July Wrap-Up and I Can't Believe It's August Already!

Totally forgot to post this on the 1st and am now fully blahhhhh. Avoiding the news and social media and I just need a breather. I have scheduled posts for the remainder of my PR Endless Combinations contest. Hopefully I'll snap out of it soon.

This year has been incredible. People generally use that word in a positive sense...but the year has truly been beyond belief, impossible to believe. 

But, sometime around 6 weeks from now, I'm going to have A BABY! I mean, a grandbaby...whatever.... :-D We are definitely watching things closely because I am NOT for getting on a plane right now and we may end up road tripping it. We'll see. 

This month I sewed 17.25 yards. I sewed:

• McCall's 7925 dress - 4 yards (WIP)
• rayon/cotton blend voile (stash)
• buttons
• McCall's 7061 top - 1.75 yards
• sweatshirt fabric (stash)
• eyelets/cording
• Simplicity 8890 dress - 2.25 yards
• rayon challis (stash)
• cord stops
• bra slider/rings
• Simplicity 8389 shorts - 1.25 yards
• crepe
• elastic
• cording
• Burda 7/2019 top - 1 yard
• jersey (stash)

For my daughter:

• McCall's 6654 skirt - 1.25 yard 
• ponte (stash)
• elastic
• Burda 11/2015 top (from a dress pattern) - 0.5 yard (wadder)
• ponte and mesh (stash)
• Jalie Clara leggings x3 - 5.25 yards total
• black cotton knit, red & blue athletic knit (stash)
• elastic

I was so excited to finally make M7925 and started cutting it out and for some reason, I started with the rectangles for the ruffles. I needed to cut the sleeves, one piece of the front skirt, and the button band and OUCH! I do not have enough fabric. Well, turns out Ginny's still had it in stock and I was able to have a yard sent to me. YAY! So I will get back to that, soon. 

Favorite: The hoodie was like...perfect and love and swooooooon...then I made the shorts! :) The fabric is pretty amazing and the shorts fit great. I'm going to follow them up with a linen pair.

FAIL: I was so close with my daughter's top but I made a critical error with order of sewing and didn't have enough time to correct course. 

Accomplishment: I was pretty proud of myself for the way that outfit was coming along for her for the shower! And the fit on my shorts are really fantastic! Also, except for the black crepe (purchased in March), everything sewn this month was from stash fabrics! 

But I did buy fabric. It started with the print challis on Fabric Mart and I got 6 yards of it. Plus two other things for a total of 9 yards. I then shopped the Mood sale (20% off the entire site, plus I had a coupon), and I got 2 yards of the cotton voile version of this fabric. I also ordered a few heavier jersey knits for a total of 11 yards. 

For the year, I'm at 88 yards in and 78 yards out (39 from stash!)

I've been spending all my money on machine knitting :-p What do you know...machine knitting supplies proliferate just like sewing supplies! With machine knitting, there's a gadget for EVERYTHING!

I'm almost done with my first completed garment! I have everything blocked and just need to seam it all (not my favorite part).

I tried to attach the sleeve to the armhole on the machine and THAT was a disaster! 

I ended up binding off the stitches and will just mattress stitch it. I was so traumatized :-p

Also, I finally got back to the baby sweater! I went with all one color and didn't add any tuck stitches to keep it simple. This sweater is knit all in one for the body. On the one hand, it's nice to have less to stitch up but on the other hand, the stakes are higher if something goes wrong! I dropped some stitches, spent a RIDICULOUS amount of time getting them picked back up (messily!). WHEW. After stitching it up I'll still need to knit the neckband so I'm not done yet.

I found some super affordable cone yarn from KnitKnack Shop and thankfully, I like all of them!

Plan to use #2, the light yellow, for a blanket.

The others, I can easily see as garments for myself. Score!

And lest we think it's all smooth sailing with the knitting machine, I got myself in a pickle trying to sample something I saw online!

Err, that's not how it's supposed to be! LOL!

August plans...I dunno. Fall is my absolute favorite season including my favorite to sew for. I can't see that I need to sew a bunch of stuff :(  I usually start my fall sewing in August. Like, the low today in Minneapolis was 57 degrees F. Summer isn't done, it'll get hot again, but cooler days will be here SOON. 

I can't believe my Vogue blazer is still sitting and waiting since September! I have made a pledge to finish it in August. And, as much as I love a hand sewn lining, I'm going to have to just bag them because it's so much hand sewing for my sad little hands that I don't know that a lining in future jackets will get done otherwise. I really want to make the Burda 2/2020 blazer and a corduroy blazer for my husband. 

