Making Memories

I’ve been feeling like I look o*l*d lately, and I don’t like it. This aging process—for me, anyway—is a depressing exercise in futility. My hair includes lots of salt’n’pepper around my face, and I don’t think it’s flattering. So I thought maybe if I make some brighter clothes, instead of all the muted colors and black, maybe I’d feel/look younger.

I saw this piece of Nanette Lepore cotton bouclé knit on Emma One Sock’s ever-tempting and wonderfully organized site and thought it would be a fun color with which to test out my new anti-aging theory.

My goal was to make another Hemlock Tee, cutting the bottoms a little longer, and the back longer than the front, and curve the hems at the side seams. I wanted to try a technique I’d dreamed about on Katherine Tilton’s long slim skirt. I recently purchased some Soft Stretch Fusible Tricot from Sarah Veblen’s online store. I [rotary] cut some ½” strips going the width of the interfacing, so they were 20″ wide—manageable for fusing.

I fused these in the seam allowance on the back shoulder seam allowance (of course—de rigeur!), and then all along the side seams and hems (but not the curve). On the curves, I carefully fused several small pieces (1″ or so) inside the seam allowance. My goal was to have a stable base for double-needle stitching. (So the seam allowance on the curve would have several layers when folded up and pressed, but the fused interfacing would keep the stitching smooth.) After fusing, I pressed the hems and curves up the ½” for the top-stitching.

After all the fusing was done, I seamed the shoulders and top-stitched at ⅜” (note that the seam allowances on this pattern are ½”, not ⅝”). Then I sewed the sleeve to the shoulder—double stitched seam, no top-stitching and not yet sewing the underarm sleeve seam. Then I sewed just the side seams, starting about 1″ below the point at which the sleeve seam would begin, and stopping about ½” above the curves. This was a single-stitched seam, pressed open. Then I put in my double needle and, from the right side, stitched all the way around the front and then the back (two separate passes: 1. front; 2. back), beginning and ending just under the sleeve at the point I started the stitching for the side seam and including the curves and hems.

Look at that smooth seam. Look how the fabric opens cleanly for the stitching on the curves. To me, that’s the way to finish a hem such as this. (I want to go back and add a bar tack on each side to give that seam opening a little more stability, but other than that, I’m thrilled with the result.)

This exercise, while the rotary cutting and fusing took time, gave me a beautiful, stable hem. In my humble opinion.

The other process I did differently for this version of the Hemlock Tee was the neckline. Instead of doing a neck binding, I did a facing. I sewed the back and front pattern pieces together for a couple of inches at the shoulder seam. (Fortunately, I had traced the pattern PDF onto good pattern paper that I purchased from Vogue Fabrics when I saw them at the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo in Pittsburgh (sorry, no link – can’t find it on their site).) Then using another piece of the tracing paper, I traced a pattern piece copying that neckline, 2″ wide. I seamed it at the back and applied it to the inside of the neckline, wrong sides together. I double-stitched the seam, then trimmed it, pressed it flat, then turned the facing to the outside and pressed the life out of it. Then, again using the double needle, I topstitched all the way around about ⅛” from the edge. The knit fabric wants to roll anyway, so this gave me a little roll-up edging on the exterior neck facing. (☺ Oooh, feeling smart!)

Sewed the sleeve seams in a double-stitched seam, trimmed, pressed seam allowance to the back, pressed up a ½” hem on the sleeve and top-stitched. Voila! All done!

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Well, that’s the end of the construction part of this top. The Jazzman was working at his workbench in the basement, around the corner from my sewing room. I slipped the top on and walked out to show him. He said, “It’s bright.” I told him that was what I wanted. I thought I looked old and drained lately with all my gray hair, and that maybe the brighter colors would help me look nicer, brighter, younger, less drained. His response? “Well, you could just color your hair and save all that money on new clothes.”

Hmmm. He’s such a guy!!!

(And if you know me well and have much experience reading the posts on my other blog, you know that I took that to mean that he hates the color of my hair and thinks all my sewing for the past 6+ months has been for naught. Oh, the angst of the Little Adoptee! So annoying!)

So what do you think? A) Would you wear this color in the fall? (Note that when I work, it’s from home, so I hardly ever go out of the house.) And B) Do you think colors such as this unseasonal hot pink make one look brighter? (Well, it’s not unseasonal in the Southern Hemisphere. Maybe I should just go down there for a couple of months.)

