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Using A Croquis

I’ll admit, I initially made a digital croquis of myself for no reason other than to see what I could come up with. I didn’t really plan on using it – that is, until I finished drawing the figure. I printed out a couple in different sizes, took them home, and started eyeballing my pattern stash.

And now I CAN’T STOP DRAWING. It is so much fun! I’m no artist, but I am pretty good at copying stuff. The patterns are so easy to draw from because they have little line-drawings, so you can just copy directly onto your figure, making any necessary design changes (such as making the vintage wasp-waists more like your own waist). If you really wanted to, I’m sure you could print the croquis out to the exact dimensions of the line drawings, and then just trace everything over – I don’t have that kind of patience, though.

After I printed my croquis to the correct size (mine are approximately 5.5″ tall), I simply laid a sheet of paper over the print-out and traced lightly with a pencil. I drew the clothing on the croquis and erased whatever needed to be erased, then traced over everything again with a fine-tip sharpie. And I think they look pretty good! Not perfect, but good enough for me!

Then I stuck them all over my fabric board:

You can see I got a little crazy & drew several!

I pinned fabric swatches to each one, and wrote the pattern number on the bottom.

I even made one for my coat!
Silly croquis – couldn’t bother to put on pants or anything 😉

Speaking of my coat, progress is plodding along! I haven’t posted any updates because I’m at the boring tailoring stage – fun for me, boring for pictures. Here, have some pictures anyway.

One of two bound button holes – and a fabric-covered button to boot! Covering that button was a PAIN IN MY ASS. I dread covering the other 3. But it looks good, no?

I started pad stitching the other day, and it has gone by really fast. Much faster than pad stitching my Lady Grey coat. I’m not sure if it’s because I actually know what I’m doing this time ’round, or if it’s the fabric I’m using. Probably both. PROTIP: if you plan on tailoring a coat, do yourself a favor and pick some wool coating that has a lot of texture. The stitches don’t show at all. I wish I’d figured this out on my last coat, it would have saved me hours of time.
See my new toy? I bought myself a Kindle Fire for Christmas 🙂 (right before I discovered the Featherweight, actually – hence why it’s being paid off via layaway and not livin’ the good life in my sewing room. Wah!) It’s great for my crafty time – I can keep it in my sewing room & listen to music/watch sewing videos while I work, and it holds all my PDFs for knitting patterns so I’m not carrying around a bunch of ratty pieces of paper.
And yes, I listen to 80s pop when I sew. Or the Rhythm is a Dancer station. I love shitty 90s dance club music, lol.

I finished pad stitching the lapels last night while watching The House of Yes (which is my favorite movie – it’s really messed up but but but Parker Posey! Dressed as Jackie-O!). Like I literally pulled the last stitch through as the credits started rolling. I told you pad stitching is going faster!

Then I put the lapels out for a little steam session:

And here they are as of this morning! Beautifully rolled!

Next up – actually putting the jacket together! Yay!

Tags: croqui, Fabiani coat, tailoring, work in progress

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Categories work in progress

How Do You Notch?

5 Jan

I took the first step last night and cut out my coat pattern pieces – all 21 of them! Coating, lining & interfacing – I basically cut the coat out three times. The coating & interfacing were fine the way they are, but cutting the Bemberg rayon took a little bit of finesse – I used Sunni’s brilliant tutorial for cutting slippery fabrics and used silk pins for the first time. My tip if you want to try this – pin the slippery fabric to the muslin first (especially if you have the slippery fabric doubled) and when you pin your pattern pieces down, give the pins some extra breathing room and put them at least 1/2″ from the edge of the tissue. It may pull you out of the seam allowance (hence why I used such fine pins), but it does make it easier to wedge those scissors in there! And no jagged edges! Yay!

I noticed this while I was cutting out my pieces:

I actually see this a LOT when using vintage patterns (and wearing vintage handmade stuff) – people who go the extra mile and give those notches a proper space to call their own. I remember my mom doing this on the clothes she made for me, and I always thought it was such a fiddly extra step. Cutting out fabric is obnoxious enough without having to maneuver around the table to cut some tiny extra pieces with the tips of your shears.

Here’s how I handle the situation:

I cut the triangles off entirely & notch directly into the seam allowance. It’s quick, painless, and efficient.

And it gives me a good excuse to use my tailor snips, a Christmas present from Landon:

(Seriously, he is the best! I AM NOT WORTHY)

Now seems like an appropriate time to introduce you to my Gingher Family:

8″ knife-blade shears, pinking shears, applique scissors, and the new tailor snips.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand – how do you handle your notches? Do you cut out the entire triangle, or just snip a little snip? Or do you do something else? Is there any benefit to leaving such a giant piece flapping around the notch? Should I stop cutting (hahahahaaaa see what I did there?) corners?

In other blog-land news, I was nominated for the Versitale Blogger Award by miss Joanne and given this cute button to share!

