Out of season sewing

I made up this Vogue 1261 alice + olivia top a couple of weeks ago.  I was surrounded by all my unpacked boxes when a parcel of fabric arrived.  A sewing break was just what I needed and I could actually find my sewing machines, so I got to it. 
 

I did alter the pattern slightly to exaggerate the triangular hem peaks a little...in some of the reviews it looked more like an uneven hem than a feature, and I wanted to make mine a feature.

This pattern calls for exposed seam allowances, top-stitched from the outside.  The instructions advise you to trim the seam allowances before top-stitching.  I used my coverstitch machine, which I am not proficient at using, so I trimmed afterwards.  Only it turns out that I am not very neat at trimming (and my new scissors seem to have rusted in the humidity over Christmas...not happy).  So it is all a little messy, but maybe it will sort itself out in the wash??

I also didn't pre-wash the fabric, so it is possible that those racing stripes down the back will buckle if the fabric shrinks...I may have some unpicking ahead of me.  The stripes are made from a pink and white fancy ric-rac, which was the only ribbon that I could find in my rummaging that even vaguely matched.  I thought about leaving it off, but I really like the effect of the stripes...makes the top a little more interesting.  Next time, I might use some sort of adhesive tape to keep the ribbon in place before I stitch it.

If there is a next time.  I'm not sure that this is a particularly flattering design for pear shapes.  The style certainly accommodates a pear shape, but perhaps doesn't flatter.  I tried it with skinny pants and flares and neither takes my fancy.  Perhaps I need a straight leg, but I still haven't unpacked my cooler weather clothing.

In the top photos, I was trying to reduce the shadows, which really made a feature of the red top.  I have also put in a couple of more natural photos below, in case you prefer more realistic shots.

Word Verification

The word verifications seem to have got a lot harder in the last few days.

I feel like I have to pass some sort of test just to leave a comment on many blogs.  Sometimes it is taking me 2 and 3 gos to get it right.

I am just wondering how many bloggers use word verification just because it is a default setting.  If this is you, would you consider trying a few days without word verification.  After all, we all love getting comments, don't we? 

Vogue Vena Cava 1258

When Vogue released V1258 I couldn't decide whether I liked it or not.  Then I saw EricaB's snakeskin  version and was smitten (or bitten?).  Erica also showed a similar dress from the Vena Cava RTW Collection and I liked it too.  You can see a version of this dress in her Fall '11 collection and in her Fall '10 collection.   I read all the reviews for this pattern and finally decided that the pattern was not the same as the dress in the RTW collection.  Each of the reviewers found that the shoulder was more like a cap sleeve and most found the skirt to be much drapier, which they attributed to fabric choice, but I suspect has more to do with the pattern.  I decided that I liked the RTW version better and so set out to modify the pattern.

The pattern pieces have an unusual shape, so I started by tissue-fitting the bodice pieces to my body double.  I then sat the shoulder bands where I wanted them to sit on the bodice.

 This close-up photo shows how much I moved the match point.

 The modified pattern piece....

With the shoulder band positioned over the top...

Then I sewed up a muslin.  This first photo shows the interesting design lines of the skirt.

The back view...not entirely flattering for lumpy thighs, but I was hoping that the print of my fabric would provide an adequate distraction.  It is hard to see in this photo, but I shortened the bodice by 4 cm. under the armpits, so as not to interfere with the front extension that attaches to the back.

For the front bodice, I took out 4 cm above the armholes.  Shortening by close to 4 cm is not unusual for me.  By shortening above the armhole, the neckline became less plunging and the underarms were raised, which I preferred.  Now take a look at the skirt portion of this muslin.  This is where I am beginning to doubt that the photo on the Vogue cover is made from the pattern inside its envelope.  I have folded the hem above the knee and I am not long-legged, but those drapes are large enough to stow a small child away inside.

My next step was to reduce the volume of the drapes.  The following photo shows where I taped out excess volume.

 The pattern piece laid out over the original skirt, before re-cutting.

 The resulting dress.

 I wanted to reduce the volume further.  I also thought that I should remove some length around the waist seam.  I started off with a Sz 14 bodice and Sz 16 skirt.  After the muslin, the pattern bodice was more like a Sz 10.  I re-tissue fit, to work out how much the remove from the waist seam.  It ended up between the Sz 12 - 14 lines and I still used a Sz 16 for the width of the skirt.  I marked some new match points for the waist seam and the tie.  I extended the shoulder band at the front and marked a new match point.

I taped out some more volume from the skirt (no photo).

I should have made another muslin with all my changes, but didn't have any suitable fabric on hand.  I decided to go ahead ...printed knit dresses don't last that long, so I could wear this for a while and then make another later if I wanted to change the pattern more.

The pattern shows the tie tied at the front, but as Allison found, the tie is too long for the front (well, of course, if you shorten the dress to above the knee, but maybe also at the below knee length).  I preferred it tied at the back as it defines the waist better.  I interfaced the shoulder bands, so that it would be easier to topstitch them..

