Fun Project

I'm teaching a basic sewing class at our co-op, and so far it's been crazy but fun. The first week we made t-shirt tote bags. Last class, we made water bottle totes out of old pairs of kids' jeans.  The class always whizzes by, and I'm really glad I have a helper who knows how to sew, because otherwise we would never get done.  

Our next project is a Trapper style hat,  based on http://www.fleecefun.com/trapper-hat.html

I made a practice hat last night, just so I could see if it would work out ok. I made the medium size, and it fits Sarah pretty well, but when I make one for myself, it’ll be a large.  I didn't bother with the optional front piece, because I wanted to keep it as simple as possible. 

I dug around in the basement for leftover pieces of polar fleece.  I knew Sarah would love the lime green, and I wanted the other piece to be purple, but there just wasn't enough, so I used some of the girly camo that I got years ago to make snow pants.

Assembling the pattern pieces and cutting out the fabric was really easy, as was sewing the front and back together.  When it came time to close up the V in a seam, I accidentally caught too much of the rest of the fabric in the seam. After I took it out, I carefully trimmed the seam so there wasn't as much bulk to get caught.

Then I made the tassels, but had a hard time knotting them at the bottom. I realized I should have just gotten another piece of thin fleece and tied it off with that. I'll carefully undo the knot and do that this afternoon. I tacked them to the flap pieces, keeping them turned up and out of the way. If I'd had safety pins, I might have actually pinned them, and I'm still considering that for the class.

Then it's just a matter or putting one hat inside the other (right sides together, of course) and pinning them. I always have my students pin parallel to the seam, so for this, the perpendicular pins indicate where to start and stop sewing.

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 Once it's sewn together, turn it carefully right side out, then tuck one into the other--it doesn't matter which is which, because this is totally reversible. Make sure the tassels are pulled all the way out, and the seams are nice and even. Tuck the opening in on itself and carefully topstitch around the edge, about a quarter of an inch in. This is the most fiddly part--the stitching shows, and the part on the flaps with the tassels is thick, so it's slow going

The whole thing took less than an hour, even with taking all the pictures and ripping out that one seam, and calling Sarah down to hold the strips while I braided them. I tried it on myself and it was a little tight, but it fits Sarah well--she's been wearing it pretty much non stop.  Lauren already asked if she can have one, and I'll be making one for myself as well. I really hate cold ears in the winter, and when it's windy, I worry about earaches, so those long flaps will be great. In fact, I can see myself making LOTS of these hats in the next few months!

Adventures in Dressmaking, Hiatus

When last we left our intrepid novice seamstress, she had a bodice that was too big for the accompanying midriff band.

OK, enough third person--too much work for today.

I Skyped my mom, who said, that NO, I shouldn't make the midriff band bigger, because it did actually fit.  I just needed to adjust those pleats some more. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to do that. I could use trial and error, but that's a recipe for wasted time & frustration. I was also concerned that the V of the neckline would be too deep--I want to be able to wear this to church, after all. My two solutions--a tank worn underneath or a stitch at the neck--were both vetoed in favor of actually doing it correctly.  Well, if you put it that way . . .

As I was pondering the limitations of Skype and thinking yet again that I wished we could actually be physically together, we both had the serendipitous realization that we SHOULD physically get together.  My birthday is coming up, and I thought that my flight down could be my birthday present, and my flight back home could be my Christmas present.  And it looks like that will hopefully work out, thanks to my Dad. There are many details to work out still, including my crazy schedule, but I think I'll be able to have a girls' weekend down south sometime next month. In addition to sewing, we're thinking about pedicures and sushi.  So there probably won't be too many sewing posts for a while, but once I'm back, I should have lots to share.

Adventures in Dressmaking, Part 2

I recut the front bodice piece this morning, and it went together much better. You can see the old piece in the background and the newly cut one in the foreground.

I realized there was another issue, though--the midriff band is suddenly about two inches too short on either side. I realized that since I'd extended the bodice, the band would have to be extended as well.  I didn't bother with doing that right now, because it's just the muslin and I'm trying to see how the overall fit is. The sides are still sewn together, so I can check how it fits.

