What's Black, White & Red All Over?

MY COMPLETED MINORU!!

  

I'm so pleased with how my Minoru turned out. It took me FOREEEEHHHVER. But, it's worth it. I didn't find it to be difficult, but sometimes it's hard to fit things into a full time life. Tasia's Sew Along posts were key to staying on track with the project. I hardly glanced at the paper instructions, but read through all the posts and comments as I went along.

I poured over blog after blog of finished Minorus before planning my project and found myself really inspired by Jessie's Bike-In-The-Rain version. I loved the sheen of her fabric and the length of the coat. I don't bike. I drive. Truth: I try to avoid the great outdoors. Still, I find myself darting through the rain going in and out of buildings, or moving the hubby's car out of the way so I can drive the small boy to school. 

Don't mind the dust mote....I've been too busy sewing to clean.

I first made a muslin in size 8, what I thought I measured, and added a 1.5 inch FBA using this tutorial from Lazy Stitching. It fit well until I tried to reach forward with my arms and found it was way too tight across the back. Also, the girls really needed some more room. Wanting the girls to be happy, I up-sized to a 12. Interesting: on the flat pattern, my adjusted 8 was the same (more or less) as the 12. I added a 1.5 inch FBA to the 12, trimmed back the hip to an 8 and thought it was perfect. I shortened the sleeve by 1 inch. Although, I now see that I could have left it as is and the length would have been fine. Lastly, I shortened the total length of the body by a whopping 4 inches. My short 5ft tall frame would have been really overwhelmed by all that red fabric. The coat hits at my mid hip which is perfect. I don't sit on it when I get in the car and it doesn't ride up to expose my belly when I reach for things. 

I ordered my outer fabric and waterproof zippers from Seattle Fabrics. I thought I had ordered 3 yards of Silkara, but inside the UPS box was 2 2/3 yards of Tent Red 2-ply Ultrex. Hurrumph. I DID order the Ultrex (oops), but I was supposed to get 3 yards of it. In the end it didn't matter, as I only used about 2 yards anyway. The 2-ply Ultrex is Nylon on the top with a rubbery sort of back. Use anything bigger than a fine silk pin and you might as well be trying to shove a tooth pick through your fabric. Also, pins leave holes in the Ultrex. A good pass with an iron erases the marks, but I used paper clips and bobby pins whenever possible to help maintain the integrity of the membrane. 

 

 

Here's my Not On Purpose swoopy corners. I sewed that thing twice.

Deciding how to top stitch was a challenge for me. I REALLY wanted a contrast stitch, but my straight-line sewing skills are lacking. I went for it anyway. I couldn't figure out how to work with the thickness of official Top Stitching Thread, nor could I figure out the triple stitch that Tasia talks about here on my machine. A single line of black thread was just lost in all that red, so I chose to do two. While it still looks subtle, I really love it. Trust me, I know where every single mistake is. My hope is that you don't. I am working at being a failed perfectionist. The mistakes that exist, I've decided I can live with.

I chose to line the hood. I also lined the inside of the hood pocket on BOTH sides. I bound the bottom seam in the hood pocket on the zipper side in bias binding after it was attached to the outer shell. I stitched the lining of the inside collar to the lining so that the bottom seam was covered. The sides and top are raw, but no one will ever see them and I don't think it will be a problem.  

Speaking of the hood...It's big and floppy and fantastic. Mysterious, but conspicuous. I mean, it is RED after all...

I kept the dart when I did the FBA. You can sort of see it in the above picture. I debated splitting the distance and rotating it between the waist and the shoulder gathers, but by the time I actually considered it, I'd already cut the front and it was too late. For a time, I was concerned that the tip of the dart would be too pointy. As it turned out, the fabric doesn't really hold much of a crease and it is barely noticeable in the finished coat. I'm wishing I took a picture of the pockets in use now that I write this, but I didn't. I'm a pocket user. Keys, tissues, hands when my friends tease me for waiving them about as I talk...I used Amy's side seam pocket tutorial. In it, she states that you can't top stitch with the side seam pockets, but I refused to accept that and hit Google with determination. That's where I found this. RELIEF! I got what I wanted.

