Helloooooo 2022!

The past 20+ months have been weird, in so many ways. On the sewing front, I hit this weird snag where I just didn't feel confident starting more complex projects. I really didn't understand it either! I would look at things I wanted to make and decide I just wasn't able. I've done the same thing with machine knitting and it's SO unlike me, it's been so hard! 

Sewing Goals

I have somehow gotten over that slump and am ready to dig in. I decided that this year, I am going to sew some wish list items:

Trench coat - Let's be honest, I will likely use a Burda pattern, but I also really like this new M8246 though I don't like the buttons in the vent...but that length is too long anyway, so I would shorten it to just above that vent opening. I am also a bit concerned about the volume in the sleeves. But otherwise, I think the details are so modern (it looks like it has inseam pockets and that would be a NO). 

The Burda 11/2012 (on the right) is a little outdated with the lapel size and shape and I don't like the pointed storm flaps. The vintage S8975 has really great details but if I'm not mistaken, I found that in a size 14 and would have to do some grading. 

I'm not willing to entertain Indie patterns for a coat aside from Style Arc (their current patterns aren't quite classic-trench style), Silhouette Patterns (it's beautiful but the lapel is a tiny bit on the large side). 

This is not a diss against anyone's trench made from any other Indie pattern.  

Burda blazer 2/2020

I have accepted that I love jackets and cardigans and blazers and I am not going to hold back any more! I'm embracing my love for toppers and will make/buy the jackets and toppers that I want. So, there! 

I also have plans to finish my WIP Burda 6/2019 moto style boucle jacket, soon. And my jacket wishlist is always long (Burda 1/2021, 1/2019, 12/2017, V1710, V8910, GAH!)

I did find two AMAZING deals on Poshmark recently. For a total of $48, I scored both of these Talbots jackets. The Glen plaid is unlined and is a size 14. I have another Talbots blazer in a 14 and it's nice to be able to actually wear sleeves underneath, which is not an option for most of my RTW blazers! It's a boxier style and the fabric is quite heavy. 

The other plaid jacket is new and was less than $17 with shipping so I couldn't pass it up even though it's a size 12. While it grazes the body nicely, you can probably see that the sleeve is snug. So I will only be able to wear this one with sleeveless tops. 

excuse my headless, dirty mirror COVID pics

Formal black dress - No patterns in mind yet. I attended 2 funerals this year and had to scramble both times to find something to wear and that happened to me last year too. There's no good reason for that now, is it? It will be solid black, no print (even tonal print), likely a higher neckline (I do love a boatneck), with sleeves and a straight skirt. 

Little black dress or jumpsuit - I made the Style Arc Mimi G Maya dress a few years back but I don't think I can fit it at the moment. One of my new VikiSews patterns (Iliana and Leora) may be a good fit here!

Corduroy blazer for my husband using Vogue 8890

I. Scored. A. NEEDLE BOARD!!!! Finally! I was typing this and listed the blazer as a goal, and I randomly went to search eBay. I found a new Dritz board for like $70 and hit 'buy' faster than you could imagine. 

So that's 5 specific sewing goals for 2022. I'm not making any goals around stashing - fabric or patterns, or even using up stash. Perhaps I'll reexamine that later in the year, but for now, it's just not important to me.

I also want to give energy to those projects that I just really WANT. And I don't have to justify if I need it or not. I want to find my creative freedom in the sewing room again. 

Machine Knitting Goals

I decided I have to just dive in here, as well. A sewing friend started machine knitting mid November and has cranked out a couple of sweater projects and really got me inspired. Getting my sewing mojo back too led me to a Just Do It! moment. I am looking forward to learning, experimenting, and developing my skills around this hobby. 

I do have some specific goals:

Make matching sweaters for the grandsons

Make St. John copycat pants (the woman I bought my machine from is sort of renowned in the MK world and worked as a knitwear designer for major brands, for many years. She's since retired but sold me her pant pattern that's used to create the $600-800 St. John pants!)

Complete 5 types of garments for myself:

• A raglan sweater or cardigan
• A sweater or cardigan with set-in sleeves
• A dolman sweater with some type of stitch pattern (garter, fair isle, lace, something!)
• Socks
• A wrap or poncho

I think these garments each represent a set of skills and I think completed full garments, will help boost my confidence, even if they aren't perfect (ha!) or even wearable.

