I've Been Tagged

Mardel tagged me for the Book Meme.

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Turn to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people and acknowledge who tagged you.


I must admit that the nearest book was Iris Apfel, Rare Bird of Fashion, but page 123 was one of the many photo pages, and had no text at all.

So, the second book I laid hands on was a new mystery from Jo Dereske called Index to Murder, A Miss Zukas Mystery.

"Sometimes in abandoned places, too." He nodded in the direction of Meriwether's crumbling home.
Helma cast one last look at the burl high in the tree and began slowly but purposefully walking back toward the house and shop. The others followed her, as she knew they would, compelled by human instinct.


If you like mysteries and you haven't read the Miss Zukas books, you need to start. The main character is a librarian, and the writing is just delightful. As a librarian friend said when we were discussing the difficulties of finding not-too-gory, not-too-creepy, and not-too-sexy books for one's mother or similar persons, "Oh yes, what you want are books that everyone can enjoy". So now my sister and I use this description when looking for books for our mother, who's a very picky, yet voracious reader.

And now, for my victims I will tag Barbara, Gaile, Patty, Charity and Mimi.

Good Things Come....

...to those who wait. For the mailman and the UPS driver, apparently. Yes, it's another episode of Sewing By Mail. I was very pleased to get not one, not two, but 3 sewing publications in the mail this morning, and this afternoon a box appeared on the porch from FabricMart! What more could a girl hope for? Time to sew, perhaps.

Photo Link

Clockwise from Lower Left, the fabrics and my tentative plans for them:

Cotton knit with fish print - summer tank.
Pink iridescent knit-back vinyl - rain jacket.
Turquoise and Gray-Lavender silk - bazaar scarves.
Rose print light cotton poplin - dress?

Burda WOF May 2008
Piecework May 2008
FSG Newsletter May/June 2008

I haven't even had time to do more than read through the newsletter, but I hope to take a good look at the magazines tonight.

And finally, heralding the actual arrival of Spring, the first wisteria raceme of the year is beginning to bloom.

Photo Link

I've been waiting anxiously for the wisteria to bloom this spring. Last year the buds got caught in a late freeze before they could open and with the wild swings of temperature we've had this year, I was afraid it would happen again. So far, so good, except the sparrows and cardinals have decided that the buds are their favorite thing. I wondered what they were doing when I saw them working at them, but hoped they were getting ants or something, but no, they grab a bud and rip it off and eat it! The cardinal I can almost put up with doing this, but the sparrows can eat something else. There seem to be a lot of flowers left though, so I am still hoping for a large bloom. This is the first raceme to open so far. It's been way ahead from the early stages although I can't imagine why. It is probably the furthest southwest of all the flowers. Somehow I doubt that's it.

More Draping

No photos in this post I'm afraid, but I thought I'd just do a quick update on my draping progress. I decided I really like the back, but it didn't go with the wrap style of the front. I spent a lot of time thinking about what the front should look like, and taking quick looks at my draping so far to refresh my memory, and then thinking some more.

I finally came up with something I'm very pleased with. So far, anyway. It's a very plain front, with a V-neck and a plain seam at CF up to the V. I pinned the seam, making sure that the knit hung evenly and on grain. I then tried it on as far as it was done, and asked Pearle for an opinion. He thought it looked very nice, especially when I told him it wasn't going to have a bare upper back. So far, so good, except I realized something when I tried it on and looked in the mirror that I hadn't noticed at all when it was on the form. One side (the original overlap side) was on the lengthwise grain, and the other side was on the crosswise grain. It actually worked very well since this is a crinkled, 2-layer knit, and it could be a cute design detail if there was an obvious difference between the two grains, but this just looked like a mistake once you noticed it.

I re-draped the crosswise grain side, and re-pinned the CF and CB seams. Tonight I stitched those seams by hand, and they appear to be fine. BeeBee had the worst time machine sewing this same fabric, and I had quite a time doing some hand basting at first. I wasn't using a large needle by any means, but getting it through several layers of this was really tough. Thank goodness for a very good thimble. So I changed to a very fine needle, a size 10, and had no trouble going through 2 layers for permanent stitching. I think I may have saved myself a lot of trouble by doing this, and at the moment it's easier for me to hand stitch than to get to my machine and do much of anything.

Tomorrow I hope to put the dress back on the form and start working on the back. I'm thinking it would be very nice to have the sleeves incorporated with the back, and I can see how it would be fairly easy to do so.

We watched the Kentucky Derby today, and it was a very exciting race won by Big Brown, but what a sad occurrence just afterward. If you didn't see it, Eight Belles came in second, and after passing the finish line, she suddenly had 2 broken front ankles. Seems this kind of thing happens more and more, although perhaps it really doesn't, it's just so awful when it does that one remembers it vividly. We go to the races locally quite often, and 2 years ago there seemed to be more than their fair share of horse injuries during races. Our local season starts again in a few weeks I believe. I always get a lot of knitting done at the races, so I hope we'll be going often. We're usually able to run out for a few races at least, a few times a week, and it's quite a nice break.