My very most favorite thing about this coat is the lining. It is a black and cream giraffe print silk charmeuse that I ordered online from Mood Fabrics. This fabric holds up to all the rumors about silk. Cool water sliding over your skin on a hot day; luxury. It's also an elusive PIA to cut. Such is the price for a sumptuous fabric like this, and well worth it! I ordered 3 yeards based on the pattern envelope and have more than a yard left over. The extra is destined to be a summer tank. Either this one or this one. 

 I'm still too shy to pose for you, but this little ham isn't. He's just as taken with the feel of the silk as I am and asked me to make him a silk blanket with my scraps. I'm leaning toward silk pillow cases....

Slumber Cats, AKA What To Do With Fabric You HATE!

Recently, my friend hosted Girls Night Over Pajama Party! With this in mind, I decided to take a chance an order the Sleepwear Mystery Bundle from FabricMart.com several weeks back. For $12, I get 2.5 yards each of a flannel, knit and flannel backed satin. That's lots of fabric, and I was feeling adventurous. Fast forward to delivery and ....boo hoo. I was disappointed! Really, what did I expect for $12?

My bundle contained:

• White Flannel Backed Satin. At first I thought it was really great, then I handled it and realized it is so thin. The "flannel" backing is really just a brushed back. It's a terrible silky poly, and shreds the second you glance at it. I think it's natural state is puckered. At least at the seams. 
• Baby Blue t-shirt jersey. As it turns out, this is the best cut of the bunch. It's a standard t-shirt weight jersey. I think it's just a 2-way stretch and it's thin without being flimsy. It will make nice shirts. But it's not at all a color I would choose for myself. This color of sky/baby blue screams little kid to me.
• the Flannel. OH, I had such hopes for the flannel. I will say that it's a nice flannel fabric-wise. However, the print: I wanted to just toss it straight out. Fushia pink (I could deal with that) peppered with white with black polka dot CATS and little black bows. NOOOOO. I hate cats. I play for the dog team.

I realize I'm taking a risk admitting here in the sewing community how much I despise those creepy, arrogant, hairy creatures, but it's the truth. So, my bundle sat in the corner of my office, discarded, for a couple weeks.  "A waste," I thought. Maybe one day I'll have a reason to use it for a muslin or a rag quilt to give away to some cat-loving family with a little girl.

Then my funk hit.

Uninspired. Everything I have embarked on lately just isn't turning out or develops some PIA problem. I started feeling like my skills are lacking and I'm not currently capable of finishing things in the way I've envisioned them. I've already spent time complaining about that, so I won't bore you anymore. What I will say is that since my last post, I feel like I've been trying to rush through my projects to the end so that I can start on another one that's be percolating in my brain too long. I came to the conclusion that I'm taking my sewing too seriously! That's when I realized that I needed to do something fun and easy. Something I'm not in a hurry to finish and can get creative with. I needed to make something with my cat flannel.

This was the plan. Cat Flannel, Brushed Back Satin, matching fuchsia blanket binding and white with black dots grosgrain ribbon. That pink rib knit is something I just happened to have in my stash. I bought it long before the bundle. Some random $1.99/yard Walmart fabric picked up to practice new knit patterns. Coincidence? 

I started the first of the pieces with New Look 6072. It's only 2 pattern pieces and so I didn't even look at the directions to make it. I used french seams to make sure the inside looked nice and neat. I didn't bother with the trim pieces. Instead, I picked up fuchsia blanket binding for the sleeves and front/neck. I had intended to add pleated grosgrain polka dot ribbon trim between the fuchsia and white so that it wouldn't look so plain, but that detail was edited out after the Mandolin Indecent (we'll talk about that later). As I saw on the only existing blog entry for this pattern I could find, I added a waist channel on the inside and ran through some 1.5 inch dot ribbon as a tie. My friends tell me it looks like a boxing robe. Maybe I should add "Sewing Vortex" to the back in iron on letters.

