Vacation Clothes - Piece #1

In a couple of weeks, I will be going on vacation with my husband, so I thought I would try to make myself a few new things to take with me. I don't actually need a whole new wardrobe, but I need a few pieces to fill in the gaps in my current one. I'm planning on a couple of tops, a pair of black Bermuda shorts and a pair of white trousers.

Today I will show you the first top that I've completed, model #18 from Patrones #267, a top by Alberta Ferretti made in a sapphire blue satin:

Here is the line drawing for the top:

This top is fairly simple, and has a shape that I already know that I like and looks good on me. This is similar to the vintage dress I made a while ago, but if you look closely at the line drawing, you'll notice that the collar band does not go all the way around the top to center back. The back section has a facing instead.

I made the top as indicated in the pattern with the exception of the armhole facings. I was working with a remnant of satin that was less than one yard, so I did not have enough fabric for the armhole facings. What I did instead was to bind the armholes with bias strips. The bias strips also make for a less bulky finish than the facings. You can see the inside of one of the armholes below.

Overall, an easy top to make that can be worn with either the black bermudas or white trousers and a little tip in what to do if you're short a bit of fabric to make facings. Try to use bias facings instead - you could even use prepackaged binding or a contrast binding if you're really, really short on fabric.

Meanwhile, I've been sewing a lot. I'll be showing you various pieces this week. These are mainly children's clothes, as I've started on the warm weather portion of my daughter's school wardrobe and I've completed my niece's birthday gift, too.

Parting Shot: New Plants. These are my daughter's plants. Each child will be give their own space for a small garden/flower bed, plants and then will get to take care of the plants. My daughter chose flowers, while my son chose two tomato plants and a pepper plant. Tomorrow they get to clean out their space and put the plants into the ground.

Ride 'Em Cowboy - Shirt - Part VI

Back to Plan A

I've been stalled on REC for a while now because I haven't been able to figure out what I want to do with the rope in the background of the yokes and cuffs. It's a bit frustrating to go through idea after idea and each one not be "the right thing" or not be exactly the vision in your head. I went through this same problem with the appliqué flowers for Midnight Garden last fall. Once I figured out the right solution the project really started moving along.

Below, you can see some of the things I tried. At least I now know what I don't like and what won't work! I tried machine couching gold cord using various machine stitches, some various handstitches to imitate rope, and some hand couching of gold cord (not shown).


While I was pondering over all these samples, my son walked into the studio and wanted to know if I had figured out what I was going to do. I showed him the samples, the actual yokes and the drawings. He then wanted to know what it would really look like. We then spent quite a bit of time pinning samples together and then trying the yokes on and looking the mirror to see what he thought. It actually was fun to work with him. He was very interested in the design process as he knows this project is for him. Some of the questions he asked were quite interesting. He wanted to know how closely the judges would look at the garment and if he were wearing the ensemble in a fashion show how close the judges would be sitting to the catwalk.

Including him in the design process actually led me to what I think is going to work. Right away he was very clear as to what he didn't like and what he did like. In the end, after seeing all the samples, we both agreed that the rope should be hand embroidered in the chain stitch with metallic gold thread. I'm actually happy about that. I really didn't want to give up the chain stitch, as it is a nod to the chainstitch machine embroidery done by many western clothing artisans.

We also discovered that there wasn't enough room on the yoke for more than one star. I redrew the artwork for the front yoke, as you can see below. The outline of the pattern piece is the exact design area I have to work in. I reworked the rope to better fit the space and cleaned up the whole design.

Next week, I think I can really get to work on the appliqué and embroidery!

Parting Shot: Men's Vintage. For some reason, I seem hooked on vintage western or cowboy patterns just as much as I'm hooked on 50's cocktail dress and evening gown patterns. Here's my latest one. I've never seen this one before - it has a laced up front opening rather than a full length placket with buttons or snaps. I got it for a great price from eBay seller "oncillakat". I've bought from her before, she's an excellent seller and she always has interesting patterns.