Personal Goals

In my personal life, I have two primary goals:

• Begin graduate school
• Read at least 3 books per month

Best wishes to you all, for a happy, productive 2022!

Burda 1/2018 #119 in POLKA DOTS!

I made this hoodie a few years ago (here). WOW, time flies! I wear it ALL THE TIME and have intended to make a 2nd one for forever. 

I picked up this polka-dot sweatshirt fleece on my trip to Fabric Mart in 2018, so it was long overdue to be sewn up. 

I used a straight size 40, same as last time. I added 1" to the sleeve length and did a slash and spread vertically on the pocket to add an inch. Look at the difference! So much more useful now!

Everything about this pattern is just so perfect to me! I love the shoulder line, the sleeve, the binding, the curved seams, the length, the hood fits...it's just AWESOME!!

I didn't have any black bias tape and was going back and forth on adding a pop of color. Ultimately, I decided to just take advantage of the white dots. I actually used an off-white as the white seemed to be too bright. I really love the binding details included on this pattern!!

I went with a black nylon zipper, eyelets for the drawstring, some white cording, and silver cord stops. 

I am coming to like dropped shoulders now that I am less busty. The sleeves are nice and roomy. The have this large pleat at the top and the lower edge is eased into a cuff.

I wear this one all the time too and sometimes there's a little competition between which hoodie will win the day :-p 

This is what I wore to work today but I had a solid cardigan on hand that I swapped out for the 2 interviews I held! hahahaha! No one knew I was sporting leggings and sneakers. I guess there's a silver lining to be found in eternally working from home :-p

McCall's 7061; Contest Sewing

I've still been fairly mojo-less. Which is fine! But I enjoy sewing and hate when my mojo wanes. I decided to enter the Pattern Review Endless Combinations contest to get it going again. Endless combinations requires a minimum of 4 garments and each garment has to "go with" (coordinate & be worn with) the previous item. There's no requirement for cohesive among the entire mini wardrobe, just more of a guarantee that you won't create an "orphan". 

I was mostly focused on fabrics I wanted to sew, and on garments secondarily, and lastly, wanted to try to use patterns I'd made before.

I actually started with a dress from Simplicity 8890 (I'm going to finish it but am slightly meh on it! It's awaiting the final bit - the straps). Next up was this slightly cropped hoodie from M7061. I plan to follow the hoodie with a pair of black pull-on shorts (something I DESPERATELY need) and then a tee or Ogden cami.

I'd previously sewn this pattern for my loungewear wardrobe. I made the (CUTE!) tunic and used this version sans hood and bodice band because I didn't have enough fabric. I wanted a fitted hoodie (which is a tough pattern to find!) that just kissed the top of my bottoms (these jeans are high-waist).

I LOVE IT!

I tried on that version and decided where I wanted the hoodie to end on the body. I measured the finished width on the band decided to shorten the top 6" (the band is about 2.5"). 

Same as the initial version, I cut a size medium (additional hip room was irrelevant on this version) and a 1" bicep adjustment. Because of the thickness of this knit, I sewed 3/8" seams on the body and sleeve. I added eyelets and a drawstring on the band, mostly for aesthetic reasons. If you really wanted to draw up the bottom, I'd recommend a channel for the drawstring. 

There were lots of reviews that mentioned how big the hood is. I have a big head. *Every* time I sew something with a slit opening in back and someone mentions "Just sewing that shut", I'm like, NOPE. I'm gonna need that to get it over my dome! LOL!! Well, this hood is HUGE! LOL! I almost switched to the collar (I really love that feature on this pattern), because I don't really *need* the hood, I just wanted it to come up around the neck. But I do like it as is; the crossover is really cool.

This fabric is so cozy that I didn't bother lining it.
It was hemmed on the coverstitch which loved this fabric!

I saw a make on the Russian Burda site where the user had placed her tag on the sleeve hemband and I thought it was super cool. Copied that! :) 

My jeans are ASOS and I absolutely adore them. The inseam gussets are everything!