With plans to be away for awhile for the baby, perhaps August and September will be focused primarily on knitting with plans for those jackets. And I NEED a black dress. 

Until later!

McCall's 7976

Yet another "OMG I WANTED TO SEW THIS THE MOMENT IT WAS RELEASED!" pattern :-p

 

And I was absolutely fixated on pairing *this* pattern and *this* fabric. I got this piece of crepe on the trip to Ginny's Fabric in Rochester. I'd also like to pat myself on the back for having sewn 4 of the 5 fabrics I bought that day! And the 5th is on tap to be sewn. Woot!

If you recall, a sewing friend had snagged this 1 7/8 yard remnant and then decided last minute not to get it. I happily scooped it up because the colors were just. so. me.

  

pants are NL6459 that I never reviewed (and are now a touch too small. shhhhh!)

I cut a size medium which is typical for me with Big4 SML patterns. I added 1" to the arm opening and 1" to the back via slash and spread.

The finished bust on the medium is 46" and I'm about 39". I think people see a big number like that and think it must be huge. I think it's important to remember the difference between wearing ease (necessary) and design ease. It's an oversized top, it's meant to be loose fitting...but as you can see, it isn't huge or sloppy or anything like that. So I'd say go with your normal Big4 size for the intended fit.

 

gah. my posture is atrocious. 

The fabric is light enough to tuck that long back in if I want. 

 

I'd planned on view D (red) and the medium called for 1 3/4 yards.

of 60" fabric.

DOHHHHHHH! I had 1 7/8 yards of 45"(!) fabric. I was 1/2 yard short and it mattered. It mattered! It has cut on sleeves and that tie front so the front pattern piece was huge.

I ended up having to cut the front tie separately and sew it to the front after the fact. I just folded the pattern piece up, added 3/8" seam allowance on both sides, and sewed. Whew.

THEN, I had to cut the back in 2 pieces so there's a CB seam.

THEN I had to cut the facings slightly off grain to fit them on the scraps I had left. Now, there was always the option of using a different fabric which I considered, but wanted to use the fashion fabric and they're only *slightly* off grain.

And THENNNN lol! when I tried it on, I couldn't figure out why the pleats were made the way they were. Well, there was a shoulder notch and the pleat. I notched the pleats and folded front pleat end to notch instead of pleat-end to pleat-end. DOH! So I had to undo the serger stitching and stitches and resew those and then the fit made sense!

Love, love, love the buttons I ended up using. I originally planned on plain white buttons but the stripe is so dominant (and I managed to match the stripes pretty well even with not having enough fabric!) that I needed something that popped and these gold buttons were it.

Making a forward shoulder adjustment is new to me and I keep forgetting. You can see it rolling back in these pics. Doh!

Lastly, I could have sworn I was told that the fabric was a viscose crepe but I could be wrong. I took pics of all the bolt ends of the fabric I bought but this one was tacked on at the end. This is definitely a poly crepe. Maybe (Mayyyyyybe) a blend but it behaved like poly and I cursed it every single moment. But I love the top (AND THE BUTTONS!) so all is forgiven :-p

I had a mini fashion show and this top worked with bottoms that were:
yellow
navy
camel (admittedly kind of boring but with fun shoes - could work)
red
salmon/peachy color
deep pink
olive
denim
and will work with white

SCORE!

I really like this top and could see making it again - even this view - but with a MUCH shorter length in back. Aside from all of my mishaps, it went together rather easily and is super cute on like, EVERYONE that makes it. 

I've made a couple knit dresses that I will hopefully photograph this week:

S2246 on the left, a "hacked" M6754 on the right. Both in double brushed poly 

(I KNOW! I thought I'd never touch the stuff again but the prints sucked me in!)

And I'm working on a slow-sewing project - Burda 4/2019 #102. An unlined, raglan jacket in a cotton twill from Mood with a few creative touches :)

I'm really excited about this one!  

I've been posting my progress on the jacket on Instagram stories. I keep getting excited at each step and then stop to think about what I have left to do, then remind myself this IS A SLOW SEWING PROJECT! lol!!!!!!

So yeah, I need to press the side seams and attach the sleeves and press and serge and attach the collar and do all that fun stuff and hem it and I have to do the buttonholes (which I fixated on these buttons and my machine can't make buttonholes that large so I'll have to do some work) and sew on the buttons and then I think it'll be done. :)

Hope you are staying sane and safe <3

Social Distancing Sewing

On Friday, March 6th, Minnesota confirmed it's first covid-19 case. On Friday the 13th, we were up to 14 and I decided I was working from home. On Tuesday, my company officially input a WFH plan and by Wednesday (3/18) we were up to 77 cases. I think we're nearly at 300 now. 

