Last Thing On The List

Way back a couple dozen posts ago, I started writing about things that inspired me or were important in my sewing journey:  Mrs. W, a white coat, and some other things.  The last thing on the list was the Jean Jacket Remake.

I bought a rather expensive jean jacket about seven years ago from Coldwater Creek.  It was expensive even though I bought it on sale, because it was made of a soft tencel fabric, I guess you could say it was denim in color only.  However, like most jean-style jackets it felt like it was too short on me.  I am long-waisted, and I normally add 2 inches to the length of tops and dresses.

This jacket was a major disappointment when I got it home.  I loved the fabric, and everyone in the world had a jean jacket -- except me.

I studied it for a while, hung it in the closet and pouted.  The catalogs were showing such cute combinations of jean jackets and floral skirts and dresses...  oh pooh!

  

I saw a Mary Mulari episode of Nancy's Notions where Mary extended the bottom of a sweat shirt cardigan with a fabric rectangle.  Hey, if she can do it on a sweatshirt, why can't I do it to this jacket?  It's just hanging there getting no use anyway, right?

I cut some batik rayon fabric into rectangles and finished the short ends.  Then I got out the scissors and cut the bottom band off the expensive tencel jean jacket.  I took out my serger.  The bottom of my jacket was longer than the width of the batik fabric, so I made two strips and overlapped them at the center back.  This would be more comfortable anyway, as it will allow for my wider hips.

You can just see above the date in this photo where the panel I added on this side angles toward the side seam.  I top stitched the seam allowance toward the batik panel.

OK, this was a totally gorgeous piece of batik, but with the fabric at the bottom it sort of looked like a patch, and not in a good way.  The secret to doing this type of makeover, according to Pauline Richards, is to put that same fabric somewhere else on the garment and make it look like it's supposed to be there.

I had a pretty good sized piece of batik left over, so I experimented with putting a piece on the pockets, on the cuffs, and finally settled on covering the collar.  That was a pretty simple operation.  I traced the collar onto tissue paper, creating a pattern.  I added seam allowance, cut it out, and hand stitched it to the jacket.

The fabric was very soft, and I didn't add any interfacing because the collar was as stiff as I wanted it to be.  The fabric easily conformed to the collar shape.  After 7 years it still looks very nice.

Here's the finished project:

I cut the cuffs off, finished the sleeve ends with the serger and folded them up twice for a casual look.  I wear this all the time with black slacks and a white tee shirt for casual Friday at the office.  With the black pants it's dressier than jeans and more appropriate for my downtown office.  I have also worn it over a solid navy tank and skirt, or my white summer Capri pants.

So I saved it from going into the Goodwill bin after one wearing, and have justified the money spent to purchase it by making it versatile, comfortable and more my style.

What are you remaking or restyling?

Keep on sewing!

Fabric Shopping

Anyone who reads this blog understands that I love sewing, and I have since I was a very small child!  I enjoy the process from beginning to end.  I was strictly a garment sewist for a very long time.  I started quilting when we were expecting the arrival of our first grandchild in 2001. 

My very favorite part of the process has to be picking out the fabrics.  I love the planning stage of any type of project.  Coming up with a pattern and having a picture in my mind of the finished product, and then trying to come up with the materials just makes my juices flow!

One of my favorite places to be is any fabric department of any store... but of course I have my favorites!! 

These days, I shop for garment fabric from my stash, and when I can't find the right thing there, I have to travel out of town, or shop the Internet.  <Sigh>

Sewists are by nature tactile beings.  We need to touch and feel.  We see as much with our fingers as with our eyes.  I dare anyone who sews even a little to walk through their local fabric source and not touch SOMETHING while they're walking the aisles!!  Nope, can't do it!

So learning to shop on the Internet has been a challenge for me.  For quilting cottons, it's not so bad.  You can learn a fabric line or buy a designer, and you just have to be a little concerned that the colors on the screen are what you really want. 

