some bloggity business

there's been loads of discussion around the blogs about how much the blogger platform stinks. i feel as though i've been fighting with blogger since day one, whether it's about getting my posts formatted correctly, uploading pics, commenting (darn you captcha!), and just generally not working when i need it to. when i started this blog i wavered between blogger and word press and claimed my blog name at both spots. blogger won out because it seemed less confusing to set up and more customizable. basically i've regretted it ever since.

my fist blog-posted renfrew! shameful it's
taken so long, but i figure everyone is sick
of this pattern by now.

so i've decided to switch over to word press at some point when i have time to deal with that and hopefully it won't be too traumatic. i am concerned that, because this is a picture heavy blog, that those might get lost. and that would be soul crushing.

this is a nice drape-y rayon with a subtle sheen.
not great for hiding the lumps and bumps, but
it's super soft, so i'll deal.

regardless, i will switch and the switch will probably happen on a whim late some night after one too many glasses of wine... so if you wake up to some weird feed of mine in your reader, i'm apologizing now!

paired with my thurlows... it was only right.
i left off the sleeve and hem bands and lengthened
the hem to compensate and just cut the sleeves
where i wanted them and twin needled the hems.

also, i'm just wondering what ya'll do with your pictures in general. i take what seems like a bazillion pics just to get one or two where i don't look like a complete doofus. i try to make sure and delete the pics off my computer that i will definitely never use, but sometimes i'm in a hurry and think i'll come back to it later. guess what. i never do. 

the pattern's neck band was too long for this knit and it stuck out
all sorts of awkward. had to rip it out and redo. love that...
but now it's nice and profesh looking.

so now i have thousands of pictures of myself in iphoto, which makes me cringe every time i open the program because i HATE having my picture taken. i'm awkward, i don't photograph well, i'm super self-conscious, i don't know where to put my hands, ahhh!!!!

BAM! hand-made outfit!
pants
blazer

right now i have to upload them to picasa first in order to put them on the blog. but it... takes... forever... and they're really hard to organize. i use flicker occasionally but only have a few pics there. i haven't come up with a good way of storing my pics, but i really have no need to keep them for the long-term if they're on the blog, right? i just don't know! what do you guys do????

—lisa g.

dixie DIY's hot cocoa sweater

new years day i started coming down with a cold. there is nothing like starting to feel sick that highlights to me my lack of lazying around the house clothes. i immediately remembered that dixie DIY has a free (yes free!) hot cocoa sweater pattern that would fit the bill. i had to run to the fabric store to pick up a couple $1 mccalls patterns (namely a button down shirt for the hubs. wooo! look at me all growed up and being unselfish!) so i browsed the red tag table to see if i could score a nice knit. and what do you know, this small floral print caught my eye. it's 100% rayon knit. i typically associate rayon knits with lighter-weight drape-y stuff, but this one was nice and stable. for $5/yd i couldn't pass it up.

yesterday i traced off the pattern, then spent some time in the evening to sew it up. i thought the floral print might be a little too busy or young looking, but i don't really care. i just wanted a cozy top. i happened to have this grey knit leftover from anastasia's coat and there was just enough to cut the cuffs and neck binding. it helps to break up the floral i think. then i thought, hey why not add that little triangle patch you see on sweatshirts? i really have no idea what it's there for, but the more i sew the more i notice the truly random details on rtw. so why the heck not? i cut a triangle patch and zig zagged the edges down before constructing the top.

this could not have been an easier top to make! the raglan sleeve is wicked fast to put together. dixie offered this pattern in one size, which just happened to be my size, so the only changes i made were lengthening it by 1", then adding 1/2" at the hem so i could turn a 3/4" hem instead of the drafted 1/4". i have monkey arms so i made my cuff 4" so the sleeves would be long enough. i prefer a wide cuff so this worked out just fine. by the way, all the seams have a 1/4" SA. i love her for that! so much easier to sew and a fabric saver to boot.

hi-low hem! look at me being all trendy.

i have a few leftover projects unblogged from 2012, my 2012 favorite makes, what i want to accomplish this year...  i'll get to all of that, it's just really nice for once to blog a fresh off the serger project. i'm so glad i have this top to lounge in today. not only am i nursing a cold but it's currently 10 F outside. that would be -12 C for you metric folks. brrrrrrrr!!!!

