Finished! SWAP is Finished!!!!

Got the jacket finished (tricky, that, since the buttonhole die I was using on my buttonhole attachment broke part way through and had to hand sew the stupid things) and hemmed the two tops that needed it making me fully and officially done with this year's SWAP!!

I'd post a pic of all the pieces but
(A) that would require digging two of them out of the laundry and
(B) I still have a paper to write tonight. So going to do that.

Still, happy!

Last SWAP item - Just about done!

Yay! It's yet another Butterick 3344 shirt though the sleeves were stolen from a simplicity pattern. I like cap sleeves and that's the one thing the butterick pattern is lacking so had to frankenpattern. And this means that four of my six SWAP tops are from one pattern. Which I probably bought for 99c. I think that counts as a very successful tried-and-true pattern and a very good deal. :)

So the current SWAP standing (with one day left to do it all)

DONE
4 tops
4 bottoms

Still to do
- Jacket - put in buttonholes, buttons
- White top - hem
- Black sweater - hem

So close!!!

And this weekend we'll do a photo shoot so I can show off all my pretties. :) Gotta wash a few of them first- I've been wearing them like crazy. I think that's what we call a winning wardrobe!

Last SWAP item - Spray painted shirt

First, update: The coat is nearly done - it just needs buttonholes put in and buttons sewn on and it's completely finished. Yay! On the sad side, I lost two of my four green buttons so they're a no-go at the moment. Additionally, they were a little off from the green of the topstiching/buttonholes so I'm thinking black buttons after all. On the happy side I tested out my neato Geist/Singer buttonhole attachment and got the settings all tweaked to make the world's most gorgeous buttonholes. So tomorrow or the next day I'll whip those out. Happiness!

As for my very lastest item -

I realized I didn't have the time for the more elaborate silk top I wanted to make for my last SWAP item and, at the same time, realized I don't NEED an elaborate silk top. The items I'm wearing the most from my SWAP are all nice, pretty knit tops that I don't have to baby and can throw in a warm wash with all our other cottons. So went digging through my knit box and found a rather insane amount of white cotton/lycra knit. What was I thinking? White is NOT good too near my face. So began thinking and fiddling and thought - aha! - why not a white knit shirt with black screenprinting and a black collar? That should ensure it looks good on me and with the rest of the SWAP. However, I'm rather low on screenprinting materials. Like, none. What I did have is a bottle of black spray fabric paint and a small collection of stencils. I think I can do something with this.

I used a stencil originally intended for home dec painting or some such from Michaels and Tulip Cool Color Spray(c), also from Michaels. It's not the greatest fabric paint in the world and definitely has a bad tendency to squirt and drip rather than the nice airbrush spray it shows on the package, but it was significantly cheaper than the airbrush so it's not unexpected. And I rather liked the mottled look it gave. Rather faded and oddly designer-esque, if I may say so. We'll see how it looks when sewn up.

Since I wanted the stencil to be a little off the neckline I traced out the front so I could carefully position the stencil without worrying about the cut out piece stretching or moving like it always tries to do. Seriously, cut pattern pieces are slightly alive. After a bit of careful eyeballing and a lot of just throwing it in the right place and figuring it'll work I carefully covered up the rest of the top with DH's thesis rough draft (it was in the recycling bin) and sprayed until I was happy with the color. I liked it enough that I added another motif down at the bottom right hem. The whole thing took maybe 20 minutes and I like it, so far. I can see doing similar printing on other fabrics with other stencils - maybe a shadow of flowers or even an octopus. :) Fun results with low effort -works for me!

The paint needs to dry 24 hours so I can't finish the shirt until tomorrow. Good, since I'm still pounding out a paper and still have reading to get done. Sigh. The semester's nearly over, thank heavens! Now to just survive until then.

Jacket sneak-peak

Almost done! Just need to put in the partial lining, attach the belt loops, and hem it up! Oh, and a tad more topstitching. And button holes. Can't forget those. Especially since I now have an uber-gorgeous singer buttonhole attachment that makes buttonholes so very easy and so very perfect. So love my new toy.

