Self-Stitched September?

I thought about signing up for SSS, but really, what's the point? I already wear something I made every day. In the morning and evening (when temps are cooler) it's usually a maxi house-dress, sometimes yoga pants and a top. The yoga pants-top combo may be all store-bought, but I only wear it for part of the day. Here's a sample of the sort of sef-sewn garment I'm likely to be wearing at any given moment during warmer midday hours. None of these are new, I'm just throwing together a quickie post here ;-):

Mid-day reliably finds me in either a short dress or a skirt and top. Skirt-top combos are most often either top or bottom self-sewn, and the other half purchased. But a day in which I did not don anything self-sewn between waking and sleeping? Hasn't happened in a long time. If I had a real job, and challenged myself to wear self-sewn work clothes daily for month, I'd be in trouble. But I work at home, so comfy rules and goofy is welcome, and I've got a closet full of that kind of stuff.

My ONE BIG GOAL for September is to finish a pair of self-sewn pants. They have to fit, to count. I'm getting closer. I might even cut out the Marrakesh pants from a "fashion" fabric today, if I have any energy left after doing errands. And if I can decide on a fabric.

Inspirational!

I went to WalMart this morning to get a plastic drawer unit for my sewing room, to store sorted (!) quilting  scraps. These look tidy, but will soon be a mess if I keep them in those large bins (which I need for garment fabric anyway; they were a temporary solution):

Free time the past few days (plus a few hours that could have been spent at my desk, producing an income) has gone to folding fabric and tidying up the sewing room. So far I've only done the quilting fabrics. Garment fabric will be tackled this afternoon. And the sewing room isn't much tidier, as I've created quite a mess pulling stuff out so I can see what I've got.

Anyway, a good chunk of the fabric wrangling this week went to sorting through what has become a substantial pile of scraps from both quilt and clothing projects. I realize that serious quilters will laugh themselves silly at what I call a "substantial" scrap accumulation, but it feels like a lot to me. Clearly it is time to make a scrap quilt to use up some of the itty bitty pieces that aren't quite small enough to throw out but are hardest to justify keeping. I'm thinking something like this.

In the meantime, more storage drawers had emerged as an urgent necessity, so off to WalMart I went. That's twice in one month, which is a lot for me, as it is my store of last resort as much as possible. However, it's the only place in town to realiably find something like this at a decent price.

The big thrill came when I wheeled my cart back to the car, and "excuse me!"... a young woman approached. "Can you tell me who makes your skirt," she said. "It looks perfect for summer."

"I designed it myself," I replied, immensely pleased with myself.

"Oh, I thought maybe it was a Lily Pulitzer," she said. "She does such bright florals."

She brightened up when I said I'd made it, so I showed her it was just a simple drawstring a-line, very briefly described my process (I piece the main fabrics before cutting a self-drafted pattern, same front and back), assured her it was something she could do on her very basic sewing machine (straight stitch only), and suggested she Google "self-drafted skirt pattern" when she got home, for pointers.

"Go make yourself a skirt!" I encouraged. "You can do it!"

I hope she does.

* * *

PS: I also stopped at the craft store for some fabric paint, stencil sponges, and spray adhesive, so I can get creative with my old T-shirts, Alabama style. First, though, I need to finish cleaning up the sewing room.

SoNP Skirt #4: not quite a wadder

Summer of No Pants skirt #4: technically it is done. Hemmed and zipped and there's even a button and buttonhole in the waistband. But it's so "meh" I can't even be bothered to dig out which pattern I made it from. New Look something that's been around for eons: basic pencil and A-line versions in various lengths. Muslined the pencil version a while back and didn't like enough to make from "real" fabric. This was to see if the A-line is better (no).

The good news: I'm a more experienced seamstress now, and have (maybe) figured out what the problem is: something about this pattern is not right in the hip curve on me. It just doesn't sit well. NL are drafted for a fit model on the short side, and I have to add 2" min. length. But adding it to hem or mid-thigh is not resulting a well-fitting skirt.

