The Spring / Summer Sewing Capsule

I feel rather abnormal. I mean, usually, even if I'm exhausted, a weekend of extended sleeping and lying on the couch takes the edge off. Before I know it, I'm planning something - baking a pie, making some shampoo, sewing (remember that?), knitting a new garment, a long walk with errands, doing a me-tailored yoga practice...

Weirdly, it's taking all of my energy to stay somewhat engaged, and that just cuz I'm freaked out by apathy.

I decided those jeans I need to hem are going back to the store. They're too low-rise and I don't feel like spending half my life yanking them up over the puff-ball that is my lower abdomen. Not to mention that they cost 300 bucks. For 300 bucks jeans have got to be perfect.

I did finish that pair of striped (serious stash-busting) socks. I'll photo them soon and share some new feelings about striped socks. The short story is, just don't. Unless you really want to use up yarn in @25 gram increments, in multiple colours, why inconvenience yourself? Aren't socks about simple, wearable comfort?

This morning I went through my sewing cupboard to get a lay of the land. Given that I love buying fabric, I've got a bit of fun ahead of me this aft. Seems I don't have much in the appropriate yardages to accomplish any of my preferred projects. How does this always happen??

By preferred projects I mean this:

• Garments that are tried and tested (to some extent)
• Garments that I know I'll wear
• Garments that are comfortable
• Garments that I'm not going to have to mess with overly to make them fit

Here's what I've come up with so far. I can't say whether I'll get some mojo back and go on a tear, but I sense this is my plan until the reno starts, at which point all the sewing will be packed away till my house is done. Links point you to previous posts with pics...

Kristin Spring / Summer Sewing:

• Harper Jacket - I wear this at least once a week so I think I may have found my match for the insanely gorgeous cashmere double knit Mardel kindly gifted to me years ago. This fabric is fuchsia on one side and grey on the other. It's a true winter fabric so I won't lead with this garment, but it would be so nice to have it at my access in the fall.

• Who doesn't need a new, bespoke T shirt, made from one's personal sloper? I was hoping to make one of these using a remnant of electric blue bamboo in my stash but, given that I've only got 0.65 of a yard,  I'm going to have to shore it up with some extra from the store. Hope I can find the same bolt of fabric (or one, the colour of which, works as a match).

• Hudson Pants - I wear these at home constantly. They're perfect for sleeping. They're perfect for yoga. I've got some cylindrical, thick t-shirt fabric that would work for another pair, even if it's not exciting. Of course, I'm compelled to make these with my beloved French terry, so I'm likely to be investing in another yard of that...

• DKNY Dress (V1179) -  Lord, I've worn my 2 other versions of this dress into the ground, despite the fact that my workmanship left much to be desired. I could use a striped jersey in my stash (bought ages ago from Blackbird Fabrics) but I'm likely to hedge my bets and replace some of my modal or bamboo from Shu Ching. If I can find the same bolts, I can maximize the remnants I still have in my stash.

• V8323 Very Easy Vogue Top - This is the one I haven't quite cracked (though I've made NUMEROUS muslins). Gonna buy myself a bit more nice fabric to give it one more go. I know I keep saying I've had it with this (after 6 toiles?!) but I see its potential and I've worked so hard to re-draft the pattern such that it can work for my narrow, short and curvy frame.

• Another sleeveless version of V8790. Turns out I do have a fabric in my stash to make this one. It's the fun floral (see Jalie 2921 top in that link) that Gillian and I both bought (and which she gifted me her remnants of). Added to my remnants, it's enough to make this top. Given that I didn't love the construction process last time, I do hope I find a sanguine way, going forward.

I'm bummed that these aren't more exciting but I've got to stick to the straight and narrow right now. There's just too much afoot - and my body shape is too in flux - to go on a tailoring resurgence this spring. My goal is to make these items fit so gorgeously - in such lovely fabrics - that they'll thrill even if they're aren't new-to-me patterns. And I do intend to supplement with RTW. When one's all over the map, try-and-buy is the way to go.

