Impatiently waiting for spring...

Balmy Houston, TX has yet to have any kind of noticeable winter so I thought I would just start sewing for spring. I've had Vogue 8747 on my wish list for a while but I'm not sure why. I never wear blouses. I think I have might have 3 in my entire closet. I was convinced that I didn't like blouses. And then it occurred to me why. I have never been able to find a RTW blouse that fits properly. If it fit in the bust without gaposis then it was swimming around my neck and shoulders and waist. Enter custom fit patterns with cup sizes! Hello great fitting shirt, good bye pain in the a** FBA!

This shirt is adorable and I love it. Especially with the fabric I found. A cotton with 3% spandex. Perfect for this fitted shirt pattern. I can't wait to wear this with a white skirt or pants when the weather warms up. In fact, I think I'll buy some more and make a skirt to match, belt it at the hip, cute sandals and voila!

This was the first time I've made buttonholes in I can't remember when but it came back quickly. However, sewing buttons on has always been a pet peeve of mine. Then I remembered a Bernina class waaaay back and learning to sew buttons on by machine. I marked the button placements in the usual way then scotch taped a button on its mark. My buttons have 4 holes. Two would work just as well. I set my machine for its widest zig zag stitch. Using my buttonhole foot because it has a big opening I positioned the button so that the zig zag would go in one hole then cross over to the other. I used the hand wheel manually so as not to accidentally stab a button. Six or seven stitches then I turned the button for the stitch to create an X. Lastly I set my machine to stay on one hole and did 3-4 stitches to "lock". Voila...no sewing buttons on by hand!

I love this little blouse and will make it again, maybe with the collar. I like the 3/4 length sleeves. I like the band without the collar...it looks sort of Mandarin-ish. Especially with this leafy fabric. Come on spring...I want to wear this cute blouse!

When all else fails...return to your roots

Whoo-hoo! Who knew?! Vogue 1197 is Great for Workout Pants!

On the eve of a monumental birthday tomorrow, the last one in my 50's (gasp...I have no idea how it happened) I thought it apropos that I review something a little on the healthy side while I sip wine. I've been steaming ever since having recently paid $70 for a pair of Nike running pants. That's ludicrous! I had to revolt! They end up being laundered 2-3 times a week and get faded out in no time. So... I decided I needed to get creative. Last weekend I made the cute pants from Vogue 1197, actually, almost leggings... because I pegged the ankles in a lot more than the pattern called for... see below if you missed it the first time. The whole time I was making them I was thinking "this pattern might make cute workout pants!" The waist is especially comfortable with 1" elastic that makes a nice, flat band that I thought would be perfect for working out:

So...I ran downtown to High Fashion this week and picked up 1-1/4 yards of black polyester knit, sort of a mid-weight... not too heavy but solid enough not to be see-through. Eureka! I was right! The only change I made was to cut the lower legs and ankles as the pattern indicated so that they would top my shoes properly. I don't know about y'all, but I consider myself somewhat tall... 5'6"... and every pair of workout pants I buy is long enough for a 6' tall woman... and I haven't seen many of those lately...even in Texas! No more! Now I have the perfect length. In any event, I am ever so excited about my pants and christened them on the elliptical today...love them...

These pants might be Garment 1 of a line of workout clothes that is noodling around in my brain. I'm so sick of manly looking workout clothes simply cut smaller for women and dyed some gawd-awful color that's supposed to be feminine. Yuck. And how many workout tops or jackets can you find that cover your butt? If I need to run an errand or run by the grocery before or after working out...I want my butt covered. Call me an old fart... it's okay... tomorrow I will be...lol ;)

Besos to all my PR and Blog friends!

Shhhhhh... Don't Tell Anybody... These are Pull-on Pants!!