I do like this fabric: another Kaffe Fassett from the stash, acquired during one of my many past Fabric.com sale binges. I think I was wrong, though, to assume it would be best as a simple, classic skirt. The only thing appealing (to me) about this is the fabric. As a skirt, it's yawn-inducing.

It needs something more: pockets? rick-rack? pockets trimmed with rick-rack? an eyelet underskirt peeking out the bottom? all of the above?

Maybe, but I'm about 30 years too old to wear the kind of look that would result in. I'll be utterly content if this shrieks "homemade," so maybe I'll get crafty with it, and add some kind of applique. A green vine with big leaves, meandering all the way around, maybe? Finding prints that will stand out against this fabric will be a challenge. Solids might be the answer, but are meager in my stash.

So, not quite a wadder. "Meh," but potentially salvagable if I get creative with it. For now, it's gonna go back in the sewing room closet.

I'm also not happy with the waistband. I made one following the pattern (when was the last time I did that!?) to test my ingrained assumption that I hate waistbands, and yup, it's not my thing. Even in a narrow width and lightweight interfacing it feels stiff and unnecessary. I'm gonna go back to facing or binding my skirt waists, as I like 'em.

Lessons learned:

1) be wary of New Look fit

2) don't use an invisible zip in the side seam (the only stash zip of appropriate length and color on hand); it doesn't hang well

3) I don't like waistbands

4) Plain vanilla clothing is not my thing

Okay, Summer of No Pants challenge has been met. Next up, my own personal challenge: "summer of learning how to sew pants (that fit)." I know, I know: I'm all talk and no action on the pants thing. But I'm going to tackle it before the summer is out. This summer. Really.

SoNP Skirt #3: Shabby Chic

This (originally plain, and somewhat "meh") pink skirt is flattering and comfortable, and delightfully fluttery about the ankles in action, and I hardly ever wear it. That's because I bought two, and when deciding which to wear I reach, over and over, for the green one. For the Summer of No Pants week 3 project I decided to embellish this one with some simple machine applique and turn it from a forgotten garment in the back of the closet into something I will wear.

I got the idea to use on-point squares from the Sideways Squares Skirt in this book. The plan was to use many different fabrics from the scrap bin, but over and over when I lay them on the skirt they didn't feel just right. Until I grabbed a half-yard piece of this Amy Butler print:

... and it clicked. The effect is much more subtle than I'd planned ("subtle" not being a word that is used often in describing my color preferences), and I love it.

The skirt is a long A-line with large and rather oddly shaped godets in each side seam which result in a bit of a handkerchief hem look. You can see the shape and my embellishment layout a little better here (this color is closer to accurate, but harder to see):

I cut fabric squares in several sizes: 5, 4, 3, and 2". Largest are at the bottom, and the smallest rest between the lower two rows. At first I'd planned to fold under the edges of each square, but after pressing a few that seemed laborious. Plus, the skirt fabric (a linen-cotton blend) is very floppy drapey, so unhemmed squares seemed like a better choice.  I trimmed each square with pinking shears, pinned them in place, and sewed them down with a zigzag stitch. After washing, they should get nice and fuzzy around the edges. I figure a good "shabby chic" effect will mean I never have to iron this skirt again.

Here's another look at the result:

This was so easy and fun and quick to do. I may have to rummage in the closet for more clothes to embellish.

SoNP Skirt #2

Got another one done:

Fabric is Kaffe Fassett "Guinea Flower" that's been in the stash since I succumbed to impulse during a Fabric.com sale some time ago. I had in mind a summer dress, but the rows of flowers have a stronger linear/diagonal impact than I'd thought. Pondering how to cut a princess-seamed top from this for TNT Vogue 8232, and how to avoid having any of those little blossoms end up in an infortunate spot either above or below the waist, I gave up and set the fabric aside.

