Seasonally Inappropriate

I have a few projects I want to change the serger thread to make, but I don't actually want to deal with changing the serger thread yet, so I went with another project that could get away with white overlocking.

Wool Slip Fix Skirt Hack

So, in April, I made a wool bias slip dress that...did not go well.  A few weeks later, I fixed the problems.  Not blogged: finding that I hadn't managed to avoid all the moth holes, and clumsily mending one on the upper back.  Yeah, I didn't wear it much.

I finally decided I would go ahead and turn it into a skirt, but it took me days between making that decision, making the decision on how I'd do it, making the cuts to do it, and then actually doing it.

But I did do it!

More Little Sewing

 I have been working on doll dresses--this is the batch I could sew with the thread in the machine(s)

I'm going to have to buckle down and change the serger thread sometime...

Chintz Babydoll

Another try at adapting Fake Burda 6401 to have a Fake McCall's 8197 variation (again, I do have McCall's 8197, I just disagree with some of its design decisions and wanted something with a similar look but different construction/shapes.)  I feel like this is where I want it!

...although this particular dress may be a bit too pretty for me...

Green Madras Babydoll

Years ago, I thrifted several yards of a green/cyan/beige cotton madras.  There was enough that I had considered making a suit for the kiddo, but his style (and leg length) no longer work with that idea, so I decided to use it for the idea mentioned a few posts ago, of making a variation of my fake Burda 6401 that would be somewhat of a fake McCall's 8197 (which I have, but I am irritated by its scooped back and lack of interfacing.)

The main difference between 6401 and 8197, when viewed from the front, is that 8197's neckline is significantly more scooped, and the waistline is higher.  The first attempt at the pattern variation was a bit too scooped in the neck and high in the waist.  At least I figured that out before attaching the skirt, so I only hassled with removing (and re-using) the sleeves.

The neckline is no longer bra-revealingly low, but the waistline could maybe go up a bit more if I really want to emulate 8197's lines...which...maybe, maybe not.  This still definitely works.

Gengar Square

Another favor asked of a friend, another thing sewn as thanks (along with a thing baked as additional thanks, since friend's spouse also helped.)

I made it in a rush last night, and it definitely is, let's say, charmingly off-model (even aside from the squareness) But! There's no question that it's Gengar.

Black and White and Spiderweb

I cut sleeves from spiderweb lace for the snail shirt, but decided not to use them on that shirt.  This left me with spiderweb sleeves to use elsewhere

Snail Shirt Snail Shirt

I recently visited a different Walmart than usual, and of course I checked the mill end precut rolls.  I limited my purchases to one three yard cut of a lovely double border eyelet, and one two yard roll of what seemed to be a sturdy navy cotton knit backed with a soft gray heather knit, which I thought would make a nice hoodie for Husband.

But.

When I opened and unrolled that knit, I discovered that, instead of two knits fused together, it was two pieces. (Expecting two pieces fused is not unreasonable, given other things I've seen and purchased from the mill end precut roll selection in the past.)

And the two pieces were both 24" long, instead of a full yard each.  They were 70" wide, so I guess, by area, it's kinda the same.

And also, both pieces had, near a cut edge, the big ugly seams used to join pieces from separate rolls for continuous finishing processes.  Which is surely why they ended up in the mill end precuts, but that didn't alleviate any of the disappointment.

The navy blue cotton turned out to be a technical fabric, which I might have a use for.  But, the gray? In such a short length, with the seam making the contiguous usable area even shorter?  Well...I was so irritated with it that I decided I needed to use it immediately.

(returning was not an option because I didn't want to be That Person walking in with two raggedly cut pieces of fabric and trying to explain that the label promised something different, so gimme back those $3.)

Because the length was so short, I decided to make a shirt for me (the kiddo is a lanky noodle.)  I started with KwikSew 1650, cutting the front and back from that, and using some of the precious remaining spiderweb knit to make contrast sleeves.

After getting the neckband sewn, I realized that I absolutely would not ever wear the soft flowing cropped sweatshirt that it would be if I continued.  So: New Look 6068 to make the torso more closely cut and the shoulders narrower, then use the adapted KwikSew 303 sleeve to squeeze out some tiny short sleeves, with the length limited by working with what was above the join seam, and add some contrast bits to eke out a bit more length.

It still seemed like it was going to be a bit bland, so...snail.

