Spooky Embroidery Continued

I know I keep sharing this project, but I'm not stopping until it is done and it still isn't done.

This past weekend I managed to get a couple steps closer to done. The collar was a real challenge. This is the first time I've made a collar like this and I learned a thing or two along the way. Mostly, I learned that the directions for this coat aren't really intended for "advanced sewists". They are intended for people that have made this style of coat before. So many steps, or images, are just not in the directions. 

I managed to get the collar constructed, though it wasn't as straightforward as I thought it would be. Very fiddly. My iron and the pressing cloth had a real work out. 

The embroidery placement on the sleeves turned out great! I think I need to make something with simpler construction (like a fleece jacket) and add some awesome embroidery. 

The coat front embroidery is mostly covered by the collar, but I think that makes it a little more subdued, so still a win. I have to finish attaching the lining, sew on the sleeve buttons, stitch the button holes onto the coat front, and attache the coat buttons. Plenty left to do, but I can almost see the end from here.

Tools (affiliate links):
Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle
Fiskars Rotary Cutter
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Vitessa Advanced Steam Iron
Sleeve board
Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion
Fiskars 8-inch scissors
Juki TL-2010Q

Spooky Embroidery Continued

In the last post about this embroidered coat, I mentioned the better of the two pockets. Here it is! Perhaps not perfect, but better than the last one. 

Garment sewing is slow when you're only making one thing. I'm sure if I was making a dozen I would be at about the same point in construction as I am with just the one. I finished the lining and even used my sleeve board for what it is intended. Most often I use it to press bags once they are turned. 

I assembled the lining with the serger. Lining fabric is always so slippery and has a tendency to fray. It's almost sad this bright lining will be hiding under the coat. I'm hoping to make more progress over the next few days. Maybe I can have this done by Halloween. Though I don't think it's likely.

Tools (affiliate links):
Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle
Fiskars Rotary Cutter
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Vitessa Advanced Steam Iron
Sleeve board
Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion
Fiskars 8-inch scissors
Juki TL-2010Q

Kicking Back

I sometimes leave myself a mess do deal with the following morning.

This one was tiny. How tiny? Tiny enough to fit a Tiny Kitty Collier doll.

I picked up this doll second hand years and years ago on eBay. That was when I was a little crazy for Robert Tonner dolls. I still have many dolls hidden away in moving boxes. I suppose I should look to selling them off and putting that money into a retirement fund. Anyway, I decided to use some of the scraps from my Halloween sewing to make Kitty some fun lounge wear. It isn't perfect, but now she's set for All Hallow's Eve.

Tools (affiliate links):
Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle
Fiskars Rotary Cutter
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Vitessa Advanced Steam Iron
Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion
Fiskars 8-inch scissors

Spooky Embroidery

What seems like forever ago, Darling Husband asked me to make him a coat with this pattern. It was for a costume. Since I missed the original deadline (he bought a coat from Amazon for that costume), I decided to get to work making the coat the way I envisioned it.

My vision includes loads and loads of black embroidery on black fabric. I cut and interfaced and sewed some pieces together. The back panels were joined before I added the embroidery.

After watching more than a few tutorials on YouTube, I figure out how to make these pockets.

I'm pretty pleased with the result, but I'm not likely to choose to add these pockets to another garment. This is the first one I finished. The second one came out better, but I didn't take a photo.

I added more embroidery. This embroidery is dangerously close to the seam line, but I think it will still work.

Because embroidery makes everything better. 

These designs make me so happy. Each of these designs is from Urban Threads called Gothic Nouveau.

As often happens, I am reminded how long it takes to construct a garment. I started working on this project on Saturday, and haven't made too much progress. I worked on it most of Saturday and part of Sunday. I even set up embroidery and worked on other sections while the machine stitched along. I must have done three or four embroideries while completing the three pockets. That isn't discouraging me, just reminding me that anything awesome takes time.

Tools (affiliate links):
Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle
Fiskars Rotary Cutter
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Vitessa Advanced Steam Iron
Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion
Fiskars 8-inch scissors
Juki TL-2010Q

Little Bit Halloween

Today is the first day of Halloween.

I picked up the Relaxed Raglan pattern from Patterns for Pirates along with the  Raglan Add-on pack to make some raglan shirts. I picked this pattern because it had several options - sleeves, hemline, and length - and the add-on includes hoods and pockets.

