Souvenir Blouse - Take 2

After some helpful advice on flickr and the Lisette forums, I decided to try this top again.  I definitely needed more space across the chest and back so I cut a larger size and added an inch to the middle front (just the bottom panel, not the yoke). 

It ended up too big, like falling off my shoulders too big.  I took the sleeves off and contemplated taking the yokes off, too, (yokes? is that right? it doesn't sound right) so that I could cut them to the smaller size.  I didn't have the patience to do all that seam ripping though so in the end I just offset the sleeves in 1/4" in on both the front and back yokes.  Most definitely not the most professional alteration but it made the neckline fit better (and the neckline still lined up . . . after two tries).  I will still have to wear my "fancy" bra -- it has thin straps that wont show as easily but it also hoists my breasts up into a kind of shelf, which I find distracting.  My husband doesn't mind, though :).

The fabric is this 100% linen (hence the wrinkles) from fabrics-store.com. (Again Canadians don't choose the UPS standard shipping option -- you'll end up regretting it!).  It's very lightweight but not sheer so is perfect for summer. 

Overall I like this style and I think I will wear this quite a bit (might have to investigate other bra options, though) but right now it feels quite baggy, almost maternity-esque.  I can't see myself making this again but if I did maybe the larger size in everything except the yokes and only add 1/2" in the middle front?? 

Sorry for the crappy picture. My hubby only picks up my camera reluctantly so I take what I can get :)

Short Sleeved Linen Tova

Summer appears to be here to stay so I decided to make a loose fitting short sleeved Tova.  This year I really am going to try to avoid my usual uniform of $10 v-neck t-shirts (I say this every year).

For this top, I replaced the 3/4 length sleeves with gathered cap sleeves using this tutorial.   I lowered the armholes a 1/4" and added 1/4" to each of the front and back sides for more room in the chest (using Jenny Gordy's advice from this flickr discussion).  I think all these changes combined might have been a bit much as it's quite baggy right now.  I'm also not sure about the sleeves -- they make me feel like a linebacker and I'm not really comfortable showing off so much of my arms.  I'll wear it a couple of times before making any changes, though, because I'm a lot like the kids -- if it's new or different sometimes it takes some time for be to get used to it :).

The fabric is this linen from fabrics-store.com.  It feels really nice and, despite the dark colour, I'm sure will be very cool.  They have great prices, by the way, but if you're ordering to Canada, whatever you do don't choose UPS ground -- not only will you pay for shipping but UPS will also charge you a COD brokerage fee (ostensibly for filling out the paperwork to clear customs).  In my case it was $22!!  Craziness!

Lisette Souvenir Blouse - Simplicity 1879

Some projects are just not meant to be, not through the fault of the pattern or the fabric but the mindset of the seamstress.   A few weeks ago, I had been having a really crappy day so I decided to take a break and do some sewing.

Things did not get any better because I made a million mistakes on this top.  Here are just a few:
~ I didn't mark the right side so ended up making two two left sleeves
~ I fixed one sleeve then I stitched the second sleeve on before adding the bias tape to finish the seam
~ when I was pinking the armhole seam I snipped a hole in the sleeve, right in the front shoulder so I had to cut and attach another sleeve.

Now that it's all together, I'm very unhappy with the ripples in the sleeves, especially at the shoulders, even though I ripped them out and redid them a couple of times (beyond the fixes I had to do above).  I now have a tailor's ham so that might help for the next time. 

(As an aside, when I went to buy the ham, I had to ask three (!!) different staff members at Fabricland for help finding it because none of them even knew what I was talking about.  When I finally found one, the package was dusty and it looked like it had been there for 30 years.  Does no one use these things anymore?)