 

Cardigan: Cut, Sew, Cut Again, Sew Again

Just over a year ago, I made a cardigan with Simplicity 8951.  I wasn't happy with it.

The first time I made Simplicity 8951, I deviated quite a bit from the instructions, and it turned out fun!  But when I made the same deviations the second time, the fabric was just so much thicker that it didn't work as well.

That didn't, unfortunately (but not unexpectedly) stop me from trying to make it again with the same deviations, and, this time, from a thicker fabric. And with the peter pan collar option!

It...went badly

(spoiler: it got better)

Chewing [Something] Over

 I removed the ease from the sleeve caps of the previous iteration of Fake Burda 6401 and tried again

Reasonable success!

Bubblegum

A few months a go, I finally made an 'official' Fake Burda 6401 pattern, instead of improvising it each time I wanted to make it, and yesterday I finally tried using the pattern.

It works pretty well!

A Revisited Skirt Revisited

Nearly two years ago, I took an old idea I'd used on a much earlier thrifted skirt and applied it to a freshly-made skirt.  It turned out well, but...the waistband was, even then, too small to be comfortable.

Since that skirt was made from the sheath version of New Look 6843, it would have been cut in size 16.  So my brain, after making the size 16 New Look 6843 sheath skirt in the previous post work, wondered if I could do something similar with this one.

The first thing I did was remove the waistband.  I let out the back darts by stitching from the point to the edge, tapering to a presser-foot-width from the upper edges, on both the shell and lining darts.  Then I picked out the original stitches.  I couldn't let out the front darts, because one had been decoratively stitched over so it would have been some trouble to change, and I wanted to keep the front symmetrical so I didn't touch the other dart.  Instead, I let out the upper side seams by sewing from the original stitching a few inches above the hem, tapering quickly to a presser-foot-width inside the edge of the serged seam finishing.  Then I removed the original stitching in those areas and pressed everything.

I barely had enough of the wool blend fabric to make the original waist band (I had forgotten that it was pieced) so it was no problem deciding to use a different fabric for the replacement, larger waistband.  I used the same black twill as another (A-line) 6843, but made it as wide as the waistband from Simplicity 9815.  The shades of black of the twill and the wool blend aren't the same, but I don't generally dress in a way that exposes waistbands, so it gets a pass.

(If I ever get a proper belt, I might add belt loops.)

Purple Flannel Herringbone Skirt

After I finished the blazer in the previous post, I looked at the remaining fabric and wondered if I could eke out a matching skirt.

And I could! Barely! And only on a technicality!

Purple Flannel Herringbone Blazer

After I finished the Halloween patchwork blazer, I wanted to give Butterick 4610 another try--specifically to see if the sleeves eased into the armscyes easier with a more appropriate fabric.

And it seems they do!

Floral Knit Shirt

 After making the dress from the thrifted English chintz print cotton interlock, I had enough left to make a shirt.  I mixed aspects of views A, B, and C/D from New Look 6068 plus the sleeves from KwikSew 303 and ended up here

Questionable Coordinates

 So I thought about some of the things I've made randomly, and thought about putting them together

I never used Polyvore, but it definitely influenced the idea of making collages like this with things I've made

Jacket

Dress

Slip

Tights

Floral Knit Dress

I have actively decided to sew a few simple things for a while, and all the better if they're items I'll wear as the weather cools, like the tights in the previous post.

Next to that gray fabric in the fabric stash, and purchased on the same visit to the craft thrift store, was a probably early 1990s English chintz print cotton interlock knit.

I have Simplicity 8072, an easy knit dress pattern from 1998

which is a few years later than the era of the knit print, but I wasn't aiming for historical accuracy, so here we are

 

Gray Tights Gray Tights

The last visit to the craft thrift store brought some medium lightweight heathered gray four way stretch knit into my life.  I had no idea what I was going to do with it--it just looked too useful to leave behind (optimistically hoping it has a decent amount of cotton.)

A few nights ago, when I was trying to fall asleep, my brain blipped out the realization that this fabric would be perfect for sewn tights.

So that's what I did!  Two pairs, since there was enough fabric, and having multiple pairs of heavy gray tights seemed like a good idea (it was a bit chilly that day.)

I still don't know how to take a flattering photo of sewn tights, but, here they are, for the record

Their construction is straightforward, with the basic shape copied from a commercially-made pair of sewn tights I have--I added height to the center front and back seams, so the elastic can rest on top of my abdomen instead of cutting into it.  I decided to use the lockstitch machine on a narrow zigzag instead of the serger, even though the serger should work perfectly well for this.

