Challenge Is as Challenge Does

I'm sitting here feeling spring-cold hideous but I'm committed to speedy recovery, dammit. I will rest and be well by Monday, but not, I suspect, without a healthy dose of complaining in the meanwhile. It doesn't help that Inkscape is a totally counter-intuitive (to my mind) mess of a program and that collage below took me 2 hours.

Why complain, you might ask, when I have such a happy post at hand? I mean, here's where I get to tell you - nay, show you - how I set a challenge, developed the parameters, stayed within the timelines, surpassed the required output and made 7 really cute spring basics:


Indeed, I even conducted a challenge within a challenge. Wow, when I put it that way, I'm awesome!

I'm here to say that I have worn all of these garments at least once so far - and some of them a few times! Here's a run down of some of the interesting features of this challenge:

• At the start, I owned the floral rayon jersey, the orange rayon jersey for the bonus sleeveless top and the orange double knit used to make the dress. Nonetheless, I spent quite a bit on fabric, in the scheme of things, somewhere in the neighbourhood of $100.00. Mind you, a hundred bucks for this kind of haul is miraculous, no?

• I really like pink, cerise and orange, apparently :-) Actually, I'm starting to think that everything I make is in a variant of pink or navy.
  

• Best outcome? Well, it's impossible to say! I've had very good response to everything (except the house-bound lounge pants, which no one's seen). I think the Magic Blouse may win for most intriguing but the Jalie floral blouse has been a big hit.

• Hardest slog: Ha! It's a toss up between the culottes and the Ginger skirt. I probably gave 75 per cent of my total energy in this challenge just to those two garments.
  

• Best Lesson: Where to begin? On the macro level: The right, complex challenge can keep you going for a long time. If it solves a problem, feel free to make shit up. Vintage patterns aren't necessarily more special or better-fitting than modern ones. Sometimes, the more you pin, the less you succeed. You have to be intuitive! On the micro level: Inner leg pleats that don't meet up with the waist of your culottes are a nightmare to insert and sew. Pleats that go up to your waist are a nightmare to wear. Zipper insertion on bias cut garments is a crap shoot. Bias tape is fussy but endlessly useful. I could take up 6 posts coming up with observations learned in this challenge alone...

• Most practical new learning: Not that I didn't know this, but I can confirm that pretty "vintage" seam finishing bulky; it takes more fabric and adds twice the time required to make any given garment. I'm really happy to be able to finish something nicely without a serger, but I'm just as happy to have a serger. PS: You can still finish seams without using vintage techniques or a serger, in case you're worried. Most knits, for example, don't need any finishing to speak of, except close clipping. And pinked seams with a straight stitch will often work on wovens. I will say, though, these sorts of finishes often do not look as good. They may also be weaker than the vintage or serger methods. Which is why the sewing goddess invented lining to encase a whole whack of unfinished seams presto. Mind you, I don't much like lining.
  

Final Impressions:

I didn't think I'd be one of those capsule wardrobe, "sewing challenge" kind of people, but perhaps I am. This project has shown me that I have a decent attention span and the ability to put together interesting designs in coordinating fabrics and patterns. Furthermore, knowing what I was going to tackle next allowed me to bridge learning of new techniques from one project to the next, i.e., the faux Hong Kong finish on the cowl dress turned into real Hong Kong finishing on the centre back seam of the Ginger skirt. Nonetheless, I kept my bizarre, sub-optimal (self-invented cuz it's probably not even a method) wrapping-seam-binding-over-the-hem technique on the Ginger. I like the way it completely encloses, with minimal bulk, a seam that's prone to fray. Fit doesn't always work, but - in this challenge - I'm happy to say it did. By employing a combo of factors: items I've made before, use of forgiving fabrics and skill improvement, I produced a variety of items that fit well.

I'm also happy to say that it's given me confidence to tackle some tailoring next. I'm going to make the Starlet Suit Jacket with a coordinating skirt - which should be a very useful addition to my wardrobe and an great challenge. I'm going from a challenge that took 10 weeks for 7 garments (my final stats) to one that gives 6 weeks for 2 garments, most of that time to be spent on the jacket i.e. 1 piece.

So, what do you think? What have you learned from tackling a sewing challenge? Would you do it again? Will you do one, if you've never tried it before? Let's talk...