—lisa g.

knit tops

i recently came across maria denmark's blog, no doubt after falling down the sewing blog rabbit hole. one blog leads me to another... which leads to another... and so forth. she has a great free pattern, the kirsten kimono tee, available over on craftsy.com and patternreview.com and a few other places. i immediately downloaded it for future use and pulled it out recently to make a quick top. i had this great black and white stripe fabric from girlcharlee.com which was the perfect weight for a simple not too fitted top. 

i am particularly pleased with the finishing on this one. sometimes the sewing gods are with you and sometimes they definitely are not. the pattern doesn't include seam allowances (but smartly advises you add them in before cutting out the pattern) so i added a serger-friendly 3/8" to the seams, and 3/4" to the sleeve and hem. i bound the neckline with self fabric cut on the bias for interest. typically i cut my knit bindings on the cross grain where all the stretch is, but i like the diagonal striped binding. it's a little more interesting than a solid color, yet still doesn't look jarring or irregular.

everything was top stitched with a twin needle to maintain stretch. i'm super pleased with this top. it's comfy and will no doubt get tons of use! i didn't make any pattern changes this time around (other than grading between sizes). next time i might lengthen the top by an inch and maybe curve the shoulder/sleeve seam down just a tad so it's less angular. other than that, this top is definitely a winner, quick to make and a good stash buster for the fabric hoarders among us!

this second top is mccalls 6078 which i made up months ago! it made a sneaky appearance back here but thought it deserved it's own mention. this top is also a really fast make, and is perfect for layering (hello fall). since it's put out by mccalls, it has stupid wide seam allowances and dumb finishing instructions. why can't they just do it right? instead of turning and stitching a 5/8" SA (which NEVER works) i made a narrow facing with strips of self binding and top stitched. it's super easy to do and looks way more professional.

other than my minor quibbles with the finishing, i really like this pattern. it's good for funky prints that need showing off, and i even made it into a casual dress with some fitting changes (hopefully a post for another day).

okay, i should be back with a coat muslin soon. the kiddos brought home their first virus from school so i'm a little under the weather... hopefully i can still get it done over the weekend though!

—lisa g.

knit blazer LOVEFEST

it's a knit blazer people!!! and it's kind of awesome. no. not kind of awesome. SUPER awesome.

i finished off butterick 4610 a couple days ago, adding my trim and buttons to finish it off. everything about this went smoothly, and i really have to credit sherry over at pattern-scissors-cloth and her RTW tailoring sew-a-long posts. that woman has such a wealth of knowledge over on her blog that it's almost criminal she gives it away for free. i hope she puts out a book someday, i would buy it in a heartbeat! so needless to say, i chucked butterick's instructions aside, followed her lead and it really paid off. she has tons of RTW finishing techniques that give my blazer a real polish. now, i have a blazer that i am more than proud of and happens to be highly functional for my everyday life.

this is a really nice pattern, but i had to alter some bits to get the fit i was looking for. i outlined it all over on my last post so i won't bore you with it here, though i think i forgot the part where i added 1.25" to the sleeve length. i have monkey arms.

i am seriously dying over this blazer.

i think making this was a good training session to get me in gear for my winter coat project. you would think that sewing a blazer would make me crash and burn and not want to touch a similar project for months. but in actuality it has me even more excited! initially i planned to hand tailor my coat with the hair canvas and the pad stitching and such, but i had such amazing results with the RTW tailoring (using fusibles) that i just don't feel the need to take that kind of time anymore.

the thought of hand tailoring doesn't intimidate me anymore (and i'm sure i'll do it someday) but for my time i'll go the RTW route and i don't think i'll regret it. so unless i have a dilly of a time with fitting, the whole coat shouldn't take more than a week. and once again, if anyone is interested in following my coat making, i'll be posting often as the coat progresses, showing you the steps and pointing you toward online information and sharing what little knowledge i have on the topic. we can all hold hands and make coats together!