Eventually, as it so often does, my mind turned to thoughts of a skirt. And it kept imagining this fabric as a pretty summer skirt. Something slightly girly. With a flounce perhaps.

Something like New Look 6682, which I've commented on here and here. "I doubt I'll ever make it again," I'd said, documenting the pattern's flaws. Hah. As soon as I thought "skirt" for this fabric, I thought of this pattern. Shorter. Much shorter. And with the double flounce. This fabric wants to be flounced.

So I dug out the pattern, took a whopping 7" of length out of each skirt piece (which I'd lengthened 2" for version 1), and, after much fiddling, figured out how to squeeze all the necessary pieces for View D from my 2.5 yards of fabric: doable, but a tight fit. I also decided I would work with the excessive ease, rather than try to remove it, and make this up as a drawstring waist (whee! no zipper!). I left about 2.5" of the top left side seam open, folded down another 1-3/8" at the waist to make a drawstrong casing, bringing the length, as planned, to the bottom of my kneecap.

This could turn out to be a fave summer skirt. I love the length, and the pale green, pink, and turquoise flowers will go with many different tops. (Ignore, please, the ratty old camisole I've mostly cropped out of these pics; it's what I had on, and as good anything else that's clean today). Too bad so many of my sleevless T's are showing their age. I'd like to make a top to go with this, maybe something in eyelet? I have a couple of patterns that might work, but no appropriate fabric, and the embargo isn't over for another two months.

Much as I love sewing, it's handy to have a bunch of cheap sleeveless T's in the closet, and I could use some fresh ones. I'll go shopping this week and see if I can find one or two that will go with this skirt.

Kyoto Skirt (muslin) photos

Yeah, took a while to get these taken. Here it is all, in all its a-size-too-small glory. I don't normally go around in skin-tight anything, but wanted a short-ish top for the photos, and this one was handy. I figured I'm documenting how I look in a skirt that's tighter than I'd wear in public, why not continue that theme on the top half?

Not a bad looking skirt, from this angle. I might even wear it, if I can shrink down enough to eliminate the slight pulling across the hips.

This back view's okay, too, considering.

I'm liking the pockets today. All these pastel florals are a bit frou-frou for me, but I might actually wear this some day. If it weren't for this view:

I don't know if this is just too much godet for my booty, or if it's purely a size issue, or if it's just starting at the worst place on my butt.

It didn't occur to me until I saw this shot that godet placement might be a problem. Ordinarily I add at least 1" to any skirt, often 2", as I'm 2"-4" taller than patterns are designed for. But this one I left alone, because out of the envelope it's exactly the length I was going for (the front hits just at mid-knee, which is shorter than as shown in the illustrations and HotPatterns videos). On the other hand, I'm wearing this about an inch below my "natural waist" since that's where I like my skirts to sit. So you'd think those two factors would cancel each other out.

I do still want to make this from a solid, lightweight twill, with all the bias trim and top-stitching. But I think I'll put this pattern on back burner for a bit. Going up a size is easy enough, but I don't like all of those folds of fabric bursting out of my butt, and will need to mull over what to do about that.

SoNP Skirt #1

Skirt #1 for the "Summer of No Pants" challenge (a skirt a week for 4 weeks). Given the current fabric embargo in force here, I'll be making all my 4 from stash.

This is last week's skirt, and I did get it done on time (finished Sat. am), really. It's the pics part that slows me down. Even with a flash it was tough to get these to come out. I need to find a better photo location somewhere around here, but that's a task for another day.

As you can see, this is another pieced, slapdash, summer skirt made up of various quilting cottons; TNT self-drafted pattern; comfy drawstring waist. Here's the back:

Skirt #2 is on track for completion by the end of the week, but no promises about when I'll have a photo of it!

the Summer of No Pants

I've signed up for the Summer of No Pants skirt-sewing challenge over at Marigold's delightfully-named blog, "Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky!"


