5 Muslins Later, a Finally Fitting Button Down Shirt • 1 Comment

ladyreed • August 19, 2015

This pattern is from the Craftsy class One Pattern, Many Looks: Blouses. It's a Craftsy only pattern, M6649, but it's a basic button down shirt. I started with view C, left off the sleeves and pockets (I've never understood boob pockets, we're not guys, c'mon). I am doing the first step which is to get the base pattern to fit nicely. It's a only mentioned briefly in the class, but it's taken me forever to get it right. The first half of that forever was just talking myself into it once I saw how bad the fit of the pattern was. The second half felt like forever but was actually just 5 muslins later. Could have been better, could have been worse.

I started with the D cup base, but ended up increasing the dart by about .5" and then splitting it into two. Even with that it was kind of pointy, so I've sewed them as very curvy darts. I shorted the back by over an 1.5" as well. Seems like that shouldn't have taken so many tries to get it right, but I just kept shortening and shortening.... guess I could have measured better or something. Also, the darts where super finicky and didn't want to stop being so pointy.

Button Down Shirt Darts — See the double darts (for DD! teehee!)

The sleeves felt like clown sleeves. Since I had enough fiddly work with trying to get the main bodice to fit, I decided to go sleeveless with it and work out the sleeves later. This fabric (free from my mom-in-law!) was super light weight, so I thought it would make sense for a lightweight summer shirt. I finished the armholes with bias tape.

Sounds good, so far, right? Well, let me add to this one drama moment (really, it was more of a d'oh! why????? moment, but drama sounds less .... stupid).

In order to get the bias tape binding on the arm holes to lie nicely, I was trimming the seam allowance down. I bet you can now see where this is going. Yep, I chopped right into the shirt itself. Ugh.

I'd been clawing out time to work on this shirt and it was the first version that fit, so I was not ready to just chuck it out. I saw Mary over at Idle Fancy do a patch with a skirt she made (looking for the link....) and she made it look very nice. Inspired by her, I tried using Wonder Under and a scrap of fabric to make a small patch. Fingers crossed it stays put...

Sleeve Snip Patch — Patched as seen from the back. Wonder Under to the rescue.

Sleeve Snip Patch Front — Trying to match the stripes in the snip wasn't too tricky. Wasn't perfect, either...

Finished Patch — Here it is with the binding on it. Not too noticeable. Besides, who's looking that close at the sleeve of my shirt?!

Overall, I'm ok with the fit of this shirt. I grade my work on the collar at a C or lower, so I need to practice there. Other than that, I really like it. Because I'm so busty, I've never really had button down shirts that were even close to the right size, so this is great! More to come of these and hopefully with even better fit and construction.

Back of Button Down Shirt — Back, with bias cut yoke

(PS, what's up with these pics?? Getting not horrible pictures is far more challenging than it seems like it should be. Still on the learning curve for it. I thought there was enough light, but my camera was glad to prove me wrong. Next time, better, I promise.)

Outfit Along 2015 – Sweater Complete!

ladyreed • July 31, 2015

Vianee Sweater completed! — Vianne Sweater completed!

Well, the Outfit Along 2015 is over and I didn't quite get it finished. I didn't get the dress part of it done (1 failed adjustment and 5 shirt muslins, but no finished outfit). However, I did get the sweater knitted for it and I'm so excited about it. So. EXCITED! I can't believe I successfully knitted my first sweater, gauge modification and everything.

I haven't put the buttons on yet, but details, details. I plan on wearing it open, like I do most of the cardigans I own. But again, let's focus on the happy bit: I finished it!

I really love it and it's very warm (taking these pictures in 90+ degree heat confirmed that). My gauge was off from the pattern's gauge, both row and stitch, so I had to modify a couple places and wing it in a couple places. I'm sure there's ways to not have to wing it, but I didn't know what they were. I'll be putting these things on a list to try to do better next time.

The biggest area I felt unsure about was the sleeves. Because my row gauge was off, I didn't have the same number of stitches as the pattern. Fortunately, it was a higher count, so I wasn't too worried about it fitting. I increased more often than the pattern called for until I was at the number of stitches I needed for my gauge and then followed again from there. It worked ok, although the sleeves seem a little weird in the shoulders.

The only other major thing I'm adding to the list is an FBA. Since this is a cardigan, I can wear it open and it's alright, but if I do a full sweater, I will definitely need to know how to do it. I've got the Craftsy class Knit to Flatter with Amy Herzog. I've watched it before, but I think it will make more sense now that I've knitted a sweater.