Speaking of buttons and buttonholes, I pinned these green buttons on to see what I thought and ... not so much loving them. In real life they're not so pukey but they're still rather bright. I think I might do green buttonholes and some shiny black buttons with green thread holding them on. Might be just the thing to add a little color without going overboard. Must pick up some black buttons this weekend and see.

Jacket progress and topstitching love

I love topstitching. Is there any other little detail you can add that punches so much class with so little effort? For the coat, which I'm about half way done with now, I'm topstitching the black denim with green. Actually two slightly different green threads, giving just a slight bit of extra depth and varigation. These are two of the strips that get cut into belt loops - don't they look so finished? I love.



It's been a bit of a challenge to relearn how to top stitch now that my new (to me) machines don't have the blindhem foot that I used like mad on my old machine. And, sadly, the motor on old machine is dying so using it was only an option if I wanted to handcrank every single stitch. So learning how to topstitch using the zigzag foot to keep me on track was a bit of a lesson in creative make-do-manship. And it worked, for the most part. And I realized that in doing this I've gotten better at really controlling my machine. Of course, with that lesson learned I'm still going to go shopping for a good topstitching foot just as soon as I can.

The jacket itself is coming along really nicely - thank you all for talking me into the more trendy and fun style! The black denim, now that it's part of a garment and not on the bolt, has a decided motorcycle bad-girl air to it that just works so fantastically well with the slightly sweet empire waist and candy green topstitching. Such fun juxtaposition.

Also, thank you for the kind words about the paper - it's just been one of those semesters where writer's block has come to camp out and naturally I've got a ton of papers still due. Sigh. Happily the paper I was whining about is actually due NEXT week, not this. Yeah, slight error with my dayplanner there. But a happy error! I'm feeling much better about it now. And now I know what to do next time I'm trudging through molasses - make gingerbread! :)

Decisions and a rather adolescent whine

After some great advice I've decided to go with the shawl-front Project Runway design coat. Yeah, it's a bit trendy but, you know, I like it and I need something to make me smile. Plus, it's the easier of the two. And at this point in the game that counts for a lot. Thanks for the help and I really hope I'll be able to show off the coat in short order.

And for my childish whine - I have a paper due this evening and I Do. Not. Want. to do it. It's not that the topic's a problem or that I've had trouble finding research or anything like that. Just the simple act of organizing out my information and putting it together in coherent sentences and paragraphs and building an argument and citing everything correctly is rather overwhelming and my energy and enthusiasm for the task could not be lower. I'd really rather watch grass grow. Sigh. And there's little worse than trying to force one's self through a task that needs to be done fairly well but which one doesn't want to do. It's like dragging a full blown semi through molasses. And, worse, I can't be bribed. I wish I could do that old trick of setting an alarm and working hard until it goes off or giving myself chocolate or whatnot but repeated attempts have proven that it just doesn't work. I'll stare at the carpet until that alarm goes off or just go without the chocolate. I am, apparently, more stubborn than myself. Oh, well. Going to try talking through the paper as that's one trick that has a one in ten chance of working.

Help me pick my last SWAP pattern

I'm juuuust about done with my SWAP but my jacket piece is proving to be my sticking point. It's not that I haven't tried - this will officially be my fifth attempt.  Seriously.  What happened to 1-4?  Story for another time.  Basics being that I tried to make fabric work rather than using the right fabric to begin with.  So Friday I picked up 4 yards of black denim at Joanns and now it's washed ready to be cut.  Unfortunately I can't decide which pattern is best for it.  Can you help?

Option #1

Simplicity 4084

I'd make view C, the single breasted one shown in purple. Problem: I've lost the front yoke pattern piece back when making attempt #1 and I'm not sure the coat would look right without that overlay over the shoulder. It's not super easy to see in the pattern picture but that vertical line right at the shoulder seems to really make the pattern work. So I'm dithering on that. On the other hand the lines are good and I've already got the tissue pattern cut out to the right size. Again from attempt #1. So that's a time saver.

