Road Trip and a Factory Tour

My sewing traveling buddy, Miss A, found herself in need of a new serger; her aging machine finally lost all ability to maintain tension.  She'd shopped around in the Rocket City, but hadn't really found info that was helpful (Not kidding...one local store's 'Expert on that machine' answered every question with, 'I'm not sure, I'd have to check the manual' ...on a machine that she was purported to use and love...).

So, as we had today off for the 4th of July holiday (church offices are closed every Friday, so we got our holiday today) we decided we'd take a road trip to Florence and see if Ken's Sewing Center could be more helpful.

I arrived at her house this morning and, as we discussed lunch plans, she asked if I'd heard of Alabama Chanin.

Um, heck yeah.

Well, when she googled restaurants in the Florence area, Alabama Chanin Factory came up.

And, after a successful visit to Ken's which resulted in a Janome serger joining us for the rest of the trip, a wild goose chase roundabout trip to a fabric store that turned out to be closed on Mondays, we ended up at the Alabama Chanin Factory.

Where, in addition to marvelous eye candy sewing inspiration,  we really did find a gourmet deli restaurant.  Who knew?







We had a yummy quiche and salad, and learned that they gave factory tours at 2 PM.  As luck would have it, it was quarter to.


 So we did the tour of the factory, which was very interesting.

Our guide, Erin,  works in the media department and was very knowledgeable and articulate and did a really good job of describing not only how the Alabama Chanin factory operates but Natalie Chanin's vision.    Their hand sewing is done by local artisans who are independent contractors, but the prep work (cutting and stenciling) is done in the factory before the work is sent out.  They also do a small amount of indigo dyeing, and they do have some machine sewn work, some of which is under the Alabama Chanin brand and some of which is work for other brands...ie, Patagonia, who recycles jackets into scarves in partnership with AC.

There is a DIY section, with fabric and such for sale; I wasn't in fabric buying mode but I did get one of the AC books that has been on my Amazon wish list for a while....when I opened it I found it was signed by the author as well! 

What a treat we had!  If you ever are in the Florence, AL area, drop by!

Choir Wardrobe 7/5/15

July's choir colors are kelly green, black and gray.

Actually, it's pretty much crayola green, so it's not too hard to find.  We've worn it before, so I had a couple of wardrobe residents that would work (no doubt they'll show up here before the month is out...)

But I found a great piece on the 75% off remnant rack at Textile's moving sale back in May, and snagged it for the predetermined purpose of making a top to wear in July.  Despite the color resolution on the photo, it really and truly is kelly green on black lace:

I mulled over what to make of it for a couple of weeks, then had the idea of using Louise Cutting's Stars In Heaven tunic pattern.  I'd made it up before in linen and linen/rayon blends, so I knew it didn't require stretchy fabric.

But, at some point last winter I'd made some adjustments to it...I'd added a slight FBA, and I'd increased the curve on the front a bit, as I really like that style line.  But I didn't really remember how much I'd done. 

I pinned the sleeve pattern pieces together and just cut the sleeve as one unit; the seaming wasn't going to show at all on the lace so there was no real reason to put seams in the sleeves,  I just turned and stitched all the edges, although I did miter the hem corners.  I intended to get some black lace trim to use on the edges, but Hancock's didn't have anything that would be at all suitable so I just left it.  I used a serpentine zig zag to topstitch and it literally disappeared; doesn't show at all.

The color in this photo is even worse than the closeup of the fabric, but you can see the lower curve.  I think I overdid the lower curve; it looks odd to me as it is longer than the back (didn't think of that).  I'll pull some of that back out before I make it again.

I've got a black Jalie 965 Tank Top under the SIH tunic; I've got a BUNCH of different tanks I can wear with this if I choose.  White,  green, gray, cream...and the ladies at Textile said if I  put yellow, orange or red under it it really pops.  Not sure I'm that brave, but, well, we'll see.

I think I could put a turtleneck or long sleeve crew neck t under it as well for a different look this winter.

It may be more versatile than I expected.

Just A-Swingin'....

 Cushion #1 finished.  I probably should've made it a little wider so that it would hang over the front a bit; it scoots back when anyone sits down.  But that's a minor issue.  I'm actually pretty pleased with it and it makes the swing MUCH more comfortable.

Credit where credit is due; I found this tutorial most helpful.  Only I put the zipper along the long back edge instead of on one end...two zippers, actually, that meet in the middle.  Worked great.

Next up:  cushions for the chairs 'round that table...

Workwear 20

Just because I'm putting together stuff I have not put together before.

It's a really lame jump-in-front-of-the-timed-camera selfie.   But the Flute Player *still* has stuff from her move-back-home frenzy piled in  my usual jump-in-front-of-the-camera spot,  where I can set the camera on a shelf at approximately chest height.   

This photo was taken with the camera sitting on the porch railing, at about waist height.  So the angle looks a little weird.   But I'm wearing something that makes me happy...the guipure lace tank I purchased in Dallas last fall for a lower price than I could ever have bought the lace yardage.  It's over a navy bamboo/lycra jersey  Jalie 965 tank top with midnight navy tropical wool Sewing Workshop Plaza pants.  And my old CWC denim jacket, with the lapels turned up in what is supposed to be trendy hipness and just looks kinda strange...I don't think they ended up curled Just Right.  Messing with the camera and then moving quickly to get into place rarely ends with everything Just Right.  So I'll settle for ok. 

