What’s a girl to do?

I’m stumped, y’all. Stumped. Simplicity 1998 is a head-scratcher to say the least. I am not sure if it’s meant to be a loose-fitting dress or if I cut the dress a size too big (even though I cut the size according to my bust). It doesn’t help that I am unsure as how kimono sleeves are meant to look or fit.

I apologize for the craptastic, unflattering photos I’m about to share but I didn’t think to grab a proper camera. Here you have the dress with an altered collar. The collar was just too big and floppy, and not in a good way.

I decided to take in the dress at the neckline, making another pleat in the back of the dress. Sadly the change produced drag lines along the shoulders and bodice. And the pleat is now misshapen.

So I ask, what do you think my next step should be? Alter it back to how it looked in Picture 1? Take in the sides? I’m afraid taking in the sides might distort the pleat even more, maybe? I can always unpick the whole thing and make a Renfrew

So yeah. I’m stumped.

Sewjo, where are you?

Well hello there! Long time no chat, I know. Last time I left off I was working on some Colette Clovers and a Victory Ava top. Sadly, I’m still working on them. I kind of lost my sewjo right before The Games started. And well, then there was no sewing because all spare time was devoted to watching or going to The Games. No joke. I’ve been a fan of the Olympics since I was a small fry. It’s the athlete in me that wants out. Maybe one day…one day.

Along with the Olympics I had a friend come visit and we went all over the place. It was great fun but now I’m ready to get back to my unfinished projects. Problem is I can’t seem to make myself do it. Well, I’m hoping that after a few days of boredom I’ll be ready to pick off where I left off. Next time I hope to have something to show you!

So…yeah…

I really wanted to title this post, “What the hell is going on here? I need help, stat!” But decided on my second, blander choice. I’ve been having quite the fitting issues with my Darling dress. I was trying well hard to figure it out on my own. A week later and I’m still not too sure what to do next. Also, not sure why I refused to ask for help earlier. Stupid pride? Fear to admit failure? Admitting to doing something stupid again? Yes, to all of them.

I thought I figured out the first fit issue: the pattern needed to be graded up more. So I did that. I tried on the dress several times as I put it together and it seemed to be going fine. I was a few steps away from finishing and decide to admire my work. And I was offended by this…

Look at those shoulder seams, standing up, taunting me, all devil-horn-like.

Ai-yai-yai. What is a girl to do? Am I suppose to undo the shoulder seams and take away the excess (assuming that’s why the seams are standing away from the shoulders) fabric*? Also, I have a strong feeling that I need to add more ease all around. What do you think? And if I add more ease, maybe the shoulder problem will go away?

So, yeah. I’ll be standing in a corner, waiting for your replies (thanks in advance!).

Luckily I've since fixed that wonky dart.

*no fabulous pricey fabric was hurt in the making of this flop. It was some nice cheap and cheerful fabric from the Birmingham meet up. Although some lovely Parisian bias binding may be in jeopardy.

When a historic tour turns into a shopping trip

Rachel, smiling in spite of the cold.

The lovely Rachel was super kind to guide me around the gorgeous historical city of Rochester. We started at the high street before making our way to the cathedral and castle, with some tasty breaks in between.

Mostly independent shops make up Rochester’s high street. We had a great time browsing (ahem, shopping) at all of them and escaping the cold (y’all, it was cold). There were so many charity shops and niche boutiques that I’d love to go back and explore again. After much walking and wandering about we took the necessary breaks to replenish ourselves. The heated indoors and warm food were extremely welcomed. We had a bit of this…

Coffee and cake break at the Deaf Cat coffee shop.

And later a bit of that…

Lunch break!

The purpose behind my trip was to visit with Rachel and geek out over all the beautiful architecture and history. And I did. Loved it all! But I also managed to squeeze in a few really good sewing related buys. Of course I would! Not sure why I am so surprised with myself. I got some cards that will one day decorate my future sewing room, some pretty vintage buttons, fun craft buttons, and a handy bendable ruler.

I just can't walk away from good, inexpensive finds.

At a charity shop I found a sweet knitting bag. I was so glad because I wasn’t looking forward to making one myself.

Knitting bag bought at a charity shop.

I also snapped up these useful books. Can I just say I love making macarons. Love it! But I’ve been in a chocolate/strawberry flavored rut. I want to make new ones and the recipe book I found should help. And the knitting book has some very sweet jumpers in it; that one day I will tackle.

Yummy books. Yummy for different reasons.

