LLADYBIRD

Pattern Testing: The Avocado Hoodie

Remember that little blurb last Thursday about the kickstarter campaign for this hoodie pattern? Well, it looks like in the time since then, Mari has 100%+ funded her goal! Yay, paper patterns! There’s still about 6 hours left until the campaign ends, so if you haven’t had an opportunity to contribute and you want to snag the pattern at a discount price, now’s your chance!

In the meantime, let’s talk about why I even brought this up today…

I got to test the pattern over the weekend, and now I’m the proud owner of my own Avocado hoodie! Woohoo!

I’m not normally a fan of pullover hoodies… which now that I think about, it’s kind of dumb since I *always* zip my hoodies up. I can’t stand that shit flapping around! But anyway, for whatever reason, I don’t normally spring for the pullovers. Maybe because they remind me too much of those oversized college hoodies, I dunno. This one is surprisingly nice, though – the princess seams give it a bit of shape, so it still looks nice even though it has way more ease than what I would normally prefer to wear. And it’s sooo comfy, forreal.

Confession: After I took these pictures on Saturday afternoon, I wore the hoodie for the rest of the day – to clean, cook dinner, and lounge-y LT time. I love that it’s comfortable and snuggly, but it’s not so huge I feel like I’m swimming in something that belongs to a dude 4 sizes bigger than me.

In addition to being a basic, princess-seamed pullover hoodie, this top has a few neat features that differentiate it from similar hoodies…

Thumb-holes in the cuffs!

Pockets in the back – so when you are walking with your arms around a loved one (or fling, or friend, or whatev. I ain’t here to judge you), they can put their hands in the pockets. GENIUS, amirite?!

The hood is a great size – not so big that it gets floppy and falls off (ew, I hate that), not so tight that it pushes down on the top of my head and makes it hard to move around (hate that, too). I feel like hood size is kind of a delicate balance, and this one is drafted exactly to the size that I find most comfortable.

As far as how the finished hoodie fits… I opted to sew it as close to the suggested measurements as possible, and I think the bottom hem ended up a bit loose. Of course, you don’t want something like this to little or negative ease, since tightness can cause the hem to ride up. I cut a 4 for the front bust/hips, tapered to a 2 at the waist, and cut the back at a 2. I think the ease in the bust, waist, and arms turned out great – yes, there is ease (more than I typically wear, even!), but I feel like it still looks pretty flattering. I may take it in just a bit around the hips, but even as it is now, I think it looks fine.

One thing I do think is worth mentioning is that the length was a bit too long on me after adding the hem band. Here is how it looks with the band folded up – I think it suits my proportions better this way. Keep in mind that I am petite (clocking in at about 5’2.5″ on a tall day ;)), so it should be the perfect length for an average height/torso.

Putting the hoodie together was quite easy – despite there being a bunch of little pieces. I did have a bit of trouble figuring out the pockets, but as I was testing the beta pattern and left lots of feedback, I think it will be much easier after Mari adds more clarification and diagrams. With that being said, after I finally trolled through the pockets and started really assembling the hoodie, that part went FAST. I think it took me maybe an hour and a half, tops. I sewed the entire thing on my serger, minus a couple areas of topstitching.

The fabric I used is from Mood in NY – my first completed post-NY project! It’s a cotton french terry, and the lining under the pocket is cotton jersey. I loooove this fabric, it’s so soft and warm, and I think it will feel really nice in the summer when I’m dealing with air conditioning 😉 The only downside to this stuff is that is sheds tiny terry pieces like it’s going out of style. You will definitely need to finish every single seam if you use this type of fabric… and make sure you do a thorough sweeping after!

Ooh just look at that lovely terry.

Here you can see inside the pocket on the back – the dark is my pocket lining (the cotton jersey). Wouldn’t this be fun with something super bright and contrasty, like teal with yellow polka dots?? Which I almost bought, btw. Hm maybe I should have.

All in all, I think this turned out pretty good! I may end up removing the band and just topstitching the bottom, to relieve some of the length, as well as shortening the sleeves – this climate doesn’t exactly dictate the need for sleeves that cover most of the hand 🙂 I’m also thinking about screen printing something on the front, since it’s so plain! What do you guys think??

I must say, I was a little nervous on Saturday while finishing this up, since it was 70* outside and I’d spent the whole morning doing garden and yard work (yay, Spring!), I was thinking I wouldn’t have a chance to wear this hoodie at all! But just in case you were wondering… it got all cold and rainy again. And by “cold,” I mean 50*. What can I say? I’m a delicate Southern Rose who wilts at any temperature below 65* 😉

Tags: completed, Disparate Disciplines, hoodie, Mood Fabrics, NY stashbust, pattern testing

Comments 45 Comments
Categories completed projects - new

My Trip To NYC!

14 Mar

I’m baaaack!! Hope y’all have a big ol’ Lauren-shaped hole in your hearts that needs filling, because this is about to be a super long post, filled with lots of pictures that I mostly stole from other people’s blogs. What can I say – I was too busy ~enjoying the moment~ to be bothered to take pictures. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself 😉 Rather than break this up into a bunch of posts, I’m just going to do one megapost so it’ll be easy to skip if you’re not interested!

Sonja kindly offered to let me crash on her couch while I was in town, so that’s where I stayed the majority of the week (a couple days were spent visiting some old Nashville friends up in Ossining. I took the train by myself and everything – so proud, you have no idea ha). Sonja was a GREAT hostess – with some of the cutest, no, THE cutest pugs ever! I would now like to take this opportunity to introduce you to my new girlfriend, her name is Peggy and she’s the cuddliest darling in the world:

LOOK AT THAT FACE. LOOK AT IT.

After an afternoon of eating cookies and lurking dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum, we met up with some of the in-town Mood Sewing Network bloggers for dinner and drinks. I had a few people ask me this, so I just want to clarify – Mood didn’t have anything to do with my NYC trip. I mean, duh, fabric shopping was a big huge giant to-do at the top of the list… but I planned and paid for the trip on my own accord. Once that was set in action, Oona actually handled most of the meeting up deetz, including the Mood dinner. Honestly, I would have been totally lost and probably flailing in the dark somewhere if it hadn’t been for her and Sonja taking control of the plans. Thanks, ladiez!

