In my last post, I showed pictures of the top that I had made, in this one I'll have pictures of all the rest of the things that I have made since buying my machine in March of this year. Matthew and I had a lovely photoshoot today after work when the light was beautiful.
In roughly chronological order:
Miette Skirt. I cut a straight size 2 with the pockets. The fabric is a linen tablecloth from Savers. You will be hearing a lot about tablecloths from Savers. This is a wrap skirt where the wrap is in the back instead of in the front. It is quite a nice pattern and for my first pattern, I think it came out pretty well. The hem is a bit wonky and I didn't press the ties as well as I could before turning.
I probably should have ironed all the clothes before the pictures, alas, I did not. Get ready for wrinkly skirts!
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Sorbetto top. This is a free pattern from Colette Patterns. I made a straight size 2. If I were to make this again, I would move the dart down, add a few more inches to the bottom, and use my own bias tape. This was my first time using bias tape and store bought bias tape is plasticly and not super awesome. The fabric was from Savers in the curtain area, but it is just a quilting weight cotton.
It does make a good comfy top!
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Self-drafted circle skirt. This is another tablecloth find from Savers. I love love love this skirt. It is comfortable, fun to twirl, and I get a lot of compliments on it. Before I started sewing, my colour palette stayed in the browns/blacks/greys/blues. Very neutral tones. Now I pick up any fabric that looks interesting even if the colour is a bit out of the norm for me. I installed my first zipper on this skirt. Not very well, but I did it!
It twirls so nicely!
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Two makes:
Kirsten Kimono Tee and self-drafted x-large man's shirt to skirt. The shirt was my first time sewing with knits. I am glad that my sewing machine has a special foot that will do a zigzag stitch - it literally pulls the fabric side to side so my straight stitch machine will do a zigzag. For being a first shirt, I think it came out pretty well. In another incarnation (further down) I modified to fit me a bit better and next time I will modify it just a bit more. I cut a size S at the bust and graded to XS at the waist. I also did not add the missing seam allowance to try to make it a bit more fitted. I bought the knit at Joann's.
For the skirt, I used the seam ripper to take off the breast pocket and cut the shirt right below the arm seam. I used left over fabric from the top for the waist band and sewed on snaps to keep the top closed. This skirt is one of my favourite things I have made. It is comfortable and fun to wear and adds a bit more colour to my closet. I bought the shirt at Goodwill.
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Refashion:
Man shirt to tunic. I made this one morning when I woke up early before I was going to give a test for the class I taught this summer. I got a lot of compliments on it from my students, which is always fun. A friend and his family recently moved to California and in preparation for the move, they gave almost everything away. His wife and I were are almost the exact size, so I scored a few pretty awesome things from her and I picked out this shirt to see if I could do anything fun with it.
My measuring skillz were not super awesome that morning and I sewed up more on one side than the other, but I think the belt covers up a lot of that. There is a lot of fabric near the shoulders, so I would probably add a dart or two to try to take in some of that billowness. I also haven't finished any of the seam allowances and they are starting to fray, I should probably do something about that. Overall, it is fun to wear and I love it.
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Butterick 5928 and another Kirsten Kimono Tee. I used this for the skirt, but I really want to make the Tunic of View B. I have a size 14, which is a bit big for me and being quite new to sewing, I haven't mastered tailoring quite yet, so this skirt is a bit too big. It was the first pattern in which I used my
tracing paper and wheel which works quite nicely. I liked being able to trace the darts directly onto the fabric. I put this zipper in a bit better than the circle skirt. I had to use a regular zipper foot because I didn't have an invisible foot. This is fabric my mother sent me when I told her that I was teaching myself how to sew. The quilting fabric is quite stiff and not drapey like the linen tableclothes I used previously.
I think I was getting very done taking pictures!
For the shirt, I sloped my cutting in by a couple of centimeters at the waist and I extended the kimono sleeves by 2 cm which I think looks so much better than the black tee. The next time I make this shirt, I will decrease the amount of fabric in the front and back by an inch or so. There is significant gaping, especially in the back. I bought this knit from Joann's.
