for a long time.

The coat got its inaugural trip out of the house yesterday and the rest have each been worn at least once already.  The jacket has been worn twice.  Though I was concerned that I wouldn’t find it comfortable to wear during my daily activities, it doesn’t feel restrictive in the least.

	1. Safari style jacket sewn from McCall’s M5396
	2 & 3. Classic women’s shirts sewn from Ottobre Woman 5/2010, #5 “Bethie” blouse/
	4. Twill Pants sewn from McCall’s M6361
	5. Light Coat sewn from Ottobre Woman 2/2008 #15

Project: Ms Marple Coat
Pattern: Ottobre Woman, 2/2008 #15
Size: 40
Fabric: Yarn-dyed cotton

In the interest of producing more interesting photos, I took the tripod outdoors in the gloom a while ago. I don’t think they’re any more interesting, and they don’t show the details of the garments to any great advantage. I’m sure that’s due to my deficiency of photography skills and photogenic qualities… Other people certainly produce nice photos outdoors.  

In any case, the coat turned out great and I love it!

In this photo, you can see the beginnings of a look of horror as I observe a squirrel attempting to enter our attic where he will promptly keel over dead and stink up my sewing room.  I believe you can also make out the tiny bust dart I added–it’s only 1/2″ and I may have been able to ease it in.  Since I am shaped like a Christmas package, however, I generally need for the excess to be folded out.

OK.  Perhaps I should explain that Christmas package remark in relation to the added bust dart.  I am not busty.  I am built like a hot dog.  Where most people are wide from side to side, I am narrow.  My circumferences are about the same as everyone else, but I am thicker front to back.  In most places it’s termed “cylindrical torso”.  The dart helps the fabric conform to my shape and has to be folded like paper around a box.

In the next outdoor photo, you can observe the exhilarating lining, which brings sunshine to a cloudy day.   (Sorry.  I get sillier as the day wears on.  Makes you wonder why the Mr hasn’t learned to say “Hush!”)  I bagged it following the instructions in Jackets for Real People.

Back indoors, I snapped a close-up of the plain buttons that came from JoAnn’s yesterday:

My buttonholer naturally hit a snafu on the second from the top and refused to make the last two.  I had to turn the machine OFF and re-memorize the buttonhole to get it going again.  I think the Bernina needs to go see the tech in Atlanta.

The coat is somewhat drop-shouldered, and has deep armholes so it fits well over sweaters and such.  It also has a very wide collar and a big neck opening.  You can see that in the Ottobre photos, too.  That makes it nice to wear with a scarf.  There is a shaped center back seam and topstitching along most seams.

I’m not crazy about the cuffs, but the color made the coat seem a little drab.  I felt it needed details to keep it a tiny bit more interesting.  One day I’ll lengthen the sleeves a bit try it without those.

Louise Cutting’s Plain & Simple Coat, seen while lurking at Stitcher’s Guild inspired me to make this coat.  Fortunately I remembered seeing this somewhat-similar coat in Ottobre and didn’t have to shell out money for another pattern.  There is one review of the Ottobre coat at PatternReview, but you can’t tell much about it and the blog link is broken.  I managed to locate the blog entry, in case you want to see that…

That coat makes me want another of these in green!

Well, right now Mr H’s live-in amateur therapist and resident sewing enthusiast needs new pants, light jackets, and long sleeved shirts.

You’re no doubt surprised that I don’t require silk cocktail gowns with couture handwork, and woolen jackets with silk organza underlining.  There’s not even a Halloween costume to enliven my little world of blog.

My wardrobe is not exciting.  Due to my (still unidentified) hip issue, I’m not even going to the gym at present.  I do try to exhibit some sense of style when I dress, but the only people who actually see me are Mr H,  his  ”real” therapists, and grocery store clerks who are more likely to notice my handmade grocery bags.

I’m sure they all appreciate my sartorial efforts, despite the lack of gushing comment.  

Like my contemporaries, I am becoming an old lady–one working hard to avoid invisibility without becoming outrageous in purple satin.  Having a handicapped husband who can’t take me anywhere or treat me to any excitement makes it more difficult.

I’m learning that it is very important to love and appreciate myself and my own special skills–especially when others can’t or don’t express those things.

Sewing is a life skill that I can be proud of and enjoy practicing whether it nets corduroy pants or ballgowns.

This week, I expect it will give me some corduroy pants.

A plain coat like this should be a real workhorse in my wardrobe.  I’ve acquired a number of colorful scarves this season, and I know I can dress it up with some of those.  When I get to town this week, I’ll pick up some buttons.  I’ll try to find something traditional that won’t fight with colorful accessories.

Tonight I’m cleaning up the mess and hope to vacuum tomorrow.  I  really like to start the next project with a clean floor!

Project: Ms Marple Coat
Pattern: Ottobre Woman, 2/2008 #15
Size: 40
Fabric: Yarn-dyed cotton

My coat is coming along marvelously! Tonight I’m working on the lining and tomorrow should see it finished.  The cotton fabric is nice to work with, though I can’t say the same for the lining–it’s tries to crawl away even as I’m sewing it.

The pockets are quite fun.  On paper they are just patch pockets with rounded bottoms.  When you sew them you discover the little drawstring ties that cinch them up to fit the placement lines on the coat.

(Click either to go to Flickr and see them bigger.)

