Brown, Brown, Brown

In a moment of desperation I bought some brown knit at Jo-Ann's to make a simple skirt and pair of pants. They were supposed to be basics for a brown column of clothes. In my desperation I failed to realize the fabric was too thin to be used successfully for winter clothes. Thank goodness the fabric was on sale or I would feel even worse.

I used a Loes Hinse skirt pattern, #5002. I made the short version without the ruffle at the hem. I wanted a plain simple straight skirt. And that's what I got. I think I need to taper it a bit at the hem to create a more pleasing line.

The pants were from Vogue 2448. This pattern is out of print. It is a Vogue Wardrobe pattern that includes a dress, top, pants, skirt, coat & cape. The dress & top are for moderate stretch knits only. The coat & cape call for double sided fleece or similar fabric. I bought this pattern because it has that long, drapey look. I never used it till now. Even though I'm not long & lean like the model, I am learning to adapt that look to my body. Yeah!

So I haven't worn the pants yet. I still have some handwork to do on them. But I think the will look good. The problem is that the fabric is too thin for winter, as I said earlier. But I can put tights under them and I think they'll be o.k.

Pictures coming soon.

Blue Rayon Slacks, Finally

Woo-hoo! The blue rayon slacks are finished! I really mean to finish them a couple of weeks ago, but life got ugly and today was the first day I have sewed in about a month. 

It is so hard to photograph navy blue. Consequently no details are visible. I just wanted to show that they are finished! I'm really happy with the fit. And so I'm really glad I took the time to rescue this almost-a-wadder project. 

Next project is to finish a Creative Sweatshirt Jacket that needs a cuff and a collar to be wearable. 

Next Up

My next sewing project is already in process. Like the Dahlia Cardi this project was started last year. It is a pair of blue rayon dress slacks. I'm using Simplicity pattern 2700.
This is an Amazing Fit Collection pattern. I really like the slacks and have actually used this pattern a couple of times. Here's the back story:

Having used the pattern a couple of times and liking the fit, I cut the slacks out of this gorgeous blue rayon I found at a local fabric store, Make It Sew. I stitched the slacks together and tried them on for the first time. Uh oh! They were too big! I took in both side seams and the back seam an additional 5/8" on each seam. I tried them on again and they were still too big. As I recall I was doing this one night. (Operative word there is night.) I was discouraged and wadded them up and threw them in a tub with a bunch of other fabric in it. Over the last several months I've felt guilty that I spent so much on the fabric and never finished the slacks. I dug them out and worked out a plan to salvage them.

I think what happened to the fit is that between the last time I made something from the pattern and these slacks, I lost weight and having been working out and running very consistently. I've lost about 20 pounds, really toned up and gone down 2 pattern sizes. Simply continuing to take the seams in won't work here. There is just too big a difference in size. So I've taken the slacks apart except for the zipper. This means that the pockets are still attached at the front, but I have them loose at the side seams. I think I can recut the pockets as they are now, then go on from there. Here is how the project looks tonight. Just a bunch of fabric right now.

It's Been a While

Until this week, I had not sewn 1 stitch in 2012. Nope, not a one. I don't think I even mended anything. My sewing mojo was in serious hiding. That is until I worked at the Original Quilt and Sewing Expo in Chicago last week. (OK, technically it is held in Schaumburg but to me anything in the Chicago metro area is Chicago.) I came home re-energized about sewing and I have committed to sewing a minimum of 10 min. per day 6 days a week. So far I've sewn more than the 10 mins. every day but 1. Pretty good so far, if I do say so myself.

So what have I accomplished? I have quite a few UFO's and planned garments so I started there. I finished a Thia T I cut out last summer and a Margherita tank top. Both of these tops were cut from the leftover fabric I used to make the Vogue 1250 I wore last August to my son's wedding rehearsal dinner. It is a gorgeous dark denimy color knit. I love the fabric! It is very close to what Vogue Fabrics is selling as Sophia. I'll try and find a picture of the dress to post. Both tops were quick and easy to finish. The Thia T is short-sleeved and the sleeve openings are a teensy bit tight. I don't know if it is the twin needle hem drawing it up, but I think I will make it a bigger next time. I love this pattern and consider it to be a TNT.