The Fall Capsule Collection: A Worthy T Shirt

I'm getting the hang of T shirts. Between my bespoke pattern - which I've continued to tweak at every opportunity - and my burgeoning awareness of the fabrics to which one must just say no, I'm making a lot of progress.

After my last go round, I realized that I'd need to find an appropriate fabric - harder to do than you might imagine. After some research, I opted to buy online.

I used a terrific jersey from Gorgeous Fabrics. It was well worth the money given that it's just what T shirt fabric should be: a little bit spongy, firm (but with great stretch), of excellent recovery, saturated colour, beautiful hand and terrific drape. It looks and feels beautiful AND expensive. I have to say that the client service Ann provides is excellent and the 3 fabrics I ordered are delicious. Alas, the shipping to Canada is at the very upper end of my comfort zone, and one can only order in full yards, so I'm viewing this as an occasional splurge. OK, a semi-regular splurge. :-)

This T shirt is almost up to RTW standards:

Even the seams line up nicely:

Between my serger (for seams), my regular machine (for pre-serging to ensure alignment and top-stitching) and my cover stitch machine (for hemming), I've got my own little factory.

The fit is perfect, if I do say so myself - well, I did take about 1/4 inch off the shoulder seam for next go around - but hopefully that will give me the narrowness in the shoulders I require.

Over time, I've had to make many adjustments to the flat pattern original:

• It's now observably hourglass in shape.
• The armholes are very high.
• The sleeves are reasonably narrow - 11.5 inches in circumference - and they are shorter than those of the original.
• The shoulders have been narrowed 4 times to get to the point that the seam sits properly.
• I've also modified the crew neck. Mine is not high, nor is it scoopy. (Of course, one reserves the right to change neckline on a whim!)

Unfortunately, when working with stripes - WTF was I thinking?! I DO NOT believe in pattern-matching and, alas, there's no avoiding it here - sleeve bands are a total liability. I should have just turned under the raw edge and cover-stitched. That would have produced a clean line. Instead I badly serged the bands and it's utterly obvious due to a) stripe-wonk and b) BAD top-stitching.

If you want to go undetected, don't create a visual roadmap. And don't work with skinny stripes! They're that much harder than thick ones cuz they repeat that much more frequently...

What I will say is that I bit the bullet and just figured out how to pattern-match. I didn't read about it. I didn't over-think it. I didn't loathe it. I just did it. I guess that's the sign of experience and confidence and I am grateful because I LOVE stripes and I've never felt comfortable using them before.

No doubt, there is no plaid in my near future, but stripes are in the palette from here on in.

So, whatcha think??

The Fall Capsule Collection: Factory-Style

Sometimes I'm oddly optimistic. For example, I somehow thought I'd have enough of all of my chosen fabric remnants to make garments willy-nilly. Um, here's a mathy little fact:

•  I make knits to fit about 34 inches across (accounting for negative ease). The armsyce requires a few extra inches of witdth, let's call it 36 inches all in, aka a yard of width required.
• Most knits are cut on the fold for a seam free front and back. In light of this, I need 18 inches of width (and 22 inches of length, FWIW) to get a shirt front or back. 
• If I use a 60 inch-width of fabric, that means I've got quite a bit of excess remaining, but not enough to cut another front or back. That would take 12 more inches and fabrics come in standard lengths. 72 inches is one I've rarely seen.

The upshot is that I generally end up with almost enough to make 2 t-shirts with a yard of 60"-wide fabric. But not.

This means I'm kind of fucked for V8323 with most of the fabric ends I have. It needs 2 yards of 60"-wide fabric (I double checked). Hmmm. In fact, I've got barely enough of most of my knits to make a T shirt or exercise shell.

Enter (potentially misguided) resourcefulness:

This represents 2 pairs of yoga pants, 2 KS3115 shells and a T shirt, made from my sloper...

 What you should know is this:

• Only the yoga pants and one of the T shirts is actually "cut according to the directions".

• The orange exercise shell is an XS (approx) in the back because that's all the fabric I had. Given that it's a firm ponte, it's quite possible that it will be too small.

• The light blue exercise shell has a deep slice (width wise, of course) at the waist along the side seam. I'm going to use fusible interfacing to adjoin it, and I also tried to cut it out to the best of my ability, but this is also fucking with size.

