All the red merino

A few weeks ago, I batched sewed a heap of red merino garments whilst my machines were threaded in red.

First up is Jalie 3667 Marie Claude.  I took this one in at the side seams, but looking at this photo, I think I took it in through the chest area a little too much.  Something to remember for next time.  This merino was from The Fabric Store and is a lovely quality.

One change I did make to the pattern was to swap out the cuffs for the cuffs in Fehr Trade's activewear sewing book.  I've tried a few different ways to sew cuffs with thumb holes, but have not settled on a preferred method yet.

Next up was a running tank top, my own pattern.  This merino was also from The Fabric Store and does not feel as good quality as the previous fabric.  It is a little on the sheer side and recovery is not as good.  Pretty colour though.

Turns out that I bought this same fabric twice without realising.  Does that ever happen to you?  Stash storage issues...

I made up a t-shirt with the next length of material, using the pattern I drafted for this shirt.  Only, I forgot how clever I was when I first drafted the tee, and so forgot that the sleeve seams do not line up with the side seams, so first time I inserted the sleeves they were rotated about a quarter of the way around.  Took me a few minutes to work out why they looked so strange when I tried it on.  Bummer.  Anyway, some quality time with the seam ripper and now they are inserted correctly.

I made my hubby a shirt using Jalie 2918.  I used the pattern I traced off years and years ago, but it turns out he likes his t-shirts closer fitting these days, so he is finding this shirt a little loose.  Next time I will have to remember to trace off a smaller size.  

Another singlet for me, this time using Jalie 2568.  This one was not intended for exercise, but I must have been getting late on in my washing cycle the day I wore and photographed this.  

I combined the scraps from both fabrics to make one more singlet, this time using Jalie 3245.  It is a little snug around the hips because I didn't have quite enough fabric.

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And finally, you have already seen the Jalie 4014 Coco sports bra I made using the very last of the scraps.  

I have been really appreciating these merino garments the last few weeks with the cooler weather (except the sports bra, which is too big).

Astair Tee

Here is the Astair Tee by French Navy, made up in a bamboo knit from Maai Design.

 

Pattern details include sleeve cuffs, deep hem and side splits.

In these photos, the shirt is looking a little tight.  All the shirts in my photos lately look a little tight.  The photo below shows the real problem.   I'm trying to kid myself that it is swimming muscle, but possibly all my extra iso weight went to my back??  Is that a thing??  Anyway, I have only recently come to the realisation that I need to start doing broad back alterations.  

It was only after I bought this pattern that I realised that it was similar to one I already had - Jalie 3352.  That can happen when you own too many patterns :)  Anyway, I pulled out my Jalie for comparison, and you can see the difference in the photo below (back pieces).  It looks like the Jalie has a little more room under the arms, so I might be better off using it next time.

I am wearing the shirt with cuffs and not sleeves in the above photos, but you can see in the pattern comparison below, that the long sleeves of the Jalie are more tapered than the Astair.

Morgan Boyfriend Jeans

I just had my first go at the Morgan Boyfriend Jeans by Closet Case Patterns.

Okay, so maybe not "boyfriend" in this fabric. 

This fabric is a cotton that I bought from Potter & Co.  I'm not sure exactly how to describe it.  It is a little like a brocade, with raised texture, but also a little like corduroy, with very thin wales.  

I didn't make a muslin.  Fitting changes that I made on the run included letting out the hips a little (possibly need to let out a little more), flat pubis adjustment and scooping out the back crotch in an attempt to reduce the under-the-bum wrinkles I always get.  I can see that if the legs were skinnier, I would need to do knock-kneed and extended calves adjustments, but it doesn't bother me so much in this leg width and in this fabric.  I didn't do the button fly, just a regular zip fly.

The shirt I am wearing is an unblogged make from last year.  It is the Named Geneva raglan tee, made up in a viscose I bought from the Morgan and Mark's fabric sale last year. 

These photos were taken at the park near my house, where I have been walking most evenings for the last couple of weeks.

Finally, a hat

I have been meaning to sew a hat for ages.  In fact, I cut up a very old and worn hat about 15 years ago, with plans to make a new version.  The hat pieces ended up in one of my pattern boxes and it has taken until now to bring that project to fruition.

The outer fabric is a Nani Iro Mountain View Canvas left over from a dress.  The inside is a linen cotton blend.  I have added a woven, sew-in interfacing in the brim. 

