Look what I did to my Florence!

The Mumu/Maxi/Sundress theme in Sewing Land has taken a definite hold this summer, and I debated jumping onboard - until my SIL's announcement that her annual Heat of July BBQ was themed "Hippie".  In previous years I have worn Hawaiian, Hillbilly and White Trash outfits, so I succumbed to the pressure and started thinking about how to manage a sundress.

Remember the cute little dresses we wore as kids in the 70s?  The Smocked and Shirred dresses with the little ties that we pulled up WAY high in the front so our 7 year old boobies wouldn't peek out? - Well, I popped into Fabricland and found their rolls of Shirred fabric and bought enough to make a lazy, simple summer dress.

In typical Heather-fashion I started overthinking the dress (I was thinking I would make a built-in bra using the Fairy Bra Mother's Craftsy course) and had a stroke of brilliance! 

What if I used the Seamwork Florence?

use the Seamwork link above, signup for the 1 month trial and choose the Florence and one other pattern for $3 - that's an affiliate link; you (as one of my 6 followers) may eventually be a partial contributor to paying for 1 month of my ongoing subscription.

So I hacked (it hardly justifies the term) the Florence Bra!

Interior shot showing the direction of shirring on the inner cups, the secondary bridge lining and the unshirred fabric on the outer cups.  I serged the lining to the side seam.

1. I eliminated the back seam and added side seams (I wanted to have side slits for walking comfort, and knew that the easiest way was to hem back the side seams below the knee).  To do this I cut the back off where the side seam should lay, and added seam allowance to the side seam, then edited the center seam and cut the back on the fold.
2. Using the new front piece of the bra bridge, I cut a knit lining fabric for bridge support (I have done this to my previous Florence Bras and recently did this in my Closet Case Swimsuit).
3. I cut the front and back with the upper edge on the shirred edge (cutting the cups out of the shirring.  I checked to make sure that the shirring elastic was secured before I snipped.
4. I cut the inner cup on the shirred edge of the fabric.
5. I cut 4 of the outer cup in regular fabric (for support - I would have had too much bounce with shirred fabric on both halves of the cup).
6. I hemmed the fabric and hemmed back the side slits.
7. I finished the neckline edge of the cups with some picot elastic from my scraps.
8. I added a little bow for humor.

Gratutious shot of the picot edged elastic; sewn using the lingerie method of zigzagging wrong side down to the right side of the cup and folding back and 3-step zigzagging on the right side to cover the elastic edge.

Voila!  I have a sexy, summery,supportive sundress to wear without an underbra (and the multiple straps) - and it worked really well on my curviness!

My first homemade bra - a run through the Seamwork Florence

Have you ever made something into a much bigger deal than it turned out to be?

 I mean, Holy Hannah - this was easy,  EASY.  After all my hmmmming and hunhhhhing I jumped in with buying some cheaper supplies Monday night, cutting Tuesday lunch, sewing for a few minutes Tuesday Night, and finishing at lunch Wednesday,  (less than 3 hours, for sure)

It's a rough up of the pattern from the February 2015 issue of Seamwork: the Florence Bra (3006)

Now, I have some funny bra baggage going on right now, but really, I made too big a deal about this... it wasn't a risk at all!  It took no time, and the cost:

1. I went out and bought some 6" lace for $1.15
2.  used some $1.25/m Fold Over Elastic, and stitched it folded
3. Paid $2.40 for some plastic bra strap thingies (loops and sliders)
4. Used some knit lining for the side cups.

All in All, I figure: $3.85 to make a bra - and it's not bad!   When I hung it on my dressform I was a gobsmacked - I giggled.  I burst out laughing - it looks pretty damn fine (even with my experimenting with stitch length and width)!  I bragged about it to my BFF, and texted out to my DH and SIL - I put it on Instagram.  What the hell was I worried about?