Draping Trial

I'm still not doing any sewing for now, but I've been thinking I'd like to try draping a bodice or something for a while now, and decided this might be a time to try it. I managed to find a few moments to try with a knit fabric I want to make a dress from, and I'm not too unhappy with how it's going so far. It really was very quick and I know I'll need to work on it, but it's not too bad for a quick first try.

I've always wanted a knit wrap dress, but anything I've tried has been way off on fit for me. The lightbulb finally lit and I realized that I could easily drape one, and it would naturally fit. Tra la!

The photo above is with a piece of yarn tied at the waist, and the photo below is without. Otherwise, they're just the same. The one without the "belt" is a little more true to color, although it's not nearly as reflective. It just has a little shine.



I like the belted look, but I want to see how it will look with just a half-belt in the back. So far I have the fabric just pulled around and pinned at CB at about the waist. It isn't the worst idea, and with a little work I think it could be interesting. The back reminds me a bit of a Bonnie Cashin design, so I feel like it isn't completely unworkable.



If you want to see larger photos, and side photos as well, you can see them here.

2-Piece Floral Dress

Photo Link

I finally finished this dress, and I'm glad to be done with it. Not that I didn't enjoy working on it, but I've been able to spend almost zero time sewing in the last couple weeks, and I was so close to done it was just killing me not to finish. So, here it is.

The fabric is a silk/cotton blend with an interesting weave that makes effective use of the fact that silk and cotton will take dyes differently. It makes the print look almost like a woven design, and gives it a watercolor effect. Yes, it's a really, really, really large scale print, but it's so large it almost reads as an abstract, and I like that. The fabric is from Nancy Erickson, and I borrowed her idea of making a 2-piece dress. I did not use the suggested princess-seam top however, preferring a darted, cut-on-sleeve top that I've made before. The original pattern is Vogue 2719 which is a Vintage Vogue dress that's OOP. I used the bodice as a blouse previously and it's a real favorite. I redrew the neckline for this to make it a little dressier than a shirt collar.

When I ordered this fabric, I assumed I was going to be using a princess-seam sheath style top pattern, and planned accordingly. As I mentioned before, I really had a hard time getting this top out of the fabric I had. I didn't have really any choice in print placement because there was one, and only one way this fit on the layout. After stitching the top, I really didn't like the look of the CF seam with the print. I came up with my triangular appliqué idea, and like it, then decided that adding a bow would be even better. How can you go wrong with a bow?


Photo Link

I underlined the entire thing in silk organza, which gave this a lot of body. This fabric has body of its own, and the result is almost a spongy feel, and I think it holds the style very nicely, especially the skirt. I was a little hesitant about lining this as well as underlining, because of the thickness of the fabric and underlining even before lining, as well as the fact that it's a Spring/Summer outfit, and I didn't want to add warmth. And, I'm just not a "line everything" kind of girl. I like to go on a case-by-case basis, and I rarely line tops. Because this top pattern was altered with my saran wrap block, it has a really nice fit in the neck and shoulders, so I knew I could get away with just piping the edges and hand overcasting the piping to the wrong side. There's no peek-a-boo problems with the inside showing here and there, and it makes a really nice clean finish. Here's the top inside-out. You can get a better look by clicking on the photo link and viewing the Original size. This is true of all of the photos.


Photo Link

The skirt is drafted from my favorite straight skirt, and is the same as the green skirt I did as a trial. It looks quite different, but it's all in the different properties of the fabrics, not the pattern.


Photo Link

And here's a side-front view.


Photo Link

I did contemplate a belt with this. I took photos with and without, and although I like the belt, it just makes me look awfully short-waisted, and I think this is a more graceful look. It's amazing how much easier it is to make a style decision while looking at photos rather than when looking in the mirror. Everyone says this, and it's really true.

Sewing By Mail?

Photo Link
This isn't sewing by mail, it's real sewing, but it's been all I could do lately to get this little bow made. I think it's quite darling, and it's the finishing detail on my 2-piece floral dress, so now if I can get it attached and finish up a little hand stitching, I will finally be done with the whole thing. I'm still unable to spend any appreciable time in my sewing room, so this is quite the achievement.

Now, on to Sewing by Mail. As many people have noticed, when we are prevented from pursuing the creative process itself, we have to do something, and many of us seem to get a little satisfaction from planning future projects. Of course, that planning seems to move right into gathering items to complete those projects. The computer and the credit card are handy tools for this process, and of course, things show up in the mail, or at least are delivered similarly to the mail soon thereafter. That's been my recent modus operandi. Today was a banner day for the mailman.


Photo Link

I finally broke down and ordered the Iris Apfel book, and am I glad I did! I've only dipped into it for a short time this morning, and I can't wait to get back to it. What a great story besides the great photos. Very inspiring.

And, my KnitPicks order came. I got the nickel-plated modular needles for Christmas and thought I needed a few more cable sizes as well as needle markers, a few circulars in sizes smaller than the set has, and a set of their colorful laminated double-points that are in the foreground above. So, no excuse for not knitting now.

