A few more projects to share - slowly catching up.

Once again, it has been too long in between blog posts. I have returned to full-time work - but it is a little less crazy than at the start of the year so I think I am keeping my sanity. Sewing helps with this, but I am not the type of person to sew when I am busy.

This dress is my latest version of the Skater style dress (but using a pattern that I had in the stash). The pattern is Kwik Sew 3472. I ended up tracing a new pattern after sewing my last dress because the last dress was basically hacked there were many adjustments I needed to make. I traced a smaller sized bodice, reduced the length of the bodice and lower hem by 5cm each and my my regular sloping shoulders adjustment.

The fabric is a crinkle knit that I bought at a designer fabric sale last year. The neckline looks crooked because the crinkle unfolds after you cut it and the hem in raw because I needed to cut it straight. When I took pictures, the hemline is not so bad after all, the neckline I can live with. I had to make a knit slip to wear under this as it is a little on the sheer side. I used the pattern pieces as a guide and kind of winged it and it worked out. The edges are finished with picot elastic.

Next up are black wool pants. A bought this great herringbone weave black wool at my local Bargain Box store for a song. The pattern is from a Burda Easy Fashion magazine. I made adjustments years ago before having a pants block done and made some in a navy/black wool. They are always so comfortable and hang nice so I thought I would make it up again, even though I have the same pattern traced up and adjusted with the pants block. Somehow my adjustments work better.

I know skinny pants are the thing, but I just love the cut of bootleg pants.

Just chucking this picture in here, because I use this blog and refer to previous makes when I am sewing new things. I bought this sweater knit fabric at the designer fabric sale last year and it is lovely. However, it is very much like a hand knit and just horrible to cut up and sew. I had to overlock all the edges before I sewed them together. There was distortion and the whole thing just annoyed me. On top of it, the neckline became super stretchy and the cuffs where lumpy. 

I made this months ago and the other week I decided to give it a shot and wear it to work. It is actually quite snuggly and the neckline eventually stretches out at the back as well as the front so it doesn't look as bad as when you first put it on. There is no way I am refashioning it due to its unstableness, but I will be worn at least around the house. The patterns is Kwik Sew 2874 version A with version C neckline.

Lastly we have the outfit I entered in the local show in May. There was a casual wear category this year, right up my ally, so I made a tee and some jeans.

The t-shirt is Burda's gathered sleeve raglan from issue 2/13 (# 127), which I have made before. The jeans are Jalie of course, I think this is my fifth version of the pattern. Like last year's pair, I straightened the leg seam.

I really like the cut of the Burda shirt. I did have another top that I planned to enter in with the jeans which had seam details the went with the semi-circle topstitching, but it did not sit well on my body.

I spent ages topstiching with my old Princess machine, which inspired my Mother's Day gift of a Singer 99 with hand crank.

I still have a pair of pants, a dress and three tops to photograph at least. No doubt they will make it onto the blog at some stage in the future. Thanks for reading.

Snuggly blue jumper

 

I am still waiting for Winter to hit my city - I am such a wimp with the cold and require at least a coat by this time of year. I thought something new to wear to work would lift me out of my -the-holidays-are-too-short-I-don't-want-to-go-back-to-work mood I was in. Not sure if it was the new jumper or not, but I was actually happy and maybe a little bit excited about returning to work. I do actually enjoy teaching (love kids learning), just not the rush around in the morning and afternoon, preparing meals etc. And the commute.

 

 

My new jumper is a repeat of Jalie 2449, which I made last year. I used all of the same modications with the neckband as last time, as it really sits nicely at the back.

The fabric is a blue marle knit from Darn Cheap Fabrics online store (which has very exxy postage). And like my Jalie 2449 outfit from last year, this is a completely Jalie outfit again. Love those patterns

Good sewing day, bad sewing day

Thursday was a good sewing day. After shopping for groceries, I devoted the day to sewing some pants. Normally I get a bit distracted when sewing for any longer length of time and will usually finish a pants project over 2 or 3 days. I kept going at these since I want to increase my sewing production, and have other projects I want to get onto.

 

The pattern is Jalie 2909. I have made this pattern several times but always as shorts, never actual pants. Like the jeans, I folded out a little of the flare to make the legs more straight. 2.5cm each side seam, so a total of 10cm of flare is removed from each leg. The pattern uses a stretch woven pattern. I did add some length to the back crotch length as per usual (based on my pants block) but obviously the block doesn't translate as well. I will continue to make these pants as they are uber comfortable, maybe just trying different alterations each time. I just need to find some more bengaline. This stuff is so lovely.

