A Whole Lot of Sewing

I haven't been blogging but I have been sewing up a storm.

I've been putting a lot of thought into what pieces I really wear out of all the things I make.The answer is SPORTSWEAR. I love making and wearing casual suits.As well,I love dresses and in the summertime I wear sundresses a lot when it's hot.Last year I made three new sundresses so this year I want to make a couple of skirts which I also wear quite often at this time of year.

I had a whole lot of this navy and white pin-cord cotton and I decided to make a Sportswear Mini Swap.

I used these patterns and made three pieces.



The Vogue Designer pattern ,I admit,was a stretch for me as far as the style.I also knew that it probably wasn't right for my 5'4.5" chesty shape ,but I just loved it and had to make it.

The New Look pant pattern is a TNT and the same one I used for these. the New Look skirt is OOP and I thought perfect for varying the lay of the stripes.

I started with the pants and they were a joy to make. When I tried to top-stitch , the result looked like a series of crooked skipped stitches I guess because the stripes are so mini.Not to be deterred, I decided to use a zigzag stitch. After a bit of experimenting, I ended up feeding two threads into a 90/14 universal needle and a 2.5 wide and 2.5 long stitch.I really like the result.

I trimmed both the pockets and the hem with navy grosgrain ribbon. I wasn't sure about the hem but when I asked for my DH's opinion ,he said he liked it at the hem so I did but am not sure I like it.



The shirt I'm wearing with my cropped pants in this photo is a linen version of a Sandra Betzina shirt which she fitted for me at her workshop



Next up was the Vogue jacket.



I cut out a size 12 and added an inch to each side but didn't need it. I did my usual FBA and followed the instructions and had no problems. Again I used a zigzag top-stitch but I limited it to just a few places.The sleeve cuffs are really weird in this pattern but I resisted the urge to change them to a more ordinary look. I may change them yet. I'll wear it a few times before I decide.

I love big buttons and this jacket was a perfect chance to use them. These buttons are an inch and a quarter and I just couldn't bring myself to make the buttonholes. Instead I used snaps and just sewed the buttons to the right side of the jacket.






Since I want to wear this as much as possible into the summer months, I decided to line the jacket with cotton voile so it would be cooler. It isn't an ideal lining for a jacket as it's not slippery, but it's too late to turn back now.



I've made this skirt before in the longer length in a red striped stretch denim. I can't show it because my daughter has it in Ottawa.Anyway, I pictured an A-line skirt for this fabric and I also think I'll wear it more than I would a straight or pencil skirt in the casual life that I live.I lined it with a rayon lining mainly because I didn't have any voile left.



I'm showing my less-than-perfect invisible zipper here ( Carolyn if your reading this you are not alone). I've been using invisible zippers for a few years and I have this thing that if it's not completely invisible after two tries, I just leave it alone.



Here I am looking rather bedraggled (I just got my hair cut today and it's kind of flat)in my new sportswear.







If you want to see more, look here.

Gratitude of Attitude Award

Thank you to Ann of Ann's Fashion Studio
for sending me this award.

I have an attitude of gratitude because I have a very happy marriage and my husband and I are both healthy; my children and grandchildren are all healthy; as a retired teacher ,I have a great pension and the time to do whatever I like when I like;I have really good friends and my cup is full to the brim.In short I'm perfectly satisfied with my life!

I'm just leaving to go pick up my grandchildren for the weekend (another thing I'm grateful for) so I don't have time to pay this forward but I will as soon as I can.

Have a great weekend all and I hope you have time to sew!

My Daughter's Birthday Dress

June 7th is my daughter's birthday. It's one of those Big O birthdays. She's going to Las Vegas with her dad and some friends for the big day. We'll celebrate with a party when she comes home for a visit at the end of June.
I just went to the Post office to send her dress off and I just hope she gets it on time.
Tamara really loves knit dresses so we came up with View E of this pattern.



Neither one of us likes cap sleeves so I ended up making three versions before I came up with this length.





View E had a twisted band detail and I tried it in both plain black and with the self fabric. I wish I had thought of taking a picture. In any case ,it didn't do a thing for this dress. We decided I would go for simple and just leave the midriff plain.



The fabric is a poly/lycra and only took about two metres to make.The skirt had no back seam and the midriff isn't faced. That bothered me a bit and I almost decided to line it but then I thought the dress would be a lot cooler to wear if I just left it out.

This is a really easy pattern to make up,well if you don't make three versions of the sleeve that is. I would recommend it as a good project for those of you who would like to try working with knits but are a little leary.

I decided to post this project today because My DD doesn't check my blog out the way she use to so she probably won't see this and she'll still get a surprise when she opens her package.So here is the dress.

Final Pictures of Swap

Although I've already added a link to my post on the right side of my blog (I know there's probably a name for that part of a blog but...) I thought I'd post composites of my final choices.I just realized that at some point after taking these photos I changed the burgundy printed lycra top for the yellow geometric print top. Whoops!



Here ignore the burgundy print top at left.



On either end are my two extra pieces, the jacket to my little black suit
on the left and my bburgundy felted wool jacket. on the right.



Swap was a great experience and I'm glad to have participated and to have seen it through.

There has been an unexpected benefit as well. It has made me think about how much I really do wear (or in some cases don't wear ) what I make. It has made me realize that I want to concentrate on making special items from now on or at least to sew only garments that I'll be sure to enjoy.