I've been knitting away, but not very quickly on the cropped cardigan with the textured stitch pattern, and it's very slow going. I decided to add darts in the front, so that's another element. I'm on the left front and am making careful notes so I can duplicate the shaping on the right.

It's raining here now, but when I took these photos on Wednesday, it was sunny. These are the first tulips of the year for me. They're species tulips.


Photo Link

The grape hyacinth below are so darling, and so easy to grow. They multiply extravagantly over the years, and I have them naturalized into the grass under trees where it's thin anyway, and it's such fun to see them popping up in the spring. This works if you mow the lawn yourself, or have a cooperative mower, since you need to let the leaves (grasslike) grow for a while before you cut them off. So there are a few taller spots in the grass for a while. It doesn't bother me, but if you need seriously perfect grass, maybe it's not for you.


Photo Link

Apologies to those who've tried to read this and found that the photos weren't showing up. There's definitely a problem with Blogger photos. I finally uploaded the photos to my Pbase photo site and linked from there. Even now it seems like Blogger is having a hard time with the second photo. It comes, it goes. So, if you want to see it, just hit the Photo Link link under the photo (or under where it's supposed to be) and it will take you to the photo on Pbase where it really will show up. I've been using Picasa albums and Blogger to post some photos lately, and it hasn't really been a problem until now, although I hate the fact that you can't make it so you can click on the photos and a new page will open. With these photos, I can do that, at least with the link. I used to be able to make the whole photo a clickable link, but Blogger has "improved" that out of existence.

Thanks for the heads-up on the photo problem, Rhonda!

Inspiration!

 

I was so thrilled to get my copy of the new Vogue Patterns magazine on Tuesday. I am a real fan of Ralph Rucci, and besides his first 2 patterns for Vogue being showcased, including this one on the cover, there are 2 articles about Rucci and his techniques and how to accomplish them, or at least how to attempt them. It seems quite early to get the June/July issue, but of course if we begin sewing now, we may be done by June or July.

We've been battling a bad run of bronchitis or something here, and I've been very occupied with being a not very satisfactory stand-in for a nurse. Needless to say, I've gotten almost no sewing done, and only a little knitting. I really hope we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel though, as it's been a long siege. I am determined not to get sick too, and I've got my fingers crossed. Maybe that's why I'm not getting any sewing done.

And last, but not in the least least, Happy Birthday to my dear sister!

A Blast From the Past

Lately, every vintage pattern on Summerset's blog brings back some memory for me, but this one is special. The sleeveless, long version of this dress was what my college choir wore to perform. We all professed to hate these dresses with a passion, but they were actually amazingly well chosen for their ability to look fairly decent on everyone, no matter what size or shape. The skirt was very graceful, and the style was very forgiving. We didn't know enough to realize it at the time. I think I still have my dress, although it's unhemmed now, since after graduation I loaned it to a new choir member even taller than I am, and when I got it back, the hem had been carefully taken out and pressed flat. They used these dresses for at least 15 years.

The other real beauty of the dresses was the fabric. It was just a medium blue polyester crepe, but it was indestructable. I still remember being in Hawaii on tour. We sang in a bandshell right across the street from Waikiki Beach, and we wore our gowns and the guys wore their tuxes. We were staying at a local college (it was Christmas break) and we didn't want to have to go all the way back to change, so we girls all wore our bathing suits under our dresses and when we were done singing, we took off the dresses, popped them and our shoes into a tote bag, and sauntered over to the beach. Meanwhile, there were about 40 guys with tuxedos in garment bags looking disgusted. Once in a while, we get the better deal.

Anyway, you could leave your dress crumpled in a bag all day and when you took it out, it looked just as good as before. Hooray for polyester! It certainly has its uses.

Inspiration?

I received my new Knitter's magazine yesterday and settled down to look at it last night. The first thing I noticed was a note that I only have 2 issues left on my subscription, so I was thinking I'd have to decide if I was going to renew. Lately I've been somewhat disappointed in them, and I was interested to see if they would change my mind with this month's issue. Well, in a word, NO. I hate to state it so strongly, but the patterns ranged from pedestrian to just plain ugly. No interesting shaping, some really awful fit, colors and yarns were uninteresting. There were just no redeeming features whatsoever. So, I believe I'll just let it run out. You might think that the cover sweater isn't so bad, but it's actually a tube top with an asymmetric cape over it. The model has been carefully posed in this photo as in the others, the most charming body area of the arm/body junction is prominently on display under the short side of the cape. Ick, even on the model. I have to say that several of the most uninspired and amateurish of the designs are from the magazine staff. I don't know if they had to whip up something quickly because they were short or if they're practicing their design skills on the paying public, but either way, it's a mistake, in my opinion.

And now for the much better stuff.

Today I got my first issue of a new subscription to Piecework. It has a cute Nancy Bush knitted sock pattern as well as an article on metal thread embroidery, and a project to try it. I have just scanned quickly through it, but it appears to be worth a more in-depth read.

