When It Rains, It Pours

Last week, I had no specific craft projects lined up and now I've got a sewing project and a knitting project. I had bought this Amy Butler Anna Tunic pattern a while back and finally decided I needed to make the mini dress with all the good weather we've been having in Portland lately. I bought the fabric even longer ago from Bolt, but I'm not sure what designer it's from. I just love the combination of black, grey, and white with the leaves. It's so pretty. I cut all my fabric out last night and I'm ready to start sewing tonight.

Lotus Top

I finished the Lotus top last night. This was an easy pattern to follow. In fact, the directions are extremely clear and there are lots of illustrations. This was my second Amy Butler pattern (my first was the Cabo halter), and I had forgotten how detailed the instructions were. Things I really like about the pattern: the contrasting sections, especially the sleeve binding, the shaping, and the buttoned back.

PS For the locals...Fabric Depot has rearranged some stuff and now there's an entire wall holding rolls of the new Alexander Henry home dec fabrics by the north entrance. It's fabulous! I need to make something using some of that!

Stockinette Marathon

I finally finished the 16" of the Avast body on Saturday night while watching La Vie En Rose and 3:10 to Yuma. It didn't seem to take too long since I was occupied with the stories of the films (both thumbs ups!). Last night, I cut out the fabric for the Amy Butler Lotus top. I'm in the process of sewing that up right now.

Weekend Update

After finishing the fez on Friday night, I finally starting working on the wool dress. I think I was procrastinating because I didn't want to deal with both the lining and the dress, but once I got started it all went quickly. I sewed the lining together first and then proceeded with the dress. The thing that took the most time was the inseam pockets. The original pattern does not have a lining, so I had to figure out how to situate the pockets with it and the dress. I had the pockets sewn into the lining, but was not happy with how they looked after topstitching the edges of the pockets to the dress. It was a little messy and the edges weren't too clean. So, I scrapped the pockets and ripped them out. I'm still thinking about maybe adding some patch pockets to the front, but I'm not sure. I've still got to sew in the bias trim on the neckline and hem the sleeves and the bottom edge. I was thinking about adding bias trim to those edges as well.

Mad About Plaid

I stopped by Fabric Depot this weekend to search for some plaid wool. I found this grey plaid and chose an olive green lining. I knew I wanted to make a dress, but wasn't sure of the pattern. I found Simplicity pattern 3620, but they were out of my size. I really liked the cute V-neck jumper with the belt and pockets. After looking through some more patterns at home, I decided on this Machiko Kayaki short-sleeved dress from Sewing Talk. It's a simple four-piece pattern and the dress has inset seam pockets and raglan sleeves. I've had some fit issues with these Machiko patterns in the past, so I made the dress out of muslin to check the fit. It fit great but I took in about three-eighths of an inch on both sides of the back and shortened it about four and a half inches. I just altered my paper pattern and will cut out fabric tomorrow.

Ruffled

I finished the ruffled sundress this past weekend, but had to make quite a few alterations to it, so I didn't post a picture of it right away. I'm not sure if it's because of the dress' shapelessness or the fact that I spent a day or so doing alterations, but whatever the case, I don't know how I feel about this garment. First of all, this dress was way big. I had to take in several inches on all the front and back pieces. Then I also shortened the ruffle. I really like the fabric, but I don't know if that's enough to make me keep the dress. Hmmm...

It's a Jumper!

I stayed up way too late last night to finish this dress. But it was so easy that I couldn't stop. I thought it might be too tenty, but it's actually not because of the cut of the pattern with the two side panels and the gathered front and back panels. I also made the belt just in case I needed to rein in the rest of the dress. I would have made it from the same contrasting polka dot fabric, but I didn't have enough. I think it looks fine with the floral fabric. I hate wearing things on my actual waist, which is why the belt is sitting way down on my hips. The only change I made was to put the buttons on the straps and the button holes on the front band instead of the other way around since I wanted to keep the ends of the straps hidden inside the dress. I highly recommend this pattern!

Knitted Pleats

Here's a picture of the pleats and waistband on the back of the blouson. I finished the front and the sleeves last night. Actually, I finished one of the sleeves and then ran out of yarn on the second sleeve with only four rows to go on the cuff. The waistbands and cuffs will be folded in half and tacked on to the hem on the inside of the sweater. I really like how the crossed stockinette fabric turned out.

I also managed to cut out my fabric for the jumper dress, but haven't progressed much further than that. The dress directions look pretty quick and easy, so maybe I can start sewing tonight and have a new dress before I go to bed!

Weekend Progress

I've been steadily working on the blouson and actually finished the sleeves last night. I'll steam block the pieces before I start adding the pleats.

This weekend was also spent looking for a new sewing project to start. I thought I would use this Built by Wendy dress pattern or a Machiko Kayaki pattern, but I wanted something more summery and strappy. I ended up buying four different jumper dress patterns and settled on the Simplicity 3738 to start first. I actually bought the Amy Butler fabrics the day before I bought the patterns and I thought they worked best with this particular dress. The pattern is cut out, so I'll cut fabric tonight.

Button Up

I finished my jacket on Saturday afternoon as I watched movies on cable TV. I really like how it turned out. I didn't make any changes or alterations. The fabric is fairly light, so it will make a nice layering piece. If I make this jacket again, I think I'd like to use a heavier weight canvas fabric.

