My sewing space is in the basement. I carved out this space and claimed it when I moved in with my husband. It has all the charm of an unfinished basement: dim lighting, dust, rafts of dryer lint and dog hair, the incursion of items I have absolutely no idea what to do with, and in the fall, spiders. Ew.
But! The space will be getting a face lift. I'm in the process of fixing up another unused quadrant of the basement for my husband. That space shall be transformed into a man cave, complete with beer signage, and do double duty as storage. After a little work on drywall, some lighting, and lots of paint, I'll be able to turn my attention to my sewing area, where I'll also upgrade the space's lighting and paint, and patch the rough concrete. With a smoother floor and more lighting, I'll actually be able to see and pick up pins and needles that go astray. These are major improvements, people!
It means little sewing for the next month or so, but that's a fair trade if it means more comfort in the long run :)
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Friday, August 23, 2013
Muslin time! McCall's M5890
After an armload of t-shirts, I was ready to get going with M5890 | Misses' Jackets, Top, Dresses and Pants In 2 Lengths | Nancy Zieman | McCall's Patterns. I planned to make the top first in order to get ready to make a dress version. I figure a jersey dress travels well, and I have some travel plans. (Woot!)
Last weekend I took some quick measurements (of my body, of my t-shirt pattern, and of the pattern tissue) in order to figure out what size I needed. I went with a 20, adjusting only the length (because I'm not fond of the short top - it just cuts me in two in a very unflattering way) and adding an inch and a half to from bust point to shoulder. I went ahead and made those changes on the front and the back guessing that I would need the symmetry. On my new tissue, the thing looked enormous. Erm, what happened there? Based on the measurements printed on the pattern and the measurements I took, it was supposed to be close, but whatever. First draft, and all.
I was very tempted to just go ahead and make it up out of a sweater knit remnant that I picked up around the time that I bought this pattern. My mom had visited, and when she held up the pieces, eyeballing the tissue against me, she thought it would be close. I decided to be a bit conservative and make a sample out of some very weird oatmeal jersey I picked up for experimentation purposes, and I'm glad I did.
Well, I'm not glad about the oatmeal jersey -- the pins keep falling out of its weird polyester-ness, and it's incredibly hot and sweaty for a tissue-weight knit -- but I am glad that I had some sacrificial fabric laying around to play with.
Anyway, here's the fit.
The back is too wide by about an inch, the front is too narrow by about an inch, and overall the thing is about 4 inches too big. I was right! The tissue was, indeed, enormous.
I thought I might be able to squeak by without a FBA. Why would I even think that in the first place? The sample indicates that I do need to make some pretty standard-for-me changes. (I'm a knits novice -- I'm still not sure which rules apply and which rules don't.) I need to reshape that front side piece (both a tuck at the top and a fisheye chunk under the bust curve). I'll need to make the front piece longer to match those changes. The armscye seems quite deep, but I think that part of that will be fixed if I make the front wider and the front side narrower at the side seam. Since I have to redraw the side front piece anyway, I'll keep that in mind.
Also, I discovered I didn't need the extra length for the back , so that's pinned out as well. So much for symmetry! I'm still unsure about the sleeve length. They're about where I would like them to be finished.
I'm going to stitch these pinned bits tomorrow when I have time and then sketch out the changes on the pattern pieces after I've tried that version on. We're close, people!
As a top, this is going to be good. I like this shape, and I'll like having another generic canvas (a princess seam pattern that works for knits). I'm going to take out the fullness at the sides only above the natural waist. That gives it a sort of peplum effect, and it allows me to flirt with peplum-dom without actually succumbing to the trend. I thought for a minute about doing a box pleat to deal with the extra fullness (that's sort of what it looks like when the extra is pinned out), but on second thought, that seemed awfully fussy.
Sweater knit is next!
