Swimsuit Fail

That was pretty much worse than shopping for a swimming suit.
I attempted the 70's Stretch 'n Sew pattern I have with some of the swim fabric I bought from Fabric.com a while ago on sale.  I used the measurements on the envelope.  Apparently, those measurements are crap.
The top part of this suit does not cover what is supposed to be covered!  The torso is super short on this thing.  And I have a regular to short torso, so that means the pattern is reeeeeealllly short!
And listen, I know my butt is big, but I'm going to need about four more inches added on to the hips and that low back that happens to be, like, the main reason I bought this pattern? It shows crack.  Seriously, my butt wouldn't fit in the suit!
Women in the 70's were waistless and buttless apparently.

Here it is, lying in shame.

I can see the potential, though, so all hope is not yet lost.  Hopefully, the next version will not be so scandalous and, well, plain ol' ridiculous.

Watercolor Stripe Maxi

This busted stash fabric is from my stock-up trip to the G Street Fabric (DC) remnant table last year.  It's a super-soft, springy knit in a blue/purple watercolor stripe.  I have loved it ever since I bought it, but just couldn't seem to match it with it's perfect pattern.
At the time I bought it, I had a dark blue maxi dress that I wore all the time and didn't want another blue maxi dress, but that maxi dress has since been given to Goodwill and now this fabric can fulfill it's destiny.

I used McCalls 6559 View D, the one without the racer back.  I knew I wanted a blouson top, so I cut fairly straight down from the armpit to the hips.  After I made it, I just put it on in front of a mirror and bloused it out a little and marked where the elastic would go.  I put 3/4 inch elastic around the smallest part of my torso, just under my ribcage and cut it at a comfortable length.  I sewed in into a continuous band and then zig-zag stitched it to the inside of my dress.

Hemming this sucker STUNK!  I hemmed just the front and it was, like 4" difference from one side to the other!  After a couple of tries and some seam ripping (which is so dangerous in knits!!) I got it.

I raised the neckline fairly significantly when I cut the front piece and then had to gather it in the middle because the knit was soooooo stretchy.  Oh well, bonus design element.

This is stash-busting garment number two of thirteen.

I think some SewaholicThurlow shorts will be up next... or possibly a swimsuit.  We'll see what strikes my fancy.

The Stashbusting Begins (With Not-so-great Pictures)

I've started my journey through my patterns and fabric with the goal of making at least 13 garments or waiting until the end of the year before I can buy more patterns or fabric.
It's already gotten hard to resist, so I have much motivation to get these 13 garments knocked out!
First up, Butterick 5498: the jacket that is not for warmth.
I like this pattern and I can see myself making more of these little light jackets in the future.  This is a fun way to use a pretty fabric and not have to make a dress.  I used a rayon challis floral print from Hancock Fabrics.
I apologize that I have not at all been in the mood lately to take pretty pictures of my makes.  I just plain don't feel like setting up the camera or posing.  Maybe the funk will pass, but for now you get iPhone selfies.

I like the shape, the drape, the 3/4 sleeve length and the way it naturally falls in pretty ripples.  Next time, I will make the facing extra wide, because it kept falling open too far and exposing the raw pinked edge of the facing.  I'm going to encase that raw edge in some pretty pink bias tape on this one, but next time, there just needs to be more facing.

This will be a lovely fall transition piece for my wardrobe and I look forward to pairing it with different tops and pants.

Jolijou Shelly Sew-Along: I Know We Just Started, But Now We're Through

This top is truly a quick sew.  After you've got your side seams sewn up, there's only the neck, arm and hem bands to add.
I have to stop right here and admit that after I realized that I was working with three different knits with three different amounts of stretch and I am going to have variability in the length of strip I need, just like the pattern says.
And ladies, when I get derailed off of the pattern, I usually get totally derailed.  I didn't even look at the widths for the arm bands or neck band or hem band.  I just experimented with what I thought would look good and what would give me some variety.

Back to my very first muslin.  I didn't have very many options when it came to fixing it.  No extra seam allowance on the sides to let it out and, from my other experiments, I thought that unpicking the neckband and letting loose some of the gathers wouldn't really help a whole lot either.
I decided on a random idea that popped into my head based on a vintage dress pattern I'd seen.  I cut triangle shaped inserts, opened up the side seam starting at the end of the sleeve and sewed in some extra room for myself.