Except I can't. I can't check on myself because I can't see myself and adjust on my own body.  It feels like there is a LOT of extra fabric in the back, far more than would be necessary to accommodate a zipper, but I can't tell for sure. My plan is to Skype my mom with it on and have Sarah pin the back for me, and do the best we can with that.

I did have some mental whining about wishing my mom was actually physically up here, but Skype is certainly better than doing this just over the phone. 

In zucchini news, I made the quiche, and it was good, but the caramelized onions were the best part. And nobody else had any of it. Next time (yes, there will be a next time), I'm going to skip the crust. The delicious, flaky crust is just extra work, extra fat, extra carbs, extra calories.  Yes, extra delicious, but that's not the point.  I'll also shred the zucchini & squeeze out the extra water--even though I sauteed the veg first, the center of the quiche was a little soggy.  I can do better, and I don't really need a recipe for it. 

Adventures in Dressmaking, Part 1

I never did get to the quiche, but I've got onions going in a big pot right now, and if I manage to run out and get some eggs, I might make it tonight.Then again, maybe not. I have to leave for work in just a few hours, and there's still a lot to do around here.

I've had my eye on Simplicity 2217 for months. I like the wrap style of the top especially. I found a couple yards of a pretty teal fabric in the basement, and since Simplicity patterns were on sale, I picked it up, along with some thread and a zipper. Man, matching teal is hard.  One color makes my fabric look very green, and the next makes it look more blue. I got the closest I could find.

I knew that getting the right fit on the bodice would be the most difficult part, so I decided to make a muslin, or test bodice. On my mom's recommendation, I also did a little pre-cutting measurement. The front bodice piece measures 16 inches from the top of the shoulder to the bottom. When I put the tape measure up to myself, that 16 inches went from the top of my shoulder to just under my bust. It would be just right, except for seam allowances.  I decided to add an extra inch and a half to the bottom of all the pieces.  This was fine for the back, and the bodice side. The bodice front, where the pleats are, was much harder because it's not a straight cut, but I thought I did ok.

The first step was to get those pleats in. I'm not good at pleats, but I managed to get them in. I attached the side bodice to the front, then realized I'd done it backwards. Notches are our friends; don't ignore them!  Basting stitches are better friends, though--I ended up using my seam ripper a lot already, and those big stitches made it so much easier.

Once the pleats were in and the bodice & side bodice attached (I didn't bother with the facings since it's just a muslin), I overlapped the right & left sides of the bodice and basted them down.  And there was the big problem. I realized that when the pleats are in, the bottom edge of the fabric should still be straight. It wasn't. I decided when I started this that I was going to be as meticulous as possible in order for it to turn out right. So I took out all the pleats, which was disheartening--the very first steps of the project are off to a rough start.  I'm going to do them over either later this afternoon, tonight after work or tomorrow morning. I don't have any kind of deadline on the project, but I don't want it to languish in the basement forever, like so many other things have. 

She's Baaaack!

A friend I hadn't seen in a while said to my Friday, "you need to blog more!" I thought, "yeah, I've gotten out of the habit." But now I come here and look and holy cow! I didn't blog at all last month?  I have been pretty busy between work and the kids, but I haven't done lots of sewing or cooking.

That's about to change. I'm trying to do a lot with all the zucchini from my garden, including zucchini bread and pancakes, and tomorrow I'm going to do a zucchini & caramelized onion quiche.

And I was digging through my fabric in the basement (all 8,034,932 yards of it) and I found a couple yards of a teal linen-weight fabric that I really like, enough to finally do Simplicity 2217.  This is far and away the most complicated pattern I've ever gotten, and I'd really like to do a good job with it, so I'm going to take my time and be as meticulous as I can. That includes making a muslin for the bodice to make sure it'll fit properly. As I was reading through the instructions, there was a lot that looked unfamiliar, so I'm sure I'll be making lots of "Sewing 911" calls to my mom, probably with Skype. I'll also try to take lots of pictures to document how it goes.