Burda 125-10-2009 - I think I am on to a winner!

I had the help of Steph. She drafted up a pants block and showed me how to tweak it to produce a better pants pattern. Let’s just say she was very patient in dealing with me. I can certainly recommend her pants block service. Just don’t be like me and jump to the wrong conclusion. It will certainly not help with the email communication.

I chose this pattern because it worked well with the requirements of Steph’s simple pants pattern. My usual pants patterns have yoke/waistband. But then agin, the Jalie patterns I use have a straight waistband so this is like the best of my favourite patterns. I had to change the waistband to a curved on when I tried on the pants with the waistband. There was just too much ease there and it was not a good look.

My main issue with fitting pants was the rear view. There was always these lines under the butt. Not a great look. These are gone with the adjustments that I had to make.Woohoo. It is a little baggy back there, but I put that down to using a very stretchy wool blend fabric. I had no idea how much stretch there was when I selected the fabric to use for the first-after-fitting-the-muslin. I had to take in the waist significantly because of the stretch factor.

 These pants are so comfortable. I can't wait to wear them to work.

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.

McCalls 5525 in purple

I have been in much the same boat as Judith workwise. The new curriculum has been kicking my butt and combined with the death of my beloved father-in-law, I haven't really felt like blogging and I certainly haven't been sewing as much.

This is what I have been working on for the past month. McCalls 5525, which has rave reviews on PR. When I saw Erica's blue version, I was in love with the pattern and went and actually bought a pattern from the store.

Anyway, the purple sateen was my test version of the pattern. Since this took many hours to complete and I have an extensive sewing to-do list, I don't think I am going to get another one made this year (as great as the pattern is). I think I ended up making view C – the short version with the shoulder flap, epaulets and back flaps. I corrected the back flap (drafted unevenly as pointed out by Erica) but missed in the reviews that I scanned that the pockets are tiny. Good thing it only gets fresh around here rather than freezing. I don't need pockets for keeping my hand warm.

I probably could have bagged the lining, but I decided to hand sew the lining in just for kicks. I used black rayon seam binding to hide the raw seam where the lining, hem and facing meet. There were only a few minor things that I changed. I decided to sew the buttons on the shoulders before sewing in the shoulder pads since I thought it would be much easier. My little tab did not get a keyhole button since my machine would not jump the jump at the collar seam so I needed to sew the buttonhole from the other way. At least there is a buttonhole there - I thought it would look a little funny without one. I used iron on interfacing rather than sew in. I used my Singer press without the steam for an easy result.

Can't have enough pants - my cheater moment

I have been wanting to try these pants for some time. I have made the pattern up as shorts (well, long shorts) but not the full length with the flare. I love my flares. These pants have been muslined and adjusted (shifted the back legs towards the centre a la Sew-4-Fun, added length to side seams). It seemed to make a real difference at the muslin stage, but I can't see any real difference in the real thing - well, I will explain later.

Front view

 Back view

Everything was pretty much straight forward, apart from not having made pants like this for a while and stretching my brain on the waistband/fly front/pocket order and treatment. The faced yoke is a little more tricky when it comes to inserting the fly than a regular waistband - I would prefer to sew the waistband onto the pants as a whole but you need to sew it on to the front and then back and then sew the side seams later, because of the pockets.

Now, have a look at the problem I have been trying to remedy. The diagonal lines under my butt. Blah.

                                     

Well, I can correct the problem without changing the pattern I have found - I just stick my butt out a little bit. Just a little. I tend to stand with my hips tilted forward which creates all sorts of wrinkles. I am still trying to figure out if I am cheating (and just need to learn to stand a different way) because I can't seem to get the wrinkles out any other way. Any opinions?

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.

Shirred butterfly dress

I feel like I have been in a sewing rut for a while. I should be making the most of my school holidays and sewing it up while I can. While my daughter did have surgery (overnight stay, plus still dealing with little Missy who works herself into a state when she needs to take medicine) and it has been stinking hot here, they are not real reason not to sew since I am not really doing anything else with my time.

So I made the girl a dress. Nothing too hard, just a little something to feel like I have done something useful rather than fritter my life away online.

 The dress was made with Ottobre #11 3/2007. The pattern is actually for a top, but I measured J and lengthened the pattern, following the lines at the same angle. The pattern is very easy. My overlocker chewed at the binding, so I zig zagged the edge instead. I was not impressed with the application of the binding straps, which are left open at the ends. They ended up a little too short anyway, so next time I would make them longer and square so that they can be completely stitched to the ends.