If At First You Don't Succeed...

Lovelies, here's the final (non-bias), cerise, wool-blend, Ginger skirt:

Here's the full skirt... (The hem looks uneven in this shot but I assure you it's an illusion!)

Ooooh, pretty French seam!

And that's my seam binding treatment of the hem. I bought the mint seam binding on Etsy. And I invisibly catch-stitched the hem this time.

You have to trust me when I say that, when it's on me, the waistband (really the whole zipper area) is not crinkly (as it looks in this photo). As mentioned, my proportions are different than the dress form's. What I will say is that, next time, I'm going to make sure I tighten up the waistband at the zipper. I think it's good to have to pull a bit on the waist band to meet the zipper (and then to be sure you vertically seam very close to the zipper). Every time I make a waist band, I learn a bit more. I could also stand to press this a bit better...

And finally, the inner waistband where the zipper meets it. I Hong Kong finished the back seam around the zipper. I think it looks rather chic. You can vaguely see the black organza interfacing around the edges of the zip. I've tried to clip them closely but I guess I'll need to go back and do it again...

In truth, next time I'm buying pink serger thread and calling it a day. The finished garment will be much less bulky (not that it's noticeably so when I'm wearing it) and it'll take 3 minutes, as opposed to 3 hours, to finish seams. Nice to know I can do it though.

Coming up, a recap of the Spring Basics Palette!

Crossing the Line?

Somehow I think there's a pun in that title but I can't quite figure it out...

My friends, I appear to be hanging on the sewing dark side. I am so intrigued by constructing my second version of the Ginger skirt in a cerise, light wool blend, that I came home after a busy day at work to cut out the pieces. That's after I treated the wool yesterday. And re-read, for the 8000th time, the info on how to bone the waistband the day before. And bought the boning last week.

Did I mention that I don't sew on weekdays?

You may recall I'm making this one on the bias. And that, when complete, my Spring Basics Palette will be finished as planned. (Man, I'm getting my money's worth linking to that post...) Bias cut garments need to be hung to work out any potential warps, hence my inclination to get this on my dress form today, a few days before the weekend:

I realize this looks orange but you're gonna have to trust me that it's like a supa-bright, pink-y red.

While I was cutting, I couldn't get your collective voice out of my mind (egad, that's a bit sci-fi). I had to use the opportunity to cut some bias strips, to turn into tape. I didn't let the fact that I didn't know how to cut bias strips stop me.

See, that's what's been stopping me forever. I figure, I may have undertaken the activity incorrectly, but at least now I've tried. If it doesn't work, I'll have some sense of what I've done wrong and - maybe - I'll read up more appropriately on the topic next time. In short, I made 1 inch strips on the bias (out of the fabric scraps I had left), which will, I imagine, turn into 1/2 inch bias tape when I use that gizmo and my iron to fold it over on either end.

Some of the pieces are very short. I assume that means I'll have more join marks in the tape. I'm ok with that. Seams on my bias tape seem preferable to unfinished seams. And I don't want to waste fabric by cutting long strips out of the prime meat, as it were.

Hence this:


In today's irony, I'm pretty sure I'm going to finish the Ginger seams à la française, not that I've ever done this before. Which means this not-yet-bias-tape is gonna sit in a Ziploc bag for a while. Something tells me you have to be very specific in how you attach one piece to the next, or you could join pieces cut oppositely, which wouldn't work. Is that right? And is it hard to keep grainline straight once you've thrown everything into a bag?

Seams Endless

I've been working on this fucking dress for 2 weeks now and I'm ready to be finished. Thanks to your feedback, I did revise the way I'm applying the seam binding - doing it in two steps. It's created a much neater finish in the skirt (to show up the relative horror of the bodice seam edges). Alas, everything is vaguely wavy - I'm sure because I'm applying a woven tape to a stable knit. Whatever. You live, you learn.

I've come to the conclusion that I could have serged every seam on the damn dress neatly and in 5 minutes. Instead, I've spent hours taping up all the raw edges.

No, serging is not a retro-technique, but it's better than a mediocre vintage finish.

On the plus side, it seems to look quite nice from the outside. Here's hoping it's all done tomorrow because I've got to move onto the cerise, bias-cut Ginger skirt with boned waist. Part of me is afraid to take on another "new technique" so soon after this one. But I have to be open-minded. Each project is its own experience. And every new method is its own adventure.

