Checkered/Past/Sweatshirt

My kid is sarcastic.  It's nature and nurture and a concentrated effort on his part. (He's also ten, so there's not much subtlety to his sarcasm, but I'm sure it'll develop.)  So when I spotted a very probably authentic later 1980s/early 1990s print jersey knit in the thrift store, I knew he'd like something made from it--and I'd already thrifted Kwik•Sew 1650, a kids' sweats pattern from 1987, so there was no need to wonder what pattern to use.

I chose the shirt from view A simply because view B just looks too fussy.  I did consider using the shoulder contrasts from view B, as well as considered omitting the shoulder contrasts completely.

I ended up going with "only do the contrasts on the front and omit them on the back despite what the pattern says" (which is what whoever owned the pattern before had apparently done, too.)  I also chose not to add the eyelet vents, because my eyelet setting skills are not...good. (Except for micro eyelets, thanks to a generous person who passed on their micro eyelet hand crimper to me...I really should remember to use that thing for doll clothes again...)

For the love of jars

I sewed a (relatively) quick thing today!

Yes, it's a Halloween print 20 days before Christmas.  La la.

I used vintage Simplicity 3263 again, and paid attention to the grain of the fabric more than to the print, which I only notice is a bit of a problem now that I'm looking at the photo while making this post.  Eh, I don't think it'll be a distraction when it's worn, especially if cardigans are involved.

Just used a solid black thin cotton (plus medium weight fusible interfacing) for the facings, which were cut from the main pattern pieces, instead of following the directions for separate facings for neckline and arm holes, and I once again did things Very Wrongly to get the facings attached (only I sewed the armholes before the neckline this time--no idea if it makes any real difference to the ease of this approach, but he brain tries to say so.)  Edge stitched around the neckline and armholes, lapped zipper on the left side.

Nothin' fancy, but somethin' finished, so yay.

Cat eyes (and cattails)

Buoyed by the quick completion of the witch cameo shirt, I decided to see about using the other yard of JoAnn Fabric Halloween print I already bought this year, a black field with scattered pale green cat eyes (which, alas, don't glow in the dark.)

I'd already decided I would see if I could squeeze the exterior pieces of McCall's 3905 (from 1973) out of that yard. (Apparently don't have a photo of the pattern envelope, so here's a link to the Vintage Pattern Wiki entry for it.)

This was my fourth time making this shirt, and it was the fourth time I decided to use the pattern piece for the long sleeves, but cut it short to make little puffy short sleeves, instead of making the bias ruffle "short sleeve" version.  This deviation helps immensely in squeezing this shirt out of small yardages, as well as just plain appealing more to my aesthetic sense.

It's also the fourth time making this shirt and moving the zipper from the center back to the left side--which does save a tiny bit of cloth (cutting the center back pieces on the fold instead of with seam allowances--at this point, the piece placement was nowhere near what's shown on the cutting layout), but, more importantly, means there's no need for a separating zipper. (I do have separating zippers in my stash, but most of them are outerwear weight.)  Also, as challenging as it can be to wiggle out of a side-zip garment, it seems like it would be even more of a challenge to get a separating zipper together and zipped while in the center of one's own back...

It's also the fourth time making this shirt with a Halloween print.  Huh.

Yeah, I couldn't resist getting the cat-shaped door hook in the photo.

I knew I'd need to use some other cloth for the facings, so I rummaged through my stash for something that was somewhat coordinated in color, but that I wouldn't mind using for facings (instead of, y'know, saving it for use in something visible.)  It wasn't until I was in the process of cutting out the facing pieces that I made the connection of why, exactly, it was an appropriate print to use:

It's cattails.  Ha.

Anyway.  I ignored the pieces given for the facing and cut them so that they extended to the armscyes  and got sewn in with the sleeves, because I like facings to be machine sewn to as many points as possible.  There's also lots of stitching in the ditch to tack the facings in other areas--there're facings on the hem, too, which got ditch stitched at all seams.  I've maybe mentioned before my aversion to hand sewing...?  Things're topstitched, too.

The buttons are purely decorative (YES I SEWED THEM WITH THE MACHINE)--I had considered eliminating the overlap and, subsequently, the buttons, but I thought the shirt would look a little plain without them.