• On the blue shell, I also cut the binding in half width pieces, which will need to be joined before I attach them to the armholes and neckline. This is cuz there wasn't a piece of that fabric vaguely wide enough by the time I cut the second bodice shell. I even had to shorten the armhole binding (shorter than the new shortened length I determined when I made the last shell). I hope it will be long enough in light of the fact that this fabric is VERY stretchy.

So, there you go. I've got an altered list of items here - you may note that I'm making more yoga pants than originally intended and I've added a whole extra garment (the exercise shell). So, things are on a slight detour but it's all for the greater good, I suspect.

Today's questions: How much fabric do you need to make a T shirt? Do you find the whole fabric thing terribly wasteful, no matter how hard you try? Whatcha think of all of this? Do tell!

The Fall Capsule Collection: More About KS3115 V Neck Top

So, it appears that I do have a knit top sloper (though I suggested to Susan, in comments, that I do not). See, while I haven't really given much thought to my, hard won, T shirt sloper for like, over a year, technically, it does give me key info about the armsyce curve I require on a dart-free, knit top.

And really, what's KS3115, the V neck, if not a dartfree, knit top?

What I discovered is fascinating!

Y'all know - and pls. read this for more context - that I reverted from a weird small-med mash-up, back to a small for my next version of the KS, V-neck exercise top. When I was trying to figure out whether I'd have enough fabric to make shells and t shirts from my fabric remnants (post on this will follow), I ended up comparing the T shirt sloper to the size small, V neck top pattern and I realized a couple of key deets:

• Both tops are effectively the same in width and in length - eerily so. They also have almost identical shoulder seams.

• The only visible difference (aside from neckline, which is alterable depending on the version of a T shirt one chooses to make) is in the shape and depth of the armsyce. 

Man, those two armsyces are on different planets! No wonder KS3115 doesn't fit. Even with my reversion to the size small, the armholes are SO low and wide!

So, here's my fix (as yet untested in the exercise shell - though it does work for the, made-in-the-past, T shirt pattern):

Much as one must often alter a crotch curve (see here) one must also consider the best shape and depth of armhole. I've added about 2 inches of height to the side seam at the underarm and I've narrowed the side seams by about 1/2 inch. Having said this, and you can sort of see it in the first photo, when I reverted to the KS3115 size small, I actually left about 1/3 inch extra seam allowance on the front and back side seams as I wasn't convinced that it wouldn't be too small. (You can see it on the original pattern back piece but, the front piece is a tracing of the original so those seam lines aren't there.)

It seems that I'm slightly larger than a Kwik Sew small, but nowhere near as wide as the Kwik Sew medium - which is quite a bit wider than the small, truth be told. I love that my T shirt sloper corroborated this exactly in its dimensions. How fun is that?

So, I've cut out lots of patterns - T shirts and KS 3115 exercise tops (see tomorrow's post for more deets). It remains to be seen if they fit though, if my t shirt sloper is anything to go by - and I did spend lots of time on it a while ago - then this armhole should give me the look I want without mega-gaping at the front.

Thoughts or feelings??

Autumn Crafting: What's Next?

Remember sewing and knitting, those things I used to do? I don't want you to think I've forgotten them. As it happens, my machine has been in the shop since the beginning of last week. I ended up sending it far away (to the other end of the city) by special courier, to the place where I bought my cover stitch machine earlier this summer. The store has a good reputation and an on-site mechanic. FYI, I don't know what the final bill will be, but the shipping (all in), will have cost me 60 bucks. That's going to save me upwards of 3 hours in transport time (2 trips, and back, to the other end of the city). Money well-spent, I say. IMO, it shouldn't take a week and a half for a tune-up. Alas, a  once-yearly, travelling amusement park - the CNE - is in town for the last 2 weeks of August and the shop owner runs an exhibit booth at the craft show. Quite a going concern, apparently. My call coincided exactly with the annual occasion that the sewing shop runs on skeleton staff. Figures.

In truth, I've been happy enough to stay the hell away from the sewga room, though last night my thoughts did start to wonder about what to do next.

