racerback & forth

Not-so-new jersey. It was high time to use these two lengths of rayon jersey I've had for awhile. Granted, "awhile" for me means like three months. "Why stash 'em when you can make ho-hum clothes out of 'em?" is my motto, after all.

I don't think the hem is crooked IRL, but I won't guarantee it either way.

You may recognize this feather print fabric from Dixie's and Suzanne's past creations. I feel like I link to those gals a lot. Blog crushes, you know how it goes.

Heyo, 4th grade throwback. I used to wear my shirts tucked in like this (only in the front), because my best friend in elementary school, who was way cooler than I was, did it. Say aye if you wanna be like me now. 

...fair enough.

Swayback or big bum or are those interchangeable? Who cares. I'm truly not crazy about my pattern choice here (McCalls 6359) because I don't even like the racerback style on me. I should have used my feather print on something more elegant. Erg. I actually tried to sell this pattern in our Memorial Day yard sale, but no one bought it. So instead I made it for myself... twice... and I'm somewhat grumpy about it. It's one of those patterns that produces clothes that no one will suspect you made. Non-sewers are so bored by these clothes that when they hear they're handmade, they're fascinated.

The pattern lists both wovens and lightweight knits as recommended fabrics. Leave off the bust darts if you use a stretchy knit. Also, make a test garment or take into account the stretch of your fabric. When making my usual size on my black polka dot version, it was enormous. I took in each side at least 47 feet and it still looks a little loose under my armpits, but I decided to keep it a slouchy-ish style. For the feather dress version I was feeling annoyed so I just dramatically cut the smallest size in the envelope, a 6 (whaaat). It's obviously more snug but I'll dare to get away with it. Here it is hanging dead on a hanger, pretending to be a swimsuit cover-up the Old Navy clearance rack:

For the feather dress, I added an elastic casing at the waist and an underlining to make it opaque.

Wanna see some edges? Of course you do. You live on the edge for these edges.

The pattern calls for store-bought bias tape to be applied as a facing to the armhole and necklines. I tried that but polyester bias tape was too heavy and not stretchy enough for this thin rayon jersey, so it made everything gape and stick out. I decided to make narrow edge binding from self-fabric instead. To do so and not lose my sanity, I used Portia's method of cutting strips of jersey by first applying masking tape/painter's tape. It stabilizes the fabric so it doesn't slink around as you cut, and it's already a perfect inch wide so there's not much measuring involved. Just cut along the edges of the tape and remove it. I tried here for consistent pattern placement but I think I just wasted fabric:

I didn't want to create bias tape-like creases, but instead just fold them in half before attaching. Since rayon jersey's so unstable, I used my handy dandy DIY fabric starch to stiffen up the strips after I folded them in half. The starch actually works kind of like an adhesive, too, so I didn't even have to baste the raw edges together after folding, starching and pressing:

I measured and applied the binding to the neckline and armholes in a method that was a combination of this Threads video and a narrow version of the Sewaholic Renfrew pattern. Nice!

You know what else is nice?

Sockbuns.

So what's your honest opinion on the racerback style? Too sports-bra-like? 

And what's your honest opinion on the sockbun style? Too ballerina-bun-like?

diy spray starch: eliminate curled edges on jersey

Look familiar?:

Knit jersey is GREAT (yea? nay?), but, you know, it has some characteristics that can bug the hell out of us seamsters. The raw edges don't fray, but they do curl. This can work in your favor if you want it to be a design element, like on the cardigan Lizz made from Dixie's pattern. Or it can mean difficulty matching edges and trimming seams accurately. And careful -- watch that overlocker knife when you use your finger to unroll the edge as you serge.

I don't know what you people do/don't know, but I thought I'd go ahead and share a new-to-me discovery of a way to keep those roley-poley edges in check. Quite obvious, really: fabric starch!

Certainly you can buy some fabric starch spray at your local grocery store or whatever, but I decided to go au naturel and make my own. Save money, avoid the chemicals, love your jersey.