Many have commented how they aren't "worried" about getting sick. I am absolutely worried about getting sick. I understand statistics, I also see 30, 40, 50 somethings becoming critical or dying. I am risk averse, I don't want to chance getting sick because its likely I'll overcome it. I'd rather not find out! So I've been at home. 

Last weekend I got some groceries from Trader Joes (which they were only letting a couple people in the store at a time!) and went by my machine knitting instructor's house to pick up yarn (that she'd left in a bag on the portico!).  

Otherwise, I've been working -- My job is largely reactive so I've had a few days that were pretty quiet -- and snacking (haha!) and sewing!!!

I've been wanting to use up this navy ponte from Ginny's since I bought it and had that fail of a pattern from Burda. I decided to go for it with this Burda plus pattern from the 12/2016 issue. It's meant for stretch wovens (grr Burda and always requiring stretch for the plus pants!!) so I figured this mid-to-heavy ponte would work well.

I traced a size 44, removed 3/4" from the CF rise and added 1" to crotch extension in back. I ended up sewing the side seams at 3/4" vs. 5/8".

I don't normally add hem allowance to Burda except for pants. I'd added 1 1/4" to the pattern and ended up removing 2" and sewed a 1 1/4" hem. Love the finished length.

Not much detail to show on these - invisible side zipper, deep yoke that was understitched and ditch stitched. 

Then I made McCall's 7975 - the ever popular twist front top. It turned out very cute but I didn't like the construction. There's a u-shaped bit that you have to hem. That's INSANE. Then you hem the entire front, stitch it, then hem the back, then sew the side seams. Meh. I'm almost certain the fabric is from Fabric.com but it's been in the stash for awhile.

I used a size medium, standard for me, added 1" total to the back hip via a slash and spread, and did a 1.5" bicep adjustment. The finished sleeve was only 13"!  Geez! The neck binding went in well (often Big4 drafts them too long).

I  had a small gap of skin showing and ended up tacking the twist and hand sewing a bit of the seam leading into the twist. Hard to get close enough at the sewing machine.

The twist is nice!

hand tacking

Next up was a cardigan that is in timeout. I hope to finish it -- the band has to be topstitched down and is fine on the straight sections on lower front but I cannot get the angled areas stitched nicely on this ribbed super-stretchy knit. This fabric laughs at the walking foot.

M7476

Then Simplicity 2255 was up next with this 1 1/4 yd cut of swiss dot cotton I scored for $4 from SR Harris. I've made this pattern a few times before. The first time I made it I could NOT understand the mandarin collar and just did bias binding on the neckline! Ha!!

paired with the navy ponte pants and a RTW jacket

I couldn't get pics without the blinding sun. Shrug!

I sewed a size 14 and undid the (HORRIBLY EXECUTED AND INCORRECT) FBA.  I also added to the hip line via slash and spread - 3/8" in front and 3/4" in back (I could use a bit more hip room). I also did a 1/4" forward shoulder adjustment. 

I finished it with a narrow hem, bias binding on the armhole and a bunch of topstitching. I wanted some yellow buttons but...sewing from stash! I figured if I really wanted to, I could swap the buttons out later. But I love these buttons (I have a ton of em! LOL!)

I finished up the Burda dress that I'd muslined in my last post and it is AMAZING and I LOVE it! Hope to get pics soon!

Notes on pants fitting...

Hopefully your Christmas was great if you celebrate and if you don't, hopefully you had an awesome day off. And if you worked, hopefully it was calm and quiet :)

A commenter (Chabe!) asked on the NL6644 post if I'd post a pic of my pattern adjustments. I will say, that the addition to the back rise (usually ~1") and back crotch point (usually 3/8" to 1/2") are adjustments I make pretty much every time. Recently, I'd been reading/researching a bit more on pants fit and starting thinking about the idea of back rise vs crotch point additions.

I found a YT video -- which I don't have because I come across SO many bits of info and my brain is like a sponge so I remember the important bit but forget when/where -- where the sewer was discussing putting the fabric where you need it. Now, this is sort of a "duh" moment but I think it's easy to get mixed up on what's needed where. e.g., I spent a lot of time making swayback adjustments (which some are legitimate!) but the issue really is wider hips/large butt. So the fabric can't relax where it needs to and it looks like swayback.

Well, with the crotch fit, I've been adding additional length which yes, it's needed overall and it HAS helped. But that wedge at CB isn't where the majority of my adjustment is needed.