I'll get hubby to fit the back seam for me tonight - and if it's right, I'll leap into making some more for practice before my kit comes from Blackbird Fabrics... if anyone is thinking about gifting me something - I'd also like to try the Watson Bra  

Strategy for Fabric Busting in the 2016 Pattern Stash Contest

Have you figured out your pattern attack?  I've decided to hit my Seamwork backlog since their sizing runs to accommodate my dimensions, so alterations will be predominantly grading instead of slash and spread.

Now it's time for fabric.  I have a large percentage of my stash occupied by other people's fabric.  Really nice fabric, mind you, but in colour-ways I wouldn't normally pursue.  I am thinking that since I am whipping up what will essentially be wearable muslins I should start with wearable fabric that isn't precious (to me).

In this sort of contest your fabrics should be ready ahead of time: pretreated before you are ready. This step is easy for me. I usually wash my fabrics as they come into the house. I wouldn't say I am paranoid about germs and bed bugs and dust mites and odors (although listing them like that is giving me the jitters) but incoming fabric (especially other people's fabric) gets a run through the washer before it hits my sewing room.

The exception, of course, is wool.  Wool is treated as I sew it.  I have a plan to use a printed wool viscose for a skirt in the coming weeks, so as I psych myself up for THAT, I will be thinking through the prep.  This fabric is NOT a good candidate for the contest: wool easily doubles the time you spend on your project.  The cost,  pressing, shaping, shrinking, steaming, underlining and finishing of wool undermines fast sewing.  I like me a little slow sewing,  so I will probably start preshrinking this fabric this month, but I won't be including this in my contest.  (However, I may make a wearable muslin of the pattern for this contest...).

For the Main January theme for our group, Judy has us addressing our stash and stash organization.  As you prepare for this, consider our supplemental contest: what patterns are you using?   Grab the appropriate fabric for the patterns - don't mess around with the pattern's suggestions: if it says knits, grab a knit, if it says lightweight cotton woven, grab a pretty quilting cotton.  Switching up the fabric adds time for fiddling, adding in ease, and should be done when you are working with a rehearsed pattern.  Unless, of course, you are into self abuse.

A great strategy would be to pick 5 patterns that use the same fabric, and will use the same needles and thread.  This will mean constant sewing - and if you dedicated and VERY organized - you could cut all the patterns out at once and just sew non-stop.  (Insert hilarious uproar here - I know you exist Super-Sewer,  but that's insane).

 - but the strategy still applies -

If you have a serger, you know what I mean - you sew items that will work with the same serger thread back to back so that you can get away with NOT changing the thread back and forth.  This applies well to the approach to this contest - sew the seams, and switch to a double needle for hemming and hem several items at once - when your thread and needles work on several items, you create a production line environment and find efficiency.

Strategy for the 2016 Pattern Stash Contest

Since this month's Pattern Review contest works so well to bust some stash, we are working together on a little "Contest-along" in our Stashbuster Facebook Group.

In all things competitive it is a good idea to map out a strategy - and here is the utterly essential strategic step:
If you want a chance to win the gift certificate prize, don't forget to
A) BY December 31 REGISTER as a member of PR.com
B) join the contest

So this contest is a quantity contest. Prize 1 of 2 goes to the user who bangs out the highest number of unique pattern review entries.  Prize 2 of 2 is determined by random-lucky draw: each item you enter becomes a ballot.

This means that the number of stashed patterns you crack is the crux, not the quality of your sewing, fitting, personalizing.  The key is to line-up a series of patterns that you can pound out one after another.  

Easy Peasy - make sure you select patterns with quick turnaround time and you're good to go for the PR component. So now we need a stashbuster strategy.