Now, on to sewing news…

I planned to finish my Darling Ranges Dress last month. And I so could have. I had the muslin cut out and sitting on the table, not being put together for about a week. I just wasn’t feeling very sew-y. And when I finally did put it together it was to find that I hadn’t graded the pattern correctly. Correctly as in, not at all! Well, to be fair I did add inches to the waistline but that’s it. Why I hadn’t thought to add to the bust is beyond me. I mean, I had written the measurements on the pattern book! Oy.

Not looking so darling. Whomp whomp.

Skirt sits too high, armhole is tight and I have a pointy boob dart. Yikes!

I hate when I make such obvious dumb mistakes. Makes me wonder if I should sew at all. But it’s a growing pain so I will know better next time (measure, measure, measure!). As of yesterday I finished cutting the newly graded pattern pieces. By the end of the week I should have another workable muslin.

Whoa Nelly! What a difference!

Today I traced and cut all the pieces for my Colette Pastille dress. My waist measures 1/2 in (1.27 cm) bigger than the biggest pattern pieces. It seems like such a small measurement to fuss over. Or am I being silly in thinking that? Maybe adjusting the pattern isn’t a bad idea?

Hope all in well in your sewing and non-sewing worlds.

I’m so looking past you

My Hot Patterns skirt is currently being ignored by me. This pattern has been ready and waiting to go for a week. I got so far as to iron and lay out my wearable muslin. But for some reason I can’t seem to go the next step and cut the fabric pieces.

My lackluster reaction for it has to do with having read the tepid reviews on the pattern. The waistband seems to run small, an easy fix but still…There is something about this skirt that screams ‘more trouble than it’s worth.’ Maybe it’s just the state of mind I’m in. I want to make more fun, flirty things. So I am putting this aside for now and moving on to two other things.

The first is from the Sew Colette challenge, the Meringue skirt. The second is the Darling Ranges dress.

I’m determined to cutesify my wardrobe; no room for feeling uninspired. Ever feel that way and had to put aside a project? I feel like I’m being a bit harsh but realistic. I mean, the pattern isn’t going anywhere. I’ll come back to it one day.

My First Sewing Year in Review

I know it’s not the end of the year just yet but I’ve been feeling quite reflective over my first year of sewing. Had I not taken up sewing I would be struggling with SAD as I did last winter. What a turn around! My anxiety has lessened and sewing is my therapy. The thrill I feel when a garment is coming together, when it’s finally completed (and fits), like no other. Sewing came into my life at the perfect moment, really. When you have the blues your confidence suffers quite the beating. But now my steps are lighter and I laugh a lot more easily. Don’t get me wrong, I still have some SAD days but I am so much better.

Sewing taught me to be courageous again and to stop doubting myself. Can I just say how afraid I was to cut my first fashion fabric? Very. I kept buying fabrics and not doing anything with them, too scared that I’d fail at constructing something. But how else was I to learn? So I took the scissors to the fabric and I’ve been having fun ever since. Not all projects have gone perfectly (I’m looking at you, Rooibos). But I feel more confident in my skills to re-visit my past mistakes and try to fix them. I’m actually looking forward to it.

So here’s a look at all my 2011 makes. You’ll notice my initial fear kept me sewing easy peasy stuff. It wasn’t until I successfully constructed Colette’s Sorbetto pattern (and so my love affair with Colette patterns began…) that finally felt comfortable with garment making.

I’m quite proud of my sewing growth so far and I’m looking forward to gaining more skills. My sewing hopes for 2012 are to make some dresses, use up some of my fabric stash, less fabric buying (although this might not help with that so much), play around with mixing patterns to create new looks and finally conqueror my nemesis, the Rooibos dress!

I am happy to say that sewing and I are definitely in a committed relationship. I’ve even bought 150 meters of tracing paper to celebrate!

So what are your 2012 sewing goals?

P.S. Thank you, sewing community, for being *so* freaking welcoming, inspiring and so golly nice.

Rooibos…where are you? A beginner’s sewing woes

Can you believe that I am still stuck on the muslin part of the sew-along? I am. I blame my inexperience. I’ve never made a dress so I am learning about fit, new techniques and pattern adjustments all at once. I’ve made three bodices and one full dress and none fit right.

How many muslins will it take? Hmm...