Also, it's tight through the shoulders and chest and gapes like crazy at the front.  I know I didn't do the best job finishing the top as I made so many mistakes that I didn't think I'd end up wearing this anyway.  I'd like to try again as I really like the style of this top but I need to figure out if I should alter the front yoke before I make another version.  Looking at the photo, I think it might be too small.  Maybe a larger size would help with the gaping?  Also, the yoke looks a bit wonky on so sewing it on properly might help :)

I'm embarrassed to even post a photo of this because it looks so awful but hubby was kind enough to take a couple so here goes:



edited to add:  I did try this top again and had much better luck.  See it here

Mother's Day Gift

I made my mom a continuous hand towel (a la elsie marley) for Mother's Day.  My kids were quite happy to lend their hands for tracing and quite excited to see the outcome.  My littlest is just learning to read so she sounded out "hand towel" and then laughed: "it's a hand towel and it's got our hands on it and it's for wiping your hands on!"  Hehehe.  

I used two layers of this linen from fabrics-store.com and it's got a lovely weight to it.  I bound the whole thing in retro cotton lawn from girlcharlee.com.  I added snaps to the bottom, and used black versamark and twill tape for the label.

kcwc fail

I've followed Elsie Marley's blog for a while now and have always been inspired by all those people who jump in to the kids clothes week challenge.  I've never felt I able to participate, though, until this spring -- the NHL playoffs are on so my husband is fully occupied, volleyball is over and fastball has yet to start I've got time in the evenings.  I've been planning what I would make, gathering supplies, tracing patterns, cutting stuff out for over a month now but it's looking like it's going to be a fail before it even starts. 

Last week I lost access to my flickr account (long story short -- we switched to bell and I didn't even think about changing my email address with flickr because I thought it was connected to my hotmail account.  Now I can't change it to my hotmail account without first signing in through rogers.  Which I don't have access to.) and I'm still waiting on help from the flickr people to reinstate it.  I could open a new account but . . .

And then I've been fighting with my sewing machine this week.  I thought it was just my state of mind (am I the only one who feels like I have to be calm when approaching my sewing machine or it senses my tension and reacts badly to it?) but I tried again today and it's still skipping stitches or, if I increase the tension, the thread breaks.  I've re-threaded it, changed the needle, used different thread, tried different types of material, and adjusted the tension but I think it needs a tune up.  In the 7 (or 8?) years I've owned this machine, I've never taken it in.  And it's got a lot of use in the last couple of years especially.  I phoned my local shop and they estimate it will take a week.  ONE WHOLE WEEK without a sewing maching.  It honestly makes me twitchy to think about it. 

So it looks like the bucket hat, circle skirt and sunday brunch jacket I had planned for this week are going to have to wait.  Sigh.

Another O+S Family Reunion Dress

I don't really like making things the same twice but J. coveted Thing 2's birthday dress (which Thing 2 has only worn once, by the way) so I decided to make her one.  I let her pick out the buttons for the back without telling her what I was making, and, at $7, the buttons cost twice as much as the fabric but she loves them. 

It took me ages to cut out as I had just enough material if I jimmied things around and cut each piece out on it's own.  It's a size 4 (J. is 6, almost 7) with about 4 inches added (or was it 5?).  Anyway, she could have done with another inch but I made it as long as I could with the material that I had.  Thankfully it fits and she wore it all day.  Hopefully she wears it again but I can never predict.  I'm halfheartedly hoping that Thing 2 will decide she wants to match and wear hers but she didn't mention that today (although she did wear the circle skirt -- yay!).  Oh well, I have a little niece who *may* wear it -- she's 18 months and is showing signs of having a mind of her own as well so it's not a sure bet ;).

Vogue 1247 - Top

I was intrigued by this pattern when I saw this classy top in silk crepe de chine at Sallieoh.  And this lovely one in orange shot cotton at Handmade by Carolyn.  Then I went into Fabricland, and Vogue patterns were on sale so it seemed like fate :).

But after I traced the pattern, it sat on my sewing table for at least six weeks until the spring top sewalong over at Made by Rae gave me the kick in the pants I needed. 

After reading reviews regarding the excessive ease of this top, I cut a size 14. I also added an inch in the length but really should've added two as I'm long waisted and this top is really short (to go with the excessively short skirt included in the pattern, I guess!)

