blue check dress

Once upon a time there was a king size fitted sheet that was crumpled in a pile on the floor.

Then, it lived happily ever after on my body. Le fin.

Hey, more blue. More checks. More blue checks.

Is this intentional? Maybe. I don't know. I didn't even sign up for Colette's "spring wardrobe palette challenge" but I keep buying blue fabric and making blue things. So, just to make it official, here's my wardrobe palette inspiration board:

blue man group

Bleu-tiful. I made this blue-checked dress two weeks ago, but was kinda reluctant to post it around the same time as my blue-checked pajama pants, but I won't have any other final product to show you for awhile. My trip to Pennsylvania last week meant approximately six non-sewing days, which is torture for someone with a crafty addiction, as I'm sure you all know (...right?). My sewing machine nearly suffocated under its little plastic dust-repellent cover, something I admit I rarely use when I'm sewing daily. It grunted at me when I finally switched it on. Needy much?

I've made this pattern before -- Simplicity 2177. It's a pattern that is easy to pass over, and I don't blame you for that since it looks totally boring on l'envelope. Of course, it's their fault for covering up the only interesting part of the dress --the front bodice with the two bias-cut pieces and triangle inset-- on the model. Sewing Commandment 1: Thou shalt not judge a pattern by its Big 4 envelope cover styling.

I like the dress I made with the pattern last time (darkly pictured above and blogged about here), but I think I cut the hem too short for how stiff the fabric is. It's great for standing still and holding a beer at parties while gloating, "Yeah, I made this dress for like four whole dollars, so what?", but it's completely indecent to sit down in, and I was emotionally scarred by my past experience of having to creep in slow motion through the grocery store so the skirt wouldn't ride up too much with normal leg movement. But since I like it otherwise, I wanted a second chance to make a more wearable version.

Belt's a-slidin'. For this version I kept the skirt a little longer and lined it in something slippery so I can grocery shop at my regular speed (aka as fast as possible - I hate grocery shopping). I left off the facings and bias tape and just did the ole serge-and-turn method on the neckline and armholes. It's my preferred lazy-man technique. I also used an invisible zipper instead of a lapped zipper, and tapered in the side seams of the bodice a bit more.

I tried my damndest to make the bust darts so they wouldn't be so, uh, pokey. STILL, they're a bit prominent. I think the angle of them, too, draws your eye to risque places, which I'm not really a fan of doing. Ohhhh well.

This dress pattern has major back neckline gaping issues (more than usual for me). I've finally learned that I can properly eliminate that problem by simply creating two neckline darts, rather than improperly removing fabric from the upper back area. I've taken in fabric there in some blouses before and lemme just say, I look totally crazy when trying to blow dry my hair in those things due to the restricted arm movement. I don't know why most patterns omit neckline darts nowadays, because all humans have a curve from their necks to their backs even with good posture, right?

Okay. Mr. (or Mrs.) Skeleton confirms it. Good to know I'm not a lone hunchback in a cruel straightback world.

Please forgive & forget the enormous gap at the top of the zipper below the hook & eye. I forgot I had already finished the neckline when I attached the zipper, so there was no more seam allowance to turn over atop it. Oopsie doopsie. One day I'll sew a perfect garment and you'll be like, "Wow. That's a perfectly sewn garment" and I'll be like, "Thanks" and you'll be like, "It shows true dedication that you've been a sewing blogger for 56 years just to reach this point." And I'll try to take that as a compliment.

So, until then, we will all just have to deal with my zipper gappage and indecent headlight darts and bodice drag lines and serged-and-turned armholes and mismatching polyester skirt linings and such. Here's to improvement!

What color are you currently obsessed with? Anyone else on a blue kick?

pattern madness in march

I reckon it's about time I share with you kind folks what I've really been up to lately, besides using the words "reckon" and "folks" ironically. I've been furiously sewing one pattern multiple times, that's what. In between March Madness b-ball games, of course. Go Cards.