Summerset has been putting up a vintage pattern with each post from a collection she was given. Today's offering is a 1970's sailor style pattern She mentioned that her MIL remembered wearing these styles then. Well, me too! This immediately took me back to my first "with a pattern" 4-H project. It was a sleeveless sailor top and straight elastic-waist skirt in a lavender-blue/white windowpane check with a solid blue skirt. I remember redoing the point of the V-neck where the collar sets in over and over and over again. My top didn't have a CF seam like this one does, which would make it much easier, but what did I know? I don't remember actually wearing it a whole lot after I finally got it done, entered in the fair, modelled in the Dress Review, etc. By the time I was actually free to wear it, I think I was probably sick of looking at it. But, I still like that style! What does that say about my fashion sense? Set in stone at age 10, apparently.

E for Excellent!

How exciting! I've been tagged as an E for Excellent blog by not one, but TWO Excellent Bloggers. Vintage Threads (Charity in Alaska) and Diary of a Sewing Fanatic (Carolyn) both named me in their lists. I am so honored and flattered. They are both on my list of bloggers that I read regularly, and it's so nice to know that my posts aren't completely frivolous.

Carolyn is a long-time friend from the old Sewing World, and now Stitcher's Guild. She is fearless and committed to excellence in her sewing and design. She has shown me that it's not only unnecessary but silly to "reinvent the wheel" with each new garment when we have patterns we've slaved over until they fit perfectly that we could tweak a bit and make again with a totally different look. I'd done some of this before, but Carolyn takes it to a new level, and her embellishments are subtle, wearable, and beautifully unique.

Charity is an indefatigable stitcher and designer who is always doing something interesting, and who can take a technique we all know and add a small improvement/variation and come up with something that will make you say "Ooh, that's wonderful!" Right now she's in the middle of a Hundred Skirt Project in which she and some other bloggers who've volunteered are making a hundred skirts with coordinating Tees to send to a Guatemalan orphanage with which she has a connection. The skirts are spread across the size range beginning I think, at T3 through adult. These aren't just plain old skirts either. Each one is embellished to show off the fabric pattern and the Tees are coordinated as noted above, and each ensemble has a name. She's aiming to finish by August. There is one that I hope to shamelessly copy the pocket from. It's this one called Pocket Pals.

I love the knotted strip at the top of the pocket, and I think the fabric combination is darling.

Now, I have to think up 10 (only 10!) deserving blogs as well. I will try to choose blogs that haven't already been chosen, so I'll be leaving out quite a few favorites.

Sew Distracted is Mardel's sewing and knitting blog. She has a wonderful eye for fashion, and uses the most fabulous fabrics and yarns to create her personal style. She is also a source of books-to-read ideas for me, and she reviews them when she's done too. Her taste is exquisite.

Barbara at Cat Fur Studio is a real bundle of energy as she seems to sew most of her wardrobe while effortlessly performing her very high-powered 'real' job. Her shoe choices with her outfits are always instructive as well.

You Can Have It Made which is always an interesting read, and often quite witty. One of my favorite recent posts is
Dirty Tricks Patterns Play, or: Things to Know #10.

Stitchworks is a very seriously art and especially fiber-art blog, with some sewing, but lately more fabric design and manipulation. This is pure inspiration.

May Studio's M&M is a knitting maven. If it can be knit, she will knit it and it will be gorgeous, perfectly done, perfectly fitted, and done very quickly. She is also extremely generous with her time to those of us who beg for translations of the Japanese sewing and knitting patternbooks. She and Hellenne did all the translations for the Mrs Stylebook instructions available at Stitcher's Guild, and helped walk a group of us through a skirt draft from the magazine, which turned out perfectly due to her excellent skills.

Patty Hudson at Fiberly One is another fabulous knitter who is concentrating on lace knitting recently, but knitted things drop from her needles in perfection with great rapidity. She has done sample knitting for KnitPicks at times, especially when they need something on a tight deadline. She also sews beautifully, and as she sews many shirts for her husband, I feel we're kindred spirits in this endeavor.

Gaile Online has a great blog that's been a favorite for a long time. She's a Canadian knitter/photographer who is an engaging writer as well on just about any topic. Her bird photos are some of my favorites.


Pam Erny has 2 blogs that are well-worth following.
The first is Off The Cuff Style which details her custom shirtmaking. She most often does hand drafted patterns with subtle details to perfectly tailor a shirt and its details to her client and his activities.
The second is Sewing for the Divas which has detailed her efforts at clothing her fashionista nieces in the style in which they are thrilled to be becoming accustomed. It appears to have been folded into her first blog above, but the photos and tips still on it are worth looking at if you're interested in very cute and innovative customization of children's wear and of Ottobre patterns in particular.

NancyW at encue creations is always inspiring. I like her photographic record of fitting challenges and her solutions. She does some beautiful work, and has just finished her 2008 SWAP. Congratulations, Nancy!

Answers on Saran Block, Etc.