Haircut appointment next week to put the shape back in it.  Amazing how it goes from cute and curly to just bushy almost overnight...

Completely off-topic:  for years, I 've used Sitemeter to kinda track visits.  It doesn't give really good data, but I get an idea of whether or not I'm getting any traffic (I'm not going to say 'much'...'any' is good enough) and whether folks just click in and click out or if they actually read a page or two while they're here.  But lately it has been more and more useless.  For one thing, I think people are wising up and using software to hide their visits so they don't get tracked.  But Sitemeter itself has just been weird.  It's been down more than it's been up ('The data base for your site is not available now.  Try again in a few minutes')  and the numbers are whacko (176 page views in 3 seconds?  Really?).  So I'm about to ditch it, I think.  Can anyone recommend a similar service that seems to work that I can switch to?  Although, to be honest, I may be better off not knowing that no one visited for three days (that would be the other blog; this one usually as at least a dozen or so visits in a day.  I think. )

New Territory

No choir post this weekend...we were out of town, so no choir. ;-)

But the time has come for me to face up to some sewing that NEEDS doing but that I have not been enthusiastic about.

Home dec stuff.

I've been accumulating the various required goods and such from Hancock's during sales in the past year or so, and it's all big and bulky and needing to be out of the way.  So, with plenty of items to wear for the next couple of months...it's time to face the giant and tackle my fears of wonky seams, lumpy corners and ill fitting covers.

The first item up is a cushion for our porch swing.  I got a foam slab from Hancock's...on sale, and with an additional small discount as the foam was damaged on one end.  But it was well oversized so the damaged area is easily avoided.

I pulled out a utility knife and hacked it down to the correct size.  It wasn't beautifully even...I had to cut each side 3-4 times, so it's a little jagged...but it'll do.  I made a slipcover out of an old sheet so that I can slide the cushion in the cover once I get it made.

I got some outdoor fabric from Hancock's last year; I probably have way more than I need but I'm allowing for goofs and re-dos. ;-).  I got two 22" zippers, which I will tack together so that they zip from the center to the edges, and install that whole assembly on the back side.  I need to get some bias tape to use for ties, so that I can secure the cushion to the swing; I thought I could use the same fabric but the upholstery fabric is really stiff so it's not going to make nice ties.

I've also got some square pillows to cover for the chairs we have around a table on the porch.  Mostly because I'm a shrimp and without a cushion on the chair it feels like I'm a little kid pulling up to the table.  I'll use the same fabric, and I'll make envelope-style covers, for which there conveniently are instructions in the current issue of Sew News. 

I also have foam slabs and some upholstery hopsack style fabric to replace our dinette chair cushions.  The table and chairs was a flea market purchase...new, not used...back in 1996 and, well, it wasn't terribly high quality furniture.  The cushions have gone flat and the fabric just looks tired and faded.  I don't think there's going to be much sewing involved with those...just cutting the foam to size and then wrapping fabric around the foam-and-chair-seat and fastening it down with a staple gun and screws.

So it should spruce/comfort things up considerably when I finish it, but I have to admit this is not my preferred kind of sewing.  So I'm gritting my teeth and, with the exception of the fabric I have en route from a sale-I-couldn't-resist-because-I've-been-wanting-that-fabric-for-ages, I'm not going to let myself get anything new until it's done.

I find that is usually sufficient motivation to stay on a long term tedious task...

Workwear 19 - New Pants

Photographed late last night : a brown rayon blend jersey Jalie 2682 top , which is a great basic, and a rumply denim jacket from the original Coldwater Creek that, to be honest, I've never really connected with but wear because I don't have another white denim jacket...yet...are teamed up with the newest addition to the wardrobe:  striped linen Stretch and Sew 704 Quick and Easy pants.  This is the 3rd pair of pants I've made from that pattern and, once you get the welt pockets in, there really is nothing to them.  But this is a 'no side seam' pants pattern and, to really see what happens w/ NSS pants that have a tapered or narrow leg, you need to click on the picture to make it bigger.

You can see how nice and vertical those stripes are above the knee, but, wow, check out the tilt on the lower part of the leg.

That's because the grainline is being pulled in by the bias cut inseam.  The stripe runs vertically down the outside, but the only way to taper a NSS pants leg is to  angle in the inseam.  There's a little bit of baggy that happens right around the knees on these pants as well, and, as it's not visible from all angles, I think it has to do with the skewed grainline. 

Now, this isn't necessarily awful...just something to be aware of.  It would not be nearly so obvious in solid or randomly patterned fabric.  And it's not even terribly noticeable here...unless you're looking for it.

These are actually very, very comfy pants.  The fabric came from last month's trip to Textile Fabrics in Nashville; I washed it in hot water and dried it 3 times before I cut it.  The selvages frayed a little in a couple of places and I had a ton of lint in the dryer screen, but the fabric is wonderfully soft and drapey now.