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Refashion: Large woman shirt to skirt. I made this in about 10 minutes. The day before I made made a shirt from a tablecloth that frayed incredibly. I think there are still threads from that shirt and it has been nearly a month since I made it. The shirt is unpictured because it does not look great at all. I spent an entire Saturday making it and when I got up on Sunday I wanted something quick and gratifying which was this skirt.
It is stretchy shirt I bought at Goodwill. I cut off the sleeves and sewed up the arm holes. Done! It is very form fitting which Matthew likes very very much. The tie is left over from the shirt and I thought it was fun, so I left it.
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Refashion: Woman dress to skirt. I bought a dress from Savers because I liked the pattern and fabric. The top of the dress was a bit small for my big breasts. The dress got the easiest treatment of changing to just a skirt. I cut it off right around the waist and added elastic to the top.
This skirt doesn't twirl as well as the circle skirt, no matter how hard I try. The elastic is just a bit too tight for me, therefore this skirt is a bit uncomfortable to wear all day. It isn't so bad and I still love the print.
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Anna Dress. As everyone else has said, the packaging on the By Hand London patterns is beautiful! I like how they include a garment tag. I am calling this my wearable muslin and when I make my real version, I'll sew in the tag. I made the bodice of this dress three times to get it right for me. The first time I cut a size 4/8, but that was too small for my breasts, so I went up to the 6/10. I also had to a pretty substantial forward shoulder adjustment - approximately 3.5 cm at the corner of my shoulders. I didn't try to adjust the armhole after the adjustment though, so there is a lot of fabric hanging out that probably shouldn't be there. The fabric is another tablecloth from Savers.
Next time, I'll cut a 6/10 or 8/12 at the bust and decrease to 4/8 for the waist and hips. After making the bodice three times and not being super happy with it, I was debating if I should continue with the dress or not. I had just read
Lladybird's post about she never has any "UFO's" or unfinished objects. I decided to just push through and finish the pattern because it was already cut out. When I put on the skirt, I fell in love with the dress. Things to change for next time: I need to extend the pleats on the bodice by about an inch to reach my waist line and I am thinking of changing it to a sleeveless bodice. I tried to extend the sleeves like the Kimono tees, but in this fabric it wasn't working as well. I feel like a football player. I was able to use my new invisible zipper foot for the zipper and aside from the bunching on one side, it went it well. When I put in the zipper, I hand basted down one side and sewed it in. When I went to hand baste the other side, I made it nearly to the end and realised that I had twisted the zipper tape and had to take out the basting. Instead of putting in more basting, I thought I would just pin the zipper in place and it shifted around quite a bit when I was sewing it in. I also didn't take super good care to finish my hems - I used used my rolled hem foot which is very unhappy about going over any seams. Next time! I wore this dress on Monday and Matthew's boss asked if I had a presentation or job interview to go to. Nope! The occasion is I finished a dress!
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Latest creation: Shower curtain to skirt using
Simplicity 6594. Another Savers find was this shower curtain with a black ribbon and fabric covered buttons. I don't usually wear pink, but I thought this fabric was fantastic. I bought this pattern off of Ebay and when I went to take out the pattern pieces, I discovered that I only had the front piece and no facings. I did have two sets of instructions, though. From the line drawings, the front looked very similar to the back, so I just used the same piece to cut both the front and back.
I added the back slit after wearing this all day and not being able to take a full stride. I didn't follow either of the instructions included in the pattern and just went my own way. The top of the shower curtain acted as my waistband and it already had built in button holes! I sewed up the sides until about 3 inches from the top. I left a flap open on either side that closes with a button and a snap to get in and out of the skirt. This was my first time trying to match up stripes/plaid and I think I did a pretty good job at the sides. This outfit prompted several people to ask if I was giving a presentation or job interview. Unless you are doing something important, people in physics don't really dress up at all.
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Whew, that is a lot sewing and I am just getting started in my sewing career! I have a few more things to refashion including a 100% blue silk muumuu, a bright floral dress with a silk shirt, and an XL black sweatshirt. When I was in Colorado last week, I went shopping at Mom's House of Fabric and mailed a big box home full of buttons and fabric. I am looking forward to digging into my newly acquired stash. Thanks, Mom! And if I don't have enough fabric, I can always go to Savers.