A couple years ago I did a Saran Wrap Block using instructions from Kathleen Fasanella of Fashion-Incubator fame. I highly recommend this if you want to draft your own patterns and need a sloper/block to start from, or if you want a guide to lay over commercial patterns to see how close they are to your shape. After you do the wrap, you grade up 2" to give you blouse wearing ease. Vicki asked if I had any tips on doing this, and someone else asked if I used the "pivot and slide" method, and I thought I'd post my responses here.

Photos of Saran Block pieces before and after grading up. All photos referred to in this section are in this gallery. Choose Original size below the photos to see in great detail.

You can get a good idea of what I did just by looking at the photos of the pattern pieces as I changed them. I did not pivot to grade up. When you grade something up, you are making the entire thing bigger, not just certain areas, so you don't want to pivot.

I added 1/2" at each side seam, both on the front and back pieces.

I added only 1/4" on the shoulder seam, as I didn't want the shoulders graded up as much.

I didn't add any at the CF or CB, as I didn't want to move the bust point or shoulder blade point.

If you look at the photos of my pattern with the 2" ease added, you can see where I marked 1/2" and an arrow to show which way I went on the corners. This was so I would remember what I did. I think I moved the lower armscye point down also. Grading should have the result gained from an "exploded" view of something. It should move out evenly in (almost) all directions. Think about how the saran wrap fit your body. That's how the ungraded pattern will make up. You probably don't want anything skin tight, so think of how you'd like a dressy blouse to fit. There would be ease around the body, and the armscye would be slightly dropped, for comfort. The shoulders could be extended slightly. You might want to add some lengthwise ease as well. That's what grading up the 2" should give you; a nice blouse-fit.

You'll have corrections and refinements when you make up your test muslin, and the blue line on my Master Pattern is my corrected armscye which is what I use for a sleeveless top. The armscye from the original saran wrap was more of what you'd use for a sleeve with a normally dropped armscye. Since very high-cut armscyes are "in" right now, that's what I wanted, especially for a sleeveless top, so this is actually cutting the armscye shallower. If you look at the lavender bodice I made from the 2" ease added pattern, you can see the ink line which shows the original saran armscye. (I drew around each piece with ink on my fabric, then cut on seam allowances.) I added seam allowances when I made this up, and I kind of liked where they hit me. That's what the blue line is. Look at the difference between the 5th and 7th photos, and you can see that the 7th was corrected to incorporate the blue line.

I did a review of the whole wrap process that you can read here.

New Question: Sally asked where I got my large rotary cutting mat. It's a Big Mat and I got it from The Sewing Emporium in Chula Vista, California. Their website isn't much, but I think you can call or email them. NAYY, but a very satisfied customer, and I bought mine at least 15 years ago, or more. There are lots of places that have the larger size mats available if you Google for them. I think if you're going to use a rotary cutter for garments, you absolutely must have a very large mat. Otherwise, you're just asking for grain problems.

Well, back to my floral top. It's stitched together, but I've decided it needs some serious embellishment. Not anything frou-frou, but it was looking extremely plain, and not in a good way. I've been playing with my scraps though, and ideas are percolating up.

Skirt Muslin

 

I wasn't going to post a photo of a "muslin", but it turned out that I really like this skirt. Since it was just a muslin, I didn't add a hem allowance to it, and this has a serged edge that's turned up once and edgestitched, so I only lost perhaps 1/4" - 3/8" in the hemming. I like this length, just at the bottom of the knee. I think skirt length is much more critical if you're going to wear flats than it is with heels.

It's my usual straight skirt pattern (Burda 8566) to which I added some flare. I tried to get a photo of the front, but for some reason they all turned out really dark. Must be some karmic thing..... Anyway, you get 2 side shots instead. It's going to be a casual skirt that I can wear around the house and still look decent if I have to run out to the grocery store or somewhere. I finished the "real" version last night, and it has quite a different look because the fabric has much more body than this, and it stands out more. I'm working on the top now.

 

A Real Surprise

 

I was very surprised today when this lovely basket was delivered from my eye doctor's office. I had gone to pick up my new glasses yesterday and had a really dismaying experience with the girl who was to fit them, etc. I won't go into details, but in about 5 minutes, she was able to completely destroy any good feelings I had about the business, my glasses, etc. I was stunned by the whole experience, and finally decided that rather than just feeling mad, hurt and never going back, I'd call the office manager and give her all the particulars. We both go there for refraction, glasses and contacts, and everyone there has always been so very nice that it was unbelievable that this was the kind of thing they wanted to happen.

I am so glad I called. Rhonda was so nice, and genuinely appalled to hear what had happened. She was willing to do whatever it took to make me happy, although I really couldn't think of anything. She apologized over and over, and I thought the matter was closed. When the basket came today, I was just amazed! How nice is that, and they will certainly be seeing us again when we need exams, glasses and for me, contacts as well.

So, what's in the basket? Contact lens solution, Optical hand soap, a darling contacts case, a contact, hand/body lotion, cookies and tea. Definitely a calming influence!