I bet I wear these a lot this summer...twisty stripes or not. :-)

Choir Photo 062115

June choir wardrobe colors are black, gray and hot pink.

Black/white pinstripe pants that are a modification of Loes' Hinse's Oxford pants, black poly suiting Bistro Jacket, also by Loes Hinse, and one of my go-to summer knit patterns, Simplicity 2603 in hot pink rayon jersey.  All of this is more than a couple of years old, but that's ok.  I kinda feel like the wardrobe is working when I pull out lonGstanding wardrobe residents. ;-)

I finished my brown stripe linen pants yesterday and are planning to wear them to work tomorrow.  They may be a bit rumpled by the time I get a photo, but I'm going to try to post two days in a row ;-)

Workwear 18

Because I just plain forgot to take a choir photo on Sunday.

But this is a better 'me-made' photo anyway; I wore a print jacket that I'd made on Sunday, but the rest was RTW.  Today, it's a totally me made outfit.

And it's, like, old.  But I have never put this combo together before.

The pants are New Look 6203, and yes, that review is 12 years old.  They have hung in the closet so long that the wide drapey pant is back in style.  These are made from a crinkled lyocel and are cool and breezy.  Paired up with a Jalie 965 tank top  in a grayed blue rayon/lycra jersey ...and that was only the second top I made from that pattern in, oh, 2006?    My old faithful gray Jalie 2919 cardigan to ward off the air conditioning chill and I'm in about as comfy an outfit as can be imagined.

Good thing those pants were a smidge on the big side when I made 'em in '03...lol...

Blast off!

Whew.  Long day...and three more coming.

But we successfully finished the data entry before the end of the evening, so I feel pretty confident that we'll be able to do it all on Wednesday when it must be done before the bad guy repents and the ice cream melts...

With The Actor, who is a member of the Omega Squadron, codenamed Owl, who is wearing the shirt I made to wear in the pirate-themed crusade ten years ago.  You can see the  'punking up' I did to the brown suit.  Not extreme, but it worked really well alongside the others.    The children's sanctuary where we were doing our data entry got progressively cooler as the night went on; I was really warm as things were cranking up but by the time we finished I was glad of the jacket.

And then I went to the sanctuary where everyone was waiting for the final points announcements and the final assignments for tomorrow.   Where it was quite warm.

I left my costume pieces kinda spread out in my office to air out before I have to put them on again tomorrow. 

The kids are having a ball.  And I think the grownups are, too. ;-)

The Unadorned Suit

Here's the steampunk costume with no steampunking yet.  The Jacket is Vogue 1132, and the skirt, well, I started w/ Folkwear's Walking Skirt and made it actually big enough to fit and, in a questionable move, added front inseam pockets, as there is no sideseam and the thought of making an entire outfit w/no pockets in it made me feel claustrophobic.  But I set them a bit low and they're not as invisible as I'd like.  Still, it would do to hold a kleenex in a pinch.

The jacket needs more structure.  There is interfacing in the collar, and on the front facing, and, with the shoulder pads, that's it.  I thought about adding more but given the time constraints and knowing that this jacket will not see much actual wear...costume not couture...I just went with the instructions.  Were I to actually make it for real life, I would interface the entire front and add a bit to the upper back and possibly put a floating shield in the front upper chest to eliminate the drapey business that shows up  in the photo.

And I would insist that the photographer make sure the pepblum is arranged nicely before photographing it.

We have no choir tomorrow; the set for the family event takes up the entire platform and there's nowhere for us to stand.    But I will hopefully have a photo of the whole outfit all costumed out for the data processing chief, Agent Abacus.

Choir Wardrobe 5/31/15

...a day late.  Yesterday was a jam-packed day; I barely managed to get a photo during the 90ish minutes we were at home.  And the light washed the color out completely; I thought I'd have a good photo of the lavender linen top but it just looks pale pink.

Oh well.

Lavender Herb, black and gray were the colors for May,

I have embroidered rayon/linen Stretch and Sew 704 pants, Vogue's 8305 cardigan in black rayon/lycra jersey and the Cutting Line Designs My Heart's AFlutter shell top from what is actually, really, lavender linen.

The last time I wore the cardigan, I pulled it off and got a glimspe of daylight showing through.  There were some places that the seams had popped (it's pretty stretchy) but the fabric is just honestly wearing out.  It's really thin in some places and some of those seam holes were fabric failure.  I did some quick and dirty mending on it but it is now on my 'replace asap' list...

The costume jacket is finished to the button and buttonhole.  I think I"m going to hit the skirt next before I switch up the setup on the sewing machine.

Or maybe I'll just pull out the Kenmore and make a substantial cam buttonhole...

Costuming progress...

My Sweet Babboo and I had some tasks that pulled us out of choir today, so instead of a choir post it's an update on the steam-punk-ish costume...

I made the tweaks to the jacket pattern, cut out the jacket, the interfacing and the lining.  I put the interfacing on and sewed up the back lining and sewed the front facing to the side front lining.

Then I had a little pause while I stopped and looked at the way the pattern guide (oh, yeah, it turned up under a cutting board) instructed to bag the lining.

Um.

