SSPC 2012: Clovers Part A (aka Clover Shorts)

This is just a quick post, I'll give more details when I finally make the pants (hopefully starting them tomorrow evening!) These are the Colette Clovers, modified to have a front zip fly and shortened - I think I gave them a 4" inseam? They also have cuffs, sewn separately and attached so the shorts are permanently cuffed.

Fabric: Navy blue fine line twill, 100% cotton, from Fashion Fabrics Club. I was quite happy with this fabric, I bought it to make these as a hopefully wearable pair but knowing they could possibly be an unwearable draft. They have several different fabrics labeled as "fine line twill," so I'm sure others are different, but this was a lightweight, smooth cotton fabric. It was nice to sew with, and when I've worn the shorts, they haven't gotten wrinkly and they're comfortable and cool (temperature-wise).

(Side note: I did the zipper so poorly that they don't stay zipped up on their own and require a safety pin. Long shirts are also necessary.)

SSPC 2012: Green Skirt (Dress Refashion)

Last summer, I made a dress from the Cynthia Rowley Simplicity 2443 pattern - the same pattern I made my jacket from. It's a bit of a tricky pattern with the curves in the bodice, especially in a knit, but if you take your time and sew carefully it'll be fine. I wore this dress a few times, but it just wasn't working for me. The issues were all to do with my sewing and fabric choice, not the pattern itself. I'd love to make this again, possibly with a contrasting band around the neckline and waist like so:

But anyways, here's the version I made (as seen at the Coliseum in Rome):

I used a striped jersey knit for the top and an ITY knit for the waistband and skirt. I eliminated the neck bands because I didn't like how they'd look in a stripe. The first issue I had was that I apparently attached the skirt crooked. I think I cut the bodice with the stripes pretty straight, but when I tried it all on, the skirt was clearly veering lower on one side - which was made even more obvious by the way it didn't parallel the stripe above it. I slipstitched the waistband to be a little more even (because unpicking that knit was way beyond what I was willing to do), and it was wearable. But the more I wore it, the more the heavy skirt pulled at that stitching. It also just pulled at the bodice - ITY seems fairly heavy for a knit, especially when paired with a much lighter jersey. Which reminds me, I also had to line the bodice because it was kind of see-through, but I didn't have enough of the white jersey I was using (leftover from something else) to do it correctly.

So I ended up just cutting off the bodice, cutting off the white band at the bottom, re-hemming it, attaching some elastic to the waist, and calling it a new skirt. Voila:

I took this picture as I was heading off to work. so it's over exposed and I only took one shot. Oh well. I really like the color of this skirt, but I don't have enough things to wear with it. I think some back-to-school shopping will be in order soon (although I'm not going back to school...). The nice thing about a dress is that you don't have to figure out which shirt to wear with it!

SSPC 2012: Status Update

Officially, the Spring/Summer Palette Challenge 2012 has ended, but I'm setting my personal deadline through the end of summer. I guess that's less of a challenge and more of a seasonal plan, isn't it? I have, however, completed 6 of my garments (new & fixed/altered). I'm partially done with two of the other garments also, but "almost" doesn't count here. A review:

Pastille dress: New garment - technically started before the challenge, but completed as part of it
Blue roses skirt: New garment - started during last fall's challenge, but sat around waiting to be finished until this challenge. It's a completely hand-stitched Alabama Chanin pattern.
Green skirt: This used to be a dress, but wasn't thrilled with it and chopped off the top to make a skirt
Voile dress: This was altered to fit better and be more comfortable
PJ pants: These were a 2-for-1 as part of Karen's Pyjama Party as well as this challenge
Grey Clovers: I made these earlier this year in a class, but I hadn't completely finished them (umm, there may have been areas that were just basted, not fully stitched...) - until now

Still to be done:

Bird print shirt: This one is almost done. Well, in some ways it IS done - I was all ready to wear it and everything when I realized the blue chalk lines on the v-neck are still completely visible and I can't seem to remove them. Plus, the point of the V has started to tear, probably not helped by my efforts to remove the chalk. I need to figure out how to fix it as it's completed construction-wise but not wearable.
Blue Clovers: This seems like it would be simple as I've made this pattern already, but I want to tweak it a bit more as I'm not thrilled with the adjustments on the first pair. I'm trying to make a wearable muslin shorts-version to test my next set of adjustments, so it's kind of a double project. The shorts are almost done. So close.
Chambray Traveler dress: I haven't even pulled this out of the closet where it's been sitting in shame (it's way too big.) I wasn't excited about this one, but I've been thinking about it more and I'm ready to be able to wear it. It requires quite a bit of unpicking stitches, though (and I used French seams for a lot of it - extra unpicking).
Navy blue interlock shirt: The fabric didn't come in for this one, so I ended up switching the plan to a: Button-back shirt. I bought a black and white linen/cotton blend for this, and I'm hoping I can use a button-front shirt pattern I have to make a button-back shirt instead... not 100% sure it will work the way I want it to.

So numbers-wise, I'm more than half done. Amount-of-work-wise I'm less than halfway. I feel like I've made good progress. I've been wearing things I made, which is fun. I made quite a bit of sewing time early in the challenge, but I just can't set aside that much time lately. I'm going to keep working on this though, and I'd like to get at least the bird shirt and Clovers done in the next month; they're the two on my list I'd most like done to wear during the summer. And one more picture of them all together, because it feels good to see all these things that I've made:

SSPC 2012: Pastille Dress - DONE!

My sister-in-law gave me The Colette Sewing Handbook for Christmas, and I highly recommend it. There are reviews about it all over the place, so check those out if you want more info. It's full of great tips and very clear writing, plus it includes five patterns. I decided to start with the Pastille dress, which is a fitted cap-sleeved dress with three horizontal tucks near the hem. I used a pink cotton with a red and white feedsack style print that I bought from a local fabric store.

Why, yes, I *do* feel awkward taking pictures of myself!

I haven't done a whole lot of pattern adjusting before, but I needed to adjust this one. I liked all the cutting, moving, adjusting, and most of all - getting results. I tissue fit to figure out how much to take out for the SBA I needed, and I made the muslin with those changes. Then I just sewed the whole thing with 1" seam allowances so I could let out anywhere I needed to. I did not test the skirt at all. I realized at the end that the waistline needs to be adjusted a little bit, so I may test it all in the future.

The main adjustments I made were the SBA, taking some length out, especially in the back bodice (although it still needs quite a bit more taken out), and straightening the skirt a little. It had quite a pronounced outward curve around the hips.

The other change I made was to redo the sleeves. I sewed them up as drafted, but ended up carving a good slice out of the outer edge to make them shorter and change the curve a little. They just weren't fitting correctly over my shoulders. I will most likely change them more significantly if/when I make this pattern again.

I made my first lapped zipper on this dress! This dress was designed with a centered zipper already, so I made a centered back lapped zip. I could (and probably will) move it to the side next time. I feel like it's kind of conspicuous right there, and I certainly need more practice with those. I must have had it misaligned, because I have a weird fold/crease at the bottom and I managed to make the top edges not line up at all. I did not want to redo it, so I'm living with it.

That zipper is one of the reasons (excess back length being the other main one) why I like this dress much better with a cardigan.

I will probably wear it without one also, because I want to be able to wear it during the summer.

Besides the general awkwardness, I was using a different camera and not sure of its timing...

And in other news, my Alabama Chanin skirt is *THIS* close to being done! I just need to attach the waistband elastic, which I'm going to do tonight (probably while watching Once Upon a Time). I also have my 80's pattern t-shirt all cut out, and I'm re-fitting my Clovers as shorts - hopefully a wearable muslin. I ordered a few things from Fashion Fabrics Club, and lo and behold they didn't send me any thread, including the Woolly Nylon I was hoping to use on my knits, or the blue knit for the McCall's shirt. So I need to see what else I can find now. But I'm still making progess!

SSPC 2012: Pomegranate Voile Dress and Update

I've completed 3 of my Spring/Summer Palette Challenge items so far; I've already posted about the PJ pants, I finished my Pastille dress this weekend (details to come), and I finally fixed my voile dress.

I made this dress last summer in anticipation of our trip to Europe. I used McCall's 5388, a shirt pattern, and just added length (using view D without sleeves) straight down to make it into a shift-style dress. I usually wear it belted to give it some shape, but I wore it yesterday loose and it was so comfortable. Now that it fits better, I don't mind the looser look.

