A bit of Christmas Sewing....

 I kept having to rethink the workload before Christmas, but I came up with something that filled the bill.  Now that we've had our family Christmas (Friday last week) I can share a bit of what was happening in the sewing room, lol.

The princess had asked me to make her an apron off of my old Simplicity 7481 Daisy Kingdom pattern (you know it's old if the design is listed as 'Daisy Kingdom,' lol)

I had intended to give it to her for her birthday on Dec. 17, along with a couple of pie plates, since she didn't have any.  But she went and bought some pie plates for herself, so that nixed that.  I found something else for her birthday, and that gave me a whole 10 more days to sew up the apron.   The fabric was Disney Cats...I ordered it online like a year ago, and I forgot who I got it from.    

I don't do the binding the way the pattern specifies....the instructions are to 1) cut bias strips 2 1/4" wide, seam them together end to end,  then 2) press 1/4" under along each long edge, then...and this is unbelievable to me...3) press the resulting strip ALMOST in half, allowing one side to be slightly wider than the other and 4) encase the raw edge with the bias, having the narrower side on the right side, and topstitch it down all the way around.

It sounds good in theory, but in reality will lead to ripples,  scorched fingers, uneven binding (who can consistently press a narrow strip slightly off center?  For about 5 yards? LOL) and high blood pressure.  What I did instead:

I cut the strips 2 3/8" wide,  seamed them together and did a quick check to make sure I'd cut enough...I didn't, needed another strip...pressed the seams open, and then pinned the binding to the wrong side of the apron, folded in half lengthwise but NOT PRESSED, all the raw edges lined up.  I turned the end I started with  towards the inside of the binding, and then overlapped the ends a couple of inches w/o turning under the other end.   Once it was flipped to the right side, the raw edge was under the folded edge.

NOT PRESSED is key,  because that lets the binding adjust for the turn of the cloth.  Took forever to pin it all around the giant mobius strip that is the seamed together apron, but once it was done I sewed around w/ a scant 1/4" seam allowance, then wrapped the  folded edge around to the right side (still not pressing that folded edge, although I did press the seamline a bit, carefully),  pinned it down and then edgestitched the fold all the way around.  Not technically difficult, but...yeah, I spent half the total construction time on the binding, lol.  

She liked it.

The daughters-in-law got ...pirate shirts!  LOL.  Both their hubbies have pirate costumes that they wear from time to time (you should see the getup the Artist wears to the Magic Kingdom Halloween Party...) so I thought I would make sure the ladies could match their hubbies.  I had some bleached linen from Fabric-Store.com (they have such nice linen...) that made up beautifully.

I had to use patterns in different size ranges, because The Little Red-Haired Girl (married to the Actor) is TINY.  I used Simplicity 3644, which is a kid's costume pattern, in a size 14.  I added 3" to the length, with side slits to allow for curves kids don't have, lol.  I changed up the sleeves; the pattern specified elastic  in a casing at the wrist, but I wanted something a little more...true to the era?...than elastic.  I happened to have a goodly supply of twill tape, so I put the casing on the OUTSIDE of the sleeve, stopping just short of the seams, and put the twill tape (1/2" tape, folded in have and stitched down) through the casing so it could tie. 

Or so I thought.  After I got the sleeves gathered, trimmed and serged, I realized I had put one of them on inside out.  What I get for sewing late and hurried, lol.  But instead of taking the sleeve off, I opened the sleeve seam, unpicked the hem and the casing, then turned the hem the other way and put the casing on what was now the outside of the sleeve.  The same 'no difference in right/wrong side' that led me astray was the saving grace on that one, lol.

I also added twill tape to the neckline before I added the facing, so she has the option of tying it closed if she wants. 

 I didn't alter the neckline depth, but she said it was a wee bit snug going over her head.  Aside from that small nuisance, it fit well. 

The second shirt was made for The Dancer, the wife of The Artist.  For that one, I used Butterick 5008, a pattern that I've used before for both The Actor and The Flute Player but apparently never reviewed.   I did the same twill tape trick instead of making ties from the linen; it's not an absolute match but I am pretty sure the twill tape is as correct as a machine sewn shirt would be, lol.  

It's shortened 4" from the pattern...that is a crazy long shirt.

 

She sent me a selfie of her in the shirt...but she has an iPhone and my windows / android devices can't do anything but look at the original.  But she was delighted and said it 'fits perfect!'

I finished that shirt at 11:50 on Christmas night, lol.  It was a good thing we were opening presents on the 27th.  Had a whole day to wrap things.