Wooly Jacket, Part 2

I knew I had more pictures of this jacket. I finally found them in a different folder on my computer. I realized I like this jacket with a longer shirt, as shown here. I wore it the other day with one that just came to the top of my jeans and didn't like the look quite so much. Funny how proportions change the look of something so much.

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.

Wooly Jacket

Way back when, I decided I wanted to use this pattern - Cynthia Rowley-Simplicity 2443 - to make a little jacket. I wasn't in love with it as designed, and you can see my inspiration on my mood board. I changed a few things around and this was the final result:

I used a poly/wool/silk blend that I got on sale at JoAnn and fully lined it in a cotton jacquard from Denver Fabrics. I didn't want to spend much on the fabric because I had no idea how it would turn out. I don't know if I followed the procedure correctly but I semi-bagged the lining (I think?), referencing this Threads article.

I realized this is the first thing I've made that I really like. I'll probably add buttons at some point (the thought of adding the buttonholes is stopping me), but there aren't any significant changes that it needs. The construction could be better, but that comes with practice.

Plain sleeves

Lessons and techniques:

• Restyling a pattern: I basically left off all the extras - no pockets, no tabs, no ribbons, no d-rings. That plus the sleeve changes really made it look different.
• Drafting/revising sleeves: I based them off a different pattern, because I didn't want them to be quite so puffy, a little longer, and... see the next point.
• Working with the fabric: The sleeves as drafted wouldn't have worked well with this fabric especially with the lining. The outer fabric is pretty loosely woven (and ravels), so I added a lining with a lot of body to give it some structure.
• Adding a lining: I used the included facings and then used the body pattern pieces for the rest of the lining. I don't know when/if I was supposed to convert the front darts to gathers or anything like that but I pretty much just constructed a second jacket and stuck it inside out inside of the first one.
• Follow directions: I messed up on attaching the sleeve lining to the outer sleeves and ended up just slip stitching them together at the sleeve hems. I would have caught this if I did everything in the order I was supposed to.

All in all, though, I like this. It fits me better than the other things I've made and I don't have plans to alter it. (My Spring/Summer Challenge is half alterations and UFO's.) I thought I had a picture of me wearing it but it looks like I deleted all of them... they were very blurry. I'll update if I remember to take one. UPDATE: Found them! More photos here.

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...)