THE INGREDIENTS:

• Distilled water (in case you have hard tap water with high mineral content that can damage your iron or possibly your fabric)
• Corn starch
• Empty plastic spray bottle. They sell these at stores, too, but luckily I had saved this spray bottle from a questionably effective hair product so I'm totally eco-friendly here. OK that's questionable, too. Please forgive that I bought water in a huge plastic tub.

I used 1 cup (240 mL) of distilled water: 

and 4 level teaspoons (20 mL) of corn starch:

You may want to use less corn starch to test first, and I think it also depends on the fabric content and weight. Cotton jersey stiffened up more easily, so three teaspoons would probably be fine, but rayon jersey seemed to need the help of an extra teaspoon. I wanted to get rid of the curl but also wanted to use it as a stabilizer for stitching, so I was happy with my lightweight cotton jersey turning pretty crisp.

Mix these ingredients in a bowl or something that will be easy to pour from. I used my measuring cup. The liquid will turn milky white, and the lumps should dissolve once stirred.

Pour into your spray bottle, reattach the nozzle and give it a good shake. Don't spill like I did. Or photograph the process in the light of an epic sunset, like I did.

Here's what normally happens when you don't starch but simply press the edge out and then lift or move the fabric at all:

Instant re-curl! Instead, press the curl out, then spray the edge liberally with your starch. I spray until it's pretty damp, but don't go overboard.

Run your iron over it until dry. I did not use steam.

And your edges will be nice and crisp. Go ahead, wave the fabric around. No re-curl!

Here's the fabric, where the left edge has been starched and the right edge has not. Much more sewable, eh:

The starch will come out when you wash your finished garment. No worries. In the end you'll still have a nice drapey garment to frolic around in.

And here's a part I test-hemmed along the crossgrain. It seems more successful (less wavy) than my jersey hems usually are, and faster than using Steam-a-Seam:

Unfortunately I don't know how long this starch will keep before you need to make a new batch. The Internet has mixed verdicts on DIY starch, so maybe just make a small amount as you need it. Be sure to shake the mixture each time before you use it, and as always, test on scrap fabric first to make sure it doesn't leave any residue or stains.

Any other fabric starching or jersey stabilization tips out there?

cambie, can it be?

Can it be... that I sewed something blue?

I do like other colors, I think. I just forget about them when I'm shopping for fabric. But I should really stop being embarrassed to show you blue garments because otherwise I'd have nothing to blog about and it'd be a disaster for humanity if I stopped blogging, right guys?

I doubt this dress needs an introduction because anyone who reads sewing blogs probably recognizes that I used the new Cambie dress pattern from Sewaholic. One of the fabulous benefits of sewing for yourself is that you'll always have a unique-to-you garment in the end. Yet, when you're part of a sewing blog community and everyone's making the same dress at once because you love Tasia and her patterns with all your heart, it kinda makes this dress feel like old hat already.

Luckily for me, the real-live people I interact with daily do not know that there are adorable seamsters in other nations/states/nation-states prancing around in their own versions of this same gathered-capsleeve sweetheart dress. (OK, maybe it's only Scruffy Badger who I've ever witnessed prancing, and she looks good doing it!) And it still means I will never again have to experience the horror of walking into a party wearing the same Target dress as someone else. Weird: just three months ago I was still friendly with Target and didn't feel too gross about buying their clothes. But I was there last night and found myself scoffing at their sad unlined shapeless polyester dresses with misaligned stripes at the seams. The seamstress snobbery hath surfaced.

So yes, I do love my Cambie dress, I really do. A lot, even. This feels like one of the better-quality garments I've made. The full lining helps with that, and it just fits well (in the bodice at least) and is modest yet flattering. I lined the skirt with Bemberg rayon which seems way more luxurious than the $2.99 polyester I usually use (o-god I admit). The main fabric is a navy-and-white pure cotton lawn in a "botanical abstract" print from Fabrics and Trimmings on Etsy. I had enough left over to make the bodice lining, so I decided to stay economical. Here's the inside:

Yeah they didn't have white lining so I went with the navy. I notice in the photos that it does darken the fabric from the outside but big whoop, yaknow? Call it an ombre effect. This dress wasn't difficult to put together, but took a few evenings of solid work to finish it. I sometimes got lost within the layers when I was sewing in the lining and had to reorient myself over again. The fit of the skirt was the most time-consuming part, as I couldn't get the pockets to lay right without them tugging or gaping in the wrong places.