Cutting Up

 

This is the fabric I've been attempting to cut out for the last few days. At the time I ordered it, I planned a skirt with some flare, and a princess seam sleeveless top. Bu the time I got the fabric, I'd changed my mind to doing a top with vertical darts instead, and with short/cap sleeves. This made it a bit trickier to get it all out of the same yardage. I finally conquered it this afternoon, and it's all cut out, and the skirt is nearly done. It's underlined with silk organza, and I love this fabric. It sews beautifully, and has a lovely hand. Quite a bit of body to it as well. You can see how very large the print is, but I think it's just perfect for this spring. Huge prints seem to be the thing, and I love the watercolor effect of this one.

Vicki wondered why I didn't draft a princess seam top from my saran block, and I suppose that's what I should do. Maybe it's not that princess seamed garments aren't my thing, maybe I just haven't had the right one for me. This top is actually taken from a pattern that I altered extensively using my block, and I love the sleeves. I had to shorten them to get this out of the fabric, but I think it will still be alright, although I may face the sleeve hems if I need to. I almost made a terrible error while cutting. I was so thrilled to find that I could make it all work that I almost cut 2 left backs. That would have been a disaster, as I doubt I could get any more of this.

You can see my layout above, sort of. I folded the fabric so that the doubled part was no wider than necessary for the skirt pieces. I then cut one Top Back from the space between the skirt pieces on the opposite selvedge, and the other Back and both Fronts from what was left above the skirt back. I hate having a close layout that I have to keep refolding, as if you make a mistake, there's generally no fixing it. This fabric only has 44" of usable width, as there are extra-wide unprinted selvedges. I think I'm spoiled by all the 60" fabric there is. I can't even imagine having to go to 36" all the time, as is called for in vintage patterns.

This is really going to be a pretty quick project I think, once I got it all cut out finally. The sewing should be very easy, and as a good omen, the zipper went in like a dream.

Glasses Decision

Thank you all for taking the time to help me decide which pair of glasses I should get. Although it would be great fun to have both of them, for different moods, it seemed quite extravagant to have 2 pairs just as a backup to my contact. And of course, I'd rather spend it on fabric, etc.

So, I went with Choice #1. It's not as avant garde or trendy as the second pair, but I think it will be wearable for a much longer time without looking dated, and that's probably one of the most important things right now.

I loved hearing what you all thought. It really did help me make up my mind. I liked them both so much that it was very difficult to choose, and either one would have been fine, really. Your comments are what finally helped me make the decision. Now I have to wait 2 weeks to get them. Not exactly the speed of light, but whatever.

Trial and Error

 

I've been working on getting a nice fitted top that I can use to do a 2-piece dress with and have been through 3 muslins, one wearable, which you see above. After the wearable one, I realized that if I wanted better results, I ought to start with something different as a base. I was using a very fitted Marfy jacket pattern with nice princess seams plus a dart. It was working somewhat, but I realized that no matter how nice princess seams work for everyone else, they've never been my best style. So, I decided to start with a darted pullover Vogue blouse pattern that I had altered using my saran block. I consider the two blouses I've made from it in the past to be some of the best-fitting and most comfortable ones I have, so why not start there? This seemed to work very well. and I'm very pleased with what I whipped up tonight. I made a nice wide scoop neckline and it has small sleeves which I think improve over a sleeveless top for me. I think I'm going to use facings on it instead of lining it completely like I did here, although I do want to underline it.

I will start tweaking my skirt pattern tomorrow and I don't anticipate much trouble there. If I have enough fabric to do it, I want to do a fairly deep pleat on each side of the center and put pockets there.

I ordered a very large scale floral print for this, and I think it's going to be nice. It probably would have been nice to have it done for Easter, except that it's going to be so cold Sunday that I may have to wear my winter coat.

I've also been knitting on a new project. It's the Cropped Cardigan from the big anniversary issue of Vogue Knitting from last fall? I didn't think much of it when I saw the magazine, but Elann had someone knit it up in one of their yarns, and it look so much better than the original. I like the pattern stitch very much. They just call it Textured Stitch, but I realized it looks kind of like crocheted Afghan Stitch to me, although with extra diagonals. It's kind of fun to knit, too. The right side has you slip a stitch, knit a stitch, yarn over, and then pass the slipped stitch over the other two. You just purl back on the wrong side.

 

Which Glasses? Opinions, please.

Well, I'm looking for new glasses. I've been going through various kinds of things ever since the need for bifocals arrived, and I'm pretty much settled on wearing one contact lens most of the time. I've always been extremely nearsighted, and I can wear a multi-focal lens in one eye, and nothing in the other so that I can see close work, like sewing or knitting where I have to really be able to focus on on stitch or thread. But, I have never had bifocal glasses and have just been using my last pair of glasses for emergency purposes. I decided the time had come, and so of course I'm looking at frames. We've narrowed it down to two frames. I got to bring them home and see which one is more comfortable, etc. They both seem equally comfortable, so naturally it's down to looks.