 This inside shot shows that I have not made the hat reversible.  Instead, I have used a soft ribbon to cover the seams from attaching the brim to the hat.  I have copied this method from the original hat, only the original used a bias casing instead of a ribbon, and threaded a tie through the casing so that the hat could be tightened.  This is a good idea, but I remember the tie always being undone because I don't like things being tight on my head.  I'll just have to hold the hat on in the wind.

The wide brim gives plenty of shade, as shown in the next couple of photos.

The hat and t-shirt in these photos are both new today.  I whipped up the t-shirt before changing out the matching thread on the overlocker from a previous project.  Gotta minimise thread changes!  The pattern is the Basic InstincT by secondo piano.  The fabric is a rayon lycra jersy from Imagine Gnats (no longer available).  Because the fabric is much drapier than the one I used in my previous version of this pattern, I ran the sides in a little more and hemmed the sleeves a bit shorter.  I also rounded the hem on this version.  I probably should have sized down a pattern, to take the shoulders up a bit as well, but I wanted to sew this up quickly and did not want to trace off a new size. 

Sew your own activewear - loose fitting tee

Okay, I will admit that I don't look like I'm about to do anything too active in this outfit.  The ugg boots sort of give it away :).  I had just finished sewing this t-shirt, which is designed for more active pursuits, when this photo was taken.

I made the sweatpants in this photo a couple of weeks ago, and have been living in them ever since.  The pattern is a Burda / Jalie mash up.  The fabric is a beautiful french terry from Maai Designs.  I have the another French terry in the same colour as this t-shirt.  I like to use a lighterweight fabric for the pocket bags.  This t-shirt fabric is a perfect match, but I needed to make the t-shirt so I could use the scraps for the pocket bags.  Sometimes there are a lotta steps to sew the garment you want.

Back to the t-shirt.  I wanted to copy a Lululemon t-shirt that I bought for travelling / trekking last year.  After reviewing all of my t-shirt patterns, I decided that the best place to start would be the loose fitting block in "Sew your own Activewear" by Melissa Fehr.  I was lucky enough to be one of the pattern testers for this book.  I tested a shorts pattern, then drafted a cycling t-shirt.  I got a massive migraine before sewing up the shirt, that lasted several days, and missed the deadline for feedback.  I didn't get back to the shirt for a while and then decided that cycling was causing me more injury than good, so never have sewn up that draft.

Now that I have sewn up the t-shirt, I am disappointed that I waited so long to try this pattern.  Normally I make a whole heap of fitting changes, including square shoulder, forward shoulder, protruding front shoulder joint, hollow chest etc etc.  The only change I made to this pattern was to grade out from an XS in the bust to a M in the hips.  When Melissa was writing this book, she spent a lot of time on the fit of the blocks, using the Alvanon fitting mannequins.  (The cycling and triathlon clothes I buy my husband are made by dhb, who also use Alvanon, and he has been happy with the fit.  I think a triathlon suit would be pretty tricky to get the fit right, which is why I have decided not to spend my sewing time creating one for him).

So back to the t-shirt.  I copied the length, hemline and neckline of the Lululemon t-shirt.  I also noted that the shirt did not have a traditional side seam.   Instead,  the seam under the arm starts  further back behind the sleeve seam and angles to the front.  I guess that the main benefit of this is that you do not have several seams intersecting where the sleeve side seam meets the body side seam, which reduces the possibility of chafe in this area.  Here is a photo of my pattern pieces.

If you look closely, you can see this angled side seam in the photo below.

The sleeve head is not symmetrical.  It is flatter at the back and fuller at the front.  You can see that the sleeve fits nicely when my arm is by my side.  The sleeve has quite a steep sleeve cap.  The photo below shows what happens when I lift my arm.  If the sleeve cap was flatter, it would allow more movement when your arm was lifted up, but it would stick out from the body more when your arm was by your side (like the Basic InstincT in my earlier post).  To make a t-shirt for active wear, it would be good to know the intended use of the shirt before choosing what sort of sleeve to use.  For running, when your arms are by your side, this sleeve is great.  If you were going to swing your arms a lot (tennis, golf, netball), I would choose a t-shirt with a much flatter sleeve cap.

I never got around to posting the shorts I made when testing for this book.  I tested the "Split Shorts".  It was so long ago that I dug out my feed back form to see what I thought back then. 

Initially, I was a bit skeptical when I realised that the patterns would all have to be drafted from the blocks.  I thought it would be too involved for many home sewers to contemplate.  I was pleasantly surprised by how easy the drafting instructions were.  The instructions and diagrams were clear and easy to follow. 