I used a charcoal grey cotton/nylon/lycra bengaline, purchased from The Fabric Store in January of last year. There is a slight woven stripe running down the length of the pants. Like the Jalie jeans I just finished, I used a curved waistband borrowed from a Burda pants pattern. Before topstitching around the waistband, I quickly basted the inner band so that it is very neat on the inside.

 

Saturday was not a great sewing day. I was going great guns when I realised I had made a boo boo and had traced a pattern 2 sizes two big (bad memory - I thought my last My Image pattern was one size larger than my burda pattern, turns out it is actually one size less). The underbust seam is close to my waist and it is huge. And there is not way of fixing it at the moment. 

Jalie jeans - finally something to show

It has been awhile since I sewed some jeans. Not counting some shorts made with the same pattern, I haven't made jeans since June 2011. It has also been a long time since I used my fabulous blue HG Palmer Princess sewing machine, aquired for the sole purpose of sewing through the thick layers of denim. So long that I had forgotten how to thread the thing and spent a good hour trying to get it to sew nice. Turned out I was threading it fine, but had put the needle in the wrong way.

 

This time around, I made a few changes. First, I straighted the leg. I just folded out the flare from the knees down. The other change was using a curved waistband and a contrast fabric for the inner waistband to reduce bulk. I used a waistband from a Burda pattern - I measured the flat pattern at the stitch line and only had to reduce 1cm from the centre back to fit correctly.

I have a heap of back pockets saved on my computer and this one looked the easiest. I made a template on some paper first and used a plate to make the curved lines. Then I just drew the lines on the pockets with chalk. I did forgot to edgestitch the top of the pocket before I sewed it onto the jeans.

When I make myself another pair, I plan to make the seam allowances wider. The only time I had trouble with the princess was when sewing through just 1 layer of denim (when topstitching the second row, it was just outside of the seam allowance and thus 1 layer only). The thread would break over and over. Yet it never broke at any other stage. This machine lives for sewing through layers. The most layers it achieved was when sewing on the belt loops. The loops are 3 layers, but then they are folded over so that is 6. Add the 4 layers of the waistband with the seam. that is 10 laters of fabric. The jeans only just fit under the presser foot too.

 

Work has been a lot more stressful than I could have imagined. Weekends have been usy and I have spent too much time surfing the net, looking at everyone's wonderful projects and feeling inadequate with my creative output. I did not feel like blogging about my simple knit fabric projects which were staggeringly easy but all I could manage.

 

After spending the first couple of days of my break feeling down in the dumps, I decided to do what I love, even if it not the latest pattern or fabric. I love sewing, I dress for comfort and this is my chance to get out of the rut I am in. I finished these jeans and another dress and have taken photos and I am now feeling very enthused, relaxed and refreshed.

Sewing nemesis: curved waistbands

 

Do other people have a sewing nemesis? I am sure I have a few but the one on my mind is a curved waistband. It doesn't matter how many times I have sewn one, I am always left thinking I could have done a better job. Generally it is lumpy bits where the seams intersect or the waistband facing seems to grow in some places.

 

 

 

 I have sewn up yet another hybrid Jalie 2805/2806 tee in a Crafty Mamas printed cotton lycra (purple colourway) and Burda #120 10/05 altered with my pants block and shortened to above knee length. This time in a gorgeous charcoal linen fabric that I bought at a nearby fabric sale.

 

 This is the best backview I have had. The only wrinkles of from the linen itself.

 For the waistband, I actually followed most of the directions from Tany's excellent blog.  This involved reading the instructions rather than just scanning the pictures. Of course, my waistband is slightly different, but it is mainly the seam technique. I actually trimmed the seam allowance before applying a some bias binding (voile fabric instead of bias organza). Now normally my edge is either flush with the seam but lumpy at the side seams (as I fold the seam allowances of the facing under) or it is a little wonky as some parts of the facing hang a little longer (for reasons unknown to me). Using a thinner fabric to bind the edge has reduced the lumps somewhat (next time I also need to remember to clip the corners more before overlocking) and since I pinned the facing to the seam edge, the facing is even for once.

 Pictures always look better when my daughter is with me.