A note re the Nanette Lepore fabric. I’m a fan of Nanette, who is a native of Youngstown. The Jazzman is sorta distantly related to her, as everyone in Youngstown is related to everyone else. His closest cousin’s wife, Michelle, is Nanette’s sister. I frequently moan to Michelle about Nanette’s limiting her range of sizes at 12. Grabbing this fabric from EOS was my own little way of having a piece of Nanette Lepore’s line in my closet.

I’d love to hear what you think about the color.

Every year the Jazzman and I spend the week of the Fourth of July in a cottage at Madison Shores in Madison-on-the-Lake, along the southern shore of Lake Erie. Many of the families who summer there come from the Youngstown area, and have been staying in the same cottages in this development for 20 years. The sense of community is strong.

On the Fourth of July, there are organized games for the kids. It’s a big deal! And I’m patriotic, so I want to wear something appropriate to the day while I watch my grandkids get their game on.

This year, in the midst of my knit top sewing frenzy, I found this cute red, white, and blue rayon/lycra super-stretchy knit at Emma One Sock. I don’t know what I was thinking when I chose it, but I expected larger dots. Duh! Linda puts the ruler in the photo; it’s not hard to see the exact size of the dots.

I decided to make it up in Katherine Tilton’s Vogue 8793, with a single overlapped collar. I didn’t want a self collar, and was short on time before leaving for the Lake (When will I ever learn?!), so ran to Jo-Ann’s and picked up a bit of white 95% rayon/5% spandex for the collar.

I made this top once before, and it goes together quickly. It’s a quite basic pattern with Katherine’s artistic flair polishing it off. But when I slipped this top on after finishing it, I looked in the mirror and shuddered. Inside my head, I screamed, “I look like I’m eighty!!!”

I ripped it off, grabbed stencils and paints and tried to give it a little pizzazz to take the viewer’s eye off all.those.dots. Nope. No joy. I folded it and set it on my “what next” table.

Last week I was able to pick up Marcy Tilton’s out-of-print modern twinset, Vogue 8559, for half price on eBay, so decided to remake this t-shirt into a cute little tank.

[Sidebar: I need to rethink this t-shirt. I wore it the last time I went to Asheville to visit my mother. She looked at me and said, “That’s a funny shirt,” in that way she has that you know means, “What a butt-ugly shirt. What were you thinking when you bought that?!” Every time I’ve worn the shirt since that visit, I haven’t liked it. I’m past 60 and I still crave my mother’s approval. At what age will I quit caring about the thoughtless, critical words that come out of my her mouth?!]

After taking the t-shirt apart, I laid out the tank pattern. I had to piece the neck and armhole bands from the sleeves of the shirt. When the tank was complete except for the hem, I threw it on, with a jean jacket over, to run to the grocery store. After wearing it for half an hour, I noticed that the armholes have a little gaposis.

The solution would be to remove the armhole bands, cut them shorter, and reapply, stretching more to eliminate the gaps.

Am I going to do that? Probably not. I have five items on my sewing room to-do list, and not enough hours in the day.

What I learned: I like this little modern twinset, and will make it again. And I know what to do about the armholes.

This post could have many titles. I considered “Oh, Gawd”‘ “Love/Hate”,”Give Me Back My Premenopausal Body” … you get my mindset?

Let me just begin by saying that I have the utmost respect for the person who designed Vogue 8920. The pattern illustrations indicate a truly lovely dress. My praise stops there.

Pattern Description: MISSES’/MISSES’ PETITE DRESS: Pullover, lined dress (close-fitting through bust) has neck band, side front and side back seams, side godets, and narrow hem. A and B: raw edge finish on sleeve hems. B: hem band. (Are you *#%^ing kidding me? After everything else you go through on this dress, you leave the sleeve hems raw? Hmmm.)

Pattern Sizing: Combinations: Y(XSmall-Small-Medium), ZZ(Large-XLarge-XXLarge) I cut a Large.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? After a fashion/Loosely.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Somewhat.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

Like: The semicircle skirt is fun.