With garment fabric it's a bit more challenging.  You can learn the various types of fabric, and what they are expected to feel like, or how they would drape.  Books like Fabric Savvy and More Fabric Savvy from Sandra Betzina can help.

But if you really want to know how the fabric will FEEL, if that's important to you before you buy, shopping on line can be very hard.  That's why it's so important to find out some things about your on line retailer.  What is their return policy if the fabric is just not what you thought it would be?  And can you order a swatch, and will it be large enough for you to determine whether it's suitable?

Soapbox warning!!  If you work for a chain store you can turn away for a few second...

I am a big believer in supporting local merchants!  If there's a store in the area that carries what I need, I don't buy on line, even if I can get something a little cheaper.  Because if I'm not helping to support those local stores all the time, sooner or later they close up.  Then we're stuck with fabric from whoever stays in the area, and the choices dry up!  So shop your local merchants, and thank them for being in business in your area!

OK, off the soapbox now.  You can look again.

Enjoy your next fabric shopping trip.  Look around, you might see me there!

Sew On.

Goals, Sewing Goals

I confess.  I am a person with way more ideas than time.  If I made half of all of the things I daydream about making, well, let's just say I'd have a lot more wearable clothing and a lot less stash!

I stopped at Joann's last night to pick up a pattern I keep seeing on Pattern Review.  It gets raves.  It's a fairly simple dress with a draped neckline and a cap sleeve and straight skirt, Vogue 1250. 

There were a couple of other patterns from other lines that had the same neckline shape, but what I liked about this one was the back detail... a back waist seam gives a place for adjustment if you're long waisted like I am.  I have the world's shortest legs, but my back waist measurement is two inches longer than 'standard'.  I never made a dress with a waist seam that didn't need 2 inches in the bodice.

I think one of the things that really made me want to make up this pattern (as opposed to the several million others I already own) was that Pattern Review had photos of several women in two digit sizes who made it and looked fabulous in it.

If you're not familiar with Pattern Review, you should go there and take a look.  www.patternreview.com will get you there.  Scroll down in the left panel and click on Sewing Pattern Reviews.  You can see some stuff without charge or buy a Friends of PR membership and get enhanced services.  I AM NOT BEING PAID BY PR TO SAY ANY OF THIS.  I personally signed up for the free stuff only. 

They have on line classes but the price is not cheap.  My personal opinion for what it's worth is that the access to classes you can get with an American Sewing Guild membership are a better value.  AND you can get on-line classes any time you can turn on your computer.  Of course the class curriculum is a bit different on each site, but again, NOT BEING PAID by anyone, just my humble opinion.

Anyway, back to goals.  My personal goal for fall is to sew a 'five easy pieces' set of garments for myself between now and Christmas.  I want to make a navy pantsuit or pants and jacket for work.  I want to make three tops that go with said navy pants and jacket.

Some likely candidates from my stash of patterns...

Hopefully now that I've written it down, I will apply myself toward actually doing it.

Oh yeah, and I want to get back to attending regular neighborhood group meetings of my local ASG chapter too.  Maybe that will help with the inspiration and provide incentive to sew for me.

Sew on!

Tribeca Shirt or Jacket

Last weekend I sewed some buttonholes in a shirt/jacket that I started about this time last year. 

I went to a sewing expo in a small town in western Wisconsin in June of 2011 with my friends Marlene and Judy.  I went mostly because Marta Alto of Palmer Pletsch was doing a pants fitting seminar.  It's one of the least expensive shows I've ever attended.  Including two meals, my pants fitting class and four or five one-hour classes, I spent less than $100!

Among the vendors was one of my favorite independent fabric stores from Madison, WI, called Gayfeather Fabrics.  Virginia, the owner, sells patterns from the independent designers, and fabulous fabric.

On top of that, and a BIG plus in my book, is that she has sample garments made up, so you can try things on.  This helps a lot, because sometimes the drawing on the pattern envelope bears to resemblance to what the garment will look like on my 5'2", NOT size 12 body!