Basically...

Let's take stock of progress on the Spring Basics Palette:


Recall that the mandate is to make 6 "basics" in 12 weeks, using a spring colour-scheme (whatever that means), wearable throughout that season.

Well, so far I've been doing pretty well. I can check off:

Kwik Sew 3115 Lounge Pants:

They may not be exciting, but they sure are practical. To wit: I'm wearing them as I type this...

Jalie 2921 Scarf Collar Top:

I liked this pattern so much I used a remnant of a cheery orange to make a second, sleeveless version:


T Shirt "from TNT":

Needless to say, as this is the Magic Blouse and not my T shirt sloper, it's not the garment I originally planned on making - nor is it in the originally planned colour-scheme. Nonetheless, it counts!

Butterick 5681 Culottes:

No photo yet, peeps. Still coming to terms with this garment, though I did wear it to work last week - with the vintage Magic Blouse, of all things - and I actually got some unprompted compliments.

Technically I have but two items left to construct before April 1, in order to meet my target timeline: one bias cut Ginger Skirt, in a gorgeous cerise fabric, and the orange, double knit, Vogue 8413 cowl neck dress (sleeves tbd).

How I've Gone "Off Road" Sewing:

The sewing journey is rarely straight, though, and I've taken a fair number of detours already (which, objectively, in no way compromise the integrity of this adventure - even as I am the arbiter of said integrity). How have things gone other than planned?

• The lounge pants were to be made in the grey cotton jersey but, in the absence of enough of that fabric, I used the aubergine bamboo jersey (chosen for the T shirt) instead.

• The idea then, was to make the T shirt in the grey cotton jersey (check) but I opted not to use that pattern in the end. Instead I used it to make the Magic Blouse (see above), embellished with pretty, pink flowers. It's totally wearable and it's made of T shirt material, so it counts.

• I loved the Jalie scarf top so much in the floral rayon jersey that I made it again, but without sleeves, using a remnant of orange rayon jersey in my stash (see both versions above). This was an unexpected but great use of stash fabric that I couldn't in good conscience trash, but that was not quite ample enough to make much of anything.

• The culottes project turned into a whole side-adventure: an experiment comparing a modern version against a vintage version to determine which would work better on me. While the culottes are wearable (see blurb above), and while they have taught me a variety of valuable sewing lessons, I feel that these (which I sensed from the get-go would be the outliers) are still in wearable muslin format. The other 4 garments, however, are well-made, durable and highly-wearable staples.

Next on the list is likely to be the Ginger Skirt. After that, I'm going to start tailoring a suit jacket, using Gertie's new tailoring Craftsy course as a complement to pattern instructions. Still determining whether I'll make this one:

this one:

or the princess seam, peplumed 40s-style suit jacket that Gertie herself designed and teaches in the Craftsy course, inspired by Dior's mid-century New Look.

I will write more about her interactive tailoring course soon but, have to say, I have rarely learned as much about sewing as I did when I followed Gertie's Lady Gray Coat sew along in Fall 2010. Gretchen brings a passion to tailoring that is utterly infectious. And she's incredibly organized in her teaching style.

So, any thoughts about where I'm at with the Spring Palette? Have you signed up for the Craftsy course? Done any suit tailoring lately - or intend to do some soon? Do tell.

Bouquet

What can I say? Jalie 2921 is all that - just as every sewist on the planet has agreed.

This is the first of my six spring basics from the palette. Strange how I made the (arguably) springiest in deep January.

I've shown the ties in a bow, but you can string them through a small hole at the front to make a very chic scarf-front. Should have shown that version in pics too...

Trust me, the dress form doesn't do this garment justice. It fits beautifully. The drape of the rayon jersey is perfect. I'm sure the pattern was constructed with rayon or bamboo jersey in mind.

About the Pattern:

• I cut the 8 though technically I'm between an 8 and 9.
• I also carved out some additional curves at the waist of the pattern. I felt it was too straight.
• Despite making something between a 7 and 8, Jalie-sizing, it fits well - maybe even a bit large. (Remember, my dress form has slightly wider shoulders than I do.)
  