Tilly's hosting an "event," if you will, called One Week One Pattern (OWOP) that occurs March 26 to April 1. It's a celebration of tried-and-true patterns that are versatile and wearable on the daily, so the challenge is to wear multiple garments (or a single garment) made from the same pattern, all week long. I'm participating because I liked the idea of modifying a basic pattern to make significantly different looks. I still rely on patterns for basic shapes and fit because I don't want to spend my time determining arm hole curvature, shoulder seam width, darts, etc. when it's already accessible in a pattern. But I do enjoy the process of adding little design elements to make a truly unique garment.

The pattern I'm using for OWOP is the New Look 6104 blouse. Try not to snore.

I think New Look is taking their "young and fresh" styling a little far when they make a 20-something woman look like a 6-year-old girl ("Now, invert your toes and waddle like a toddler. Nice!"). But I guess I was subconsciously influenced by it, if you remember the sneak peek (well, full peek really) of one version I already made: the uber-girly floral peplum blouse. Should I wear it with Easter Bunny-bright pink pants, per New Look's suggestion? 

I'm much more excited about this other version, though, so instead of waiting until a grand reveal during the actual week of OWOP, I want to show it to you now.

It's a dress! Oh how clever. Uh, I swear I used NL6104 to begin, but I chopped down the bodice length, curved the neckline to a more V-shape, lengthened the neck binding to form the button placket, widened the front shoulders so I could gather them, added a knee-length gathered skirt, omitted the sleeves, and created a long tie wrap for the waist. Phew. And that's not to mention the basic fitting issues I had to change -- like bust darts that sat lower than usual because there weren't sleeves to help pull up the bodice, etc. etc. I kind of regret some of the design changes, like the gathered shoulders that look more wrinkly than beautifully draped as I had hoped.

I love this color blue. The little scattered red, black and white geometric squares look like confetti falling through the sky, so I'm calling it my Confetti Dress. The fabric is a swishy & slippery polyester which kinda makes me feel like I'm wrapped in a tent or something. Not very glamorous, but I'm not at a point of my sewing life where I can take the plunge into silk or whatever fancy people use. I have a strict budget and "dry-cleaning" is not part of it. "Beer" is, though. Priorities, people.

OK so this is only version 3 and I want to make at least two more. The ones I've made are all colorful prints, so I'm thinking a basic black or white blouse is necessary for my wardrobe. Oh lordy, I only have ten days left! But now that I'm so familiar with the pattern, making a blouse straight from it should really only take an evening. Right?

Who else is participating in OWOP? Have you decided, like me, to complicate your life by sewing up a million of the same pattern in the weeks leading up to it, or do you already have several versions of the same pattern that you're planning just to throw on?

tutorial: how to add a peplum to a blouse

Want to add a little flare (literally) to a standard blouse pattern -- or even an existing RTW blouse? It's super simple and probably very intuitive to most of you anyway, but I thought I'd share with you how I created a small peplum on this blouse using elastic. I guess I just thought this floral print wasn't feminine enough? Seriously, sometimes I wonder what my 11-year-old Adidas-wearin' tomboy self would say if she could see me now.

A peplum is a short "skirt" of fabric attached to the waistline of a fitted dress, skirt or blouse. They've become trendy again, but they seem like a pear-shaped girl's nightmare. Let's add ruffly attention-drawing volume to our already prominent hips, why don't we?

source

But, IMO, a small and subtly-flared blouse peplum is more workable and wearable for my body type than a skirt peplum. As per usual, I cinched the garment close to the natural waist, and made the peplum short so it doesn't stop at the widest part of my hips. This vintage blouse was my inspiration: 

source (sold out)

OK let's go!

Note: Cutting and re-sewing the peplum will shorten the blouse by the length of the two added seam allowances. Be aware of this and accommodate your fabric as necessary; in my case, I cut the pattern as usual and was fine knowing it would be shorter in the end.

Step 1) Use a blouse that is already attached at the side seams. My original blouse wasn't that loose but did have a slight A-line shape, meaning it would create a little flare once the elastic was added. A very tight or straight blouse may not work as well. Start by marking where you would like the elastic to be. Cut along this line. You may decide not to cut at all, and simply fold the fabric to the inside before stitching the necessary seam allowance. I cut mine so I wouldn't have to measure the fold all the way around; it's an easier way (for me) to sew a more accurate line.