The back of the sweater had a mesh on it that I liked. I also was reading in the Ravelry forums for this and many were talking about elminiating the mesh and just doing a knitted back. I like that I can do that option as well, know that I'm more familiar with doing gauge mods.

I can't wait to do another sweater, but it's down the list of projects. For now, I'm on to other sewing projects and finishing up the mate to a mate-less sock. One final shot, just for fun!

Self Croquis for Wardrobe Planning • 2 Comments

ladyreed • July 28, 2015

One thing that I've felt I struggle with is deciding what shapes will look good on me. I am essentially a column with extra out front, so I don't feel like most models get anywhere close to helping me visualize what it looks like on me. I finally realized this feeling of not knowing what it would look like was hampering my ability to start sewing because I didn't want to waste fabric on a shape that would end up making me look dumpy.

In order to solve this, I decided to make a croquis of myself to be able to try to sketch shapes or ideas to see if it will help me to get a better visualization of a shape and then be more willing to sew it.

I took several pictures of myself in "standard" croquis poses so I could turn them into line drawings. I use Photoshop and I followed a YouTube tutorial for it. If you don't do photo editing like this, you can always buy sketch books. Two popular ones are: Fashionary and the Curvy Sketchbook by Cashmerette. I've not tried either one personally (also not affiliate links, just ones I've seen around), so if you do go with one of those, I'd love to hear how it works for you.

Here's what I ended up with for me. (I took more poses than this, but I haven't taken the time to turn the other ones into outlines yet.)

It's been kind of interesting to see that when I sketch a shape on me, so far it's matched my preferences that I already know. For example, I don't like sleeveless that comes in too far or is super narrow strapped. When I drew that shape on this outline, I didn't like it there either. That makes me feel better about knowing that if I like it on the croquis, I'll have a good chance of liking it on me for real.

Another way it's helping me so far is that it is narrowing my focus on what I want to sew/draft next. I need some solid staples in my wardrobe and it's easy to find the shape I like for those staples.

Here's my favorite basic shirt and skirt combo so far. I'm going to start with these for my next attempt at pattern drafting.

Do you have a favorite way of trying ideas or do you just jump in and sew?

Weekend Relaxations

ladyreed • June 30, 2015

This weekend we got to spend with my husband's parents who about 2 hours south of us. That's not much of a drive, but between N's master classes and Baby Girl's just being a toddler, we haven't gotten down as much recently.

It was good to be able to see them and not have to worry about anything and get fed fantastic food. (Diet this week, anyone?) My primary activity was knitting. Roughin' it, right? 😉

In addition, I got to watch my two favorite people run and play together in their huge yard. I could never get enough of watching this little girl and her daddy.

Daddy and Baby Girl — I love these too with all my heart and soul!

So cute!

While we were away, there was a store back home with 80 MPH straight line winds. We were so blessed because we returned to a fairly large limb down in our yard, but not one bit of damage to the house. Yes, very, very blessed. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the downed branch, but here's what my dad's truck looked like after loading it (and a few little trees out of the fence. Hey, free brush dump by the city shouldn't go to waste!).

Brush clean up - The branch that fell (and a few little trees that needed to be cleaned out of the fence)

On the sewing front, I'm working on the muslin for my next pattern attemp for OAL 2015: the Colette Pattern's Dahlia. First effort is: no FBA (will I regret that choice?), widening at the waist. Hopefully an update with pictures soon.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying life with this little family.

Family Selfie! (Almost missed the baby completely!)

Outfit Along 2015 – First Update • 2 Comments

ladyreed • June 23, 2015

I'm making great strides in my OAL 2015! Well, the sweater anyway. The dress... yeah, I'm struggling with that.

So to start with the good news, here's my progress on the sweater. I'm currently working on the Waist Decreasing section.

Vianne Sweater - Front Detail — Vianne Sweater - Detail of the front

I've made a few mistakes, most of which I didn't notice till several rounds later. Some of which, I fixed. The others? Well, this is my first sweater after all, and completion is my goal. Perfection is my enemy. Or at least that's what I'm going to tell myself every time I look at the mistakes...

