The Watson Set!

Making my first lingerie set gave me the same "oh my god I made that!" feeling as when I first started sewing a million years ago. Thank you Watson!

OMG I MADE THAT!!!

Let's start from the top down. I used stretch lace from Hart's Fabric, but I don't think I'd recommend it. It catches on EVERYTHING!!! I lined the cups in stretch mesh from Bra Maker's Supply and lined the band in cradle in powernet from BMS. I read the instructions like a 1000 times before I made it and I didn't catch that I was supposed to line in cradle in something with no stretch. The elastics I used were also from BMS and they are nice, so soft and strong.

I cut a size 34E but found that the cups are too small. Maybe this is due to the combination of lace and lining, maybe I suck at measuring myself. I'm going bigger next time. I thought the pattern was great, pretty clear, I love that I'm given stitch length and width recommendations. Being new to lingerie sewing, I don't know the lingo yet so I had trouble with figuring out which elastic went where and I that's where the cradle lining debacle came from as well. A big-ass arrow saying "This part of the bra needs this treatment and is called (enter lingerie specific term here)" would have helped, but I think I have it all now. Other than choosing the wrong cup size, the bra fits well, the band is angled to my body just right and the straps hit my shoulders just right so they don't slip and slide. But man, getting the hooks and eyes on are a BITCH!

The undies are pure undie perfection. Completely true to size, even though when I put the pattern together they look like enormous paper diapers. Great coverage and feels secure.

I'm not sure how I feel about making more of these yet, once I figure out the right size I'll have a better idea if this type of bra can be worn on a regular basis with a larger chest. Its so pretty, I hope so!

Winter of Wearable Shirt: #4.5

Whoops, this one snuck its way in. The Fabric Store had their end-of-season sale and I went back to buy as much of that specific merino in as many colors (except pink) as I could find. I found red and navy, but they were already out of the olive which shot all to hell my planned all olive green merino wool wardrobe. The red is gorgeous though, it has black threads knitted through it which gives so much dimension to the red, which unfortunately doesn't come out in pictures, but trust me, its fabric-mindblowing. I'm such a Fabric Store fangurl.

According to how the last Coppelia fits, I made some changes. I extended the hem by 1.5", shortered the sleeves by 2", reduced the underarm lengths by 3/4", and finally reduced the width of the back bodice by 1/2" blending to nothing at the neck. I also didn't include the hole in the side seam the wrap tie gets threaded through.

Using predominantly the serger to make this top, I can finish this sucker in one day. Boom.

Winter of Wearable Shirts: #4

Oh the Coppelia cardigan, we've been flirting for quite some time, but we've only recently gotten together. In some ways, you're everything I thought you would be, in some ways, you've disappointed me greatly.

I made the Coppelia exactly as written in Medium. I had wanted to add an inch or two to the hem, but I barely eeked the garment out of my fabric. The fabric is a GLORIOUS 4-way stretch, ribbed merino wool with some lycra. I don't use knit fabrics without lycra anymore. The wrong side has a slightly looped texture and OMG its amazing. Yes, its from The Fabric Store in LA, my new nirvana.

The good:
There is absolutely no gapping! And for a wrap, that's impressive. More than a little has to do with Coppelia being a knit garment, but still. I did not add clear elastic because I have plenty of lycra in here, but if I change my mind, I'll update you. Its also a quick sew as long as you don't screw up the front neckline. I didn't stretch it enough at first and there wasn't enough fabric for a flat hem. I serged the entire shirt except for twin-needle stitching the tie where I used stretch thread in my bobbin. There's no stitch popping here!

Look ma! No gapping!

The bad:
The sleeves are way way long, and I like long sleeves. The length is way more cropped than I thought it from the pattern picture. I realized this sweater looks good with this skirt which is a fairly high-waisted design and I still have to hike up the skirt quite a bit if I don't want to show off tummy. And finally like so many before me, there's a ton of extra fabric in the front sleeve, freakin' raglan. I also find myself rearranging the ties around my back all the time, but I think I'm just not used to this garment structure.

 The verdict: Winner winner, chicken dinner! Definitely something that has to be worn over a dress or a high skirt, but its completely flattering and the fabric blows all other fabrics out of the water.

Winter of Wearable Shirts: #3

How are you doing? I'm great, I just made super yummy chicken pot pie filling and I'm nibbling from it. Don't worry, if I ever cook for you its clean spoon every time I test those seasonings, but the fiance will be the only other person eating the pies so I don't care. I'm also working on writing my book, yup I'm writing a book (not about sewing) and I'm totally stuck on the 'I can't write' idea so I'll write this post instead. I know I can write this post.

I've loved the Neptune Tee by See Kate Sew since it was released, but I'm not the person who jumps on every new release. I let them stew around in my head and wait for fabric sales, sometimes for a long ass time. I waited for Hart's to have their Christmas sale and then bought this ponte to bring my total above their free shipping threshold. The pattern says that very stable knits are preferred and Hart's description seemed to satisfy that. I don't usually buy poly, but I trust Hart's implicitly even if I've never been there and only really bought from them once.