Step 2) Turn the garment inside out and re-attach the bottom by pinning right sides together. Make sure you realign any vertical seams or stripes/plaids if you have any. Of course this method will cut into and shorten the print of your fabric, so it may be best to use a print where continuity isn't that important, like busy florals or dots instead of words or a large-scale print of your favorite celebrity's face or something, you weirdo.

Step 3) Stitch using a 5/8" (16mm) seam allowance. Do not trim any of the seam allowance, but do finish the raw edge using a zig-zag stitch or serger. The seam allowance will become the elastic casing, so you can make it wider or narrower depending on the width of your elastic.

Step 4) Press the seam up toward the top of the garment. I pinned it in place to prevent the bottom layer from rolling.

Step 5) I planned to use 1/4" (~6mm) elastic, so I stitched about 3/8" (10mm) away from the seam line so the casing could accommodate the width of the elastic. This was basically down the center of my serged stitches. Leave an opening between the beginning and end of your line of stitches so you can insert the elastic in the casing you just made.

Step 6) To measure the length of my elastic, I wrapped it around my waist where it would sit (without stretching it at all), then shortened that measurement by two inches. Be sure to check it again to make sure the elastic stretches comfortably at that length so it's not too tight or loose. Attach a safety pin to one end of the elastic and weave it through the casing, making sure the other end doesn't pull through where you won't be able to reach it. You can always pin the other end to the garment so it doesn't get pulled in... (or just hold it in your teeth like I do, ha).

Step 7) Once it's weaved all the way through, overlap the two ends of the elastic, pin in place, then secure them with a zig-zag stitch. I use a short zig-zag back and forth several times so the thread is very dense.

Step 8) Make sure the elastic lays flat inside the casing, then stitch the gap closed along the same line as in Step 5. This completely encloses the elastic.

Step 9) Hem the garment as usual and that's it! You're adorable.

You can certainly make a more dramatic (ruffly) peplum by initially cutting a bottom piece that's wider than the garment, basting some gathering stitches, then gathering the fabric before making the elastic casing. You could gather the fabric and omit the elastic completely, as long as there's a zipper or buttons of some sort to let you get the whole thing on and off.

Curious about this blouse? Details about the original pattern will come later, just you wait. Hint: OWOP!

the hello yellow top

They call me not-so-mellow yellow.

This yellow is brighter in person. It's like a sun beam. It's like corn on the cob. It's like a Wheat Thins box. It's like a Louisiana State University school color. These analogies make me both happy and annoyed. I really only bought this color because it was the sole apparel fabric (besides pink camo fleece or whatever) on the remnant shelf at the store, and I'm a sucker for cotton interlock knit so I couldn't resist. It's very possible this yellow looks awful against my skin tone. According to my mom I'm "autumn"-toned so I should probably be wearing more of a mustard color if I wear yellow at all. But sometimes a girl just wants to look like a miniature school bus, yaknow?

I only had .77 yards, but since it was 60 inches wide I could squeeze enough out of it to make a decent top with sleeves. (By decent I mean not scandalous; I don't necessarily mean decently constructed.) It's really short, though, and can barely be tucked into a skirt like this. I shouldn't have hemmed it at all because I was an irresponsible knit-stitcher and I didn't adjust the differential feed (or whatever) on my serger and now the hem is all stretched out and wavy. Who cares? Not me. Okay, well, I care a little bit. Okay, well, I audibly gag every time I look at the hem. How much gagging does it take before I decide I need to seam rip it all, though? Shall I set a hem-gag threshold for myself?

I used Vogue 8790 (beautifully illustrated above) as the base pattern. Obviously I didn't have enough fabric to use much of the original design with the uber-fancy faux wrap and waist gathers. It's my first Vogue pattern, and I only bought it because it was on sale for $3.99 -- normally it would be TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS according to my receipt. C'mon, Vogue, take it down a notch.

Changes I made:
- Eliminated the "wrap" and made seams down the center front and center back. I kept as much of the gathered back neck part as I could, because I liked the look of the draped neckline in front. Mine's a little more folded-looking than draped-looking, though.