After a quick Google search and after lots of reading, I settled on this free slippers pattern. Although, I constructed them as described here. Instead of batting, I used some memory foam shoe insoles for cushioning. They are pretty comfy to wear, and I think with just a little tweaking  my next, non-cat version will be perfect.
















The pants are standard elastic waist pj pants made with Simplicity 2414. I trimmed the top and cuffs with the satin to break up all that pink. My first attempt had pink piping inserted between the white waistband and the pant, but with the french seaming, it was WAY too stiff and stuck out like a hula-hoop. I pulled it out and ripped out the cording and used it as flat piping around the white cuffs instead.

I had fully intended to make a little t-shirt to wear with this, and after 2 days of sewing a couple different options, I scrapped the idea. I made these adorable short rouched ragglan sleeves out of the cat flannel. First I attached them to pink ribbed shirt, but HOLY TOO MUCH PINK! I pulled them off and at 11:30 the night before the party, sacrificed one of hubby's white t-shirts to the sewing gods and used it for a white t-shirt version. The stretch was much firmer and sadly it didn't fit at all. I even tried to add a panel down the side seams to give me some extra room, but it wasn't working.








The ridiculousness of short flannel sleeves brings me such joy. Silly.
I'm debating on getting some white jersey just to finish it, but then again, the moment is sort of over.

It's worth noting that about a week before the party, I had an accident with a kitchen utensil with which I sliced off part of the side of my right ring finger (pinky side). The following elements of my Slumber Cats were completed with my maimed hand: hand stitching closed the insides of the slippers, the waistband and cuffs of the pants, the t-shirts and the pleating/attaching of the ribbon on the pants pocket.

I will be purchasing knife gloves before using my mandolin again,

These Pajamas will not get me Grown Up Time with the hubby, but they will get me Giggle Time with the girlfriends. A woman needs that too!

Slow Goin'

Despite my infrequent posting and shoddy photography, I've managed to acquire a follower! And it's not someone I know. Crazy. Welcome, Kristine!

Anyway, this incredibly slow sewer is feeling incredibly frustrated. I've not completed anything in the last several weeks...well, aside from 1 Joann Store jersey t-shirt. While I love it, it's super vanilla cake and not really Exciting Blog Material. Plus, it took me something like 2 weeks to make. WTF. I just don't see how people can whip out garments in a day or two. I'd probably still show it if I could figure out how to take a self portrait in which I don't look blurry or like someone just kicked my dog. (Do I walk around with angry face all the time? Yikes.)

I've also been working on a dress, Simplicity 2337 (view A, sleeveless and sans ruffle). I'm using a textured wool/silk blend in a cranberry color from Mood.com. The fabric is super easy to sew and cut. It feels soft and drapes nicely for the gathered front. The dress is simple and shouldn't be this difficult. Naturally, I am making this project much harder than it needs to be and dragging it out to where I don't have the motivation to finish it. Meh. Really. Where am I going to wear a fancy red dress? I, of course, decided I needed to line the dress. I finally figured out how to do that, and even got the sheath dress to fit me well (WHAT?) but now the hem is all wonky and evening it out is not my idea of fun. Plus the v-neck is gaping a little on one side and suddenly the front straps are too long. I know these aren't hard to fix, if I had the gumption.

What do I do when I get bogged down in the finesse of finishing a project? I do some stash building and plan out new projects, that's what!

