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Wiksten again.

August 30, 2015 Marie 2 Comments

wiksten-again

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.

Featured, Posts handmade wardrobe, Me, sewing

Adventures in sewing knits

August 29, 2015 Marie 2 Comments

mesa-muslin1 sleeves1 dangerboy

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?

Featured, Posts handmade wardrobe, sewing

Wiksten Tank (handmade wardrobe #3)

August 14, 2015 Marie 1 Comment

image

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.

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Watercolors (handmade wardrobe #2)

May 8, 2015 Marie Leave a Comment

image

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!

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The Sorbetto Tank (official handmade wardrobe piece #1)

April 11, 2015 Marie 2 Comments

sorbetto-black-finished

I’m officially one step closer to crafting myself a handmade wardrobe! For the first time ever I’ve managed to make myself something that not only fits, but doesn’t look like a handmade nightmare. Hooray! (Please ignore that it needs ironed – I was too excited to try it on and see how it looks!) I’m feeling a bit more confident in my sewing after this project, and I’ve been spending far too much time looking at fabric and patterns for future projects.

I didn’t use some old vintage sheets after all and, instead, used some black broadcloth I had hanging around. I opted this time for only a partial pleat as I was worried that my wide hips would be too big for the tank if I kept it all the way through. I think now, though, that it would have been fine or that maybe if I just took it in an inch it would be better (not too wide, but not too tight). And I’m happy to report that I don’t notice the arm holes gaping like I did before – I think the bias tape helped a lot with taming that, but I could be wrong.

I want to make a bazillion of these in solid colors now – I can see myself layering these tanks under my blazers for work. I might play with the neckline a bit, though, and opt for a gathered neckline instead of pleated, or maybe omit it entirely and just grade it out with my hips to make it work. I don’t want to wear the exact same style all the time, but the lovely thing about this pattern is that it has a lot of options for customizing and modifying. Overall I’m crazy thrilled to be able to have something else to wear that I made. Learning to make things (both knitting and now sewing) gives me a huge amount of appreciation for the amount of time and money and skill that goes into the things we all wear on a regular basis.

I bought the Wiksten tank yesterday, so watch out for one of those to be popping on here soon! Though not until I’ve made a Sorbetto in my fancier fabric. :)

 

Featured, Posts handmade wardrobe, Me, sewing

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