carrotflowers

muslin

Recently I appropriated a ton of free patterns via freecycle. I ended up re-freecycling over half, there were too many for a lifetime! I finally cracked open the envelope on one of them, this Butterick top. I love the one with the Mandarin collar and the kimono (or Dolman?) sleeves. So I started with a muslin and cut out the size 6. Making a muslin is a fantastic idea when you are working from an unfamiliar pattern or pattern company. For examply, by now I am pretty sure what size I need for burdastyle.com or a Machiko Kayaki pattern. In this case however, it’s a good thing I started with a muslin.

Three muslins later and I had altered the pattern, changing it so that rather than have separate facings, I extended the right and left front so that it could just fold over. I extended them just so that it would close comfortably as well, because it was too tight. I also had to narrow the darts.

It had been so long since I’d make a muslin - or sewn in general - that I remembered a couple of important things:

1. BASTE - use basting stitches when making a muslin so you can just rip it right the hell back out, easily.

2. Don’t trim the seams. :(   A couple of times I needed to rejoin pieces, after I’d already gotten carried away and trimmed the seams down. Blech.

p.s. in the lower right of the big photo - my new iron - I treated myself to a Rowenta. It just glides over fabric so smoothly

tutorial for wrap pants

These are way cool! Tute here.

free child’s skirt pattern at Oliver + S

A very simple pattern and I probably have one like it in my Ottobre stash, but I love to collect free patterns. Visit Oliver + S to get the free lazy days skirt pattern, which has a nice ribbon trim detail.

interior paint color gallery

I read about this, I think, on howaboutorange. The colors, children, the colors! Domino has a lovely gallery of inspiring interior colors to be viewed here. As I will be moving into a new home in a few months, I’m sure this sort of thing will soon become potently relevant.

tutorial for Reversible Shoulder Bag

Yet another bag tutorial. This one has a separate piece sewn on for the bottom, which is something I have not yet done. Otherwise resembles the tiny happy bag.

Made: top from Home Couture

My Kayaki top - how I love you so. Here is the second item I sewed from Machiko Kayaki’s Home Couture. I love it to bits and might wear it every day if I could. It’s not perfect, but it’s mine, damn it! I got to use fabric I bought, after love at first sight, and some super nice buttons from The Parker Button Store (to be found on Pittsburgh’s Carson Street).

I’d like to mention that right before I made this, I had read, and was heavily influenced by, Claire Shaeffer’s Couture Sewing. An Amazon reviewer declared that they learned more from this book than from many of your average How To type manuals. I might make a short post about it soon, because I agree. Anyway, having just read it, I ended up doing a lot of hand basting on this project. I made this before the JJ ruffle blouse, by the way - I know I mentioned doing it there too, but I started with this top.

Project Notes: Like the other 2 Kayaki patterns I have sewn, this was really easy to make, and even without knowing Japanese, I’d think a moderately experienced garment sewer could follow the great diagrams in the book.

Mistakes/Complications:

Notes for Next Time:

Made: ghost jacket from Ottobre 06/2007

I was not entirely happy with the end result of this project. I was so uninspired, in fact, I skipped the topstitching. I do, however, enjoy how my little guy looks like Little Lord Fauntleroy, or something.

Project Notes: I made the ghost jacket, minus the ghost, and the hood. The end result was a little odd, and maybe this was largely because it is just too large for my son. The lining peeps out of the sleeves and pockets, which is cute enough, but not intended. Sewing the sleeves was a nightmare. Although I was really looking forward to finishing this for the little guy, there wasn’t much payoff. I also rushed the buttons, just to get it on him and out the door that morning.

Mistakes/Complications: As I just said, the sleeve ends were a serious pain. The pattern itself is pretty simple though.

Notes for Next Time: Might be better off finishing the sleeve ends by hand?

Made: ottobre free bag pattern

This purse pattern is free from ottobre design. It is one of the nicest free patterns I have ever made. I only started sewing in September of 2007. Any time I had a question, I would ask my co-worker Linda. She always had an answer! I wanted to thank her with an apt gift- sewing something! Naturally, picking the fabric and then the rick rack was my favorite part. The pattern actually calls for velvet ribbon and a bow where I put the rick rack.

Project Notes: My friend made this bag as well. Now the pattern actually shows it made with polka dot fabric on the top half and for the handles as I made it. She however used a solid color for the top half. Her bottom half was made with Heather Bailey’s Freshcut, and she used the Freshcut for the top as well. she also skipped the ribbon but rather than substitute anything for it as I did, she embellished by adding a row of 3 lovely glass buttons in the center of the top half. The result is exceedingly lovely!

While it was not in the instructions, I interfaced the snap area (photo #2). What was in the instructions: basting the handles on first. Nice! Never did that before. It rules! I also used wonder tape to hold the handles in place as a pre-basting step. Niiiice. also not in the instructions - trimming the SA from joining the top to bottom. But this makes it way easier to attach the trim.

Mistakes/Complications: The fabric I used for the bottom half is a one way print. The instructions have you cut this piece on the fold, which meant after I cut it, I noticed that my birds were upside-down in the back! And this was after I spent several minutes carefully picking where to cut the pattern out for optimal placement of the fabric design! So, I had to cut the back piece separately, allowing extra fabric for an SA, and sew the back pieces together. I then used my new back piece, after joining it with the top, as the pattern piece for cutting out the lining.

Notes for Next Time: Pay attention, duhr : P

About the photo collage: I decided to document the steps of this project, because I thought it would be interesting.

1. The top half and botton half sewn together. My Janome Sewist in the background.
2. Sticking the outer back into the lining, RST
3. After pulling the outer out through the hole in the lining. Hopefully one remembered to lave a hole! But more often one has to cut a hole.
4. After shoving and poking and prodding the lining into place.
5. After ironing and topstitching! Yay!
6. Shot of the inside so you can see my pocket. All’s well that end’s well. And she loved her gift.

Made: variation of Jordy bag for my moms

I made my mom a charming handbag (that is the name of the pattern from Amy Karol’s Bend the Rules Sewing) for Christmas. Two months later she called me and gleefully told me it was all worn out and she needed a new bag. Now, lucky for her she had been calling me every once in a while since Christmas to hint about future features she would like in a new bag - dimensions, outer pocket, etc. So when she managed to “wear out” her Christmas gift, I already knew what to make.

It is a variation of the bag pattern from the Jordy tutorial on craftster. Here are a couple of photos and my notes.

Project Notes: I did not interface anything because the outer fabric was a home dec weight, from Amy Butler’s Forest line. What else to say? I was happy with the color/design combination of these fabrics.

Mistakes/Complications: My only ‘mistake’ was that I made the inner pocket too deep. I meant it to hold a cell phone but if you put a phone in there, chances are you would be digging it out! Oops.

Notes for Next Time: this is a pretty customizable design. Coming up with a flap would be cool. Embellishing with buttons or ribbon would be cute. And if no flap, then maybe some kind of ribbon closure or a button and loop closure would make a nice addition.

going back in time / Britex Fabrics

The next few posts are going to be me, going back in time, to discuss everything I’ve made since my very first post (pincushion) but did not write about. After all, amongst other things, the goal is to document and learn from the errors of my ways

Let me also just say, a couple of weeks ago I was in SF for the Web 2.0 Expo. It was at the Moscone West and very close to Britex Fabrics, which I had read about online. I’m sorry but I was not totally thrilled. Everything was quite expensive and I just expected a more extensive remnants section. However, where I live my resources are quite limited, so I picked up a pack of clover pins that I had read about on the purl soho website. And you know what, they are right, the pins in fabric do slide through like butter!