The fabric is a swiss dot cotton voile from Girl Charlee.  It's very light, which is pretty much a requirement for this pattern as the instructions specify French seams for every seam.  And a whole whack of seams merge in the middle (I know they don't line up but there was no way I was going to pick them all out and try again after getting it all sewn together).

I didn't follow the directions for the french seams, by the way -- it says to sew at 3/8", trim and then sew 1/4" from the seam line.  I was being lazy and could not face trimming Every. Single. Seam so I sewed at 1/4" and then again at just shy of 3/8".  I got halfway through when I realized that trimming would've made my seams much smaller and on a top like this where you can see the seams through the fabric, that might have been nice ;).  Despite the French seams, this top came together really quickly and the instructions were pretty easy to follow.

The verdict in my house is that the fabric is thumbs down (too old-lady-ish) but that the top is *interesting*, if a bit baggy around the chest.  I think I need a couple more pleats to fix the crazy boxy thing going on in the chest area.  Next time, I would also forgo the seam down the back -- I had enough fabric to cut it on the fold and should have just gone with my gut. 

Circle Skirt

If Thing 2 rejects this skirt, I'll hang it up in my office because just looking at it makes me happy.  My husband's comment was "whoa, that's bright".  As if that's a bad thing! 

I used the tutorial over at Made and is Dana ever right about this being a quick project -- definitely under an hour (including the hem, which I hadn't done yet when I took these pictures).

According to the selvage, the fabric is Sketchbook by P&B Textiles.  I have no idea when or where I got it.  Miss Thing did pick it out for a bucket hat so I'm hoping it's also acceptable as a skirt.  And I've still got enough for a hat so she could be all matchy. Not that that would necessarily appeal to her, though, as she usually chooses things because they don't match.  Ehh, who can predict.  Obviously I can't!

Shot Cotton Tova

I feel a bit un-original posting this top -- a pdf option has made the pattern much more readily available so lovely versions of the Tova are popping up all over blogland.  Not that that's a bad thing.  I love this pattern -- it sews up quickly, fits well, is comfortable and looks great.  And, despite it's popularity online, I'm pretty sure I'm not in any danger of showing up somewhere in the same outfit as some one I know :).

Sorry for the crappy picture.  I tried to take one of me wearing it but that was even worse.  The fabric is Kaffe Fassett, Shot Cotton in Bordeaux and it's really lovely -- very lightweight and soft, and with a wonderful depth of colour.  I ordered it from Pam at Mad About Patchwork.  I'd highly recommend her shop for quick shipping and great costumer service.  And we obviously think alike -- she's currently making a Tova out of aqua shot cotton.

verykerryberry is hosting a sew-a-long of this pattern and has some great posts and tips.  I joined but apparently am not very good at "sewing along" and and finished early :).

By the way, the last time I made this, I had trouble with the collar fitting properly.  This time I staystitched the neck edge and it was fine.

edited to add:  I finally coerced my six year old into taking a picture for me.  I really like this colour and I like this top but a word to the wise if you're going to use shot cotton -- it frays.  Like crazy.  I really did mean to increase the seam allowance this time so I could do French seams but wasn't even thinking when I cut this out.  Guess I should write stuff like that on my pattern pieces, shouldn't I?   When I get time to sew I'm always anticipating being interrupted so don't always pay enough attention to what I'm doing . . .

MoMo + Linen Quilt finished

I started this quilt over a year ago and finally finished it (well, almost -- I still need to tidy up the stray thread and add a label).  It's amazing to me that I could work on it for so long and still love it.  I think it's the combination of the linen with the prints + the really simple design (adapted from Fresh Quilting by Malka Dubrawsky).  The prints are momo freebird and the sashing is linen.  I handstitched swirls in each of the squares and outlined some of the squares in red.

The back and binding are from It's a Hoot with a piece of ivory because I wanted to be able to see some of the swirls.

My kitty seems to like it, too.  Maybe my Dad wont get this after all!