Anyway, I bought this pattern, called the Tribeca shirt

It's a fairly simple design, some neckline detail and some darts for fitting.  This is completely unlined, and with no facings.  You turn under the edges and mitre the corners, and the construction is easy.  The directions are wonderfully simple and easy to follow.

I put more buttons in the front, since I don't like the gaposis that can occur if you're a person who has to make a full bust adjustment in things, which I normally do. 

The fabric was a pinky rosy background with brown geometric lines, kind of a heavy linen.  I can't remember the fiber content but I think I'm going to hand wash or dry clean this shirt anyway.

Here's the product:

 I shortened the sleeve by about two inches, which is a normal adjustment for me.  I'm thinking about adding some shoulder pads, or maybe some Velcro strips in the shoulder seams so I can use removable pads.  I did flat felled seams because the fabric hinted at raveling.  The wrong side is a lighter color, and might show when I wear it, but that's OK because I did a GREAT job on the edges, if I do say so myself!

I used buttons that kind of look like jeans snaps for a casual feel.  It could be a light weight jacket over a tee shirt, or a nice shirt with either brown or white pants.

If you're in downtown Milwaukee tomorrow, you might see me wearing it!

Oh, and I DID finish a pair of trousers from the fitting workshop, but that's another blog...
Sew on.

Oh No, Did I Really?

I had to stop in at JoAnn's the other night for something.  I don't remember now what it even was...

Ohhhh, yeah... it was 50% off!!  And pretty, don't you agree?

From Wedding Gown...

This past week someone who knows that I sew, and has seen some of my more humble projects such as doll clothes and quilts, asked me if I knew anyone who could make a baptismal dress from a wedding gown, or if I would consider doing it myself.

Coincidentally, I always wanted to do that with my own dress.  My first child was a boy, so I made an outfit for his baptism but I used something more tailored than the fancy crystal peau satin of my dress.  When my daughter was born, I had forgotten about the wedding dress and made her something totally different.

Fast forward 40 years and I get another chance, but with someone else's gown!

The Pattern:

We got together to discuss her expectations -- literally and figuratively!!  Her due date is early November.

My friend brought two patterns along, one she thought was nice but...

the one she really preferred was this one.



Then she brought out the dress.

Here are a few pictures of 'before':

The dress is strapless, the bodice is heavily beaded.  She did think she wanted the satin bow to be reused somehow, but I don't think there's enough money in the world that could induce me to remove and use the bodice.  I think there's enough fabric in the skirt and train for even the longest baby gown.

The lace has a scalloped edge, which will be used along the bottom of the baby gown.  It's beautiful and there is plenty of it going around the back of the skirt of the bridal gown.

And there's even an underskirt with fabric that can be used for lining or petticoat for the baby.

I think I'll pick a nice long weekend to start this... I'll post about it again after Labor Day weekend.

Sew on!



I Have A New Project!!

I'm kind of excited to say I have picked up a new project.  A young lady I know asked me if I knew someone who could make a baptismal dress from a wedding gown.  Do I?  Yeah, me! 

I picked up the dress and her chosen pattern last night.  I'm excited to get to work tonight, taking pictures of both and doing some planning.  The baby is due in November so I have some time.  My only worry is that since the dress is a strapless number with a pretty straight skirt, I hope the pieces of this very full baby gown fit on the available fabric.

I'm told there is a train folded up in the dress bag... so wish me luck!  There's a beaded overskirt that she wants used to cover the skirt of the baby dress.

Photos of the project will be forthcoming!

Sew on...

Lemons

There's a saying that goes:  when life gives you lemons, make

From my interactions with the dozens of folks I talk to on a daily basis, I think most of the world has forgotten this.  People like to complain.  Nobody wants to see the good side of anything.

Well, that's a gross generalization if I ever heard one!

