mini-tutorial: invisible hems

8 Dec

let me preface by saying that i LOVE a good invisible hem. not that horrible weak shit provided by the “blindstitch” hem a sewing machine does (i had to put that in quotes because they aren’t even blind and they look horrible and tacky and ugh ugh ugh h8 machine-sewn hems ALL OF THEM), but a dainty hand-sewn invisible/blind hem ♥ so classic and clean, the mark of true craftsmanship.

don’t even get me started on machine-stitched VISIBLE hems ew ew ew

anyway, this process mystified me for a long time:
first it was “LOL WHY I AM GONNA DO THAT, THE MACHINE IS GOOD ENOUGH AND IT IS FASTER” (yeah, if you want your finished piece to look extra suzy homemaker. gross, i bet you used quilting cotton to make that, too).
then it was “HAND SEWING IS BORRRING UGHH”
then it was “I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO DO THAT STITCH LOL AND HAND SEWING IS STILL BORING”

i don’t think hand sewing is boring anymore, not even after putting hours of padstitching into my lady grey. i guess i see it as the difference between “homeade” and “handmade.”

i’m hemming a gorgeous black 50s cocktail dress (another spoil from closet case vintage ehehehe), so i took some pictures to maybe de-mystify the process for some of y’all.
and also to point out why, when someone asks me “oh, can you hem this, i know it’ll be quick bc you have a sewing machine!” i tend to snarl and spit and spout profanities.

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refashioning a vintage dress

6 Dec

this isn’t really much a sewing-related update… i mean, there was sewing involved, but i did not get any pictures of the innards, or a before shot for that matter.

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anyway, i got this great 40s navy wool(blend?) dress from my friend carmen of closet case vintage (and, uhm, if you are in the market for vintage goodies, def check her store out bc this girl has got some seriously good taste). the dress is lovely on it’s own, but it needed a little bit of work before i was ready to re-debut it.

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2010 christmas wishlist

2 Dec

no sewing update today! instead, let’s talk christmas and christmas prezzies!

somehow, the 2010 edition got really huge (that’s what she said lol jk). but whatever, i will likely end up buying most of this stuff for myself as an i-love-you-lauren christmas gift. or maybe you will find something that you want to buy for yourself! yay christmas!
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cranberry wool dress – muslin stage

30 Nov

hi everyone, i finished my coat over the long weekend!

then i discovered my camera is jacked up, the flash doesn’t work, and it’s been gross and rainy and gray. soo no pictures, sry sux 2 b u, etc etc.
i’ll get some up as soon as i can!

in the meantime, i’m working on my newest dress – vogue 9668.

i cut a 6 for the bust size and an 8 for the waist and hip. spent most of my saturday chopping the tissue up to allow for a full bust adjustment. i would link y’all to an online tutorial, since FBAs really are a lifesaver (and they are kinda fun, if you are into chopping up pattern tissue and retaping it a zillion times), but it looks like my favorite one was deleted 😦 i consulted my copies of fit for real people (aka the book my roommate saw laying on the counter and laughed at me for buying it, bc the clothes on the front are so awful) and the perfect fit (bc… idk, i guess i like having multiple fitting books or something).

this is what my pattern piece looks like now:
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i need to shorten that side dart just a pinch, but i wasn’t in the mood.

my muslin is finished and it fits perfectly!
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i only made a muslin of the bodice bc, honestly, the bottom is a bias circle skirt and that doesn’t really require fitting.
oh, and that’s not really muslin, it’s some horrible 60s green and white polyester monstrosity. and it is wrong-side-out, bc i drew my pattern markings (IN SHARPIE HEH HEH goddd i’m such a rule breaker) on the right side and just flipped the pieces over and ughh whatever have another picture:
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looks good, y/y?

i’m waiting to cut out my fabric pieces. i need to stay the neckline with silk organza, but the tutorial i am following says it needs to be done before i actually cut out the bodice.

in the meantime, i went to the store on my lunch break and bought a bunch of skinny headbands, so i’m gonna spend my (possibly snowy? ew)evening making some cute little bow headbands a la casey brown.

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lining the lady grey, part 1

22 Nov

i was able to get a good bit of sewing in over the weekend… we are in for the home stretch at this point! yay!

i would have started the lining sooner, but i am highly intelligent and managed to cut my weft interfacing for the wrong side of the jacket facing 😡 so i had to go back to the fabric store and buy more weft. now i just realized i also should have bought more thread. i can’t believe how much thread i’ve gone through at this point – an entire spool of silk, nearly 2 spools of the blue, and almost a full spool of the silver. it’s not like i’m sitting here sewing and ripping out seams over and over, either. ugh!

anyway, i’m about halfway done with the lining. it is in, so pretty much all that’s left at this point is a bunch of handsewing and working on the details.

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contemplating a new dress

18 Nov

i know i’m not anywhere near finishing my lady grey – and i’m definitely one to be completely monogamous when it comes to sewing projects – but i’m already contemplating my next sewing step.

i’ve been hanging on to v9668 for several months now, waiting on the right fabric to come along. and i think i just bought it on etsy!

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the line drawing doesn’t look like much, but check out vogue’s irl version and also sewaholic’s adorable version (which, obvs, it what made me decide that mine needed to be red too)

and the fabric that i found:
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medium weight cranberry wool for $9 a yard! SOLD.

i’m going to try a few new techniques with this dress – staying the neckline with silk organza and using horsehair braid along the hemline and adding a waist stay. the first technique is being covered for gertie’s crepe sew-along, which will be helpful since she is awesome at explaining things so i’m not all HUURRR and cross-eyed by the end of the post.

so yay! excited!
and it will look beautiful with my coat, of course.

in other news, butterick just released their winter line and while pretty much everything is fug and horrid, i really really really love this dress:
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DO WANT
in the same color, plz

that is all.

help me choose a tag for my coat

17 Nov

as if i didn’t already have enough handsewing on my plate (and sewing in general, ew those christmas gifts ain’t gonna sew themselves), i decided yesterday that my coat needed a pretty embroidered tag for the inside, where i will put the tiny chain you use to hang one’s coat on a hook (speaking of which, where do you buy those things, anyway? the hardware store? the jewelry crafting aisle? i don’t think i’ve ever seen them at my fabric store). my pfaff actually has an embroidery unit – like, not those dinky little monograms you can make that are all of 1/2″ tall, but a legit hooks-onto-your-machine-and-you-buy-embroidery-cards kinda deal – but i don’t really care for machine embroidery. i like the texture of hand embroidery. so pretty!

here were the designs i found at needle’n’thread:
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more under the cut!
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pockets & sleeves – my coat is starting to look like a coat

15 Nov

YOU GUYS
MY COAT IS FINALLY STARTING TO LOOK LIKE A COAT!!

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tailoring the lady grey, v2.0

8 Nov

i recently had a bit of downtime in-between working and sew-working (and, god, i just realized i need to start christmas present makin’ asap!) and i managed to finish the padstitching on my coat 🙂

i don’t know how i feel about padstitching. i want to like it – i love hand-stitching, and i love being able to sit on the couch (not that i don’t love my beautiful sewing room!) and i love that it is quiet so i can hold a conversation while i am sewing. but the shaping that is involved with padstitching, ugh, i could do with the hand cramps and the constant peeking under the bottom to make sure my stitches are sorta-kinda-not-really-hidden-whatever-it’s-the-bottom-and-no-one-is-gonna-look-there-anyway.

but it’s done! well. the lapels are done. the collar padstitching is my next big coat project, but baby steps, y’all.

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living up to my name: tailoring the lady grey

26 Oct

been slowing plodding along on my lady grey! i have a tendency to rush through sewing projects, just to get them “done,” and i never really enjoy the sewing process itself. i am trying to slow down and take my time; get everything done right and learn as much as i can!

but man, it is taking forever! and yes, i am SUPER far behind haha!
and padstitching? ugh, if i’m lucky, i’ll be done by christmas.

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