- It looked boring and kinda sloppy with just the V-neck, so I created front ties from some remaining scraps. They're sewn together into the front center seam. Now I have a bow blouse. A bright yellow bow blouse. Is this even a blouse, or just a top? What's the difference?

- I made the sleeves as long as I could with what fabric I had. This is my preferred sleeve length anyway, since they cover my (ahem, untoned) upper arms but can still be worn in warmer weather.

Total cost: $3.99 pattern + $7.69 fabric = $11.68. Worth it? Maybe. It's the perfect style for the schoolteaching job I never knew I wanted.

(source)

I've presented myself (and you) with many questions in this post. Let me wrap up:
1) How yellow is too yellow? Is it okay to walk around looking like a banana Laffy Taffy wrapper with a bow stuck on front?
2) How ugly is too ugly for a shirt hem that won't be seen by anyone else but me?
3) Why do Vogue patterns cost a million dollars?
4) What's the difference between a top and a blouse? If it's just about buttons, then the Pendrell Blouse must be a misnomer. Maybe there is no difference, but the Butterick website separates them into two categories (see here). This issue is obviously well worth a deep analysis and possibly a heated debate.

farmer's daughter banksia dress

Guys and gals, I took your advice on my last post and decided to move on from winter sewing to the fun stuff for spring. Therefore, I blame you for how cold I was taking these pictures in my open doorway. Just kidding... your encouragement helped this little dress come to fruition and I think it's wonderful. It's not denim, by the way; it's a $3 blue cotton bedsheet!

Hey, wrinkly bum, this serves as a reminder to not sit down & play around on Pinterest before a photo shoot. 

The pattern is (mostly) Megan Nielsen's newest release - the Banksia Top, which she describes as a: "Semi-fitted [top] with button-up placket front and large peter pan collar... elbow-length sleeves and shaping darts at the bust line." In the back of the instruction booklet, Megan suggests some possible modifications to the top, such as lengthening the hem to make a dress. Well, that sounded brilliant, so I did it.

I added about 15 inches to the pattern piece to begin with, I think, and sewed a fairly deep hem. It was quite loose-fitting as it was, and the bunched-up fabric looked sloppy when I belted it. I decided to add elastic to the waist so it'd have a better fit and the gathers would be more even. It also gave me a way to line the skirt without having to cut the dress at the waist to create two pieces. Here's the beauuutiful inside:

Yes, that's black thread for the serged edges, tan thread for machine stitching, and white lining. Some of the seams have light blue thread, too, since that's what I started with before I switched to tan. Don't judge me for ugly mismatched garment interiors, please.

Don't tell anyone but I left off the buttonholes; I just sewed the buttons through both layers of the placket because the neckline's low enough to pull the dress on over my head without having to unbutton it. So, why bother, amirite? I added a box with an X (an X-box?) to the bottom of the placket, mostly because I had messy placket sewing skills and I wanted to distract from the unevenness along the bottom seam. I highly recommend, if you make this pattern, to very carefully and evenly mark, cut and sew the placket lines. It makes a big difference in how neatly everything will fold and fit together at the bottom. Oh and another "design" element I added was narrowly tucked sleeve hems with double stitching.

I lowered the bust darts and had them slant upward at a diagonal to the bust point. The original pattern has high horizontal darts, just like the Darling Ranges Dress, which I learned don't quite work for my shape. So I used my Lisette Traveler's Dress pattern as a guide, since those bust darts had better positioning.

I was in the middle of sewing this dress and didn't know what color buttons I wanted. I just happened to see Mary of Idle Fancy pin this on her Pinterest that same day I was thinking about it:

Hey! Looks familiar. I then knew mine would have to have brown buttons, too. By the way, Mary has a lovely "Sew Much Inspiration" pin board chock full of beautiful dresses to ogle - I recommend you follow her if you have a Pinterest account.

This dress is pretty cutesy with the collar, buttons and elastic. I won't lie, I feel kind of farmer's daughterish in it. "Well hi there folks!"

Nothing wrong with that, though, and you never know when some hay-pitchin' opportunities will arise, so I best be dressed right.

project linked to sew country chick

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Is the Banksia Top (or dress!) in your sewing queue?