I should have got somebody to mark a hem for me...but there was nobody here to help at the time...so the back is not even.  Jessica had referred to the problem with the hem in her review, so I was looking out for t, but still didn't get it right.

The fabric is a rayon print from EmmaOneSock.  I bought it before Christmas, but this week I did notice a t-shirt made from the same fabric at Anthropologie. 

The ghosts of past pattern purchases

 

I can't seem to get quite so excited about new sewing patterns these days.  I get caught up thinking something like, "Oh, cute blouse pattern.  Would I use this?  Well, I already have 3 blouse patterns that I haven't used, so I guess not."  I am being weighed down by past pattern purchases.  A fabric stash is a joy, but an underutilised pattern stash is just wasted money.

Take, for example, the HotPatterns Artful Dodger Prudence Blouse.  It is dated 2005, and I think I bought it pretty close to its release date.  It was expensive, but there was a 3-for-2 offer, so I justified the shipping cost and clicked on the "pay now" button.  Then only 2 of the patterns arrived, so more expensive than I calculated.  My emails about the missing pattern went unanswered.  The Prudence Blouse got bad reviews.  This all put me off, but I could not get the promises of the sophisticated fashion illustration out of my mind.  It has stayed there, niggling at me, for 7 years now (a testament to the fashion illustrator and the marketing of HotPatterns). 

7 years is a long time.  So I have decided to either throw out the patterns that are holding me up, sew them or sew them up and then throw them out.  Starting with the Prudence Blouse.

I made a few alterations, including shortening the hem, reducing some of the width and playing around with the pleats as they were not drafted correctly.

The fabric is a silk that my mother bought for me in Turkey.  When I washed it, it took on a summery seer-sucker quality.

I'm so pleased that I have finally made it.  Do I like it?  Some days.  Other days it reminds me of a bed jacket.  The design lines are not quite as they appear in the exaggerated drawing, but the overall shape is cute enough.  I like the pleating details.  I need to play around with accessories and what to wear it with (but I haven't unpacked all that stuff yet!).  The sleeves are more binding than is comfortable.  So I will throw the pattern out and move on, but I am pleased that I made it up...don't want to die wondering and all that!

I have been organising my patterns.  I found these boxes at OfficeWorks that seem to be the perfect size for patterns.  (They are also available at Howard's storage world, but they cost more there).

I have also used them to store my magazine patterns.  I put each magazine, with its patterns and any that I traced off in a plastic sleeve.  I have also stored some of my pattern books in the boxes with the magazines, to keep them all together.  Not that I have anywhere to store the boxes yet, but they should fit neatly in deep drawers or on shelves.

I originally bought them for my Jalie patterns, but the Jalies don't actually fit.  So the Jalies are in a magazine holder for now, but I'm not sure that this is the perfect solution yet.  I also have not sorted the Vogue designer patterns yet.  I have found a box that fits them, but it is not the same style box as these, and I am trying to be ordered and neat...I will keep looking for a while.

In sorting the patterns, I have learnt a little about the patterns not made up.  They tend to be
- the patterns I bought to minimise shipping-per-pattern costs.  False economy there.
- patterns that require a lot of yardage.  Should read backs of pattern envelopes before I buy.  I am very unlikely to hold more than 2 m of a fabric in stash and some of these patterns ask for 5 and 6 m!
- patterns that need to be traced off.  Should acknowledge my own laziness and only buy magazines if I am particularly excited by the designs.
- patterns that don't suit my lifestyle.  I have no need for a business suit.  Ever. 

  Now I just need to pull out the ones that I was excited about, but never got around to, and get on with it.

Photo

This is not a real blog entry.  I just wanted to share a photo on a forum and I don't have a photo sharing account.

The upper edge is the neck edge.

The middle curve is the side seam, leading to a tie.

The bottom curve attaches to the skirt back.

The outer lower curves wrap around and attach to the skirt front and tie.

Sewing Spaces

I've moved house and potentially I have a large space to set up as a sewing space.  Only I don't have any storage, a cutting table or even a sewing table, because these were all built into my old house for me.  I have a couple of bits of furniture that could be overhauled and brought into service.  My new house came with some excess timber, so I could possibly build a table.  I am collecting catalogues filled with pictures of highly organised spaces that seem to be attached to very highly priced items.  Tempting as it is to rush out and spend, spend, spend, I am taking the time to decide what it is I want, what I already have, and what works for other people.  Lots of google research to do.

In the meantime, I thought that I would review what I had, what worked for me and what didn't.

This was the heart of my space.  A desk, 3 shelves and 3 drawers.  I had both my machine and overlocker on the desk.  If I needed the coverstitch machine I needed to set it up on the clearest space I could find around the house.  Cutting was done on the dining room table.

To the left was a wardrobe where I hung my fabric stash and my body double.  The plastic drawers inside the wardrobe were for my remnants and knits.  Pressing tools were also stored there.



The desk drawers were custom built so that the top one was only deep enough to hold cotton reels, the second drawer was deep enough to store patterns side on, and the bottom one was filing space.

