The Fall Capsule Collection (Plus The Summer Series): New Things, Made on an Aptly-Named Weekend

OMG, people. My currrent job is nothing if not hopping. I am not complaining. I spend all days working with people to solve problems. I talk on the phone constantly - just like in a movie montage but with less attractiveness and more accountability. Happily, we generally solve the problems. But at the end of the day I wither like a flower that needs water. And, by water, I mean a Cab Sauv. And TV. And the floor (for yoga). (In truth, sometimes, these days I get home and keep working.)

Currently, I'm about 10 posts behind in telling you the absurd number things that are exciting me lately:

• How I've solved the plain beige bra conundrum. You have to read it to believe it.

• How I don't like Fantasie Vivienne or Elodie

• How I've come up with my next "knitting collection"

• How I'm going to get around having made a bunch of T shirts with fabric having the wrong weight and drape (Loss leader: It involves buying fabric)

• How there's this pattern I found (sewing) that I'm really tempted to buy! (Spoiler Alert: It's expensive)

• How I returned my latest purchases on the basis that I can't justify the cost ($325.00) given that I have so many clothes, I can't even wear them all. Not to mention that I could so make both of those items in a weekend - though that sweater fabric is delicious and one of a kind. OK, really that's all there is to that story. No need to turn it into a drama.

• How Gillian made me a fab colour palette that will, no doubt, turn into the backbone of my next sewing collection

• How I'm really psyched about the new season of lingerie - There are pictures!

And then there's the fact that I still haven't updated you on the outcome of my crafting weekend. Let's properly cross this one off the list.

To clarify - I sewed 5 garments and finished a triangle shawl. In case you're wondering, that amounts to LONG WEEKEND INSANITY.

I showed the new shawl blocking in my last post, though it now looks exactly like this (the version I made for my mother in the spring):

The sewn garments are, frankly boring to photo. I made 2 pairs of black yoga pants that are indistinguishable (though one pair is more poorly constructed than the other) and 3 tops.

Here's the scoop on the tops (and let me assure you, the Tshirt sewing is NOT over):

I have no idea what made me think that I could use a) exceedingly firm ponte (without enough of it to cut even my regular size, much less a slightly bigger size to account for additional ease) and b) exceedingly flimsy Tencel (which I've officially decided was crap fabric - this shit has disintegrated everytime I've sewn with it?!)

I ended up with a really nice, orange shell to fit a child (or a very narrow, slender grown up). And a blue exercise shell that was almost too drapey to hold itself up under my arms, especially in light of the fact that I didn't make the armhole binding strips small enough to accommodate the world's stretchiest textile. And a blue Tshirt that fits like something your mother would wear.

Lessons Learned:

• Using up scraps of fabric, just to use them up, yields dubious results.
• Drapey, thin fabrics make crappy t shirts - whether you sew them or buy them.
• If you don't have enough fabric, and you don't sew for children, just put that scrap in a bag and say goodbye.

BUT, to address my armhole raising experiment: It worked. It would have been perfect if that blue fabric had had any structure or if I'd made the armhole binding about an inch tighter. I will make another of these shells, but likely only when I have that amount of extra fabric - of the correct properties - lying around.

Mind you, I'm just getting started with the T shirts...

So, I've got all the yoga pants I'll need for 2 yrs, a couple of sleeping and yoga tops, a new shawl - and a plan. Not bad for a long weekend, don't you agree?

The Summer Series: Guernsey Triangle Shawl (Check!)

This (admittedly lovely) project represents a fuck of a lot of work that I didn't much enjoy - rare for a knitting project:

Guernsey Triangle Shawl (Pattern: Jared Flood, Yarn: Brooklyn Tweed, End result: I'm taking all the credit)

I made it with a different shade of Brooklyn Tweed yarn (Barn Owl vs. the Woodsmoke of my first foray) this time around. Hilariously, it looks EXACTLY the same (though I did block this one larger and I prefer the feel of this yarn).

It's the second time 'round (first one went to my mum) and I don't imagine I'll be making it again anytime soon. I warn you, it gives knitting tedium a new metaphor. But let's take five minutes to be grateful for its cuddly, elegant warmth. Oh, and the fact that it's done.

Whatcha think?

The Summer Series: Perfecting the Clone Pattern (Prototype B, Done)

The reason I'm showing you these pics isn't cuz I've made a gorgeous bra that fits, lifts, supports and strives towards world peace. (Shocking, I realize.)

The reason I'm showing them is to give you a sense of the degree of projection I have never before managed to produce in a hand-sewn bra:

If you know of a commercial pattern that approximates this shape, please let me know. But I suspect there isn't one.