Dislike:

1. The dress is lined, I guess because of the recommendation of a sheer knit for the body. However, the dress is constructed with the right side of the lining to the wrong side of the dress. Again, I’m assuming this is because of the sheer knit. I would much rather see a clean inner garment. I went over and over this in my mind, but the under-bust seam and the construction methods made it impossible to change this. (In retrospect, I wish I had skipped the lining.)
2. If I have a skirt where the bottom circumference is more than 4 yards, I believe it makes much more sense to hem the band first and then sew it on. I seamed the bottom band, biascut ½”-wide strips of a light interfacing, fused the strips to the bottom of the band, folded up that ½” hem and pressed, then double-needle stitched the hem in place. That process took 1½ to 2 hours. Really.
3. Then there’s the issue of the ruffle at the bottom of the lining. I have one word for that: Why?! This dress is lined with tricot lining fabric. It has no body, by design. If I had used a sheer knit for the body of the dress, as suggested, this ruffle would still have added nothing to the dress. Tricot does not a crinoline make!
4. When I got to the end of the instructions – the final step was to seam the ruffle together (four ~60″ 11.5″-wide panels of tricot), then gather and seam it onto the bottom of the lining) – the instructions ended. There was not one single word about the hem of the lining. Am I supposed to leave it raw? Okay, then tell me I’m supposed to leave it raw. This pattern is marked Easy!!! You’ve got to talk to me like I’m a sewist who will tackle an “Easy” pattern. Tell me, overtly, explicitly, that I can leave the lining unhemmed as the tricot will not fray.

Fabric Used: Lovely weight of knit in a Klimt-esque print from Vogue Fabrics. It’s either rayon/lycra or poly/lycra. I can’t remember, nor can I find it on Vogue Fabrics’ site. (It’s so pretty it’s sold out.) But it’s beautiful and feels nice. I wish I had used it for something else, like another great Marcy or Katherine Tilton top.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Added cap sleeves.

Shortened the hem band/ruffle because I ran out of the main fabrics. There was only enough fabric for 7.5″ bands rather than 11.5″ bands. I made a muslin and the neckline seemed a little low, so I raised it by about ½”.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? NoNoNoNoNoNoNo.

Conclusion: Wasted about $60 of fabric on this one. But I’m gonna pull up my big girl Spanx and wear it to a family wedding tomorrow anyway. (This was written before a night-long rain.)

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I saw this pattern when Vogue introduced the Fall 2013 patterns. I thought it looked lovely—flowy and feminine. While googling to see if anyone had constructed and reviewed the pattern, I noticed that T. Sedai, in her “Sew Skate Read” blog said, “V8920 – I feel like this is a few rhinestones short of being ready for dancing with the stars….” Undaunted, I set out to prove her wrong, to prove that this was a lovely and wearable dress.

In concept, the dress is flattering. But when I put it on and look in the mirror, all I see is a 15-pounds-overweight post-menopausal woman. [Sad Face Emoticon] And I spent my week on this dress, rather than spending every morning at the gym.

Gathering that damned ruffle onto the lining reminded me of this awful gathering process for
Ridley’s fairy princess costume several years ago.

I finished the dress at 11:00 p.m. on Friday night. Slipped it on in front of the sewing room mirror, and noticed I could see lining hanging down in places. Grabbed scissors and started whacking away at the lining. Came upstairs, slipped on the chosen shoes-to-accompany-dress, woke the Jazzman up where he sat—remote firmly gripped in right hand—in front of talking heads. Stood in front of the family room mirror and shook my head as I noticed that the hem droops on the left side. Then I heard him say he could see the lining in the back. Today’s activity will involve putting the dress onto my dress form and whacking off more of the ruffle. Or the entire damned ruffle.

WTF. Honestly, just WTF!!

Listen, Vogue designers and editors, if a pattern will ONLY work with a specific weight of fabric, tell us!! We pride ourselves on taking your patterns and making them our own. I’ll bet lots of sewists will look at this pattern and see a knit they think will look pretty on them. Tell them not to do it!

And while we’re on the topic, charmeuse?! Really? You’re going to take a lightweight, sheer KNIT and attach a WOVEN band of charmeuse to the bottom. On a pattern marked “Easy”? This is a recipe for disaster!

Okay, I’m almost out of steam here. I just want to say about my asymmetric hems on a garment designed with symmetric hems: I don’t know where these came from. I refuse to believe this is user error. I put those godets in perfectly. The saggy hem must be a function of too-heavy fabric. I guess. I don’t know where else to assign blame.