We want to make the most of this opportunity:  Here are some possible approaches

1. A great way to approach this contest is as a wearable muslin audition. Why not pick 5 similar patterns and a bunch of yardage and make all 5 back to back?   Quickly alter each pattern with standard adjustments,  and move on to the next pattern.  At the end assess each result - chart the results and you might end up with the components for the ideal garment.
2. how about clearing up a section of your stash?  I have a block of untried Perfect Pattern Parcel patterns - what if I hammered through those?  I may have undiscovered gems in the stash!
3. Seamwork Patterns!  how many untried patterns do you have from the first 7 months?  These are ideal churners - an hour or two each:
1. 12/14: Oslo (cardigan), Valencia (bag), Madrid (bag)
2. 1/15: Manila (leggings), Savannah (cami)
3. 2/15: Florence (bra), Geneva (panty)
4. 3/15: Osaka (skirt), Aberdeen (top)
5. 4/15: Bristol (skirt), Astoria (sweater top)
6. 5/15: Sydney (topper/shawl), Astoria (dress)
7. 6/15: Aurora (tank top), Mesa (shift dress)
8. 7/15: Seabrook (bag), Nantucket (shorts)
4. Big 4 BOGO and Bundle deals - I bet you have a few!

Any sewn item from an untried pattern you have owned for more than 6 months is eligible!

Go back to the Facebook conversation - what's a strategic approach you can suggest as an approach to the pattern list?  

next up: Fabric and Pattern tracing preparations

V8620 The Stars Aligned Wool Jacket (and a partial Stash Buster)

Have you ever completed a project and wanted to shout from the rooftops?
I am so happy with my jacket!

Look at my grin!

This jacket - V8620 - a Marcy Tilton design - is Out of Print, but I was very lucky to stumble upon a stash of patterns in the back corner of a home dec store a few weeks ago, and bought a mass of Betzina and Tilton patterns for my own stash.  (That's STAR #1 - Let's keep track!)

Here's the line drawing:

Note the Empire Line and the dropped back.  This is a dreamy shape for my figure!

STAR #2 is my recent and desperate need for a new Winter jacket - something I can throw on and feel stylish in.  I have a few nice leather jackets, but they aren't warm enough for Winter's approach and the ski jackets in my stash are not sexy.  My good, down Winter coat needs a new zipper (and I hate working on repairing down coats).

STAR #3 / 4 / 5?

FABRIC

Last Winter I uncovered a gem in the Value Village Thrift Store - a bizarre, but wonderful felted stripe that was perfect for my BFF's colouring and a cardigan project.  I hoarded the chucks and scraps for someday - I loved the fabric so much.  I believe I paid $8 and change for the yardage.

Then, this Fall I won a yard and a half of a wool coating from Elliott Berman Textiles

And then just a few weeks ago, I was back in my local Value Village and found a sweet chunk of  quilted lining:

Finally, STAR #5!  Pattern Review's Colour Blocking Contest came up in the calendar!

I'm not sure these are stars, but lets call it the universe - there are a few sew-a-longs on the go for coats - the McCall's PeaCoatAlong has just finished, and I followed the posts for that, and there's another on-going for the Clare Coat.  I also followed Beth's coat study on SunnyGalStudio Blog.

I took a Craftsy course: Terry McClintock's Essential Guide to Working With Wool, and read Brooks Anne Camper's Seamwork Post: A Guide to Underlining,

I debated and finally chose to add the step of hand basting the lining to each piece, as I decided to treat it as an underlining for the too soft hand of the coating compared to the unusual felted fabric.  Other than that I followed Marcy Tilton's great directions for the pattern  (but I hand stitched instead of using the stitch in the ditch method proposed and ended up with a wonderful gem!

The final on my model

Front from the inside

Back from the inside

Here's a closeup of the guts.

Can you see the pocket here?

Look at the beautiful cuff!

And - DH,  my honey,  helped by snapping a shot of the jacket in action at the grocery store:

Love Love Love the Jacket!

Not Just Another Wardrobe Plan Post - Learning to Dress My Truth

Lately there is a blogosphere undercurrent of Kondo-adhering, organized people planning a new Fall Capsule Wardrobe.  Sometimes I wish I was one of those people, but I am more of an

I-want-to-do-it-all-I-love-everything 

kind of person.  In fact, striving for a minimalist life is soul crushing for me!
Really though I have realized that I need to institute some guidelines for my enthusiasm.  I need to approach my apparel sewing differently than I have been.