I did have a frustrating time when I started zigzagging through all of the layers at the waist elastic, and the bobbin tension went wildly bad--just...incredibly loose on the bottom.  Conventional sewing wisdom says the tension problem source is on the opposite side of where the malformed stitches are, so I changed the top tension, to no effect; re-threaded the top, nothing; switched to a heavier (ballpoint) needle, no change.  I finally took out the bobbin case and saw that the thread had somehow completely worked itself out of the tension assembly.  I re-threaded the bobbin case and everything was fine.

Now that I have added these to my small assortment of cut and sewn tights, good for cool winter days, the temperature is climbing back into the 80s for a few days...until the next cold front sweeps in...

Four Month Fix

 I made this doll print shirt in late June.  The sleeves were too long.

It was the same problem I had with a shirt I made in September, but that time I noticed it and decided to do something about it.

Today, I finally made the same alteration to the doll print shirt.

I have two more shirts that can use the same alteration.  Maybe someday...

Itai!

 I've wanted to try making an ita bag for a while.  When I finished the patchwork jacket, I decided that my next project would be that bag.

I made a stack of the materials I had that seemed suitable--clear vinyl purpose bought from Joann, some glitter vinyl and several pieces of free-table cloth from the craft thrift store, leftover scraps of the glowworm green lining, bag zippers from Wawak, webbing and hardware salvaged from some baby thing from the kiddo's extreme youth, a stack of thrifted embroidery stabilizer, and a whole lot of Wonder Under and fusible webbing

I knew I didn't want to do a style with a heart-shaped window (I'm not a heart-shape person), and decided to rein myself in and not do anything complicated.  The only odd thing was that the glitter vinyl sheets had been used a bit, so I had to figure out how to work around that.

I absolutely made up every part of this as I went along.

Halloween Patchwork Blazer

I have once again made a Halloween patchwork project.

I made the first one in 2020, inspired by a friend's similar project.  Then made another one the next year because my small yardage storage was getting crowded.  Last year I started to wonder if this was becoming a tradition.

And here we are this year, the evening before Halloween.

 

 I don't think it's a tradition yet--if it were, I might have thought of making it before October 25 and starting it on the 27th.

Gray Hoodie

I made a quick hoodie for the kiddo a few years ago from double knit polyester, which you probably know isn't always the softest stuff, so, when I found a few yards of a french terry(ish) fabric in the Walmart mill end pre-cuts, I knew I'd use it to make a snugglier jacket for him.  Eventually.

(but first I used it for the sleeves on a jacket for me)

I used New Look 6766, modifying the pull-over hoodie into a zip-front hoodie, which is easy enough because the original pattern has a center front seam

Quick projects: Masks and Scrunchies

 I wanted to do some super quick and simple projects, so I threw together some masks

Y2k print for the kiddo, blue for Husband, and a bit left over from the last motorcycle jacket for me. They all have a layer of heavy embroidery stabilizer inside, and are lined with scraps of a high thread count cotton sheet I used for the backing of a bedspread. (We also got our booster shots a few weeks ago.)

And then, since I had the elastic out, I decided to throw together a few more scrunchies.  I'm still not prone to wearing them, but I do acknowledge their convenience.

I got into the small yardage stash and used a few pieces of silk.  I bought the paisley-textured purple silk in the late 90s.

Scrunchy luxury.

From Out of the Lace Stash

 Once upon a time, I managed to be in a Walmart at the right time to get a mill end precut of some white cotton swiss dot.  I figured it would eventually become a shirt (or two), but there were no clear plans.   I picked up Simplicity 7233, with eyes on view 2, a bit over a year ago at the craft thrift store, but it took a while to connect the cloth with the potential of the pattern.

Then I put the pattern in the "To Do, Maybe" box and ignored it for months.

And while I have very much been having fun recently making girlie print menswear shapes, or tweedy skirts, I decided I'd go ahead and make this shirt--which involved raiding my lace and trim stash for suitable froufrouness

When I say froufrou, I mean froufrou

Idyllic Vest

 The last visit to the craft thrift store netted a few upholstery samples from the free bins, that I grabbed entirely with the idea of making vests very much like I wore in the early 1990s.  I may not necessarily wear them now, but Simplicity 9630 from 1990 is an easy pattern, and it's fun to make vests with it that would have thrilled young me.