Not that I need any encouragement to sew up a few more skirts. Or reason to wear more skirts, since I am a daily skirt-wearer, and frequent skirt sewer, anyway.

What I find funny about this is that I am supposed to be learning how to sew pants this summer.* You wouldn't know it by looking around my sewing room, but I joined (and appear to have dropped out of) the spring-summer jeans sew-along over at PatternReview. I managed to trace a pattern and then bury it under a pile of other stuff, and that's the sum total of my progress so far. Much as I'd like to have pants that fit sewn up by, say, early October, it very well could be the summer of no pants around here.

* The original goal was to learn how to sew pants last winter; when that didn't happen I pushed it to a summer 2010 goal. Mostly what I've done so far is accumulate enough fabric to make at least six pairs of pants, which is about five pairs more than I need.

Kyoto Skirt preview

The Kyoto "muslin" is done. Here's a preview (it's midday, but dark and rainy at the moment, not good for anything but a quickie on-the-hanger snapshot. I'll model it for you as soon as conditions improve and I can corral Mr. de H. into photog duty.)

As you can see, my fabric choices started out a bit silly, and got worse, which is what happens when you decide to make a muslin from all the stuff in your stash you aren't likely to ever use for anything else.

I didn't bother with elastic at the waist, just made some ties. I forgot to leave the little tie openings in the side seams when I sewed them up, so figured, "it's a muslin, what the h*ll, I'll just put the openings in the facing and put that on the outside" -- which is a design option, not just me losing my mind.

Once I'd done that, I figured I might as well put the hem facing on the outside, too. It's a bit much. I kinda like it ("a bit much" is not necessarily a bad thing in my world), but can't decide if the overall effect is waaaaaaaay too young for me, or overly grandmotherly, or somehow both.

I almost left the pockets off, but I'd already made them (double-layer, with the polka dots on the inside), so slapped 'em on, and discovered that patch pockets alone made the whole thing look too much like an apron, so I added the polka-dot pocket flaps, too.

You can see the godet in back hangs lower than the front, which I gotta say is one of my fave features of this skirt. Booty issues mean that a "straight" hem ends up not straight at all on me, unless I make adjustments. With this skirt, all that is a non-issue.

I was a bit optimistic when choosing to muslin a size 12, which is snug around the belly and hip area. But you know what? It's a bit less snug than when I first did up the main seams a couple weeks ago. Another month or two of workouts with Tony *, and it might even be wearable. 

* Totally not my idea, but hubbie's into it, so I've been doing it too. Even at my wimpy pace it's having a nice effect.

Wishful thinking...

... has grabbed me in the butt. Literally. Who'd have thought the Kyoto Skirt, with its generous waist, would be so fitted through the hips. Bottom line (pun intended), is that I need more space, especially in the mid- and high-hip, if I want to sit down comfortably, although the problem is at least as much across the front as in the rear.

It would have helped if the pattern had a standard hip point marked and finished garment widths provided (grumble, grumble). Plus, my flat measure appears to have been off (yes, I did exclude seam allowances, including the wide back seam), as my finished hip width is smaller than I thought it would be. I suspect I measured too low, or what I thought was straight across the oddly-shaped back pieces was really at an angle.

I also didn't flat-measure the high-hip, which clearly I should have, as that's where I most need more space. The "fashion" fabric I plan to use has some stretch, so it's okay if my non-stretch muslin is a teeny bit snug, but the 2" of ease I've got now is not enough for sitting. Plus, I might want to make this again from a non-stretch at some future point. So I'd like to get the muslin to a point where I'm comfortable with it.

I'm going to take a closer look at the side seams and see how far they can be let out. For the stretch fabric taking a narrow side seam might be enough. For a non-stretch, probably not. Then I'll take another look at the pattern, and decide whether to go up to a 14 or just adjust the 12, which would be easier than retracing the whole thing.