Be assured this thing is held together by paperclips and a prayer. There's some really crap stitching happening, not to mention that I didn't know how to do a number of things so, while I learned on this go round, my boning was slightly too long, as were my wires. They are not technically enclosed. Oh well.

I refuse to get all down on my technique here because, seriously, I have never come so close to making a bra that I could wear. And you can't do it all, all at once when you're on this kind of learning curve. At least I can't.

Interestingly, the upper cups in this version are too large at the top, specifically where the upper cup meets the strap side of the lower cup (to which the strap attaches). I did use elastic stabilizer but I suspect I didn't pull it taut enough. Nonetheless, the last prototype was too big there also, in just the same way, and the lace was entirely different. I am pretty amazed that I know how to fix that (at least I think I do :-)). I didn't want to shorten the lower seam on the upper cup (the seam that attaches to both lower cups). My solution: a dart. I pinned the the dart into the fabric, compared it (with ruler) to the paper piece and then made a flat pattern version (wide side at the top of the cup and the dart point on the lower seam) that followed its slightly diagonal direction. I removed the dart by cutting one of the legs (almost to the point, but not quite) and then moving it on top of the other. Then I trued up the top of the cup.

Alterations for the next version:

• Narrower gore still that makes a slight concave curve at the base
• Shorter boning with different position
• Add length to back band at closures, narrow the closure edge by 1/4 inch on either side (so that it isn't too wide for the closures
• Wider straps
• The top cup alteration, see above

Anyway, this is where I'm at. I may go crazy and make the next version with the beige supplies I bought. I really need a beige bra peeps. That interim Wacoal one I bought (more to come) is too big in the cup and too wide in the under wire. The wire digs in really weirdly and painfully, leaving red marks. This has never happened with a bra before.  Here's hoping necessity really is the mother of invention.

So, what do you think of this weird journey so far?

The Summer Series: Perfecting the Clone Pattern (Prototype B)

I'm still not going to allow optimism to influence this experience, but occasionally I have to relax my grip.

I mean, it's getting rather close - in a positive way. Can't comment yet on the bra's potential supportiveness - I'm still working on fit and one can only manage so many things in one muslin - but let me show you some pics of the pattern I cut going into this version:

That's the layout of one half of the bra, from the bridge aka front gore (on the left of the pic), to the band on the right.

I urge you, Ladies of the curves, to observe the relative size and shape of the outer cup lower cup (that thing that looks just like a human heart!). Note the proportional tininess of the inner lower cup and the thinness of the bridge.

Here's a shot of the underlined upper cup lace:

The rest of the bra is pink, with beige accents. I think it's going to look good but one never knows...

Finally, here's a shot of both sides of the band, which I've doubled up (beige on inside side, pink on the right side) with an aim to increasing its firmness:

I'm about 2/3 through the process of constructing prototype 2 at this point, which will not be wearable but is getting close.

What I realize I'll have to change in the next version is:

• Add extra length to the back band if I intend to double the powernet (and I do). This is too firm at the current length to close without pulling. It's easy to add length to the back at the beginning and you can always cut it down. But you can't go in the other direction.

• Change the angle of the boning - I aligned it with the centre back but I think I should have aligned it to the side cup.

• Figure out how to attach the back band to the cup so that it aligns perfectly. I've got some wonk going on. Further to this, I want to use picot at the base of the lower inner cup (to carry the theme along of that on the band and the bridge.

There are many other little alterations - cutting the top of the bridge down by 1/3 inch and lengthening/shortening pieces by a smidge. So pls. stay tuned.

I do intend to show a finished version of this prototype B which, while not able to be worn, will still warrant a look - if only to show the cup projection.

Today's question: Whatcha think of the flat pattern pieces. Whack, huh?!

A Little Craft Update (Culminating in Masses of Info about Making Bras)

It occurs to me that, as a crafter, this blog keeps me sane.

At this moment, almost holidayed out, I find myself at a weird impasse. To wit:

The Summer Series: Boucle Jacket: Well, I finished every freakin' last piece, blocked them all to perfect specifications, purchased all of the buttons and petersham and started seaming. Fucking hell. The shoulders are marginally too wide. (In case you sense a rant coming, you're right...) I didn't mention - as I might have had a nervous breakdown discussing it - that I had to reknit the sleeves above the inflection point (the place where they join to form the underarm) because somehow my 2 weeks of math yielded a sleeve cap that was too long and wide. Fuck math.

