Tux Shirt: Good Enough

She hadn't combed her hair yet this morning...and when I suggested it to her, she shrugged and said not to worry about it. So. THAT attitude will so change in a year or two!
This really is just a form of costuming; once I got my brain around that things went faster.

It's not wonderful; the armsceye was cut so low on the original shirt that I couldn't do much about the fullness under her arms. But the shoulders are higher -- I took about 2 1/2" out of the shoulder width -- and the sleeves are a much better length at 1 1/2" shorter. I was stressing over the hem; for some reason the back was about 1/2" longer than the front at the sideseam. My first thought was to whack it off and hem it, then I thought, hey, it'll only be worn tucked into pants anyway, why not just serge it?

But she tried it on this morning and tucked it all in with no trouble...so I'm calling it 'done' and moving on to the black pants...

And we will not have to worry about her shirt tail coming untucked. ;)

The Tux Shirt...progress

Well, it's cut and ready to baste back together.

I had a time deciding how to go about reducing that shirt. My thought was to get a shirt pattern in her size and just overlay it to cut down the shoulder seam/armsceye/sleeve cap.

But it didn't fit; the bottom of the armsceye of the pattern was off the edge of the lower curve of the armsceye on the unconstructed shirt.

Rats.

Finally, I just trimmed off the portion of the shirt and the shoulder seam that I had noted needed to be trimmed; I'll put the sleeve back on and pin fit the rest of it. It was a continuous underarm/side seam anyway, so I can just kind of keep stitching it up until we're satisfied.

Oh, it's not going to fit as well as a custom made shirt, but it's saving me the trouble of doing all that pleating...not to mention figuring out how to do it, since I haven't seen a kid's pleated front/tux collar shirt pattern. I suppose there *might* be one for boys in the Vogue catalog...I didn't look there.

This is going to have to work for now; her concert is Thursday...and I still have to sew her black pants (which are cut out).

So, aside from a couple of errands today...I'm sewing....

Refashioning Exercise

The Flute Player has a required outfit (I can't really say 'uniform' -- it isn't) to wear for concerts...black dress pants and a tuxedo shirt. To this outfit are added a red bow tie and cummerbund, which belong to the school.

The band requirements expressly prohibit substituting a regular dress shirt for the tuxedo shirt.

So...who knows where you can obtain a tuxedo style shirt in a girls size 14?

The teacher suggested we try the local formalwear shops. I shudder to think what such a thing would cost there.

So, I cut the '40% off any one regularly priced item' coupon from the Hobby Lobby ad and got myself over there and purchased the smallest size they had.


Um, no.

The shoulders and upper chest are too big on ME, for crying out loud!

But, having invested ten bucks in this shirt, I intend to make it work.

The cuffs have been removed, the underarm seam undone, and the sleeves taken off. Now all I need to do is cut down the upper part of the shirt and reshape the shoulder cap on the sleeves and put it back together.

Have I ever mentioned before how not fun this kind of sewing is????

But at least I can do it. And it won't be a bad shirt for ten bucks and a little time.

Assuming, of course, that I don't mess it up...

When to Hold 'Em...And When to Fold 'Em

So, delighted with my salvage of the denim skirt, I pulled another 'failed' project out of the back of the cabinet...my Hot Patterns Classix Nouveau Trouser Skirt. I'd hemmed it to donate, but hung onto it, telling myself I wanted to really look at it good to see what I did wrong before I passed it along. In truth, I was waiting for the intestinal fortitude to try and fix it.

Since the denim skirt worked, I decided I'd just take off the facings of the HP skirt at the sides, open the side seams and take it up. And I finally had the intestinal fortitude to do it. ;)

But when I put it on again to mark the adjustments, I remembered there were more issues than just extra girth. Pinching up the side seams did not make them go away.

The denim skirt was fixable...this one, not so much. It went into the donation bag at last. Next time I make that skirt, I will be sure to make sure the side panels are clearly marked as to which ones go in the front and which ones go in the back.

So it's not in the closet...but it is out of the 'deal with this!' pile.

At least that's progress of a sort ;).

Salvage Sewing

I've gotten everything in my 'cut out in '08' queue sewn up at the moment, and a very unusual urge struck me...to fix some things that are about that I don't wear because they don't fit, or need mending or some such thing.