I followed the drafting instructions and made a pattern for the split shorts, with some changes (I lowered the rise, and swapped which front piece sat on top, and I curved the front panel to meet the back yoke).  I constructed the shorts and took them for a test run.  They were very comfortable and I ran my second fastest ever 5 km time in them….possibly because I was wearing shorts in the middle of winter!  My phone stayed in place in the back pocket for the duration of the run.

Here is my first version. 

I thought that the fit could be improved, so I followed the diagrams in the book to diagnose and correct the fit.  I had enough fabric to make a second version.

Better, but not perfect.

Anyway, now that I have got the book out, I can see that there are lots of other projects I'd like to try.  Next though, I think will be some pretty plain long-sleeved close fit tees, to help me cope with the cooler weather here. 

Basic InstincT T-shirt

I finally got a new desk so that I can set up my sewing machine, overlocker and coverstitch machine all at the same time. To revel in this ergonomic luxury, I whipped up a T-shirt.

The pattern is Basic InstinT by secondo piano (Thanks to Sheryll for alerting me to this pattern).

I made a number of modifications to the pattern, including a square shoulder adjustment, hollow chest adjustment, extra width at the hips and a broad back adjustment.  I don't think I needed the broad back adjustment though, so I have trimmed this extra off my pattern ready for the next time I make this.

I basted in the neckband but thought it gathered in my shirt too much so I cut a longer neckband.  This second attempt seemed a bit too long, but rather than pull it out, I sewed around the band a second time, using a bigger seam allowance.  This made the neck opening a little bigger and the band a little narrower and the result is just right for this fabric.  This is why my neckline seems a little bigger than other reviews of this pattern.  

The fabric is a Dutch cotton knit print from EmmaOneSock.  Originally I planned a dress, but I am happy with this t-shirt.  It means I have quite a bit of the grey portion of the fabric leftover.  Lucky I love the creative process of sewing up scraps!  This Dutch cotton makes for the comfiest undies.

Stellan Tee

A few weeks ago I made a bunch of tees for my daughter.  Whilst I have quite a few t-shirt patterns, we decided to try the Stellan Tee, which is a free t-shirt pattern by French Navy.  It has a modern cut, with a boxy cut, dropped shoulder, slightly cropped length and shaped hemline. 

After making a few for my daughter, I decided to try the pattern for myself.

The shape is quite different to my other t-shirts and I don't feel comfortable with the style, but that may just be a matter of getting used to a new thing.

Jalie Mimosa

I have tried a few new t-shirt patterns lately, one of them being the Mimosa scoopneck t-shirt from Jalie.

Clearly this shirt would benefit from an iron, and smoother undergarments, but I'm going with the notion that dodgy photos are better than no photos, if I want to keep this blog record going.

I made this a few weeks ago, so not sure of the alterations, but I think they included a square shoulder, shortening of the sleeves (possibly 5 cm?) and grading out a size or two at the hips.  I think next time I should remove some of the neck / chest at the front, or else go down a size, as the neckline feels a tad too big.

The pattern has some lovely details, including the sleeve cuffs and curved hem.  Actually, I was a bit unclear as to how Jalie meant the sleeve cuffs to be sewn.

The fabric is a viscose spandex blend, with quite a heavy drape.  I like this charcoal colour better than black.

Fehr Trade Kinetic Tee

Not much sewing at the end of 2018 and even less blogging.  I am going to try and blog what I have sewn but details will be scant!

Pattern:  Kinetic Tee from Fehr Trade

Fabric: Bamboo knit from EmmaOneSock

Comments:  This pattern is designed for exercise wear, but I have been wearing this as I would a regular tee.  I think it would be great made up in plain black as well.  I am thinking of trying the version with sleeves in a lightweight terry knit.

Workout wear 2018

My entry into the Pattern Review mini-wardrobe contest was workout wear.  I have written up all the reviews over there, so will just provide links if you are interested in pattern details, fabric selection etc.

I started with the Jalie Isabelle leggings, which I modified to have a great big side pocket.

Next up was the Jalie Loulouxe skort, which I modified to be made up in a stretch woven.

The first top was the Greenstyle Creations tie-back tank.  I forgot to get a photo of it untied.

My second top was a self-drafted loose fitting tee.  Usually I run in tank tops, so this is a bit of a departure for me.

The final garment was the Stylearc Steffi Jacket.

 Whew!  Just getting them sewn and written up within the deadline was a workout in itself.