Since I'm Sewaholic's target seamstress (meaning, pear shape and/or awesome), I cut a straight size 6 according to my measurements. Who knows what happened, but the front skirt ended up being way too huge to fit the waistband. I took it in a lot but still had to ease the rest in, so my "A-line" skirt kinda drapes awkwardly when I stand certain ways:

I didn't make a muslin but the fitting wasn't that onerous beyond the skirt. The neckline gaped, as expected, but I took in the front bodice at the top side seams which made it acceptably snug across the top of the bust. The back neckline also gaped, as expected (I'm a hunchback, remember?), but I was able to adjust and angle the straps to eliminate that. I like that the straps/sleeves are attached last so you can ensure that everything sits correctly in the end:

I didn't make any design changes, and the only technical change I made was understitching the sweetheart neckline so the seam wouldn't roll forward. I'd recommend it. You could also understitch the back neckline and armhole seams in the bodice, but I only noticed seam-roll issues in the front so I didn't find it necessary to do the whole thing. Here's the understitching from the inside:

I made this dress primarily to wear to a friend's wedding (today!) but I bet it'll get some mileage at work and nicer restaurants. Uh, but knowing me I'll probably wear it to bars to watch the NBA playoffs, too. Overdressed freak.

How are your summer (or winter, as it may be) dresses coming along?

congrats shirt, and moving news

I relinquished some sewing time from my own greedy projects and (finally) made a boy shirt for the boy friend. 

Can you understand why he's my b/f? Well, we both have a shared love for blue garments. Isn't that enough to keep the flame a-burnin'?

Also, he's a smarty pants. Corey was offered full-ride tuition plus a stipend to attend the Villanova University Graduate English Program this coming fall. Bravo babe! Here's a shirt. I hope it holds up during all his strenuous ventures in book-reading and essay-writing and theory-debunking and whatever else grad students do besides sit in coffee shops with their laptops, sighing.

rolled-up smarty pants

Villanova is in a township directly outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Philly, as in historic & probably haunted ye-olde-founding-fathers America. As in, the city of cheesesteaks and processed cream cheese. As in, Will Smith's home town. 

man, parents still don't understand

Those are all reasons enough for me to decide to move there with him. Why not, right? I'm young and carefree and ready to try out living in a big city that has big city things, like trains and angry people on their cell phones walking quickly through crosswalks. Also, we already endured five-ish years of a long-distance relationship so we're not doing that to ourselves again. We really enjoyed Philly when we visited last month so I think it's a good choice for us. It's home to the Urban Outfitters/Anthroplogie headquarters, after all... and is close enough to NYC for extravagant fabric shopping sprees.

So that's that. We expect to move in early August. If you're from there or know anyone there or have any advice for an out-of-state move in general, please let me know!  (Thanks already for your tips on neighborhoods to look at, Maddie!) Meanwhile on this side of the Mason-Dixon line, I will be panicking silently and eventually not-so-silently about jobs and apartments.

Back to the shirt. This pattern is McCall's 6044, which is a casual, simple and straight-forward men's pattern. I tried the Colette Negroni twice before, but had trouble getting it to fit him and was frustrated by all the little details that surely make a nice shirt but were just giving me a headache. After I accidentally serged a hole in the front of Negroni #2 and almost cried, Corey revealed to me that he prefers a shirt with a traditional collar stand and collar anyway. Fine. Does anyone want a Negroni pattern (all sizes and pattern pieces intact, since I traced them)? I'll send it to you if you so kindly cover the shipping. It's truly a great pattern for someone who's not me (i.e. too lazy to be so selfless).