We have chosen to have a baby shower for my daughter. We are following CDC and State of MN guidelines. While we have no issue wearing masks, it helps that our city has a mask ordinance in place in case anyone is resistant. In addition, we're staying as safe as possible by 1) holding it outdoors in a huge picnic shelter which allows for  2) social distancing 3) keeping it super small (our city also restricts outdoor gatherings to 25 people) 4) keeping it short and 5) nothing is shared (individually servings of food and cupcakes). Grandparents aren't going to be present for obvious reasons and no one attending lives with a grandparent. We've encouraged anyone with possible exposure to bow out. We know it's a risk! So we're taking as many precautions as possible. Let me know if you have other suggestions!

So I've been busy making stuff (helloooooo Cricut!) because I still want it to feel as genuine as possible for her. It's been a rough year for all of us and she has really struggled. She has missed out on a commencement ceremony, her husband can't attend her prenatal visits, among other things.

I'm making a top and skirt for her and then I'll be moving on to the rest of my E.C. items. 

I love a good flounce! Hoping this outfit turns out!

Onward!

Ooh! I was sucked in by this rayon challis from Fabric Mart - it was Sue's pick one day and I got 6 yards. EEK! But it's so pretty! and vibrant!! 

I also got this poly crepe for a dress. I usually move on to fall sewing in August but I'm not seeing that we'll be back in the office by then so we'll see how it all goes.

Stay safe!

Burda 01/2020 Lace Hoodie

note: I woke up the other day to over 100 spam posts. I ended up accidentally deleting all of the comments on my March wrap-up post. Oops! For now, I have altered commenting to require moderation.

So far this year I've sewn from both the January and February issues of Burda magazine and looking ahead to March, April and May, there are things I want to sew from each issue - yay! 

January had a couple things that I liked and I was immediately sold on this woven hooded top.

I knew RIGHT AWAY that I'd be making it from a lace! In the end, I went with black because that would make it more versatile. And I had several yards of this lace leftover from a Hancock clearance sale. It is a metallic animal print lace with a light bit of stretch and I just love it!

I traced the hoodie in a size 40 and did a slash and spread to add a couple inches to the hip (it finishes right at the high hip). 

I also did my normal 1" bicep adjustment. I wish I'd double checked the hood! I have a big head and the hood is too small. 

I know kitty...it's too small! :-p

I'd used this lace for a dress years ago and knew it would be fine to sew and serge (french seams just don't excite me the way they seem to for many! I'll use them when I must...) but knew that I'd have to use something stable/solid for the cuffs.

I didn't want a double layered hood and decided to bias-bind the hood front opening using some scraps of rayon challis. 

I finished it and got ready to attach the hood and had put it on backward! I cut a NEW hood and NEW bias binding and redid it. Grrr! 

For the continuous lap and cuffs, I used the leftover silk-cotton blend fabric from my B6183 top. 

why yes, my continuous lap is backwards as it ALWAYS is. I mess that up so often!

When I got to this point, I did my buttonholes and sewed on my buttons. On the inside. Ask me how?! I have no clue! LOL!!!! So I had to remove them and redo them. EESH. 

I spent a lot of time figuring out how I wanted to sew the hem. I wanted to face it but didn't feel like it. I didn't feel like making more bias binding. In the end, I did a double turned hem. Luckily, the hip area is wide enough that there is no strain and the fabric seemed to press well enough. Ah. 

I love it! It's casual-cool goodness!

Hello Stitch Studio Class Review

I have been looking forward to this class ever since the class was held last year! I believe it was last spring and between the trip for SewCamp and a trip to Puerto Rico, I just couldn’t swing it. The *moment* registration opened this time, I was THERE! :)

Plus, neither my husband nor me had ever been to the Bay Area before so we decided to make a long weekend of it. 

My visit started with a trip to Stonemountain & Daughter. It's an adorable shop with a pretty impressive collection of fabrics for its size.

Knit binding in ALLLLL the colors!!! 

JOY! :-P

I lucked up on a 20% off rayon sale and the class included a 20% off coupon (didn't apply to the sale items). I picked up 3 cuts of fabric.