On the second pass I just eyeballed it and I got a much better result. Alas, the excess width, I sense, is more about the shoulder width than how it abuts to the sleeve cap when seamed. Now, I'm not going to panic. That's so last month. I'm no idiot and I'm fairly certain I can resolve this issue if I sit back and think. And wait. And process some options rather than reaching for the first one. For what it's worth, the first one is to re-seam with a greater seam allowance which will probably do the trick. But I don't want to rush this out of anxiety and irritation. It is what it is now. That's all I have to bring to the rest of the project. So I'm going to sit here until the answer finds me. And then I'll be all ready to go.

Of course, it doesn't give me any activity or a finished product to show. I'm not much of a watch-and-wait-er.

No prob, you might say, what about that second Summer Series: Guernsey Shawl? Well, I was good to my word and only knitted on the train. Of course, I was on the train for 18 hours overall. And still this thing is less than half finished. Why? See, it's more interesting to drink and look at scenery on the train that to work on a shawl, the pattern of which is frankly, fussy. Not to mention the veritable sisyphean quality of increasing stitches row after freakin row. I'm at the point where each row takes many minutes and it's boring. I'm not motivated enough by the finished project to wreck my shoulders and risk headache at the moment. (Interesting side-note overshare: I find knitting works much better in the first half of my menstrual cycle for a variety of really interesting reasons I'll find a way to discuss eventually.)

It doesn't help that I'm knitting the same garment in practically the same colour. This time it's "Barn Owl" as opposed to "Woodsmoke". Trust me, they're mildly different shades of neutral and knitting with neutrals is not so fun, it seems. Anyway, not that there will be much new to show when it is finished, but I can't really show you anything right now.

Interesting deet: This batch of yarn is MUCH stronger than the first one. Not sure if it's a fluke (either way) or if the woodsmoke dye might be harder on the wool, but I am much happier with the knitting process this time, if only for that reason.

Finally, I can tell you relatively little about the Summer Series: Cherry Bomb. Unless spending hours adjusting a pre-existing pattern ineffectually (complete with little shavings of tracing paper sticking to my eyelashes as I sat there in a greasy haze) counts.

Trust me, this is as neat as it got - and I'm starting from scratch... This is a pre-rub-off shot of the Empreinte Lola (confetti colourway) and the Cleo Melissa. Read on to find out some amazing things about them!

I have a lot to say about this and this is the post wherein I set the stage so that, next time, I can mega-rant on your asses like the banshee I am. I am compelled to give you a few high-level gems right now though.

• While comparing a commercial pattern bra against my Empreinte Lola, a lot of half-baked, new pattern alterations ensued. I tell myself I must be getting closer to a successful outcome, because time brings that in the absence of everything else, right? I honestly had NO idea of what I was trying to accomplish or how I was trying to accomplish it, by the time I finished yesterday's "session". However, I have wrecked the last-version modified pattern pieces beyond repair.

• Somehow, I sense that's ok cuz the one thing that really hit me is that the commercial pattern is IN NO WAY like my Empreinte (or any of my Cleos or any other bra that fits me). My last round of pattern alterations yielded a bra that has the right cup volume but not the right shape. The cups are too wide. They're not adequately deep. It has two lower pieces that are largely the same size and height. My bras (oh, trust me, you're gonna get a lot of info about this!) show lower outer cups at 4 times the size of the inner cup - and a completely different shape to each piece. And extra height. I am now able to confirm that every bra that fits me has essentially the same shape in the lower cups - and essentially the same proportion of inner-to-outer cup size differential. 

• You should know that I also had to make smaller every other element of the commercial pattern - narrowing the gore, making the upper cup smaller, adjusting the band height and width. If sewing has taught me one thing, it's this: No one is proportionately big everywhere. I may have to deepen the cups on a pattern substantially to get them to fit. But I've also got to remove fabric from every other conceivable location.

• It appears that my boobs are insanely projectile. I'd feel vaguely freakish if I didn't find it more interesting than anything else. That means I'm going to have to find very narrow channeling (it looks like channeling on all of my RTW bras) to line the cup seams as I top stitch those seams down on either side. I sense that's going to be pivotal in getting my bras to lift and support. I've never before considered that all of my bras contain this feature - in addition to cups with no stretch! I sense it's making much more of a difference to lift than I ever realized. 

• Now to source it - and I'm looking for your help. Pls. if you know where I can find reasonably flat, 6-8mm channeling (or whatever it is that manufacturers of large cup bra sizes use to vastly increase the stabilization of the seams), do tell. I need a source! It looks like I can find something at Bra-Maker's Supply but I don't love that place, it only comes in white and black, and the shipping is absurd. Lord help me if I end up learning how to dye shit.