So after seeing M6044 recently sewn up by True Bias and Beau Baby for their charming husbands, I thought I'd give it a shot. I had to alter the medium size a little bit because the shoulders were too wide and the length too long (thus the bottom button being so low, because I shortened it after everything was already sewn). Otherwise I'm a big fan of the pattern because 1) There are no flat-felled seams. 2) There's no yoke (unless you choose that particular view). 3) The sleeve placket on the long-sleeve version is just a simple cut-out V. 4) The shirt is fairly slim-fitting which is my guy's style, and 5) The model on the envelope is kinda handsome, despite his c.2001 gelled hair fluff.

I was relieved that Corey requested the short-sleeve version, as it made my job lovingly performed task even easier. He's super picky about the design and colors of his plaid fabrics, so after a long search online, it was surprising to us both that JoAnn of all places had exactly what he wanted. It's one of their "homespun" cottons that are tucked somewhere in the quilting section. It was more difficult than I expected to work with, because it became misshapen easily and was resistant to gliding under the presser foot. Thus it took a LOT of pinning so everything stayed in place while I matched and sewed the plaids.

laughing at a dude laughing at our photo shoot

Sewn for any men lately? Would you like to? I'm serious about that Negroni, by the way... If there's enough interest, I'll draw names for it. Otherwise it'll just go to the first person who calls dibs. ;)
UPDATE 6/12/12: I ended up drawing names for the Negroni and it went to Little Miss S all the way in Denmark. Enjoy!

chevron pleated skirt

I just looked up "chevron" on Wikipedia to see if there was anything interesting to learn about its meaning or why the design is so trendy in clothing and home decor these days.

Zzzz. They said something about military rankings and heraldry and I took a short snooze. Whatever, this skirt print is super interesting. I love the print so much, in fact, that I think it's my favorite I've used of all my me-makes. Rich, saturated colors in a simple geometric design. The chevrons almost look like pixelated tulips in an Atari game or something. Plus it's BLUE and WHITE (and green). Me likey.

The fabric is a cotton lawn I bought from Denver Fabrics online. Fun fact: Denver Fabrics is not based in Denver. Gross fact: The white tank in these photos is the nicest white shirt I have. 

I've never worked with lawn or even touched it but I assumed it'd be soft and luxurious. I guess that's just Liberty lawn, though, so this was a lil' scratchier than I expected. Like grass in someone's... lawn. The weave is loose so it frayed quite a bit, and it snagged pretty easily on sharp things like, you know, all the tools we use to sew garments. But the drape is lovely and I like its semi-sheer airiness. I had a full pleated skirt in mind from the get-go so I was looking for an easy-to-sew light fabric that wouldn't make me look like a cupcake.

OK, I do still kinda look like a cupcake from certain angles. A delicious chevronific cupcake. I blame the lining. I lined it with the softest muslin I could find (give me a break, I'm already $50 over my sewing budget for the month so discount muslin it was), but I pleated it just the same as the shell fabric so it's pretty bulky around the waist. Do you make your skirt linings with equivocal volume to the main fabric, or should I not do that?

Stand up straight!

I tried to speed through the project to wear it to a Memorial Day cookout, but those kinds of plans always backfire. The simplicity of this skirt design should have meant impeccable sewing with a tidy finish, but c'mon, who do you think I am? I tried the skirt on 20 minutes before leave-time with only hemming to do, and then the zipper got stuck at the thick waistband seam so I had to seam-rip it to break my body free. Fail. I wondered later if I could have hemmed it while wearing the stuck skirt so I could still meet my deadline and wear the skirt as planned. Ha. ha. ha. Hmm, still wondering.

This is one of those o-wow!-now-that-I-understand-basic-garment-construction-I-can-make-skirts-without-patterns skirts. You know the ones: gathered or pleated rectangles with a shapeless 2-inch waistband and a zipper. Project R-way here I come. I did consult Simplicity 2215 for the pocket shapes and instructions on inserting in-seam pockets on a skirt with a side zipper. Cheater. Um, actually my skirt looks a lot like Simplicity 2215 all around, but my pleats are improvised and I didn't make a tabbed waistband.