I just zipped up the pants from Vogue 1197...and they have NO zipper! I had already made the cute tunic from this pattern and have continued to be intrigued by the simplicity (no pun) of the pants. One (1) pattern piece! Inseam and crotch seam and that's it. Adorable vent at the ankle and an elastic waist with no gathering that fits FLAT at the waist:

Now, in order to get the pegged leg at the ankle I graded down to a size A from 14" above my ankle down:

You can then fold up and check your angles:

I will be making these babies by the dozens! Easy peasy and cute! I'm even going to make some to work out in...perfect for yoga!

My Palette is Calling

Happy New Year! I am so happy to welcome in 2012! I can sense that there are good things in store for all of us this year.

Since returning to sewing last spring I have been consumed with all things fabric and style. However, after reading of the continuing education offerings coming up this spring at Rice University's Glasscock School, my right brain is urging me to dust off my art supplies and take a class called Fauves in the Galleries, Drawing with Expressive Color. The word "fauves" translates as "wild beasts" and was the name given to a group of French impressionist painters who, in the early 20th century, began a movement characterized by the use of vibrant, vivid and expressionistic color such as Matisse used in the portrait above and Andre Derain's almost Van Gogh like style shown below:

This class is being taught by my friend and fellow artist Kathryn "Kitty" Klauber, a most talented portrait artist, teacher, art historian and lecturer. The majority of the classes meet each week at one of 3 of Houston's world class art museums and we will actually draw using masterpieces as subject matter while learning the history of color theory and its Fauvist application.

Not to worry! I will not be forsaking my sewing projects. Since returning to my love of sewing last May I have not purchased one piece of RTW clothing. I am curious to see how far this trend can last!

Comfy, Cozy Christmas Robe

What is yummier than a soft, flannel robe? I've had Butterick 3655 forever and have made several short spa length robes but not a full length one. I envisioned a soft buttery cream color with a plaid cut on the diagonal for the shawl collar and cuffs. Nothing is more frustrating than going to the fabric store with a the perfect creation in your head and then not being able to find the exact fabric. A Christmas angel was on my shoulder! The bolts of flannel practically attacked me as I wandered down the aisle.

Since the flannels were of different weight I washed and dried them both before cutting out. Softer and yummier than ever, I laid out my pattern and cut away. I did take some care matching the plaid, especially on the collar. Inasmuch as this was not an even plaid I cut the collars with a single layer of fabric. I placed the pattern, cut one piece, then turned that piece over, laid it on the fabric and matched the plaid of the cut piece to the remaining fabric. Easy peasy. I did buy a little extra fabric for matching. The cuffs I wasn't as careful with and they look fine.

Three things the pattern doesn't tell you to do so I will tell you. After pressing the shawl collar I topstitched around the edge to give it a finished look and also to keep it from rolling after I wash it. Shown here:

Another thing I did was to sew the facing down from the shoulder all the way to the hem. It's a wide facing and if it isn't sewn down it's just this flapping thing you will always be fiddling with. I had it flapping around on one of the short spa robes I made and one day said "Why am I always fiddling with this thing? Sew the damn thing down." It made all the difference in the world! Here is approximately where I'm talking about:

Lastly, I cut 4 plaid cuffs instead of two. That way there was a nicely finished side when the cuff is rolled up with plaid on both sides.

Here's the pattern...I'm not sure it's still in print but I'm sure there are others that are the exact same robe...it's a very classic style:

I will be making an exact replica of this robe. My sister saw it and wants one for Christmas. Let's see, today is December 15th...no problem!

A Perfect Pair of Pants!

My first advice is not to make a pair of pants the weekend after Thanksgiving! What was I thinking? That last piece of pie shows clearly in the side view...



You are looking at cornbread dressing and pecan pie...