So here’s the deal…My measurements are 46.5/43/47. Size 18 measures 46/38/48. I added 1/2 in. to the back and front, allowing the extra 1/2 in. for wiggle room. I added the needed inches for my waist at the midriff pieces (was this wrong?) and center and back skirt pieces. Here’s the dilemma: I can’t find a source that will help me figure out how I can get the bodice, midriff and skirt to match up. The midriff and skirt are way too wide for the bodice and I can’t seem to figure out how to grade the pieces to fit.

Forgetting about the midriff/skirt issue I did an FBA today, hoping that would take away the need to add the 1/2 in. to the bodice. The darts were way too low on the muslin. The bodice didn’t fit me nearly as well as the others. But maybe I did the FBA wrong? Or perhaps I can adjust the darts and make the bodice. work? Who knows? I don’t at this point. I am considering putting this project aside until I get some more experience under my belt or I have my ‘EUREKA’ moment and figure/find/am told the solutions to my problems. I don’t want to butcher any more fabric, to be honest.

Beginners…pftttt.

(But on a happy note my long lost patterns have made their way back to the States and are now heading back to me at the right address. Happy happy, joy joy.)

Playing detective

So…the current tenants at my old place say they have not received the package containing my patterns. So I figured, “Oh, it must be at the collection office!” Let me tell you that there are four different phone numbers online for the collection office in Tooting. None worked. So at 10AM yesterday I got on the tube and headed down. An hour and ten minutes later I was begging a worker to search for my package. He did and found nothing! What the…I was suddenly full of negative thoughts about the current tenants. I was picturing them laughing maniacally as they cut out patterns as I huffed down to my old building. Luckily for me someone was doing maintenance and I managed to slip inside. Ha! Take that evil tenant. I am on to you!

The mail is separated and kept on a long dresser in the hallway. I searched through all of it and found some old mail but no delivery slip or package. Womp…womp…So with my tail in between my legs I headed home and moped for the rest of the day. I wish I wasn’t so upset over losing them but I am. I had fabric picked out, a schedule as to when to do what… Ugh. Failure!

But I still have my retro Butterick patterns (which I bought these AGES ago) that I planned to make later, when I felt a bit more skilled. But to hell with it. These are the only dress patterns I have and I want to make a dress now, dammit. Potty mouth! Sorry. Can you tell how frustrated I am?

So I started working on this baby in my dressmaking class.

Butterick B5605

It took me 2.5 hours to cut the pattern and to adjust the sleeves to fit my chunky arms. My teacher suggested I do a less, um, voluminous skirt. I think she was afraid I would be very disappointed in the look (she was calling me fat, uh huh) if I go for the full skirt so I may do something a bit more straight cut.

My dressmaking class ends next week so I will be working on this dress solo after then. Scared of messing up pretty fabric I settled for some that was inexpensive but unfortunately may wash me out a bit. I figured it was okay because I could wear the dress for a fancy dress party or something.

I needed 6 yards!

I still feel bummed that my patterns are lost but I won’t consider replacing them until much later. You know, just in case! Keeping hope that the package gets returned to New Mexico.

May your sewing attempts these days be less frustrating!

Womp…womp…womp…

Two weeks and still waiting for my patterns that I ordered AGES ago. Come to find out my Butterick patterns are M.I.A. My mother-in-law accidently sent them to our old address in Tooting. Sad. Day.

Now I am stuck waiting to hear back from the old landlord in hopes that he will ask the tenant and see if they have the package.

Until then I will be a bit miffed.

Sis Boom Ba!

Finally finished the Sis Boom Dana Top pattern I bought from Etsy. I had a very hard time with the neckline and zig-zag stitching. I stitched and unstitched it several times in hopes of getting it right. Unfortunately I have several little puncture holes in the ruffles. Hoping, maybe, they’ll go away a bit when I wash it. After changing needles and playing with the tension the zig-zag stitching came out a bit better. Not amazing but a lot better. Here is me in the finished top.

I definitely have to take it in. It fits me a bit wide. I knew it might be. When it came to picking a size I preferred going a size up rather than down. I figured it would be much easier to take it in. I think I will also re-do the hem. It puckered a bit. You can see it a bit in the right hand side of the photo.

So, will I make this pattern again? Yes…in due time. I think I need to put some time between me and this pattern. Not sure if it was meant for someone a bit more skilled. I’ll give it another go once I make a few more pieces. I’d love to have it in a turquoise color, and shorter.

Next up? I think I will give the Port Elizabeth pattern a go. It’s free on Burda Style. Take a look if you’re interested in making a light summer top.

Until next time!