Option #2
Simplicity 2812

I'd make up the shawl collar version, the one shown in brown on the far right. Knee length. Problem: Not sure if the empire waist won't look totally '09 come next season. However I really like that shawl collar and if the high waist is my only issue then I could piece the parts together and cut as one, eliminating the empire waist. Right? Or is this one of those cases where, if I"m going to do it, I should just do it all the way and include the high waist? So many choices!

Ideally I want a nice lighter weight jacket that I can wear to class and out shopping, over my just-below-the-knee skirts and over my jeans alike. I plan on topstitching with some green thread that matches my green cord skirt and I bought some lovely green wood buttons so no matter what it won't be too boring.

So, what's your vote for the best use of this denim?
Thanks in advance!!!

Wearing my SWAP (day 2)

Yesterday I wore my black peasant top and denim skirt and today I wore this, my purple knit top and finally hemmed black wool skirt.  With my favorite new pumps.  New shoes make me so very happy.  When I'm done I want to do a big photo session a-la Lucky's old week of styles where they show all the pieces individually, rather like paper doll clothes, then a week of the subject wearing them all.  Similar to their current month of styles but less ambitious.  :) 

Another thought, I've really loved doing this SWAP and don't want to stop.  I might see how much farther I can take it.  Maybe a few more tops, at least one of them a nice blouse, another skirt (I like skirts), a pair of nice pants, a cardigan, a denim jacket ... 

Wearing my SWAP

This is me yesterday on my way to class wearing shirt #5 of my SWAP and bottom #2. Or, in pattern numbers, New Look 6785 and Simplicity 3754. I really love my new black top and it wasn't hard to make at all. The pattern went together really smoothly with just the fabric itself tripping me up - it's rough crinkle cotton from Joann's and I've certainly learned a lot. The first being that while it said 45" on the bolt, that's before the crinkle process. Afterwards it's a lot less which makes a cutting layout fun. I could have ironed it out flat and cut but that would have made for some interesting distortions at the seams so I just went with the crinkle, cutting slowly and figuring any mistakes would be hidden in the fabric itself.

To keep the crinkle from uncrinkling as I sewed (since machines, by nature, really like fabric flat as it feeds) I started by with the collar since that was interfaced. First basted collar back to interfacing, keeping the fabric on the bottom as I sewed and letting the feed dogs do their thing and ease that bottom layer to fit the interfacing, and then I sewed the outside collar to the interfaced inside, again letting the feed dogs ease in the new fabric just enough to fit it. Next sewed the front and back pieces to the sleeves, going slow and decreasing the pressure on my presser foot to keep from stretching out the fabric more than absolutely necessary. Serged the seams to finish them. From there sewed the body of the dress to the neckline (treating all three layers of the neckline as one - no fussy sewing of the top layer then turning over and handsewing for this dress - it's too casual for that) and then, once I happy with it, serged the seam. Took a while because instead of gathering, I pleated in the front, sleeves, and back and it took a few tries to get the pleats just right.

Sewed little band to sleeves leaving 1" unfinished, serged the sides, then used that hanging 1" of sleeve band to cover over stitching and finish sleeves. Which probably doesn't make a lot of sense. Hm. Must think of better way to word that.

Serged hem, turned up and handstitched blind hem. Still deciding how I like it.

Anyway, wound up with a nice little tunic top that I really like! I'd like to make a few more, first in some gorgeous purple satin I have and then a few more breezy cotton versions though those I'd like to be closer to knee length - unfortunately, due to that whole not-really-45" thing I could only get a tunic out of this one. Oh, well. Great pattern, though, and I'm just about done with my SWAP!

And, best, I'm actually WEARING every part of my SWAP, so far. Well, except for the black sweater I didn't finish until it was already in the 70s here. But that doesn't count. Once it's cool it'll get worn too. So success!