Last weekend I took some quick measurements (of my body, of my t-shirt pattern, and of the pattern tissue) in order to figure out what size I needed. I went with a 20, adjusting only the length (because I'm not fond of the short top - it just cuts me in two in a very unflattering way) and adding an inch and a half to from bust point to shoulder. I went ahead and made those changes on the front and the back guessing that I would need the symmetry. On my new tissue, the thing looked enormous. Erm, what happened there? Based on the measurements printed on the pattern and the measurements I took, it was supposed to be close, but whatever. First draft, and all.
I was very tempted to just go ahead and make it up out of a sweater knit remnant that I picked up around the time that I bought this pattern. My mom had visited, and when she held up the pieces, eyeballing the tissue against me, she thought it would be close. I decided to be a bit conservative and make a sample out of some very weird oatmeal jersey I picked up for experimentation purposes, and I'm glad I did.
Well, I'm not glad about the oatmeal jersey -- the pins keep falling out of its weird polyester-ness, and it's incredibly hot and sweaty for a tissue-weight knit -- but I am glad that I had some sacrificial fabric laying around to play with.
Anyway, here's the fit.
I thought I might be able to squeak by without a FBA. Why would I even think that in the first place? The sample indicates that I do need to make some pretty standard-for-me changes. (I'm a knits novice -- I'm still not sure which rules apply and which rules don't.) I need to reshape that front side piece (both a tuck at the top and a fisheye chunk under the bust curve). I'll need to make the front piece longer to match those changes. The armscye seems quite deep, but I think that part of that will be fixed if I make the front wider and the front side narrower at the side seam. Since I have to redraw the side front piece anyway, I'll keep that in mind.
Also, I discovered I didn't need the extra length for the back , so that's pinned out as well. So much for symmetry! I'm still unsure about the sleeve length. They're about where I would like them to be finished.
I'm going to stitch these pinned bits tomorrow when I have time and then sketch out the changes on the pattern pieces after I've tried that version on. We're close, people!
As a top, this is going to be good. I like this shape, and I'll like having another generic canvas (a princess seam pattern that works for knits). I'm going to take out the fullness at the sides only above the natural waist. That gives it a sort of peplum effect, and it allows me to flirt with peplum-dom without actually succumbing to the trend. I thought for a minute about doing a box pleat to deal with the extra fullness (that's sort of what it looks like when the extra is pinned out), but on second thought, that seemed awfully fussy.
Sweater knit is next!
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Wardrobe planning
I have these grand notions about wardrobe planning. And then I sigh and do a realistic assessment of my organizational skills. *sigh*
Interestingly, wardrobe planning is one undercurrent in my thinking that's a constant, not that I'm always great at applying it. Here are some of the planning tenets, plus some commentary on them:
This week, I reverse-engineered my wardrobe to these standards with an absolutely ruthless weeding out, What Not To Wear-style. And, boy, was it cathartic.
It all began with finding that one mislabeled box of clothes in the basement. When I became pregnant, my body heard some kind of hormonal starting pistol and morphed more quickly than I had imagined was possible. It was gruesome and demoralizing. In an epic despair, I boxed up all but the stretchiest of my clothes and hid them in the basement. Most of those boxes have since been unearthed and mined for valuable contents. As the boxes reemerged, I donated all the items that I didn't any longer like or feel an attachment to (time does not, as it turns out, make the heart grow fonder of ratty t-shirts and jeans). This last box was a mystery. Why was it not with the others? How had it been mislabeled? WHY IN THE WORLD DID I KEEP THAT??
Clearly, the entire box, with the exception of a few less-than-perfect-but-still-acceptable-for-the-office items and couple of gym-only items, would be bound for the charity drop. Rifling through this box as it sat on the floor in the middle of my sewing area in the basement, I wondered if all my clothes were this tatty. I did a mental inventory. Yep. Most of my clothes are NOT ready for work, nor should they be particularly acceptable for play. Up to the bedroom where I pillaged my dresser, culling the rest of the unacceptable items.