I've added a section on the sidebar,if that's the right term,called

A Few of my Favorite Things.

The items you will see there are the clothes that I love and wear often. You can click on any one and see a few more shots of each piece.

I'd love to see others do this as well. I'd really be interested in seeing your favorite things.

One UFO Finished...Adri V2976

Just a quick post on this one.A couple of years ago, I bought this black and white herringbone (yes, herringbone again) linen and I made culottes. They didn't fit well and I just cast them aside and decided to make the jacket from this pattern:



Well, I started it but it was late August and I decided to leave it for spring (2008). Here it is spring 2009 and I decided it had to be done before I can go on to a new project. My new thing is to alternate one new garment with a UFO. So this is what Adri 2976 looks like.
The culottes have now morphed into wide legged cropped pants, by the way.






The fit isn't great (the jacket is snug across the bust ) and if my daughter likes it , she can have it. But,Tamara be forewarned that this is linen and although I washed and dried the fabric three times in hot water and hot dryer respectively a la Sandra Betzina, it is still quite wrinkly.



More pics here.

Adri Times Two

Does anyone else have this pattern?

I made this jacket last spring as a store display. I made it out of metallic linen and I loved it.



It is a great pattern for top-stitching and as you know, I love to top-stitch!



I also made the tank but out of a light cotton.



The pants are made from linen , They're cropped and I used an old favorite TNT.



Of course being linen, the outfit is very wrinkly but I love it anyway!



Now back to the present.The minute I had finished my Swap, I cut out and made this version of the same Adri jacket.




The fabric is a two-sided denim so what could be better? The collar and lapels have
only one layer and you turn the seam allowances to the outside. I used two spools of polyester thread for the top-stitching. I threaded one of my extra machines with the green thread and that made it very convenient.
Also, I wanted buttonholes instead of the loops, so I added an inch to both. front pieces at the centre line.

For the pants, I used this Pattern.

I had used this pattern for my grey Swap jeans and I knew they were a little big. I used View B and since I thought this style could stand to be a little roomier, I just cut the size C with no alterations and they fit perfectly!.



The back pockets were another Top-stitching Opp.The colour in this photo is terrible though.



I used the contrast side for the sides and the label is to cover up an"oops".



This is the kind of outfit that I love to wear and that will fit very well into my lifestyle.My husband and I are going to Vancouver next week and I'll be taking this with me.




More photos here.

Now on to a UFO, another Adri Pattern.

A Little Black Suit and Swap is Finished

Let the bells ring out and the banners fly! I can take the black thread off my sewing machine! I'm done! Presenting my little black suit:





I used Vogue8543 for both the jacket and the skirt(which I've already posted about here)


I changed the back of the jacket. I made a mock-up and I didn't like the peplum so I just elongated the upper back pieces and I like it much better this way.




The fabric is RPL and I find it difficult to press without a shine ,so instead of pressing the seams open, I top-stitched each side of the seam with buttonhole twist.I threaded a second machine with this thread so I could use it as needed.As you know, I love to top-stitch so this was fun.




I lined the jacket with the same polyester satin as I used for the blouse.





For this blouse I used a combo of two patterns .For the body I used Burda 3087 and for the tie and sleeves, Vogue 2912 and I shortened the sleeves to elbow length.







The blouse is my last top for Swap and the jacket is an "extra"

My Salute to the trends, A Geometric Top

It's been a while since I posted because I haven't been feeling well. I haven't even felt like sewing. Now my husband would say "You know she's sick if she doesn't feel like sewing".

In any case I have finished my Swap. However I'm still working on an "exra" piece . But I can post on this top View C:



I love this geometric print. It's 100% polyester and only took two hours to make.

The only changes I made to the original design was to pleat instead of gather the neckline both front and back as well as the sleeves at the shoulder and the neckband does not tie at the back as in the pattern. I could see no advantage to that.







The sleeves are elasticized at the elbow and the hem is double needled.I finished the seams on the serger and used a .5 width and 1.5 long zigzag stitch to sew the entire garment.




I'm going to use it as part of my Swap. The black and yellow will go well with my grey and black bottoms. Also , it will add a punch of colour and transition into spring. I'm so ready for warmer weather and brighter clothes.

My Swap is Almost Complete.

One more top, a shirt , and I'll be finished but I am also working on a black jacket that,together with my black Swap skirt will be part of a little black suit.It will be another extra.

In any case here is another version of Butterick 3030 this time in a slightly stretchy embroidered polyester.



I shaped the sides a bit at the waistline and added bust darts to get a better fit.I find that I can wear this one with or without a hipslung belt which is a look that I love.Oh and I also made it about 5" shorter than the pattern.A long tunic isn't flattering on my 5'4" and not exactly slim body.

I sewed the facings to the outside of the neckline and the cuffs. I used a plain matte satin which didn't want to cooperate so to get a nice neat edge where the topstitching is ,I used organza to face the facing.



Here you see the cuff sewn to the inside of the sleeve and the organza sewn to the edge of the cuff.




The cuff is pressed to the outside of the sleeve.






After pinning, I basted the cuff in place then topstitched.





Because it's white, I can wear this one to work so it fits in very well with the Swap rules.
So Voila! I'm wearing it here with my black skirt.