However, it's now Monday morning, and I need to set sewing aside and do some business-type stuff. Might do some fiddling with Kyoto in the evenings, this week. Or not. We'll see how it the days go.

Another just-for-fun skirt

You'd think, having completed the Pattern Review Mini-Wardobe Challenge, that I'd have had enough of sewing for a while. Yet I felt this odd compulsion yesterday evening to sit down and make another skirt.

But not just any skirt. This one had to be a goofy, slap-dash, just for fun skirt. An anti-challenge skirt. A skirt that might get posted online, but which is not part of a wardrobe or in the running for any prize other than, just possibly, even 'though it's only April, my most favorite thing I make this year.

I used my TNT self-drafted, drawstring Fat Quarter Skirt pattern, based on the Sew What, Skirts! method, and went to town with some large scraps from the quilting stash:

* big bold flowers: Anna Maria Horner

* pink on white bird-in-a-tree: Jennifer Paganelli

* blue floral hem: Kaffe Fassett

Total sewing time: about 2 hours, including cutting fabric and making the drawstring. I eyeballed the blue border piece, with the help of a ruler, rather than cut a new pattern piece for it. Pins employed during the entire process: 0.

The hem is faced with a bias strip, with a length of lime green rick-rack sandwiched in the seam, because I found it in my "trims" drawer and it was just the right length. Don't you just love using something up?

The back is similar to the front, but with a narrower piece of the pink-on-white, and more of the bold floral.

I'm itching to wear this, but eeesh, It's COLD here: overcast with intermittent rain and temps barely into the low 70s, if that. (Our daytime high on Wed. was only 69! laugh if you want, but that's chilly for Hawaii.) So, I'm huddled in yoga pants and a velour pullever, with fuzzy slippers on my feet, waiting for the sun to come out and warm me up.

Mini-Wardrobe Done!

Yay! Two skirts + two tops = happy camper!

Waiting for final photos...

... but aside from documentation, the Mini-Wardrobe Challenge is done!

Whew. Didn't think I'd make it for a while there.

If there's an honorable mention for number of changes to plan along the way, I'm confident I'm a contender for that prize. I was on the verge of calling it quits Saturday, when I realized there was no way pants (planned garment #4) were going to happen.

Then I realized the black stretch cotton twill in the stash, which I've planned to make jeans from, was ample enough to get a simple skirt, from, too. I think. If I'm wrong those jeans I have planned will have to be capris, cause the skirt is a done deal now.

Wasn't sure I had a suitable pattern until I took another look at Vogue 2854, an OOP Oscar de la Renta that I purchased for the jacket only. But hey, that skirt's got possibilities...

[I also feel a weird compulsion to make those pants, based on an irrational hope that I will be as skinny in them as that model is. Let's stick with the skirt, for now.]

I dumbed it down a lot -- left out the center front seam and vent, and skipped pockets and lining -- to make a quickie casual version. [I'll add a link here to my review as soon as that's done]. Tweaked a couple of seams, but gotta love Vogue: they are the only patterns that come close to fitting me right out of the envelope. If I make this again (and I think I will, someday), I'll fuss with the yoke curve and hip dart a bit more, but didn't have time to get it perfect yesterday. We're in close-enough-is-good-enough mode here.

Best part: I faced the yoke and hem with a piece of 2nd-hand Amy Butler quilting cotton that was sun-faded along the folds, so useless for anything visible. Other than a flash of hem-facing as I walk around, maybe, no one will see this but me, but it makes me happy to know it's there [you're looking at the inside; those are my basting lines BTW, in blue thread, not contrast topstitching]:

The wide bias strip hem facing is now officially my favorite hem treatment. I'm gonna use it on EVERYTHING! Well, probably not, but on lots of things, for sure. I'd wanted to do this on the white denim skirt, but although the fabric is medium weight, it's quite transparent, and I had to settle for using the cotton to finish the waist edge:

Now, if I can just drag Mr. Wonderful away from processing customer orders, so he can take some pics, I'll be able to finish up my online reviews and hold my breath until someone votes for me.