Why do I need a guiding path? Because of my personality - everything is an option for me.  Why is this a problem? Try watching Yes Man - everything is fun a and games until you stop and realize that you have lost YOU in the Yes.  I need some guidelines to keep my projects in check or my enthusiasm will become my frenemy.  Trust me - this is a real issue in all aspects of my life - I have been married to the wrong guy, jumped into a 2nd marriage that couldn't work geographically, and stayed way too long in a relationship that was just t.o.x.i.c. All because I am a positive person who enthusiastically says yes!  spoiler alert: I am happily in the healthiest relationship of my life, now, finally, at 43.

Just a quick FYI - There are no affiliate links in this blog post.  I don't have a moral standing on this issue - I typically have 100 hits on a blog post - that's a lot of people reading my diary, but metrics don't justify the work of cultivating affiliate relationships.

In the May issue of Seamwork there was an article ""Design a Personal Color Palette" that recommended making a framework for your wardrobe.  This chart from Elizabeth Farr was featured in the Seamwork Article:

SYMPTOM	SOLUTION
Your clothes don’t always make you feel vibrant.	When wearing your own colors, you naturally will feel better. It’s hard not to feel blah in a deep, dark sweater when candied pastels light up your face.
You feel disconnected and trapped by fashion trends.	With a strong sense of your own colors, you won’t have to wait for fashion seasons to bring your favorite colors to you.
Your clothes don’t seem to go well together.	You will increase the versatility of your wardrobe. When all your creations are in your color range, you can combine your clothes in ways that you never could before. Orphan garments will be a thing of the past.
You find yourself buying fabric because it’s "close enough" to what you really want.	A personal palette will boost your creativity. Working within the limits of a color palette, you will look for novel solutions when you cannot find the right color in a given fabric. For example, when you can’t find the right shade of denim, you might reach for bleach, dye, or choose a vivid printed twill.

Colour wasn't everything I needed, though - I need a sewing buddy to help me know if something looks "right" on me too - but sewing buddies are scarcer than hen's teeth in my environment.  But, I have online friends - and we all know that the online community is utterly supportive; there's no room for trolling in our community - and when an outsider does troll, things like #cakewithcashmerette happen. So when I asked, I was not getting a critique - just support (I thank you all for your support, it's a wonderful world to live in, except - I need to be told the bitter truth sometimes!)

I read  Stacy London 's book The Truth about Style in hopes that would help, and it did, but it was more to help me garner enthusiasm for my project - not what style would work for me specifically.  The book is awesome, it really helps you understand where you can go wrong and how to encourage your desire to be stylish.  I realized while reading the book that each woman's situation spoke to me in a way  - perhaps the issues I am facing are cultural?  In the end the book reminded me of the Girl Guide Law: especially from the Promise, "I Promise to be True to Myself".  (It's funny how the Law always brings me back to my home ground.)

  What do I desire?  Here's a little brainstorming of keywords (and then I went back and added a "what does this mean? - What do I want?"):

• Ease - I want my look to seem effortless, outfits are fine, but I want people to think I took care, without freaking out about what to wear)
• Commanding - I want people to notice me and pay attention
• Approachable - I want people to want to talk to me
• Pretty - I want to look attractive in a romantic lacy way
• Quality - Made - I want the quality of my clothes speak to my skills as a sewist
• Synchronous - I want my outfits to be coordinated not just as an ensemble, but to work with my situation and my personality
• Youthful - I want my clothes to be fun and full of energy, and let me be free to do youthful things while I am wearing them
• Up-Market - I want my clothes to fit like they are tailored, and have expensive-looking features
• Chic - I want to look like I pay attention to fashion
• Forward - I want to look like I am edgy (like I pay attention to fashion)

Am I sure I have a problem?  Sure - I don't feel like many of my clothes fulfill my brainstormed list above.

That said - I HAVE made some great decisions with my clothes that HAVE made me feel great when I wear them, but until I looked at my brainstorming list above I hadn't realized why.

 

So - I had been adrift and making fashion without a filter - just getting lucky from time to time.