An Atelier Brunette viscose for an Ogden cami (at $25/yd full price I only picked up 1 yard!). 

A rayon challis in a black/grey leopard print. 

A rib knit in this mushroom color. I've wanted a bodycon midi dress with a snap placket for awhile. The weight and color of this fabric should work for fall and spring!

I also picked up a few yards of weft fusible interfacing, lightweight knit fusible interfacing, a grab bag of notions and a "Thanks, I made it!" pin :-D

The class was scheduled for 18 hours total: 4 hours Friday, 7 hours Saturday and Sunday. If you’ve made a tailored jacket or coat before, you know that it is not an <18 hour project! So I didn’t expect to complete the jacket in class and really looked forward to learning new things. 

Hello Stitch also offers longarm quilting services and we all had these adorable handmade nametags.

Now, y’all know how much I like to go fast. I intended to take full advantage of Beth’s jacket making skills and soak up all I could. But...

I am a migraine sufferer. I’ve traveled 3 weekends in a row - 8/30-9/2, 9/7-9/9 and now 9/12-9/16. I’ve had a pretty low-grade headache this entire time and missed most of work on 9/9 due to migraine. When we arrived in San Francisco on Thursday, I was SO OUT OF IT. I was in pain and nauseous but tried to power through. I woke up on Friday feeling horrible and was near tears because I wasn't sure I'd make it to class. Well, I did but boy was it rough going. It did not help that it was near 100 degrees in the Bay area! At one point, I was sure I was going to pass out! When I showed up Saturday feeling mildly better, I was shocked by how little I’d gotten done the day before. 

Day 1 we talked about the patterns - most of the class used the Closet Case Jasika blazer. If you read here regularly, you know I’ve sworn off sewing anything for my upper body from this pattern company. I used V9099, and 2 other sewers used patterns other than the Jasika. We did tissue fitting (some people had made muslins ahead of class) and went off to cut. Also, Beth gifted us all with silk organza press cloths. YAY!

Day 1 I finished with:

Fitted pattern (I cut my pattern pieces out at home)

Completely cut out fashion fabric

Day 2 I arrived with a mild headache but felt much less woozy and nauseous. Yay! This day was all about the welts for me. I got most of my pattern pieces interfaced and got my welt pockets inserted.

:drool:

WAIIIIITTTT

The studio has one of those boiler steam irons (there was one at Sew Camp too) and I just have to have one. HAVE TO!!! Fusing everything was a long, hot job, but it makes all the difference in the finished product. 

We had a break for lunch, chatted and got to know each other better, and got some handy demonstrations on marking fabric and getting perfect lapels.

Day 2 I finished with:

Everything but the sleeves interfaced 

Front sewn to side panel

Completed exterior pockets (pocket bags weren’t sewn)

Sewn center back seam

Sewn shoulder seams

This was taken first thing Sunday morning. Everyone's fabric was SO, SO gorgeous.

Day 3 I felt so much better!! I was so ready to go. I knew I needed to fuse interfacing to my sleeves and prep the facing. We'd be sewing the collars/lapels this day.

And then it happened...I accidentally interfaced the right side of one of my sleeves. I ALMOST STARTED CRYING. I was fairly certain I didn't have enough fabric to recut but I just eeked it out. And I triple checked before interfacing :-p

Once I got past that hurdle, I was on my way. The tips and tricks we learned made the class worth it! Everyone's collar and lapels went in and turned out perfectly. Absolutely perfect!

Day 3, we discussed lining insertion and I have become a convert to hand sewing the lining in. I HAVE bagged a lining successfully, but I would prefer the control of hand sewing.  I left with a completed body and sleeves that were ready to sew.

The state of my jacket after the class (once I was back home).

There is a shoulder pad in there and I have the seam allowance tucked under. 

Isn't it awesome?!?! 

We'd made some adjustments to my sleeves -- the finished bicep on the size 14 was 14 3/4" and that is my exact bicep measurement so we added quite a bit.

I basted the seams on my sleeve and tweaked the fit, then basted it into the armhole to ensure I didn't overdo it. I will tell ya, I probably would have never done all this before. I totally will baste a side seam to check fit...but all this tweaking on the sleeve? I'd never have done it. It fits SO WELL! Woot woot!!