Sewing the yoke on the Chantilly dress

The instructions regarding sewing the yoke lining down on the Chantilly Dress were quite brief - along the lines of fold the free edge of the top yoke lining under 5/8" and press...

This is what I did.

Stitch around the fold line (1.5cm = 5/8")

Notch the curve.

Finger press along the stitch line. Pin and check to see if the edges lined up.

Yoke is now lovely and curved. Take pins out and press or use pins to pin into place like I did!

You may also be able to see the understitching, another step that was not mentioned in the instructions portion of the pattern (although it is in the glossary).

End of year post 2011

My main goals for this year were to keep sewing plenty of things for myself and to use more fabric than I bought.

In 2011, I made 73 items, including 41 pieces of clothing for me and 23 for the kids. I made the same amount of things for myself last year. Considering I am working an additional day each fortnight and am volunteering slightly more, this result is pleasing.

Woven tops/blouse: 7
Knit tops: 9
Jumpers: 3
Jackets; 2
Shorts: 3
Pants: 4
Dresses: 2
Skirts: 3
Other: 8

Favourite item: Chantilly dress – maybe because it is fresh on my mind. I spent a lot of time on it, and was pleased to take it from something I was too scared to start to an elegant, swishy delight.

Most unexpected enjoyment: pink Swiss-dot Taffy top. I actually made it as a muslin but love to wear it.

Biggest flop – a tee that stretched out of shape straightaway. Honourable mention goes to a lovely sheath dress with the shrinking lining – twice i have washed it and twice the lining has pulled at the hem funny.

Most time consuming: I was going to say my fuchsia wool jacket, but I actually think the Chantilly dress took longer.

Most frustrating project: jeans. They launched a real desire to acquire a vintage beauty to do the tough stuff.

Okay, so how much fabric did I buy, and how much did I use? In the end, I bought 81.55 metres. Wow, and that was trying to be careful. My biggest downfalls was a 40% off sale and some fabrics on ebay that came in 5m lots.

Of that 81.55m, I used 60.2m of it this year. That is a conversion rate of more than 73%. It makes it seem less bad that only 21.35m was added to the stash from the fabric I bought this year.

I sewed up 94 metres in 2011.that includes fabric for 5 muslins. I worked out that 63% of the fabric I used came from the fabric I had bought this year and 37% came from the stash. There is one UFO of 90cm plus I donated 7.3 metres to my daughter's class for costumes, so that brings the total up to 102.2m.

Keeping tabs of how much I bought and used was a useful motivation tool,so I plan to keep it up but it will not be my main goal for next year. I will have to think about what I want to achieve next year. I have a few ideas of what to enter into competitions, and need to start earlier than normal to meet the deadline.

My favourite project of the year, and the last one

We are off on our annual beach holiday following Christmas celebrations, so this is the last sewn thing I will make for 2011. The husband and I are invited to a NYE wedding and I wanted to make something really special to wear that could be worn to a variety of events. I already had the Colette Chantilly pattern sitting around for ever and a day,  and I bought some silk rayon chiffon to use for the shell.

The dress is underlined in black cotton batiste and lined in a purple rayon lining. The lining is left over from the bridesmaid outfits from my wedding 8 years ago. Speaking of my wedding, these shoes are the ones I wore for my wedding and I will probably wear them to this wedding. My only other heels are the shoes I wore to my formal in 1998!

 I plan to write up a review and pop it onto pattern review because I did experience some "glitches" with the pattern. Let's just say I wasn't as impressed with the pattern as other people have been. I felt like there were options for working with sheer fabrics that were not included in the pattern, and that I would have appreciated someone doing all the work sourcing the correct techniques for me.

 Still, I am happy with the final result. The dress is swishy, feminine and oh so lovely. It feels delightful to the touch and brings a smile to my face. It took a huge amount of hours, not that I was counting, and I took the easy option in many instances!

 As it is a lot shorter than I am used to, I used a narrow turned hem to keep as much length as possible.

As I was dealing with a very sheer fabric, I elected to underline all parts of the dress so that none of the seams would show through. The underlining technique I used for the skirt created a faux Hong Kong finish at the seams which is particularly pleasing. I remembered the technique was used by the Slapdash sewist but I first read about the technique in Sandra Betzina's Power Sewing. It is a method I am keep to try again, not just for sheer fabric, as it makes a great lined garment.

 The lining finished were the skirt starts, so all gathers are neatly contained and there is no show through. I like my linings to be fully attached, so this change satisfied that as well.

 Here is the inside shot. It could almost be worn inside out.

 It even looks great on a hanger.

Thanks for looking!

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.