I discovered McCall's 5239 which is a Palmer/Pletsch Classic Fit pattern chocked full of great instructions for achieving a good fit. If you've never tried their fitting method I believe it is the best. For these pants I sewed View A with a few changes. I am not a fan of waistbands and all the views on this pattern have one. In fact, patterns seem to go from waistbands to elastic with not much in between. Depending on the fabric I would line them but the wrong side of this moleskin was really nice and soft so I cut facings for the waist. I did this by first pinning the darts in place:

And then using the shape of the waist to cut pieces about 2-1/2" deep and longer on each end:

I make notes on the facings so I have whatever option I want to when placing my zipper. On this pair I wanted a side zip so I cut both back and front facings on the fold. Here is the finished facing:

I had some questions from PR friends about how the pants would sit at the waist once the waistband is eliminated. I guess everyone has their preference about where their actual waist is; and how they like clothes to look and feel at the waist, for me the scenario below is perfect. I don't want anything around what appears to be my "real" waist...that feels too high to me:

And along these same lines, another thing I hate is the hook & eye process. As far as I'm concerned they are just annoying little stabbers waiting for you to lean against them and wince in pain! I've eliminated them completely at the top of my zips by sewing my facings or linings flush with the top of the zipper like so:

I think the true test of a pair of pants is how they look from the back and I think these look pretty darn good compared with other RTW in my closet.



This is rather brave of me, I think...

I will definitely use this pattern as my sloper now and a TNT for a great fitting pair of pants. So, not only am I'm hitting the grocery store tomorrow for a healthy basket I will be on the elliptical tomorrow afternoon!

New sewing tool...the Texas Curve

Well, I'm at it one more time with Vogue 1261. I wanted to make View A with the scoop neck out of a really great knit embellished with a glittery gold ornament looking design on it...not your typical Christmas colors but great holiday colors for an autumn toned complexion like mine...and the gift? It was a half price remnant at High Fashion so I had to make it mine.  

So...I've made this top twice before and knew I needed to further perfect the fit at the waist. Being rather full busted, tops that are cut straight down without some contour in the waist tend to make me look rather dumpy...which translates to frumpy!

Somehow, in my move from Atlanta back to Houston, I have yet to uncover my French curve so I put my thinking cap on. Brainstorm: I made 2 ovals in Microsoft Publisher in the general size and shape I wanted to nip at the waist. I cut them out and placed them according to previous measurements and basically went from the Medium at the bust and hips down to the Extra-small only at the waist:

I drew the curve onto the pattern with a red Sharpie and then taped all along the outside of the curve. Then I cut several slices into the curve so I could easily fold the pieces back to cut my fabric:

It worked great and gave me just the bit of definition that I needed to slim out the look of this tunic. I've decided to call my new invention the Texas Curve. Try it! It worked great!

Vogue 1261: Alice + Olivia Tunic = Awesome

I zipped up two of these tops in no time. Adorable pattern. Buy it. Then save yourself...throw away the instructions before you do anything else! Forget all the paper and tape and ribbon for making seams. Who has time for that nonsense making some artsy seam? Cut both the front and back on the fold and get on down the road!

Another change I made was the on the neckline and the cowl. I cut the shirt out in a medium except for the neckline which I cut along the extra small size which enlarged the neckline about 1". The pattern has it a single layer cowl where the wrong side will show when laying at the neckline. Why? I widened the cowl about an inch to accommodate the larger neckline and then I lengthened the cowl about 2-1/2" and folded it in half before serging to the neckline. That way there is no wrong side of my fabric showing. I made both of these in a Medium and did not need my usual FBA. I also nipped a little bit in at the waist so it didn't look so sacky on me.

Thanksgiving Day Tunic

Inasmuch as we are putting the dressing together the day before I won't worry about getting the multitudinous ruching of these sleeves in with the cornbread dressing! This is a great Sandra Betzina Vogue (V1197) that was purchased solely with this awesome knit in mind that I bought from Vogue Fabric's booth at the International Quilt Festival earlier this month. It is the heaviest, most wonderfully drapey knit (I don't even know or care what the content is!) with a crosswise stripe that only concerned me for a moment; once I saw this great tunic pattern I knew it was made for my fabric!