First up is a Vogue skirt I made last year. It was a bit too big when I made it; I lost a couple of pounds and it became unwearably too big. I've tossed it in the 'donate' pile twice, then looked at all that topstitching and pulled it back out. I looked it over good a few days ago and decided that I could try an alteration...so I took out the topstitching on the CB, released the facings back, took out the zipper, and trimmed a total of 2 1/4" out of the back waist at the CB seam. I've got the zipper back in; all I need to do now is finish out the facings and it's done. And it doesn't even look too terribly 'altered' where I redid the topstitching...

You'll see it in Choir Sundays if it works. I'm *so ready* to wear something besides jeans...

Will this fix/mend urge last past this skirt? Who knows? I've got an 'urgent sewing request' from the preschool department at church, so I'm not sure how much actual sewing time I'll have in the next couple of weeks. (more Ugly Bog coats coming!!!!)

But I intend to take advantage of the 'fix it' anointing while it's on me... ;)

Refashioning

Posted by Lisa Laree to Sew Random

I thought I'd post a project that I did when I was on blog hiatus, since I don't have much to talk about on the pirate stuff yet (I did change out all the thread and put new needles in the machines...how's that for progress??? But yesterday was a busy day).

About 4 or 5 years ago, I spotted a very nice black and tan jacket on a local department store's sale rack. I needed black-and-tan for choir, so I tried it on. Wonder of wonders, it fit. And it was such a sale...I got the little unlined jacket, PLUS a nearly ankle-length black linen sheath dress for $15. I've worn the jacket quite a bit, but the sheath...not once. The length looked rather dumpy on me, especially with the jacket, and it had a long slit up the back, but there were generous folded-back facings on either side so I thought I'd convert it to a vent. Well, it hung in the closet.

To be honest, I forgot about it.

When cleaning out the winter things, I came across it and decided it was time to fix it. So I took 8" off the length and converted the slit to a vent.

I think I'll wear it now. ;)

Another Wadder Salvaged

I intended to be going well w/DD's white dress, and I got the eyelet part cut...but, when I pulled some stashed cotton broadcloth for the underlining, I had a glitch: it had never been preshrunk. So, to make the 'laundry time' productive, I went back to the process of replacing the front on my Simplicity 4074 surplice top. I'd already pulled the original front off and recut the new one, so it was just a matter of finishing the neckline on the new front and plugging it back into the shirt.

I freely admit I *hate* doing stuff like this, but, as I've mentioned before, I hate wadders, too...with such a passion that I'll do anything to avoid one. Even replacing the whole front of a finished princess-style knit top.



I suppose I might add that this top *really* wanted to be a wadder. The almost icing on the cake was that it somehow jumped under the serger knives (it's been, oh, 4 years since I had a garment do that to me?) and got a nick in the body. Fortunately, it was in the underwrap side, and just a few tack stitches should hold that boo-boo safely hidden away. Tension problems w/the sewing machine (could've been User Error; I was doing it at night...) means that the hems are a little wavy. But at this point I'm not going to redo them, although if it bugs me enough I could redo it at some point in the future.

But at least I have a top that's wearable now!
Um, one or two people expressed an interest in seeing the original front, so here 'tis. I'll just say that 1)the bust point is not marked on this pattern and 2) it occurs lower down on the front than you'd think. Those two open flowers, with the circle...were centered only about 1/2" below the full bust. It looked *really bad*, but I'd finished it off, thinking I'd make it a Donation (there are folks who don't care about stuff like that...remember the t-shirt w/the fried eggs on the front from the late 70's?), before I realized I could cut another set of front pieces from the remnants. I was going to make another top, but, well...I *hate* wadders... ;)

Same song, second verse

I was planning to post a tutorial about how to put the zipper in the pocket, but I discovered that the photos I have taken of the process are not in my files on the computer, so I'm going to have to round them up and do it later.

Meantime, I have taken the front off of my Simpicity surplice top...the one with the, um, badly placed flowers (No, I did NOT take a photo...just trust me that the little outlines of the flowers with the circle in the center were *almost* in the worst possible place on the front of the shirt). I'd never have worn it as it was but, aside from that little problem, the shirt is really cute and I liked it a lot. Well, I just so happened to have enough fabric left to cut two new fronts, so I will replace the offending pieces with something cut with the flowers as far away from the bustline as I can manage...

Replacing the already serged pieces will be tedious, but I'll end up with a top I'll wear, so it's worth it!

Farewell '06

Am I late or what?