Meeting Sonja and Oona made me feel like I was part an epic trio. I feel like I talked about this nonstop during my trip, but it’s so cool to meet people ~in person~ and realize that they are even more awesome than you guessed from reading their blogs. That’s how I felt about everyone I met. I don’t think I stopped the smiling the whole time I was there (and still smiling now, fyi!)

Meg from Mood joined us, as well as Carolyn (who I was super excited to meet!)

Peter showed up too!

Friday morning, I woke up bright and early to…

SNOOOWWWWWW!!!
Southerners will understand my delight. Snow! That sticks! And the whole city didn’t shut down! Such novelty!

Friday was the first day I spent fabric shopping – what started out as a pizza and spandex date ended up a 7 hour shopping spree, no lie! We started out just me, Sonja and Oona, then after lunch we added Peter and Carolyn for my first foray into Mood.

What can I say about the garment district? In one word, it is OVERWHELMING. The stores go on forever, all selling completely different stuff, and the prices vary wildly. There are specialized notion stores, stores for different types of fabric, stores that seem like they should be the same thing but aren’t (Spandex House, Spandex World). Some of the places I went in were cheeeeeap. Although, to be fair, Mood is pretty cheap compared to the prices I pay here in Nashville. Most of what I bought cost at least half of what I’m used to… some were even cheaper. I’m just going to say this right now: I bought a lot of fabric. Like… well, we’ll get to that in a minute. Anyway, the employees in Mood were so so great – every time I pulled out a bolt that I wanted, someone was standing behind me ready to drag it to my pile. The customer service in that place is great, I never felt like I had to track down someone for swatches or help finding something. Especially George. I loved George, he was my favorite!

Here is my first ~Mood Experience~. See? Overwhelmed in the best way possible. So glad I brought a detailed shopping list!

Saturday was meet-up day! I was SO EXCITED for this shit, I barely slept and actually woke up at 6:50A (woof… I don’t even get up that early to go to work!). But first, before meeting up at Mood for round #2, a boozy brunch was in order. Devra hosted at her seriously gorgeous/fancypants pad, where the champagne and coffee flowed freely (although not together, ew) and her badass cat kept jumping into my lap and we were BFFs within 5 minutes. Also brunchin’ with us was Wanett, Christine, and again Sonja/Oona/Peter.

Also within 5 minutes was Oona breaking a plate. She was smiling at me right before it happened, which means this is also partially my fault. SORRY DEVRA.

We also had a mini-swap, in which the cat showed us just how much of a badass he was by making himself at home right in the middle of the pile while everyone was digging.

GOD, I love that cat ♥♥♥

After we finished, I realized I was running late TO MY OWN FUCKING MEET-UP and hightailed it to Mood.

And look at how many people showed up!! Awww!! You guys!!!!!
We took names and blogs and Oona shared the list with me when I got home (see what I mean about getting nothing done without her?!) – of course, this was after we spent about an hour in Mood, so I may have missed someone who slipped out early. Speak up if you don’t see your name here; I want to lurk aaaaall of you guys!
Gaby, Carly, Lee, Charlotte, Devra, Cindy, Janice, Allie, Lisette, Kim, Meredith, Kayleigh, Sonja, Oona, Rosie, Wanett, Shelley and Christine. Whew!!

We spent a good chunk of time in Mood, split into cackling packs and talking each other into buying fabrics (I like to think I’m very good at peer pressure but Carolyn proved on Friday that she has that shit down to an ART). Post-Mood, we ventured further into the Garment District to check out a few stores… specifically, Pacific Trimming, Chic Fabrics, and Fabrics for Less. Guys, if you have not shopped these stores… I have three words for you: $10 Wool Coating. ACK OMG.

We ended the meet-up at Houndstooth Pub, which we discovered when we tried to go to Stitch and realized they were closed. Houndstooth pub seemed like a good substitution – I mean, it being named after a fabric and all 🙂 Although I feel kind of bad for the bar having to accommodate our enormous group on a moment’s notice – they were good sports about it! Also, the food was amazing.

Thanks again to everyone who was able to make it out to the meet-up – I’m so bummed that I didn’t have time to talk to everyone one-on-one, which means obviously there will need to be a round 2 in the future 🙂 I really enjoyed getting to meet other sewists and I just love fabric shopping with people who actually get excited about that shit, ha! Y’all are the best!!

HOLD UP THOUGH because my trip is not over yet!!

I woke up bright and early (too early… damn Daylight Savings Time. Wait, no, I actually love you) Sunday morning and took the train solo to meet with Devra, Wanett and Peter at the Chelsea flea market. I’m actually super proud of myself for getting there – considering I don’t understand how that public transportation shit works at all. I didn’t buy anything at the flea, but I had a lot of fun looking at all the stuff and gawking over some of the prices (guys… come to Nashville. I’ll show you my flea and you shall weep.).

We did run into Kenneth King, though! Holy shit, I was so starstruck!! He’s so funny and a great storyteller – and that jacket is way way way more amazing than any picture could convey. Trust me.

Ok, one more surprise star-studded meet-up…

Yep, that would be Karen, just dropping into NY the same weekend I was there! What are the odds!?!?

I don’t even remember where we ate, except that I had a lamb burger and the dessert was amazing and the girl sitting at the table next to us kept giving us the stink-eye. She was clearly on an awkward date, sux 2 b her. Karen is just as sweet as you would expect from her blog – and that accent! GOD why don’t I have an accent like that!?

My trip actually wrapped up on Tuesday, and I rolled back into Nashville late Tuesday night (my flights kept getting delayed waaah and LaGuardia airport sorta sucks, there I said it). I actually left the city on Sunday night, stayed with friends Monday & Tuesday in Ossining. I did go back into the city on Monday, to check out Soho and Chinatown… and also make a third trip back to the Garment District. Whoops.