Sewing this shirt was a frickin' blast. I got all the right supplies, a stretch twin needle with the widest setting and stretch thread for the bobbin when using the twin needle. All the seams sewed so smoothly, stretch so nicely, and none feel like they are going to pop.

I'm not entirely happy with how the bindings around the neck and sleeves lay across the cutouts. I stretched the bindings to fit the edges, except at the cutouts I made sure to lay the binding completely flat. Now the bindings stick out a bit because the stretch in the neckline doesn't match how the fabric is stretch when worn. Doing it again, I would stretch out the binding ever so slightly. Not as much stretch as the rest of the neckline, just a tad.

See how that neckline is popping out a bit, that's what I'm talking about. Next time I'm making this, I'm lowering the front neckline and removing that cutout, but keeping the rest.

I love the inspiration behind this pattern. I was watching the Veronica Mars movie and and also thought, 'Damn Mac, hot dress.'

Winter of Wearable Shirts: #2

The Boston shirt! The pattern is the Geometry Top by Katy & Laney, two cool Boston ladies. The solid black silk is from Gorgeous Fabrics, close enough to count as Boston and bought while I lived there. And the ship fabric, oh the ship fabric, that's from Fabric Place Basement, also close enough to be called Boston. I love the tall ship print because my favorite touristy thing I ever did in Boston was tour the U.S.S. Constitution. Its amazing something so old can still float and sail, let alone be in the condition its in. Seriously, check it out, unless your British, that might be treason against the Crown. I kid, I kid we're all friends now.

I was pleasantly surprised that the Geometry Top was not paraded around blogland. This is a great pattern, good lines, trendy, but not fleeting in style. I'd been looking for something to use with my ship fabric that didn't break up the awesomeness of print and this pattern made my little sewing heart pitter-patter. The pattern is great everything fits beautifully together with good instructions. The only thing is that some of the cutting lines are a bit thick, I'd prefer a bit more precise lines over super bold ones.

I agonized over the placement of the 'stripes' and it ended up being about as perfect as perfect can be. I underlined the main fabric as its a bit sheer and then hemmed them separate from each other because I worried hemming them together would cause the shirt to bubble. I french seamed everything. For some reason that makes absolutely no sense, I like french seaming the armscye more than just sewing it in normally. I'm super weird.

I left the side and shoulder panels as a single layer cause I don't care if you can see my shoulders or my side. I sewed through paper (medical exam paper) for a lot of the shirt to keep things from puckering and it worked pretty well.

The dipped hem in the back is the perfect dip amount. Maximum flatteration.

Archer: Numbre Trois

Let me tell you a story, its called Buttons are Traitors. A few revolutions around the Sun ago I had to go to the bank. I was wearing a cute button-down I got from one of Target's fancy designer series collections, blue, fancy bib detail. I liked that shirt, I thought I had a good rapport with that shirt. There were about 6 people in line so I waited and while I was waiting I noticed an old man staring at me. I mean gross staring. In my head I said, Hey you dirty perv, why don't you stare at something else, you're mother is ashamed of you, I bet no woman has ever loved you. In my head I was mean to him, I don't like gross old men gaping at me. Once I got to the front of the line I reached for my purse to get my bank stuff and when I looked down I saw. I saw that my purse strap had unbuttoned my shirt. Down. To. My. Navel. Perv had every right to stare, I was standing half undressed in the middle of Bank of America. Buttons and I have had an uneasy relationship since then, very untrusting, I get out of the car, leave the house, take of a jacket, I do the button test which essentially involves feeling up my chest in public to make sure the spacing between buttons is even, if there's too much I know disaster has struck.
Then a light shown down upon me while reading blogs, people were waxing poetic about snaps. Snaps, I thought, snaps that don't betray, could this be my salvation?

This is my third archer. I wanted a textured black fabric so I bought this black, burnout polka dot cotton from Gorgeous Fabrics. Its not black, its black and navy and it changes from black with navy dots to navy with black dots in a pattern making pattern placement kinda a bitch. Also, its not cotton, its def got some poly in that as it burns under the iron pretty fast and doesn't wrinkle a bit. These pictures were taken minutes after pulling the shirt out from luggage and no ironing. It also attracts fuzz likes its going to a fuzz party.

Not a great picture, but you can see the change in the polka dot pattern.

For Archer Trois, I went with the butt ruffle. I gotta say, I'm a big fan of the butt ruffle. Business up front, ruffle in the back, baby. Things to note, the ruffle gives a hem a much deeper curve so its not as easy as a hem as the non-ruffled version. Also, the pattern for the ruffled upper back (not yoke) doesn't include a pleat and it turns out my double-wide shoulders really like the room provided by the pleat so this puppy is a bit tight in the back.

I really like the extra long sleeves in the Archer pattern, at least on me. I like when my sleeves go to mid-hand. Maybe it looks a bit sloppy, but it feels good. I also finally got the absolute perfect placement of the closures which I wasn't able to for my first two Archers. 

