Sewcation

Blah, blah. Broken record. I need to blog several items. It's winter in the tundra and light is scarce. But I'll be home for days and days and I plan to photograph all the things! and will blog them soon. It's important to me to blog my projects; it isn't just about blog content (especially since I don't review on PR anymore).

I use info from my past projects, even the ones that have been removed from my wardrobe, for so much! There are things that I've gone searching for only to be frustrated that I never blogged them. So even if it ends up being quickie posts that aren't super detailed or posts that combine garments, I like to get a photo of the garment on me and details about the pattern "on paper".

Today marks my annual sewcation since starting this job. We close from Christmas Eve until the day after New Year's Day and I usually bookend some additional time off. So after today, I don't return until the 2nd and I am considering taking the 2nd off and going back on the 3rd. We'll see :)

When I returned to work after the reduction surgery, the weather had changed, and I did a quick run-through to see what would work from my current wardrobe.

Well, now that things are settling, I'm realizing I have to cull a lot more than I thought. I had the realization that I just don't wear stuff that's been FBA'd :) which is, the vast majority of my tops and dresses, for obvious reasons! I was a 34F going in and am a 36C now.

Sidebar:
There was some great info in a group I'm in on why so many see a change in band size afterward. Alls I know is, I tried on a bunch of bras and the 36C felt and looked great (swoon) and so yeah...I have a 34D which would be a "sister size" (a concept I never really agreed with) and it's just...not right. I wear bralettes and wireless bras 100% of the time now but was SUPER surprised that I didn't find a wired bra uncomfortable. I'm about 3 months post-op which, many women feel okay with underwire at this point while many more happily forego it forever :) I think part of the comfort factor also depends on where the anchor scar is placed on the body (if the surgeon went that route).

Anyway! I need tops. And it's cold in the tundra so I need cozy, warm tops. Most of my previous wish list stands and I made a big list of wants, cleaned up the sewing room, pulled all the fabric and patterns, and will move through projects as I see fit.

Now, I do not believe that I am going to sew 8 tops, 2 pair of pants, 2 skirts, a hoodie and knit a headband (oh! And muslin my husband's blazer!!) in 12 days. That requires magic. I possess no magic.

What I CAN say is that my NL6644 top is just in need of sleeve hems and the Burda 2/2017 skirt is ready to cut and sew (wool tweed fabric is prepped and the pattern is adjusted).

I've made Burda 6990 turtleneck sweater, NL6418 skirt and V9210 leggings before though V9210 may need some more tweaks to the back pattern piece and NL6418 skirt will be in faux leather.

V1629 and S8948 tops will require muslins. I plan to use precious fabric for both, really want them, so I will do my best to get them right. M7982 will also, of course, require a muslin.

I can also tell you that I can't sew for long periods of time. I know, right?! I have to take a break after a bit and I hope to work on my knitting in between sewing projects. My fro cannot fit under any of my hats and it's COLD y'all!

Lastly, I will tell you that I feel like I MUST sew:
*husband's blazer muslin
*Burda 2/2017 hand-painted wool tweed skirt (swoon)
*NL6418 black faux leather skirt
*Burda 6990 sweater in a lusciously soft Halston knit
*B5526 shirt in a cotton shirting: white w/thin black stripes
*M7982 because I just WANT these pants! I'm using a dark brown suiting (used HERE)
*M7601 because...WANT! I'm using a diagonal striped poly blouseweight

And all that after whining about needing tops. And, this list might be too ambitious. But, you never know! :-D

Semi Fail: Burda 8/2019 #101

Semi fail because it's technically fine and it's wearable...but it's a dud for me.

I just loved this when the mag was released. I knew I was drawn to the fabric mostly, but thought the dress was cute and would work.

 Meh.

1) I made this in August and it did NOT work pre-reduction but I held onto it because I figured it'd be fine after.

2) I love the fabric! I do not love the fabric in this dress :( I scooped it up from SR Harris. It's a very weight rayon challis (as rayon challis goes) and behaved so well.

I used a size 40 graded to a 42. I skipped the FBA because surgery was coming up. I gathered the elastic to the center as shown in front but not in back. It created a crazy poof of fabric over my butt. I just distributed the elastic easily across back.

The waist casing is made using one of my favorite methods. A separate casing is created and sewn in place, then the elastic is threaded through. I like this so much better than creating a casing from sewing a bodice and skirt together to create a casing.

I hate the sleeves. They're way too long on me and I don't like the "ruffle" created on the other side of the elastic. As a matter of fact, the casing isn't even sewn close because I was thinking about changing the sleeves. I do like the way the casing was constructed here. It's very clean. They have you hem the sleeve edge and fold up at the fold line. Topstitch the edge then 1" (or whatever) away creating the casing. This way the inside is clean and the ruffle edge is clean.

