2006 Sewing Projects
January 2006
Tunic for Diana
My daughter Diana has pretty conservative taste in clothing, which means it is virtually impossible to find ready-to-wear that she will actually wear. So I am lucky that this teenager will still wear stuff her mom makes for her!
This tunic is actually a "wearable muslin" for one I will make out of the leftover paisley velvet from my Coldwater Creek dress. It was drafted with PatternMaster Boutique.
Tunic, front view.
I used a princess draft casual blouse, length of 28". It was drafted with no ease and serged together; the fabric is a medium-weight cotton jersey.
One thing that made it fit so nicely was that I chose "one dart" for both front and back.
The neckline is a scoop, with a depth of 2 and width of 2.
Tunic, side view.
The shoulder seams really do sit in the right place, but Diana has the typical teenager slouch, so they look like they're too far forward.
The slit starts 12" down from the armhole.
Tunic, back view
Again, the "one dart" option made the back fit very nicely.
The set-in sleeves have a curved seam. Diana's arm measurement is 24", but she likes really long sleeves, so these were drafted at 25".
The sleeve cap height was also reduced to -1, and they were sewn in flat.
Finishing details: the neck, cuffs and hem were edge-finished with a 4-thread overlock stitch. The neck was turned under 1/4" and topstitched with a stretch stitch on the regular sewing machine. The cuffs and hems were turned up 1" and topstitched with a stretch stitch. The slits were turned under 1/4" and topstitched.
Portlandia Coat
I started this coat at the Northern Virginia ASG retreat in January 2005. Since then it had been languishing in my fabric room as a UFO. The retreat was this weekend in 2006, but I didn't get to go, so I decided to finish this coat in honor of the retreat.
The fabric is a wool double cloth (two separate layers woven together) that I found at Fabric Mart about two years ago. The Portlandia Coat is a Saf-T-Pockets design. One thing I learned from making this coat: do NOT use a heavy fabric. Since the coat is reversible, you have to flat fell all the seams. Doing this with a double cloth is NOT fun. At one point during the construction you have to get 11 layers of fabric under the presser foot; my poor machine just couldn't manage it (and this was the Designer 1, with its extra-high presser foot setting). So a few areas had to be finished by hand.
Here is "side one". The patch pockets are roomy, and inside each one
is a velcro-fastened "hidden pocket" (the hallmark of a Saf-T-Pocket
design).
The basic style is a raglan sleeve, with overarm seam. There are no darts anywhere, but the hood has a few pleats.
On this side of the back, there is an inverted pleat to give fullness.
I just noticed that the front hem hangs unevenly. I think this is because the front is pulled up by the button. I may have to re-sew the buttons a bit further down to fix this.
Here is "side two", showing the houndstooth check side of the fabric. The banding is done by folding back the "side one" fabric and topstitching.
It's a very warm and comfortable coat, but the hood is a bit on the big side. It fastens with one button (I made covered buttons) and otherwise hangs loose. It's not the most flattering style in the world but hey, it's a coat, and I finished it!!
Paisley Stretch Velvet Tunic
This is the "final version" of the red tunic above. Diana has already "placed an order" for many more of these; she loves the style.
The "Snuglet"
Today I came across a website selling a fleece contraption called the Slanket. It looked so comfortable, but not only were they sold out, but they were $64.95 each! And for what? Three yards of polar fleece?
So, I went up to my sewing room and decided I could make one for a lot less (zero, to be exact, because I already had three yards of fleece in my stash -- er, Textile Resource Center). And I did, in less than an hour. I call my version The Snuglet (to avoid copyright issues with the above site).
It's really easy to make. You can download a complete instruction sheet here: Snuglet Instructions (PDF format file; requires Adobe Reader v. 5.0 or higher)
February 2006
Another UFO Bites the Dust!
I started this fleece jacket during the same retreat as the Portlandia coat, above. It got as far as being cut out, then I ran out of time (and energy) and set it aside. Well, I finally got it finished.
The
pattern is Simplicity 9409, view C. I lined it with PowerDry (which I have a ton
of in my stash), which is comfortable. It came out all right; nothing
spectacular but hey, it's fleece and it's finished!
Yes, the picture is out of focus... I will have to get DH to take another one.
