handmade wardrobe

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

September 11, 2015 Marie Leave a Comment

Let’s pretend I didn’t set the camera up on the self timer to take these, okay? Let’s just go with the idea that I have someone following me around in the craft room taking my picture and that I didn’t at all have to run over to where I wanted to stand and wait for the picture to take, then run back over to make sure it looked okay or if I needed to take another and repeat the process more times than I’d like. PAY NO ATTENTION TO THAT MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!

My Dorothy apron is done. This one fits differently than the one I made before and I’m not sure why… seam allowances, maybe? I’m almost certain I didn’t pay attention to seam allowances in the past so that might be why the other one felt like a better fit on me. I’ll have to go dig it out of the kitchen closet and compare and see, I suppose. Maybe my body has just changed more than I realized post pregnancy.

Anyway. That photo of the pup and I just kind of happened. I kept trying to get pictures of me in the apron and they weren’t working out very well. I either looked awful, or the apron fabric needed fixed, or some other random thing about it was off. We don’t let the dog upstairs very often because she’s 13 with back issues but when I’m home alone I let her up with me if I’m going to be hiding in the craft room for a while. She just kind of jumped up on me to get my attention… and the snap has turned into my new favorite photo of us.

So onto the next project… the Wiksten tank dress. Yes, yes, THAT pattern again. This is probably going to be the last one I make for a little while because I would like to try out another pattern or two that I’ve purchased. I’m still working on that Mesa dress but just have hemming to do and I have to wait for my Amazon order to arrive and bring me the twin needle I need. So for now I’m using up more of the fabric I’ve recently purchased to make a dress version. It’s definitely a slower process than the last version. That brighter blue is sheer so I have to line the dress with some sheath fabric. which meant cutting the pattern twice, then stitching the layers for the fronts and backs together before I could begin stitching up the shoulders and sides. I have all of that done now, however, and just need to hem it all and apply the facing. I can’t decide if I should leave the curved hem, though, or just take it to my cutting mat and make it a straight cut. I think it’s a bit long, given that I’m only 5’2″, but I might wait until the husband gets home so I can ask his opinion first before I do anything.

I’ve had a very glorious kid-free day today, with taking the toddler to Nana’s and then coming back home to have time to myself. It’s been lovely. I’m not totally ready for it to end, however – I had this laundry list of things I wanted to work on today with my free time because I’m a huge over achiever and I’ve only gotten a fraction of it done. There’s still a bit of time, and there’s always after bedtime. But I have this really nasty habit of thinking everything I want to get done will take half (or a quarter) of the time it actually takes.

Wiksten again.

August 30, 2015 Marie 2 Comments

I finished this last Wednesday, wore it to work Thursday, and then promptly forgot to get photographs of it. So I’m wearing it again today and sharing a quick selfie because I’ll probably forget again down the road.

This is another Wiksten tank, only I did a straight medium size instead of the medium on top/larger size on bottom. MUCH better fit, and it looks really adorable with a cardigan. Today I paired it with this gold one, but Thursday I wore it with a grey one. I might have to knit myself up a pink one for this winter so I have something else to pair with it. The fabric is Rose Bouquet Rayon in Poppy by Joel Dewberry and I ordered it from Hawthorne Threads, which might end up being my new favorite place to order online because they carry a lot of pretty fabrics. It’s a nice change from the blah things my local Joanns carries (which is half of what the larger Joanns stores have in the bigger cities).

I definitely have plans for another Wiksten, but my next one will be the longer dress version. I have this pretty blue-with-black-dots sheer that I’m pairing with a navy sheath lining and I think it’ll look quite cute with some black tights and a cardigan for winter work wear. So you’ve not seen the last of this pattern… But, first, I’m tackling that Mesa dress from yesterday. One project at a time, at least when it comes to sewing.