A typical day at school



 

 

A typical day at work during the summer is me wearing a pair of Jalie 2909 with a light cotton top or tee. I like the pants cut to knee level. This is my latest pair, in a navy bengaline. I can't think of anything navy that I have sewn, probably because I had a navy uniform at school. I am not so troubled by navy at the moment, and these might actually go with the new staff polo shirt as well. 

 
We were playing hangman as a lead in to the book I was about to read. I think I have played hangman twice this year, I record for me! And yes, that is a blackboard. The school has invested in interactive whiteboards (and I have an interactive screen in this spare room) but sadly, I pretty much get chalk dust on me everytime I work. There are only so many things you can show on the interactive screen.

Red tee and face.



Who doesn't love reading sewing blogs that have fabulous photos. Carolyn's blog is so wonderful for this. So inspirational. Every now and then, I decide to take a photo somewhere in the yard to try to make something a little more interesting. You know, something other than standing in front of a brick wall. Spots are very limited because my husband and I are not gardeners. He hates trees and I can't keep plants alive when I try.

 

Today, like many other days, it did not work out. I thought that I would go out near our mango tree but realised as I was halfway down there that my neighbours are making the most of the breeze and sitting out on their deck. There is no way that I can take photos of myself, by myself when they are there.

 

So I go out the front and take a few photos. After a while, I realise that the people up the road are out on their deck taking turns to look my way. While they may or may not be looking at me, I am just paralysed. And my facce turns red Luckily I can count on my daughter to come out and take some photos with me so I don't feel so bashful.

 

 



 I made up Jalie 2905 (with the scooped neckline from 2906 - I think that is right) in a red cotton lycra on Friday. Felt great to be sewing again since I had been struck down with a vertigo causing virus that left me couch/bed bound for days (oh, and I should be marking tests and writing reports too!)

I had been wanting to try a twist neckline for sometime. Not sure if it looks twisted enough so that it looks like a deliberate design features, rather than being a poor seamstress! It will still be worn - I have been wearing it today at my daughter's school fete.

Shirts - fine at the front, funky at the back

You know, this is the first time I have ever made a long sleeve shirt. The few short sleeve shirts get worn regularly to work but I have always made long sleeve or 3/4 sleeve knits tops since they work better with layers.

This shirt is #109 from Burda 9/2005. I know, another old pattern. I have tried to warm up to new Burda patterns but they leave me cold a lot of the time. Plus I have a collection from 2005 at home ready to use all the time. So much easier that going to the library to borrow out newer copies. I chose the pattern because of the tucks and the shirt collar that is drafted ever so slightly off to the side so that the collar is not meant to button all the way up. Not a huge fan of the curved hem though but too lazy to change that this time around.

 I was surprised with the tucks - I thought they were pintucks but the pattern has you topstich 7mm away from the fold, so that is about 1.4cm per tuck. I thought that was yuge and the tucks would stick out but with a good steam press they sit beautifully. The blouse ends up extremely close fitting, so much that I had to let the sides out a little. In the future, I would only make the tucks this big if I was using a stretch woven. Otherwise it will be pintucks all the way.

 The back looks terrible. I am pretty sure it is because it is probably too tight on me. The fabric above the tucks just puffs out. See it - yick. I will have to make the pattern again to see if making it with a little more ease will take care of the puff or whether the tucks make it do that.

 My favourite part was how crisp the front band looks. The collarband is not sewn perfect since it was really hard to see the white thread on the white interfacing. As usual, I followed Gigi's instructions. Well, without the topstitching.

 I used those intructions for the cuffs as well, though I handsewed inside.

I thought I would link in Sherry tutorial page - I used quite a few on them on my shirt (turn of cloth, continuous bound sleeve placket, block fusing,


When I saw that Suzy has the same problem as me with pooling in the back waist that a sway back does not solve, for some reason I thought I would give it another shot, using Sherry's easy way. When I hitch up my shirts at the back shoulders, it seems to work. Anway, I needed another white top for the cooler weather.

 This is a cross of Jalie 2805 and 2806 - a scooped neck without gathers and with 3/4 sleeves.

See the wrinkles again in the back - this is with the sway back adjustment of about 12mm. It does not bother me too much, but if anyone has any ideas, I am keen to hear from you.

Tees, tees, lots of tees

A quick read around sewing blogs and you will meet many people that dislike sewing the same patterns. There are too many patterns to try apparently. Then there are others who make their TNT over many times, or are trying to, with clever variations to mix it up a little.