• 6 yards of different denims for my as yet to be fitted correctly Thurlows and Junipers.
• Several yards each of 3 different ITY knits. Need to spend some time w/my little Brother, YO!
• The supplies I need for my Minoru Raincoat & matching rain boot liners. That's right, I haven't even traced off the pattern yet. So what? 
• 10 yards (yes, I said 10) of teal jersey backed stretch fleece. It was a $1.99/yard special at FabricMart.com last week. I couldn't resist. I need new hoodies and now I have enough to make a muslin and a final (plus some lounge pants, if I want). I was really pleased with the fabric, it's thick and soft and when I ran it through my washer, it was so fluffy that it didn't all get wet. I washed it several times on hot, and was finally satisfied.
• Purchased/printed and traced out Victory Patterns Nicola dress. I plan to cut into some of my ITY knit today for this dress. Yes, I know it's a pattern for wovens, but not following directions is what I do best. If it turns out, I'll wear it to hubby's big 4-0 party we are having in a few weeks. I also plan to use the wrap blouse, version-3, with some very vintage kimono silk I have. 
• I plan to finish the Colette Lily I started last fall. It's mostly done, but I need to take in the chest (not the bust) about 3 inches. Then put on the straps and hem it. It's my back-up dress plan for the 4-0 party.

So, the question is, will any of these actually get completed and make it to a blog post? Don't hold your breath! I'll probably change my mind 3 times first.

These Pins Will Be The Death of Me

Or more likely, my Little Brother. 

This is the pointy part of the pin in my fabric after being bitten in half by my machine blade.

We've spent a good amount of time getting to know each other the past few days. While being pretty much exactly like a regular machine, it's so very different. I'm having serious trouble with the timing of removing pins. Because the presser foot is long and the needles are further back, I'll be sewing along, not realizing until it's too late that my chomping knife just sliced through another pin. I know. I know. That's bad. This Sunday afternoon, I chomped at least 4 pins. All on accident. I feel like I need to pin differently when using the serger, or not at all. I tend to use lots of pins. Switching to using few or none is very foreign.

Another adjustment is that I don't know what to do with my hands. On my regular machine, my hands know their jobs and I don't even really have to think about it. They just do it. My little Brother feels awkward. There's no space on the side of the needles for my right hand and I feel all cramped. The machine feels much deeper than my regular machine, and my posture suffers. I'm leaning forward hunched over, giving myself shoulder and neck cramps. Maybe I need a taller chair? Maybe it's just achy joints because I'm really sick right now. Maybe I need to not be a lazy slouch. <shrug>. 

Lastly, I feel like the fabric plate where I rest the project parts not being sewn is small. I feel like I don't have enough flat space in front to smooth out my fabric before it gets to the knife and needles. Do they make extender plates for these things? I should Google that.....

I realize these are all things that will get better the more I use my little Brother. After just the last 3 days, I'm already so much more comfortable! There's lots of stuff out there about threading difficulties and honestly, it was no big deal. Yes, it takes some time, but not enough to prohibit proper color changing. This thing is loud, unfortunately, but boy does it stitch nice and even and FAST. Of course, once they are in, stitches don't come out. I learned that the hard way. This will also be an adjustment, as I often sew things 2 or 3 times to get it right. 

Sorry for the washed out pictures.
And, I probably should have pressed
this seam before photographing.

Naturally, for my first project, I chose something that required more than just normal stitches. Raglan sleeves,  ruched/gathered detail on arms, elastic seam stabilizer... I spent lots of time reading up on how to do the ruching, tested out several options such as using elastic to gather, and in the end decided on the most simple of solutions: Altering the machine's differential feed and using the gathering foot that came with it. (OK, so I cheated by first straight stitching the sleeve with a long basting stitch and gathering it before running it through the serger). "Differential Feed" sounds scary, but it's not, it's so cool! The detail turned out great! I don't need the sleeve to stretch out, and the standard 4-thread overlock stitch has just enough give in it to prevent tearing if the sleeve is tugged. ---Speaking of, I still don't understand the mechanics of why a stitch with 2 straight stitch lines is stretchier than a traditional 1 stitch seam.