The Great Coat Sew Along

Fitting #2

I found a little time this week to work on fitting my coat and so I present to you the photos from the second fitting session:


For this round of fitting, I concentrated mainly on lengths and proportions. First, I put the waist in the proper place. I am short-waisted, and although I liked the length, the waist was not in the right place. It would have been very easy just to over look this small thing and leave it.alone as the coat is not tight fitting and very many people probably would not notice such a thing. It does matter, and although you might not be able to see the difference from the pictures, I can feel the difference wearing the garment. I raised the waist 1 1/2", so I let out the hem so that the coat would be the same length as before. When I acutally cut out the coat, I will fold that amount out of the pattern piece and add that amount to the bottom.

Second, I worked on the sleeves. Obviously, they were too long. I left one of the sleeves the way it originally was drafted and made the alterations on the second sleeve. To determine proper fit through the shoulders, both sleeves need to be in the coat, so I didn't see any reason to remove the one sleeve I already had in. As you can see from the photos, it looks like I shortened the sleeve in two places, rather than one. In reality, I shortened it by 2" in three places. Let me explain.

If I would have shortened it all at the top or lower portion, the cuff is so wide that it would have come half way up my forearm. I don't think this was the intended design. What I did was to first make the cuff portion shorter by 1/2" - this also helps to get the cuff into a better proportion for my overall size. I then shortened the sleeve by 3/4" above and below the elbow. This was easy, because there are two lines on the pattern for lengthening/shortening on each sleeve piece. The first one is above the number "10" and the second one is about 1" below the point of the grainline arrow tip.

Lastly, I worked on getting the collar and lapel proportions better for my size. I started by marking lines on the muslin to indicate how much I was removing. I am only removing fabric from the edges, tapering back to the original lines at the seam lines.

I ended up taking out a little more on the collar than on the lapel as you can see from below. Overall, I'm not removing much, but sometimes just a little bit makes a big difference! The key is to take a little at a time until you're satisfied with the proportions. I realize it is hard to see as there is not much contrast in the photos above, but the left side of the photo (my right) has the original sleeve and collar, the right side of the photo (my left) has the smaller sleeve and collar.

I have one more fitting session to do, as I need to deal with the wrinkled back shoulder area. I've seen those wrinkles before in other garments, so I will work on them next week!

Parting Shot: Studio Helper. Now that she's old enough (and that I'm making an entire new mix and match school wardrobe this summer) my daughter gets to help out by cutting all the patterns out of the tissue paper. This saves me a considerable amount of time, and also teaches her a little bit about patterns and pattern pieces.

Ooops! I Forgot . . .

I forgot one thing I wanted to show you concerning my husband's striped shirt. I was reminded of this from a comment by AJ, "I'd like to know what you did with the edges inside, overlocked? french seams? flat felled? And what happened with whatever you did when you got to the vent!?"

Thank you, AJ, it felt like I had forgotten something in yesterday's post, but couldn't remember everything I wanted to say with what was going on around me while I was trying to post!

Here's the inside of the vent:

For the shoulder seams, I used a french seam, but for the side seams I had to do something different. Because of the side vents, using a felled seam or a french seam wouldn't quite work without some clipping and exposed little raw edges. I decided on the solution shown above. The side/sleeve seam was stitched with the pieces right sides together, as for a normal seam. The seam allowances were pressed open and each seam allowance was turned under and topstitched down to the garment. This allowed me to make the side vents continuously from the side seam without any clipping or exposed edges. On the outside, there is a row of topstitching on either side of the seam, which is not distracting or unusual at all. The result is that both sides look neat and tidy.

Thank you all for the positive comments on my projects recently! I've been very busy as I am not working any more. That means I have more time to spend with my children, clean and organize my house and of course, sew, sew, sew!

Parting Shot: Wanted: Sunshine. If we had some sunshine, we might have more lilies - we have plenty of buds!

Weekly Wardrobe

Shirt V. 2.0, Burda 7767

This week's wardrobe item is another shirt for my husband. After the first shirt, we discussed some changes for the second shirt:

• Side vents at the hem. The hem is already straight which means it can be worn tuck in or out of the trousers, but he wanted the side vents.
  
• Buttonholes on the button down collar moved closer to the point. On the first shirt, I made them as per the pattern and they weren't quite right for him.
• Raise the top button and respace the other buttons. For some reason, he doesn't like the placement of the top button and wants it higher.
  