From a distance the coat looks plain gray and I’m sewing with the same steel gray thread that I used for my last pants.  It should go with everything I own.

It will be a nice display for some of my vintages brooches, I’m thinking.

Today I finished  the cutting–shell, lining, interfacing and all!

Here are the fabrics:

To give you an idea of scale, the plaid squares are about 1/4″ and the lining repeat is about 15 inches.  I bought the lining at Gail K’s in Atlanta last December, expecting to use it line another coat I’ve got in the back of my mind.

The fabric, having a mind of its own,  wanted instead to line this one.  I think it was the aqua color the sold me.  It picks up something in the plaid.

When I’m done with this post, I think I’ll get out the ironing press and get started fusing  the interfacing.  That will leave me ready to sew tomorrow.

Provided I can quit playing Bingo on Facebook… :rolleyes:

Yeah, well, I was gonna cook it before I served it…sigh…

Funny how a man whose speech is limited to a few words (and who, incidentally, cannot cook, or drive himself to Burger King)  can let me know in no uncertain terms that while he will eat it if that’s what I really want, he’d rather I spent some quality time over a hot stove prior to serving dinner.

So sweetheart that I am, I put some ham, candied sweet potatoes, stewed squash and cake on the table as fast as I could get it together.  He actually acted surprised (and pleased) when he came to the table.  (He knows how to keep himself out of trouble, I think.)

Finally I’m ready to get the fun stuff, and I believe I’ve earned my sewing time tonight!

What’ll it be this time?  Outerwear.  Lightweight outerwear–the kind you need in Georgia in the fall.  I’ve decided on the Ottobre Woman Ms Marple coat from the 2/2008 issue, #15.  I’ve got the pattern traced and plan to use a heavy plaid cotton that I bought last winter.  There are a couple of lining choices in the stash so I’ll have to let you know which one I decide to use.

If I get crackin, I just might get it all cut before I turn into a pumpkin tonight.

Project: Misses Pants
Pattern: McCall’s 6361
Size: 12 with alterations
Fabric: Mystery twill

There are no photos. The best image produced by my photo session this morning was this one:

We’ll just call it photographic evidence of completed pants and be done with that.  I’m wearing them now, and they are fine if a trifle over-fitted.  That was as-intended–I expect to rid myself of the wedding cake fluff over the next few weeks.

If I don’t, well… I’ll just make bigger pants next time.

This was a remnant of indeterminate fiber content that I had on my shelf.  It is largely polyester, I’m sure, as it doesn’t give or stretch in the slightest.  I believe it came from the “FREE” table at some ASG function or other.

When I picked up the cut waistband facing,  I discovered a missing triangle.  There wasn’t enough fabric to cut another and I didn’t want to use contrast.  So following the example of another blogger (who? naturally I cannot remember), I turned it into a design opportunity:

In the end I added some gold thread and used it to embroider the pattern number.  Fun!

I expect you’ll be seeing this pattern again, made up in something photographable.

Not even for you.

Sorry.

Last week I found myself in a sporting goods store and remembered that I was always needing just a few more pattern weights, so I picked up a large carton of BBs to make some more.  There was a likely-looking strip of the red fabric left, so I used it.

Red pattern weights will make me happy.

I prefer the tube weights to the square ones, so that is what I made.  These came out a little fatter than the originals, but I like them a lot.  Those instructions may be found here, if you’re interested.

After that, I tissue fit and cut the new test pants, McCall’s 6361.  Due to mass quantities of wedding cake,  I had to add an extra strip of fit insurance from waist to thigh.  I hope I’ll be able to eliminate that when sewing.

Today should show me some sewing time.  I’ve got my fingers crossed.

Project: Classic shirts
Pattern: Ottobre Woman 5/2010 #5
Size: 38 with minor alterations
Fabric: JoAnn’s Lisette cotton sateen print, and aqua cotton

Shirts go fast, especially the second one.  This aqua cotton had been resting in a project box, expecting to become a summer blouse when my eye fell on it last week.  I cut it just after the red, fusing interfacing on both when I heated up the ironing press.

The red shirt took two days–due largely to my having to switch thread for topstitching and take time to figure out the button bands and sleeve plackets.  This aqua shirt took an afternoon–finished but for the buttons about 30 minutes ago.

I sewed the buttons on the red one during Mr H’s speech therapy session yesterday, and I’ll get to the other buttons this weekend.  Since this will be my last post this week, I thought I’d go ahead and count both of them and not bore you with a repeat next week.

This is a very nice shirt pattern.  It’s loose enough to be comfortable, but not sloppy.  The sleeves went in with no easing problems–thank you, Ottobre!

I’ll try to put up a proper review with modeled photos next week, but I’ll say at this point that the only thing unusual is the button bands, and they are the same as LisaB found over at Fashion Incubator though Ottobre makes no distinction between the buttonhole band and the button band.

(I did take some photos when I sewed the second one, and I’ll try to make a little explanation of it when I do the review.)

The only other caution about the pattern is that I found the sleeves to be a tiny bit short. (Generally I don’t change sleeve length.)   I added 1/2″ to the length of these, which made them just right.

Though I’m not nearly flush with new shirts yet, I hope to move on to some pants next week.  I’ve got my eye on some cotton pants from from McCall’s recent Palmer-Pletsch offering, 6361.

Have a good weekend!