• I'm not saying the pattern categorically fits large. There's not a lot of ease built into the 1/4" seam-allowanced pattern. But rayon jersey has a lot of drape.
• The burrito construction of the collar is as genius as everybody says. Just make sure, if you're using a serger - or even if you're not - to avoid catching the sandwiched front and back pieces when sewing closed the collar/ties.
• I would not want to make this without a serger. It would be much more challenging to get the stitches to hold with such a stretchy fabric. And it's the drape of rayon jersey that really makes this pattern work.
• I twin stitched the sleeve hem and bodice hem before closing the seams. It's easier to sew those things flat.
• Now that I've made this, I can say that (once alteration have been accounted for and paper pattern traced and cut) it's a 4 hr from start to finish project. Which is entirely awesome, IMO. That's about as quick as it gets in my universe.
• I did shorten the waist and arm length using the lengthen/shorten lines provided by the pattern. As per usual, I had to remove an inch from the waist. Then I hemmed at 1/2". The length of the piece is perfect.
• I will make all 3 sleeve versions of this garment. Each will have numerous uses.
• Way to take a T shirt and turn it into an elegant garment! Can't wait to wear it.
  

About the Croquis: It was my great goal to show you a mocked up version of this using my croquis. Alas, my ability to use the computer to "paint" is woefully inadequate. The dress form version is kind of like a 3-dimensional croquis.

This piece has taught me that I really need to sew with patterned-fabric more often. I've been intimidated by the urge to match at the seams. I'm almost over it. And this is so cheerful!

Whatcha think?

Update based on some thoughts I had while dressing: It seems that every time I review a pattern lately, I'm saying it fits large. Perhaps I have to rethink the sizes I'm making? I'll write about this in more detail later, but maybe my dimensions have changed more than I imagine. Hmmm, maybe I should pull out the tape measure??

Palettable: Spring Basics

Your looking at the culmination of a lot of work. A freakin' lot of work. And my husband would like you to know he did half of it.

(BTW, don't bother clicking on it unless you're only interested in a larger view of the colour swatches. However, if you right click the image and open it in another tab, you will be treated to the loveliest digital artwork!)

As you can see, my spring colour-scheme is decidedly northern. Partly, this is because I live, uh, in the North. Partly it's because I just can't do the springy pastel palette. Oh, I like it. It's lovely and sunny. It just doesn't reflect the shades and tones I wear.

I've planned six garments over 12 weeks:

• Cowl Dress V8413
• T Shirt from my Sew U: Home Stretch sloper
• Butterick 5681 Culottes (I don't care if these have been out of fashion since 1979. I'm bringing them back, baby.)
• 2921 Jalie Scarf Collar Top. This won 2010 Pattern Review Pattern of the Year.
• 3115 Kwik Sew Yoga Pants
• Ginger Skirt, version 3
  

I've made the dress, the T shirt, the yoga pants and the skirt at least once before. The yoga pants need some pattern alteration. When first I made them, I didn't understand crotch depth and length. Of course, on reconstruction, what can't be improved?

This project is about making things pretty. Making things well. It's also about making things I know I'll wear.

Let's deconstruct the value of each piece, shall we?

• V8413 dress is flattering. Every time I wear my wearable muslin, so many people comment on how elegant it is. But, secretly, it's comfortable and easy! I'm going to make it in bright orange doubleknit, a colour and fabric I do not shy away from.
  
• Y'all know I worked that T shirt pattern hard. Just check out the 8 zillion posts :-). A T shirt is endlessly useful. Esp. one in a cheery jewel tone rayon jersey.
• The grey, cotton jersey yoga pants are practical writ large. They're not exciting, but they'll probably get more use than any of the other items. If I sort out the pattern to reflect my crotch depth and length, I'll really have done myself a good turn for the future.
• The culottes are the outlier. I haven't seen the pattern pieces yet (though it's on order). I considered altering the Clovers into culottes, but I don't know if it will work with my current level of experience. I would love for these to work so I can make them for all seasons. For these, I've reserved the darkest fabric - a brown-burgundy wool blend suiting. I just can't see them in a bright colour, though I will wear them with bright colours (acid yellow, anyone?). I imagine these will be an early spring garment.
• The Ginger, well, this skirt is a joy. And I've reserved for the bias cut version of it the most spectacular of colours - a cerise wool-blend twill of such depth that I am overjoyed just to look at it.
• The final top, with a scarf tie, walks the line between euro chic and American classic. I'm going to throw in a little bit of gamine by using a lovely rayon jersey floral that combines all of the colours in my palette.