The problem is that there is no back facing in the pattern...and to do a kinda traditional collar treatment, in which the upper collar is sewn to the facing and the undercollar is sewn to the jacket and the facing assembly is sewn to the jacket so that the seam allowances are all pressed open...the facing is bagged on in a very unusual way that results in the sleeve lining  being hand sewn down around the shoulder.

Costuming here.  I don't have time to do a bunch of hand sewing.

So I repeated one of my favorite Gorgeous Things quotes, 'It's costuming, not couture' and sewed up the collar, which I will attach like a camp shirt collar, and I'll bag the lining to the seam in a quick and dirty sew-the-lining-to-the-neckline fashion.  My wool is very lightweight, so I think I can get away with it.

If I sew this pattern again...and I rather expect to either sew it again or use it to modify other jackets...I will draft a back facing so bagging the lining can be done right.  I'd've done it for this jacket but I already had the back lining put together.

I've also cut out the skirt...Folkwear's Walking Skirt ; I'm using the street length view and I've ditched the period-correct placket opening for a zipper.  Costuming.

So far that's what I've got.  If I get that much put together I'll at least have something.  I've got a couple more things I'd like to do, but I'm going to see where I am when those two pieces are finished.

Rain is forecast for the next two days, so I should get some sewing time...

Close enough for costuming...

After a three-muslin-still-not-fitting jacket marathon, it was a treat to slap this  jacket together and have something that comes this close to fitting (it really is slapped together.  I wasn't going for pretty):

There is really very little I need to do here.  The sleeve needs to be shortened about 3/4" below the elbow dart, and maybe slimmed down just a bit in the forearm to trim the wrist.

 I might add a pinch more ease at the waist.

But that's it.

Boom.

I will be cutting out the good stuff tomorrow.

New Venture into Steampunk...

A quick post here, because I've got to hit my cutting table...

Ten years ago, we did a family crusade at church with a pirate theme.  We split the congregation into two teams, and the competition rose to amazing, incredible, hilarious heights as the kids learned about God's love amongst the hilarity.

We all joined in the fun...here's flashback photo of all of us, on what just happened to be the 25th anniversary of our wedding day...

Wow.  Ok, I had to have a moment there.

But it's been ten years.  And the time has come 'round again for a full out family event.

Only this time the theme is kinda Rocketeer-ish steampunk.  'Sky Kids - Saving the world of Tomorrow'.

And this time, I'm on staff.  I"m actually going to be over all the data entry and point tracking for all the kids who come; the top five point-earners will get some pretty cool prizes.

So I'm working on a costume.  I may or may not be actually interacting with the congregation in my role as 'Record Keeper', but I will be part of the backdrop.

Steampunk ain't as easy as Pirates...I'm just sayin'.

But I found that wonderful superfine wool in a perfect sepia brown, so I'mma gonna give it a go.

My inspiration is Mary Poppin's red Day Out suit...and that's just what it is, inspiration.  I'm going to make the jacket out of Vogue 1132, which has a pretty pronounced back peplum...which some reviewers called 'bustle-like'.  Kinda awkward for daily wear, maybe, but for a costume...perfect.

And, check this out...it is a shoulder--princess cut with long sleeves w/elbow darts.  Ya'll, this could be the basis for a TNT jacket.  Without the peplum, of course.

And Vogue is a sloper I'm used to; I more-or-less know what I need to do to alter up the patterns to fit.  I've decided I'm going to do one more adjustment...a forward shoulder...and then I'll cut out the lining to see how it does.  Then the jacket.

And, me being me, I seem to have mislaid the pattern guide sheets.

Whee.

Here goes.

Choir Wardrobe 5/17/15

You really can't see much of the new Hearts A'Flutter top; you'll just have to trust me that it's there under the much-worn Jalie Pleated Cardigan.  The dark wash jeans are new; but they are a brand I didn't recognize off the sale rack at a local department store.  It's the same fringy scarf I wore last week; just tied differently.  Last week I wore it hacking-fashion (folded in half with the tails tucked through the loop at the fold) but that fringe is so heavy that it kept snugging up against my neck...I was continually tugging the loop back down into place.  This week I tied a slip knot, which worked much better.  I was worried that it would look crazy long, but as it turned out it blended in with the hemline of the jacket quite nicely, so it worked.  All nice and lavender-and-gray.

But it covered up the top.

Which probably isn't so bad.  There are  few fit issues; I have to remove some of the extra I added to the lower front and I need to adjust the bust dart and raise the underarm slightly.  It's also a little short to wear with any pants that do not come all the way to the natural waist...not as much overlap there as I'd like...which means most of my jeans (including the ones I wore today, which were the only dressy ones clean) are risky.  The cardigan makes that a non-issue.

The top is mighty comfy, though;I'll try and get the pattern tweeks done and make another one before the summer is over.  I'll review it once it's good to go.

 Loving this linen; I think I'm going to go ahead and make up the rest of the piece, just so I can wear it.  It won't get done in time for Choir...I've got an urgent project that's going to boot it out of the lineup, I think, but it can definitely go in the workwear rotation.