Vianne Sweater - Back Detail — Vianne Sweater - Detail of the Back

As for the pattern, I *thought* I was going to do this Vogue pattern, V8648, view F. I got this pattern as a part of a Craftsy class, The Couture Dress with Susan Khalje. I've been wanting to make it and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Dress Pattern - Option 1, but have to find something else

Then this happened. I needed to do a 1.75" FBA on the bodice piece. But when I did, the armhole distorted to bad I didn't think I'd be able to set a sleeve in there. I thought about doing research and trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong, but with all the pretty dress patterns I have in my stash and the limited time I have to sew, I'm just giving the win to the Vogue pattern and coming back to it when I'm more experienced. It may have won this battle, but I will win the war!! 😛

Bye Bye Love Bag – Gifted

ladyreed • June 16, 2015

This bag is the Bye Bye Love bag from Sew Sweetness. I modified the pattern a bit in order to have the two-tone color on the bag. I also switched the inset zipper to the inside of the bag instead of the outside. I'd like to say that's because of some brilliant inspiration on my part, but it's actually because I didn't read the pattern very well and I got the wrong color zipper. I probably could have gotten away with a pink zipper on the outside, but I wasn't feeling it. I just switched it to the lining instead.

I used the Soft and Stable that Sara (of Sew Sweetness) recommends in the pattern. This was my first time sewing with it and it was interesting. For those who haven't sewed with it before, it's a stiff foam that is about 1/8" thick. It gives great body and support to the bag without overwhelming it. I'll definitely use it again with a bag like this that benefits from the structure. Due to the price (it's not too bad, but can add up if you're using this for many bags), I may experiment with interfacing and headliner foam from Joann's. I'll update if I do that and do a comparison.

This bag was more challenging than I thought it would be. In addition to using the Soft and Stable for the first time, I used the vinyl for the accents and upholstery fabric for the green and the lining. The pink lining fabric frayed horribly and I had to use my serger and a zigzag and it was still disinigrating around the edges. Beautiful, though and worth the hassle.

Because of all these challenges, I make more mistakes on this bag than I had on some of my other more recent bags. I chalked it up to a learning experience and am pretty pleased with the results overall.

I gave this to my sister-in-law for her birthday as I thought the colors would be perfect for her. Also, she's nice enough to look past some of the construction mistakes.

Have you gifted things to loved ones even though they weren't perfect? Or do you keep all the mistakes for yourself?

Knit Dress – M6073, McCall’s Maxi/Midi/Knee Length Dress • 6 Comments

ladyreed • June 9, 2015

My first finished to post to the blog! I'm so excited that I have a successful project to post about. This knit dress is McCall's M6073. It has a V neckline in both the front and the back and has three lengths: knee, midi, and maxi length. I wanted to use this fabric from my stash (it's a poly blend from... Fabric.com, maybe?) I only had 1.5 yd. and it was 45" width, so I eeked out as much length as I could, but couldn't even quite make it to the knee length. When I'm standing and there's no wind, it's not too short. Also, the fabric is sheer, so I have to have something under it. Therefore, there will be leggins worn with this every time.

I wasn't sure about this pattern at first because it seemed very loose and I wasn't sure if I'd would like it. However, it actually did flatter very nicely. I think that's mostly due to the drape of the very lightweight knit and the help of the elastic in both the shoulders and waist.

I did have to do a few alterations for this. Although my fabric was knit, it didn't have a great amount of stretch. I did a size 22 in the bust, grading to 24 for the waist and hips, then I did a 2" FBA. The fit was great overall. The FBA did give me a lot of gathers; in the future I may do a smaller FBA or none at all and let the deep V of the wrap take in some of the difference.

The photographer (aka: Mom) decided this was my "I'm a little teapot" pose. No one has ever asked me to model, can you believe that?! 😛

I struggled with the binding of the V neck because the pattern instructions made. no. sense. I was ~~procrastinating~~ utilizing last minute energy to finish this dress so I didn't want to take time to Google the "correct" way to do it. I found a way that worked and looks nice from the outside, but really kind of bad on the inside. I'm adding binding a V neck to my list of skills-to-learn.

To update my skill building for this post, I thought I show how I did the bust gathers for this piece. Gathering is basic skill, but when done unevenly, it can definitely add to the "home made" vs. "hand made" look.

I used a technique that I like to think of as "window curtain gathering" (yes, I totally made that up, if you couldn't tell) that helps me get more exact start/end when gathering between two points. Basically, I use two threads, knotted at the end to baste the gathers. One thread starts at the left and the other starts from the right. That way, I can pull on the unknotted ends, now on opposite sides of the gathered section. By doing it this way, there's no ungathered sections near the edge of the gathered sections.