I also tried something new-for-me with the way I applied the elastic to the sleeves, using a method that I've seen in readymade clothes a lot.  The elastic is stretched along the edge of the cloth on the wrong side and then serged to the cloth; that is then folded over to the wrong side, pulled taught, and stitched through the serging through all layers.  I'll probably be using this method again.

As with the witch cameo shirt, I haven't yet tried this on, relying on previous experience with this pattern to know how I expect it to fit.  I do have a skirt I think will go well with this, and plan to wear it on Wednesday.  October, yay!

(And, yes, indeed, of course, it's covered with genuine cat hair.)

Settled in & Sewin'

So, after the 'excitement' of ceiling repair and room relocation, I finally felt like sewing human-size things this weekend.  (Doll-size things have been sporadically sewn since moving to this new room.)

I started by shortening a thrifted skirt and repairing a torn dress, then, at around 3 o'clock on Saturday, deciding hey, there's black thread in the machine, why not go ahead and make that simple shell shirt from that mere yard you bought of the witch cameo print from JoAnn Fabric's Halloween selection this year? (OK, maybe the thought didn't exactly flow like that...)

I used Simplicity 3263 (from 1950) again

this time going with view 4,  without the collar detail.  As I mentioned, I had only one yard of the print--it's possible I could have also squeezed the collar out of that yard, but, honestly, I wanted to have a bit of the print left to use for other projects.  That means I used a contrast print for the facings, too...and I made the facings all-in-one pieces, which I attached in a variation of the WRONG WRONG WRONG way I detailed before (I sewed the arm holes first this time, which made the 'flip it right-sides-together without actually turning it inside-out' bit at least seem easier...although...there's no physical reason it actually should be...)

And here it is!

I tried making a lapped zipper again, and, like many other vintage sewing enthusiasts, I think I may be a convert.

I haven't tried it on yet, letting my previous experiences with this same pattern bolster my confidence about little things like 'fit.'  Besides, I don't have a skirt that I think would look just right with it.

I may have to make that, too.

Finished it!

I haven't tried it on yet, but, everything's sewn that's supposed to be sewn.

Note to self:  Five layers of cotton is not really enough--INTERFACE THE PLACKET.  Next time.  At least I caught myself before I ended up making any buttonholes off-center, because I have learned that I cannot eyeball stuff.  Rulers are my friend.

I do want to make a skirt to go with this, because it seems like, whenever I make a shirt that does not match any skirts I have, and then I make a skirt to match the shirt, then that the skirt actually works well with other shirts I have...or might make...  Yeah, yeah, I know, that shouldn't seem as weird as it does to me.  This idea of "make things that might go with other things, as well as being useful for everyday wear" instead of  "HEY MAKE THIS BECAUSE IT SEEMS LIKE IT WILL BE KOOKY FUN!" is still a new and strange thing for me.

Poking along

Felt rather uninspired the last week (cyclical chemical side effect, whee), decided I should make SOMETHING, but, when I confronted the fabric stash...there were so many somethings I could make that I didn't know where to start.

I decided, therefore, to try to be...random.  I turned my back on the cloth, stuck my hand in the "cotton of 3 yards or less" section, and started rifling back and forth until Chip meowed at me for attention, which put my hand on this

Oh.  Hmm.

Sewing Vapor

Well, vapor print.  Well, no, actually, it's a marbleized kinda print.

Anyway.

I used Simplicity 3263 from 1950, view 3, which is the same thing I used for the bodice on the last dress I made.

 This time I made it as a shirt and followed the directions.  Mostly.

Lacking Enthusiasm

I decided that the next thing I would sew should use that wax cloth I recently thrifted, and maybe ignore the instructions on a "never made by me before" vintage pattern, too.

This vintage pattern, from 1950

Which I used as the bodice for a dress.

A "Wearable" "Muslin"

So, Simplicity 3799 from 1951.  Decided to finally give it a...try...

Hmmm...

No cuts/commitments have been made...yet...