• Something you MUST know if you have large breasts on a narrow frame and you don't have the budget for Empreinte: I've closely - like, mathematically - reviewed my Cleo bras against my Empreinte's and the differences are VERY subtle. 
• Empreinte has a more refined product because it changes wire dimensions with every cup and back size. That means every bra size has a customized wire. In Cleo (and all other RTW lingerie brands) the wires used for, say, a 32F are of the same dimensions as those which are used for a 34E. It can make a substantial difference on a narrow frame. However, on most shapes, the width of the Cleo wires isn't too different and it begins at the upper cup, not in the lower cup. 
• The gores are slightly narrower and lower on Empreinte bras producing a more delicate shape and one which, once again, suits the narrow frame. 
• Empreinte also uses side-boning on the band, which is optimal for pushing things forward and minimizing the appearance of lumps. 
• What amazes me is that the cup shapes are largely identical in both brands - as is construction - and the result is a very similar shape on the body.
• Empreinte uses very luxe and sheer materials and, what's so impressive, is that its bras are as strong as the more substantial (but totally lovely and high-quality) ones produced by Cleo. 
• Both have gores that are angled up (slightly concave) at the centre to provide extra lift.
• Now this surprises me: Both use the exact same band construction to maximize stability and comfort. The lower band is angled up. 
• Seriously, it almost seems like Cleo has copied Empreinte to produce this new wave of bras that is going through the stratosphere with popularity because they fit so well. And are affordable. I wonder if I'm the first person to think this.

• Gotta say, I sure am glad to have an Empreinte bra to rub off. You should know I've employed this method before to copy an RTW bra, but not with any success. I still made a bra that didn't fit on the basis of copying one I already owned that did fit. Mind you, I think my materials and knowledge of bra construction were the obstacles in that instance, not the sizing of the pieces specifically.

The good news is that, if there's a way in this universe that a home-sewist can make a bra of the large-cup dimensions with appropriate support and lift, I'm going to do it. And then I'm going to tell you about it. Win-win.

The Summer Series: Fitted Boucle Jacket (aka Is Time Standing Still?)

I feel like this Boucle Jacket is never going to end. It's not that I don't enjoy making it; all in all it's pretty easy to construct... But my gauge has been so fucking all over the map that I've had to rescale the pattern numerous times since I first undertook the pattern alteration project of the year.

Right now I'm knitting both sleeves (flat), simultaneously from one ball. What that means is that I'm knitting one sleeve from the inside string and one from the outside string. (When the skein finishes, one side will be attached to the other so I'll have to cut the yarn to liberate each string.)

This method has its pluses:

• there's only one ball of yarn to worry about at any given time
• both sleeves will be identical (as they're knit from the same needles, one row of one sleeve followed by the same row of the other)
• I won't have to knit the second sleeve independently of the first - which can be a slog 

It's also got some detractors:

• OMG, till I figured out a system (which takes constant vigilence), my two strings were interminably tangled - this adds time to the project and it's obnoxious
• If you ever thought knitting a sleeve takes forever, try knitting 2 at the same time...

I don't know if I'll do this in the future, but I'm glad to be giving it a go and, really, ask me how I feel when I don't have to knit another sleeve in 80 more rows.

My needle (cheap brand - never to be bought again - it was from my experimentation with cheap brands phase) started to detach from the cable, making things ever more tenuous but, I'm thrilled to advise, I've become that crafter with all the crap at her access to fix things.

The Krissie of yore would have thrown up her hands and bought a new set. Crafty-Krissie took her fabric plus glue and put it all back together. So far so good!

Perhaps the most surprising element of this project is that I've used up almost 1600 yards of yarn - so far - to knit what is effectively a size small garment. By the time I'm done, I sense I'll have gone through 1800 yards (all the bits and pieces like cuffs, pockets and collar considered). I wondered how I'd ever make it through this much yarn when I originally bought 2000 yards to make the Late Day Abbreviated Coat (which was not destined to be). The Boucle jacket instructions didn't indicate how much yarn I'd need but it didn't matter cuz I assumed it would never be more than the amount I'd already bought.

My modern sweaters (and I do like them fitted) come in at between 850 and 1000 yards. Really, I have no idea how the Boucle Jacket has taken so much freakin yarn. Note: I have measured everything and blocked the completed pieces exactly to my desired dimensions (which seem right). I guess that jackets go through lots of wool. They are longer. They tend to have bits like pockets and cuffs and collars. But seriously, how on earth does that amount to 2.5 times more yarn?? Hmm... Maybe it's the diff between knitting with 1 inch of positive ease vs. 4 inches of negative ease.

So, today's questions: Have you ever knitted a tailored garment like a jacket? If yes, how much yarn did you go through? Could you ever bring yourself to buy 2000 yards of the same yarn? (I found it HARD. I assumed I'd never get through it all and I wouldn't want 2 garments made of the same stuff.)