Sorry for the somewhat blurry photos. They looked pretty good until I cropped them. Anyway, there are front and side views of both frames. The more rounded frame is first, and the more squared frame is second, so let's call them 1 and 2. One is a little more rounded and has frame all around the lens while 2 is a little more squared, and is rimless on the bottom. Please ignore the writing on the lenses.

Leave a comment to let me know what you think. I am going back and forth, so I'm really interested in what the consensus is.

 

 

 

 

I also got the new Vogue Knitting today, and the KnitNStyle came last week.

 

I've been doing some knitting, but more sewing lately. A muslin of a sleeveless, princess-seamed top that I made using a well-fitting Marfy jacket pattern. I'm pretty pleased so far, but haven't finished the test garment from the muslin pattern. It's been interesting, though, and I may take a photo of my pattern pieces. They certainly are not standard looking in several ways.

2 Tops - 2 Very Different Styles

I finished up the silk crepe de chine tank the other night and am pretty happy with it. When I made the Marfy suit that it matches (a couple years ago) I was wearing it with an old silk top which by now has seen better days, and I always planned to do something with the silk scraps I had, but just never quite got to it. As I said, this is Marfy #9829 which was one of the free patterns in the Spring 2006 catalog. I'd made it before in knits and liked it, but one of the suggested fabrics was a woven. I used to wear a lot of silk tanks with jackets, but I haven't had any for quite a while, and I like just a basic tank for that. I see now that for a woven, you're supposed to put a side seam zipper in the top, so I may try that next time, but for a thin silk like this, it might be a little close-fitting anyway. I just added what amounted to 4" of ease to this at the bust and about an inch at the hip, and stitched it up, after a quick muslin of course. You can see it below with the jacket and also a pair of pants from my TNT pattern, with wide legs. I don't have any shoes on in the photo, so that makes them drag on the ground a bit.


Photo Link

I used bias binding on the armscyes and neckline, with a bow finishing the back neck.


Photo Link

Once I finished this, I wanted to make something from a darling bias plaid print knit, and used Simplicity #4020 which I made once before and liked pretty well. I think it turned out well in this, and I love the colors.

Photo Link

This was truly a quickie project, as I started it last night about 11pm and finished about 2:30am. I know I should work during the day instead, but honestly, there are a lot fewer interruptions at night.

Silliness for March

I was reading Carolyn and Mardel's blogs and they both linked to a What Does Your Name Mean? quiz thingy. Well, after reading their results and doing my own, I think there's some sort of method having to do with the letters in your name, with variations for the initial letter. If you notice, Carolyn has many more attributes since she has many more letters. I also think anyone who has an A in their name is designated as a Type A personality. It's cute anyway.

What Liana Means

You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

But, there was another quiz there that's a grammar quiz! Since Monday was National Grammar Day, I thought I'd link you to it. It's called the Its, It's, There, They're, Their quiz. If you don't like grammar or quizzes, I can just say: There, there, it will soon be over.

You Scored an A

You got 10/10 questions correct. It's pretty obvious that you don't make basic grammatical errors. If anything, you're annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs. As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they're only human. And it's humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes.

The It's Its There Their They're Quiz

BSJ Hat is Done & Button Update

Photo Link

Well, I like this hat better now that it's done. It's a birthday present for my brother so I hope he likes it too. I was pretty sure there would be plenty of winter left for him to wear it, but today it was 69 degrees! Considering it's only been a week since it was barely above zero for a high, that's quite an achievement. I'm sure the cold will return and in fact, there's a chance of snow tomorrow, so he will probably be able to wear it if he wants to.

It's quite asymmetric, and after trying it on, I really like it. I'm not sure that I want to make another one, although it's a very interesting pattern, and I used several techniques I've not done before, so it was also a learning experience.

Those of you who read the Sharing, Inspiration thread on Stitcher's Guild know that I've been whining gently about the buttons on my coat. I love the buttons, and I am really loving the coat as it's so comfortable to wear, even though it's fairly fitted for a coat. However, the buttons are determined to remain separate from the coat. The holes in the buttons are sharp enough that they were cutting through thread like butter. I had to resew at least one button every time I wore it. I tried different threads, more thread, a fabric strip through the holes (which are too small for a fabric tube) and nothing made any difference. I was thinking of looking for new buttons, but I found a spool of the old-style nylon mono-filament thread and tried that. It seems to be working! Hooray! I've wondered why I hung onto this spool, as it's more like fishing line than thread, but I was pretty sure if I threw it out I'd instantly need it. Thank goodness my inner pack-rat prevailed.

I'm working on a silk tank from the same Marfy pattern that I used for the twisted-binding tanks I made last summer. They were in knit fabric, but says in the catalog that the pattern is suitable for jersey or crepe. I always wondered about that, but a friend told me that crepe generally has about as much stretch as jersey and that the dual rating is not unusual. I'm not using crepe, but a crepe de chine which does not seem stretchy to me, so after trying the pattern on my dressform, I added 1" at the side seams and did a muslin first. This is just about right. I'm doing the binding, but not twisted binding. I had thought about it, but I think the plain is fine for this. It's some fabric that's left from a tweed Marfy suit that had lapels and cuffs of crepe de chine. I decided I wanted a simple top to wear under it, and had enough of the silk left to do this.