Fat Quarter Skirts: two blue and an aqua/olive

More mixed-fabric, drawstring waist, A-line skirts, made from a set of Amy Butler FQs that I originally thought would be used for a different project, but which ended up in the stash. The one above is currently the most-loved, most-worn garment in my closet.


Here's the back view:


It's a good thing these are so quick and easy to make from fabric-on-hand, 'cuase at the rate I'm wearing and washing these they will be worn out in a year. Which is cool, because by then I'll have a whole new set of groovy FQs and large scraps in the stash (most likely) and will be ready to make more.


Same self-drafted pattern based on Sew What! Skirts instructions as the pink ones. As before, I seamed two or three fabric pieces together before cutting the skirt front and back.

Here's another one from the same set of dark blue Amy B. FQs, front (a bit fuzzy, sorry):

and back:


And I almost forgot about this one! Used up my last scraps of super-groovy aqua "daisy chain" -- love the big mod print. The little circle print I'm not so in love with, but this skirt used up a bunch of the big piece I had, so I'm happy about that. Front and back of this one are close to identical, so I'm only displaying one side:

A-line skirt #2

Inspired by the success of my pink A-line skirt, but decidedly uninspired by the prospect of more darts and zippers on what was intended to be a super-quickie project, I decided to make the next one with a drawstring waist. This is the front:


And here's the back:


I used my "Sew What! Skirts" A-line pattern, and redrew the "A" angle to be about an inch narrower on each side at the hem. The challenge with a drawstring is that any skirt big enough to pull on over my hips would have way too much fabric bunched up around the waist by the time it's cinched in. So I compromised, drafting the waist to be several inches larger than the finished size for fitted waist, then left about 3" open at the top of the left side seam, with the drawstring ends coming out at that side instead of at the center front (which, conveniently, eliminated any need to make a buttonhole). The side-seam opening makes the skirt pull-on-able, and allows for a narrower waist to keep the gathers manageable.

Because I was working with fabric pieces from the stash (Amy Butler and Michael Miller), I didn't have enough length of the pink print to allow for a folded-down drawstring casing, so I used a separate strip of the green to make that part. Again, I pieced two fabrics together first before cutting the front, then pieced three more and cut the back. Much easier to do that way than to draft, cut, and seam precise pieces that add up to the desired front/back shape.

The drawstring is a long strip -- I think around 1.25" -- pressed lengthwise (wrong side in, raw edges matching), then raw edges folded in to the center and pressed again, (like double-fold bias tape, but not on the bias) edge-stitched to close.

Rather than make the drawstring casing and then thread the drawstring through it, I made the drawstring first. Then, with the casing piece sewn to the waist edge of the skirt, I pressed under about 1/2" of the raw edge. I lay the drawstring in place and folded the casing edge down over it to the inside, and stitched in place with the drawstring inside.

I also topstitched up and down over the casing and drawstring vertically at the right side seam (opposite the opening) to hold the drawstring in place so it won't pull out when I toss the skirt in the wash. I finished the drawstring ends by putting the skirt on and tying the drawstring to fit with a bow, long ends hanging down. Cut off to leave about 6-8" of each end, and tied each end with a knot.

As I wear it, the "waist" actually sits about an inch below my navel, which I find a comfortable fit for a casual skirt. I finished the open edges at the top of the left side seam with a very narrow double-fold edge. Yes, it leaves a couple inches of open slit below the waist at the side, but since I never, ever tuck in a shirt, it's hidden by whatever T, tank-top, or camisole I happen to be wearing on the top half.

A-line skirt #1 (pink)

This is the quickie project that began the skirt binge I've been so remiss about photographing.

It's self-drafted from the basic A-line instructions in the ever-so-clever "Sew What!: Skirts" book.