One of the possibilities was shortening the sleeves to break up the print and because, I don't like 'em. But I decided that wasn't going to be enough to tip the scale.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I am 100% not looking for tips/help to make this work. This has been hanging up for 3+ months and tried on and tinkered with and blah blah blah. Sometimes, things look okay but they just do not work for you, for reasons. I haven't worn it and won't because I just don't like it on.

I don't have any interior pics - I just didn't care enough. LOL! And I'm not going to lie to myself and say I'll repurpose the fabric because I'm not unstitching the topstitching from the front gathers or unstitching the casing for the waist elastic and mehhhhhhhh. Perhaps someone else will love it.

Moving on!

My blazer is SOOOOO close! And it's beautiful! And I love it!

 

One shoulder pad is in and basted...

I need to insert the other pad, sew them both in, then stitch the hems. 

Final press and it'll be ready to wear! :-D

I have a pair of pants in the works from NL6644. I went to sewing meetup on Saturday and a fellow sewer brought her muslin. I worked up a muslin of the pants that evening and now I'm about halfway through them. I'm so excited!! They're pink! LOL!

I started the weekend planning to vacuum, wash the quilt & couch blanket and wash my hair. I did none of these things but what did I do!? I went to meetup, went to see Frozen 2 with my daughter (so cute!), went home and worked on my pants muslin. Sunday, went to see Knives Out (so funny!!) and worked on my pants some more. Way, way, way better. Except today my fro is struggling! :-p

November Wrap-up and December Plans

I won't drone on and on about the passage of time but...OH EM GEE! lol!

This month I sewed up 10 yards. I sewed:

• Vogue 9026 top - 1.5 yards (WIP)
• animal print double knit from Michael Levine (new) 

• Burda magazine 9/2018 dress - 2.5 yards
• print poly crepe woven from Ginny's (new)
• zipper

• Itch to Stitch Cape Cod Capelet top - 1.5 yards
• striped sweater knit from SR Harris (stash)

• Vogue 9111 top - 2.5 yards
• tonal animal print jersey (stash)

• Burda magazine 9/2018 pants - 2 yards (FAIL)
• print rayon/lycra gabardine from Cali Fabrics (stash)
• zippers

Favorite: I don't really have a favorite this month. I really like the Burda dress but am honestly less jazzed about it with it being sleeveless. The V9111 top isn't anything special but it's also exactly what I thought it would be, so that's great!

FAILS: Those dang-blasted pants! (read previous post for whiny saga) and my wonderful animal print knit did not pair well with the V9026 pattern. I still haven't looked at a fix for that :(

Accomplishments: Low key month here. Nothing special happened!

I also bought 12.5 yards of fabric on the trip to Ginny's.

2019 totals so far:
IN: 78 yards
OUT: 85.5 yards

December Plans:

December is always a bit harder to plan as I have that chunk of time off work. My last day of work is December 20th and I go back January 2nd. I get A LOT of sewing done during this time!

Until then, I'm going to continue to focus on completing some things:
*Burda 9/2018 dress (I just have finish the armholes)
*Vogue 9099 jacket (The lining is ready to sew in. I'm doing it by hand.)

I would realllly like to get a couple pair of knit or elastic waist pants done but I'm not sure it's going to happen. I may switch gears and sew up a couple knit dresses instead.
 

FAIL: Burda 09/2018 #106

Grrrrrrrr!!!! Wahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

I've been looking for a slim (not skinny) pant pattern and (while working on the dress that's still a WIP), I found this pattern in that same issue.

1) While tracing the pattern, I commented more than once about the leg shaping (slim vs skinny!!). I should have quit then.
2) When I pulled the fabric out it was really wrinkled. I went to iron it and it stuck to the iron / left a residue on my iron! I should have quit then.
3) The fabric has vertical stretch (and no horizontal stretch) which always confuses me. What would one sew that they only need vertical stretch? So I cut on the crossgrain and *just* had enough fabric to do so.
4) I had major issues inserting the inseam zippers for some reason. I should have quit then.

Other issues I had with the pattern is shaping through the inseam and side seam but less shaping through the center seams. I had to tweak the back leg a bit. There were notches on the inseam and side seam but no notches on the center seams. The waistband is just a rectangle. Blergh.

I cut a size 44, took some measurements and made some changes right away to add to the CB length and back crotch extension. I took the side seams in a little through the knee.

My fabric was pretty similar to the magazine fabric in print...

But I've never felt a rayon/spandex fabric that felt like this. It's a gabardine so twill-like...but it felt very plasticky. Meh. 

see where that seam hits?