I also finished sewing a Christmas apron I had planned to wear on Christmas Day (2011). Before I finished it I reached the point of collapse. Yep, I just couldn't sew another stitch. It took me less than hour to finish it up this week. Now I have to pack it away until this Christmas.

This week I plan to finish a Creative Sweatshirt Jacket I've been working on since this time last year. I also have a pair of beautiful blue rayon pants I need to finish.

Ten minutes a day, ten minutes a day, ten minutes a day.

Food For Thought

I really enjoy Grandma's Sewing Cabinet, a podcast and blog. I've been listening to the podcast since it's beginning. Dr. Julie-Ann Fann, the owner, has an educational background, and started out just talking about her sewing. However, like many podcasts, it has evolved over time. Recently Dr. Julie-Ann returned to school to study sewing; not design, but rather custom clothing. She has regaled us with stories of her classes and has generously shared lots of great information. (Grandma's Sewing Cabinet gets its name from the cabinet that Dr. Julie-Ann uses as her sewing headquarters. The cabinet was made by her grandfather for her grandmother. Dr. Julie-Ann is lucky enough to have inherited it.)

Her most recent blog post and podcast is titled Plan Your Sewing Like A Designer. Looking at the blogpost I saw all these really fancy pictures of her "look book" for a wardrobe class project. My initial thoughts were about how much time it took to make these illustrated pages. "I'd rather spend that time actually sewing" was another arrogant thought that crossed my mind. And then I listened to the podcast. In her charming manner, Dr. Julie-Ann explained the process she went through to create this "look book". And I humbly admit it is a very worthwhile process.

I am not one of those sewers that buys fabric willy-nilly, paying no attention to color or pattern. I try very hard to sew items that go together and blend in and work with other items in my wardrobe. But recently I've been thinking alot about my lifestyle and how my clothes don't really reflect how I actually live. And the steps Dr. Julie-Ann talks about can really help me out in this area. Thinking of myself as a customer will help me identify what items I need to sew and add to my wardrobe.

For instance, I love wool slacks and tailored jackets. Unfortunately, I work from home and have very little need for a tailored outfit. I think I need to embrace the fact that my lifestyle is casual, not formal or tailored, not business casual, but just plain casual. I could get away with shorts & t-shirts for most of the summer. But I don't really like to dress that way. The challenge is to define what I like to wear in the realm of casual.

I really see the value in Dr. Julie-Ann's process. I don't have the expertise to create beautifully illustrated pages like Dr. Julie-Ann, but I definitely will create my own "look book" and use it on an ongoing basis.

My Soul is Fed by Needle & Thread

Simplicity 2562


Tonight I cut out these pants sans cuffs in some navy blue cotton fabric for summer.

It's been a few months since I have sewn actual garments. I have been so blue over my mom's illness and death that I just didn't have the desire to really delve into sewing. But I'm feeling much better, and thanks to the encouragement and support of my friend, Angee, I'm back at it. Thank you, Girlfriend!

So what's up with the navy? A few disjointed facts about me.

• Anyone who knows me knows I have become a very black & white girl. Black pants & white tops. I own about 20 white knit t-shirts, mostly from The Gap & Target.
• I have always wanted to get my colors "done" by a professional. So I splurged with some of the money my mom gave me and did that. Whoa! What an eye opener. I'll talk more about my time with Nancy Nix-Rice in one or more other posts.
• I need a whole new summer wardrobe. The recession has left my wardrobe in sad shape, especially for summer.