This pattern had a really goofy J-shaped sleeve that only made sense once the elastic was sewed on it to create the ruching. I still don't know the reason for the J shape but it works when you wear it so... inquiring minds may not need to know this answer. But...take a look at this weird sleeve pattern:

One change I made, simply because I did not have enough fabric, was to only cut one cowl as opposed to two like the pattern suggests. Since the weight of my fabric was so heavy anyway, it worked out for the best. I simply folded the 1 cowl in half and serged to the neckline. I think a double layer of fabric on the cowl, with this fabric, would have been too heavy:

Love, love, LOVE it...will I make it again? ...probably. I'm a big believer of sticking with what I know and love.

To all of my PR, blogging and sewing friends: May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving filled with peace, love, good food, good times and gratitude for the community that brings all of us together...much love....dorcas

The Great Sleeve Experiment

I love McCall's 5752 which is one of Palmer/Pletsch's "Perfect Knit Dress" patterns. I think it is being phased out, if not actually out of print, since I couldn't find it in the stores and had to order it from McCall's. Or you might check the PP website at http://palmerpletsch.com. They are great about answering promptly.

So on this pattern views A&B have a shawl collar, wrapped bodice and capped sleeves. Views C&D have a deeper V necked wrapped bodice with long, set-in sleeves. I wanted version B with long sleeves. What to do? Change the wrapped bodice on version C to the shawl collar or add sleeves to version B? I choose to add sleeves to view B then and shorten it to tunic length and had pretty good results. Here is the pattern envelope:



I wanted the view on the left but with long sleeves!



To make the sleeve I simply placed the front and back pattern pieces together at the shoulder seam and drafted that shape for the top of the sleeve then used the sleeve from my sloper for the right length. I ended up with:



You can see a faint line down the sleeve indicating the
shoulder and notice the front "half" is narrower than the back.

I then decided the sleeves needed a little oomph so I marked 8" on each side of the sleeve at the wrist and sewed clear elastic, stretching as I sewed, to create some gathering. Here is a close up of that:

This is also a great pattern where the ruching in back view tends to fool the eye a bit! What woman wouldn't count that as a bonus!

I did my usual FBA and then the only other change I made to this pattern was to leave out the second waist stay in both front and back. When the gathered waist pieces were basted to the stays there was already more thickness in those areas than I wanted. I simply sewed wrong sides together of the gathered pieces and stays so that the right side of the stay shows inside my garment. I was happy with the changes that I made to this pattern and the end result. As usual, another winner for Pati Palmer!

New Look 6000...Channeling June Cleaver

I love this pattern! It's so retro...put on some pearls and you'll feel like baking cookies for Wally and the Beav... I wanted to sew View C with the tucks at the waist, but because I used a plaid woven rayon I decided to sew View E (yellow with polka dots on the pattern envelope) and add the collar.

Since this was such a cute plaid I decided to cut the cuffs on the bias like the collar. I think they would have been rather boring cut on the straight of grain. If you happen to choose a plaid for this pattern, don't take the time to match the plaid on the bias collar the way I did...I swear, sometimes my anal-retentativeness takes a lot of the fun out of sewing! The button selection was touch and go and after thinking I'd never find the perfect ones for the retro look I was going for they appeared.

I did my usual FBA, used an invisible zipper and lace at the hem. FYI after the FBA I ended up needing to take in the front vertical darts from the middle of the darts up towards the bust to achieve a more fitted look. Here is another view of the front:

The pattern instructs for a back vent rather than just a slit which is a nice detail. I recommend this pattern for a fun twist on a fitted sheath!

Can A Girl Have Too Many LBD's?

I think not! And now I also have a new TNT! McCall's 2401 fitted sheath is just that...a fabulous must have wardrobe builder. What a classic! I'm not sure how old or new this pattern is but I am certainly excited to add it to my arsenal as a tried and true "go to". This first go round I made view A with longs sleeves and a V neck. I used a Ponte Roma knit that was oh so yummy to work with. Altering for an FBA was easy peasy with this straightforward design.  I used my new Super Duper Sloper that I recently made using McCall's 2718 fitting shell pattern, hereinafter referred to as my SDS, for a glove like fit. (See my SDS next to the dress pattern below.) I cut, inserted an invisible zip, basted seams then serged. Voila...instant gratification from 2 yards of fabric! What's not to like?