Franken Pattern that probably didn't actually need to be cobbled together

Since the 1990s, I've vaguely been searching for a simple sleeveless bodice pattern to use for dresses.  There are always scads of things like it offered by the major pattern companies, but, the few I tried, I just...didn't like.

Last year, I got a big bunch of vintage patterns, including Advance 8984.  The first time I used the pattern, I really liked the fit of the bodice, except for the way the arm openings weren't open enough and felt uncomfortable.  So, next time I made it, I enlarged the front opening a bit and all was well.

Since I haven't been motivated to sew anything for me lately (as opposed to sewing doll stuff, which I've been doing a'plenty), I decided I should just make something, and that using the Advance 8984 bodice might be a good start...but...did I really want that many dresses with the distinct "they don't really look like the pattern envelope illustration" cap sleeves?  Um...no.  No I didn't.

So I delved into the stash, pulled out Simplicity 3263, and started tracing bodice from the Advance pattern and the neckline from view 4 of the Simplicity pattern.  Like I said, nothing revolutionary, and I might have a pattern in my stash that has the features I was looking for, but...well...if a pattern's not already cut, my enthusiasm for dealing it declines immensely.  All that tissue paper can be overwhelming...

Anyway.

I used that really loud heart print I thrifted a few months ago, and a bit of a different print for the facings, since there wasn't much left of the heart print after cutting the bodice and skirt pieces.  When it came to cutting the fusible interfacing, I suddenly decided that this dress wasn't worth using up a lot of resources so I pieced the interfacing, like this

Once it's ironed in place, it works like a single piece.

I set the zipper into the left side seam.  It can be tricky to take off side-zip dresses, but it's nice, I think, to have less overall zipper length to deal with than with a back zip...and the zipper isn't so prominent, so the stitching doesn't need to be perfect. (Not that my zipper stitching is ever perfect, but...um...I don't have to feel so self-conscious about it...)  I used to have a big problem getting the waist seams line up when inserting a zipper that has to be open to be sewn like this, but I eventually figured out that I could pin the zipper, closed, to one side, then make a quick thread tack to the other side of the zipper tape showing where the waist seam should be.  That way, when the zipper is open, I still know where the waist seam should be.

(It really was marking the right place, I promise.) ((And this is the kind of thing that's probably all over the place, but I never happened to have seen...))

So, when everything was finished, I had this

Basic, but should be a good stashbuster.  (Side thought:  Is this a skater dress?  Just because I've been trying to get a pattern like this since the 1990s, and got here by mashing up two patterns from 1960, doesn't mean it doesn't qualify as a skater dress.  Do I want it to be a skater dress?  I'm so confused.)

A dress like this is entirely suitable for someone approaching her 40th birthday.

I said I'd do this once I switched back to white thread

...I just didn't realize that would take almost six months to do.  Huh.

A few years ago I was inspired to make a Barbie-size version of Simplicity 8129, and I shared the resulting pattern

And in January I decided to photograph the steps to do a sew along...and finally did that a few nights ago.

Oh, uh... Hi.

Still haven't sewn anything.  When I looked back at what I sewed last year, I didn't do anything until March, so this may be completely normal for me.  Looking forward to getting  more sunlight as the northern hemisphere slogs toward Spring.

"Not sewing right now" doesn't mean "not buying cloth right now," though...

Gonna try it again

I've cut out the pieces for another go at making the Angel Sleeve Trapeze Dress in Barbie size, and will take pictures of the construction when I sew it (which will be...whenever I switch to white thread--right now,  I have sky blue thread on the machine, and I intend to sew lots and lots of coll clothes with that before changing it.  Does anyone else sew that way?)

So, for now, here's a copy of the pattern pieces and basic instructions, if anyone wants to try it

This pattern was inspired by a real sewing pattern--for humans!--from 1968, Simplicity 8219.  I don't usually make doll clothes this simple, but, that pattern...  Well.  It cried out for an homage...

What I Sewed in 2013, Human-Size Edition

Y'know, it's possible that 2013 was the first year I photographed everything I made.  Huh.

...although...the first photo is from late March, so...maybe not.  Of course, who knows how many pieces of doll clothes I made before that, so, yeah, maybe--oh, I'm rambling, aren't I?  Sorry!  On to the projects!