One of the things Nancy Nix-Rice does is help you shop your stash. So after the rude awakening that I need to change the color of all my clothes and banish both black & white from my closet, we spent an hour one afternoon choosing fabrics from my stash for a new summer wardrobe. I had so much fun! I learned so much! I had so much fun! Thus, navy is my new black. Thus, the first thing I am making is a pair of navy pants.

It felt so comfortable and comforting to be in my sewing room this evening, tracing the pattern, ironing the fabric, laying out everything and then cutting out the pants. I have a saying taped to my laptop—"My soul is fed by needle & thread." That is true. I feel calm, content and peaceful tonight.

Just Resting Between Sets

A local gym is running some clever commercials right now. The set up is a question-and-answer period. In one of the commercials the "customer" asks, "I've not been working out for a while. How do I get started again?" The announcer replies, in this deep, booming voice, "Don't say you haven't been working out, say 'I'm just resting between sets.'" I love that line! It is so appropriate for many areas of my life right now.



I have done some sewing over the last few months. Here is DGD2's dress for her baptism and birthday celebration. It is a Bonnie Blue pattern. I added lace inserts in the skirt and to the angel flutter sleeves. It is made from white handkerchief linen and her initials are embroidered on the yoke. She was, of course, beautiful in her dress, white sandals, gold cross necklace and pearl bracelet. I painted her toenails hot pink to match her older sister. After the ceremony a good time was had by all at her princess birthday celebration.



DH & I met our DD1 and her family in the Smokey Mountains for vacation in late June. We all shared an awesome cabin on top of a mountain for 7 days. I made a couple of pair of shorts from KwikSew 3614. I made View A for both pairs of shorts. I really liked the way they turned out. One pair of was navy blue from some stash cotton. The other pair was a black/white cotton twill with just a touch of Lycra. The shorts went together easily and this pattern has the best fly instructions I've found. Very clear and concise.

I'm starting to think about fall. I need slacks mostly. So I'm checking both the pattern & fabric stash to come up with a plan.

Hand Stitching = Couture, Right?

When I first pulled out these black slacks to finish for the 'dreaded sales meeting' I was thrilled out how far along I was. The lining was in, the zipper was in, the waistband was attached…all I needed to do to finish up was attach the waistband lining and hem the pants. Cool! But then as I took a more in-depth look, I realized why I had set these aside. Somehow when I originally attached the waistband facing I missed something in the directions and had sewed it on backwards—too short on end, way long on the other.





No problem I thought. I'll just take it off and switch the ends. Not so easy, I found out. The waistband pieces are shaped and because of the fly front, there is a definite left and right side. I had to cut new ends. Then I had to cut new interfacing and fuse it. OK, back to sewing. Carefully (I thought) I sewed the waistband facing together, then to the waistband. But now I ended up with some raw edges at the zipper front. Ergh! I took it apart again. Tried again, and still ended up with raw edges. So what to do?



I folded all the raw edges to the inside the way they should end up. At first I thought if I could see how it should look finished I would see how to do the construction. Wrong! I still couldn't figure out how not to end up exactly the same. So I spent about an hour hand stitching all the seams at both ends of the waistband, then attaching the waistband to the zipper, then tacking the waisting band on the inside. So I decided that with all that hand stitching—I'm choosing to looking at these slacks as 'couture'. A much better outlook than remembering how much work they were.

Pattern: V2919
Sizes: 6-20 (I cut an 18 (my usual size) but it was way too big. I very easily could have gone down 2 sizes.
Fabric: Mystery black fabric from stash. It is medium weight, tightly woven, with a slight shine, not wool. Great drape!
Description (from pattern envelope): Lined pants have straight legs, front pleats, side seam pockets, fly front and self-faced yoke with carriers.
Comments: I love these pants even though I had so much trouble with the waistband. I really like the soft style for a change of pace. The shaped waistband seems to accommodate the extra fabric I often end up with on so many slacks. These slacks just have a great fit. I want to make another pair so I can figure out the waistband construction.