—lisa g.

fall knit blazer

i still have a few summer makes to show you, but i thought i'd post what i'm actually working on right now. shocking, i know.

i'm plotting a winter coat project but as it seems i'm in desperate need of outerwear, i decided to dip my toes in the water with a fall blazer. i've been eyeing knit blazers that seem to be all the rage and really fell in love with this one from gap.com:

[source]

i love the structure of the blazer, but the everyday wear of a knit. let's face it. my everyday life is more about shuttling kids around to school, dance lessons, doctor's appts, etc. this is perfect and allows me to feel put together even if all i have on underneath are a stained t-shirt and jeans.

this is the lining, facing and upper collar

so i was on the hunt for a blazer pattern. i wanted something slim and slightly cropped and after MUCH searching, i finally stumbled upon butterick 4610. the only thing i didn't like was the single button closure, and that is pretty easily remedied. pattern reviews were generally favorable, aside from some boxiness in the shoulders and wide sleeves. i measured a 10 in the bust and a 12 at the waist, so i went down a full size a graded from an 8 in the shoulder/bust out to a 10 at the waist. then i used the width of the size 6 sleeve and raised the armscythe by 3/4". i've always had issues being able to raise my arms comfortably and if you look at how low the armpit hangs, it completely restricts your mobility. no bueno. then i brought the shoulder in by 1/2" to eliminate the football player look. then i raised the stance of the jacket by about 2 1/2" so i could have a two button closure. my changes sound much more extensive then they actually are.

same thing from the back

i took a chance and didn't muslin this first. since i was using knit (sophia double knit from fabric.com to be specific), there was really no point. i compared measurements to jackets i already have and like and just went to town. i debated over how much of the jacket to apply fusible to. the pattern only has you do the under collar, the facing and... that's it. i went a little further and also interfaced the entire front, the top collar, as well as the hem and sleeve hem. i also taped the roll line and added an extra layer of fusible to the under collar so it would all roll properly and keep it's shape. of course, the roll line isn't included on the pattern, but it doesn't take much skill to figure out the placement of this.

this is the shell, inside out. that diagonal line is a strip of
fusible cut 3/8" short, fused while easing in the shell to fit. this
ensures a nice roll line for the collar.

extra layer of fusible for the collar stand on the under collar.
patterned under collar of course... :)

that may seem like a lot of fuss and fusing for a casual knit blazer. well it is, but i really wanted to keep the structure of a blazer. i didn't want this to just look like a sweater with a collar and end up all floppy. 

i also discovered a nifty trick for setting in those sleeves! any proper jacket needs a sleeve head to fill out the sleeve cap, so i cut bias strips (2" wide) of regular old polar fleece and stitched it around the eased part of the sleeve head, pulling the fleece very taut as i stitched.

see how the fleece pulls in the cap without gathering or puckers?

the sleeve practically sets itself in!

once done, the bias pulls the sleeve head in and does all the easing for you! (fyi: i've also seen this done with regular bias tape for a non-jacket/coat application.)

nicely rounded sleeve head... no puckers!!!

i was stunned at how easy this made putting the sleeve in. the whole seam allowance (including the fleece) is pressed toward the sleeve, so i rounded the edges of the fleece to make sure i had no visible ridge when worn. then i cut shoulder pads out of the fleece as well. i have rather angular shoulders and don't like to give them much emphasis. in the future, i would probably add fusible to the upper portion of the sleeve to give it additional structure as well as ensure that all the sleeve cap business doesn't show.

all in all the work paid off and it has turned out amazing! here i'm only showing you the guts, but i have the entire thing done aside from some white trim and sparkly buttons! yay for everyday sewing!!!

—lisa g.

knit maxi dress

someday i may win an award for super clever blog post titles. heh... or not.

ALL SUMMER all i wanted was a nice easy maxi dress. mcalls 6559 to be specific. it's just a simple tank dress, but i was forever set back by poor online fabric choices. the fabrics were fine, just to be clear, but i would order one and inevitably it was not right for this project... too thin, too stretchy or just not the right print for a garment that covers 90% of me.

then finally on a complete whim i ordered this giant granny floral from girlcharlee.com. i heart them lots. seriously awesome and affordable fabrics over there. it was my last shot at finding the right fabric for the maxi i just needed to have.

fortunately the print was perfect! but again the fabric with the cream background was a bit thin and see through, so this time i decided to add a partial lining and call it a day. evidently finding solid cream colored lightweight knit is hard. and expensive. my shell fabric was $5/yd. my lining, $13/yd. grrrr..... whatevs.

i realize this is summer's end so most likely anyone who was going to make a knit maxi dress has already in fact done that. however, i also think this is a good transitional dress. i can easily layer it up with a jacket or add a sweater and belt.

so here's the nitty gritty...

this pattern has two lengths, so i cut the lining to the shorter length, sewed the shell and lining separately then layered them and attached the bindings. i cut the binding from the lining material so i would have a solid colored binding. the lining is slightly darker than the shell fabric, but close enough that i wasn't gonna sweat it.