BSJ Hat

 

I found a hat pattern on Knitty called the Bloody Stupid Johnson hat. This is apparently a reference from the Discworld novels, which I have not read, but the hat intrigued me, and I assumed it would be a quick, fun knit. It's been fun and it's going pretty quickly, although I had one heck of a time figuring out the instructions. I had printed them out and on the "unravelled" part of the cable pattern, I didn't realize that my print-out had left off a critical red box around a number of rows which had to be repeated several times before finishing the chart totally. So, there was ripping and gnashing of teeth, and it all worked out, but really, even with the box, the written directions are not clear as a bell. Here's the pattern photo.


I'm ready to graft the ends of the horizontal cable section together and then pick up stitches to begin the cap, so I thought this seemed like a good spot for a break. I always have to read my grafting directions while grafting if I want a really good job. I will soon go find my Hiatt book and do it. I think the hat will be for either my brother or a nephew depending on who it fits. Very cavalier attitude, but it feels good once in a while.

I've also begun on a muslin of a Marfy tank top that I've made a couple times. So why a muslin? I've done it in knits before and this is for a woven, which is supposed to work, but I've added very large seam allowances because I'm just sure I'm going to need more ease in the woven.

I want to thank you all for your very kind comments and wonderful encouragement on my coat! Once I finished it, I decided to really do a spring cleaning on my sewing area, and in fact got to work on some of the rest of the basement as well. It's mainly just storage area and some of it has been sort of a dumping ground for whatever didn't find a home somewhere else. It's much nicer now, and I only need a couple more bins or something for yarn. The fabric is pretty much under control, or at least it all has a home. I'm afraid control may be beyond my abilities.

Corduroy Coat is Finished

Photo Link
I finished my coat last night, and I am just pretty pleased with it. It seemed to finish up fast, which was nice and kind of unexpected. I wore it to church this morning, and these pictures were taken after I got home. You can see them all here in greater detail, plus a few close-ups of details.


Photo Link

I did a lot of hand sewing on this coat, including basting every seam by hand, attaching most of the underlining and some of the interfacing. I also did a hand-inserted lining except at the sleeve hems. It was a nice project, and I didn't mind the extra time it took to baste because I did almost no ripping. There were a few places where I had basted the seam on a curved spot with the corduroy and it still slipped when I stitched. So, I learned to baste and pin in those spots, or baste again. I wasn't using a terribly small basting stitch, but the layers were so thick that it was difficult to do a small stitch even if I wanted to, so at times I basted twice.

Once again Marfy patterns show their great lines and drafting with the subtle shaping incorporated into the style. It's so nice how everything goes together just the way it should, and the way we wish all patterns would. It makes all the difference to the outcome when you match seamlines rather than cutting-lines too. More work at the beginning, but it makes everything else go so much more smoothly all the way through. Proper preparation is worth all the work involved every time.

So, how was it to wear? Very comfortable, and it seems to be quite warm, although we're having a warm-up today, so it didn't get a real test. I like the buttons, but I will admit that they feel very pointy when you're buttoning them. I don't mind my fingers, but I hope they won't be hard on the buttonhole lips. Here it is unbuttoned.


Photo Link

Hepburn as Chanel

Now that's an intriguing title, isn't it?



I listen to lots of audiobooks and podcasts while I'm sewing and knitting, or doing housework or whatever. One podcast I like is called ScreamAndKill by Stella Maria Krazelberg von und zu Brabant. It's billed as an Outrageous Operatic Podcast, and it certainly lives up to its billing. It's great fun, and the music is wonderful. A recent edition is called "Glitter and Be Gay", an obvious reference to Bernstein's Candide, and the aria is included.

What I thought pertained to sewing/fashion was a completely unexpected song sung by Katherine Hepburn. I don't think I've ever heard her sing before, and she's no songbird, but of course puts across a song with verve. (Her friend, Greta Garbo described her as sounding "like Rose Kennedy". Hepburn was about 63 at the time.) She played Coco Chanel on Broadway in the musical Coco in 1970. You can hear her sing "The Money Rolls in Like Freedom" at about 32 minutes into the podcast. It's quite an interesting song, as much about women's freedom as jewels, although costume jewelry plays a humorous part in it.

Cherry Pie

 

Late to the blog, but the pie itself was on time. I am not an eager baker, but I do enjoy it when I get it done. This was a Washington's Birthday Cherry Pie. I used a bag of frozen, tart cherries and a recipe from the Farm Journal Pie Cookbook. My aunt, who's a fantastic cook and baker thinks this is THE pie cookbook to have, and I happened to have a copy, so I treasure it, and use it. It's from 1965, when pies were generally homemade or you didn't have any. I see copies on eBay for a wide variety of prices.



Still plugging along on the coat, but not much progress today. The sleeves are in, also the shoulder pads, hems pressed up and I've begun attaching the lining. I'm hoping for more time tomorrow, at l