Fabric Aquisition Road Trip

Not getting the opportunity to attend any Expo this year, Miss A and I decided to do a little jaunt up to Nashville to take advantage of Textile Fabric's Moving Sale...50% off all fabric and trims...as much for a change of scenery as anything.  I really didn't intend to buy much.

Famous last words.

The Remnants rack was actually marked at 75% off retail, so I looked there first.

Sequins on black mesh; I know they look red, but trust me, they're a rich burnt orange...a color we wear every October in choir.  Hoping to get a little shell top or tank top for some fall bling.  Not to mention a new sewing experience...I've never done sequins before...







 I found a gorgeous piece of rayon challis for, like, five bucks.  It's just a yard and a half, but it should be enough for a camp shirt, eh?  The green/black lace is non-stretch;  but we'll be wearing that kelly green later this summer so I thought I'd go for a lace T.  Not sure if I'll line it or just wear it over a tank.






I also picked up a few pieces off the bolts at half price.  Cotton/lurex/lycra shirting...it's black and silver...a gorgeous rayon/lycra jersey knit and brown/black/white stripe bottomweight linen.

I only got the pieces that I decided I'd be mad at myself if I came home without them.  There was another piece of lightweight wool that would've made a KILLER tunic top for winter, but at $50/yd on sale it was still too rich for my blood.

Then we ate lunch at a posh restaurant and headed back south.  We decided to do a little jog on the way home and swung 20 miles east to Fayetteville for a visit to Sir's Fabrics.

I'd forgotten that the entire month of May constitutes Sir's Founders Days...with 20 - 25 percent discounts on almost everything in the store.  I was particularly looking for some brown suit weight fabric I could use for some costuming...and you'll be hearing more about that in the days to come...and I STRUCK GOLD (click on the photo to read the selvage):

I got 6 5/8 yards for the astonishing price of (including tax)  $4.15/yd.  The Superfine wools I'd seen at Textile started at about $89/yd retail...so, yeah.  GOLD.  That should do for my costuming and maybe some regular clothes for the closet.  It's a birds eye weave and it feels MARVELOUS.

So, yeah, the fabric in totals jumped a bit (sheepish grin).  But I'm probably not going to buy any more for quite a while.

Yeah, yeah.  Famous last words. ;-)

A Lavender Herb top!

The final selection was Cutting Line Designs'  My Heart's Aflutter shell top.  It's one I've been wanting to try out for quite some time and I knew it would be wearable, since I've sewn with CLD patterns before I had an idea how it would fit.

I don't  have a photo of it actually on me yet, but I can report that it's not bad.  It does need a bit of tweaking to be dead perfect, but I can wear it under a top layer for the choir this month and it will be just fine.

Mostly, I need to petite the armhole about 1/2"...which would not ordinarily be a problem, but there's that dart in the armhole.  Which points just a wee bit high for me.

I might need a slight FBA, but it could also be that once I have the darts pointing right the fullness will drop down into the right place and I won't need one.

I made a M+, and swung out to the L for the hipline band.   I don't think I need to do that in the front; the fabric just kind of hangs straight down from the full bust, which, while very comfy, is not terribly flattering.  I'm thinking I could move the front back to an M+ and that will help a little with that extra fullness.

So basically all I have to do is figure out how to shorten the armhole without messing up the dart.  And make another one pretty quickly so I've got it down pat.  Then I can crank out about a dozen.

:-)

Choir Wardrobe 05 10

...In Which She Actually Remembers the Scarf:

Colors for May are Black, Gray and 'Lavender Herb'...which is kind of a pinky lavender.  Or maybe it's pink with lavender overtones.  Whatever.

CWC jeans with a gray Jalie 2566 T and Loes Hinse's Bistro Jacket in black poly suiting.

With the fringy poly burnout scarf.

Photo taken after three church services, a delightful lunch and ice cream treat with the kids.  Mother's Day and all...always glad for an excuse to hang out with the offspring. ;-)

Now I'm going to go up to the cutting room and not come out until I have something cut out of the lavender linen...

A Quick choice

Although this may look pink on your monitor, it's actually lavender...really and truly the very shade of lavender that is this month's accent color for choir.  I was looking for another piece and found it in my linen bin.   4.5 yards that I believe came from Michael about 11 years ago; I probably ordered 3 and it was cut very generously.

But it is a fairly substantial linen.  Soft and kind of lofty.  If you click on it, you can get an idea of the weave and the texture.

Obviously not getting it done for tomorrow, but there are 3 Sundays left in May and I really and truly have NOTHING but a scarf in this color.  So I need to make at least one item up really quick.

A tunic?  A tank top?  An unlined jacket?  A little tailored top?

Oy, the choices are endless but the time is not.

Think think think....

Almost Choir Wardrobe...Substitute fit photos.

May's colors are gray and black, along with the current Pantone lavender, which is rather pink toned rather than blue/purple. 

My lavender tops are on the blue side.

So I thought I'd just wear a black sweater shell, gray Jalie pleated cardigan, and a fringed poly print scarf that is pink/lavender.  Only the scarf is polyester, rather scratchy and hot and very fringy, so I pulled it off to eat breakfast.

And realized about halfway to church that it was still draped over the chair at home.