Adventures in sewing knits

August 29, 2015 Marie 2 Comments

Today I’m working on learning to sew knit fabric. It’s something I’ve always wanted to try but have been too intimidated, but with all this sewing I’ve been doing I figured I might as well try it now. I picked up the Mesa dress pattern as it looked easy enough and like something that might be flattering on my shape. Today’s attempt is a muslin, so I’m just stitching it all together to see how it fits as well as getting a feel for how sewing knits on my machine works. Since knit fabrics tend to differ in weight, drape, etc I can’t totally account for all of those with this muslin alone, but it’s a good place to start.

So far, things seems to be going quite well. My stitching is going nicely along the fabric, and things are lining up as they should (I was worried the fabric would stretch out for some reason). But the sleeves…. I don’t know what I’m doing. I thought I eased them in right but trying the thing on it appears that there’s some puckering/waving along that stitch line. I’m not totally sure what I did wrong, though, because it seemed like it eased in just fine and I wasn’t left with fabric leftover to try to do something with. Oh well, that’s why it’s a muslin, right? I have some lovely charcoal double knit in the dryer so that’s going to be my next run through with this pattern – hopefully it turns into something wearable!

The “one hour to sew” liner on that pattern seems… ambitious. I’m absolutely positive that if you’re not new to sewing, and sewing knits, then yes – one hour to sew it all up is probably reasonable. But it probably took me an hour to trace and cut my pattern last night, and more than an hour to start pinning and sewing it all together. Though, granted, I do that have little boy you see there and he makes getting anything done 10x harder… so maybe I should just ignore times for the next 5 years and just be happy I get anything done at all, yes?

Wiksten Tank (handmade wardrobe #3)

August 14, 2015 Marie 1 Comment

I’ve finally finished my Wiksten tank. Looking back at prior posts, I bought this fabric clear back in March when I had this itch for some spring clothes. It’s now August. So much for spring/summer wear, I guess.

After I finished my Watercolor Sorbetto tank I cut out the Wiksten pattern, made myself a muslin to adjust fit, and then cut and began sewing up with my good fabric. I managed to get everything done except for the facing on one arm hole and the hem of the bottom. And then I just… stopped. It sat there, on the sewing machine table, waiting for me. Mocking me. Nagging me. Begging me to finish it. I knew it wouldn’t be that big of a deal to do those two things, and I knew I just needed to suck it up and make the effort, but procrastinating on it was easier. There were more important things to do. And then, suddenly, I realized it was August and I was quickly running out of time to even wear it. So, I finished it.

What do you think? The fabric pattern may end up looking dated next summer… but then do I really care about being “on trend” with this fast fashion thing? Yeah, no. Not really. The fit itself is… meh. My first muslin was based on bust size (large) and came out too big, so I went down to a medium in the bust and graded it out to a large in the hips. The muslin seemed to fit okay, so I ran with it. But now, with tank finished, I feel like I could have gone with a medium all around, or even possibly a small on top to a medium on bottom given how this fits. Which really baffles me because I’m most definitely not a size small and haven’t been for some time.

Regardless, all the girls at work are raving about it. I’ve gotten quite a bit of compliments on it, followed by shock when I admit that I made it myself. So that’s definitely a win in the not-looking-handmade department!

For my next wardrobe piece, I’m going to give the Mesa dress a shot. I ended up subscribing to Seamwork and, because I missed the issue it was in, I bought the pattern to make it. I’m hoping it becomes a bit of a wardrobe staple that I can wear to work with my jackets and cardigans. I’m not sure I picked out the right fabric – ordering online is rough until I learn more about the fabrics I’m using. And knits… well, that’s a challenge on its own. We’ll see how it goes, though.

Watercolors (handmade wardrobe #2)

May 8, 2015 Marie Leave a Comment

Please forgive the office bathroom selfie. I’m afraid I’ll never get a photo of it, otherwise.

Another Sorbetto. This one was cut without the pleat but angled out to the hips to keep some width there. It’s a bit baggy still but comfortable and the voile fabric is light weight (i found it at JoAnn’s!) I might make yet another one and leave the width off the hips. They’re addicting, that’s for sure!