While I was making the rainbow shiny on purple motorcycle jacket, I was thinking of my next project, which was going to be the second version of the apple cardigan, and my brain said, "Well, what about making the Know Me ME2011 motorcycle jacket from the apple knit?"
So I did.
It turned out just as wonderfully obnoxious as I imagined.
Apple Cardigan The First happened about two months ago. It was...not what I wanted. But! It held the promise of what I wanted, and the fabric not only still being in stock at Fabric Mart, but also dropped in price, prompted me to order more and try again.
This time, I would make it a size larger. This time, I would use contrast rib knit for the bands. And then! When I had everything laid out, ready to start cutting the fabric, I received a package from a friend with some surprise vintage buttons in it, and one set was perfect for this fabric...if the rest of the project lived up to my expectations.
It did!
Using New Look 6120 once again, and hearkening back to the first time I used it by once again making the shell from a foiled synthetic knit.
...although I may have gotten very slightly excessive with the pockets...
Some of the sewn tights I made--this pair and one of these pairs--I wore so much that the heels wore out. Instead of darning them when the holes first appeared, I let them go until the holes were undeniable, and decided to cut them off just above the highest hole and finish the edges, turning them into leggings. I also decided to cut off the toe areas and do the same to the tights made from what turned out to be very baggy rib knits.
It took a while between deciding to do this and finally doing this, but the project suddenly became very attractive as a way to procrastinate figuring out what to do with the last fabric from that big Fabric Mart order. I'm wearing the gray now-leggings today, and they're perfectly functional leggings. Yay.
After I finished cutting out the jacket in the previous post, I still had a sizable chunk of fabric left. I knew there would be enough to make a skirt, although I figured it would be a miniskirt, which would work fine with the Jem & The Holograms vibe the jacket had.
I finished making the jacket and laid out the remaining fabric and realized...there was enough for a long skirt--a long slim skirt, but, still. And I actually felt like that would be even more Jem Style.
So I got out Simplicity 9815 and started cutting. I didn't have quite enough to reach the full length as given, but I got close. I also decided to line it, because I almost always line a slim skirt.
The pattern illustration shows a lapped zipper in back, and I've wanted to get more comfortable installing lapped zippers, so I prepared to do that, but it was late, so I wasn't actually going to sew it until the next day. This gave me time to have the idea to put a welt pocket with a flap--using pattern pieces for the welt pocket with flap from the jacket--off center on the front of the skirt.
The pocket is there. Really.
Know Me 2011, that is--the motorcycle jacket pattern I like the most.
I have, before this post, made 2011 once before, and that was almost a year and a half ago. Honestly, most of what I wrote about the pattern alterations and construction process in that previous post apply to this post, but, this time, the finished jacket looks like this
ee hee hee
After turning the failed tights into a skirt in the previous post, I still had the lower portions of one of those pairs of failed tights left, so I decided to slap some decorative elastic on the tops of them and make some socks.
So. When I placed that Fabric Mart order, I chose two fabrics with the intention of making them into sewn tights. The striped fabric was a little more whimsical; I sewed those first and they turned out just right, even with the piecing I had to do to get enough width in the second pair.
The other fabric-for-tights was a lightweight sweater knit in solid black. I was really looking forward to having a pair of (relatively) heavy black tights! The fabric, however, had other plans, and just did not have the right amount of stretch in the right directions.
I had confidently cut two pairs of tights from the fabric, and figured out a better way to add the crotch extension needed to make up for the lack of width in the second pair cut--which was the first pair sewn from the black. I tried them on, and...no.
Now, when I made the tights from the gray wool? blend sweater knit, I managed to add more height, with necessarily weird piecing, to get them to fit (and I really like how they turned out, fabulous winter tights.) I figured that would be easier to do with the second, not-yet-sewn pair of black tights, so I decided to cut off the feet of the first pair and finish the ankles to make a pair of cropped leggings. I tried them on, and...no. The fabric just wasn't right, at least not for the pattern I use.
So I put everything aside and moved on to the foiled silver leggings, which went much better.
I turned over the possibilities of what else I could do with the black knit fabric, already mostly cut into tights shapes. Yes, it would be a perfect weight for doll clothes, but I did not want to relegate all 1½ yards x 60" of it to doll clothes. I also did not want to make any sort of shirt, because I try to keep polyester away from my underarms, thanks.
I eventually thought of maybe...a gored skirt with godets? I have Simplicity 4365 from 2005, my copy of which only goes up to size 14, but I was willing to gamble that the knit stretch would compensate.
It's not like I got the cloth with a skirt in mind, so however it turned out would be however it turned out, y'know? I chose view F and managed to get everything easily cut from the upper parts of the erstwhile tights.