We're back in town now for a good, long while, I do believe, so it's time to catch up.

Firstly, the last project for '06, the 2nd draft of the Cadeau T:



Ok, technically it wasn't wearable until Jan 1...I finished it on Dec 31, then put it on and found that the very lightweight matte jersey didn't drape like the original slinky muslin...to be blunt, it cupped under my tum and bum and looked like a maternity top. Not a look for me these days. But, after throwing it in a heap and forgetting it for the rest of the night, I had an idea on New Year's Day, took the band off the bottom, cut 3" off the bottom edge of the top and put the band back on. I think it's wearable now, although the neckline is still too wide. I believe I moved it in 1" at the shoulders; I could probably move it in another inch or so to get it where I could wear normal straps under it. But 21 YO DD thought it was cute...and that's saying something. I'll probably update the review tomorrow.

Secondly, Totals for 2006:
Fabric In: 161.975 yds
Fabric Out: 128 yds
Last fabric purchase: 12/11/06
Garments made for me: 41
Garments made for other people in my family: 18
Home Dec projects: 1 tablecloth; 3 sets waterbed sheets/pillowcases; 1 Kids' throw pillow
Wadders (er...unintentional muslins): 1

Miscellaneous Church-Related Sewing:
6 Roman Soldier tunics and shorts, 18 Bible robes and 9 vests, 22 altar blankets, 2 kid's tunics, 1 medieval dress, 12 stage drapes, 1 kids' sized Grim Reaper Robe

Team Effort: 4 Baptismal Robes, 15 Bible Robes,6 Vests


I really blew it w/regard to fabric parity...naughty, naughty. No more bundles for me. This year I will instigate the 'Guaranteed Parity Plan' -- if I buy more than I sew, the difference must be given away the first week of '08.

That threat ought to help a little, no?

One final image: DS and his converted sweatshirt:


Despite the amateur photog's red eyes, can't you just see how tickled he was with his new pillow?

That was some bonus points for Mom, that was... ;)

The Unintentional Muslin

There has been a discussion on the Pattern Review boards of late about What makes a wadder? that got me rumbling over something in my head, and I came to a rather startling conclusion.

Premise: a wadder is a garment that may or may not be finished but either is or is obviously going to be unwearable due to either sewing difficulties, mismatch of fabric to pattern, poor fit, or other factors. Personally, I consider something a true wadder if it is only good to be cut into something else or thrown away; something that is finished but doesn't look good on me isn't a wadder...it's a donation.

Fact: a muslin is a garment that is a test of a pattern; frequently not finished and definitely not wearable. Its purpose is to check fit, design details and style. I consider a 'weable muslin' to be a 'test garment', since it's made with the intention of being worn. A real muslin is made out of ugly fabric and is not intended for wear.

Therefore: Muslins are intentionally made wadders. Now, we consider the muslin to be a worthwhile investment of time and fabric because of what is learned; I propose that we eliminate 'wadders' from the vocabulary and, instead, call them 'unintentional muslins', putting the emphasis on what was learned in the process of making the garment, not the end result.

All in favor, say 'aye'... ;)

...and she concedes defeat....

I don't do wadders.

Really.

I *hate* investing time and money in something that gets tossed, even though I know all the philisophical comfort words like 'oh, it was worth the effort because you learned something.'

Yeah, I know.

I still hate wadders.

I have a whole arsenal of anti-wadder techniques. I've been known to completely unstitch a serged and topstitched garment so I could recut it to fit better and then sew it back, just to get something that I'd know I'd wear. I've removed entire garment pieces (sleeves/pockets) to get something wearable. I've taken the bodice of a dress and turned it into a top, then recut the skirt portion into a (pieced) shell top.

You get the idea.

So when I say that the pink jacquard knit cardigan is a wadder, I ain't just trying to move on. I made a big boo-boo on the selection of the fabric and it simply is not wearable and nothing I can do will make it wearable and I'm not wasting any more time on it. So there.

The shell top is not wonderful, but I did finish it and put it in the closet. It *might* get worn, since it's made to be a bottom layer and the ripply hem likely will not show.

I decided this fabric was meant to be lingerie...and it would make lovely bras...and turning it into a twin set was violating the Great Chain of Being and would result in horrible consequences.

But...I didn't throw the cardi away; I put it in a bag with the rest of the remnants. Just in case I get an urge to emulate Rusty Bobbin and try sewing bras someday... ;)