Then I chose skinny bands for the ends of the sleeves and a thicker band for the waist, more similar to the pattern, but my shirt is significantly shorter.

Here's the finished product.

This is a good length for me...in the front.  The yoga band makes the fabric pool atop my derrière in the back.  Which is not my favorite.

I discovered that if I stand with my hands on my hips everywhere I go, I can pretend that my armpit inserts fixed the pulling problem.

But, just between us, those wrinkles are still there.

I haven't completed the grey sweater knit version (my second muslin), but I did complete my third muslin.  I tried thicker, contrasting armbands, a longer shirt length and no hem band.

I think I'll get quite a bit of wear from this one.  It's very comfortable since I gave it more room in the armscye.  I love the fabric (glad I saved it for third!) and I like the contrasting bands.

Just goes to show that sometimes you have to find the exact right combination of things for your body and many times, a pattern can be altered a bit to work for you.  You just have to train yourself to have a critical eye.

The wrinkles are still there in this version (see how the sleeve looks twisty too?) because, as we already discussed, I would need to redraft the armcsye and sleeve to have the correct shape in the front AND the back.  

I realized after my last post about my pattern/fabric stash, that I do want to make another t-shirt in the near future and I really love the neckline of Shelly and the shaping through the waist.

See? I like how it fits my curves.

So it's still worth frankenpatterning.  I don't feel confident redrafting the sleeves for myself, but I could just steal an armcsye and sleeve from another pattern that works for me, trace it and then trace Shelly onto that. 

We shall see.

A Stashbusting Half-Year Ahead

Aw, man!
Kelly of Cut Cut Sew has just thrown down the gauntlet and I am feeling the conviction to match her pledge.

You can read her post and drool over her fabric and patterns here.

In a nutshell, Kelly has pledged to stashbust, that is, use the patterns and fabric she already has, for the rest of 2013.  That means not buying any new fabric or patterns.
I have done short term similar pledges in the past, some successful, some.... um... not so much.
I won't show you everything I have, but I'll show you the stuff that's matched up that really needs to be sewn and enjoyed and will be the bulk of my stashbusting pledge.

Here are some patterns already matched with fabric.  Not to say that these matches might not change, but most likely, these will stay paired.

Turns out I'm being a scaredy cat about the swim suit.  Might be nice to actually have it this Summer though, don'tcha think?

The accessory cardi that's not really for warmth. 

This is cut and ready to go.

You can't see it very well, but I have loads of dark blue jegging fabric there.  I want some leggings with some sort of cute detail (like a cuff with some little buttons on the side) and I want to make some for both girls.

This fabric has been waiting for over a year now to become a coat...

This minty aqua linen-look fabric has also been very lonesome for a long time, waiting to become a blazer/jacket.

I'm not sure which will be a cardi.  I noticed that these both look good with the feather fabric you'll see down below, so I may make a t-shirt to go with the feathers with one of these knits.

I've had the Thurlow pattern ever since I tested it way back when.  I truly need some shorts this Summer and I bought this denim at Hancocks not too long ago, but wouldn't it be nice if I actually made it into shorts so I could wear them!?

More knits, paired with dress patterns this time.

Here are the feathers I was talking about.  I have a button down shirt in mind for these (Simplicity Lisette Traveler pattern).  I can see this being a wardrobe staple like my chambray button down has become.  I am so in love with these feathers and the colors.

Here's a ponte hot pink and black knit I don't have a pattern for.  I am thinking something like a simple sheath to show off the large scale print of the fabric.

Just a lovely little rayon challis I was drawn too.

I have no idea what to make with this... I just keep hoarding.

And here are the patterns I have never used that I'd be interested in pairing with some fabric in the near future.

There are more patterns and there is a bit more fabric (just talking about what I would use for me, not what I've got in mind for the girls), but that's the main bulk of it.

So, here's what I'm going to do.  I will, along with Kelly, pledge not to buy any more fabric or patterns for me for the rest of 2013...

 UNTIL/UNLESS I use all of my above pairings.

That means I need to make 13 garments for myself before I buy any more fabric or patterns for myself.

(I keep saying "for myself" because I'm not making this pledge concerning fabric and patterns for my kids.)

This is a bit flexible if an emergency comes up.  But I promise to fully disclose any emergencies right here on the blog.  :)

Jolijou Shelly Sew-Along : Let's Begin Sewing and The ArmPit Experiment

The first step after we cut out our pieces is to sew our shirt together at the shoulder seams.  I used some clear elastic to strengthen the seam.