And to add insult to injury, it has rained all night. The rain should stop by noon. The wedding is outside at 4:00 p.m., a mile from Lake Erie. The shoes I need to wear with this dress are patent slingback platform pumps. Soggy ground and those shoes do not compute. I will not wear this dress.

I think today I’ll wear the same thing I wore for my mother’s 100th birthday party in May. With old black flats that I don’t care if I ruin in the wet grass.

Was there joy in making this dress? There was the joy of anticipation, of the vision in my head of what the dress would look like finished and on me, of the compliments I’d get when wearing it. There was the joy of half an hour of handwork while stitching the lining to the neckband.

Will I ever wear the dress if I don’t wear it today? I’m not sure. After I finish the next five garments listed on my sewing room To Do whiteboard, I may lay a couple of tunic patterns out over it and see if there’s enough fabric to turn it into something else. I do love the fabric!

I’m not sure what lesson I learned from this project. I guess maybe the “knit muslin” lesson will be enough.

Oh, yeah, and that not every garment is going to be a success.

Never in my life have I a) sewn with a downloaded pattern, or b) sewn with a free pattern. You get what you pay for, right? So free must not be very good. The Grainline Studio Hemlock Tee puts that myth to bed!

I don’t remember at all how I happened upon this site and this pattern. I do nose around Pinterest quite a bit, and I think I probably saw it there. You know how I love Eileen Fisher garments, and when I read “boxy tee” in descriptions of this pattern, I thought I might like to try it. I had recently stashed a bit of rayon/lycra stripe knit from MarcyTilton.com. Honestly, this is one of the cuddliest, softest, jammiest rayons I’ve ever touched. I want more-more-more!

As I was working on it and slipping it over my body in various unfinished states, I didn’t think I was going to like it. Ah, the waste of 1½ yards of fabric. But once I got the sleeves attached and the side seams sewn, I tried it on once more before quitting for the night. Love. And the next morning, after figuring out what I wanted to do with the neckband and finishing it, pure unadulterated garment love!!

Oh, and while you’re at it, how about those perfectly matched stripes?!

Here’s the story…

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Pattern Description: Boxy t-shirt provided by Grainline Patterns in a free download. Print on your home printer, tape together, and trace on pattern paper.

Pattern Sizing: One size fits all. I typically wear 12-14, and it fit like it was made for me.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes.

Were the instructions easy to follow? The instructions are designed for serger construction. I don’t have a serger, so I just used straight stitch, then the Honeycomb stitch (Bernina 1630) to finish the edges. (Okay, I have a serger, but haven’t learned how to use it in the 15 years I’ve owned it.)

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE. Three pattern pieces plus the neckband. I typically dislike dropped shoulders, but these are very flattering on me. Zipped together in an instant.

Fabric Used: Rayon/lycra über-soft stripe from MarcyTilton.com. So soft you’ll want to buy another length to make pajamas! For everyone you know!!

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I’m 5’8″ and overly endowed, so added 1″ to the length. Also, drawing on Marcy Tilton’s “Not Your Ordinary T-Shirt” article in a Threads Magazine from years ago, I cut 1″ bias strips of a lightweight woven fusible interfacing and applied them to the bottom edges (sleeves, hem). This made the folding and pressing easy and precise, and made the double-needle stitching flawless! Haven’t done this before, and will do it from now on for all soft knits.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes and Yes. Planning on getting a soft sweater knit (think Eileen Fisher merino sweaters) to make a top for a November trip to Germany and France.

Conclusion: Download this pattern and fall in love!

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A couple more pictures to whet your appetite for this pattern:

This is the neckband, which I cut 3″ wide on the bias. with ⅜” seams, so the finished band was 1⅛” wide. Seamed, then seam allowance stitched with honeycomb stitch. Pressed toward garment and topstitched about ⅛” away from the seam.

The original picture from the designer shows the neckband cut horizontally (with the stripes). Her neckband is narrower than mine, and her application gives a nice little red stripe around the seam. Expert fabric alignment on her part!

One more look, with the sleeves shoved up. Worn with Marcy Tilton’s Vogue 8859 skinny pants and Naot Afrodita in Champagne Leather.