I'm down to bare bones now: a handful of bottoms for work, one serviceable pair of jeans, and tops that will work for office or social occasions. There is a stack of summer-only tanks in there, too, but those will be boxed up as soon as I start back to work again.
What's next? I found that I needed to replace some of my intimates post haste. Accomplished. My next priority is making some things to fill in. I have penciled out a wishlist based on some thinking about coordinates and color trends:
Interestingly, wardrobe planning is one undercurrent in my thinking that's a constant, not that I'm always great at applying it. Here are some of the planning tenets, plus some commentary on them:
- Pick separates that two applications: day/work, casual, and evening/special occasion. (At its foundation, that piece of advice makes a distinction between dress for various events in one's life. In the Northwest, those lines are more than a little blurry, but I've lived elsewhere, so I get it.)
- Fit your body, not someone else's body. (Woot! Advice we sewists are totally into!)
- Rely on neutrals (not boring fabrics, but those with widely applicable colors and textures) to anchor a wardrobe.
- Don't match (as the queen of the purple/red combination, I'm in favor of this advice)
- Accessorize. (I don't do accessories other than pashminas and earrings, so there's some opportunity for growth there.)
- Be aware of color trends and each item's replacement schedule.
This week, I reverse-engineered my wardrobe to these standards with an absolutely ruthless weeding out, What Not To Wear-style. And, boy, was it cathartic.
It all began with finding that one mislabeled box of clothes in the basement. When I became pregnant, my body heard some kind of hormonal starting pistol and morphed more quickly than I had imagined was possible. It was gruesome and demoralizing. In an epic despair, I boxed up all but the stretchiest of my clothes and hid them in the basement. Most of those boxes have since been unearthed and mined for valuable contents. As the boxes reemerged, I donated all the items that I didn't any longer like or feel an attachment to (time does not, as it turns out, make the heart grow fonder of ratty t-shirts and jeans). This last box was a mystery. Why was it not with the others? How had it been mislabeled? WHY IN THE WORLD DID I KEEP THAT??
Clearly, the entire box, with the exception of a few less-than-perfect-but-still-acceptable-for-the-office items and couple of gym-only items, would be bound for the charity drop. Rifling through this box as it sat on the floor in the middle of my sewing area in the basement, I wondered if all my clothes were this tatty. I did a mental inventory. Yep. Most of my clothes are NOT ready for work, nor should they be particularly acceptable for play. Up to the bedroom where I pillaged my dresser, culling the rest of the unacceptable items.
I'm down to bare bones now: a handful of bottoms for work, one serviceable pair of jeans, and tops that will work for office or social occasions. There is a stack of summer-only tanks in there, too, but those will be boxed up as soon as I start back to work again.
What's next? I found that I needed to replace some of my intimates post haste. Accomplished. My next priority is making some things to fill in. I have penciled out a wishlist based on some thinking about coordinates and color trends:
- Two blazers, one shorter and more casual and one hip length and more office-y based on this pattern
- Some tops, either sweater knit or rayon/bamboo jersey, based on the Perfect T-Shirt pattern
- Two woven shirts based on this pattern (because a princess seam is easier to adjust for my ample bustline)
- A jersey dress based on this pattern (again with princess seams, but also with what appears to be a flattering neckline)
- A couple more bottoms, based on the me-drafted pants sloper
Armed with those items, I should be able to ditch the remaining coordinates I can't get rid of until I have replacements: the two dress shirts, the two casual blazers, the dress pants, and the ITY top.
I would also like to own a string of pearls. Hey, it counts as an accessory.
Man, this feels amazing. Armed with this plan, I actually feel like I'm in control of what's ahead.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Romper redux
H was in a generous mood, so I snapped some pics of him in the adjusted romper. I chopped 1.5 inches off each side seam and 5/8 or so off each outside shoulder seam. I also chopped about 5 inches off the leg. The crotch is still gangster-low, but at least it sort of fits for this year. Burda pattern, you're going back to the Goodwill.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)