I went to the local big-box store to pick up some knit. These are all from Joann Fabrics. The Halloween prints were on sale for 50% off. Seemed like a good deal. I over-purchased what I needed because this fabric is 100% cotton. I bought a yard of each of them, except for the black 1x1 ribbing, which I only bought 1/2 yard. I put it all through the wash on warm wash/cold rinse, and normal dry. This goes against what the care label says. Why did it do it that way? Because that's how I intend to wash the finished shirts. I want anything that's going to happen to the fabric to happen before I spend hours making the shirt. It's a good thing, too. This fabric, when washed how I wash almost every stitch of clothing I own, shrank 20%.

Yes, you read that right, TWENTY percent. The one yard cuts of fabric that went into the machine came out measuring only 30 inches. This meant I couldn't make the shirts full tunic length (one is shorter by about 1", the other by about 2"). I also had to add cuffs to the sleeves because you need more than 30" of fabric to make the full sleeves without a cuff. There was plenty of fabric to do it that way, but it wasn't my original plan.

I traced the pattern onto my working paper and cut out two shirts. I cut the extra large and am considering cutting the large next time. I would have to retrace the pattern, but I might get a slightly better fit.

This was one of the best workouts my machine has had in a long time. Maybe I should make up some more fleece hats or something.

The fit on this shirt is definitely loose, but I want to be comfortable. And warm. Mostly warm. 

The sewing part of this project took about 45 minutes, with a 10 minute break to figure out how to thread the machine for the hem. I don't know how long it took to cut, but I would still put this project in the area of less than 1.5 hours from start to finish.

I think the next one I make will include a hood. I think there is some skull and crossbones fabric that wouldn't have so much of a Halloween feel but might still be on sale next week.

Tools (affiliate links):
Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle
Fiskars Rotary Cutter
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Vitessa Advanced Steam Iron
Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion
Fiskars 8-inch scissors

Wardrobe Wednesday: Modified Shirt Dress

I spent some time about a week ago working on a project that I had in mind for a while, but hadn't managed to find the time.

I like pockets. I need pockets. Yet many things don't meet this requirement. I found this simple shirt dress at Costco and thought it would be perfect. If only it had some pockets. So I bought it.

I pulled out a coordinating print fabric for those pockets. My pockets won't be boring. I had about a half yard of this fabric.

Using a side-seam pocket from a pair of sweat pants as a guide, I created this pocket pattern.

I carefully folded the fabric and cut out two sets of pockets.

The sleeves are these roll up with the tab thing.

Always messy. Not my favorite.

So I chopped off the offending bit to add a touch of color.

I cut cuffs from my fabric. Pressed up a 1/2" hem.

Pinned and stitched to the cut edge of the sleeve.

Pressed up over the edge and top stitched close to the top and bottom of the cuffs. I failed to get a final picture of this up close. Sorry.

I didn't like the drawstring for the waist, either. So I cut a couple strips, stitched them together and made a double fold string to replace it. Again, no photo. Thank goodness this isn't really a tutorial.

After all that, I ripped out the side seams enough to put in my pockets. I was careful with the ripping, as the side seams were stitched with a chain stitch. We'll have to wait and see if I was successful when it makes it through the wash the first time. I did stitch over a few places in an attempt to lock in the stitches.

I pinned the pockets in and stitched with a straight stitch.

Then I used the overlock machine to clean up the edges.

Pinned the pocket halves together, stitched with a straight stitch and then finished with the overlock. Nice clean and smooth finish.

Everything stitched and cleaned up.

Most importantly: it has pockets now.

Shirt dress from Costco: $14.99
1/2 yard of quilter's cotton fabric: $5 (it was a remnant, so likely not that much)
Time to pull it all together: about an afternoon but it seemed like all day
Having pockets in a garment I will enjoy wearing: priceless

I would like to give a shout-out to Megan over at The Bitchy Stitcher. She is an amazing person. She likes purple and cephalopods, which makes her even more amazing in my book. Anyway, she recently wrote a great newsletter about how the photos you see on the internet are carefully curated to show the best side of things. This dress is no different. I didn't show you the little mistakes. They are there. They don't affect the suitability of the garment in any way and I'm going to wear it because that's why I modified it. Can I do better? Definitely. Will imperfection slow me down? Not one bit!

Go make great things!

Wardrobe Wednesday: Laurel

I shared with you the muslin I made for Laurel.  I also shared the double-fold bias tape I made.  I couldn't leave out the finished Laurel made from a light weight denim.