The cotton reels were separated by lengths of metal doozets (technical term!), cut to the depth of the drawer.  I also kept my every day sewing tools in this drawer.  I liked this drawer.

 In the middle drawer there was a different shaped metal doozet to keep the patterns in line.  I think an indent was drilled into the front and back of the drawer to hold this doozet in place, though I couldn't be sure.  When the drawers were built, we thought that it would hold my entire pattern collection, but sadly, the collection grew beyond the confines of the drawer.  I do like keeping patterns in drawers, as it makes it easy to rifle through them.  The side space in this drawer was used for overlocker threads, button tins, and a tin of sewing feet and needles.

The bottom drawer had another type of metal doozet attached to the sides so that it could be used for hanging files.  I used to keep machine manuals, A4 sized patterns (eg Jalie, Knitwit), pattern magazines (Ottobre, TopKids) and packets of interfaing in this drawer.  The interfacing packets were those plastic sleeves that you buy sheet sets in.  I liked storing the interfacing this way but I didn't like storing the patterns in hanging files.  Hard to rifle through, didn't seem space efficient.  I still need to overcome the problem of storing magazines with traced off patterns.

Now onto the shelves.  Some of them were used for books, which I have not photographed.  The top shelf was used for notions, grouped and stored in ice-cream tubs.  Although they were messy on the day this photo was taken, this system generally works well for me.  One tub for elastics, one for zips, one for trims, one for piping, bias tape, rayon binding etc, one for bra-making findings, one for snaps, hooks & eyes etc. 

Vogue designer patterns also had their place on the shelf.  You can see here that I stored wide elastic, bought in bulk (for all those childrens' pants, not to mention ballet leggings) wound onto a piece of cardboard.

Articles from sewing magazines are sorted into topic and stored in display books.  I kept the earlier editions of SewStylish complete as they were chock-a-block full of good stuff.

Burda magazine patterns.  I generally don't buy Burda mags as I don't use them much and my library stocks them.  The ones I traced I kept in a binder, along with Twinkle patterns I printed and a couple of patterns that would not go back in their envelopes.  This did not work for me at all.  The binder is on the shelf for the photo, but it only fit there because I had already packed half of my things into boxes.  Truth be told, I have never used any of these patterns twice, so if I can't come up with something better, I may just chuck them.

So I guess my biggest problem was storing patterns that don't come in envelopes. Perhaps I could put them in envelopes.

Of course, I have shown you the neat version of things.  The background of the following shot shows how it typically appears.

I had an ironing board in this room.

I would like a work table separate from the machines, where I could layout pieces for the project I was working on (you know, rather than the floor, which every body seems to need to walk on). This could double as a cutting table. 

I am in two minds about under table storage.  Is all storage good storage, or is it better to have empty space under a cutting table for your feet / ergonomics of cutting?

I have done a google search on sewing studios, but if anybody has any links that they particularly recommend, please pass them on.  I do like Kristy's pattern drawers and the second photo in this post really appeals, it looks so ordered and neat...as though you could actually walk in and start sewing without having to spend an hour clearing a space first.

Better than designer...

In keeping with Sherry's Fix-it-Friday series, I am going to show you a recent fix of mine.  No, no, today isn't Friday...the week didn't go that fast...I did fix these on Friday but my blogging is a little sporadic.

My sisters and I share a love of swimwear fashion.  Growing up in Queensland, we went through our swimmers pretty quickly, so there were always new ones to be made (thanks Mum!).  When I moved to Melbourne in my twenties I was surprised by the lack of fashionable swimwear on the beaches at even the height of summer...I guess Melbournians rarely wore their swimmers, so they lasted...meanwhile, I was severely lacking in the winter wear department.  Anyway, the October / November fashion mags are always my favourite because they contain all the new swimwear for the season.  When we were reading them this year, one of my sisters noted that I particularly liked the Anna & Boy designs, so when she saw some of their swimmers reduced by 85% she bought me a pair for my birthday.  Only they didn't stay up.  I'm guessing that they didn't stay up on anybody, which is why they were so drastically reduced.

The design is a one piece; basically strapless; empire line; with the upper front gathered at a centre front keyhole opening.  I could have take them in at the centre front to tighten the fit across the bust, but because the top edge was folding over to the outside, I thought there was another problem.

So I got out my gathered bandeau bikini pattern to compare the shape.  The gathered bandeau is only gathered at the CF, not at the sides.  If you compare my pattern to the swimmers in the photo below, you can see that it looks as though the designer has added extra length evenly across the front piece, which would have worked if the front was gathered onto the side.  My bandeau pattern was made by slashing-and-spreading  from the centre front to the side, which accounts for the shaping from back to front and the curved edge at the CF.

So I unpicked the casing and the elastic across the upper edge and re-cut the upper section.  I stitched the casing back up, reapplied the elastic, and now they stay up.  Well, perhaps not for surfing, but enough for me to dive down to the bottom of my pool and pick up all the leaves.