I had already made one vest from one of the free upholstery samples, and just finished a second

And, yes, Teen Me would have loved it.

Flannelskirt

 I have used New Look 6843 many times, and it is a good basic set of skirts, with two variations on A-line--one in two lengths--and two lengths of sheath skirt, going up to size 18.  So, why would I use Simplicity 9815 for a short sheath skirt instead?

Now, the last time I made a shortened version of it, I went with the size 20, which isn't an option with the New Look. But, size 18? And making it shorter than either view offered?  Well...I really don't know why I did.

In retrospect, it's nice that there are only two darts on the Simplicity back, instead of the New Look's four, and, also, the Simplicity's waistband is much wider than the New Look's, which made fastening the button a lot easier than it tends to be in the little narrow waistband on the New Look.  But, again, those are things I hadn't realized when I decided to make this skirt from the Simplicity instead of the New Look. I'm still not sure why I chose the Simplicity for this, but I did, and it turned out great.

Zipskirt

So, the original plan was to use this plum pinwale corduroy to make a McCall's 7906.  I just didn't have enough of it, though--the large pattern pieces meant I couldn't possibly squeeze it out of lesser yardage.

I decided to do another McCall's 7981 instead, like my previous project. This time, I had enough of the fabric to cut the pieces the length the pattern wanted. I was ready to use four part snaps for the closures again, but, when I got to the point of sewing on the front bands, I pivoted even farther off course and dug out a matching zipper.

and then used a few four part snaps on the waistband

Snapskirt

I recently realized that I can use grommet pressed four part spring snaps to close skirt waistbands instead of buttons.

And then I realized that I could use those snaps to replace all of the buttons on skirts like McCall's 7981

and I did!

Goodbye Burda 6800

 Hello Know Me ME2011, which may very well be the motorcycle jacket pattern of my dreams.

(image copied from the Simplicity site)

Granted, I jumped right into it by making a lot of changes before cutting any fabric.  Since the pattern is "men's" size, I started by folding out 2"/50mm of length in the torso.  Then I looked at the set of zippers I was going to use, which I had ordered to use in Burda 6800, and shortened the jacket another 1"/25mm, re-drafted the side pocket zipper opening marks to be shorter, took two inches out of the sleeves at the zipper, and omitted a pocket completely, all so so I could use those stashed zippers. I also shortened the sleeves by another inch, which may have been unnecessary.  And then I intentionally cut the asymmetrical front pieces opposite of how the pattern wants.

Since this was an entirely new pattern for me, and I made so many preliminary changes that I wasn't entirely sure about, of course I decided to go ahead and use some thrifted vintage fabric that I'd been saving for years, with the idea added in the last few years that it would be perfect for a motorcycle jacket...but...not Burda 6800.

(As an aside: I can imagine situations where Burda 6800 may be used, especially for mixing fabrics.  I do still like Kwik•Sew 3764 for quick moto jackets made from knits. Someday I will revisit Vogue 1714 for an elegantly be-peplum'd motorcycle jacket.  McCall's 8121 was all around disappointing.  And, at this point, I'm not sure if I'll ever try the other two motorcycle jacket patterns in my stash, McCall's 7694 and Butterick 6169.)

So I dug out the intended fabric, which had been stored with a coordinating lining fabric, and immediately realized that there was about a yard less fabric on hand than the pattern wanted.  I knew the fact that the pieces were now shorter would save a little fabric, but not much.  I also knew that the way I generally fold only enough fabric to cut one pattern piece at a time always ends up using less fabric than the patterns want, and that's with paying attention to nap/print direction, and sometimes even squeezing in a bit of print matching.  I made plans for which pattern pieces I felt I could cut from a contrasting fabric in a way that would look intentional, and saved cutting those for the end.

I got everything cut with a piece to spare that was big enough that I could have re-cut any one piece if needed to avoid the loathed repetition of print elements on either side of an opening or seam, which could have been an extra danger in this fabric, because the print is a single spray of flowers in a dropped offset with no variations.  I did not, however, need to do anything to avoid that.

 Everything, as they say, came up roses.

Slim Shirt and Wide Pants

 ...for dolls!

The shirt and pants patterns are designed for "original" (2016) Barbie bodies, flat foot and high heel.  The pants have optional pockets and possible waistband width variations.