I pieced the fabric first: sewing a large piece of each print together, then pressed seam to one side, edge-stitched, and trimmed the SA with pinking shears. Then I cut the lotus print at an agle and seamed another piece of the main fabric to it, finished the same way. When I had two biggish pieces I used my pattern piece (drafted on freezer paper) to cut the front and back.

Fabrics are Michael Miller quilting cotton from the stash. I figured adding a strip of the lotus blossoms was so much more interesting than just a plain skirt all of the same fabric. There's another similar strip on the back side.

I put in a lapped side zip and some very slap-dashy darts to accommodate hippage. Waist is finished with a piece of packaged double-fold bias tape. Narrow double-turned hem. It's a few inches above the knee, comfy for sitting at my desk or running errands, but not so short as to be age-inappropriate.

The A-line angle turned out just a bit wider than perfect, but this is hardly haute couture and never meant to be, so I don't care.

On the move

My sewing room is all packed up and half of it is already over at the house we're officially moving into tomorrow. Big "mahalo!" to the owner for letting us have the keys a week before we start paying rent. Professional heavy-lifters are hauling the furniture on Tuesday, and by then we should be done with almost everything else. All we'll have to do is "out-clean" this place (I so wish I had the budget to pay someone to do that!), unpack at the new place, and settle in. That shouldn't take more than, oh, most of the rest of the summer.

Early last week, when I should have been packing, I was grabbed by the "use it up" bug and whipped up a bunch of quickie skirts from large scraps and some fat quarters. I don't have photos of any of them yet (and am not sure where the digital camera is... it's either hidden in the not-yet-packed debris that litters this place, or went into a box days ago), but they were so quick and easy to make, and are so comfortable to wear, I'm hooked. Best part is each one combines at least two gorgeous fabrics, which is so much more interesting than just one. Drafted the pattern on freezer paper from "Sew What: Skirts!" basic A-line instructions and added a drawstring waist. Just pull on, tie, throw on a T for the top half, and go.

The first skirt was so successful I couldn't help making a few more. I've been wearing them all week as I pack and haul (and sweat). I may never bother to make anything else ever again except for more of these quickie skirts. Okay, I admit, that's not likely to happen, but it's how I'm feeling today.

I'll post further details on super-easy skirt construction whenever we get around to unpacking the camera. The new house will, I think, offer much better fashion-photo opportunities than this one does, so perhaps I'll do better about having pics of what I've sewn to show here.

Other Indulgences
In the midst of packing up all my fabric I also ordered more (gak!): Hancock's had an Amy B. print I've had my eye on for a while on sale ("trailing cherry" in the new colorway):


...so I picked up a few yards of that plus a yard of what I hope will be a good a coordinating print:


If the two don't play well together I'll just play with them separately. Parcel is still in transit, but confronting the fact that I'd succumed to yet another fabric-shopping indulgence prompted me to update my 2009 yardage spreadsheet to see how far I've fallen behind in my "sew" vs. "buy" stats.

Turns out, I'm doing better than I thought: so far this year I've purchased 59.5 yards, and have used 42.5. So, I'm only 17 yards behind.

Which got me thinking. The new house only has blinds on some of the windows; I'll need to make curtains for the bedroom and my office, and probably will do a cafe-curtain treatment for the kitchen window. And although the guest room/sewing room does have blinds, I want to make the curtains to coordinate with daybed cover/bedspread that I never got to while in this house. And our two shabby-looking papasan chairs, as well as two large floor cushions, are all in desperate need of fresh covers.

A lot of that can be done from stash: I've got fabric on hand for the papasan chairs and the guest room curtains, and if there's any guest-room fabric left over I'd love to use it for the kitchen, too, because last year I recovered the kitchen chair cushions with some large scraps of the black colorway.

And surely I can find fabric in the stash to cover two floor pillows. Quickie guesstimate of yardage requirements for those three projects: oh, probably around 17 yards. So if I can channel my creative energies into home decor projects, and resist more skirt temptations, it looks like I can close up that buy-sew gap.