Oh, I guess you wanna see the spoils, huh?

Here it is in a big giant pile on my sewing room floor. SO MUCH FABRIC, it barely fit in my suitcase (and spare duffel bag) haha. I actually spent most of the day yesterday prewashing it all and reorganizing my sewing room. I have plans for every single piece I bought.

Here are some individual pictures, collaged as not to overwhelm this already huge post! Almost everything is from Mood, anything that isn’t is indicated in parenthesis.

Starting at top left: chambray, lightweight non-stretch denim, medium-weight linen from Marc Jacobs (confession: I chased this bolt around Mood on Saturday, as it switched dozens of hands. I have really exciting plans for it too, although I can’t tell you right this second!), striped ponte knit, striped cotton sateen (the colors look black, but they are navy and white), french terry, lightweight red wool crepe, yellow wool crepe (Carolyn talked me into both of these wool crepes… I was resistant because I live in such a warm climate – it’ll be 70* this weekend, ugh – but that woman could talk me into anything. Also, I’m really glad I bought them and I can’t stop touching them and admiring how lovely the colors are), swimsuit fabrics (Spandex House- the stripes are navy and white, and that weird underwear-looking shit in the background is the lining).

Starting at top left: red seersucker (this was intended for my 2013 Sewlution, but upon further inspection I have realized the fabric is quite stretchy, so it might not work for it’s intended purpose. I will, however, find a use for it!!), red floral voile (Chic Fabrics), floral print swiss dot, leopard ponte knit, mint and red cotton jersey (Fabrics for Less), tiny bows Betsy Johnson silk (also from Fabrics for Less – I looove that guy, go buy his fabrics!), hot pink wool coating (Chic Fabrics), polka dot cotton batiste, gingham.

Starting at top left: plaid seersucker (Oh god, I don’t remember where this is from… help? Was it Fabrics for Less??), assorted chiffons (from the swap), white cotton twill/brown lightweight corduroy (from the swap), bemberg linings and cotton batiste.

YEP.

A big chunk of Sonja’s yarn destashing also went straight into my suitcase… check it out!

So that’s my trip to New York! Thanks again to everyone who made this trip so fucking amazing – Sonja, Oona, Meg, Carolyn, Peter, Devra, Wanett & Karen for taking me out/showing me around, and every single one of y’all who came out for the meet-up. It really means a lot to me and I look forward to more meet-ups in the future. Hopefully some more in New York (must go back!!), but hey, if you’re ever in Nashville… holler at me 🙂

Before I dump out of here, I have a few more things I wanted to mention!
– I am thrilled to announce that I will be joining a slew of talented ladies for Miss P‘s Refashioner’s Challenge. I remember watching the challenge unfold last year and loving all the makes that came out… and now it’s my turn!! Yay!!
– My girl Mari just started a new pattern line and is currently trying to raise funds for it! You can donate to the Kickstarter Campaign here. The first pattern up is a pullover hoodie – with pockets in the back so you can keep your hands warm while wrapping your arm around someone. GENIUS. The new goal is $1640, which will enable her to produce actual printed patterns. And she’s SO CLOSE. Please, donate if you can!
– I just found out yesterday that on July 1, my beloved Google Reader will be no more. First of all: Fuck you, Google. Second of all: Does anyone have reader suggestions that are similar to the look/feel of the gReader (I mean, other than Bloglovin)? Ughhh I’m so lost. Third of all: Now I guess is the time to claim my blog on Bloglovin, so following me there is an option!
– Speaking of RSS feeds, I had a few people tell me over the weekend that they were having trouble getting the Mood Sewing Network to show up in feeds. I had the same problem in the beginning – which meant I didn’t read the blog, since I’m not about to click back to something every and and see if maaaybe there is an update, you know? Anyway, I talked to the Mood staff about it and they helpfully pointed out that you need to click on the RSS button near the top-right corner, and copy that address into your subscription bar. I tested it in my reader and it worked like a charm, so I thought there might be other people who would want to know the solution too!
– And one last little Mood tidbit – I got a small shout-out in this month’s issue of Threads. AMAZING. Check it out – that’s my name in print, omgomgomg!!

Ok, I think that’s it! Thanks for hanging in there and letting me gush about my trip 🙂

Tags: amazing fabric, fabric hoarding, flea market, hot damn this is my jam, meet-up, Mood Fabrics, Mood Sewing Network, NYC, vacation

Comments 107 Comments
Categories misc, Mood Sewing Network

Completed: My Valentine Dress

6 Mar

For the past couple of months, us Mood Sewing Networkers have been plotting to have a month where the entire group worked with a similar fabric. Lace was decided for March, and since I had already been lurking the lace selection and dreaming up options, I was 100% game. I was also inspired by Liz’s Macaron Lace Dress because GIRL(boy?), have you seen that shit?! so jealous. I thought it would be fun to have the dress ready for Valentine’s Day – I’m not really much of a Valentine’s person (this is like, one of maybe four Valentine’s EVER that I haven’t been single, aha), but it’s not too late to start yeah? Not to mention, if I had a fancy dress all ready to go we’d HAVE to end up doing something. Preferably something that involved gelato.

So, without further ado, I give you… my Valentine’s dress:

I bought my lace back in the very beginning of January – and then sat on it (well, not literally – that would get wrinkly) for nearly a month. I knew the minute I saw this red floral lace that it was ~the one~, but I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do with it other than wrap my body up in it’s yardage. I couldn’t settle on an appropriate pattern – and when I finally did, the muslin was a DISASTUH (let’s not even go there), so it’s safe to say that about three weeks of that month were spent pouting and thinking I’d end up with a boring circle skirt.

I mean, I like circle skirts as much as the next gal, but I really like them when they are attached to a matching bodice, see.