Lots of people like to complain.  I like to complain once in a while.  Like when traffic comes to an absolute standstill on the freeway and there is no earthly reason why it should.  Or if the bag of fast food I used the drive-thru to buy ends up short one greasy sandwich.

But lots of people don't ever get beyond the whining and either do something about it or forget about it and move on.  There was one guy at my office who was perpetually gloomy, raining on everyone's parade about everything, never ever happy about anything.  Even in the present economic climate with so many people out of work he couldn't be happy about being employed.

I read somewhere that women love to talk about things and men like to solve the problem and get on with it... another gross generalization to which that guy in my office was the rule-proving exception!

There is a lot of bad stuff happening in the world.  There are lots of mean people, only out for themselves.  Bad things happen to good people.  Sometimes it's just traffic backing up, or you stubbed your toe.  Sometimes it's horrible, like a terminal illness or loss of a job.

For me, those bad times are a test of faith.  If you believe that God cares for you no matter what, you can live through the bad times and look at them as character builders. 

There ARE good people in the world, and if you reach out when you have a need, you will almost always find someone who will take your hand and help you.  To me there is nothing better than the company of a couple of girlfriends to help you through the tough times and put the positive back in your attitude.

If you're one of my girlfriends, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.  If you are part of a girlfriend posse somewhere, bless you.  If you are blue or lonely, find a girlfriend or two and start your 'therapy'.

And I will tell you one thing for certain -- there is nothing like the friendship shared by the people in the sewing world!  Guilds and sewing/quilting groups and sewing sisters are special people. 

Thanks for being you!

Sew on...

Photos for a 90 Degree Day

Remember this?

My driveway, February, 2011

Or this?

How about this?

Latest Conditions in Milwaukee, WI					Choose Your Front Page City
		Partly Cloudy Thursday Chance Showers High: 86 °F Next winter, let's try to remember how upset we were when it was hot!!	Aug 1 7:52 pm 78°F (26°C)

Resource Center Musings

I found this notepad in my stack of paper when we were moving all of our stuff from the garage back to the office.  I think this says it all... and I'm a contender!!

A notepad from my desk

In previous posts and in my blog header I've talked about my stash.  I've discussed the reasons why I believe a serious sewist should have a stash. 

1. When your colors are out of season, or the stores want to sell brown and you like black, you can shop where the proprietor stocks what you need.
2. When you want to sew at 11 p.m. or 5 a.m. and the stores aren't open yet, you're good to go.
3. When you have to make a blue monster costume on Sunday night for Monday morning, well, you get the picture!!

So you probably weren't surprised when I showed my stack of bins...

or my boxes of patterns...

But did I tell you that I ran completely out of muslin??  Or that I somehow have failed to store even one single black zipper of ANY size?  How does this happen?

I recently decided to take inventory of my sewing supplies, just for curiosity's sake, and perhaps to give a list of things to my insurance man for a rider on my homeowners policy.

I have approximately $300 worth of sewing machine needles. 

I have six different kinds of straight pin and three magnetic pincushions.  And before you comment, yes I DO use the various kinds of pins.  Maybe not daily but they gather no dust!  When I decide to cut patterns out, I will sometimes do as many as a dozen projects, and I leave SOME pins in each piece, so some are out of circulation, in the baggies I use for my 'ready to sew' kits.

You've seen these before...

I spent some time in the resource center trying to finish up DD's quilt so I can move on to other things.  I have a blouse to put button holes into, and another one that needs some interfacing.  I have about oh maybe 45 yards of interfacings in my resource center.  When I find it on sale at 50% off I buy 10 yards of the light weight or medium weight, and any time I find the stuff that's sold by Palmer & Pletsch, I get several packages of each weight in black and white.

