Category: sewing

thumbs down, thumbs up

After the success of the top and skirt, I decided it was time to tackle a dress. I’ve made a couple before, but they’ve never really turned out right…and this was no exception.

I used Simplicity 3835 again (the same as for the top), view A. What’s wrong with it?

Well, I laid out all my pieces and started to cut…and then realized that I’d mixed up two of the pieces. I was able to salvage the fabric and cut out the pieces, but the dress ended up a little short as a result (I want things to cover the back of my knees). It hasn’t been hemmed in that photo. The whole cutting out thing should’ve been a sign, maybe.

The sewing went…medium. The sleeves and body were fine, but my darts were a little off from one another and then there was the zipper. Oh, the zipper. The first side went fine, and then the second side didn’t really match. I ripped and resewed three or four times and finally managed to fudge it in, but….not so great.

And then there’s the collar. I should’ve realized it earlier, but it’s really tight. Like, chokey. (You can see if more here.) Sigh. And after all that work in gathering the neckline so it would fit.

I decided to give the dress another try, with my own modifications – a livelier print (Alexander Henry), no zipper, and the neckline from the top, which is just gathered with elastic. Much better. And from start to finish in 2 hours!

I cut the dress a wee bit longer, too (probably 1.5″) so that it would be the right length when hemmed. My darts were much improved, too. It’s a little shapeless, I suppose, but works well with a belt or a fairly structured over-layer (jacket). And of course, it’s super comfy, so that kind of outweighs some other concerns!

So that’s the dress. I think I might stick to skirts and tops for awhile – I find it pretty stressful to sew up a whole dress. But I do have other patterns to try, so I’m sure there’ll be another attempt at some point soon! I’m thinking something with a more structured bodice and flarey-er skirt. We’ll see.

Oh! And I almost forgot – the pattern for my skirt from the last post is Butterick B4136, view A.

Knitting updates will resume shortly!

April 13, 2008
more with the sewing

Following the success of my Built By Wendy top, I figured next up should be a skirt – I’ve made quite a few skirts, mostly pretty simple ones, some with zippers, some with elastic waists. I had three yards of Chocolate Lollipop “galaxy” print (ordered from Cia’s Palette) ordered just to make a skirt with. I’m a fan of circle skirts, but it turned out that I didn’t really have enough fabric – and I didn’t really feel like messing with letting the skirt hang before hemming, etc.

The next pattern I tried was a yoked one that looked really cute. I cut out all the pattern pieces, but then alas – the skirt pieces didn’t fit on my fabric. Turned out that the fabric was only 42″ wide rather than 45″, so there was just a little chunk of pattern hanging out! So that pattern got shelved as well.

Turns out third time’s a charm!

This one was made from a pattern (can’t remember which at the moment, and the envelope’s two floors downstairs) which has the front and back being made up of three panels each. So since the panels are narrowish, they finally fit on the fabric!

The skirt has a side zipper (which I put on the wrong side by accident) and just a waist facing, which I wasn’t such a fan of. I decided to do my own thing and sewed down the whole facing to the inside, making more of a waistband. My shape is a little bottom-heavy, and I like to wear my skirts fairly low on the hip, so the size 18 that I cut turned out just a bit small for my liking. It’s fine, and the cotton will stretch a bit, but that’s why I usually go with elastic waists!

I didn’t bother to try to match the patterns across the seams – the panels are angled, anyway, and there’s enough going on in the dots so that you really don’t notice it. One thing I did do, though, isn’t even visible from the outside:

I don’t have a serger, and I’m pretty lazy when it comes to sewing (hence the sloppiness that sometimes ensues) so I usually just zigzag stitch along my seam allowances to finish them. With this one, I love the fabric so much that I was compelled to do a little more. When I pressed the seams open (all eight of them) I turned the allowances under by half and pressed those down, then sewed down along each and every one. I could’ve done it as a topstitch-type-thing where the stitching shows on the outside, but I’m too messy a seamstress for that!

Anyway, the skirt turned out really well and I love it. Next up, the dress debacle.

And completely randomly, some food stuff.

I love asparagus. I had a craving for it the other day, went to the fridge and there it was in the drawer! (One of the perks of living with people who buy food, aka, parents.) We usually have it plain, steamed, which I can eat a ton of – but I wanted a little more something, you know? I roasted them up in the toaster oven (I love toaster ovens for these little tasks), dotted with butter and sprinkled with parmesan. It was in at 400 F for probably 10-15 minutes – I tend to follow the “it’s done when you can smell it” formula with stuff like this.

And a lunch from the other day –

I cooked 2 cups (or so) of penne in 2 cups water, 1 cup milk and a pat of butter until the pasta was done and the liquid mostly soaked up, and added frozen peas and some spinach near the end. Once the pasta was done, I mixed in a whole bunch of 6 year old aged white cheddar and a good helping of parmesan, black pepper, and a sprinkle of nutmeg (I love nutmeg). Serves 2, or y’know, one me over the course of the afternoon. Simple, easy, and totally yummy. Mmmm.

Can you tell I’m not afraid of butter and cheese? Hee!

April 10, 2008
sniffle. guh.

It would seem that I have a touch of the hay fever today. Sniffle, sniffle. Ugh. Just took a Benedryl, in the absence of anything non-drowsy, so we’ll see how long I last before I need a nap! I suppose it isn’t the ideal time to start cutting pieces for a dress, but oh well.

Yes, I’ve actually been sewing!

(Can I say how glad I am that the light has returned? Hurrah for better photos.)

I proclaim my first sewn top a success! Pattern is the fabulously easy and wearable Simplicity 3835, a Built By Wendy pattern that everyone’s been sewing up for ages in blogland. I did the top in size 14, with the slightly longer sleeves of Dress A, minus the sleeve elastic. It fits great and is super comfy – I’m definitely going to be sewing up a few of these for the spring and summer!

The fabric, pictured in my last post, is Chocolate Lollipop “Cartoon Flowers”. A little loud on its own for me, maybe, but with some jeans and punk-ish accessories I think it’ll do me just fine.

Did I mention that it was really easy? Oh, one other thing I did – I cut out a little patch of the fabric, and sewed it to the inside of the back neck so I can tell which way is which.

I think it’s really cute.

Upcoming: more sewing, knitting, rather tardy book reviews, and more. I’m really feeling inspired these days – maybe it’s the return of spring, the snow melting and having my window open. I love it.

April 6, 2008