Can you believe that I had 3 of these fabrics in my stash already? And that I still spent $150 bucks on fabric?? (That does include some stupidly expensive lace I bought for the current and future Ruby's .) I mention this a) because it horrifies me that I'm spending triple digits on clothing that isn't actually made yet and b) because I feel compelled to remind us all that sewing is freakin' expensive. But not as expensive as gorgeous RTW or designer clothing.

One other note, the croquis is much cuter than the last one, no? It's cuz I drew it from a posey photo, not from a dour posture appropriate for charting measurements. I heartily suggest you do this. I feel much more like Posey Croquis (P.Cro?) than that last drawing.

Any thoughts about all of this? I'd love to hear from those of you who have already undertaken one of these palette projects. Or from those of you who might do one soon. (I have to imagine that Colette Patterns will reintroduce its Spring Palette Challenge, as I know it was very popular.)

Spring into Action

Oh, I am somewhat overwhelmed by my imagination. So many ideas - not so much digital illustrating experience. And yet I want to show you what's in my mind the way that many other sewing bloggers do.

I also have this schizophrenic, if creative, perspective on my reasons for wanting to story board. That's the subject of another post. A really long post.

However, this post is to tell you that I intend to do a Spring Basics Palette over the next 12 weeks and here's what it will entail:

• 6 garments - 4 of which have been sewn with success before. This isn't about reinventing the wheel. It's about nicely finishing and newly interpreting some standards for a new season. The garments will include a dress, a skirt, a pair of pants, a t shirt, a top and a pair of lounge (aka yoga) pants. Pattern names and numbers will follow...

• A fun, digital, fashion story board to show colour schemes and renderings of those garments on my croquis - likely not the one I've shown you already, but a new one (traced from another photo) which is more sassy. Having never yet tried to paint clothes on top of my croquis, I have no idea of how this is actually going to work. Palette experts, you may be getting some emails.

I'm going to give more details as soon as I can pull them together but I'll leave you with a few thoughts:

• My colour choices are really whacky. I don't know if they'll cohere in a palette, though I'm not concerned that they won't cohere in my wardrobe.
• I've already bought the fabric for 3 of the pieces and I have the fabric for 2 others in my stash. That leaves one garment to purchase for, unless I have some changes of heart.
• I've spent about $150.00 on the fabric and notions for 3 of the 6 garments. The fabric I already purchased for the other 2 probably cost me $30.00. I speculate I will spend $200.00 and 6 weekends over the next 12 weeks to produce my spring wardrobe.
• I estimate I would have to spend upwards of $600.00 to purchase these items RTW. Of course, that would take about 2 hours.
• Recently, Peter wrote asked the interesting question "Are you a practical or fantasy sewer?" This didn't take more than a moment of consideration for me. I am practical. Of course, who can say if my version of practical is someone else's whimsical, but no mind. The Spring Basics Palette is so named because I anticipate the pieces to work interdependently - and day-to-day.
  

And to close the loop on the topic of the next version of the Ruby Slip and the fabric I've treated:

• I heard you all re: concerns about the properties of guipure. I went out today and bought 2 new types of mesh-based lace - one piece in a light navy and another in black. I will make the next slip using one of these. (And for the one after that - the gathered bodice version - I'll use the other piece.)
  
• In the end, neither the guipure nor silk swatches I hand-washed yesterday either a) bled colour or b) shrank in the least. Intriguing. The silk did change texture somewhat (not that I've ironed the swatch as yet, so the change may not be as pronounced as I'm currently imagining). Even with texture change, and slight loss of sheen, I opted to wash the rest of it by hand because I'm really not prepared to dry-clean. If fading or mega-shrinkage were in the cards, or if the fabric were to be fundamentally destroyed by water, I'd go that route. But it's just not the case. Will the silk look unaltered by this treatment? No. But you've all given me the confidence to try this method - and to recognize that there's not just one way to view silk.

So, if anyone has words of encouragement or advice (anything technical is welcome :-)) please chime in. If you've done the Colette Palette Challenges or a similar version, I'd love to hear your thoughts.