the less said, the better

Footed sleepers. Jalie pattern. The younger generation is happy.

Feeling Shirty

My current mood is causing me to be a bit obsessed with the shirt. This black silk one should be a useful addition to my wardrobe. While I was making it, I pulled out 5 or 6 other fabrics from my closet to make more shirts with. The pattern came from Book of Mens Shirts by Ryuichiro Shimazaki. I traced off the smallest size, and added a bust dart to make it a womens shirt.

The silk is not as firm as a cotton shirting fabric would be, so I made French seams instead of flat felled seams. Other than that, it’s constructed like a regular shirt.

back view

cuff detail

metal button

A Second Layer

The latest dress I made, sleeveless and wool, may not be the most practical garment. I made it sleeveless because the fabric is so thick and the dress so close-fitting at the shoulders that sleeves would have been too constricting. But, well, where I live it is nearly always too hot or too cold for sleeveless wool. Actually, it’s probably like that everywhere on Earth. So I made this coordinating cardigan, which I think solves my sleeve dilemma nicely.

The fabric is a wool blend (I think) knit that came from a pile of fabrics that my neighbor gave me from her mother’s stash when her mother died. I trimmed it with leftover wools from the dress.

I waffled a bit on the length of the cardigan. I pulled it up to see what it would look like shorter, and decided that I like this length. It looks a bit mumsy, but not in a bad way.

The pattern is from a fairly recent Burdastyle, 4/2010. The sleeve cap is nicely shaped.

Back

Cuff Detail

placket detail

My younger daughter was circling my sewing room the entire time I was working on this project. She knows that, as soon as I finish a project, the scraps on the floor are fair game to appropriate as art supplies. The instant I finished this cardigan, she swooped in and grabbed the scraps to make this decoration for her room.

Wearable Blanket

Originally, I planned on making a fairly normal striped dress with this fabric, but then the other night when I could not sleep, I changed my mind and made it with offset stripes. I think I like it.

The fabric is a Pendleton wool from the store Stonemountain and Daughter in Berkeley, CA. For those non-Americans among my readers, Pendleton is a really wonderful American fabric. They make mostly wools (this is a wool). A lot of their products are blanket weight, as is the one I used for this dress. It’s a family-owned company and their fabrics are still woven in Oregon, USA. If you are visiting the US and are looking for a nice souvenir, you could do worse than picking up some Pendleton wool. It is, unfortunately, expensive, so it is mostly available in better fabric shops. I bought it on PR Weekend in California. Since I was on vacation, I figured I would treat myself.

The fabric is a doubleface, and extremely thick. I did not want to deal with trying to press open seams, so I used lapped seams and left the edges raw. I stayed the top edge with fusible stay tape, then I stitched it down. I just don’t trust fusing to hold up under stress. I left the bottom edge raw rather than hemming it.

The pattern is from an older Burdastyle. If you want me to look up what pattern I used, leave a comment and I will look it up for you. However, I think this sort of pattern is fairly common.

side

back

side zipper

zipper opening

lapped seam for princess line and dart

stay tape at front

PatternReview Weekend San Francisco

As you probably know if you read a lot of sewing blogs, last weekend was PatternReview Weekend in San Francisco. I, and 80+ others, had a fantastic time there. Here are some of the highlights.

Shams and me at Twin Peaks

On Thursday when I arrived, Shams from Communing with Fabric picked me up at the BART and took me to San Rafael to the Dharma Trading retail store! It was everything I hoped it would be. It’s like an art supply store, but one that only sells supplies for the kind of art that I do! One thing that they sell on their site that it was cool to see in person are the batiking tjaps. They are much larger and heavier than I thought they would be.

On Friday, I was wandering about with Elizabeth and Jeannette when we saw a woman wearing the above leggings. Aren’t they epic? It was the most amazing luck that I saw this when I was with 2 people who appreciate this kind of thing as much as I do. If you want them for your own, click on the photo above. For me, it’s enough to know that they exist. I do not have to own them.

Saturday was Fabric Shopping Day. I went with a lovely group including Raye Ann, Touran, and Grace. We only went to 2 stores, but we were quite thorough about them. The first store was Stonemountain and Daughter in Berkeley, where I picked up a lovely Pendleton wool and a nubby boucle.