Not much purpose in taking a photo of just the black sweater and the cardi; you've seen them both lotsa times before and I'm sure the scarf will find its way into the wardrobe before the month is over.

So, instead, I dug the jacket muslin out of the bag I'd stuffed it in and let My Sweet Baboo take some pics that will hopefully show the issues I"m having with it.

I have moved the left front armsceye into the garment about 5/8", just as a test; the right sleeve hasn't been adjusted.

You've got to click them to get them to show the details; firstly, note that the front armsceye seam is on my arm, not on the pivot between my arm and my body. Secondly, I've got foldy things going on in front of the armsceye.   There is a little excess around the princess seam as well, but that would be an easy adjustment.  It's the vertical slop that really bugs me.

 From the side and back...I think the back is just a pinch too long, and, while the armsceye seam sits on my shoulder back much better, there's still a lot of drapey goo going on; folds that run from my shoulder blade right down into the sleeve back.  That might go away with shoulder pads, but I really don't want shoulder pads in a casual denim jacket.

I don't know if the princess seam adjustment would be enough to pull the front up to level with the back.  But there's the suggestion that the peplum has hung up on the jeans so it may not be hanging quite normally anyway.

I don't normally have to make sway back adjustments.

So there's the  4th iteration on the muslin.  Better than the first in some ways but still a long way from wearable.  I'm not throwing it out...but I've got to learn more about sleeve fitting, or at least come up with a different TNT pattern that I can use to correct this one.

It's a cute jacket...but I've hit the wall on this one.  I'm ready to try something different, if only to clear my palate. 

It's going into the 'maybe someday' bin...

Enough already

I'm crying 'Uncle!' on this one.

This is the 4th muslin.  The sleeves, while no longer batwing droopy, STILL do not join the body correctly.  They look to me as though the armsceye is set too much round to the back and there's a bunch of what Cynthia Guffey would call 'goo'  in front of the lower armsceye.

It just doesn't look...right, although it doesn't feel too bad.

Moral:  I need to develop a good, basic jacket pattern onto which I can morph specific details, like the cute little peplum back on this jacket.  Trying to alter up the shoulder/sleeve/armsceye is just not working for me.

And, you know, looking at those original photos, it looks like it would be a simple adjustment to scoot the sleeve up and in.

Ha ha and ha.

Oy.  I hate starting over.

Choir Wardrobe 4/26/15

So, two days before the last day to wear the bright turquoise blue, I pulled out some rayon/lycra jersey that  had been in the stash since Feb 2012. It was too intense for the lighter turquoise we were supposed to wear that year, but it was dead on the color for this year.  I cut out the Jalie Pleated Cardigan, and, the day before the last day to wear that color, I managed to get it through the machines...much against their wishes, apparently.  Or it could be that flimsy rayon jersey is just beastly to sew.  We're good so long as no one looks really close

But it meant that I got to wear it on the last day for the bright turquoise.  Along with  the gray sparkly Simplicity 2603 and new dark wash Levis.  Good ol' Levis...still under $40.

That's the fifth Jalie 2919 cardigan I've made; I altered up the sleeves, and there's a fishtail sweep in the back, both of which I've done before.  But this time I actually followed the pattern instructions and put the pleats to the OUTSIDE.  I didn't even notice they were supposed to be that way until after I made the 4th one...

I have enough of the turquoise to make another Simplicity 2603.  Twin set time.

Refresh the cover...

My ironing board cover was showing its age.

I'm not sure exactly how old it is; I *think* I bought it after we moved into this house, which would mean it's no more than 10 years old, but I found some photos with the current cover in 2007 and it was already rather marked up. It was, I believe, the 3rd ironing board cover I have used since we got married in 1980.

But over the years, water stains, odd bleeds and mucho fusible residue  had left its mark.  I  had gotten to the point where I was laying an old shirt over the cover to keep it from marking white fabrics.

So, when I was in Target a couple of days ago and happened to walk through the homegoods section, I spied ironing board covers and got one.  No print comparable to the sky-and-clouds that makes me smile, so I got a plain one.

For some reason I decided last night that it was time to do the switch.  I pulled the iron stand and cord support off,  unclipped the drawstring and released the velcro straps and pulled it off.

And was astonished to see that the inside of the cover was just as nicely finished as the outside.  It was self lined and...oh, my, the seams are all on the inside...could it be???

I turned it inside out and put it back on the board.  Except for wrapping the velcro straps backwards, with the free end next to the board, it was completely reversible.  I had a nearly ...a few water marks had bled through...new looking cover right there.

I put the other one in the cabinet for use  at a later date and commented to my hubby I had purchased a better cover than I knew.

Then he asked me if I replaced the pad.

See, he's gone on a wool blanket kick.  First he made his capote from a wool blanket, then he began scouring ebay for good deals on wool blankets.  He made another capote for a friend, but the blankets have piled up.  One of them was a green army blanket, which turned out to be too small for his purpose, so he gave it to me for an ironing board pad.

I'd forgotten about it.