I decided I needed help, and thought I would search out a system that would give me cheat sheets.  I began to pin, and pin, and search and pin - but I wasn't really getting anywhere definite, I just had suspicions.  Finally I broke down and looked at pay-for services - and there are a few out there - I looked at several and then started researching Carol Tuttle's books and looking at anything I could find on YouTube.  Everything was quite accessible.

You might have seen the Dress Your Truth pop-ups in your ad bars at one point.
Dressing Your Truth Program (this is a Link to a free profiling course).

The language and spirit can be very touchy feely and new age from time to time, but it is an interesting perspective on personal style - AND at the end of the course I had a guide for where I should be heading with my sewing choices: Design Lines, Texture, Fabrication, Pattern, and Colour.  I fit nicely into Type 1 - my keywords are Animated, Youthful and Fresh.

I feel like the program really resonated with me, and I have found a significant difference when I look at sewing projects - the Fall Releases from the Big 4 have been a different experience for me, my Pinning has changed, and when I went to a fabric store this week I was far more discerning than I have been in the past.

Here's an example of a recent design decision that I caught on camera - I had the Texture, Fabrication, Pattern, and Colour right, The colour is great, and the random polka-dots and movement in the contrast  sleeves are perfect for my Type 1 energy.  BUT the Design Lines were wrong.

This Neckline cuts me off.  It is too high, and too abrupt.  the texture of the sleeves is good, but overwhelmed by the expanse of my chest.  

Relaxing the curve on the neckline was an excellent choice, and the addition of the contrast fabric to the centre-front opens up the face and brightens up the whole experience.

I am amazed at the difference - In the past I would have gone with the pattern and ended up with a frumpy sweatshirt, but I KNEW what I needed to do: add a point of a star, or the base of a heart to the neckline to honour my Type 1 look.  (What???! - I learned it in the DYTruth course!)

And finally - I also understood that my neckband choice mattered - using the coral would cut off the accent and negate the effect - so I cut out the contrast fabric as the neck band:

I am so pleased with the final effect.  It's just a raglan sweater - but it's not frumpy, it suits me!

So next - to plan a Fall Wardobe  LOL - actually, next I need to do a little Kondo-ing and get rid of the clothes that are bringing me down - only now I will have Guidelines and now I will understand why the clothes just don't work for me.

Stash Buster #30 (of 48) - Sucking it up and completing a UFO - Seamwork Sydney

Back when I was planning for the Plus Size Outfit Contest with patternreview.com I had hoped to include the Seamwork Sydney

Look how cute it is!

I had a great fabric that coordinated well,,, it wasn't a

"Light-weight fabric such as linen, chambray, silk crepe, double gauze, cotton lawn or voile" - I decided to go with "Crazy Rebellion away from the recommended" - I went with a ruched mystery jersey backed with a viscose knit.

Then I cut it out.

It looked HUGE, and sloppy - and I hadn't even stitched it. And - what was I going to do for bias trim? (I even bought (gasp!) 4m of FOE to edge it!)

Seriously - I am over 40 should I really be looking like this:

eek!  The 80s!

I badmouthed myself.

(that and Kmart shoes - I swore I would NEVER.....)

So yesterday, I was getting ready to cut out my planned Aberdeen and the Sydney scoffed at me from my cutting table. So, I looked in my bias trim box and found stash from my bib making days - and I looked at it with the fabric, and challenged myself to face the Syd.

And I started sewing, and then I altered the shoulder, and I bound the edges in the chambray and .... last night, right before bed I put in on.

Holy Heck!

I like it!

And today I am wearing it - I wore it in public all morning for running DS (the elder) to his babysitting course, taking DS (the younger) to daycare, buying train tickets, grabbing coffee, and now right through to lunch hour at my desk.

**** so the alteration:****

I laid out the garment (since it was already cut out) and pin basted it (used pins instead of stitching) and put it on.

The neckline was too big, so I inched at the shoulder , then repinned.  

The fit was better, so I laid the pieces flat and measured and cut a wedge out - along the shoulder seam -  1" at the neckline, reducing the adjustment to nil at the shoulder point (which was the edge of the flap on me).

It worked like a charm - I love this topper.