No real pictures because I was SO annoyed and OVER IT. And there's no saving them because they give me diaper butt AND they are uncomfortable on. So they may look okay, but they are not. 

Oh, I should state that at some point I decided that these could be a (wearable?) muslin for my nice navy ponte but I am NOT using my ponte for this pattern!

ONWARD!

I'm overrrrrrr itttttttt with my recent fails. Although I made Vogue 9111 for Thanksgiving and it's cute and awesome so there's that. I'm going to finish up my blazer from the tailoring class this weekend. I want to have it complete to take with me to my sewing meetup next Saturday :)

In other news...when the local sewing group traveled down to Rochester to Ginny's, we found ourselves in a discussion about painful developments with the reproductive system that comes with getting older. It's like I turned 40 and my body said, NOW! I've suffered with ovarian cysts for awhile but those bother me most during ovulation and unless one ruptures (seriously, WORST pain ever), it's not unbearable. I've dealt with small fibroids for awhile and more recently endometriosis. Oy. 

I've been suffering the past few months. Now, I'm obviously not a skinny minny but THIS is definitely not the norm:

Every month for about 2 days, I have this bloating. It is so PAINFUL. And now I'm sure it contributes to my lack of mojo. I'm working with my doc to try to figure out a plan...In the meantime, I'm trying to focus my sewing at the same time and all these fails ain't helping! Grr!

In other non-sewing news, I blew-out my hair last week in preparation for braids and my braider canceled on me. Booooo! So I decided to flat iron it and I've been fussing and whining about slow growth but EEK it grew fast! I've always known the back of my hair literally grows twice as fast and I AM still frustrated by how much longer the back is! :)

Then I had to do a fro comparison pic and Oh! Okay...I suppose it is growing! LOL! 

Hopefully you had an awesome Thanksgiving if you'e in the US....and if not, hopefully you at least had pie! :)

Whining about WIPs

I mentioned before how there's been nothing but fails or quasi-fails lately. I pushed myself to get my Burda dress completed and I can't move in it.

I tried it on multiple times throughout construction and was so confused and disappointed that it felt so snug on my arms after I'd measured and made a 1.25" full bicep adjustment.

And this was with night belly! :-p

It took me awhile but I realized the issue wasn't the bicep width, it was the armhole depth. A quick (but too late) tissue fitting showed the armhole stitching line was just over 1" below my armhole. Grrrr!

A quick check of my PR reviews and blog posts shows the few fitted, woven, sleeved Burda dresses I've made have restricted motion. AH! I need to pay close attention the next time around. As it stands, I am removing the sleeves and going to make this one sleeveless :(

It's fine sleeveless but I wanted sleeves!!

I'm also noticing that the shoulder is a bit long despite using a size 40. Hopefully I can get them undone and bias bound this weekend.

I went for an easy and not critical and QUICK project next. I really liked the Itch to Stitch Cape Cod Capelet when it was released and scooped it up. 

I figured best case, this would work out fine and worst case, it'd be a wearable muslin. It IS winter afterall! 

This fabric is kind of meh. I purchased it awhile ago from SR Harris. I think it's just a *touch* too drapey for this pattern (but feel like a ponte would be too heavy). 

I'm going to finish this one. It looks much better when I hike the CF up a couple inches, so I'll be shortening CF and CB. It's a weird length on me as-is. 

I will also be sewing up the sleeve just a bit more than the pattern indicates. Full review to come!

Not super impressive on Lilly but that's okay...I really like it on!

The rest of November, I hope to:

Finish my jeans (just need bar tacks in various places and to attach the belt loops)

Finish my blazer (I keep trying it on and it looks SO good, I want to wear it!)

Finish my dress above

Finish the capelet

Sew one other low-stakes item. I'm thinking either a top from V9111 for Thanksgiving or a new apron. But I don't want to buy fabric so the apron may be out...we'll see. 

I was rummaging through the stash today and am so excited for my 2 weeks off in December because I will be SEWWWWWIIIIINNNNNGGGGGGGGG my behind off. Being non-religious (more agnostic than atheist), I've long since held the belief that Christmas is for children. Mine are young adults. Christmas presents? No. I just paid tuition bills and phone bills and renewed car registration! LOL! :-p And my husband will be working so it will truly be free time for me. 

Hopefully I'll get out of this sewing rut before then.

Oh! And this week made 8-weeks post-op and I'm healing so well! My scars are almost non-existent unless you look closely and I haven't even used any scar treatments. I'm out of the sports bras around-the-clock and sticking to bralettes (ooh! there's an idea! I can try to work up a bralette muslin soon!). I can't begin to imagine feeling comfortable in an underwire but I suppose it'll happen eventually :)