Vacation sewing for Mexico

Today is the first day of spring, but we're still up to our necks in snow, so I'm dreaming of some hot, hot, hot weather in a tropical carribbean location.  We have less than 3 weeks until our vacation to the Mayan Riviera, and I have lots to do!

My first task will be to make some well-fitting bottoms to go with this tankini top I made in college for our activewear class.  I made a pair of bottoms, but they're all kinds of horrible.  Bottoms need to be perfected by trial and error, and I'm expecting these to take at least 2-3 tries to get right.  We'll see if the Kwik-Sew gods are smiling on me...

Once those bottoms get perfected, I'm going to assembly-line manufacture 6 pairs of bottoms.  2 flame, 2 blue stripe, and 2 blue floral.  And if all goes well, I'll have 2 matching halter tops in blue.  And if I can't manage to get that many bathing suits made, my bare minimum is to get 1 or 2 flame bottoms to complete my tankini.  The blue stuff will just be gravy.

This should be a quick task.  These are my orange camoflauge cargo capris that have been lying half-done since the beginning of August.  I can probably finish these in about 2 hours, so I figure now is a good time to get them done and out of the way.  Isn't that fabric amazing?  It's been in my stash for years.  I love me some camoflauge!

My other bare minimum item is this reversible knit dress I dreamed up (literally, day-dreaming in the early morning hours).  This dress is fully lined, so I just thought about how to make it reversible!  That's 2 dresses in one!  I'll be good for the rest of the year with this one.  That black/pink print is what I used for Anita's top last March, and I loved it so much, I had to go back to Fabricland and rescue it from the bargain bin and take it home with me.  I can't wait to see what it looks like!

I'm going upstairs to sew this afternoon, so wish me luck!


Happy Spring!

My wool coat and other favorites...

I've mentioned my wool coat that I made in college a few times, and I wear it quite a bit, so I thought I'd share some pictures of what it looks like!  This is my favorite thing I've ever made, aside from my wedding dress, and probably more so, because I actually get to wear it all the time.

I made this coat in college for our contemporary tailoring course in the winter/spring of 2002.  Contemporary tailoring was very similar to classical tailoring, but we got to learn some "shortcuts".  There's more fusible interfacing and not quite as much handsewing, but there was still a lot, believe me!  I don't remember much about it anymore.  That was 9 years ago!  The pattern is Vogue 9910.  

In college, we didn't learn a lot about fitting or altering what we made.  I did learn the value of the muslin, and we learned a few things about altering for fit, but I've learned so much more from reading sewing blogs and pattern reviews than I ever did at college.  

Aside from lengthening the sleeves, I don't think I changed anything on this pattern, and I didn't make a muslin.  I'm surprised it ended up fitting so well.  This is the 3rd jacket I made from this pattern, and the only one that really turned out.  I attribute that to the quality of the wool.  It's a nice thick melton wool that I bought at Davey Fabrics.  I think they still carry the same wool!

I love this coat.  I call it my crowning acheivement.  I've enjoyed wearing it this winter since wool coats are all the rage, and I get to say I made my own!

This multi-coloured skirt is one of my all-time favorites.  I absolutely love it.  This is made from my favorite A-line skirt pattern (McCall's 3341).  It's a size 14, and usually it's a bit snug and short on me, but I've lost some weight this winter, and it fits better now!  Yay!  The fabric is printed on the diagonal, and I like to think that it adds some curves to my straight hips.  

I also made the black jacket in 2004.  I designed it myself based on the close-fitting bodice sloper we drafted in one of our first year classes in college.  I was always impressed with how well shirts and jackets fit when they were custom drafted for your own personal body.

Funky Ironing Board Cover

I will have lots of fun sewing projects to show you in the coming weeks.  My husband and I are going to the Mayan Riviera in April, and I have lots of sewing to do before then.  Some of my projects include swimwear, tank tops, short skirts, the exciting conclusion to my orange camoflauge capris (still only half done since last August!), and a reversible knit dress.  In the meantime, I just had to show off my new ironing board cover.  I found this at Winners for $10.  How funky is that?  It even matches my wall!  Squeal!

Sleeveless Top - New Look 6160

I've had this pattern forever, and lately I've had quite a hankering to make some t-shirts and tank tops.  I've always loved the pink and yellow version on the front of the pattern envelope.  I now have some pink stretch in my stash, and I'm sure I have some yellow spandex buried somewhere.  That'll be my next version.

The fabric I used for this was some white/heather gray t-shirt knit that I bought at Davey Fabrics from the discount bin.  I'm not a big fan of wearing plain white, but for some reason, I just love this colour.  I decided to use the funky stripe spandex from my latest kimono sleeve top to use for the shoulders and neck binding.  

I measured my favorite fitted t-shirt, and I made the following alterations to my pattern:  I added 2 1/2" of length at the waist.  I cut an 18 at the bust/shoulders, and a 16 at the waist and hips.  The torso is perfect.  