Then I hit PMS, which completely eradicated any inclination to sew, which also gave me time to realize that I might have been able to open up those four pieces cut to make two pairs of tights, and possibly could have gotten the two front and two back pieces needed to make a proper pair of leggings, like I did with the silver foil fabric. Too late to try!
Eventually I got to the point where I felt like sitting down and dragging myself through the sewing process. I even changed the serger thread.
For the last few months, Fabric Mart has had a selection of medium weight synthetic knits with metallic foiled designs. The listings say they're "from the same manufacturer that creates leotards for Team USA Gymnastics." If so, I'd still guess these particular fabrics have been dead stock for a very long time, because they have a distinct air of Early 2000s Cheese to them that I of course found irresistible.
I ordered three different prints when they were $2 per yard, then went back for a fourth when they were briefly reduced to $1 per yard.
One of them I wanted to make into leggings, but I knew not only that they wouldn't be stretchy enough to use my regular tights pattern (which is another possible hint at the fabrics' age, from back before spandex started infusing everything), but, even if it would work, the print was too strongly geometric to use with that no-side-seam pattern. I decided to try the tights part of Simplicity 8042, which I had only made once before, and six years ago, and very disapointingly.
I was determined to make them work, and, after a lot of pinching and sewing and pinning and sewing and sewing again to make things less angular, I got where I wanted.
They are aggressively shiny.
The Fabric Mart order included some thin synthetic yarn dyed stripe knit, with the intention of making a pair of tights, using the pattern I traced off of a commercially made pair of cut and sewn tights.
I ended up making two pairs, although the second has the crotch extensions pieced, because what was left wasn't quite wide enough to get everything cut.
There's still no appealing way to photograph tights, so this is what you get.
Since I cut them in opposite directions, each pair has the opposite stripe order, for some nice and barely noticeable variety.
The fabric turned out to have the perfect amount of stretch in the right directions, and fit very nicely at the ankles. I can't say the same for the other fabric in the order that I intended to be tights. (I'm working on salvaging the fabric. But not for leg wear.)
I have made silly little striped tights for dolls for years, so it was fun to make some for me.
After cutting the pieces for the previous shirt, there was still a decent amount of fabric left, so I decided to see if I could eke out a short sleeve version of the same kind of shirt.
Yes, I could.
One of the fabrics I got in that Fabric Mart order was a low price nylon point d'espirit netting. Something about the grungy dark olive ground, with pink-accented white flowers outlined in black, made me think it needed to be a peasant-style blouse, to layer under jumpers when the weather warms up.
Now, while the existence of (most of) these jumpers still remains theoretical, the shirt is a reality.
I made a shirt for The Child in 2018, from a Robert Kaufman tossed money print. The shirt has long since been outgrown, but still hangs in the closet. I was going through all of the too-small clothes that The Child will not let go of, and, when I got to that one, a certain wistfulness was expressed by said Child.
I hopped on the Joann site and saw that they did still have it in stock! And on deep sale! (This was in December, when everything is traditionally on deep sale.) I ordered enough to make a long sleeve shirt in The Child's current size, and in two weeks, the order...got cancelled due to lack of stock.
The Child was disappointed, although it was mixed with the habitual sarcasm, so I didn't worry too much about not being able to get it.
I went to a Joann on Sunday for something else (which they did not have, despite the site saying they did **Edit, much later: this was before we knew that Joann would soon be no more), and checked the novelty print cottons--there was a little of the money print left in stock in the store! Not much, though--1.6 yards, according to the cutting ticket. It was at a slight discount, and I got another 10% off for finishing off the bolt, so that was nice.
I got home and serged the ends and added it to a load of laundry. I set about cutting it that night, and was able to squeeze almost all of the pieces for a short sleeve version from it, needing only a bit of another fabric for the inside of the back yoke.
I sewed it completely Monday, and not in a rush.
...which is something I probably never thought I would be able to do, if asked around the time I made the first shirt from this print.
A craft thrift store visit in 2022 saw me get, among other fabrics (most of which have been used!), a length of black and white glen plaid. In the linked post, I noted that it had a spot of damage. Further inspection found a lot of damage. The moth babies feasted on this.
I did use a bit of it in the B&W wool patchwork vest--the cloth has two faces, so I used the darker side in the vest (it's the fabric mentioned as being from the larger yardage.) Between the moth holes and the...general oddness of the fabric--the yarns aren't as fine as I envision when I think of glen plaid, giving it a sort of 1970s vibe--I had started feeling rather apathetic about this fabric.
However! Ever since I made that long A-line skirt from the patchwork of heavier fabric, I had wanted to try making a whole cloth skirt, in a heavier fabric, using the same pattern (McCall's 7981, modified to omit the front band and insert a back zipper.) Since I still think fondly of an A-line B&W glen plaid skirt I made in 2013, I decided to see if I could get the pattern pieces for this skirt to fit on the yardage I had, and if I could avoid the worst of the damage while doing so. Yes on the first, no on the second.