i happened to notice the pattern layout for this and it instructs you to cut this on the cross grain. as in, having the stretch go up and down instead of side to side. whaaaaat? after a few minutes of that doesn't really make sense... i went with my gut and cut it on grain. lo and behold it worked out. i graded from a 6 up top out to a 12 at the hip and down and i am very happy with the fit. the neckline is a bit low and if i'm being picky i have a little bunching at my lower back. not sure there's really anything i could do about that, although i discovered a nifty swayback adjustment for this type of cut over on pattern-scissors-cloth (this is a long post on the topic, make sure you read all the way to the end!). i'll probably try that out next time. 

as always, i have to deviate from the directions somewhere and surprise surprise, i went my own way on the bindings. the pattern has you just turn the seam allowance twice and top stitch. not gonna happen. i cut off the seam allowances, cut strips of binding and serged them (on my widest setting, about 3/8") to the outside. then using the serged edge as a guide, simply turned the binding to the inside and topstitched it with my twin needle from the outside. worked like a charm! i may do a little write up on how to do this at some point, there is a knit wrap dress in my future i plan to revisit this technique on...

i love how this dress turned out. i'm pretty leery of any dress without a defined waist, but you just can't beat the ease and versatility of this look. you could easily knock this pattern out in an afternoon, or even use it to make a basic tank top—racer back or not (it has both options). heck, you can even put a giant star on your hip. i chose to do the racer back and solid colored bindings to contrast against the giant floral print. i feel like this combo is a little less expected. i've worn it several times and will definitely revisit this pattern. it even has a little tie cardigan pattern that i might make sometime. all in all this is a great little pattern to have in your stash!

—lisa g.

conquering the serger's top stitching function

i actually made this uh... in april? seems i'm a bit behind in the posting since (despite wedding sewing) i've actually been churning out one to two finished projects a week for quite a while. and, much of what i have sewn has been knitwear. i've needed quick projects that don't require much by way of fitting and that are well, practical. there is nothing like warm weather to dial up the need for casual tops and dresses!

this is the first t-shirt i've made and it was not without it's challenges. as much as i prefer a woven stripe (as opposed to a printed one) when i washed this material, the whole thing twisted sideways. had i sewn before washing, the twist would have been a good six to eight inches! so cutting was something of a challenge as this is a very lightweight rayon (?) blend. near tissue weight. if you LOOK at it, it moves.

sewing it up however, proved to be much less difficult than the actual cutting. i did neck and arm bindings similar to the renfrew, only much narrower. i topstitched with a narrow zig zag to keep the bindings from going wonky. then, i hemmed the damn thing.


so this is where things went awry...

this stretchy, lightweight, tissue-thin material did NOT want to be hemmed. i know there's a whole lot-o-people out there who are all like "AND IT'S KNIT SO IT WON'T RAVEL SO I DON'T HAVE TO HEM IT! YAY!" i am just not one of them. i don't judge the non-hemmers (much...) but to me, it isn't finished until it's hemmed. it seemed my only recourse was to figure out how to do a top stitch on the serger. the instruction manual claims that this is possible, though my previous attempts to do so seemed to prove otherwise.

so close! looking okay from the outside, however my looper
was too tight... or maybe my needle wasn't loose enough...
actually, it was probably both.

determined to figure this out, i spent 4 hours with a pile of scrap material until finally... finally! i achieved something that was passable. so if you've never tried this, it is worth fiddling with for the off chance it is needed for a hem or some interesting decorative stitching.

right side—this is one of my tests. i used a different color
for each thread as i figured out the proper tension.

wrong side—see how the raw edge is enclosed? happy me!

basically what you do is throw off the balance of the threads and fold your fabric similar to how you would for a blind hem stitch. the tension for the left needle is loosened, and tension for the loopers is tightened. then once you have sewn, you open up the fold and end up with vertical stitches on the right side, and what looks similar to a coverstitch on the wrong side. for the actual hem on my tee, i used thread that matches and it blends right in. but, you could definitely use a contrasting color for fun!

so take that impossible to hem fabric! you won't see me with a raw edge.