Now I’m supposed to tell you seven things you don’t know about me. Let’s see…
– My last name is Taylor! Every so often, I’ll have a friend make the connection and get really excited about their epiphany.
– I got the bird tattoo before I got the name. I am not really sure what to tell you about the second L. I wanted it to be like Lloyd, the silent L that makes for confusing pronunciation.
– I love obsolete electronics & I collect bits & pieces when I can. My favorites are computers/game systems and cell phones.
– I was homeschooled from third grade until graduation. This REALLY confuses people when I tell them, because apparently I don’t “act homeschooled.” Well all right, then!
– In addition to Nashville (my hometown & forever Lover), I have also lived in New Orleans & Pittsburgh. I left New Orleans because a bitch named Katrina kicked me out 😦 I left Pittsburgh because it was a terrible idea. The cold & I do not get along.
– Johnny Paycheck serenaded me on Lower Broadway in front of a bunch of tourists shortly before he died. I told him to bugger off & he thought it was the most hysterical thing ever. I didn’t find out who he was until years later – I thought he was some rando tourist just being an ass.
– I have pretty bad TMJ, so my jaw pops every time I open it all the way. My dentist finds this hilarious.

Now I am supposed to nominate some people for being my new favorites of awesome, so I pick Molly and Oona. I would nominate more but it looks like Joanne already jumped on the others I was going to pick. Boo!

Okay, back to cutting! I have a shirt muslin that requires my complete & undivided attention.

Tags: Fabiani coat, work in progress

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Categories work in progress

next up: the peony!

11 Nov

first, a sad story.

this is my sewing machine. it is a pfaff 7570 and it is my lifeblood. i paid more for it than some of my friends paid for their first car. i bought this machine – used – at the tail end of 2007, so we are approaching our 4 year anniversary (aw!). to say i love this machine is a serious understatement.

so you can imagine how upset i was when, during galaxy dress construction, the tension started messing up really bad & nothing i did would fix it. i had it cranked up to a 7, which is pretty unheard of for this machine. and on top of that, it was… squeaking whenever i sewed. UHM. MY MACHINE DON’T SQUEAK.

i had a minor panic attack and spent the next 2 days researching where to take it – the place i originally bought it from is sadly no longer in business, and the woman who serviced it last year (yep, i take my machines in to be serviced every year! you should too!) was nowhere to be found. i was starting to think i was going to have to drive to lousiville or atlanta to have the thing checked out – you can’t get a pfaff serviced by any ol’ dude with a tool set. then i convinced myself that i was going to need to actually replace the machine. cue more tears.

i did end up finding an authorized pfaff repair shop within 20 miles of my house (yay!). the guy looked at it and said that, while it doesn’t sound good, it doesn’t sound like i need to junk my machine or anything (double yay!). so right now it’s in the safe hands of the repair shop, and i anxiously await their call. there is some discussion that the woman who fixed it last time may have messed it up, which sucks since i paid her $89 and now i have to pay another $89+ to undo the damage she caused. ugh. anyway, fingers crossed!

in the meantime, i’m using my back-up machine:

it’s a janome memory craft 4000 and i hate it. it is actually a decent machine, it just isn’t my pfaff. and i’m spoiled as shit and all i can think about are it’s shortcomings – like, i have to adjust the tension? ew, my pfaff does that automatically. and why isn’t there a light to show me the bobbin is running out? my pfaff could tell me when the bobbin is running out. i miss my dual-feed. this machine is ugly. i need a needle-threader. etc etc.

anyway, enough whining. let’s talk peony!

oooh u guise, this dress is EASY. easy easy! i started sewing on it last night & it’s practically finished! and it looks GOOD. i can already tell i’ll be making a few more of these 😉

i did start out with a muslin, as suggested by a few people. i’ll mimic them: make a muslin! i decided to try a different approach with this pattern – i usually cut a straight 4 for the bust, this time i cut a 2 and added a 1/2″ FBA. i also found out that i needed to move the darts around a little, as they were placed kind of weird according to my body shape. here is my altered bodice front:

see the ruled paper sections? that’s how far i had to move the darts. again: make a muslin! 🙂

for the 3 of you who live under a rock & don’t read good sewing blogs, jane hosted a giveaway recently for the colette sewing handbook. and i just wanted to rub in everyone’s face that i won! hehe 🙂 seriously, though, if you haven’t picked up this book – do check it out! it is full of great information & beautiful pictures. and PATTERNS. anyway, i mention the book because i used a few of the tips with working on the peony – the diagram for a FBA (a little more concise than fit for real people) and gathering stitches with 3 rows of basting. it is kind of tedious to sew three rows of basting stitches (especially on this stupid machine! ok ok, i’ll stop.), but the results are worth it. setting in the sleeves was SO easy. mine still have a few puckers, but it is mostly from my fabric choice – a thickish velveteen that i didn’t realize was stretch until it was too late. oops.

the pockets are some cheapie red lining i found in my stash… apparently they grew when i serged them, wtf.

and so far! there is piping at the neck & waistline, which was also found in the stash – a match made in heaven, i must say! i am headed to the fabric store to pick up cummberbund fabric – i’m thinking olive green. and a fancy button, of course. oooh buttons.

what are y’all working on this weekend?