The truly clever thing to do would be to approach this on the incentive plan. How 'bout I'm not allowed to buy fabric for my office curtains until I've "made up" that 17-yard short-fall? That would put a bit of a fire under my butt.

The downside of all these plans is that I've been telling myself (and my husband) that once we're moved in at the new place the sewing machine is going to stay in the closet for a while so I can catch up on the 1001 other things that need my attention...

New Look 6682 - photo

Here's New Look 6682 in action.
It would hang better if I'd ironed the closet-wrinkles out of it, but I didn't:

I've ranted about the short-comings of this pattern here. And I stand by my gripes, but guess what: I've worn this skirt several times now, and am feeling more favorably toward it.

Anyone's guess, really, whether the compliments I've received are for the skirt or just 'cause Amy B's fabric is so yummy. I'm maybe just the teensiest bit peeved that I get more compliments on this skirt than on other ones I've made recently that I like better, but that's a minor issue.

So, much to my own surprise, I'm considering making it again... with the necessary hip/waist cut modifications, and the length issue remains unresolved. I stood in front of the mirror and hiked it up and down for a bit and didn't come to any firm conclusion about whether it would be best longer or shorter or just where it is. Shorter would be a more useful addition to my wardrobe, so I might see how this turns out at just-below-the-knee length...

Burda 8280 - photos at last

Yes, it took forever and a day, but I finally got hubbie to snap some shots of the pile-up of un-photographed garments. Here are two of the short versions of Burda 8280 (officially my favorite skirt pattern of the moment, so nice to have found a "TNT"), both Amy Butler fabrics. I've worn these both a bunch of times, so comfy (very important) and pretty (can't go wrong with Amy B.) and (glorious additional benefit) flattering to a middle-aged figure. The "mod" one has a bias-tape finished waist, which I prefer to the facing the pattern calls for.


I also converted the pattern's single darts (one on each of four skirt sections) to smaller double darts, a bit more work, but a better fit for my shape. Plus, confession time: I no longer mark, measure, or pin skirt darts, just eyeball 'em and hope for the best. Slapdashery in this area has turned darts from a groan-inducing dreaded chore to a breeze. Probably not the best way to do them on every garment, but at the top of a skirt like this, works just fine for me.


Here's the long one, from Kaffe Fassett fabric. I used purchased bias tape for the hem finish, on a whim, but love how it turned out.



I've got another short version in the UFO pile... that's the first one I cut, where the subtle tulip shaping on the original pattern gets into trouble with the (can I call it "subtle"?) saddle-bagging on my outer thighs. I got as far as restitching with a narrower side seam in that area, but haven't done any ripping out. Partly due to pure laziness, and partly because I don't have a matching zip for that fabric yet. I'll get back to it eventually. And I have a red KF print that for some reason I bought 2 yards of; may do another short one out of that, which will leave plenty left over for the quilting scraps bin.

Challenging Myself

Somewhere around the beginning of the year I decided that 2009 would be the year I learned to sew knits/stretch fabrics. I've got a good machine now (still no serger), and the two of us should be able to handle the learning curve.

It was with this goal in mind that I just spent $100 (not in the budget this month!) on rayon/lycra fabrics at EmmaOneSock.com: 2 gorgeous prints in sufficient yardage to make a dress of each (or skirt + top, which will not be worn together), plus a coordinating solid for trim and/or a top:


This mini-splurge was inspired by today's Vogue pattern sale. I seem to be in dress mode, plus I can't resist the interesting skirt:


There's only one problem. I can't possibly stitch on, or even cut, this (indulgent) fabric without a couple of practice runs. So now I have to go find some super cheapo but reasonably similar fabrics to mess up and make muslins from. Which I really don't have time to do. Have I mentioned we're probably moving soon (late May, early June)?

Why am I increasing the stash BEFORE the move? Duh!

Plus, I just spent a horrific amount of the morning on this... must go get some real work done!