Before

I ended up with some gaping at the armhole, but I decided to go ahead and stitch down my armholes and see if it made a difference.  It didn't.  I had to make a bust dart at the armhole.  On the pattern, I will be transferring this to a 
side seam bust dart.  I don't mind having darts in a t-shirt, if it means it'll fit as good as this!

After

Another minor adjustment I did was to hem the armhole 3/4" at the shoulder, instead of the recommended 3/8".  Next time, I will also do a 1" swayback adjustment, and add the same length to the hem at center back.

It feels slightly odd to have a t-shirt that feels, well, tailored!  I like it!  I'm going to tackle the other shirt from this pattern, and make the same changes.  I don't have a lot of t-shirts, and I need all kinds: long-sleeved, short-sleeved, sleeveless, racer-back, etc.  I'm excited to get started on the next one!

I topstitched everything with orange thread and the coverstitch on my serger.  I like how it looks.

I'm beginning to see a trend here.  When I have a pattern or fabric that I really like, I will make it at least twice.  I've made 2 kimono sleeve tops (with at least one more to go!), and I've used this funky pink fabric twice, and there's lots more where that came from!  Also, remember the fucshia/purple/orange flame fleece I made my onesie out of?  I have enough left to make a Jalie hoodie!  I'm so excited to dig into more of these projects.  Plus, working with knits is quick and satisfying.  

Yay! sportswear!

Kimono Sleeve Top; Round 2 - Burda 7866

I whipped this up on Friday night after supper.  I thought it would only take me an hour.  Apparently, I'm slow.  It took me an hour and 55 minutes, which is only a 10-minute improvement from the last one.  And I only sewed my seams once, not twice.  Hmm...  Call me a slowpoke.

I wanted the stripes to all be going sideways, but the main pattern piece looks the same no matter which way you turn it, so I accidentally cut the stripes vertically instead of horizontally.  I didn't even notice until I sewed the waist seam and saw that the stripes were perpendicular.  Oh well.  It still looks good this way.

Overall, I'm quite pleased with this top.  It's bright and funky, and very comfortable.

Batman Onesie for Ken - McCall's 6251

Ken's Batman Oncsie is done and mailed!  I did slightly better for time on this one.  It took me about 3 hours and 40 minutes.  

Ken is 6'2".  Based on his measurements, I cut a size XL with the following alterations:


I added 1" at the chest and 1/2" at the hip on the side seams (4" ease at chest, 6" ease at hips), essentially making an XXL.  
I added 3 1/2" of length to the sleeves.
I added 5" of length to the body: 2" at the torso, 2" mid-leg, and 1" at the hem.


I did a little better with the neckline ribbing this time.  How it curves down at centre front is good.  I sewed the neck seam with 1/4" seam allowances.

Here's my label.

I told him to send me pictures as soon as he gets it.  Until then, I'll just have to trust my instincts that it will fit him.

I bought these boxes so I could send pants back and forth to my brother.  They're the perfect size for onesies!  

What a fun project!  I hope I can make many more of these!

Onesie!!! - McCall's 6251

This is my Christmas gift to myself.  Almost 2 months late.  That's how I roll!

Anyways, back in November, McCall's came out with some new patterns, and I almost freaked when I saw this one!  Finally, a onesie for grown ups!  

McCall's 6251

I bought the pattern with the L and XL, so I chose the Large and made some changes to it.  Based on one of my favorite t-shirts, I decided 4" of ease at the chest and hips would be sufficient.

These are my alterations:
Took in side seams by 1" on each pattern piece = 4" total
Lengthened sleeves by 1" and legs by 1 1/2"


For a first try, it's pretty good!  The crotch is a little long, and the hips are too snug to move around comfortably.  Otherwise, everything is great!

Next time I will:
Cut the Medium, altering for 4" ease at chest and 6" ease at hips
Shorten torso by 2"
Alter the length of sleeves and pantlegs

I was inspired by Sue Sylvester from Glee and her Adidas track suit.  It has a ribbed neckline that tapers to nothing at the zipper, which I thought would be perfect for this.  I cut some ribbing 2/3 smaller than my neckline, and just winged it.  It worked!  I topstitched my seams down so it would stay nice and flat.  The only thing I would do differently next time is take only a 1/4" seam allowance at the neck.  The neckline is huge!  The ribbing helps to fill it in a little.

The ribbing for the sleeves is a smidge smaller than what they called for, because I was using scraps and needed to be stingy.  I like them like this.  I think I would do the ankle ribbing almost as tight, because it's kinda baggy and doesn't really do anything.

I wanted to make sure my zipper didn't go all wonky on me, so I was careful not to let anything stretch out.  I basted the seam together, pressed it without pulling, and immediately slid one of my big rulers underneath it and pinned my zipper in place so it wouldn't stretch out when I sewed it.  Turned out perfect!  

And, of course, I had to put in my funky label.

This onesie only took me 4 hours to make.  So much fun!  


I'm making a batman one for a customer tomorrow, so I'll be sure to share pictures when I'm done!  I can't wait to make more!  I have 2 sewing friends who are going to make some, and I hope I've inspired some of you seamstresses to make some too!  Wouldn't a red one with a back flap be so cute?