So with the NL6644 pants, I made my normal adjustments and it's okay. Like a lot of my pants patterns come out okay. I did add an adjustment for full front thigh.

lowered front rise, increased front thigh

raised back rise and addition to the crotch point

So, I figured next time, I'll add more for full inner thigh, right?

Then, I had a lightbulb moment. I've been down this path before, theoretically, but never followed through. After studying the pics, I copied my crotch curve and compared it to the pattern.

My front crotch curve fits really well. I did actually compare the stitch line (approximately) to the crotch curve but this is the photo I have. shrug.

And here is where things got super interesting to me...

Initially, I overlapped the front and back piece and it was just (obviously) WAY off. Like I'd have to dip several inches into the pants back. 

Then I compared my round part with the round part of the pattern and a-ha! So my butt also fits the curve of these pants but look at how far my inseam is from the crotch point of the pants!! Now, scroll up and look at my back pic. 

If you could imagine forcing that crotch point above to my center mark, it seems like that accounts for those pull lines, right?? At least that's what I think! :) See THIS post from blogger Joyful Expressions on how she added to the back based on a similar back crotch situation.

So, I have a pair of pants to muslin this week, M7982 and will apply my theory to the muslin straight away. Although, the McCall's pattern has a much longer back crotch length than the New Look does, so perhaps a smaller addition. Also, it is much more angular than round, so I will adjust accordingly. 

In the meantime, I cut out my next project, V9201 and compared my "fishbowl" to the pattern.

Caveat #1: It didn't occur til after that this pattern is also less "rounded" in back. But here you can see I added 2" to the back crotch point tapering down through the thigh.

Caveat #2: this pattern is made up in a ponte so that's going to affect fit a bit, especially from a comparison perspective to the woven NL6644.

At any rate, I basted the inseam and side back seam (there's a side panel and no side seams for the upper half of the leg) and made some tweaks after trying to read the wrinkles. So which fit do you think is "best"?

Oh yes, my fabric is sparkly! I got it on the trip to Ginny's in Rochester

A. Sewn as-is. 5/8" seam allowances, no other changes

B. The seam between the white chalk marks (looks like a smudge) was let out to 3/8".

C. The seam between the white chalk marks AND the inseam through the thigh (about 9-10") was let out to 3/8".

D. The inseam was sewn back at 5/8" and the seam between the white marks at 3/4".
I felt D was better than A, B, and C.

E. Which is taken a different day, has the seam between the white marks and the inseam sewn at 3/4" until about mid-thigh. It also has the crotch "scooped" or rather, made more rounded than angular.

The pants will be sewn up and completed with the adjustments shown on E. I think that the 2" added to the crotch point ended up adding just a bit too much to the inner thigh. I have very full inner thighs and this is also an adjustment I've made before but usually much smaller (3/8" or 1/2"). I am wondering about extending the crotch point just a touch more while also tapering the area through the thigh.

I'm excited to try out this extended crotch point on a pair of woven pants! Will plan to document that process as well.

Review of Ginny's Fine Fabrics and Updates

While having lunch on Saturday, we were trying to remember how our MinneSEWta group began. I'm almost certain it began in the Regional Communities section of PR in mid-2014. Some time ago, we settled on getting together the first Saturday of every month. This way, if you can make it, great! If you can't, that's okay too...maybe another month :)

Normally, we hang out and chat about sewing (or not!). Over time, there's sort of a core group that has developed but really, ANYONE is welcome - there's no cliquey thing happening here.

Sometimes we get together and have a sewing day. Sometimes, we take field trips. I'm not sure who came up with the fantastic idea to visit Ginny's but I'm glad they did!

Ginny's (website ) has existed in downtown Rochester, near Mayo, for decades! (check out THIS write up in the Rochester blog) She is truly a gem and if you have the opportunity to stop in - be sure to do so! She knows that store like the back of her hand and when I tell you that the fine fabrics part is accurate?? It is A C C U R A T E! Name it, and you can find it! From $300/yd cashmere coating to $9/yd cotton voile, it's there.

She doesn't sell online but if you call her and let her know what you're looking for, she will swatch fabrics for you. 

Rochester is about 90 miles southeast of me and it was a pleasant drive down Saturday morning. Downtown Rochester is really pretty and had it not been so cold Saturday, I probably would have wandered around a bit.

My stash OVERFLOWS so I took some time on Friday night to come up with a short list of things I could shop for. I did not however, set a budget. BIG mistake :-p Oh, did I mention there was a 20% off sale that day? OY!