In the end, I improvised and merged a few different patterns together to create my Frankenpattern Dream Dress: the bodice is McCall’s 5972, the sleeves are a vintage Butterick pattern, and the skirt is my self-drafted circle skirt. I’m actually surprised at how well everything fit together, it’s like I fulfilled some kind of pattern destiny or some shit.

I knew I wanted a substantial lace in a bright color (no whites or pastels for me, please), and while my original dream dress involved visions of navy, I knew this red lace was “the one” the second I laid eyes on it. It’s perfect for this type of dress – the pattern is large and bold, but held together with delicate netting which keeps the fabric from being too heavy. Since it’s a cotton lace, it will wear nicely in the summer as well as during the cooler months we’re in right now. The lacework is erratic enough where I didn’t have to worry too much about matching up the design at every seam line (just thinking about that is making me break out in a sweat, argh!).

Once thing I did notice with this particular lace is that the pattern runs parallel to the selvedge — so I had to adjust my pattern layout accordingly. This wasn’t difficult to do, and my lace was wide enough where I was able to get my pieces in there (including the full circle skirt) without too much fuss, but I thought I would point that out if you are thinking about working with directional lace. I’m so used to the pattern running perpendicular to the selvedge, I almost didn’t check before I started cutting

The dress is underlined with pink Bemberg Rayon – everything except the sleeves. I basted the pieces together by hand, using silk basting thread, around all edges and also along the dart lines. Then I sewed the dress up as normal, serging the seams as I went and pressing them flat.

I love that you can see a hint of tattoo through the lace sleeves 🙂

The sleeves posed a special challenge since they were unlined and I wasn’t sure how well that netting part would hold a seam. I had a small piece of pink cotton batiste in my stash that perfectly matched the underlining, so I cut long bias strips and bound the sleeve seams for extra stability. The resulting seam is very strong, and I love the little peek of pink that shows when I move my arm 🙂

I actually used that pink cotton to add a lot of special touches to an otherwise plain dress…

Facing the hem on the sleeves

Binding the armsyce seams (again for stability at an area that can get a lot of stress, and also because serging there would just be ugly)

Binding the waist seam

The neckline facing (label is from here, fyi!)

Piping the waistline (my favorite!!)

I mostly plan on wearing this with the satin bow (because I love looking like I’m wrapped up like a present), but I do like the way the dress looks with just the piping 🙂

I hemmed the skirt with 2″ white horsehair braid, since I wanted it to flare. Actually, hemming was the worst part – and not because it involved nearly 5 yards of hand-sewing. I could not decide how I wanted to treat the hem, since the lace is sheer and the braid would show through. The dress is underlined, including the skirt, but I was afraid that pulling the underlining all the way down to the bottom of the skirt would end up with some funky grain problems. In the end, I laid the skirt out VERY CAREFULLY on the floor and matched up the hems on the lining and lace, pinned everything together, and then stitched the braid on. There are a few areas where the fabric doesn’t hang *quite* right, but thankfully the giant circle skirt-ness of the whole thing kind of hides that.

Anyway, it’s TWIRLY ♥

All in all, I think it’s a pretty snazzy Valentine’s Day dress. Lookit how fancy me & Landon look!

And just for the record – my evening did involve gelato, whoop whoop!

Tags: completed, dress, lace, Mood Fabrics, Mood Sewing Network

Comments 90 Comments
Categories completed projects - new

Completed: The Kelly Skirt/Jalie 2921

4 Mar

I’m doubling up on this post – I hope y’all don’t mind. Just didn’t think either of these pieces deserved a whole post of their own 🙂 This is pretty basic cake stuff we’re working with here.

Also, this is a result of me waking up on Sunday morning and going “OMG I’M GOING TO NY NEXT WEEK AND I HAVE NOTHING TO WEEEEEAR!!”
(not literally – I mean, have you seen my closet?)

Anyway, I’d just picked up the Kelly skirt pattern and I was dying to try it out. I found this giant yardage of navy corduroy in my stash – I’m trying to stash-bust as much as I can before I overfill my sewing room with more fabric next week heh heh – I think I got it at a yard sale a few years ago?

It works great for this pattern although it is very STIFF… you can’t see too much from these pictures, but the skirt just balloons away from my body and stays that way. Now, I like me a stiff skirt as much as any girl, but this is almost comical. Next time, I will opt for a slightly softer fabric. I may try to wash this skirt a few times in the meantime and see if I can beat down the stiffness a little as well.

This pattern was soo easy to whip together. There are just 5 pieces, a little bit of topstitching, and a smattering of buttonholes. I had the whole thing made from start to finish in less than 3 hours. Now that’s what I call fast fashion, derp.

The only change I made was to not interface the waistband – like I said, my corduroy is very stiff. Also, I am lazy. I think it holds up fine, though.

I made a size XS and it’s a tiiiiny bit big at the waist, but nothing that I can’t cinch in with a belt.

I can see this pattern working beautifully with a wide range of fabrics, from a lightweight chambray to a nice cotton twill. Ooh!

I also made my top over the weekend, same Sunday, even! Before you get too excited – it’s a knit top, which takes me like an hour to put together. Srsly, I looove sewing knits. The pattern is Jalie 2921, and the fabric is this Coral rayon jersey from Mood. More Nard-Dog colors, sorry y’all.

I only made a couple of changes to the pattern – had to shorten the sleeves because there were REALLY long, and I also shortened the ties because they overwhelmed the shirt. There was no scientific method to shortening the ties – I just put the shirt on and hacked away. Instead of leaving a hole in the center front seam to pull the ties though, I sewed it up all the way and just looped the ties over each other. The fabric is too heavy to make a proper bow. I feel like this look is kind of jaunty, with the ascot and preppy colors.

I did experiment with my hems on this top – I found a bunch of wooly nylon in my stash that I’d forgotten about (oops) and I wound some of that in the bobbin and then did my usual twin needle topstitching. I LOVE the result; the stitches are very uniform and there are no ridges or rippling. Worked like a charm!

Since the cord was so thick, I used this fun quilting cotton to face the pockets 🙂 Isn’t it sweet? Kiddie cowboys!

As a side note – if you didn’t see the first post announcement – I’ll be in New York this week and planning a meet-up for Saturday! If you’re in the area and want to join for some fabric shopping, send me an email and I’ll pass on the details 🙂

Tags: completed, Jalie, Kelly skirt, preppy, Scarf neck top, skirt, top

Comments 44 Comments
Categories completed projects - new

Completed: Red Cashmerino Cowl, mmm

27 Feb

It’s been a couple weeks since my big knitting fail (which wasn’t a huge fail after all, since I got loads of great advice for future knits, not to mention ~*someone has a new sweater to love forever 🙂 I LOVE WHEN THESE THINGS WORK OUT), and what have I done since then??

DUH, I KNIT ANOTHER SWEATER.

Ok ok, confession – I wasn’t expecting this to knit up quite so fast. I mean, holy shit – 2 weeks. That’s all it took. And you can disagree with me all you want, but I am not a super fast knitter, nor do I knit for super long periods of time every day – a little under an hour on my lunch break, and an extra hour on Mondays and occasionally Thursdays when I meet up with other knitters. I don’t knit on weekends, and I rarely knit when I’m lounging on the couch (Landon has this weird hang-up about me knitting while we watch TV – he thinks it means I’m not paying attention. FREAK, you know I still have ears and can listen!!). This was just a really really quick knit. I love it!

The pattern I used is Francis, Revisited, which is a freebie on Ravelry (yay!). You’ll notice that the original pattern is actually pretty shapeless and loose-fitting – which looks pretty on the model, but I’ve learned that it is not a flattering style on me. I need waist-shaping!
Also, I just realized that my skirt basically blends into the background here, rendering me a strange floating legless lady. Sorry about that.

Jo has a lovely fitted version of this sweater, which I was DYING over (and, truth, she’s how I discovered the pattern in the first place), so I consulted her on decreasing deets and she was very very encouraging and helpful. I did some maths, cast on for a 33″ bust, and started knitting. Since the sweater is knit in one piece, top-down (my favorite!), it was easy to check the fit by threading a length of yarn through the live stitches and pulling it on. This can definitely get to be a pain in the ass, but I think the end effect is worth it.

I mean, check out that shaping! Yeah!

In addition to the waist shaping, I also lengthened the sleeves to full-length – I guess I just don’t see the point in short sleeves on a cashmere sweater (with a cowl neck, no less). That being said, I have a tendency to roll the sleeves up, like, always, so maybe it was a moot point. Also, I wish I had added like two more rows of knitting, because they’re the tiiiiinest bit short. Maybe I can pull that out with another block, idk.

The yarn I used for this was Debbie Bliss Cashmerino – merino and cashmere, and SO FREAKING SOFT. I picked it up at Haus of Yarn‘s after-Christmas sale (which, sidenote, this yarn store is like 2 miles from my house YES MA’AM INDEED). Actually, another lady grabbed it first and I followed her around, sulking, for about 2 minutes, then she put it back in the bin and I pounced on that shit like a cat on a can of tuna fish. VICTORY. It was half off, too – meaning this sweater cost me about $35 to knit. Yep. Even with cashmere blend yarn.

Cashmere is such a dreamy way to make yourself feel better after a knitting fail, fyi.

Crummy color shot, but here you can see the seed stitching at the sleeves and hem. I like this has a nice alternative to ribbing, and it’s very easy to do – just knit 1, purl 1, and stagger each row.

More specific notes about my adjustments can be found on my Ravelry page (as not to bore the non-knitters here).

I love my finished sweater! It’s so cozy and warm and soft – and RED. Yeah!!

Tags: completed, Francis sweater, knitting

Comments 64 Comments
Categories completed projects - new, crafty things that are not sewing

Completed: The Minoru Jacket, Round 2

25 Feb

Hey, look, I made another Minoru Jacket! And it’s even better the second time around, yeah? 🙂

Ever since I made this my first go-round as a pattern tester, I’ve been dying to revisit this pattern and improve on my finished version. Not that the pattern written as-is needs improvement – it’s pretty wonderful! But there were definitely a few things I wanted to change from my original white version.

First and foremost – the size. I don’t know why I did it to begin with, but I definitely cut the wrong size on my first incarnation. It was just toooo big! I cut this one in a straight size 0, with no alterations, and I think the fit is superior.
(As a side note – I know a few of y’all use me as your ~size double~, so I think it’s important to point out that I am not the same size anymore. I don’t know if you can tell from the pictures, but I have lost quite a bit of weight over the last few months and my measurements decreased by a couple of inches. I am now 34-26-35 – just FYI! So with that in mind… the 0 fit me perfectly, and did not need a FBA.)

Second necessary change to this pattern – the FABRIC. Oh godddd, the fabric! While I really really loved the idea of white corduroy in theory, the reality was a sad floppy, blindingly white mess on me. While I have seen a few versions that do beautifully with a softer drape to the fabric, I think that in general, this jacket needs a bit of structure. As well as color 🙂

For this jacket, I used a fairly thick cotton twill that I picked up at Vogue while I was in Chicago. I knew I wanted something orange or yellow, for visibility. What I didn’t consider was how difficult it would be to pair up colors with this shade of orange, without looking like I was rooting for some shitty sports team. I’m pretty sure I had buyer’s remorse over this fabric almost the instant I bought it, hence why it sat on my sewing shelf for, oh… six months or so.

In the end, it was the lining that saved me. That, and a VERY unlikely fashion inspiration.

I will tell you who it is, but you have to promise you won’t make fun of me.

PROMISE?

That would be ol’ Andy Bernard from the US version of The Office.
I told you it was weird (and the ~punk rock~ 15 year old in me is weeping right now), but for real – he wears some of the most amazing preppy color combinations! Pink, navy, orange, red, yellow – it’s all sooo good. I don’t know, maybe I’m crazy, but I want my whole wardrobe to mimic his, at least as far as the colors go.

Which is exactly why my Minoru turned out awesome. Navy polka dots fix EVERYTHING.

And check it out: It matches this sweet silk scarf my mom bought me (now I need to find a way to wear it so it doesn’t look so much like a tie, hmm)

Anyway, enough about Andy & Co, back to meeeee

I only made a few changes to the pattern – the most noticeable being that I lined the hood. I think the lining is so bright and fun, I wanted it to show when I had the hood out!

I omitted the elastic cuffs at the bottom of the sleeves – I found that the original length of the sleeve was long enough without an added cuff. And anyway, I don’t care much for elastic cuffs. As a bonus, I can flip the hem of the sleeves up and show off that fun lining 🙂

Oh, yeah, and I added side seam pockets!
This was EASY: I used the pocket piece from my Tiramisu patttern (you can use whatev, but I love the size of this one – it’s perfect for what I need to carry) and inserted the pockets about 1.5″ below the waist markings, understitched, and then sewed up the sides as normal (no topstitching, though, I didn’t want to sew those pockets closed!). Note – when hemming, make sure you don’t grab those pockets before you topstitch the hem 🙂 Depending on their size, they may hang low enough.

The final change I made was to add lining to both pieces of the collar – the pattern only has you line the side where the zipper is inserted (for a clean finish all the way around, and yeah it’s pretty brilliant). However, when you open up the zipper and pull out the hood – you can see the “wrong side” of the collar fabric. I just basted another piece of lining on top of that; now you can see the lining when I pull the hood out.

I love the hood – it makes me feel all fancy.

I have NO IDEA what I’m doing in this picture, but I thought it was too hilarious not to share!

My only beef with this jacket is that the material is quite thick, which means the collar is all kinds of crazy huge when the hood is stuffed into it. See what I mean? This wouldn’t be nearly an issue with a lighter weight fabric. The collar isn’t even interfaced – the fabric is just, well, ~robust.

But, you know… I think it looks pretty good 🙂

One more secret and then I’ll stop – I couldn’t find 2″ white elastic for the life of me. I ended up having to this stuff:

Underwear elastic. So yeah, anytime you see me in this coat… that’s underwear elastic in the back.

One last thing, assuming you’re not experiencing a Lauren Overload right now (sorry sorry!)- I wanted to give a head’s up that I’m participating in Marie’s Watch This Lace group project, and my make just got posted up yesterday! Yeah!

If you want to read more about it (and see more pictures!), hop on over and take a lurk!

Ok, that’ll be all.

Tags: completed, guest post, jacket, minoru, preppy, sewaholic

Comments 69 Comments
Categories completed projects - new

Completed: Red Thurlows & McCall’s 4488

22 Feb

I know it’s only February, but try telling that to my spring fever! GAH can it go ahead and get warm here already!? Since I can’t control the weather (something I’m still waiting patiently for, as well as for my own Hoverboard and Jaws 19), I can at least get a head start on pulling my warm-weather wardrobe together, yeah?

I said I wanted red pants… and I got my red pants! This is my second incarnation of the Thinlows, btw. Those are totally Thurlows hiding within those skinny legs.

Since the red cotton twill I used does not have any stretch, I was very careful about how much I tapered down these legs. As much as I love the super-duper skinny legs, I think I’d need a little bit of stretch to get my foot in there!

Thinning these down was… interesting. I scrapped my original pattern mash-up and properly retraced each pattern piece. Then, I straightened the line of the flare with a long ruler. I made a quick muslin using some thick denim I had lurking in my stash – I wanted to make sure these would be wearable, as I’ve only made Thurlows with fabric that had some give. I was also able to pin out a little more excess from the sides, and transfer that to my pattern pieces. Sewed them up, and everything fits. Yay!

There’s a bit of pulling at the crotch, as you can see – the pants themselves feel fine (not too tight, not too loose), so I’m not sure if many this has something to do with the lack of stretch? Hm.

The only other pattern adjustment I made was to shift the pockets about 1″ toward the side seams. I noticed in my muslin that I needed to sew inside the back extension line to prevent gappage, and this was making the pockets come close to touching. Now they sit in the right place, however, I think next time I need to shorten them. The proportions look a little off. Not that you can tell from this picture at all, but eh.

I’ve also got a little wrinkling under the butt. Not too bad, but it’s there.

To complete my ~come hither spring~ outfit, I used this amazing seafoam rayon jersey to make McCall’s 4488 (a pattern from the 70s). It’s hard to capture this exact color in my photos (look at the picture Mood has on the site, it’s much more accurate), but I LOVE IT. Pretty sure this shade of seafoam goes with every color I own.
Also, that top was a bitch to make. I have no idea why – I made the crop top before and it turned out fine (and BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING, they use the same pattern pieces up top, ok!) – but this lil shit was out to get me from the get-go. After a lot of cutting and cussing, I think I fixed it. I just have to be careful about those gathers over the boobs. If I’m not careful, things can get a bit… nipply.

Check out that floral cotton print lining! Oooh, fancy!

God, I just want to take my pants off and show everyone. The lining, I mean.

This is only slightly related, but check out the gorgeous button hole my machine makes! FUCK.

I think this might be the best-looking welt pocket I’ve ever made.

I really love that I got to dig into my stash of weird colors when it came time for serging everything. True happiness is having seafoam green thread, guys.

Come on, spring!

Tags: completed, mccalls, Mood Fabrics, Mood Sewing Network, Spring 2013, Thurlow, vintage

Comments 59 Comments
Categories completed projects - new, Mood Sewing Network

Drape Drape Giveaway: We Have A Winner!

19 Feb

The Drape Drape Giveaway is now closed (thanks to everyone who entered!), and a winner has been drawn! Congratulations to Susan – a winner is you!

YAY!!!

In case you were curious (I was!!), the most mentioned sewing books were, in no particular order:
The Colette Sewing Handbook
Gertie’s New Book For Better Sewing
Reader’s Digest Complete Guide to Sewing
Vogue Sewing

If choosing a go-to sewing bible seems like a daunting task, maybe this list of TNTs will give ya a helpful nudge! I personally love Vogue Sewing… it was the first sewing book I bought, and I read it cover to cover like, well, a book! 😉

Tags: winner winner chicken dinner

Comments 13 Comments
Categories Giveaway

Completed: A Striped Hoodie (by way of sacrifice)

18 Feb

Man, I love me some hoodies. I wear them year-round – even in the summer (because some people like to crank their a/c up to “frigid,” eep). I love how a well-fitted, soft hoodie can be the most comfortable piece of clothing in my closet. Here’s my sacred secret, though: my go-to hoodie was a ratty pile of SHAME. I really did wear it for everything – from cleaning the bathroom to keeping warm on a drafty airplane – and it showed. It showed in the form of faded, pilled black, bleach spots, paint stains, ratty edges, and a giant hole at the neckline (that was from a fight. Also, that’s all I’m going to say about that). I loved the way it fit, which is why I kept it long after it’s sad sorry state should have sent it to Hoodie Heaven (that’s my other sacred secret: I don’t repair my ratty clothing. That hole stayed in the neckline for OVER 6 YEARS. Yeah!!).

Sooo I ripped it up and made me a new hoodie, using the old one as a pattern!

HA!

It has a pocket!

Scratch that, two pockets!!

I’m afraid I don’t have a pattern to share, as I literally ripped up my ratty-ass hoodie and traced each piece onto paper, adding 3/8″ seam allowance. I didn’t make any changes to the pattern as I liked the way the hoodie fit pre-rip. And boy, did that hoodie want to be ripped up – the pieces were falling apart in my hands. Damn!

You’ll notice my stripes don’t *exactly* match up – on one side, and also at the top of the zipper. That’s ok, I’m not totally heartbroken over it. This is what happens when you push yourself to finish a project long after the mojo has dried up – you get sloppy. Usually, I put everything away and try to revisit the next day with a fresh outlook. I was cold, though, and since my hoodie was laying in pieces on the cutting table… I soldiered on. At the expense of a little stripe-matching, but hey, shit happens.

Sorry about the wayward stripe over my rear – it’s straight, promise!

Figuring out the order of construction required a little forethought, since the length of certain areas (the neckline where the hood fits, the front where the zipper goes) need to be pretty precise. In case you are thinking about traveling down the same path of hoodie rebirth, here’s the direction I took:
1. Sew band to pockets, attach pockets to front
2. Sew front to back at shoulders
3. Insert sleeves
4. Sew up side seams
5. Sew hood seam, attach band to front
6. Sew hood to neckline
7. Attach bottom band
8. Insert zipper
9. Attach sleeve cuffs

Not too hard! It’s just like sewing a tshirt (in fact, I bet one could use the Renfrew pattern as a jumping off point, although you’d have to raise the neckline), just with an added zipper and hood 🙂 If you are adding a hood, make sure the measurement of the bottom of the hood (where it attaches to the neckline) is the same as the measurement of the entire circumference of the neckline, minus the zipper. Otherwise, it won’t sit right!

Oh yeah, mine does have a hood!

Man, you can really see my mismatched stripes here. I’m sorry.

The pockets have the usual knit band at the top (cut slightly shorter than the measurement, then stretched to fit), topstitched with a twin needle. I sewed the zipper in using the twin needle because I liked the way it looks – we’ll see how well that holds up, since it’s not usually the strongest seam 🙂 Surprisingly, the zipper went in quite easily and I didn’t have to stabilize the seam like I thought I would. My knit was pretty stable, it might not work as well with really stretchy fabrics. If you are having trouble getting your zipper lump-free, sewing on a piece of ribbon or even fusing a stripe of interfacing really helps, fyi!

Oh yeah, I reused the zipper from the old hoodie! What’s old is new again, or some shit.

Just for fun – I stabilized the shoulders seams with neon yellow twill tape, and added a little cycling tag. Aw I miss my bike! Summer, where are youuuuu

Ok, now I’m going to show you some shots of my sorry old hoodie. Don’t you dare judge me.

Bleach, paint, and weakened seams. You can’t tell too well in this picture, but the sleeve band was so ratty it was all split and frayed.

The rip I never repaired. And look at how dull that black is! Yeech!

This is so, so much better ♥

NOTE: Today is the last day for the Drape Drape Giveaway! I will be closing the entries at midnight, so get yer comment in!

Tags: completed, hoodie, self-drafted, stripes

Comments 55 Comments
Categories completed projects - new

Let’s Talk Sewing Machine Maintenance!

13 Feb

In the spirit of Karen’s series of True Confessions, I think most of us tend to plead guilty when it comes to maintaining our machines and keeping them in tip top sewing shape. Fess up, guys! Are you guilty of:
– Using the same needle for months at a time?
– Sewing over pins?
– Going far too long between regular tune-ups?
– Letting the lint build up to epic proportions?
– Forgetting to oil your machine?

Let me be the first to say that I definitely hit some of those categories myself. Oops! I’m very vigilant about keeping the lint to a minimum (I clean my machine with that tiny brush every time I wind my bobbin; yes, I get freaky like that), but I regularly forget to change my needle until it breaks from the sheer pressure of existing. I also didn’t realize you were supposed to oil a computerized machine. I thought that was only something you did with the manual ones. No wonder my stitches were looking like shit! Hello!!

Part of my problem is that I just never had anyone tell me what I should and shouldn’t be doing. Yes, you should refer to your owner’s manual for upkeep on your machine – but how many of us actually read that? (if you have a Featherweight and you’ve read it like a book, you’re exempt from this question. We all read our Featherweight manuals like a book, because it’s fucking fascinating and the pictures are amazing). So today, let’s talk about those little basics that should be second nature but totally are not. It’s ok, we’re all in this together, y’all.

Changing your needle
We all know to change the needle when it’s broken – you can’t sew anything otherwise 🙂 But did you know that you actually should be changing the needle far more frequently than that? Not just when there’s an issue. It is recommended that the needle is changed after 8 hours of sewing, which comes out to every 1-2 projects (depending on the project, of course). Waiting longer to change your needle causes it to get dull and loose the sharp point, which can result in wonky or skipped stitches (and hours of hair-pulling frustration, because ARGH!). I know it can be hard to remember to change your needle out that often – hell, I forget all the time, although I’m trying to be better about it. It helps to keep a stash of needles on hand (I buy a pack every time I go to the fabric store!), so you’re not tempted to try and plow through if the needle is super old but seems “good enough” -it’s probably not. You should also be proactive and change your needle if you ever manage to sew over a pin – it may look fine at a glance, but the tip is likely bent and this can also cause stitch problems. Which brings me to my next point…

Don’t sew over pins
I really hope I’m just preaching to the choir here, but just in case someone doesn’t know any better… DON’T SEW OVER YOUR PINS. Don’t don’t don’t! I cannot stress this enough! Sewing over pins causes all kinds of problems, from bending/breaking the needle (ever thought about where that broken tip might land? How about IN YOUR EYEBALL), to completely fucking up the timing of your machine so that you have to take it to the repair center and pay $ to have it fixed. Lame! Do yourself a big huge favor and pull those pins out before the needle gets anywhere near them. Do it for the sewing machines.

Regular Tune-ups
At the risk of sounding like a big fat sewing machine snob, it makes me cringe when I hear people brag about how their machine works so well and it hasn’t had a tune-up in decades. I understand that it may not be common knowledge that sewing machines need regular maintenance, but hey – that’s not something to brag about! Think about your car (if you don’t have a car, you can think about someone else’s car ;)) – would you let that thing go so long between tune-ups? Hell no! A sewing machine must have very precise timing to function correctly; if one little beat is off, it can wreck the whole output. Getting a tune-up can be a bit of a hassle – here it costs between $50-$90 (computerized machines are on the higher end of the price spectrum), and they hold your machine hostage for 1-2 weeks, depending on how quickly they can get to it. However, it is very important to have this done at regular intervals, as the machine needs benefits from having the timing and tension adjusted back to the factory settings, as well as getting a nice deep clean in all those little nooks & crannies that you can’t get to without actually opening the thing up and taking it apart. What constitutes as a “regular interval” is really a matter of how much you use your machine – I take mine in every year, but I also sew a LOT. You may be able to get away with getting a service every 2 or even 3 years, depending on how much you use the machine.

Taking care of lint build-up
Here’s my confession: I’m a big freak about cleaning my machine. I pull the whole bobbin apart and go to town with the lint brush before every sewing project, usually while the bobbin is winding. I also do this on my serger – I mean, have you seen how linty those things get? Nothing delights me more than getting a good sized ball of lint to marvel at (I also like cleaning the lint screen on my dryer. I’m sorry, is this TMI?). So keeping the lint build-up to a minimum has never been a problem with me. I’m not saying that you need to start digging for gold every single time you have a project – but please, make it a habit to at least keep a regular cleaning schedule. You’ll be amazed at how much better you machine functions when there’s not a big build-up of lint and broken thread lurking under the throatplate.

Oiling your machine
OMG. Until I bought my new Bernina, I never realized you were supposed to oil those things! For some reason, I was under the impression that computerized machines were exempt from regular oiling. My mechanic assures me that neglecting the oil does not necessarily hurt the machine, but it can do some wonky shit to those bobbin stitches since there is too much friction going on down there. If you’re not oiling your machine, take a quick peek at the owner’s manual (or call your local sewing repair place and ask them) and see if it’s necessary to keep things running smoothly. I now oil my machine once a month – and it doesn’t take much! A little dab will do ya.

If the idea of poking around in your machine just sounds too overwhelming and terrifying – well, there’s an app for that! 🙂

DIY Household Sewing Machine is an app for iPhone and iPad (sorry Droid users 😦 Maybe soon?) that guides you through three basic steps of maintaining your sewing machine – removing the bobbin case to clean and oil the bobbin area (there are instructions for both top and front-loading bobbins – yeah!), changing the needle, and cleaning the tension units (which is not something I was aware of until, uhm, last night. Eep! Don’t worry, I’ll get a-cleaning as soon as I get home :)). While you shouldn’t necessarily consider this a total replacement for a regular session with an actual sewing machine mechanic, it is a great assistant in keeping things clean and running smoothly in between tune-ups.

What’s interesting about this app is that there are three ways the information is shared – a short animation (which totally reminds me of Money For Nothing and I TOTALLY LOVE IT OMG), a text document, and live-action video. The animation is great if you just need a little refresher on how to do something (you know, for those brainfart moments. I’m not the only one who gets them all the time…?), and I love that everything is spelled out for those of us who are just too impatient to sit through a 2 minute video.

Speaking of the vidoes… they are actually really great. I just mentioned that I’m too impatient to watch videos (it’s true! They are always just too damn slow-moving for my fast paced brain, I guess), but the longest one is only 2.5 minutes long, so it’s not too bad. Everything presented is very easy to see and understand, and there are some good tips about what tools are best for cleaning what parts of the machine. Bonus that dude has a delightful accent. God, I love accents.

The app is not free, but it only costs 99¢ – which is pretty much pocket change as far as I’m concerned. It’s nice to have a go-to reference of the text and videos when you need a little hand-holding but don’t want to put your machine’s life in the hands of Google… and bonus, those little animations are fun to watch 🙂 I’m so easily amused, ha!

What about you? Do you have any confessions about maintaining your machine that you’d like to get off your chest? C’mon, fess up – we’re all friends here 😉

As a side note, I know I’m a few days late to the party but LADIES HAVE YOU SEEN MADALYNNE’S NEW UNDIE PATTERN? From the technical sketch to the gorgeous finished piece – I’m in love!! Must make me some undies, stat!

~*~Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for which I received financial compensation. All opinions on this product are my own, however!

Tags: review, sewing apps, spring cleaning, THIS IS MY CONFESSION