I made a different view of this shirt WAY back when I just started sewing. I'm still a relative newbie, but I think that was actually my first garment. It was a mess; it's a very wide style and I used a quilting cotton that was NOT a good fabric to use, so I think I wore it once or twice and then stuck it in my use-this-for-fabric pile (do you save old clothes for their fabric? I don't always, but depending on the item I do). When I made this version, I chose an Anna Maria Horner voile (Diamond Mind in pomegrante), which was a much better choice.

I still think there might be too much ease in this pattern, but like I said, it's comfortable. The main problem I had with both versions was that the armholes were just TOO TIGHT. I lengthened the straps on both of them, but not enough. Besides, the neckline was hitting at the right place; the problem was the the bottom of the armscye was too shallow. So the other night I unpicked the bias binding, chopped a good inch out of the deepest part (and kind of eyeballed rounding it up so I still had a round-ish armhole), and sewed lace hem tape around the new and improved edges. I didn't feel like finding my scraps of voile, figuring out if I had enough for new binding, and recutting it all. It worked out fine. And best of all, my dress now fits around the top. It doesn't pull and bunch up under my arms. It's a weird feeling to have such a loose garment feel so tight.

OLD version - not the greatest pics but all I could find

NEW version, also not the greatest pic but at least you can see the dress

I'm glad to be making progress! A bunch of my fabric just got shipped yesterday (from Fashion Fabrics Club, it took a full week to even leave their warehouse - here's hoping everything arrives correctly), and I have the fabric for my 80's tshirt, from Girl Charlee - which was very quick with the shipping and the fabric looks just like I thought it would:

It's super soft and a little sheer so I'll have to layer but I quite like it.

Pyjama Party!

Pyjama Party time - I got my PJ's done! (About an hour ago...) They aren't the best thing I've ever made but hey, they're pyjamas. They're comfy and have pretty flowers on them, so the pretty much meet my requirements. Also, pink and blue fit right into my Spring/Summer Palette, not on purpose - 1st item for the Challenge done! And I've been working on bits and pieces of the other items and have fabric in the mail (well, hopefully in the mail...). So yay for sewing!

I didn't use a pattern per se, I just traced an old pair (if you look closely you can see the holes in those purple PJ pants).

I just laid them on top of the new fabric - a blue flannel with pink flowers, 1-1/2 yds, on sale for $2.50/yd or something like that - and added seam allowances with a hem gauge. I just marked every 4 inches or so down the length of the legs, and closer around the curves. Note to self (or anyone doing this): take out the elastic before you trace. It's very hard to get a big enough waist otherwise and you may have to hack it to make them wearable.... um... yeah. You may notice a pink gingham inset on my final pair. Way too small at first. Then I kind of twisted and did weird things when folding the waistband over for the elastic, but whatever. It works.

Final product:

Yay for soft comfy PJ's! I want to make another pair in a cooler cotton - I love flannel but with the weather heating up I don't see them getting much wear until fall. Now I'm off to check out the other pyjamas!

Spring & Summer Palette Challenge 2012

It's time for Colette's Spring/Summer Palette Challenge 2012! I may still be updating things from the Fall Challenge, but that's cool, right?

Mood boards are funny things. I start making one and then tend to gather together the things I'll actually use and/or make instead of inspirational items. I love seeing everyone's mood boards (Caitlin's is especially pretty and Sarai's is so fresh and summery) and I love gathering ideas and inspiration (Pinterest, anyone?). But I like to have a visual plan and that's what I always end up making. I'm leaning towards blues, coral pink, and red colorwise, and trying to build in some items I need in my everyday wardrobe. Here's what I'll be working on:

I'm planning on five "full" items and five "fix it or finish it" items (and may need to extend the "8 weeks" idea):

1. Pastille dress in coral-y pink feedsack print - Colette Patterns
2. Bright blue Clovers - Colette Patterns
3. Cream/red bird print t-shirt - Simplicity 5133
4. Navy blue shirt - McCall's 6031
5. PJ pants - self-drafted - part of the Did You Make That Pyjama Party!

6. Grey Clovers - Colette Patterns
7. Pomegranate voile dress - McCall's 5388
8. Blue roses skirt - Alabama Chanin
9. Chambray dress - Lisette Traveler - Simplicity 2246
10. Skirt from dress fail (was Simplicity 2443)

I'll share some details on these later. I still have projects from the Fall Challenge to share! (Actually, that last skirt IS from the Fall Challenge...)