Consistent with everything else I sew, this project is a bust. Not because of the machine, but because of fit. I selected this Burdastyle pattern, a basic slouchy long sleeved t-shirt. The kind of thing I like to live in. I measured a full size larger than what the pattern actually was drafted in, so I cut the largest size and added a 1 inch seam allowance (which I didn't end up needing) to give me some room to adjust things. 

Look at how clever I am, using my son's 1-inch Magnetix piece to add a seam allowance to the BurdaStyle pattern.

I decided to baste the pieces together on my standard machine to test the fit. Guess what? It seemed just fine. 

So who's the dummy that decided to bast in tiny zig-zag stitches?

I serged that sucker together (with some UGLY seams) and you know what? WAY too big in the chest and shoulders. I mean WAY too big. Sewing with knit fabric (super fine rayon jersey, in this case) seems to be a different fitting experience than with wovens. This fabric is so fluid, constantly moving and changing shape on me. Maybe I should have started with a stable knit.

I cut off the sleeves and down part of the sides. (Remember how I said those serged seems weren't coming back out. Definitely not when it's black thread on black fabric). I hand basted them back on with another 5/8 inch seam allowance and it seemed to fit better. After re-sewing and testing the fit, it's still too big. And I'm getting rippling coming off the sleeve seams. I'm not giving up. I think I need to go back to the drawing board and start over. I'm going to get out sometime today (if it ever stops snowing and they plow the roads) to grab some more stable (less slinky and drapey) knits to work with. Once I get the fit on those right, I can move on to fine gauge knits and good quality fabrics. (Goal: wool and silk jersey!)

Hangin' w/My Little Brother

Sad basket of discarded project patterns.

I came up for air after finishing my Cape Coat and realized the state of care my sewing supplies are getting is downright shameful.  I have a tendency to just toss things in a pile when I'm frustrated or in a hurry or if "I'm going to need that later..." (ie: lazy). That's pretty much always. I figure I need to slow down, tidy up, and maybe learn to use my new overlocker before diving head first into another project.

Patterns are neat, but the fabric....

My sewing supplies are scattered between my office upstairs, the family room downstairs and the pit of my laundry room in the basement. I'm not going to drone on embarrass myself with pictures of my mess but I will say that laundry room bears a scary resemblance to an episode of Hoarders. Honestly.  the amount of money spent on fabric and things, I should treat things better. Something to work on.

In between cleaning sessions, I plan to hang out with my little Brother. Sonny so generously gave me exactly what I asked for at Christmas, and I have yet to even plug it in. I've been procrastinating because although I want very much to learn how to overlock and work with knits, I'm overwhelmed by the machine and really have no idea where to start with it or even know when it is appropriate to use it. Enter Craftsy! I signed up for their Beginner Serging class. By the end, I should be a pro and ready to take on a new project.

Cape Coat Dud

The thought of me being "trendy" when it comes to fashion is laughable. But, as I scoured the internet, I realized that just about anything can be considered trendy if I look hard enough. 

My cape coat combines the trends of plaid with cape with over-belt to create an outer wear piece I thought to be suitable for my mid-western, mid-30's mom-ness. Truthfully, the inspiration for this came from wanting to use a caramel colored obi-wrap belt I bought a year ago at the Limited for no reason at all and have never worn. The price tag is still on it.

If cape coats are so trendy, then why can't I find more than one or two sewing blogs where people have made one? My inability to over research a project forced me to hesitate, but just for a quick minute. I found this lovely Shetland Wool on clearance for pennies on the dollar. Without checking the pattern back, I ordered 4 yards and as it turns out, I have enough fabric to make two. It's the perfect color for my caramel belt. I made it up in Simplicity's Project Runway pattern 1775, using a roll of vintage Japanese kimono silk from my stash as a lining. As I did with my Lumber Jackie O Coat, I interlined it with this fabulous lambswool from A Fashionable Stitch's store.