I've decided my next thing has to be a) fun b) not complicated and c) practical. It's probably best to follow some kind of capsule formula, like the Five in Five. Not that I really need five of anything for the autumn. Autumn's a time I've got SO covered.

Some ideas I briefly considered:

• Jeans - either Jalie or Vogue ones, which I somehow bought the pattern for (and then I realized that I have so many pairs of RTW jeans that I enjoy so much. Why make them just to make them?... Oh, and you may remember this.)

• An elegant work dress (V1252):

(and then I realized that this pattern has but 5 reviews - from only advanced sewists - and they all say variations on: This dress is really hard and you should stay the hell away from it. Advice taken.)

• A pair of pants (and then I realized that I don't think I like pants right now, only jeans).

Then, in a (presumably) useful turn, while looking through my pattern archive binder, I found a tiny little bug larva stuck to one of the pages which FREAKED ME THE FUCK OUT whereupon I scoured my entire sewing stash (and yarn stash and book stash) to ensure there was nothing eating my textiles. That took an hour. Did I mention I had a vile headache throughout this process - which was not brought on by fear of moths. Amazingly, and to my huge gratitude, it appears to have been the only one of these evil things. Nonetheless, I shook out everything and sprayed it all down with cedar water. And my guard is highly elevated.

This did give me a very useful opportunity to review what things I've got at my disposal.

On top of the zillions of (stupid) lingerie supplies I've amassed, I've got a variety of shirt-weight, drapey wovens aka georgette and silk charmeuse. You'll be pleased to know I could make 20 t-shirts with all the knits I've got stashed. Not that it's in the cards. Furthermore, I've got enough heavy ponte to make at least 2 pairs of yoga pants (aka the things I wear the minute I get into my house and don't take off until I leave). I've been loath to buy more yoga pants because a) they cost a lot and b) the rise is always wrong and the length is ridiculous. Mind you, the idea of making black yoga pants seems so drab. I mean practical.

On more careful consideration I'm leaning towards the following capsule collection - though I don't know if I have it in me to give this a fancy name. Fancy names make things so serious:

• Kwik Sew 3115 yoga pants x2 - yeah, in black (cuz that's what I've got).

• My bespoke T shirt pattern using one of my numerous shirt-weight knits - like the end of that great Modal I used to make the Coppelia wrap. While I'm at it, I might as well make two of these... (Note: the tops and yoga pants are terrific opportunities to get to know my cover stitch machine better.)

• Another go-round of culottes - made in denim, perhaps. I mean, it's the only bottom-weight fabric I have lying around at the moment, so it's that or go buy stuff:

• And, finally, I'd like to revisit this terrific top, V8323, of which I've made the green style (and to which I've added 3/4 sleeves). I've worn my current version many times but it really doesn't fit me in the shoulders as well as I'd like (just a bit too wide):

It would be really nice to make this in a fabric having soft properties (the wool jersey I used to make the first one is a bit stiff).

So, you can see, with this capsule "collection" I'm not reinventing the wheel. I'm in a phase where comfort and mobility are rather important to me. Chic comfort, natch. I'd like a couple of slim t shirts (in slightly dressy weight), some yoga pants (because truly my other pairs are dead), some culottes - cuz I didn't really nail those last time but I think I might do better on a second try - and a dress-up/dress-down princess-seamed top.

And lest you think I've forgotten about the triangle shawl or the knit jacket, they're on the agenda too. The triangle's almost done and I need a good weekend with the jacket, to sort out some fit issues in the shoulders and to seam/insert buttonholes/attach petersham binding.

Each of these projects will happen as it happens. I can't give time frames cuz my head-happiness must dictate the schedule. 

Today's questions: So what do you think of all of this? Do you have any of these garments on your sewing agenda for the fall? Any advice? Thoughts or feelings? Let's talk!

PS: Just realized that this may well be the second round of garments I'll make (not including the latest lingerie attempt) using stash fabric. That means I'll have made 12 garments out of stash fabric (and still have a reasonable amount left to spare). And my stash fits into one cupboard. Amazing how these yards add up.