—lisa g.

my first knit dress pt. 2

so as i mentioned earlier (which now seems like forever ago...) this is my first attempt at a knit dress. i didn't do much picture taking for a few reasons—


first: i was in a hurry.


second: i was in a hurry.


third: i was in a hurry!

that and i was kinda fumbling my way through it, learning as i went. i basically just approached this like any other dress i've made and constructed it in much the same way. i did a self-lined tank bodice, pleated and attached the lined skirt pieces, hand stitched the bodice lining to the zipper and waist to hide all my seams and did a machined blind-hem.


i know my interior work isn't perfect and i guess that's where i fumbled a bit. on a regular woven all this would have been just fine. on stretch knit... i'm thinking there must be a better way. the lining to my skirt (which i should have left off, really) wasn't as stretchy as i had anticipated, but i just have it in my head that i must line everything i make and so i just couldn't leave it out. then, i wasn't sure of the best way to sew down the bodice lining. hand stitching along the zip? fine.

hand stitching the bodice lining at the bodice/skirt seam? hmmm... it seemed to work out fine. i don't know how to securely hand stitch a seam that is intended to have stretch. initially my plan was to underline the bodice and use facings around the neckline and armholes to preserve a structured edge. doing so would have given me a nice neat finish at the top of the dress around the zip. but with the standard "sew around the neckline, armholes then turn right side out" method i was left with no choice. then again, i really like the self-lined bodice. so, maybe i did it right after all? do you even know what i'm talking about? am i just a wack-a-doodle that worries about such details?


these are the things that keep me up at night.


you don't want to be inside my head.


look! my zip lines up perfectly!

outside

inside.

what i would do different:


1. not line the skirt!! duh. the extra weight of the lining ends up stretching and pulling the bodice down, even though it's two-way stretch material. my original thought was that a slippery lining would make it nicer for wearing with tights. i'm not a fan of the "skirt riding up and sticking to your tights" look, but it probably wouldn't have been an issue.

2. the armholes are a smidge tight. i often have the problem of the armholes being too big and perhaps i erred too far the other direction. not enough to be a problem or make it uncomfortable, just an adjustment i'll make for future dresses.

3. figure out how to handle lining a structured knit dress. i know, the beauty of a knit dress is that it doesn't need structure. yet i really like the structured look without feeling constrained or worrying terribly about bodice fitting issues in a woven. my afore mentioned non-bustiness creates many fitting issues for me, something using knit material can fix.

but above all, i am in loooove with this dress! it looks exactly as i had hoped, it's comfy, i can dress it up or down and it's super comfy! did i mention the comfort factor?

not sold on the silver colored tights... how about red tights with grey shoes?

or red tights with red shoes? too much?

oh yeah, and it didn't cost me $150.


and mine has a cute flower.

so, i win. that's how it works, right?

knitwear!

so i needed (and i use the word "need" loosely here...) some sort of holiday... something. like a dress. i like to get inspiration perusing websites whose clothes are um... out of my budget at the moment (or ever unless our lives change dramatically). one of my favorites is of course, anthropology. sigh... pretty things... also, since i recently acquired a serger i've been dying to do something in knit. i came across this dress and thought it would be perfect to replicate for inspiration!

source

it has a fitted bodice and pleated skirt (i love pleats!!!) and being knit, it's very "toting-the-kids-around" friendly. i went with a midweight cotton interlock knit in purple. i do love the texture the anthropology dress has but i couldn't find anything similar i thought would work. i bought 2 yards of material and immediately learned lesson #1 in knitwear: buy more yardage than you think you'll need! when they say buy extra to account for shrinkage it is not a joke. i lost over 10" in length so it was a squeeze! fortunately the wide width of the fabric saved my behind. i had wanted to add elbow length sleeves but that idea was immediately scrapped.

ooohh... it's even organic. just doin' my part.

being my first knit anything naturally i skipped the pattern buying step and just traced off a t-shirt from closet. i know it was risky, but knits are forgiving, right? and i have a skirt pattern from a dress that worked for the bottom half.

i had planned to line the dress with a stretchy tricot lining material. but apparently i got a tricot that doesn't stretch? i was bummed about this, thus imparting lesson #2 in knitwear: do more research to figure out appropriate lining materials! (or maybe don't rely on the online fabric store's description). since my original lining didn't pan out i decided to self-line the bodice. and in retrospect this worked out really well. had this been in my original plan, i could (and would) have used a lighter weight knit. but, since it is fall/winter the extra warmth will definitely be welcome!


oh, and on the tuesday before thanksgiving i decided that i absolutely needed to have it done to wear on thanksgiving. after all, why make a dress for the holidays and then miss out on the first holiday of the season? with dinner guests coming no less!! someday i'll learn to take my time and enjoy the process.


oh, who am i kidding...