You should be able to right click and save the patterns and instructions.

New for Me

 For the first time I can remember, I'm pausing in the middle of a project because I decided to order something for it--it could have been completed just fine without it, but I really wanted to add the details.

I would easily have finished it yesterday if I hadn't decided to be fancy(ish).

In the meantime, I'm working out some more doll sewing patterns to share, allowing me to enjoy the laser printer we just got.

Shirt Runner-up

And then there was enough fabric left to make a short sleeve shirt, too!

Shirt Choice

I had some fabric that I had bought as a clearance bolt--I thought it was something I got when the local Hancock Fabrics went out of business in 2007, but it's not in my photos from then.  I did use some of it in a project photographed in 2013, but, beyond that, all I really know is that I'd had it for a long time, and I originally had a lot of it.

I recently decided it would be good for a shirt.  But...long sleeve or short sleeve?

I decided on long sleeve, grabbed McCall's 6613, and got to work.

Salvaged Fruit Shirt

 OK, the shirt I posted yesterday and its horrible awful unforgivable print repeat: I fixed it.

Disappointing Fruit Shirt

 I got a piece of printed cotton, from the craft thrift store last year, that I wanted to make into a shirt.  I just finished finally making that, using the modified Burda 7831, which, at this point, I can assemble fairly quickly.

I was delighted to find that the print repeat was designed so that the motifs near the selvedge edges fit together perfectly with a 5/8" seam, and that meant I could effortlessly pattern match the front bands, which just seemed like it would be such a fun touch.

But.

I was later extremely dismayed to see that, once everything was sewn and overlapped, that meant that my Most Loathed Sewing Thing happened: the pattern repeated directly next to itself on either side of the seam/opening, and there was nothing I could do about it

I don't say this lightly, but...😭

Continuing the Very 1990s Sweatshirt Theme

This time it used two fabrics from the last visit to the craft thrift store: an innocuous rib knit and an "I never would have worn anything even remotely like this back then" 1990s sweatshirt fleece, and I combined them both with McCall's 5070, an "I wouldn't've worn this back then, either" 1987 raglan sleeve sweatshirt pattern.

...and I'm honestly not sure if I'll wear it now, either

Cool Splat T-shirt

 After cutting the previous project, there was a large(ish) piece of fabric left that was just enough to eke out a little T-shirt for me.

Cool Splat Sweatshirt

Here's another project made (mostly) with fabric gleaned from the last trip to the craft thrift store.

This one's for the kiddo!

Relatively Quick Pink Shirt

More craft thrift store fabric, another modified Burda 7831, changed up a bit with some lace from deep within the stash

The Rest of the (Doll) Dresses

A few weeks ago, I posted a bunch of doll dresses I'd sewn, saying I needed to change my serger thread before I could sew the rest. Well, I did and I did.

The two lower right dresses are made from fabric purchased at the intervening visit to the craft thrift store, so this is a few more dresses than I expected to sew.  Still,  they're sewn, and I will offer them around certain doll circles in the near future, and proceed to sew things that can use white serger thread (I'm already partway through another modified Burda 7831 button up shirt, using the pink background fabric in the photo, which is also fabric from the last trip to the craft thrift store.)

1990 Academia

 

Vest

Shirt

Skirt

And Then Those Prompted A Shirt I'd Been Thinking About For A While

I had a few yards of a dark green cotton that I thought would make a good basic button up shirt, but I had a lot of other shirts I'd rather have made first.

Until I decided to make the vest and skirt in the previous two posts.  At that point, I thought it would be very funny to go ahead and make that shirt as a coordinate for those two items, and in the spirit of  "Is this something I would have worn in high school in 1990, or is it modern Dark Academia?"

Green Plaid A-line Skirt

As I was sorting the fabrics I got from the craft thrift store last Thursday, I realized that the "plaid medallions on dark blue" jacquard coordinated nicely with the "dark green with blue, yellow, and red accents" brushed twill plaid I had also picked up that day, so I decided I would make a skirt to go with the vest.

Ideally, the skirt would have been pleated, but one yard of 58" is not enough to get pleats around my body. The second most stereotypical idea would be cut on the bias, but, even if there had been enough fabric to eke that out, it turned out the plaid was very subtly uneven, so wouldn't have worked well on the bias. So!  Good ol' New Look 6843 it is, view E.