In the past, I have used twill tape, but the clear elastic doesn't add as much bulk to the seams.  If you are not using either clear elastic or twill tape, at least do another row of stitches 1/8" away from your first to strengthen that shoulder seam and make your garment sturdier.

The next step in the instructions is to do the sleeves.  Put in a gathering stitch between the notches and then line up the center of the sleeve with the shoulder seam and pin. This sleeve does not have a front or back as in some patterns.

 I didn't bother to pin all the way around the sleeve, I just started sewing at the end and stopped when I got to the gathering stitches.

And then I pulled the bobbin thread right there to gather the fabric to fit the sleeve opening.

The rest of it is rather unscientific.  I just gathered up the other side approximately the same amount and continued sewing.

Then, you sew down the length of the side seam, starting from the sleeve opening, past the armpit and down to the bottom of the shirt.

After I did all that, I tried it on to see what difference my new sleeve opening shape made.

Plenty of room!

But I have a good impression of a flying squirrel to show you...

Oh my.

That's not so attractive.

Remember how I said when we were putting the sleeve on that the front and back are both the same?  Yes? Well, this is what you get when you essentially cut two fronts.  Really, the front and back of a sleeve opening or armcsye, are two different shapes, one is usually shallower than the other.

I suddenly had the realization that this is the REAL reason for the drag lines from neck to armpit and the reason my sleeve looks a little twisty as well.

We must now consider this my third muslin.  sigh.

At this point, if I wanted this to fit with no extra wrinkles at my armpits, I would need to redraw a different back piece and completely redraft the sleeve.  I am not willing to do that.  It's too bad that Jolijou left us with this conundrum.  Shelly has so much potential.  Nobody's perfect, right?

I went ahead and shaved some of the squirrel wing off and added the neckband.  Here's my last pic for the day.

Jolijou Shelly Sew-Along: Picking Your Size

Hi, Shelly Sew-alongers!  Do you have your muslin fabric all ready?  We all know not to cut into our bestest, most favorite fabric yet, right?  good.

As you probably already know, this pattern has a handy little measurement chart to tell you what size to cut based on your personal body measurements.  For many of us, this part is no fun because we don't really enjoy putting that measuring tape around us and discovering that the number was much bigger.... or smaller.... than we expected.  Please, I implore you, ignore whatever you think those numbers mean or the feelings you associate with them, because guess what?  Every body looks it's best dressed in something that fits well.  You are stuck with what you have at the moment, so lets put the best fitting Shelly on it that we can, ok?

Now here's where this sew-along may just become much more valuable to you than you thought, because I might save you a step.  If you just go by the measurements for the chest, I fear with this pattern, you may end up with a too-tight shirt up top and that is no fun to wear.  Let me show you what I'm talking about.
I cut an xsmall and tapered out to a small at the hips.
Here it is after the neckband has been sewn on.

See those lines pulling from the collar to my armpit?  Thatsa no comfy.

I suspected when I cut the pattern that there might not be enough armpit room, but I'm not going to go changing a pattern I've never sewn, just on a suspicion. 

I had already cut it out in a sweater knit in exactly the same size, so I tried an experiment.

Here it is without the gathering and without the neck band.

(sorry for the low-quality pics here)

There's no pulling at the armpits, nice and relaxed.  While I was standing there like that, I pinched a couple inches of the front together to simulate the effect of gathers and didn't notice any pulling.  New hypothesis: The size and armpits are fine, but there is too much gathering.

Here is this same top with about 4" slightly gathered and the neck band sewn on.

There are those drag lines again!!

So here's where we end up in today's post, my recommendation for the easiest possible fix is to cut a bigger size than your measurements at the bust and don't be very aggressive with your gathering at the neck line.

One step up from that: If you like a multitude of gathers (as in the actual pattern design) then cut a size larger than your bust measurements AND put the "fold" line of the pattern piece a couple inches away from the actual fold of your fabric, giving you more width in the front to gather without sacrificing armpit space.

Lastly and most involvedly: You can get a tee that you like the fit of on you and redraw your Shelly armpit based on the armpit of the tee.

Then go to your sleeve pieces and extend the side by approximately the same amount as you extended your arm opening.

Thusly:

I will be back with my THIRD muslin.