However! Another long-gone skirt of which I think fondly was a thrifted skirt that developed holes, and I covered them up with appliqués cut from various fabric prints. (And I guess I didn't think that merited being posted here, because I can't find a post about it.) Appliqués, I thought, would be a fun way to cover the moth damage, especially since it was mostly limited to one area of the fabric...which turned into two disconnected areas of the skirt, because I had to cut the pattern pieces in opposite orientation.
I spent a day sorting through potential fabrics--all cotton calicos--and trims, cutting out motifs and developing an aesthetic direction to tie the chaos together. Then I remembered the bag of cut pieces of yardage lace that I had gotten from the free table at the craft thrift store, and started mixing those in.
But then...
I realized that the lace motifs alone would work very well. I put all of the chaos choices into a box, to consider using on a future project. The lace pieces got more carefully trimmed, and fused to Wonder Under, and then fused onto the partly-assembled skirt. After that, zigzagging around the edges, and then finishing the rest of the skirt.
Behold:
I think it worked out pretty well.
When I was planning to make the loud hoodie and the dissonant cardigan, I showed pictures of the fabric to a friend, who agreed that both of the prints were fantastic. So! I decided to see if I could get what I had left of both of them (well, what was left of the apple print from the first order) into a single ridiculous sweatshirt for this friend.
Task achieved.
Gonna start right off with saying I'm not super thrilled with this, but that's fine.
I used Simplicity 8951 to make another cardigan
I should have gone up a size, and I should have used contrast ribbing for the bands. It's fine.
Everything else about it is great!
Since my attempt to make the plain gray zip front hoodie more appealing didn't go over well (which is fine--in retrospect, I really don't know what I was thinking in making something for The Child in gray), I have been keeping an eye out for a more suitable fabric, to make another zip front hoodie that isn't so short, which is the problem with the one currently being chosen.
Nothing turned up in the last trip to the craft thrift store, and Walmart seems to have stopped carrying mill end precuts, but I planned to keep checking both places sporadically anyway, just in case.
Then I looked at Fabric Mart, and, oh, did they have some amazingly obnoxious print knits. Cotton blend (I know that a pure cotton loud print medium weight knit is asking a lot from random find bargain fabric searches), and on deep discount, in the ever-changing reduction way of Fabric Mart.
I asked The Child's opinion, and got a snicker in return, which I took as approval, so I ordered it (along with...other deep discount obnoxious fabrics. I have plans for everything.)
I didn't want to use New Look 6766 again, because I wasn't in the mood for raglan sleeves, so I turned to McCall's 7668 for the first time. As given, M7668 has a rather Pokémon Trainer Style
I borrowed New Look 6766's cuffs and waistband and here we are
The first one isn't intended for dolls, though--it's a bit of a gag gift for someone who mentioned how much they like corduroy, but just don't find it much when shopping for clothes these days
And the second happened after I was searching for buttons for the first, rediscovered my stash of small novelty buttons, and remembered how I have been saving them for years to put on doll clothes like pins. Well. I decided now was a good a time as any to do that. I briefly considered making something for larger dolls, so the 'pins' would seem more properly scaled, but quickly went to the idea of making it (more or less) Barbie-size, because that's my default and would be more likely to get a lot of use. The bad scale adds to the humor, right?
The pattern for this one came from my late 1990s experiments with scanning the pattern piece guides in pattern instructions and enlarging them to doll size. Me Today is a bit irritated that Me Then didn't think it was important to note what pattern it was.
While working on the second, I got the idea that I should make a 'proper' denim jacket for dolls, too.
Just...some other time.
...if not more...
I sewed some doll jeans, and I know it took right around an hour start to finish because I made a video of the process, and then I procrastinated editing the video for a while
I sewed a shirt to go with the jeans, and, again, the shirt went together fast, but the video did not
And then I customized the doll who the shirt and pants were made for. I took photos of the finished project three weeks ago. I only just finished editing the video yesterday.
Here's a picture, so you don't have to watch the videos if you don't want to!
I needed another zip bag to sort/store doll clothes, and decided to work on rerooting a doll who had been in the To Do Box for a very long time
I ended up making an extra, smaller bag just because, and the reroot had taken so long to get to that I had learned enough to realize the hair I'd originally chosen was polypropylene--since one of polypropylene's inherent properties is "disintegrates after UV exposure," it's a fiber that I now personally want to avoid on dolls, soooooo had to choose something else. I ended up adding a weird random nylon fading rainbow gradient under the head's original black hair. It's weird.
(I include doll reroots on this blog because I use an anchor thread method, so the hair is more or less sewn in. With the understanding of how much I dislike hand sewing, you may also realize this is why I don't do reroots very often.)
