Come Visit Me!

The Brentwood campus of Suffolk Community College on Wicks Road is hosting a Home Show this weekend.  I'll be hosting in the booth I designed for John Sparrow Landscapes.  It's free and if you want to escape the rain, I'll be there this afternoon and tomorrow.   Come say hello!

Can I Do Better Than These?

These jeans sell for $560 on Net a Porter.  Yes, they are by Chloe, but they don't fit her  very well.   See those wrinkles in the crotch? Ouch! I think I can do better than this and I am not a size 2.
To facilitate fitting the perfect pair of jeans I bought  Palmer Pletsch's new 2 disc dvd on fitting and sewing jeans.  It really covers everything you need to know about making jeans, or so I thought.

The DVD fits Marta first as well as 2 other women of different ages and shapes. It's definitely better done than some of their other dvd's and covers a lot of territory without spending 5 minutes taping the tissue. They show the usual tissue fitting and then,  instead of sewing up the pants with the zipper and details like pockets first and then pin fit,  they have you pin fit before you sew anything except for the front and back crotch.
Even though I carefully clipped the crotch for the tissue fitting so that it could be pulled up to touch my crotch the crotch depth was a good 1" too deep in the denim.  I had to really drop the back crotch and sew a deeper center back seam to straighten it out even though I already had lowered it during the tissue fitting.  I had to  pull up the center back to get rid of wrinkles below the rear end, a lot. It looked pretty good so I started sewing, putting in a zipper and doing the pockets.  I basted all the seams together and put them back on.  Hmm.  Not bad, but not really good enough.  I still had some wrinkles below the rear end and too much fabric at the lower crotch that I didn't catch in the pin fitting. This really can't be fixed once you've cut out the pants. The front pockets weren't wide enough either. Remember I copied these from a rtw pair that used to fit?  I graded them up but I didn't make the front pockets wider.  Unfortunate that, but since I had other issues I decided that these were a muslin.  Nice denim but if they weren't a great fit I wasn't going to wear them anyway. I added a cb seam for the waistband, but it was also too big in the waist so I took it in a good inch or more using small darts in several places around waist in the tissue to take care of this. I have a pretty curvy high hip to waist and this  makes it  work for me.

After cutting and  fitting these jeans I saw Peggy Sagers fitting videos on her website and gee she had one for fitting jeans that comes at it from a totally different perspective than Palmer Pletsch  does.  She recommends using denim for your jeans muslin, which I ended up doing if inadvertently.  I pinned a dart out below the zipper and another one below my rear end that took excess fabric out.  Also something she shows on the video.I also added back some fabric at the upper cb where the pants were pulling down (below the yoke as you don't want to change that size of that). Remember, I pulled it up here to get rid of wrinkles.  She does not advocate scooping out which is a big aspect of fitting rear ends for PP.  That's actually putting it mildly.  She's very opinionated about it, but she does get results.  Sagers recommends just using your muslin to cut your pants, but I find that awkward, so I transferred my changes to the pattern.  She also  suggests that instead of lining up your back pockets with the yoke seam that you line up the side of the pocket with the cb seam.  I went to Net a Porter and looked at how pockets were sewn on high end jeans and sure enough the most becoming had the pockets sewn almost parallel to the cb.  I was also looking for a treatment for those pockets and the high end jeans had very simple understated topstitching which is perfect for me. In fact, I think I'll use black topstitching to be even more understated. The back pocket needed to be a bit larger as well.  Large rear, bigger pocket looks more proportional.  I think that I am pretty close to a good fit now,  certainly  better than I can get in rtw.  
One other issue I encountered is using a contour band makes it very stretchy as the whole thing can't be cut on the straight grain, or the non stretch direction while PP only has you interface the buttonhole area on both ends, I doubt that's going to work for me.   If I don't interface I'm going to be wearing these around my ankles.  I think that I'll cut the interfacing along a different grainline so that I end up stabilizing the waistband. Did I see this on your blog Sirgrid?  It's a great idea. 
 On to cutting out my next pair, hopefully this time a totally wearable pair. 

I have one question for you readers, if I am not going to tuck my shirt in or wear a belt with them, do I need to use the belt loops? 

And The Winner Is!

The last time I won something?  Well I can't remember, that is until today when I opened my Hot Patterns e mail.  It is their 6th anniversary and if you buy a pattern during the month of September you  will be entered  in the  weekly drawing running during the month of September  to get that pattern free.  Unless there's another Nancy K from New York, I won the first drawing!  I bought the motorcycle jacket pattern to use with my leather from Fabric Marts half price sale.  