I decided to cut my waistband with the print going horizontal. I pieced it to make a little design element out of the chevrons so the arrows point towards each other at the center front and center back. It's slightly wonky because I had a lot of fitting to do at the waistband after I pieced it together initially.

I had to GIMP all my mosquito bite bumps out of these photos (which are all so blurry and weird, sorry). Seriously, in the summer I can handle the humidity and my neighbors' outdoor speakers, but I can't handle being feasted on by these blood-sucking freaks (the mosquitoes, not my neighbors). It's infuriating, and I have no self-control when it comes to scratching. Ah, and it's not even June yet.

So, what kinds of fabric prints do you love the most? Florals, stripes, animal, novelty, abstract, dots, chevron?

louisville, ky: a sewing desert

The evidence is now undeniable. My city is increasingly becoming a sewing and fabric desert. For a city with a population of 600,000, this just shouldn't be the case!

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Evidence: First, it began with the amazing two-story Baer Fabrics downtown. It closed without warning several years ago -- after 103 years! -- and sent the city reeling. The employees didn't even know it was closing until the day before. The building still stands there today with its original signage and button mural painted on the side. A forlorn reminder of what-could-have-been for my current sewing life. I bet you can guess which apparel fabric stores are left. Sob.

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Evidence: I regularly visit thrift stores, flea markets, vintage clothing stores, antique malls and estate sales. Unlike the rest of you lucky people, I so rarely find fabric, patterns or notions at these kinds of places. Well, okay, there's currently a small collection of awful (and overpriced) 1980s sewing patterns at a local thrift store, but it's been the same small collection since I first discovered it six months ago. I ask these shop owners all the time if they know of anywhere else that sells sewing-related ANYTHING, and they just shake their heads apologetically, throwing out some unsure suggestions about someone they know who "might" have something like that in their store 15 miles away. 

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Evidence: Last week I was making some girls' skirts and ran out of white cotton for lining. Instead of driving out to Jo-Ann, I thought I'd stop by the locally-owned quilt "shoppe" in my neighborhood. I'd only ever been in there once before because clearly it doesn't really cater to my needs as an apparel sewer. On that first visit I almost bought a rotary cutter but decided instead to go to Wal-Mart to get the same brand for a third of the price. Yes, totally shameful.

When I arrived there this time, the store was dark and their signage had been removed. The only things that remained were a small "Closed" sign and some abandoned bolts of fabric on the floor. I went on their Facebook page and read that they had officially shut their doors in December. I can't help but blame myself for the local shop's demise because I'm cheap and bought my rotary cutters at Wal-Mart and my cotton broadcloth at Jo-Ann with a 40% off coupon on my iPhone.

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Evidence: Yesterday I helped my mom host a yard sale in her neighborhood, something we do on Memorial Day weekend every year. I contributed my usual RTW clothes and housewares, but this year had some fabric remnants and patterns I wanted to sell. I had about two boxes of fabric and maybe 10 patterns. I priced them all incredibly cheap, of course. There was even some Pendleton wool in there, people. A seamstress' jackpot, or so I thought.

We had a ton of traffic throughout the sale, but out of my sewing-related stuff, I only sold one piece of terrycloth for 25 cents and one Cynthia Rowley pattern for 25 cents. WTF. I said to the customers who did buy something, "Alright, someone else who sews!" and they both just laughed and said "No, not really." For some reason I was hoping that through this process I'd meet other seamstresses and we'd start a sewing club and eat little sandwiches while discussing flat-felled seams or something.

(In case you're dying to know, the bear purse pictured above did sell. Figures.)

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There's more to whine about, like how there aren't any sewing classes for anyone who wants to learn patternmaking or more advanced techniques; how the only craft fairs are Christmas fairs; and how the libraries hardly stock any sewing-related books. But, I'm tired of feeling sorry for myself and I have some sewing left to do today... with fabric I bought from the INTERNET. For the record, I love my city otherwise, I really do!

How sew-friendly is your city? If it's like mine, how do you cope??