SWAP Progress check

Finished
Top #1 - Black tee
Top #2 - Maroon Cowl
Top #3 - Purple knit top
Top #4 - Black cowl sweater
Top #5 - Black peasant blouse (this one!)
Bottom #1 - Denim skirt
Bottom #2 - Green cord
Bottom #3 - Black yoga pants
Bottom #4 - Black wool skirt

In Progress
Jacket - Black Coat (which is being a pain - seriously, I've ripped more seams out of this thing...)

To Start
Top #6 - Purple satin tunic

Sooooo close!

SWAP - 7/12ths of the way done!

The bearded one and I have been doing a systematic cleaning of the apartment in prep for the move this summer and today it was the bedroom. We decided to rearrange since we were cleaning out as well and for just a short bit we had a full wall cleared. I pounced on the opportunity to get my present SWAP items all hung up in a bit of a collage. It's not great - three of them got pulled out of the suitcase and two out of the ironing pile and one's still needing the hems done - but hey, it lets you see where I'm at! Three bottoms finished, four tops, and I've got another bottom and two jackets in progress. The end is actually in sight!

So what do you think?



Looking over the items I'm struck, first of all, at how badly wrinkled they are. Especially the knits. Seriously, aren't those supposed to be just about magically resistant to wrinkles? Sigh. Also they're all so bland at the moment. I might add some cutwork to the purple top. Not sure about the black but I think the cowl's too high and stiff. I just made that today and the hem's waiting for me to set up the double needle in my machine so it's a total WIP. Still, once on and with the right accessories they're all great pieces and I've been wearing the tails off of all of them. It's getting a bit warm for the black and maroon tops but next winter I'd really need them (Wisconsin, here we come!) and so don't mind packing them away. I really dislike long sleeves and sweaters and get so tired of the ones I have so hopefully a couple new ones in the mix will help brighten up those cold days.


On a totally other topic, thanks to Sharon and Rose (Rose and Sharon ... Rose of Sharon - my favorite flower!) for the sisterhood award! Technically I'm supposed to pass this on but I'm already behind with the previous award and I don't want to nominate someone who's already gotten it or forget someone who's richly deserving of it and so ... I'm going to be bad and non communal and all that and just tell you all straight up that I've yet to go to any of your blogs (and, if you've commented or are on my sidebar, I do go often!) and not be inspired and encouraged!




And in a third topic, I'm ebaying the duchess satin silk I originally bought for my wedding dress. If you've been needing, say, seven yards of slightly golden cream silk then, hey, gotcha covered. I figure all of you are fine on silk at the moment but just in case, I'd rather it go to one of y'all's homes than anyone else!

Break for Crochet

(very much not me)

I've really been enjoying all the sewing the SWAP is forcing me to do but homework's began to pile up. In college, during a reading-intensive semester, I learned to crochet while reading so I decided to do something yarn-related as my SWAP jacket. Found a couple nice patterns last Friday and picked up some appropriate yarn on Saturday and started crocheting! After a few false starts I settled on this short sleeved jacket and started!

So far I've made it through the shoulders, which is more than I usually managed. I tend to get quickly bored while crocheting though reading while doing it helps a lot. It's a really basic lace motif that, once I got it down, meant I could stash the rather confusing directions and just go with it. So far I like result fairly well ... I'm not using the exact yarn they recommend, mostly because I forgot everything but the recommended oz by the time I got to Michael's and so just went by that and my favorite colors. I did find a gorgeous, slightly variegated dark green that'll look great with everything in the SWAP so yay to that. However I forgot that I tend to be a tight crocheter and the yarn isn't draping like the picture. I'm hoping that the weight of the whole thing will cause drapiness but, at the moment, it's a little bunchy and stiff. So we'll see. The good thing is that if it fails out I really haven't lost anything. It's forced me to plow through some reading assignments so if that's all I get out of it that's fine. Still, I wouldn't mind a pretty wrap. :)

Award and A Fun Green Skirt

Thank you Sarah for the Kreative Blog award! I'll do some indepth research this afternoon finding out if any of you creative bloggers hasn't gotten one yet and pass it on. :)




In other news, I got piece #4 of my SWAP finished! Just ... 7 more pieces to go. Gulp. Don't think about it, just keep pressing on... And fortunately the last bunch (save for the pesky jacket) should be easy. Knit yoga pants, another skirt from this pattern, a couple more cowlneck sweaters, and a handful of quick knit shirts should do it.