 I was going to use a Burda pattern with an off set zipper and collar, but I think that  this will be an easier wear and easier to sew.  There is also a Mannequim jacket that looks like a Rick Owens knockoff but talk about difficult, just finding it on the pattern map was a challenge. There are a lot of pattern pieces and I don't have that much experience sewing leather.  I want to get this done to wear this fall, not next spring!  This has good lines for me, semi fitted, but not too tight and the length is good for wearing over other pieces.
Thank you Hot Patterns, it was a nice start to my day.

It's Been Awhile

 We've had a busy summer:  a wedding in California, visiting family, meaning Jakob of course, and having computer issues, all of which pushed blogging to the bottom of the list.  I did do a little sewing after the wedding outfit and spent a lot of time cleaning up the sewing room, moving summer fabrics into the closet, moving  fall fabrics out and planning my fall sewing. 
I made the ubiquitous Vogue 1250 like so many others.  The biggest issue I encountered with this was getting it enlarged to fit my hips and then getting it to fit on the fabric.  I ended up cutting it on the cross grain.  If I make this again I think I'll resort to creating a side seam.
To refresh your memory, this is what it looks like on the tall, skinny model,

This is what it looks like on me.  That's Lily by the way wanting in on the picture taking. We adopted her in June from Arf or the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons.  I highly recommend them if you are looking for a dog on Long Island. 

Anyway, back to sewing.  I won't do a review of this; there are lots of reviews out there already, but I will show you what I did to make it fit my hips.  Even thinner people complained that it ran snug in the hips so I was cautious.  First I made an fba adding a dart, which I think that you can just make out.  Then I copied the side hip dart and put it aside.  After slitting the side seam and adding the room I needed I taped it  in place positioning the point of the dart with the center of my addition.  It worked and I have enough room for it to fit nicely.  It did however no longer fit the width of my fabric, so I cut it on the cross grain.  The fabric is a rayon knit from Emmaonesock that while thin was very easy to work with.  It didn't roll at all.  Nice quality as always from EOS.

The second piece I worked on was this top from Hot Patterns Riviera Cote D'Azur knit dress, tunic and top.  I made the top.  I love it.  I wish I'd made it earlier in the season because the dress would have been the perfect summer piece.

Description: V neck knit top with center front and back seams. The cf is gathered to a facing piece at the bust and then sewn together.  I didn't make an fba on this.

Fabric: A rayon knit from Mood that was printed and then overprinted(the black) to make a border print along one edge.  I again resorted to cutting it on the crossgrain.  I did not buy enough to put the print at the top as I originally planned, but this worked out well.

Instructions: Minimal, but this is so easy they are fine.
Pattern alterations: all I did was to shorten this a bit.

This   is an easy top and comfortable to wear.  The neckline is a bit low, but my bust is low so there's not a lot of cleavage showing.  I am comfortable with this, but if your bust is higher or you don't like low necklines, I'd consider raising it a bit.
If you live in the southern hemisphere, I'd really think about making not only the top but the dress.  Perfect pattern for hot summers.

What am I working on now?  Jeans, finally.  I have a pair of rtw jeans that are too tight but when they fit, they fit well.  When I took KK's moulage class he suggested that I copy  and grade them up.  I've done that and  I am fitting them now, but I'll leave that for my next post.  I will however leave you with a picture of Jakob.

Do You Sew for a Man, Yourself or a Significant Other?

The chicken or the egg, do  men not sew because they aren't interested or because there are so few patterns available to them?   That's been a discussion on sewing boards and several blogs over the last few years.  The big 4 have a scant few patterns available, and most of them aren't very appealing to anyone who  wants to dress fashionably or dress at all for that matter. That may change if Hot Patterns starts designing for men.   If you are on the Hot Patterns email list you may have already seen this news, but for those of you who aren't, Trudy and Jeremy are interested in producing a jeans pattern for men.  Trudy made a successful pair for Jeremy recently but they can't afford to spend the production time on it if there isn't enough interest. So they propose that you pre order  the pattern and if there is enough interest they will have the patterns ready for a September 1st delivery.  Here it is and if you are interested, head over to Hot Patterns and order yourself a copy. 