Smithson Gown 2006
It's that time of year again... and the gown gets its own page. Follow the fun!
July 2006
Copycat Sheath
It's been a while since I've finished anything of consequence. I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things during the remainder of the summer. There are so many things that I want to do!
This blue sheath was inspired by one of my very favorite summer dresses, purchased at least six years ago at Target. I wear this one to death every summer. It was always my intention to copy it in PMB. Well, I finally got around to it.
Here are the views: front, side and back.
The style of the dress is very simple. The front is an armscye princess; the back has no darts at all. There are pockets set into the side front panels. The fabric is a medium weight sueded microfiber that I picked up at an ASG fabric swap last fall. The armholes and neck are self-bias bound. It's a very comfortable dress; I foresee making a few more before the summer is out!
July 28
The Banana Skirt
There was a discussion on the PatternMaster Forum about something called a "Banana Skirt", and several people gave suggestions on how one should be drafted. I decided to give one a try and I am so glad I did!!
Standing still, it looks very nice (and is quite comfortable too), but look how it twirls!! The fabric is a "mystery blend" -- one of those "linen look" fabrics that I probably picked up at an ASG swap table.
The skirt has one main pattern piece, as see at left, and ended up being 11 gores. It has an invisible zipper in the back and a regular waistband. I could have added a few gores and made it a pull-on skirt, but I didn't want all the fullness that would require. The gores were serged together, and the bottom edge was serged and turned up to form a narrow hem (necessary because of the curve of the bottom edge).
This one's a keeper!
August 2006
Pleather Purse
Someone on the PatternMaster list was playing with the Tie Purse that is part of the free "Wild Things" download from Wild Ginger, and the changes she made to the strap intrigued me. So, of course, I had to play too. And part of the playing was trying to figure out how to add a zippered panel to the top, to keep the contents a bit more secure. Boy, this was a challenge! But I got it done, and I'm pretty happy with the results.
The "Tie Bag" pattern actually calls for the handles to be tied together at the top, which means the whole thing can be sewn on the machine and turned through a hole in the lining piece. But, of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone. I added an inside piece to the handles so they would be pleather on both sides (rather than having the lining show on the inside of the strap), and extended the handles so I could join them at the shoulder and make a solid strap (This had to be done by hand).
Adding the zippered panel took a bit of puzzling. I ended up measuring the opening and adding a 1/2" seam allowance, then cut a piece of pleather and lining and inserted a zipper. The edges were serged.
Attaching it to the bag was hard to do, especially with all the bulk of the pleather. I ended up laying the panel inside the edge of the bag and topstitching it in place. I had to hand-stitch the last two inches on each corner, as the machine just couldn't get into such a tight space.
The inside is cut from drapery lining, as I wanted something plain and light colored and there's a bolt of the stuff in the workroom. I added two pockets for organization.
I'm most proud of my husband Bob's comments when he saw it... "You made this?"
I'll be using this purse at the ASG conference this weekend!
September 2006
Pocket Tote
One of the members of my PMB group made a bag from this pattern and showed it at our last meeting. I just loved it, and decided to make one of my own. It's the Timber Lane Press pattern #202: Pocket Tote.
It has big pockets on both front and back, plus three compartments, a zippered pocket and two elastic-topped pockets on the inside.
The pattern has some of the best instructions I've seen, but beware: towards the end, you are dealing with a LOT of bulk under the presser foot, and even my Designer 1 was having problems dealing with it. Still, it's a great bag and very comfortable to sling over my shoulder.
October 2006
A Great Pair of Pants!
I took an online pants drafting course from Karen Campbell over at Wild Ginger, and finally really learned how to use PatternMaster to draft pants. Now I have a pair of the best-fitting pair of pants I could ever hope to have!!
I used the Jeans draft, which takes just a tiny bit out of the front crotch extension. The back drafts the same as the regular slacks draft.
It's a bit hard to see, but the sideseam drafts perfectly straight! This was one of the biggest bugaboos I had about my pants. And the solution was just so darned simple it was a real "D'oh!" moment.
I used a modified "control inseam pocket" and turned it into a scoop pocket, while extending the control all the way over to the fly extension. I like this pocket and will likely use it in future pants.
So now I've got a great-fitting pair of pants for my wardrobe, and it will no doubt be followed by many more!