My "laminated" sloper is on the right. Making the FBA on McCalls's 2401 was
much easier using my sloper for fitting measurements and comparisons.

I will make this pattern over and over again. How basic can you get? Imagine all the possibilities afforded in this one little envelope! I would imagine that I will ultimately "laminate" it with lightweight fusible interfacing like I did on my SDS. With the exception of Burda Style magazine I'm not much of a pattern tracer (boring and a not fun timewaster step in my opinion) so when I have a TNT it gets a lot of wear and tear. The laminating makes it last forever:



I ironed a lightweight fusible interfacing to my finished sloper pattern to add stability.

One change I do intend to make is to this dress is to undo the slit in the back and turn it into a vent. I just think it will take take the "classy" factor up a notch, a necessity since I'm wearing more fabulous jewelry from the Jodie Bell estate! If you don't have this pattern in your stash, get it!

Making a Sloper with McCall's 2718 Fitting Shell

It will be hard for anyone except me to appreciate the beauty of this project! But all of us who love to sew travel the never-ending road in search of the perfect fitting garment. Our weight fluctuates, we age, styles change, we fall in and out of love with our bodies and want to show off or camouflage them accordingly...all of these things come into play when it comes to fit. I've been studying Fit for Real People by Pati Palmer and Marta Alto and think it is the best approach for getting a great fit. I embarked upon the odyssey by purchasing the pattern they recommend to make a fitting shell from McCall's 2718, and followed both the book and the pattern directions to make my fitting shell and construct my sloper.

As they point out, very seldom, if ever, will we wear a garment as close-fitting as the fitting shell. It is virtually like a second skin, with a minimum of ease built in. Based on my upper bust measurement I used a size 12 pattern and modified as needed. The pattern comes with 5 different cup sizes for the bodice from A to DD. I needed the latter. The patterns that we purchase are based on a B cup size. I don't even think I had a B cup at birth...

Aside from grading the waist and hips out, the most significant things I learned from this process were that I need both a wide back adjustment as well as an erect back adjustment. The process is incredibly interesting as adjustments become noticeable based on the wrinkles formed.



The erect back adjustment can be seen as the horizontal tuck above the bodice darts.
Without the tuck a wrinkle formed there...very interesting discovery!



The pattern is first "tissue fitted" which is preparing the pattern with tape and pins and then it is literally "tried on" to see how we vary from the basic pattern size. After making paper adjustments a shell is cut from 1/4" gingham. Further fitting is done on the shell and then markings are transferred back to the paper pattern. This amended paper pattern is your body's "roadmap" and becomes a sloper that can then be compared to any fashion pattern taking the guesswork out of your sewing projects.  

The premise of this exercise is that skirt + bodice = dress. The skirt is easy enough to fit on your own but you will really need to enlist a friends help with the bodice. I didn't require any further alteration to the bodice front other than the cup size. Below is a picture of the bodice back showing the 1/2" broad back adjustment that I will make as well as the marking for the erect back adjustment.

The broad back adjustment is the vertical pleat marked with red dashes. The erect back adjustment is the horizontal red mark at the top of the back dart. It begins as a 1/4" pleat and tapers off to nothing toward the arm.

As Pati and Marta point out, depending on the amount of ease that your planned garment allows, some, none or all of the adjustments on your sloper will be used. Once you have made this ultra-close fitting shell from your sloper, anything with more ease will be a breeze. When complete I intend to bond fusible interfacing to my sloper so I will have a permanent pattern showing how my body differs from the standard patterns of the Big 4. I highly recommend this process as a way to get to know your body's roadmap and have more great fitting garments!