Maybe it's Just Me

August's  Burda Style Magazine arrived yesterday.  My husband gets the mail at our PO box before he goes to work.  If my new Burda is there he leaves it and calls to tell me it's in the box so I don't have to wait till he gets home that night.  He knows how I look forward to it's arrival.  Meh. Not this month, or last for that matter.    I've got Burda going back to 1999, when I started buying it at Borders.  I don't have all the issues that far back, but about 2 years later I started subscribing, so I have a lot of back issues.  I went to the Post Office around lunch time and ripped open the plastic bag to get my first peak right there in the parking lot.  Not impressed. 

There is absolutely nothing I want to sew in this issue.  The plus sizes would make me look about twice as big as I am.  When did overloads of fabric become flattering?  Would you wear this?

How about this outfit?
This is everything that Stacy and Clinton tell you not to wear.  Look at all that fabric around the hips and narrowing down to that oh so flattering carrot shape. 

I take it back, I would sew this skirt:

The jackets are not only boring, but none of them would do well for a large busted woman. 

I don't get the collar on this one.  It's so bulky I am choking just looking at it.
Here are the ruffles I really hate.

or this 'lovely blouse'  They bill this section as military or feminine.  Do feminine clothes have to be covered in ruffles? 
The rest is just boring.  

Next month is Folkloric month or 'Boho Chic' as they are billing it this year and I quote: Alpine traditions meets Hungarian Rhapsody- resulting in the loveliest European folk-style fashion clothes! Colorful skirts charming aprons, flattering bodices, darling blouses, casual trousers, rustic knits, and more!'  Doesn't that sound  like just  what you want to sew?  Or maybe you do, but lately this section has  come across as a mish mash kind of a collection and that's what this sounds like. A mess.

One section is inspired by Mark Rothko using bright color combos.  It remains to be seen what the patterns will look like.  the plus sizes look slightly more promising in September.  The rest? There's another overly full dress and more pleated, tapered pants. 

I haven't started planning my fall wardrobe, but needless to say I'll be looking elsewhere for inspiration. Oh and my subscription is up for renewal. It's up to $90 this year and this is the first time I am really thinking about it.
Maybe it's just me,  or are you just as disappointed by Burda Style lately?

I'm Back!

It's been over a month since I last posted.   Between work and getting my outfit finished, something had to give and blogging was it.  I finished my outfit for my nieces wedding,  flew out to California went to the wedding and we are back.  It was a lovely wedding and the bride was gorgeous.  

When I decided to make a 3 piece outfit I figured I'd get more wear out of it than I would a cocktail dress, and I can see breaking it up to wear the pants with a cashmere sweater, the jacket over more casual pieces.  The tank under a sweater.  You get the picture.

This jacket was a pita to make.  I don't know why.  I made a muslin for it and carefully hand basted the silk organza underlining on the seam lines.  The problems started with  setting in the sleeves.  They are a 3 piece raglan.  If you think it's hard to set in a set in sleeve they are a cinch compared to these.  The neckline is supposed to be in line with the lapel edge.  I had a lot of trouble doing that and if you look at the pattern pieces and how they go together, it doesn't line up that way.  Of course in the muslin I didn't add the facings.  Big mistake here.  In the end the object was just to get it done, and I did.  I like it, but the low neckline, even though I took out a lot in the lapel really wants to open up over my bust.  Open, you don't notice it.

I do love the pants.  They are a 4 ply silk crepe lined with silk twill.  They fit beautifully and are comfortable to wear.  The jacket is a washed lame in some blend from Emmaonesock.  The silk jersey for the tank also came from EOS.  The trim was a serendipitous purchase at Mood when Claire Kennedy and I were doing our  whirlwind shopping tour of  the garment district.  We were in the trim section at Mood and I mentioned to Claire that I'd really like to trim the tank and looking down there was the perfect trim.

I'd never used a trim like this before but it wasn't hard to do.  I did need a wider binding than this method calls for; 2" instead of 1 3/8".   It's easiest to hand baste the trim first and I used a zipper foot to attach the binding.  I used my tnt t shirt pattern to make this tank top. I lowered the neckline, and added to the front armhole so as not to be too exposed.  If I remember correctly, I also added a bit to the outer shoulder.  I bound both the neckline and the armholes using Lynn Maynard's method.  It really  makes a flat, neat finish and the interfacing helped support the weight of the trim.

Here's a picture of my gorgeous niece.

Next up is finishing a top I didn't finish before we left and  a summer dress.  Maybe a couple more t shirts to finish out the summer as well.
Stay cool.