Anyway, the skirt.



(review copied wholesale from my Pattern Review review.)

From Simplicity 3754



Pattern Description:
A set of denim-style skirts with narrow and flared options. Different lengths and trim make the pattern very versatile.

Pattern Sizing:
True to size! Yay, simplicity!

I measure a 14 but have learned to beware of the Big 4's assumption that I like ten inches of ease in fitted stuff and so traced and pinfitted a 12. It was just this side of snug (meaning that, amazingly enough, this pattern seems to run true to size!) so I went with it but sewed 3/8" side seams, effectively giving myself an extra inch. I also, during the pinfitting stage, pinched out a bit from the back waistband and skirt and, from that, redrafted the back waistband to be a little smaller and added darts to the bottom back of the skirt, all to account for my swayback.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes it did! I found it to be a very cute, very well designed pattern. Great job, simplicity! Granted, I would have liked to see approximate lengths of the skirts, instead of the line drawings they have with no point of reference. Ah, well, can't have everything.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
Yes, though I tended to just use them when doing something I'd never done before. Like the faux fly front. Tip: bypass their faux way of doing it and just do it the right way. I've never put in an actual fly front but I've been told it's very easy, especially when using Sandra Benzine's (did I spell that right? Credit the right person?) method. I'll do that next time since the faux fly, while looking right, feels very odd when I'm zipping it. Like I short-sheeted my zipper opening.

Another tip: the belt carriers are not too long. They look it when you just lay them flat on the waist band and they overlap by a good 1/2". That's because they need to puff out a bit to hold the belt. Lesson learned. I'll need to do a little deconstruction and fixing to get that right. My excuse - it was 2:30 in the morning when I got to that step. I'm just thankful my finger isn't a part of this skirt.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
Great fit and style and comes together very quickly. A lot of look for a low investment. LOVE the deep pockets, very handy! And the little criss-cross belt carriers are a great detail. Dislike? The faux fly front. That's really it, everything else was and is great! Oh, and for those not sewing on an all-metal workhorse, this does have you sewing through (pauses to count) 8 layers of material at two points. My lovely vintage Singer slant-o-matic handled it without slowing down but I know my previous machine would have gone on strike, especially with this thick corduroy.

Fabric Used:
Chunky cotton corduroy from Joann's. Not the highest quality but a great, bright color and not something I was going to cry too hard over if it didn't work out.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:
The pattern has you use the body fabric for all of the pattern but that would have been major bulk with this material, so I cut the pocket lining and facings out of a gorgeous bright pink and green paisley cotton. You can't see it when I wear the skirt but I know it's there and it makes me happy. I omitted the bias binding on the pocket edge - no need - and understitched and topstitched at every opportunity. For just a few minutes investment it adds a great finished look to the garment. Beyond that (and adding the back dart as described many sections ago), I actually left the pattern alone. Strange for me.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
In a heartbeat! This was piece #4 for the SWAP I'm working on and I still have another two bottoms to go. I'm seriously considering making this up in a longer version from some tropical weight wool I have. Very flattering, very fast to throw together (4 hours from pulling out the pattern to wearing it and that includes the 45 minutes of messing up the zipper three separate times - it'll be faster next time) and very wearable.

Conclusion:
What more can I say? It's a great, great pattern! Unfortunately Simplicity's website says it's out of print so Ebay or an understaffed Joann's might be your best bet for picking it up. Seriously what's with discontinuing such a great pattern? Ah, well, just means I'll have to keep up my habit of hording them at pattern sales.

Swap Item 2 - Done!