I tweaked the vertical sleeve seams a lot so I plan to mark the new seam line, mark the new seam allowance, and trim off any excess...then cut the other sleeve and lining from these "new" pattern pieces.

My plan is to get it finished and ready to sew the lining in and I can work on that once I'm feeling up to it after surgery.

We also had a ton of fun exploring San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkley. 

Visiting my husband's cousin at work

More luck! Skies were nice and clear and we were able to visit The Golden Gate bridge 

I can hold that bridge in my tiny hands! :-D

Sunset at the Golden Gate strait

Visit to Fisherman's Wharf

And then a serious delay out of SFO. I've been up for about 30 hours with a ~2 hour nap on the plane. Eesh!

It was a whirlwind weekend full of fun and sewing and food and I can't wait to do it again! :) 

Updates on WIPs

I have kept my zipper stash in ziplock baggies, loosely separated by type, and in these plastic baskets I got from Dollar Tree. I have my trims in a basket, elastic in another, and all my interfacing is folded and in ziplock bags.

I went to The Container Store to buy a tote to keep my Indie patterns in so I could free the 4th drawer in my pattern file cabinets.  Checking out, I spotted these clear shoe baskets (whose shoes can fit in these??) and they were only $1.69 plus I had a 15% off coupon...JACKPOT! I should have gotten more but I was just thinking of zipper storage at the time. And now I need MORE!!!! Lol!

They will stack perfectly on my bookshelf!

I may use the Cricut to label them.

Now they're separated by regular zippers, invisible zippers and fashion zippers. 

I need one more for jacket zippers. 

 My NL6123 dress is right at the finish line. I've only sewn a lined dress with vent once and had to do some research before finishing. I know I used Colleen G. Lea's vid last time but this time it seemed confusing. Could be that I was just tired. Hopefully I'll get that finished this week.

This is the fabric I bought for my husband's blazer (it feels amazing!). 

It arrived and was much more green than gray.

Behold my terrible in-progress pics :) The side seams were basted here (I ended up letting the hip out a little). 

I'll dish about my dart issue when I review.

The blazer is coming along too. I'm not sure why I chose two labor intensive projects to work on at the same time. DOH!!

The lining is cut and ready to be assembled. I'm not going to bag the lining; I am going to go ahead and hand sew it like the pattern instructs. 

The sleeve vents are constructed like actual vents...but then the buttons are just sewn on through all thickness.

WUT?

I'm going to go through all this trouble and not go all the way? Pfft.  This jacket, except for the collar style, is *exactly* like one of my J. Crew blazers. front darts, armhole princess seams, where the welts are positioned...I'm using it as reference.

Anyway, I interface a piece of the suiting and make sample buttonholes. Decide the first one was too narrow and the second one was good! In true sewing headache fashion...I have 5 perfect buttonholes and 1 that I don't even know. 

Samples!

The FIRST buttonhole I made after the sample is like 2/3 the length it needs to be. I have NO idea what happened. Nothing was changed between making the samples and making the buttonholes. nothing was changed from the first buttonhole to any of the others. It's a mystery!!! 

My edges are wavy because I had constructed the vent area before realizing it wasn't real. I'm not sure why the lack of instruction to interface didn't tip me off...but I added interfacing after the fact which means that edge isn't interfaced. Not ideal but, sometimes you do what you gotta do!

I have not been sewing much and it finally dawned on me that my lack of mojo was likely due to  amount of work remaining on these projects. Lined garments are like that...you have the shell and you're excited and then, crap! There's still a TON of work to do! :-p

I will likely not get my husband's blazer done before surgery. It'll be a good fall item! 

I really need pants right now. I am thinking of sewing at least one pair and then cutting out a bunch of stuff and seeing where the wind blows :) 

I think I'm going to make a tops from M7722 and V8597 right away. I need a couple easy projects with these two that are in progress! 

January Wrap-Up and February Plans

And just like *that*, we're a month into 2019!