Silk Lining

Shetland Wool

I pre-treated the silk the way I have all the kimono silk I buy: by putting it in the washer on cold and then the dryer for about 10 or 15 minutes. It comes out mostly dry and really wadded up. It's only 14 inches wide, and 500+ inches long. I steam press it on each side immediately after it comes out of the dryer and then roll it back up on it's tube for storage. This stuff is old, and used--you can see stitch holes in the edges where it used to be a garment and was taken apart. Sometimes there's patina or stains, it can be dirty from age and use, and there's always that "old" smell. I find it cleans up really nicely in the washer, doesn't shrink in the dryer (much, anyway) and so far hasn't caused any damage. 

In contrast, I was nervous about pre-washing the wool myself. I know wool shrinks, and that would be fine (it is the point, after all) but I was worried about the plaid twisting off grain, or needing to re-block the yardage (whatever that means). I have no interest in stretching back to grain 4 yards of thick and wide wool. My local cleaners says they will steam press it for a flat fee, so that's what I did. The finished product will go there for cleanings anyway. My time and stress is worth $20.

This pattern does not have pockets. To fix this, I placed my hand where it would naturally want to fall and traced it (on my muslin, of course). I used those dimensions and angles to modify the welt pocket pieces from my last coat. I made them about an inch wider and deep enough for m whole hand to fit inside. Noticed I matched the plaids on the welts!

Welt Pocket Guts..so ugly.

I worked hard to successfully match all the plaid on this project's seams, and I was pretty successful too!

So, Crystal, why is this seemingly lovely coat a dud? I feel huge in it for two reasons: 

1. It's too big! Boo. The back is far too baggy, especially at the waist. 
2. Poor fabric choice means it's too bulky. If this had been made in a fabric with more drape, the bigness of it wouldn't be so overwhelming on my petite stature. Using a blanket weight wool and adding a lining and underlining gives this piece way more body than the style should have. It's stiff and heavy.

I wore the coat grocery shopping in yesterday's cold and snowy day, and it was pretty comfy. Just a shame that it doesn't fit well enough for me.

Tacky Turtle

I'm not a quilter, and I don't make things for other people. Except for my most recent project.... Say "Hello" to Tacky Turtle, Simplicity 2493. My present for a friend's baby boy who was born last July. I am justifying the lateness of my gift because they live far away. I think one month for each hour it takes me to drive to visit sounds about right.

During construction of this beginner's project, I experienced all the typical love/hate relationship issues that I often feel while sewing. 

• Questioning fabric choices...CHECK
• Shoddy stitching...CHECK
• Swearing because 6 layers of minky, batting and cotton flannel suck...CHECK
• Ripping out the center piece no fewer than 4 times...CHECK
• "I swear to God, if I forget to drop the presser foot one more time..." OH YES.

Finally, I ended up with this:

Each section is a sandwich of minky (on the bottom) cotton batting in the middle and cotton flannel or minky on the top. The sections are machine quilted then the edges are stitched together seams sticking up.

Meh. If you look closely, quilting lines don't always match up, there are skipped stitches and other issues. BUT, there are no holes in it. The minky is soft, even if I forgot to pay attention to nap when cutting and the "color" of the underside is wonky.

Clip Clip Clip and it starts to get cuter.

Then, each seam and edge is clipped every half inch or so.

By the magic of two wash/dry cycles and a truck-load of lint, here is the final product.

I had to place Tacky Turtle on my dining room floor, and stand on the table to get all of him in the picture. 

I will say that Tacky Turtle photographs well. For a while I was undecided if it was "good enough" to give to my friend. The more I stared at it the more I thought, Maybe... I am a harsher judge of my projects than most people I know. In the end I packed up Mr. T. Turtle and shipped him off to his new home to be chewed on, drooled on and spit up on. Good thing he's washable!