Burda WOF 02-2005-117

Finished (?) my first bottom for the SWAP - a nice denim skirt I can wear to class or out and about! The question mark is due to a couple things - first, it needs something to fasten the waistband closed. As you can see from the technical drawing, it's supposed to have ties but I think it'd clash with the belts I've been collecting. Shoes and belts are such my weakness. So I'm thinking about putting in a couple of hooks and eyes and seeing if those work nearly as well. Also I'm still considering putting in a front slit for walking room (the original intent was a kickpleat but I was tired while cutting out and SO messed that up) though I don't like front slits (a little tarty, IMHO) so unless I find the skirt binding (haven't so far) then I'll leave it alone. Also, in keeping with my epic-basics I'd intended to add some hand embroidery but I also really like it as is. So I'm letting that sit and perculate.

But until then I'm wearing the skirt and really loving it. Yay for SWAPs and new clothes!

Revising the SWAP plan

I'm thinking of changing the game plan slightly from the west-coast winery theme to an epic-basics one. Or something like that. It would be focused on making up eleven basics but each with a twist or new technique or something else to take them from just a general tee to something a little special. With the first piece, that tee, it's both a slightly nicer, more fitted tee than your normal Hanes version and it was my first repurposed garment. Anyway, it's a thought.

Right now I'm working on piece #2, a denim skirt. It LOOKS like a really easy design but the trick here is that it's my first Burda WOF pattern. And it's in German.

I don't even know how to ask for directions to the bathroom in German.

Babelfish is really no help. The last instructions I got were to, and I quote, "Federation: at the federal parts the side seams quilt outside federation to the upper skirt edge quilt." I'm thinking federation has something to do with the waistband but I'm so not sure. Though I guess it makes sense ... Waistband: at the waist parts sew the side seams, sew outside waistband to the upper skirt edge. Which would be better if I hadn't already figured out I need to do that. Sigh.

So this basic skirt is not-so basic in that aspect, especially since it has a neat front zipper detail that I've never done before. So we'll see how it works out. At least I got the pattern fitted and partially figured out with a muslin last week. So we'll see how this attempt goes!

SWAP Item 1 - DONE!

(me at 12:30 at night after camera difficulties. Really need better pic)

And there was much rejoicing.

So my first SWAP item, a t-shirt, wasn't exactly in my original plan. But as the idea is to sew for a week in your life and I've discovered I love a nice, fitted, tee, it made sense to incorporate one in. Then, on Sunday, I gave blood and as a thanks I got a small bottle of gatorade and a one-size-fits-none XXL t-shirt ... well, it seemed like a good time to pull Vogue 2925 out of storage and finally test out that nice shirt pattern. After all, the donor shirt was actually quite nice, black with a surprisingly non-ugly logo on it, and since it was free it made for a good test.

And it worked!

The pattern is absolutely fab, insanely quick to put together and seriously flattering. It's two pieces with four lines of gathering and I kinda cheated and put in just one line of gathering stitches at each. The less than perfect gathering really seems to fit with the slightly-off-kilter logo printed on the front. I basted the side seams together to make the next step easier, then serged those same seams. My two machines are right next to each other and already kitted in black thread so the extra step took hardly any time at all. I then fitted my sewing machine with the double needle and an extra spool of black thread and used that for the neckline, armcycs, and hem. They totally look like coverstitch hems for the price of a double needle. Heart! The armcyc was a bit hard to do this way, especially with the underarm seam. It's a lot higher and tighter than expected, probably because I couldn't do the however-big hem they wanted on it. Note for next time: cut out 1/2" deeper armcyc. Fortunately fabric rubbing off my deoderant doesn't bother me all that much but I know many people absolutely hate it so FYI.

Oh, I cut a size 10 whilst being a 14 in Vogue sizing. I like things more fitted and, since I bought the 6-8-10 sized pattern, it was the largest option I had. It's exactly as fitted as I wanted it to be (what're the chances? No complaint, though), just about form fitting but not at all binding. Just like you want an all-purpose t to be. Or I like an all-purpose t to be ... I guess I'm not all people. But there it is, a new life for a huge t-shirt! And a new shirt for me! Today, after some work, I want to get my denim skirt cut out to go with this shirt. We'll see how that goes, for now I'm just very happy to have gotten the first of the 12 items done!