But, whilst I had the clamped accessories off the board, it seemed a good time to add the wool padding, so I pulled out the blanket, washed and dried it on hot to felt it up some, then cut it out, using one of the old poly pads as a guide (I actually had 3 pads on the ironing board...the original one, the padding from the second one, and the padding that is built into the current cover)

 I serge finished the edges, although that probably wasn't absolutely necessary since it's been felted, then put it on the board.  I threw away the oldest poly pad (not pictured anywhere) as it was pounded paper thin, but I kept the one I used for a pattern as it was still pretty cushy.  I cut two wool pads and laid them over the old one.

 Then I rather carefully secured the cover, reverse-side- out, over the triple layer.

You can't even tell that's the inside, can you?  I figure it's going to be good for another 5 years...and I've got the replacement already.

It might take me a while to get used to the smell of the wool under the steam iron, though...

And, I might have enough of the wool to make a button-in lining for my trench.  Maybe. ;-)

Choir Wardrobe 4/19/15

I'm cutting myself a little slack; it wasn't just Sunday...it was also The Artist's birthday.  So we had a very busy day.

April colors are deep turquoise, coral, yellow and gray. I'd worn nearly all my acceptable wardrobe on Easter weekend.  So I pulled out the 'I only wear it if I have to' yellow fuzzy knit Simplicity 2603 top and put it with the gray rayon jersey Sewing Workshop Ann's Cardigan, after I mended the teeny hole in the shoulder that was beginning to get bigger.  Such nice fabric...and it had holes.  I thought I had managed to lay the pattern out around them, but one landed just outside of the seam allowance on the shoulder.  The darning job is  not as good as my grandmother would've done, but it looks better than the hole.

The jeans looked darker...and therefore dressier...in the mirror.  I think the lighting washed them out a bit.


Good darkwash jeans are so hard to find.  I should just bite the bullet and get a jeans pattern tweaked and make my own.... ;-)

Quick Trip Weekend

No choir post this week; we watched first service via 4G as we were driving through southern Indiana.

My father-in-law turned 90 on Friday, and all the far-flung children and grandchildren congregated for a surprise celebration.  Only one in-law couldn't make it, due to an unalterable schedule conflict.

Just to make this applicable to a sewing blog, I will say I packed jeans, my gray Jalie Jeans jacket and an assortment of TNT Jalie T shirts; it was no-hassle packing and dressing.

But we drove 26 hours in 4 days.  Not sure when I'm going to catch up and manage a coherent blog post... ;-)

Choir Wardrobe: 2015 Resurrection Weekend

Five services spread over 3 days.  And, as is usual, to talk about what I wore just seems...kinda pitiful.  We had an amazing word.

So, if you want to know why I bother talking about clothes when there's so much more significant subject matter available, I'll refer you to the post that 's linked on the sidebar for explanation and throw out my disclaimer that  'It really ain't about clothes...but this is a sewing site'.

The choir wardrobe colors for April are:

Or sort of, anyway.  Turns out the representation of that turquoise on my monitor was a bit off from what the actual color is...which is pretty deep and intense.  So the turquoise pieces I had picked out to wear this weekend got put back in the closet.  I do have a 3+ yard piece of rayon jersey that IS the right color, and it is currently on the cutting table to be turned into a Jalie pleated cardi (linked below) and a Simplicity scoop neck top, but it didn't happen in time to wear it this weekend.

So I made do.  Fortunately, I had things in the other colors from previous years. :-)  But I hadn't switched the seasonal wardrobe yet, so I had to dig some things out of the off-season bin.

 Friday night...it was Jalie and Jeans.  2919 Pleated front cardigan, in a coral rayon blend, with a sleeveless Jalie 2682 top, in what is actually a kinda crisp rayon jersey.  And, yes, that's a new haircut; the stylist wanted to straighten it so I have a hair style this weekend that probably will never quite be replicated by yours truly.





Saturday I grabbed the sparkly sheer knit Sewing Workshop Eureka Top, which is over a gray rayon/lycra Jalie 965 tank because it can't be worn alone for any reason.  The loopy scarf was made for me by my sister for Christmas.  And jeans.



For Sunday, I pulled out my linen Vogue 1055 Adri Jacket and ironed the storage wrinkles out of it.  It's over a rayon/lycra jersey Vogue 2925 top that's a good 4 years older than the linen topper and matches purely by serendipitous chance.  However, the effect would be more impressive if I had had time to get the photo before we left for church, instead of when we got home many hours later.

And I attempted to recreate the professionally-done hairstyle the same morning as crock-potting the roast and veggies and baking some goodies to treat my data entry volunteers who were working today.  Limited flatiron experience and less time and...why I'm embracing the hobbit hair... ;-)

We'll see if I can squeak out enough time to get that cardi/top set done before the colors change again.

Choir Wardrobe 03/29 -- the Hasty Photographer edition.

I suppose I can't complain too much...we had professional portraits done back in 2006...one of those fundraiser deals...and the lapel on my jacket was turned up in every picture exactly the same. 
Except we didn't notice it until AFTER we'd gotten home the whole package of photos we'd bought.

My Sweet Babboo was late for a meeting by the time we got home today; he snapped the picture and left, I went and changed clothes and ate lunch.  Then I pulled the photos off the camera and saw what he missed.