Summer Jacket

I cut out the pattern and fabric for this McCall's 5276 jacket over the weekend. I finished all the raw edges on my serger last night and ironed on interfacing to the facing, collar, and cuffs. The delightful fabric is called Graphic Leaves and is from superbuzzy. I love the blue and red dots. I'll start the actual sewing tonight.

For my next knitting project, I'm contemplating this blouson top pattern from the latest summer 2007 issue of Interweave Knits. I'm drawn to the pleating, wide neckline, raglan sleeves, and general blousiness (is that a word?) of the design. However, I hate the reverse stockinette stitch and would knit it up in regular stockinette. The pattern calls for Mission Falls 1824 Cotton, but I'll have to browse around for some substitute yarns.

Sneak Peek

As some of you know, I have been in the process of remodeling my basement, kitchen, and bathroom. It has almost been six months since the work started and now it is slowly coming to a close. I am really excited because I now have a studio space in the basement where there formerly was a large round dining table. I just finished unpacking and organizing the area last night and it turned out better than I could have imagined. I am psyched to start using this new space!

Sleeve Kissing

I worked on finishing up my jacket most of the weekend. All I have left are the buttons and buttonholes and I decided to leave those for class on Tuesday night. To put the shell and lining together, I used the kissing the sleeve technique that was taught by my apparel construction teacher. Matching center back and all other applicable seams, the shell and lining are pinned, right sides together. Matching the underarm seams, the sleeves are pinned and sewn together at the cuff edges. One sleeve (typically the left one) has a seven to 10-inch opening to turn everything right side out after sewing is completed. That open seam is then machine stitched closed. It was a neat trick that worked well and I was glad I didn't have to do any handsewing. So far, I love how the jacket is turning out and I love how the lining contrasts with the grey wool.

All I Need is Sleeves

Steffi Progress

I cut out my pattern pieces and fabric over the long holiday weekend. I had to do some shortening of the pattern, but that was it. The satin was tough to cut out because it shifts and stretches easily. I started sewing the jacket together in apparel construction class last night and got as far as putting the fronts, backs, and pockets together. So far, so good. I also learned a fabulous tip in class calling "kissing the sleeve." More on that later, with pictures.

Funny Baked Ham

Here is my score of the weekend: a Dritz pressing ham for $5! I found it on a trip to Knittn' Kitten with Mariko, Susan, and Diane. Knittn' Kitten is a crafting thrift store of sorts with lots of vintages fabrics, linens, quilts, patterns, yarn, beads, and much, much more. It's located at 7530 NE Glisan.

Seeing Stripes

I finally got around to taking this picture of me actually wearing the shorts. The quality isn't so great because it's a mirror shot. The weather is much too cold to be wearing these around twon now, so I'll stick them in the closet until spring. Around these parts, that isn't until late April or May!

Slow Going

Knitting has been very slow on the Alexi fronts with all the sewing I've been focusing on lately. But I was able to knit a little at lunchtime today. I hope to make more progress during the holiday weekend too.

In Apparel Construction class, I learned how to do a tissue fitting for the commercial pants pattern I bought. Basically, you pin the inseam together and then put the pattern on and have a partner help you pin the rest together so that it fits your body. You make new markings and then cut out the pattern accordingly. Most of the patterns were too big, which goes to show how wacky commercial pattern sizing is. My pattern just about fit me perfectly, so I didn't have to make any alterations, which was a bummer because I wanted the experience of having to alter something. But, I can always do another tissue fitting later. I'm also taking a Textiles class and I think that will be really fun. For homework this week, we get to do fabric burn tests to look at characteristics of different fabrics.

Apples of My Eye

I finished my jacket this morning. I wanted to wear it about town, but it was pouring rain and I didn't want to have to wear another coat on top of it, so it stayed in the closet. This was my first Built by Wendy pattern and it was pretty easy to follow. I only made one alteration and it was to keep the sleeves a little bit longer. They are almost the same length as the body of the jacket and I think it looks more like a cape. One warning: there is a lot of topstitching with this project, so buy an extra spool of thread. I ended up having to use another spool that I had left over from a previous project. The color was just a little bit darker, but you can't really tell. I used my new Janome machine, which was fabulous. I had to get used to a few little quirks, but overall, I'm glad I made the purchase. My favorite features are the needle threader and the automatic buttonhole maker.

Built By Melissa

My Apparel Construction 2 class starts next week and our first project is to make a pair of pants from a commercial pattern that is altered for each individual. I didn't see a great pants pattern, but I liked these city shorts from this Built by Wendy 4110 pattern. I chose this great striped stretch denim for the shorts. You can't tell from the picture, but there are zippers on the side slits. That's a nice detail. I don't often make pants for myself because of past fit problems, so I'm excited to pick up any tips I can. I also had this Built by Wendy 4109 jacket pattern and decided to buy fabric to make the shorter cape. Originally, I wanted this mondo fabric for the cape, but as I browsed the aisles at Fabric Depot, I found this cute apple corduroy from Robert Kaufman. Finally, a couple of sewing projects that will allow me to use my new machines!