• Lengthen the shirt by 1". We shortened the first shirt by 2" but he realized that was too much, so I cut this one only 1" shorter than the original.
• Cuff circumference smaller. Because this is the largest size shirt in the pattern, everything is very large. The problem is that my husband is very broad through the chest and shoulders, but doesn't have large wrists or long arms to match. We decided to take make the cuff smaller by 1 1/2" and either add an additional pleat to the sleeve or adjust the current pleats. For his first shirt, I actually took off the cuffs, shortened them and put them back on. Not fun, but it fits and looks better.

Here are some of the details of this shirt:

The yokes, cuffs and sleeve plackets are cut on the bias, just for fun:

I am much happier with the sleeve plackets this time. I followed the instructions in the Reader's Digest Guide to Sewing that I mentioned last week, and they turned out nicely. The sleeve plackets are like any other technique in sewing: careful sewing and practice will turn out a good product. The inside of the placket is shown below, and while not exactly perfect, it is neatly finished.

Hem vents:

He's happy with the shirt, although he says he'll most likely wear it with denim pants. I'm glad he didn't wear it to work today because I didn't get a chance to photograph it until today, and what's a post without pictures?

Parting Shot: Bubbles! Summer is here and one of the fun things the children get to do outside is play with bubbles.

Ride 'Em Cowboy - Shirt - Part V

Preparing for Embroidery and Applique

Now that the cuffs and the front/back yoke are quilted and assembled, I can start the embellishments. Since portions of the applique overlap sections of the embroidery, I need to work on both at the same time.

First, the pieces must be marked with the stitching lines for the embroidery. I use tracing paper and a wheel to transfer the pattern. For the front yoke and the cuffs, the lines must be mirror imaged so that each side is a reflection of the other. To do this, I outline the design in marker. This allows me to see the design clearly from the other side of the paper when flipping it over to mark the other yoke.

Once the stitching lines are traced, I go back over the lines with a water soluble marking pencil to darken them and clean up any lines that didn't get traced well.

You can see below that I've started a little embroidery. I'm three stitches into this and I'm not sure that I like it. Now that I actually see it on the "plaid" background, I actually don't like the chainstitch. I think it competes or fights with it. I like the background quilting, I like the chainstitch, but I do not like effect together. These yokes are very small and to have so many shapes and so much texture in one place is a bit much. I have an alternative idea to try, so I'll do a sample of that and see what I think.

Not all ideas are good ones - even if they look in a sample! Always have another idea (or two or three or four!) to use if the first one doesn't work out.

At any rate, I can't actually do the embroidery until the appliqué pieces are done. I don't want to put an appliqué over the embroidery as it is too bulky underneath. I suppose I ought to go and make some stars to appliqué!

Parting Shot: Last Purple Button. This is the last purple button I'll make for a while. I'm kind of tired of purple and want to move on to some other ideas I have.

Daily Window #2

Here's my Daily Window card without and with the bag:


For the second bag, I chose the red "lunchbox" style bag. It is the only red bag they offer, as most of the bags are black. You know I had to have the red one!

I've had the fabric for the front of the card for quite some time now. I only had a fat quarter's worth, but I liked it so much that I put it at the front of the clear storage box of quilting cottons that is on the top shelf of my closet so that I could see it when I look in the closet. (The fabrics are arranged according to the spectrum, and well, red just happens to be first in all the boxes!)

I really like the large grouping of flowers and decided not to add any silk flowers to them, like I've done with the yellow card. The stitching is one of the specialty machine stitches programmed into my machine; it looks like a honeycomb. It is stitched using Superior Thread's Glitter in the color gold. The narrow bands of stitching are the actual pattern, the wider bands are two rows of patern stitched side by side.

The lighter flowers in the center in have a little thread painting in red. All the flowers have been enhanced with a little beading using the original artwork as a guideline for bead placement.

Out of all the cards I've made over the last year, this is my favorite!

Parting Shot: Lilies. The Stella D'oro lilies are now blooming. I like the contrast of the sunny yellow against our light blue house.

Ride 'Em Cowboy - Shirt - Part IV

Lining Up the Quilting at the Shoulder Seams

I like working with plaids and stripes and love to see garments where are the stripes are matched perfectly. I realize that there are seams where things won't line up, such as princess seams, but a neatly matched garment is really nice to see. The challenge in working with quilted garments with geometric quilting is that you don't have the lines on the fabric to start with! It can be more challenging to create the lines and then line up the lines. Many people ask me how I get those lines to match exactly, so today, I'll show you how I do it.