Suiting for pants, Ponte for pants, knit for leggings, plaid shirting, "bright red w/print" woven for a dress. So, what did I buy? :-D

Not pictured: Navy ponte for pants - yay! I could not get a photo of the ponte that wasn't washed out and weird but really...it's navy ponte. It's completely opaque, midweight, and drapes really well. I took pics of bolt ends and didn't get the full composition of this one but, it's a Telio ponte and I captured "65% rayon" so it seems like it may be their Jockey ponte. The composition is listed as 65% rayon, 30% nylon, 5% spandex. That sounds in line with how this fabric behaved.

Next up, knit for leggings - yay! I wanted something slightly heavier than a run of the mill cotton lycra knit. I plan on using V9210, which I made before in an inappropriate fabric. It was a ponte that was much too soft/drapey for a legging-style slim pant. This fabric is 85% poly, 10% rayon and 5% lycra and is black with a sparkly finish, but it isn't textured. It has a nice weight to it and is opaque.

There was a silk twill in red with a black abstract print that I totally swooned over. I may buy that fabric in the future. But, I have 8 cuts of silk in stash that has been collected over the past 2 years and until I sew up a couple of those, I'm not allowing myself to buy more silk (blouseweights). And at $38/yd, I knew I'd talk myself out of sewing it.

This 50/50 cotton/rayon voile is SO nice. It drapes amazingly well yet is completely stable. I'm going to make a shirtdress for sure. Initially, I was going to go with a Vogue with pleats but it came out of the dryer slightly more wrinkled than I'd like a pleated skirt to be. I wouldn't want to spend a ton of time ironing it before wearing it. I bought 3 yards and wish I'd gotten more! It feels amazing and was priced at $9/yd. Total steal.

Next up was a crepe that I just couldn't pass up. I love any sort of black background + bright/light print so I was sold. The label said it was poly but the label didn't contain everything (e.g., it says polye). If this is 100% polyester, it's the most amazing polyester I've ever seen. I think it's a blend. THE DRAPE! OMG. It's beautiful. It's already cut out and halfway to being a dress from Burda 9/2018. Like, the entire front of the dress is constructed :-p If I had thought ahead a bit, I'd have gotten 3 yards instead of 2.5. I would have loved to let this fabric sing in something with lots of pleats or gathers, it drapes so well. I was able to find something with a little tie at the neck that's cut on the bias, and the skirt has a center front pleat.

This beautiful piece of fabric! SWOON! Another sewer found it in the remnant area and it is just gorgeous!! Three of us swarmed over there but when Ginny unrolled it, it was only 1 7/8 yard. As we were all checking out, S. had fell in love with a beautiful, bright silk print and it was pricey and she offered up this crepe to me and I JUMPED on it! :-D I just love the colors and I plan to use it for McCall's 7976. I think it's a year-round color/print for me (navy background) and I want a garment that can transition.

So, I was done! I'd gotten fabric for 3 of 5 specific things on my list...and had still stuck with 5 pieces of fabric.

Then I found this 20" piece of power mesh (beige) in the remnant bin for $6. The remnants were half off and so, SCORE! $3 for a hefty piece. I recently bought the Watson bra, no chance to try it out yet, but I wanted something pretty and sheer to make a set. This stretch mesh (I know it's not swiss dot but can't think of what this is called!) was just the ticket. I bought a full yard so that next spring, I can make a pretty top or dress with a sheer yoke :)
 

Shopping for fabric really recharged the mojo! When the mojo goes, I can't help but try to figure out why. This time, I realized it's because I've had a lot of fails or quasi-fails in a row.

Since sewing my awesome and beautiful blazer (which I'm going to finish SOON) in mid September, and taking way more time off from sewing than I thought I'd need after surgery, I've sewn:

*Cardigan and skirt from Minerva Crafts ponte. The fabric is too thick for the cardigan and I'm not sure the skirt is really my style though it's cute!! And the fabric works with the skirt pattern.

*M7812 yellow top. I love this top. LOVE. But the fabric. Between this and visiting Ginny's, I think I've decided that jersey knits are something I have to buy in person. I got the yellow fabric from Metro Textiles and it just isn't good and the top won't last long.

*Style Arc Sandra Jeans - I stole these pics off my IG stories :) They fit fine, I like this pattern for the most part. I drafted a curved waistband and these are still gaping. Boooo! I'm to do the elastic trick (a strip inserted and stitched down from left back belt loop to right) and otherwise, they're fine, but it was a disappointment.

*Vogue 9026 - GRRRRRRR. I spent a lot of money to get this fabric and this pattern was not what I wanted. There is a view with no band but it uses the same back pattern piece (that wraps around the front) and it has more of a sweatshirt fit than anything. It's huge and billowy in back and for now, it's in the naughty box and I've moved on for now.

 

 

Burda 9/2018 #113 WIP: