Author Archives: KJ

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Blue Moss

 
I finally got around to making the Grainline Studio Moss Skirt, after deciding I need more staple garments in my wardrobe. One can’t live on fancy dresses alone, as much as I wish it were otherwise. 
 
Does anyone else not know what to do with their hands when photographing garments from behind?
Making the skirt was most certainly not smooth sailing, unfortunately. I have an hourglass figure, and there is almost 12″ different between my hip measurement and my waist measurement. When I buy RTW (ready to wear) jeans, I always always have gapping at the back waist, which is something I haven’t paid much attention to in the past and just kind of accepted. I made up a muslin of the Moss Skirt in size 16, tried it on, and found I could fit my entire hand down the back of my skirt. In addition to that, my waistband was somehow a good 4″ too short, and I managed to pull the zipper tab off my zipper while I was fiddling with it. 
Annoyed, I turned to the wonderful sewcialists on Twitter, and asked for advice. They immediately started offering suggestions, including the wonderful designer of the pattern herself, Jen. After chatting with them, I decided I would make some darts in the yoke of the skirt to reduce the gapping at the back, and then see how the waistband fit then. 
 
First I pinned the excess fabric out and pinned it, and then I measured it and sketched a dart in its place. Then I did some Googling on adding darts, and found an amazing tutorial by Ziredloh on how to change the fit of a yoke. So instead of making a 1″ dart on the yoke, I slashed and overlapped the yoke in 4 places by 1/4″ each.
 
This is how my yoke piece looked after slashing and overlapping (please excuse the hair and my poor desk top). I measured the top length of the yoke and divided it by 5, then marked 4 lines at equal intervals, and that’s where I slashed. I then marked 1/4″ to the left of those lines along the top seamline, and then taped my slashed pieces at that point. 
I then embarked on a new, wearable muslin with some mystery fabric I bought from a Buddhist Centre rummage sale for $1. After I’d sewn everything together except the waistband, I pinned on the old muslin waistband that was too short, and determined it was still short by about 1″. Sarah from Notches & Notions kindly sent me a little tutorial that Jen had sent her on how to extend the waistband nicely, but since I felt that the waistband was matching all the right places (centre back and side seams), I just extended the paper pattern piece by 1″ on the side it was short, and cut my new one. I happily pinned it on…only to discover it was now 1.5″ inches too short. I have absolutely no idea how this happened. I laid it on top of my newly extended waistband piece, and it matched. It’s just one of life’s little (extremely irritating) mysteries, I guess. I just had enough fabric & interfacing to cut it out AGAIN, after adding another 1.5″ extension, and this time, it fit.
A word to the wise – the instructions for the skirt do not make it clear which way to attach the waistband. I heard from a lot of people that it’s easy to sew it on upside down – but no one seemed to clarify which way was upside down! I sewed mine on with the waistband oriented like a frowny face, if that makes sense – the curves were pointing away from the top of the waistband. This worked for me, and I did try pinning it both ways – if I did it the other way, I came up with an even shorter waistband. Another trap for young players is the zip – for my second go around, I didn’t trim my zip until I’d sewed my waistband (but not the waistband facing) on. That way there was absolutely no way I could pull the zipper tab off! 
Here is the back of the skirt – slightly wrinkled, because I’d worn it twice by this point! You can’t really see any difference in the curve of the yoke, in my opinion, but it hugs my back so well! No gaping at all, and even better yet, the skirt doesn’t wiggle up as I walk, which is one thing I absolutely loathe about skirts usually.
 
I know this isn’t the best fly in the world, but I consider it not too bad for a second attempt! I didn’t have enough room to have a seam allowance on the right side of the fly, so I just zig-zagged along the edge to stop it fraying and sewed it to the zipper. It’s not pretty, but it works, and you can’t see it at all when it’s zipped up.
 
I lined the waistband and pockets with some cotton fabric I got from an estate sale, just for funsies, and I used a button left over from my Bleuet Dress. All in all, this project cost me only a few dollars (except the cost of the pattern, obviously). Now that I’ve ironed out the fitting issues, I definitely want to make another – a corduroy one for winter/fall, I think, in red or black.
 
My sewjo has suffered a bit of a hit this week, as Luke and I took a trip to San Diego and then hosted an Aussie friend for a few days. In addition to that I’m taking some online courses over at Coursera, and have started up a new project at work. How do you all make time for your sewing when life gets busy? Any tips?

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Blog Voices – Aussie Version!

I just had to get in on the whole Blog Voices thing that’s going around right now! It’s really cool to hear how my fellow sewing bloggers sound, and how different people pronounce different words. I’m Australian, with one Australian parent and one English parent (from Yorkshire), currently living in California!

Hope you enjoy my contribution! For a list of words to pronounce/questions to answer, check out the lovely Lady Katza‘s blog!

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My First Mathilde

Tilly’s Mathilde Blouse has been on my to-make list for some time, but I wanted to wait until I had the right fabric. To me, Mathilde demands a soft, flowy fabric to make it that perfect summery blouse, and when I saw this rayon challis at Stonemountain & Daughter, I knew I’d hit the jackpot. I half-heartedly started to make a muslin out of some cheap horrendous tropical fabric I got from Goodwill, but in the end I couldn’t be arsed and just decided to make the largest size. I think I made the right decision – it’s meant to be a loose fit, and the softness of the rayon means that it skims my body rather than billowing out like a stiff tent. I love that this is a blouse I wouldn’t be afraid to eat a large lunch in!

 
The blouse came together pretty quickly, all things considered. I used two of Tilly’s hacks – I shortened the sleeves and used gathers instead of pintucks on the front bodice. The instructions for the Mathilde blouse are fantastic! Although the pdf itself is a little sparse, Tilly goes through every step in detail on her blog, complete with plenty of photos to show exactly how things go together. I finished the interfaced back edges, sleeve hems and facings with bias binding, which has become a bit of a standard thing for me these days. I thought about making my own, and even cut out a square to do so, but the fabric shifted every time I tried to draw lines on it despite my best efforts to hold it still, and I decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Still, store-bought bias binding is so stiff and horrible, I’m going to have to start making my own eventually, I think. Need to invest in a better fabric-marking pen. Any suggestions?
 

I used little pearl buttons for the back – I only had two in my stash but luckily Stonemountain had the exact same buttons so I could buy more! As an aside, my button collection is shameful. Word to the wise – don’t buy random packets of buttons from Ebay and expect any of them to match in any way. They won’t. I wanted something nice and classy that wouldn’t take the focus off the fabric and I think I achieved that with the pearls. I added an extra button at the top afterwards, because I found it gaped a bit without it. So 7 buttons in total, all carefully lined up, and no buttonhole mishaps this time! I’ve now totally given up on letting my seam ripper anywhere near my carefully crafted buttonholes, and rely entirely on my husband’s Swiss army knife. I have yet to destroy a single buttonhole with the knife, as opposed to 4 (!) with the seam ripper.

I definitely want to whip up a few more Mathildes, and I want to try experimenting with a sheer yoke, amongst other things, but if I work with another fiddly, fraying fabric right now I might never sew again, so I think I’m going to refresh my sewing palate with a nice, sturdy cotton twill and have a go at the Moss Skirt next!

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And the winner is…

So, this morning, as promised, I drew the winner of the Pattern Pyramid giveaway. The random number generator I used didn’t have to work too hard, because there were only 4 entrants!

So, without further ado, the winner is…

Congratulations, TwirlDesigns – please contact me so we can arrange the sending of the pattern parcel! I couldn’t see an email address for you on your blog, so I used your contact form to let you know you won. Hopefully that worked!

TwirlDesigns has also made the Bombshell Swimsuit (and looks mighty fine in it, too)!

I look forward to seeing what pattern you pick and what you add to the Pyramid, Twirl!

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Pattern Pyramid Go!

I am pleased to report that I was the lucky, lucky winner of the latest Pyramid Pattern giveaway over at Amy‘s blog! I had heard of this magical pattern collection traversing the globe, but I never thought I would be part of it. It arrived today, in all its glory, and now I’m looking for the next recipient!

But first, in case you aren’t familiar with the history of the Pattern Pyramid: It was started by Karen back in 2012, before winging its way to Sew Brunswick in Australia. From there it went to Seersucker Sally in Philly before heading across to Tiffany in Seattle. She sent it to Kat in New Zealand, who decided it was time for a new continent altogether and sent it to the wee lass Debi in Scotland! From Scotland it was back to the USA and into the hands of Heather (of Bombshell Swimsuit fame, no less) and from there onto Lucinda in Boston. Traversing the US again, the Pyramid went to Amy, newly settled in Seattle, and now it’s here with me in good old Berkeley. Phew! Those are some air miles!

So let’s take a look at what wonderful patterns make up the Pyramid, shall we?

 
Damn, that’s a lot of patterns! We have the stunning Vogue 7588 (36″ bust), the funky McCall’s 2539 (33.5″ bust), a classy Simplicity 4141 (34″ bust) separates set, and then another in Simplicity 8154 (36″ bust)! The adorable Simplicity 7818 jumper dress (36″ bust) and the equally adorable Simplicity 7863 suit set (34″). I wish I was a few sizes smaller! We have the elegant Butterick 2304 (34″ bust) making an appearance, together with the Mad Men-esque Simplicity 9171 (40″ bust). If you wanted to get started on autumn clothes already, there’s McCall’s 5479 (29.5 – 34″ bust) and then a trenchcoat/pant set made by Style 1821 (36″ bust). There’s the gorgeous Claire Schaeffer designed jacket V8804 (36 – 44″ bust) and the bombshell McCall’s 5996 (34″ bust). A more modern dress by McCall’s 6433 (29.5 – 34″ bust), and a lovely wrap dress in the form of Vogue 7693 (30 – 32.5″ bust). Finally, we have a cute blouse/dress combo Simplicity 6276 (32″ bust), a Burda 8279 pantsuit (36 – 48″ bust) and the flowy Style 2697 (32.5″ bust). 
 
I’m also added the slightly Hawthorn-esque Vogue Career 7214 (40 – 44″ bust), the McCall’s 8103 (44 – 48″ bust) dress/jacket combo and the cute little Butterick 6619 (32.5″ bust). I felt that there weren’t many larger sizes in the Pyramid as it stood, so I added a couple to balance it out. 
So! Now for the fun bit! I get to give these patterns away to a lucky blogger so they can continue their journey. There a few small rules to keep in mind, namely:
  • To enter you must have an active blog so that you can host your own giveaway and continue the Pattern Pyramid on its journey.
  • If you are the winner, you will pick one pattern to keep for yourself, then host your own giveaway, randomly select a winner, and mail the remaining patterns to them.  They will in turn continue the process.
  • If you are the winner, Karen would love it if you could make a small contribution to The Brooke. This is a charity close to the heart of Catherine, who so generously provided the original patterns.

I will send this Pattern Pyramid anywhere in the world! To enter, simply leave a comment on this blog post, and I will randomly select a winner on 5th August, 11:00 PDT. It’s that easy!

And if you’re wondering which pattern I took for myself, let me show you!

 
McCall’s M5525! I’ve been wanting to make a jacket for ages, so this was perfect.
Good luck everyone!

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Red Bow Hawthorn

 
Well, I did it! I finished the Colette Hawthorn, and only a little after the Sewalong ended! There were quite a few factors that drew out the making of this blouse – a combination of multiple muslins, nightmare fabric and I made have made a dress for shiggles in between muslins. Oops. But it’s done now, and I have to say – I love it! I’ve never worn or made anything with a peplum before, because I was afraid it would make my ample hips look even larger. Silly me. I could have been wearing amazing peplums all this time!
 
I made two muslins of the bodice – the first in a size 14, which was too big in the neck and armholes. I then made another in a size 12, expecting to have to do an FBA, but it actually fit just fine in the bust area! It was, however, a little snug in the waist, so I graded it out to a 14 at the waist when I cut my final fabric. Speaking of, this fabric is the devil. Woven in the forges of Satan himself. I bought it from Ebay a little while ago, and it’s some kind of polyester. Very slippery, but it has nice drape going for it, at least. I tried my best to keep it under control while I was cutting the pattern pieces out – I used my cutting mat, rotary cutter and a number of heavy items from my kitchen, but the pieces still ended up wonky. Mostly in a too-big kind of way. I hand-basted my darts before sewing them with my machine, which helped keep them straight and where they should be. Another irritating thing about this fabric – my Chaco liner pen chalk just fell right off it. Ugh.
I fiddled with the sleeves a bit, but they didn’t quite come out how I wanted. I wanted them to be fluttery, full sleeves. I was quite naive in thinking adding 3 inches to the width would achieve this. However, the sleeves are comfortable and loose and don’t cling to my arms, so I’m pleased about that. I didn’t add cuffs, instead I did a hand-rolled hem on the edges and left it at that. Incidentally, that’s how I hemmed the bottom of the peplum, too. It took 3 hours!
In the end, I managed to get all the pieces to fit together, except for the peplum and the bodice. There was about an inch too much bodice for the peplum, so I incoporated it into a tiny box pleat in the centre of the bodice back, which you can just see in this photo. It doesn’t look too bad, I don’t think – I wish it wasn’t there, but I couldn’t think of a better way to fix it. Oh, and did I mention this fabric frays if you so much as glance at it? No? Well, it did. So French seams, everywhere. Everywhere except the armholes, which I’m regretting. I’m going to bias bind them, because the fraying is just out of control. 
 
Here you can see the cute little floral buttons I bought from Stonemountain & Daughter, and the inside of the blouse. I suffered the same problem a few others did with the collar being a bit too short to reach the edge of the blouse with the 5/8″ seam allowance, and while I was reading about that, I saw Purls & Pleats tutorial on finishing the facings with a Hong Kong finish, and decided to do that with some white bias binding from my stash. I think it came out looking well fancy! Oh, and I didn’t bother recutting and sewing the collar, I just let it be a little too short and I don’t think it’s noticeable at all. When I make it again, though, I will use a 1/4″ seam allowance for the collar sides to fix the issue, though.
Me and my lovely photographer! I think he does a good job, don’t you? 😉

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Teal & Pink

A little while ago now, I bought the Cynthia Rowley Simplicity 1873 dress pattern by mistake. I say by mistake – obviously I did, in fact, purposefully hand over money in exchange for the pattern, but I had a bit of a brain-fart and thought I was actually buying Simplicity 2444. C’est la vie.

 
This pattern is a shining example of Simplicity’s terrible styling choices – the pouffy brocade fabric does absolutely nothing to sell this dress to me. However, since I bought it, I thought I may as well use it! And what’s more, I decided to do things properly. I’ll let you in on a little secret here – I’m lazy. I enjoy sewing, and I love making pretty clothes for myself – but my reluctance to unpick seams or make multiple muslins often comes back to bite me in the arse when I finish a dress and it doesn’t fit properly, or a skirt unravels in the wash. I’ve made a promise to myself to make well-made garments, even if it means unpicking a hundred seams. 

This was the result. I was going to make View B, but the button tabs caught my eye at the last moment and I added them in to make it View C. I made three muslins of the bodice – I worked my way down from size 20 to size 16, and then moved the bust side darts down by 1 inch, and lowered the other bust darts by 2 inches. I left the back darts as they were.

 
I went back and forth on the pleated skirt – the pleats were a bitch to do, and I spent ages basting, unpicking, folding, basting some more and I still couldn’t get them right. I kept ending up with an inch on either side of the skirt spare and 1 in the middle, after lining up all the seams, so in the end I added an extra pleat on either side, and one in the middle. I seriously considered just gathering the skirt, but I ultimately decided not to because I didn’t want to look like a puffball from the waist down. However, if I made it again, I’d take that chance, because I don’t think the pleats are worth the effort. I hemmed the skirt as little as possible, because even though I’m short, it was a good length on me before I touched it!
 
The skirt is deceptively full (excuse the cheeky bra strap trying to peek through)! After all my careful muslin planning, the waist ended up being a little large on me. Stupidly, I didn’t try it on until after I’d inserted the zipper (lapped and handpicked, thank you very much), and I nearly threw the whole thing in the bin when I finally slipped it on and discovered it was baggy. But then I thought a bit, and although the button tabs are meant to be decorative (no buttonholes required), I thought I would move them closer to the centre of the dress and actually button them up to cinch in the waist. I was a bit worried about how it would look, but figured I had nothing to lose, so I tried it and I love the way it turned out. I think the gathering effect under the bust is flattering, and the tabs are so cute!
 
The only pair of matching buttons I had – and how lucky they matched my hot pink zipper! It was meant to be. And look at that buttonhole! A dear friend recently gave me some advice re: buttonholes – stick a pin on either side before wielding the seam ripper, and you’re far less likely to rip right through it. It works like a charm! 
 
 I used a teal broadcloth that I had 5 yards of in my stash – I honestly can’t remember where I bought it. I’m glad I had so much of it, though, because I somehow managed to stuff up cutting out 2 of the big skirt pieces and had to recut them. I used a bright pink zipper (also from the stash) that I got from Urban Ore, and the two buttons that were leftover from a previous project. Yay for stashbusting!

The inside of the dress, back and front respectively. I just typed bacon instead of back and had to change it – can you tell I haven’t had breakfast yet? Anyway, I lined the bodice with more of the broadcloth – I did buy some “lining fabric” from the local fabric store, but it was plastic-y and I thought it would make me sweat (tmi, yes?) so I didn’t bother using it. I didn’t line the skirt to make it lighter. I am so proud of my zipper, you guys. My first lapped, handpicked zipper! Can I make a confession? I had no idea what “handpicked” meant before now. I saw it mentioned on other blogs, and I thought perhaps they were hand-selecting couture zippers or something. I don’t know. But now I know the pick stitch, and I’m in love. Such a wonderful little sneaky stitch!
Despite being less-than-enthusiastic about the pattern before beginning, I actually really like the finished dress, and I may even make another one with a gathered skirt and sleeves! I’ll leave you with this fabulous photo of me flicking my hair like a supermodel. You’re welcome.

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Peacock Bombshell

As you all know, I participated in Heather’s Bombshell Swimsuit Sewalong recently, and I’m proud (as a peacock) to say that I successfully completed the swimsuit – right on schedule, too!

 
This swimsuit was a massive challenge for me, mostly stemming from the fact that it’s not a swimsuit that offers a lot of bust support. Heather did suggest making view B for more bust support, but to be honest it’s not really my style, and I was terrified about the prospect of side boob. 
I cut out a straight size 16, after consulting with Heather, because my measurements matched those of the 16 exactly. Unfortunately, despite me being free and easy with the seam allowances (my sewing machine hates 1/4″ allowances, ok?) it was still too big. I did briefly try on the lining to check the fit, but the lining was so flimsy and stretchy that it was impossible to tell how it would fit when it was all sewn together, so I just hoped for the best. I took in the side seams another 5/8″ each, since they were the only seams I could really get to easily, and although this improved the problem, it didn’t altogether eliminate it.
 
Does this swimsuit make my butt look big? Answer: Yes, yes it does. The gathering on the bum area tends to droop down and sag at the leg opening, which isn’t a very flattering look. 
The gathers don’t work well across my belly, either – they tend to slide to above and below my tummy curve. I’ve heard of people having this issue with a particular Vogue dress that has gathering across the bust – it tends to slide to either side of the boobs. I know bloggers have fixed the dress problem by wearing a slip with it, or adding an extra piece of material to the bust area. Since neither of these fixes can be applied to a swimsuit, I guess I’m doomed to slippery ruching. 
With regards to bust support, I very nearly threw the whole thing in the bin and gave up on it. I tried lining the bust with foam cups I cannabalised from a bra and sewing a strip of elastic under them, but it really didn’t help at all. I just had better-shaped floppy boobs! I took all that out, and tried on the swimsuit with an old strapless bra. It looked so much better, but it wasn’t until I saw Heather’s post on support issues that I thought about sewing it in to the swimsuit. 
I cut off the hooks and eyes and sewed the back band halves of the bra together (mine was an old bra from when I had a 38″ band, I’m now a 34″ so I could afford to lose some of the band), and then I sewed the whole thing into the swimsuit, straight through the lining and main fabric. I know that was a lazy way to do it, but you can’t see the stitching on the outside, really, and there was no way in hell I was taking the whole thing apart to insert a bra that might not even work. 
Here is a photo of the inside of the bust part of my swimsuit. I only sewed around the top of the bra, not the bottom, so it’s easier to adjust while I’m wearing it. It doesn’t function as well as a proper strapless bra, because the back of the swimsuit dips down instead of running straight across, so the cups sit a little lower than I’d like and don’t offer as much support. Still, it looks a hell of a lot better than it did before, let me tell you!
One drawback of sewing in the bra the way I did, however, is that the swimsuit is quite difficult to get on over my hips. It’s do-able, for sure, it just takes a few minutes of wriggling! Unfortunately, though, I need the bust part of the swimsuit to be that tight, otherwise again, there’s just not enough support.
I think this project ends my flirtation with sewing swimsuits. It’s just not practical for someone with a large chest, and I think I’d do better just buying a high end swimsuit manufactured for large chests, by Freya or Panache or one of the British brands. But you live and learn, and it sure was fun to make the suit, and I know I’ll get some use out of it this summer!
 

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Bombs away!

I’m assuming, unless you live under some sort of rock, that you’re all familiar with the amazing Bombshell Swimsuit pattern, created by the lovely Heather of Closet Case Files. I bought it as soon as I saw it – how could I not? I’ve drooled over similar swimsuits over at Modcloth and other websites, and they’re always upwards of $100, so the idea of making my own really appealed to me.

Heather is hosting a Bombshell Sewalong over at her blog, and it starts today! I got my long-suffering husband to print the pattern for me at work today, and I have my fabric here all ready to go. Heather recommends view B for those who need a little more “lift” in the boob region, so view B I will make! I’ll be cutting out my pattern pieces tonight, and obediently making a muslin out of my swimsuit lining.

And yes, I know I already made my own swimsuit. But hey, why not make two? Or even three? Summer has only just begun, and having more than one swimsuit to frolick in doesn’t seem a bad thing in my books.

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