This month I sewed 12.75 yards:
*6.5 yards from "new" fabric (acquired within the past 3 months)
*6.25 from "stash" fabric (older than 3 months). ((shot out to Carolyn for the idea to categorize))

I basically sewed Butterick 6621 and uhmm....yeah :)

• Print jersey - 2 yards

• Black wool jersey - 2.25 yards

• Green rayon jersey - 2.25 yards

• Burgundy ponte - 2 yards 

• Burda 12/2018 top - 2 yards
• Ivory poly crepe
• buttons, velvet ribbon

• Butterick 6641 blazer - 2 yards (WIP)
• winter white suiting
• buttons 

FAVORITE: I really adore all the versions of the dresses I made but the black one literally makes me smile!

FAILS: No actual failed projects thankfully. I am a little frustrated that the ponte dress is a bit snug as I didn't account for the (much!) thicker fabric. My blazer is coming along but the pockets are a little wonky.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Me. Pattern hacking!! I knew what I wanted and worked at it to get it.

This month, I purchased 14.75 yards of fabric and 7 patterns. Doh.

I did not feel bad when I ordered this suiting and boucle. After losing out on my actual Black Watch plaid from Michael Levine, I saw this and thought it was a good compromise. There was a 60% off sale at FM and $24 for the cut was not bad. Then, I saw this boucle. Sold! Total order was 3.5 yards. No problem.

poly/wool blend suiting

100% cotton boucle

But then once the well is opened... :-p

The next Fabric Mart contained a plethora of lining which is NOT included in my totals. I've never counted lining because I buy it when I get a good deal on it and then use it accordingly. As of now, it's still nice and tame and all fits in one 12x12 cube.

Also contained in that order was: 5 cuts of jersey; 3 prints and 2 solids.

"fruit puch" cotton/modal jersey

floral poly jersey

Halston dusty blue poly jersey

striped double brushed jersey

ivory & navy poly jersey

Other sewing purchases this month included interfacing (for the current jacket project), thread (50% off sale at JA), another serger cone thread rack (I have been looking for a 2nd one and neither of 'my' JAs have had them in stock. Bonus - it was 40% off), and velvet ribbon and buttons from Treadle. (The ribbon was used on the Burda blouse and the buttons for are for the current jacket.)

Lastly, February plans...

My surgery is scheduled for the end of this month so I'll be sewing, sewing, sewing until then! I have a couple of "spring" knit dresses I want to make and hope to get them done too since I may still be healing when the warmer ("warmer" to a Midwesterner is like...50 degrees!) temps arrive. At worst, I'll have them cut out and ready to sew.

This weekend my sewing group is getting got together to actually sew! We usually just hang out and chat, which is awesome, sewing being the mostly solitary hobby that it is...but I'm so excited for this! IT WAS AWESOME!!

I sewed the sleeves of my blazer (the actual sleeve seams; not setting them) and got the plaid fabric above cut out using NL6123. I have the front and back assembled and ready for the zipper and side seams. The lining is cut out and started.

progress on the blazer

It doesn't look like much on Lilly!

But it's a fitted sheath and the bodice contours really nicely. 

I am hoping to make my husband's blazer before surgery as well! This will depend on how the Bootstrap muslin goes. If there's too much work -aka- a 2nd muslin is required, it'll be saved for the fall.

I gasped audibly when I thought about sewing New Look 6560 with the beautiful green silk I got from Metro Textiles last spring. I rough cut the pattern pieces today at the sewing meet up.

Also, remember this sweater?? My husband accidentally shrank it. I tried to not be too disappointed and thought, well, I'll remake it.

And not too long after, he shrank this top. And I almost cried actual tears. So now, I will be washing the handmades!!!

Anyway, I told that sad, sad tale to say that I'm going to remake V8597 in this blue knit. FM listed it as jersey but it's so soft and feels like a light sweater knit.

(ambitious) February plans:

 

S2246*B6621*NL6123

NL6560*V8597

• New Look 6123 dress (no flounce; there's a cap sleeve I"ll be using)
• New Look 6560 top
• Vogue 8597 top
• Husband's blazer
• Cut out and hopefully sew:
• Butterick 6621 dress 
• Simplicity 2246 dress 

I've gotten some questions about the sleeve detail on the burgundy dress. I will post a quick how-to soon! 

Well that's it! A little late and a whole lot of words!!