Recently I donated two baggies of flat buttons to our preschool for craft projects.  I barely made a dent in the button collection.  But I did thin out the singles and the big buttons that didn't really appeal to me anymore.  I'm happy to make some 3 and 4 year olds happy.  :-)

What I didn't realize was how many SCRAPS I have saved over time!!  I used to make doll clothes, in fact I started my sewing career making clothes for my Barbie dolls.  I have an affinity for things Barbie.  I loved her professional outfits, I get a fluttery feeling in my tummy thinking about an outfit I bought her way back when, with its Chanel style jacket and matching purse and heels!!  My Barbie was stylin'!

SO I sorted out my scraps into a couple of piles -- Barbie-sized pieces, 18" doll sized pieces and baby doll/Cabbage Patch pieces.

You know those big plastic bins that hold however many gallons??  You know, the ones up near the top of this blog??  Well, there are two that are full of potential 18" and baby doll outfits, and the potential Barbie outfits fill a half-sized bin.  I guess I'd better get to work!!

Know any naked Barbies??  I guess you could send them my way...

Laughing out loud ---

Keep on sewing!

Fixing Up The House...

When we moved into our present house five years ago, I knew dogs had lived here.  The first winter when we closed up the house and turned on the furnace, I smelled them daily.  Even after shampooing the carpeting multiple times, I could still tell.
When my DH would ask what I wanted for Christmas or my birthday, new carpeting was always on the list.  He's say "That's no kind of present!"  Ha!  My nose disagreed!!

This year we got a pretty good tax refund.  Once again we discussed new carpeting for my birthday in the spring.

Finally, finally, things got moving.  We pulled all of the furniture out of the two guest bedrooms and painted walls.  And a couple of weeks later I promised to shop for carpeting.

DH started removing the old carpeting.  The house smelled better right away. 

A month passed.  Summer got really HOT.  Work was crazy, our office was moving and I was on the committee that was organizing that.  Carpeting got put on the back burner.

The week of July 4th, I finally got the urge to get something going.  Well, a month of crap piled in the garage and parking the cars in the driveway finally got to me!

I knew what I wanted... light brown good quality carpeting with a million year wear guarantee and a new carpet smell!  Not too expensive either.

Long story short -- went shopping, found the right color, got the right price, and last week Larry and Dan came over and spent two days hammering, cutting and laying pad and carpet.  Now when I dash up the stairs my feet say 'thanks, we enjoyed that'!  And when the alarm goes off and I have to roll out of bed, they say 'oh, THAT wasn't so bad, we feel NICE down here!'



See?

I'm On The Five Year Plan

I spent some time in my sewing studio this past weekend, working on some projects.  I think I must be on the Five Year Plan in my garment sewing life.  Why do I say that, you ask?  Well...

Yesterday I sewed part of a blouse.  I only sewed PART of a blouse because when I cut out said blouse, somewhere within the last five years, I unpinned it from its pattern. 

I put the pieces into a gallon sized zip lock bag.  Good thinking, right?  Keep the pieces together so you can find them when you need them.  Nothing organizes better than gallon sized bags!

See, I had good intentions...  from front to back:  jacket, blouse, vest, vest, jacket, blouse and jacket.

Except I forgot to include the pattern envelope and the instruction sheet!  I have the brand and the number, but if you've been in my sewing room, you know that I have a TON of patterns in various boxes and bins, and that pattern could be in any one of them!

Lucky for me, I remember the picture/drawing from the front of the envelope, so I have a chance of finding it just from that, instead of having to read the numbers...

So I sewed the most obvious pieces -- front yokes to lower fronts, matching the notches, and back yoke to lower back.  I stopped at putting interfacing onto the facing pieces because it was getting late and I need my beauty sleep more and more these days.

Left and right fronts, waiting for facings.

Before I go too much further I need to find the pattern envelope.  Oh, and some light weight interfacing.  The fabric is a light weight linen blend from Joann Fabrics.  The pattern is kind of a loose fitting top with asymmetrical hems and a cross-over front.  There were some trousers included.  I didn't cut those out.  I still may, if I can find a coordinating fabric in my stash.  This linen was purchased at least 10 years ago, but teal is back...