Tags: dress, my sewing machine is my best friend, peony, work in progress

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Categories work in progress

sewing for other people- lladybird summer 2011 sneak peek

5 Jul

i kind of treat my clothing line like it is my bastard child. i don’t mean to, really, but sometimes i feel like the amount of money/effort that i put into what i make won’t get much of a return when it’s time to sell – i mean, yeah, i know that there are people ~out there~ who will pay $150+ for a simple cotton sundress, but they ain’t shopping on my rack. LOL. hence why i spend the majority of my time supplementing my already-gigantic wardrobe. i rarely bring stuff to the shop & i’m sure they hate me at this point. I’M SORRY.

anyway, i was invited to participate in the next local honey fashion show at the end of this month. nevermind that i have to move within the next month or so (did i already mention that? i think i already mentioned that. my amazing roommate was accepted into the peace corps! she is leaving the country in september, so i gotta bust ass & find a solo apt! eek!), oh and i’m still making junk for the tomato art festival. i will find the time! i am actually using this as an opportunity to do a gigantic stash-bust.
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Tags: lladybird, sneaky peeky, work in progress

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Categories work in progress

bound buttonholes, revisited

21 Jun

time for a new sewing project!

simplicity 3061, in a soft/lightweight navy linen with a contrasting white linen collar.
i was going to make view 1 with the sleeves, but i followed the wrong pattern layout and now i don’t have enough linen for sleeves… oh well! sleeveless it is!

this post is actually kind of boring because i haven’t had a chance to make much real progress on the dress, save for cutting. fortunately, the muslin fit pretty well (with a few minor tweaks that can be adjusted while sewing up the actual garment) so that’s a win! man, i love me a good sewing pattern that fits straight out the envelope.

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Tags: simplicity, vintage, work in progress

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Categories work in progress

new look patterns are wtf

28 Mar

i’m in the process of making a dress for my sister. she wanted something simple – a white dress with a halter neckline that hit a little below the knee. we went to the fabric store & she picked out new look 6457, view D. the fabric is a linen-look polyester something from joann’s. pretty simple stuff.

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Tags: ceylon, shitty patterns, work in progress

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Categories work in progress

ceylon progress

23 Mar

i’ve been lurking the ceylon pattern for months now… finally gave in a couple weeks ago and bought a copy. i initially planned on making it up in some navy polka dot voile or lawn, but searching has turned to be fruitless so i settled on blue pin dot shirting fabric from fabric.com (you just wait… my first choice will suddenly be fruitful and multiply. gah.). i’ve already made a bit of progress on the dress so i thought i would share with y’all!

first off, i will point out that i didn’t bother to make a muslin and just started cutting directly into the fabric. i like to live dangerously sometimes.
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Tags: ceylon, dress, piping, western shirt, work in progress

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Categories work in progress

lladybird for spring 2011: a sneak peek

11 Mar

life got majorly busy and i haven’t been sewing much as of lately. and by “sewing,” i mean “sewing for myself” – i’ve been working up a frenzy in preparation for nashville fashion week. not because i have anything to do with *that* event, but local honey is throwing their annual spring premier the same weekend. so yay, spring clothes!!

i’ve been working on some new designs & some new color scenes… playing around with more details this time around, especially ruffles & pintucking & bias stripes. i’m still working the colorblocks… i tried to pull away from it, but i can’t help it, i love colorblocking too much! there are a few “classic” lladybird dresses in the mix, but i’ll also be introducing some half-circle skirts dresses. fun!

here is a sneak peek at what i’ve been cooking up:
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Tags: dress, lladybird, work in progress

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Categories work in progress

vogue 9668 v2.0 – progress

22 Feb

i’ve been working on my second v9668, aka the summer version. what should have been a fairly straight-forward project (i mean, i JUST finished the first one pretty recently, so the construction is very fresh in my mind) has turned into a huge headache and a lot of wow-i-sure-made-this-as-difficult-as-possible-huh.

this is the fabric i’m using.

it’s a lovely stretch cotton with a touch of sateen. GORGEOUS.

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Tags: crochet, dress, piping, roses afgan, vogue, work in progress

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Categories work in progress

the importance of pressing

1 Feb

there are two types of sewers: those who press, and those who don’t.

i must confess, in my early days of garment sewing, i fell squarely into the latter. why would i want to press anything? i hated ironing and i didn’t see a point in spending nearly half my precious sewing time smooshing a bunch of seams that were on the inside of a garment, aka, no one was going to see them anyway.

sadly, i can’t pinpoint the exact moment that i had my “A-HA, PRESSING!” revelation, but suffice to say i have turned a complete 180 as far as my iron is concerned. i am a pressing fiend, y’all. i have developed a love affair with my iron and my finished projects have never looked better. properly pressing really is the key to having a gorgeous handmade garment – as opposed to “homeade” (and probably sewn up with quilter’s cotton, yeeech).

(image borrowed from vintagesewing.info :3)