A little this, a little that
I'm in that wacky stage of being between sewing projects. I really want to sew something else for myself, but I don't quite know what and I have other obligations first.
I did make a wool plaid jumper for Clara (this was actually before I made the red and black print dress for myself). Her wool is less fuzzy - more of a suiting - but her plaid was rectangular, so everything is straight - no bias. She loves it a lot (wore it three days in a row!). It's fully lined with the remnants of some blue Bemberg from this Burda dress. (That dress is completed, but needs to be taken in on the sides.)
This time I put a tad more thought into my construction, which resulted in far less handsewing to make things work. I still underlined the pleated skirt while lining the bodice in a more traditional manner. This time I used my rolled hem foot to hem the lower edge of the bodice lining before I catch-stitched it to the skirt.
I also scored by finding a nearly identical colour of bias rayon seam binding in my stash. There was enough left to use as piping along the accent band at the dropped waist. I don't know where one might purchase bias rayon seam binding these days. This bit was from my mother's box of sewing gear.
I whipped out another shirt and a pair of sweatpants for Peter. Good old Kwik Sew 3234 for the shirt and Simplicity 9949 for the pants. I've had them cut out for months, but recently, in a fit of cleaning up my sewing space, I finished them up. Of course, Peter has sprouted up in the last month or so, so these won't fit him for long.
The next big thing is checking my draft for a hooded cape. The kids' drama group at our church needs eight of them. I made Simplicity 5512 for Peter for Halloween, but the hood is too pointy and not drapey enough. They want the hoods to drape heavily, reminiscent of Palpatine's hood. They want the feeling to be evil, not elvin. I think I have the hood figured out, but I need to plan out a swift method for making the capes and then organize a group sewing night to get them done. All I need to do is buy some fabric to make a sample with.
While waiting for a chance to go to Dressew (my closest fabric store), I pulled out an unfinished dress from my closet, tried it on again, took apart the horizontal bust darts, repositioned them and stitched them back down. The darts aren't perfect now, but they look a lot better. Definitely wearable. Finishing the dress, however, will require a helper. When I cut out the dress, I wasn't sure exactly how I wanted to install the back zipper, so I added a fair bit to both seam allowances. Of course now I have no idea how much extra there is back there. I need someone to come over and pin me into my dress and then mark the seamline with chalk. Then I can go over the chalk with thread basting and figure out my zipper insertion method from there. Unfortunately, my dear husband is not the best pinner. Anyone local up for the task?
Having hit that stopping point, I traced off one of the dress patterns for the girls, Simplicity 2825, thinking I would try changing it up to be a pull-over knit dress. All of the tissue work went well until I laid it out on the fabric. I don't have enough for the skirt! Maybe I can find a coordinating solid knit in a similar weight for the skirt. That might actually really help the dress look more like clothes and less like PJs.
And in thinking-about-sewing-but-not-actually-sewing-news, I checked out two Threads DVDs from our central library. Industry Insider Techniques and the Waist and Hips fitting DVD. I also picked up Pattern Making made Easy by Connie Amaden-Crawford, because really, making my own patterns would be so much easier, right? LOL! Seriously though, I might get there one day. For right now, this makes good bedtime reading.
I did make a wool plaid jumper for Clara (this was actually before I made the red and black print dress for myself). Her wool is less fuzzy - more of a suiting - but her plaid was rectangular, so everything is straight - no bias. She loves it a lot (wore it three days in a row!). It's fully lined with the remnants of some blue Bemberg from this Burda dress. (That dress is completed, but needs to be taken in on the sides.)
This time I put a tad more thought into my construction, which resulted in far less handsewing to make things work. I still underlined the pleated skirt while lining the bodice in a more traditional manner. This time I used my rolled hem foot to hem the lower edge of the bodice lining before I catch-stitched it to the skirt.
I also scored by finding a nearly identical colour of bias rayon seam binding in my stash. There was enough left to use as piping along the accent band at the dropped waist. I don't know where one might purchase bias rayon seam binding these days. This bit was from my mother's box of sewing gear.
I whipped out another shirt and a pair of sweatpants for Peter. Good old Kwik Sew 3234 for the shirt and Simplicity 9949 for the pants. I've had them cut out for months, but recently, in a fit of cleaning up my sewing space, I finished them up. Of course, Peter has sprouted up in the last month or so, so these won't fit him for long.
The next big thing is checking my draft for a hooded cape. The kids' drama group at our church needs eight of them. I made Simplicity 5512 for Peter for Halloween, but the hood is too pointy and not drapey enough. They want the hoods to drape heavily, reminiscent of Palpatine's hood. They want the feeling to be evil, not elvin. I think I have the hood figured out, but I need to plan out a swift method for making the capes and then organize a group sewing night to get them done. All I need to do is buy some fabric to make a sample with.
While waiting for a chance to go to Dressew (my closest fabric store), I pulled out an unfinished dress from my closet, tried it on again, took apart the horizontal bust darts, repositioned them and stitched them back down. The darts aren't perfect now, but they look a lot better. Definitely wearable. Finishing the dress, however, will require a helper. When I cut out the dress, I wasn't sure exactly how I wanted to install the back zipper, so I added a fair bit to both seam allowances. Of course now I have no idea how much extra there is back there. I need someone to come over and pin me into my dress and then mark the seamline with chalk. Then I can go over the chalk with thread basting and figure out my zipper insertion method from there. Unfortunately, my dear husband is not the best pinner. Anyone local up for the task?
Having hit that stopping point, I traced off one of the dress patterns for the girls, Simplicity 2825, thinking I would try changing it up to be a pull-over knit dress. All of the tissue work went well until I laid it out on the fabric. I don't have enough for the skirt! Maybe I can find a coordinating solid knit in a similar weight for the skirt. That might actually really help the dress look more like clothes and less like PJs.
And in thinking-about-sewing-but-not-actually-sewing-news, I checked out two Threads DVDs from our central library. Industry Insider Techniques and the Waist and Hips fitting DVD. I also picked up Pattern Making made Easy by Connie Amaden-Crawford, because really, making my own patterns would be so much easier, right? LOL! Seriously though, I might get there one day. For right now, this makes good bedtime reading.
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