Then we headed for Lacis, also in Berkeley. Lacis is mind-blowing. They have the best selection of fiber arts books that I have ever seen. Previously, the Victoria and Albert Museum bookstore held that place in my mind, but Lacis has more fiber arts titles. They have fantastic tools. I bought a reweaving needle. They have individual frog skins for sale. I will probably forever regret not buying one. AND, ther’s a museum section with some amazing Victorian-era fashions arranged in life-sized dioramas. Above is a photo of me crashing the Victorian deathbed scene.

Additionally, there were classes, eating, drinking, carousing, etc. It was a really lovely weekend, and I am looking forward to next year in Austin.

Tweed Pullover

Since it will probably never get warmer in the Northeastern US, I may find myself wearing this top all summer.

The pattern is a fairly new Vogue pattern, 1115. This pattern appeals to me for a couple of reasons. The shoulder/sleeve treatment is stunning, and I really like pullover tops as outerwear. I think it’s nice not to have closures at the center front. Also, there is interesting seaming overall. The fabric is a wool suiting, underlined with silk charmeuse. The wool came from michaelsfabrics.com, and the silk came from London Textiles.

There’s kind of a strangely-placed zipper. After I put it in, I realized is not strictly necessary for me to get the top on and off. However, I may end up glad that it’s there anyway, as it cannot help but make it easier to put on and take off.

There is no small amount of tailoring involved in this project. The welt pockets are a nice touch. All of the seams are flat felled (does that count as tailoring?) The shoulder and sleeve seams are devilishly complicated. It’s a meaty project for those looking for a challenge.

back

side view

sleeve opening

sleeve detail

unzipped

inside-out view, showing silk charmeuse underlining

inside-out view, showing silk charmeuse underlining.

pocket

pocket

Darts and Topstitching

My current project, Vogue 1115, in wool suiting and silk charmeuse.

Pint-Sized Flapper

This dress looks SO MUCH BETTER than I ever thought possible. My younger daughter picked the fabric at Spandex House. It’s a nylon-lycra with strings of sequins hanging off the fabric. My daughter likes her fabrics to be as over-the-top as possible, and this definitely qualifies.

I bought 1 yd of fabric, and tried to use every square inch. I drafted a simple tank dress, then added godets to the skirt. I cut out the tank dress part, then took all the fabric that was left and cut out as many godets as I could from it. There are 2 in the front, 2 on the side seams, and 4 in the back.

Initially, I tried to sew the fabric as-is on my serger, resulting in a broken needle and serious strain on my serger knife from sewing over sequins. I then cut all the sequins out of the seam line, which was a huge pain but made sewing easier.

I lined the bodice with some tan knit fabric that I had lying about.

My daughter loves the dress, but it kind of weighs a ton. I hope she does not get fatigued wearing it.

more spinning

Front view

back

front godet. It’s hard to see anything in this fabric, but there is a seam there.

back godets

Pile of sparkles

This is the mess on my table from cutting out my current project.

Hot Summer Hoodie

My child is wearing facepaint for reasons that will remain unexplained.

A couple of months ago, I was in Spandex House in New York looking for fabric for gymnastics leotards for my kids. It struck me suddenly that my kids would LOVE this place. Everything there sparkles! So last week, while they were on Spring Break, we went there to pick out stuff for new outfits.

My older daughter picked out this nylon-lycra fabric with a hot floral print that’s ready for Palm Beach. It could be viewed as a tribute to the recently deceased Lilly Pulitzer. I was going to make a zip-up jacket, but she said she would prefer a cardigan style.

I sewed the seams on my serger, which worked just fine, but trying to make buttonholes in this fabric made me crazy. The top thread in my machine would simply not pick up the bobbin thread! If I had had a stretch needle, that would probably have solved my problem, but I did not. I ended up putting a square of silk taffeta on top of the fabric and another underneath, then cutting the silk away. It was a big pain.

I adapted the pattern from a hooded pullover pattern in an old issue of Ottobre. I added the band to finish the center front.

front

back

button detail