And finally, the snaps. They are perfect. I haven't had a snap incident yet and all pervy men have been kept in their place. Archer, the perfect snapdown shirt.

Guess who's back!

I'm back, I'm here, hallelujah! I passed both my classes (I love how once you get into grad school, you don't care much about the grades anymore), but still have my big oral exam coming up. Early July is the new goal, here's hoping.

I finished my final exam on a Wednesday a couple weeks ago and came home with what my boyfriend called an excess of creative energy. I HAD to sew something. So what did I choose? Something simple and familiar. Hells NO! How about something I've never ever done before.

Jersey. Slippery, slidey, stretchy craziness. A Mission Maxi.

Not high in this picture, just in case you thought so.

And it turned out sooo well! What a return to the game. Check out those matching side seams.

Ok, maybe not the matching above the waist, but below the waist it flawless! The jersey is from Gorgeous Fabrics, and they still have it here! I followed the instructions and they were great. Everything is serged (wow, was the serger a rockstar on this fabric!), except for topstitching the neckline binding. I ever so slightly stretched out the armhole binding on one side, but its only noticeable to us, right? I also serged the hem but didn't hem it in any way because I wanted as much stretchiness as humanly possible. Also, the pattern is true to size, what a concept!

Closer look at the binding. The neck binding is cut with primarily the yellow color and the arm bindings are cut with primarily the blue color, a detail only the maker could love.

Funny story, but promise not to tell my landlord, mkay? I finally bought some tracing paper (ok, exam paper, but the same thing). I traced this pattern because I know my mom wants one of these someday and I wanted to preserve the pattern. Little did I realize that permanent marker goes right through exam paper onto the wood floor below. Ruhroh. It'll wear away by the time I move out? Right? RIGHT?

I feel pretty.

AND I'M BACK, BABY!

Pattern Review (kinda): McCalls 5803

So I've had this pattern for a million years and I've had this fabric for a million years and somewhere in those million years I totally lost my mind because I combined said fabric and pattern. See for your self.

What the HELL was I thinking? I even added pockets! I should be ashamed of myself!

Project Update #2: Hot Patterns Biker Babe Jacket

The Biker Babe Jacket is fitted and ready to be cut out! I call it Franken-pattern now.

Check out that sleeve!

I've never ever ever done this much preparatory work for a pattern, but I really want a good fit on this thing. I foresee wearing it nearly everyday and I want to be happy about it nearly everyday.

I ran into a problem yesterday while doing the final fitting. When is the garment fitted 'enough'? When does the armsycle look exactly right? Does the back and length look right? I hope that in the future, doing more of this, I'll have experience. Despite everything that my aunt taught me about sewing, I didn't learn how to fit (mainly because I didn't want to be in various stages of undress for some fitting processes), so its pretty much all self taught from the internet and all the other totally awesome bloggers out there. I gotta saw though, my Amazing Boyfriend really helps out, he wants to me to be happy and he knows a jacket that fits will make me happy.

Making the hard decisions.

Changes made to this pattern:
1. Raise the armhole by 1". Still not sure if it should go up higher or if there is too much fabric in the sleeve opening.

2. Broadened the back by 3/4" on both sides. This fits AMAZING through the back now, why have I never done this?

Tush shot.

To fit the back, first I sliced a gash about 1.5" from the armhole and then measured how wide the gash spread when I put my arms forward. All widening was done below the yoke (I think that's the correct vocab word) because the upper back fit well.

3. Lengthened the sleeves and body by 2" (damn its a short jacket!) through the waist. Or I'm long-waisted. (above pics do not show this)
4. Decreased the flair at the bottom of the body. Cause it looked stupid.

I'm going to cut this jacket out the softest, most amazing (and expensive) baby camel hair ever shaved from a baby camel. I'm assuming it was summer and the baby camel was sweltering. I got it from Gorgeous Fabrics a looooong time ago so they are expectantly out of the fabric. As a side note, can I just say was fricking amazing selection, sales, and customer service that GF has? I think if I ever met Ann I'd go fangirl on her.

Main garment fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics. The lining is also from GF and still available here.

Next sewing project!

This should be a fast one.

Making Vogue 8771, a shirt pattern with like, 5 seams total.

http://voguepatterns.mccall.com/v8771-products-15151.php?page_id=866

I'll be using the most amazing fabric I have ever owned in my life! The stretch wool with felted yarn all over it! Its from Gorgeous Fabrics and its frickin' gorgeous!

I've had my eye on this stuff for what seems like years now and no one has snatched it all up yet! And it comes in different colors! (I have black too) It's stretch, which is required by the pattern, but since the yarns aren't stretch, its definitely messes up the 'flow' of the fabric. Here's the link for the most amazing fabric ever!

http://www.gorgeousfabrics.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=10001

I've already cut out the sleeves and this pattern is ALL sleeve. Its a bit of a bitch to cut because the grain is all over the place, but just approximate it and it'll work itself out.

God that picture doesn't even do the colors justice!