I always quilt the largest piece first, in most cases it is the back. I then will work on the fronts or the adjoining two pieces. To prepare the adjoining pieces, I first will layer the top, batting and backing and then trace the pattern piece onto the fabric:

I then will trim off the excess fabric around the seam to be joined - not the seam allowance, just all the extra fabric.

The unquilted piece and the quilted piece are then pinned together along the joining seam, stitched and the seam is pressed open.

Once the seam is pressed open, from the right side you can see all the quilted lines on one side and the unquilted fabric on the other. Once again, I use my handy friend, the protractor to determine where the new stitching lines will be drawn. I place the bottom of the protractor on the seam line where a line of stitching on the quilted side ends and the 90 degree mark on the seamline. In the case, the previous line was at 65 degrees, which means that the new line must also be at 65 degrees to create a perfect match or mirror image. Once the first line is drawn, all the others are drawn in for one direction.

As for the back yoke, all of the single needle and double needle lines are stitched in one direction. I then use the protractor to draw the lines in the other direction, and then the lines are stitched. The lines start exactly on the seam line and end beyond the outline of the piece. This means that there will be thread ends to pull through and tie off along the seamline. It can be a bit tedious to do so, but the finished piece will look perfect.

Once the entire piece is quilted and the threads pulled through and tied off, the pattern piece is retraced to make sure that it is the correct size.

Once I've stitched around the traced lines, I trim off the excess fabric like I've described in the last REC post. After completing the second side to match the first, this is what I have:

Both yokes are quilted, and ready for more embellishing. There is a gap there on the right side of the neck - I had to adjust a bit where the pattern piece was so that the quilting on the fronts was symmetrical. It is not a problem, as the gap is within the seam allowance and I still have plenty of seam allowance for stitching on the collar.

Below is a close-up of the completed stitching, taken without the flash so you can see how it is perfectly lined up.

Parting Shot: More Fabric. With the exception of the large pink floral and pink stripe, this is part of the fabric for my daughter's school wardrobe. I need to get started on this now, as I will be gone on vacation for 3 1/2 weeks in the next two months and if I don't start now, she won't have clothes to wear to school at the end of August! I am making her a SWAP style wardrobe and will be getting rid of quite a bit of her current school wardrobe.

The Great Coat Sew Along

Muslin - Fitting #1

I cut out and sewed this muslin up exactly as the pattern is, resisting the urge to make my usual petite adjustments at the waist and on the sleeves. I am wearing over a red sweater, which is typical of the sweaters I'd be wearing the coat over in the winter. I did trim the seam allowance off the of the front edge, lapel and collar. I didn't stitch and turn under the seam allowance at the armscye (sorry Marji!). Here it is, without sleeves, the muslin for Vogue 2873 in a size 10; front, back, side:



I also tried one of the shoulder pads in the armhole to see if it would fit:

I then made up a sleeve, inserted it and the shoulder pad and ended up with these results:


Overall, it isn't too bad. I know I will need to make the following adjustments, at the very least:

• Shorten the length between shoulder and waist by about 2" to get the waist in the right place. I like the original length, so I will add the length back at the hem to keep the hem where it is.
• Shorten the sleeves by about 1", maybe a little more. I intend to take some of this amount out of the sleeves and some out of the cuff. The reason for this is that the cuffs seam a bit deep and out of proportion for my overall size. I'm a petite, and I have to watch the proportions.
• Make the collar and lapel a bit smaller, again due to my size and overall proportions.
• Possible back armhole/shoulder slope adjustment. There is a wrinkle back there that was worse after I put in the sleeve. I've seen the same wrinkle on other muslins that I've made.
  

Design-wise, you'll notice that I left off the flaps for the faux welt pockets. I am going to be using inseam pockets on the side seams instead. There are three reasons for this: I must have usable pockets, I'm short waisted so having those two flaps on the front is overkill for me, and I'm using a wool plaid fabric, which speaks for itself without any need of extra design detail.

I'll be working on this a little bit over the next week and by the end of next week, should have all the pattern adjustments made. I'll also try to get my fabric pretreated, and buy and treat the underlining and lining, too.

Parting Shot: Little Red Flowers. These little red flowers are blooming in my flower beds now, aren't they cute?