This post is mostly detail shots, since Colette patterns are about the details.

This is the sleeve hem.  I would do this a little differently if I was to do it again, but for a first try it came out okay.

The should seam could have been a little smoother.  I don't mind those little puckers though.

The collar finish came out almost as good as the sleeve finish.

The bottom hem came out pretty nicely considering I think it was the first time I used the blind hem on my machine.  Usually when I do a blind hem I do it by hand.  I'm not kidding.

The finished dress doesn't have a bunch of shape on my dress form.  This is the back.  I did not include back darts and there is no back seam.  This dress is a pull-over.  Just a small variation from the pattern as written.  I figure if I need shape I can add a belt.

Here it is, all finished.  Simple but well-made.  I will have to think about this one before I make another.  I like the simplicity of the pattern but I question how much wear I will get out of it.  Maybe I should shorten to a shirt length, or shorten more and change the lower half.  I'm still thinking about the options and Laurel does give you a great jumping off point.

Colette Pattern: Laurel

It isn't often (something like once or twice a year) that I decide to sew clothing.  I started sewing as a garment sewer and have since moved on to primarily quilts.  I try to sew every day.  I don't think I could wear that many clothes but I can use or gift that many quilts.  I decided it was time to make a simple tunic.

I poked around the internet once I made that decision and found all these great sewers had made one (some as long as a year or more ago) and I knew it would be the best way to break my garment sewing fast.

• Ginger Makes created a spectacular sleeveless Laurel.
• Noodle-head is so much braver than I am.  She included the back darts and the zipper.
• Very Shannon's version is perfect!
• Idle Fancy has another sleeveless version that pairs beautifully with a cardigan.

I've had this pattern from Colette for a while.  I finally broke it out.  Laurel is a great pattern if you want to try your hand at garment sewing but aren't comfortable with some of the details (like facings) that often entails.  All the edges have bias tape finishes except for the bottom hem.  This dress has so many great things you can do with it.  Colette even has a free booklet of extras that show you just a few of the ways you can change this to make it your own.

Step one was to trace the pattern onto my super graph paper.  (You can find similar paper at some of the office supply stores.  This pad is from Staples but we've had it in the house for years and years.  You can also get a more durable product for making pattern copies or modifications to existing patterns from Pellon Tru-Grid.)

Step two was to make a muslin.  Did I mention it's been a while since I did any garment sewing?  I'm certain my size has changed in the last year or so.  My pants have told me so.  I'm not entirely sure how I feel about those front darts.  They seem low to me.  (I suppose I shouldn't complain about that.)  This muslin (a test or fitting garment) is made out of the last of the 120" wide unbleached muslin (cotton fabric of plain weave) I purchased years ago.  I'm sure I purchased it to back quilts (I don't do that any more, I like a sturdier product for quilt backings) and to make fitting garments.

The sewing on this is really super simple.  I decided to leave out the back darts and make the back one piece.  I didn't want to have to deal with a zipper.  This is where I tested the fit to make sure I could get it on over my head.  I can sew a zipper.  I've just come to associate a zipper in a dress with fancy.  I don't want a fancy dress.  I just want something comfortable to wear around.

Sleeves attached and another test fit.  This is where I left the muslin.  I decided it fit well enough and I was comfortable with the fit and technique to cut some fabric and get stitching.  The biggest change will be going from a regular straight stitch (easier to rip when making a muslin) to the over-lock machine for the real thing.  Oh, and the bias binding for the sleeves and the collar.  more about that on Tuesday.  I feel the hem might be too short, but I think I'll have to finish the real one to get a better idea about that.  I can easily add a band to the bottom if I have to.  So far I think it is going great!

In The Mail Monday: Fashionary in Red

I'm not sure how I first found out about Fashionary.  They created a wonderful fashion drawing notebook that is great for keeping notes for your next garment without having to draw the figure.

I bought one of these for a friend of mine  She is much more interested in garment sewing than I am.  I thought this would be a good resource for her.  I bought her one of the bright pink candy pops.

After reviewing the front matter of her copy I knew I had to buy one for myself.  Great notes on all sorts of fashion details are included in the front of the book.  If you are serious about keeping your ideas in a notebook but don't want to draw the female figure you should totally check these out (they also sell a version with the male figure).

If you know me you know I'm in love with the color red.  Thankfully, Fashionary makes a notebook in my favorite color!