As I was sewing this tops,  I wondered if there were others that were like me. I sew up four very similar tops and enjoy it. I don't try to vary them too much, and I don't find it boring at all. I just enjoy sewing them without having to think to much. Am I alone, a little nigel no-friends of people who like to sew things like this?

I needed a new white tee and decided to use Jalie 2805. i have only just gotten this pattern - I thought it was time to trade in the old tee TNT for a new one. Thing is, the Jalie is virtually the same as my old Kwik Sew pattern, only a lot longer. Fabric is a delish cotton lycra.

This is Jalie 2806. I picked out the cream with brown scribbles fabric (a rayon elastane) because it was there and I could use the white thread that was in the overlocker from the white tee. I went with the 3/4 length sleeves as not to have fabric go to waste.  As soon as I tried this on, I was in love. This is my new fave tee pattern. I am surprised  I like the scoopneck as much as I do. It is not a wide scoop, I think that is why I like it so much.

Jalie 2806 again, this time in a bright yellow cotton lycra. And the other view - with the gathers folded over. I discovered the sleeves for 2805 fit onto the 2806, how lovely. I will have to check out whether they are the same for 2804. I don't have any other Jalie tops.

Last one is actually a black and white stripe that sent my eyes funny when I was cutting it out. I guess it is tricking the camera now. This is actually 2805 but with the scoopneck shape from 2806. I loved the neckline so much.

Jalie 2908 - shorts length in cream

There was a gap in my wardrobe for a pair of cream/stone coloured shorts. I decided to make the Jalie jeans pattern again when I found a stretch brushed cotton twill fabric at a local fabric store.

This is the third time I have made this pattern. However, I still learn things each time I make it. I guess it really depends on the thickness and stretchiness of individual fabrics. This cream fabric was super stretchy and really thick. Even princess struggled through topstitching the corner of the waistband. Thankfully I have found a tutorial for a different waistband method, so I will try to remember to use it (it is from page 31 of the Jeans sew along on Pattern review)

.

As I was sewing these up, I thought they might end up in the bin. Everything was going wrong. I had topstitching problems (turns out I had the needle in wrong, whoops). I had cut out part of the Jalie 2909 pattern and I had to re-cut. The thick layers of fabric wouldn't fit under princess's presser feet (I found that if I dropped the feed dogs, I had a enough room to manipulate the seam into place before raising the feed dogs again). And the dramas of topstitching on a machine who's straight stitch is left of centre. I ended up using a rolled hem foot that I bought from eBay for topstitching, because it gave me a good reference.

I wasn't particularly happy with the topstitching on the pockets, but I think I got better as I went along. Being super stretchy, I had to reduce the width of the pants - they were a little too baggy with too many wrinkles at the back. The good news was I just took the side seams in another 5mm. The shorts are really comfortable, easy to move in and will be perfect for work (check out my method for whipping children into shape)

Hmm, the only thing wrong with the super stretchy fabric combine with Jalie's instruction of sewing the leg seams is there is a mighty big camel toe happening down there. Oh dear!

Yes, I just put a photo of myself with a camel toe on the web.

More Jalie jeans

I have finally finished my second pair of Jalie jeans. I truly thought this pair would be easier. I had one pair under my belt and hadn't had any problems with them, so why would I think there would be a problem this time around. Turns out there were going to be numerous issues and annoyances crop up.

See, I used a much thicker and stretchier fabric that my last pair. I could not locate any jeans needles anywhere locally, so I went ahead a used a regular size 16 needle. Worked fine for the regular thread, but my machine had a fit when I had to topstitch with the topstitch thread.

And the waistband totally stretched out when I sewed it. This wouldn't have mattered so much if I had sewn on the belt loops. But in my wisdom, I had left them off thinking my needle/machine would not be able to cope with so many layers at once. So the stretched out waistband was a total disaster. And I had no more fabric to recut the waistband.

Lucky for the jeans, my stubborn streak kicked in and I spent an evening unpicking, pressing, adding some interfacing at the top edge and re-attaching the annoying piece. I ended up topstitching the seam where it is attached at the waist with regular thread and the buttonhole is in the navy thread as well. The other three sides of the waistband is the the topstitch thread. I figure no one is really going to notice and anyway, who cares.
I tried to come up with a really cool picture for the back pockets, something like Mary Nanna's here or here or this amazing design from 21Wale, but I don't want to be a copycat and I can't draw, so I just went for some not so random lines. It took me a whole morning to come up with what I wanted, how sad is that.