I almost didn't post them...then I thought, what the heck.  This is real life, y'all. ;-)

So...for a cold snap on the last day of 'lucite' green, navy and gray, here's what I wore...except I *think* the collar behaved itself better when in public:

Navy Cotton Jalie 2566T, with frankepatterned 3/4 length sleeves,  Burda 05-2009-108 vest, made from a poly/lycra matte -backed satin that the online vendor had labeled as charmeuse;  I made the vest with the matte side out and used the satin side for the collar.  It worked, but it was very unpleasant stuff to work with and it's rather cloying to wear; as a vest, it's bearable.  I tried to make a jacket from it and got a very bad wadder.  The scarf is a remnant from the same fabric that I used for the tank top that I intended to wear today, but as it was 31 degrees when we left the house I reverted to the wintery version.  Lee jeans, labeled 'short' but requiring at least a 2" heel.

Easter is coming...5 services spread over 3 days.  The choir post next week will be picture heavy.

If I can get my photographer to take a breath and look at  his subject. ;-)

Back to the cutting board...

I got the 2nd go at the Neue Mode jacket complete to the sleeves; it was looking pretty good.

Until I tried to put in the sleeves.

I had something like 1 1/4" too much ease in the front, after I *thought* I had painstakingly walked the seams to make sure I didn't.

I pondered what to do.  At some point, I wished I had an already-tweaked TNT jacket to compare the pattern to, but I didn't.

Or did I?

I wore one of my McCall's 5191 jackets to work last week, and when I got home that night I realized...that one might do.

Now, I looked hard at the McCall's jacket and it is wide on the shoulders, with a shallow sleeve cap.  I don't think I'd be comfortable in it had I not made it from lycra-blended fabric. But, taking that into account, I compared the Neue Mode jacket to the McCall's and found that I still needed to raise the underarm (cough) slightly. 

 You can see the two iterations of underarm-raising clearly...I ended up raising it something like 2", and adding a good bit of fabric just in front of the lower armsceye.

Once I had the  armsceye adjusted, I began to work on the sleeve to make it match. 

The Neue Mode sleeve was actually rather large on me anyway, so I narrowed it  by slashing from the cap to the hem and overlapping the sleeve cap.    I did it to both in front of and behind the shoulder point, and that resulted in a need to shorten the cap height to true up all the seams.

But I was still over an inch too long in the front.  I finally took a wedge out of the front, tapering to to nothing by the back seam.

I have a weird looking sleeve, but it does actually kind of resemble illustrations I have seen in old pattern books.  So who knows. 

Finally, I ended up narrowing the back at the lower armsceye, where I had a pouf of fabric.

So I took apart the muslin, trimmed down the pieces that could be trimmed down, cut some of the new ones from pieces that had to be replaced, and ended up cutting a new front and side front.




So it's ready for the 3rd time.  If this one looks bad, I may just ditch the pattern for the time being and  try one from a pattern company whose sloper is more familiar for my black denim jacket.

And, you know, I was cutting , so I also cut out  a first go at the Sewing Workshop's Helix pants...to which I have, whaddya  know, added pockets.  A turquoise Jalie top and a black-and-gray strip Jalie t.

A goodly number of these garments will work for SWAP, but I'm not sure I'm going to finish.  The Refashion/reversible requirement may KO me at the last minute.  I had a plan for that...a silk blouse that's been cut out and in the queue for a REALLY long time, using buttons I'm removing from a worn-out version of the same pattern.  But the SWAP plan is turning out to be fairly casual and I'm not sure a silk blouse will be 'sympathetic' to the rest of the collection.

And I'm losing an  entire weekend in April to a sudden out of town trip.

We'll see...

Choir Wardrobe 3/22/15

March colors...'lucite' green (mint), navy blue and gray.

I took the LaStrada top to the cutting board and whacked 3" off the length of the shoulders, 3" off the length of the front and 5" off the length of the back and sewed the sideseams up about 3" beyond the only mark on the side seam.

It turned out much less floppy than the original, but I'm not sure how much wear it will get; the hip still fits a big snuggly and the fabric is so fine all the seams and facing show right through.  So it may get relegated to PJ top, but I was able to alter up the pattern based on this and I'm planning to give it another shot soon.

But with just a bit showing under a cardi, it's not bad.  Lee jeans, a navy Jalie 965 tank and the gray Jalie 2919 cardi.  Makin' it work. ;-)

Little switch...

So, I have the in-need-of-alteration Hot Patterns top on the cutting table upstairs, but I'd already switched out the thread in the serger so I decided to get something else out of the queue.

Made it on Monday, but, as yesterday was St. Patrick's day and I had to wear green to celebrate my1/16 Irishness, I wore it today.  And took a crummy bathroom selfie, but you can get the idea.

Katherine Tilton's Vogue 8691, made up in a marbled cotton/lycra jersey that was kind of a last minute 'oh, what the heck' addition to an on line order late last year.

Very good impulse, that time.  It feels wonderful and was very nice to sew.

My only complaint about the top is that the band is just a teeny bit too wide for the curve of the neck and buckles slightly.  But not bad enough for me to take it off and trim it and certainly not at all difficult to edit next time.  

Back to the LaStrada  top...