I think I may be able to find something in here somewhere...

How do I know I'm on the Five Year Plan with this outfit?  DH and I have been living in this house for five years now, and I know this pattern was in my stash when I moved in!  So it's at LEAST the five year plan -- that is, if I finish it in 2012!!

Keep your fingers crossed, and keep sewing!

Oh, and keep good thoughts on the pants fabric, OK?  I'd hate to have to do more fabric shopping...

Finished Projects and Utility Sewing

This weekend, while my DH was busy tearing out the carpeting in our upstairs, I worked on some projects that had been nagging me for completion...

I fixed a small hole in the back of a pair of DH's blue jeans.  How exactly does one tear through the place between the center back seam and the back pocket?  And it wasn't so much a tear as it was a worn out spot, about the size of a dime, with some sort edges around it.  I think it was the process of making the fabric look aged that did it.  So I cut a small piece off an old pair that I've been using for patches and stuff, and pinned it to the inside of the jeans.  The patch was much lighter in color than the jeans, so I figured I'd sew it to the inside and it would be less conspicuous.  You're going to be able to tell they were mended either way, but the thread sewn on the outside was closer in color than the patch.

So I zigzagged around the edges to secure it, then I sewed back and forth across the length of the patch to make sure it stayed secure.  I used the pinking shears to cut the patch, so I'm sure it won't fray too much but I sewed the daylights out of it just in case it decided to wiggle itself loose!  I'm sure it's a strong patch, and if anything the jeans will spring another leak (hole) in some other, non-reinforced area!

Then I made a tent bag.  SIL brought me a 'present' a couple of weeks ago.  "Can you fix this?" he always asks. 

Sadly, sometimes the answer has to be no, like the times when HIS jeans tear a quarter inch away from one of the flat felled seams and there's nothing to sew a patch to...  but in this case, the tent bag was so torn and thin, I couldn't save it. 

I found some twill in my stash.  I must have planned to make some boy pants or something, this stuff was S.T.I.F.F.!!  So I cut two layers about the size of the tent bag, and did a big, double flat felled seam on the side and the bottom.  I made the outside layer  about a half inch shorter than the inner layer, and folded both layers over on the outside at the top.  The longer, under layer got folded over again about a half inch, to make a clean finish on the outside.  I stole the drawstring from the old bag, inserted it in the casing, and viola!!  New tent bag!

I know, totally not sexy, but it will do the job.  Now if he gets work in Iowa (he's an iron worker and travels where they're building) he can stay in his tent and not have to pay for a motel room.  It's not an impressive project, but he really liked it!

Next I sewed the three outer borders to my DD's quilt.  This project has been on the back burner for a while.  It's folded in half on my design wall because it's queen sized.  I think it's big enough for a drop on either side of the bed and at the end, but I have to check the measurements.  I might have to put on one more border.  Then it can go off to the quilt shop for finishing.  There's no way I'm machine quilting anything this big!!

Last but not least, I put the final border on the Bargello from Hell wall hanging.  This photo is before the final 4 inch brown border was sewn on all four sides.  Now I just have to piece a back, because it is wider than the backing fabric I bought.  I have some strip sets left from the interior pattern, so I'll probably piece those together for a large center block and put the brown and teal polka dot fabric around the edges.  I'm going to try to quilt this on my home machine.  Maybe...

My final finish this week was Jennifer Chiaverini's book, The Union Quilters.  It was a good story, about how the women left at home during the civil war supported themselves and each other with and through their quilting.  I know there's another of her books that refers to this time period.  I don't recall which one it is, but some of the plot lines are echoed in this book.  It's a good stand alone story, but I think you could benefit some by having read the other book.

Hope you're staying cool in the hot weather.  We got about a quarter inch of rain on Saturday, not enough to save the grass or help the corn.  I guess if I want to see green, I'll have to work on the Phone Guy's Wife quilt blocks!

Happy summer, and keep sewing.