Look Mum, these are not real jeans. I actually made them, check out the mistakes.

They are super comfortable and I think will be in high rotation this month. Although I am hoping to churn out a few more things before the Me Made Month is over. This is a long weekend without any out-of-home plans and there is only two more weeks of school before the holidays. I really want some more pants and maybe some more tees and jumpers.

It made sense at the time...

Last weekend I decided I should make some more cropped pants for work. I had a couple of cuts that would work with Jalie 2909. I picked the black to start first. With only a few pattern pieces, and no extras, the pants went together quickly. Now I could have cut out and sewn a red pair (or kept working on the coat that I am in the middle of) but I thought that I would cut out a deep purple jumper.

You know, a jumper. Those things you wear in cool weather. It made sense at the time, something quick to whip up while the overlocker thread was the right colour. I would eventually get around to wearing it. I just wasn't thinking that I would need to snap some shots for the blog. Just wasn't thinking it was going to be the hottest day of the week when I finally had some time to take a photo.

The pattern is Kwik Sew 742, found in an op shop years ago when I was obsessed with collecting KS patterns.

I made the jumper at the end of the week and by this time I had totally forgotten about cropped pants for work and was thinking about cool weather sewing. So yesterday I made two tops that I can layer under jumpers or wear on their own when the weather is cool but not cold.

The purple is Jalie 2804 again. 3/4 sleeves and a gathered front panel ( I forgot about the gathering, I think I could have made it sit nicer if I felt like taking some more hot pictures). I was meant to have long sleeves, but there was a fault in the fabric so I ran out.

The blue is my TNT Kwik Sew 3003 ( crew neck drafted by me). The blue and purple fabric are a cotton/poly/elastane blend that I am hoping will wash up nicely. They sewed up rather nicely compared with the rayon/elastance blends that I like for tops.

If I am not working on my coat, my next project will be some red cropped pants, probably accompanied by a red jumper.

Keeping my mind off the floods

Much of Queensland is under water. My hometown of Ipswich was expecting record water levels but at 19.5m it did not quite get to the 1974 level. Thankfully the worst thing that has happened to family and friends is power lost and roads cut off. My heart goes out to the families where members lives have been lost. The events that happened on Tuesday the 11th were such a tragedy.



I have been weighing up whether it is appropriate to post that I have been sewing when so many have lost their possessions or at least their power. Sewing is my hobby but I use it as a time to reflect and pray. As I was sewing yesterday, I was just so thankful for my family being safe and sound.



This is Jalie 2804 - the empire crossover top. The pattern comes in a range of sizes, for children to plus size adult, and there are 4 sleeve options (sleeveless, cap, 3/4, long) and two front panel options (flat or gathered). I went with the flat front and cap sleeves.



Based on my measurements, I went with a size T. For reference, I use a Burda 38 for my upper body. I forgot to adjust for my sloped shoulders, so I ended up retro-fitting the shoulder area to get rid of the wrinkles. I used a hot pink viscose elastane fabric left over from a tee I made the other year.



It's a great fit, nice and fitted, but I don't like the way the modesty panel pulls at the sleeves. This is because the elastic is shorter than the panel length to fit snug to the body, but it just tries to compensate by stealing some of the sleeve and then gives some ugly wrinkles.

This Jalie pattern, when compared to my Kwik Sew patterns, has a lot more length. I decided that in the future, I would compare it and then reduce the length if I felt it was excessive. I feel it is a little unflattering as it stops at my widest point (a big no no for us pear shapes).

Well, the next day when I made it again, I shortened it by 6cm and did not bother with the modesty panel. I used a printed viscose elastane, from my local Bargain Box fabric store and eleccted to use the 3/4 sleeves, since I know that I will be needing them soon and my current ones are worn out.

I think this length is a little more flattering on me.

One of my goals for this year is to use more fabric than I buy. Instead of just shelving the leftover half metre, I thought I would cut out another top and sewing it up at the same time (you know, production line style).

This pattern is Kwik Sew 3032. It has some gathers at the front bust. My coverstitch machine was being a princess, so I sewed the neck and armhole seams with a zig zag stitch on my sewing machine. Before my CS machine, I would use a twin needle, but I was feeling rather lazy after threading and rethreading my touchy machine.