Two More Sidewinders

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I wasn’t completely sold on the Sidewinder pattern that I made up for the Sew Sweetness Secret Santa exchange, but I had already cut the pattern out in another fabric, so went ahead and made it up, then made it up again. The third make was in a music-themed fabric, as I am a working musician. I thought I’d give it to one of the music professors I work with at Youngstown State University.

But when it was all finished, on the morning I was taking my new half-sister (whom I discovered two-and-a-half years ago via Ancestry.com) to the Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus Christmas concert, I knew I would carry it as a clutch bag to the concert and that I wasn’t giving it to anybody! It would be mine.mine.mine.

So here are the two Sidewinders I made, both in size Large.

The Sidewinder pattern is part of the package of patterns called Minikins that designer Sara Lawson has created.

Sew Sweetness Sidewinder Bag in three sizes

Here’s how Sara describes the Minikins on her website: “Sew Sweetness Minikins 12 pattern+video bundle is a great place to build on your bag-making skills through making quick and easy accessories that everyone will love!”

I have a confession to make: I did not watch the video for the Sidewinder. I just dove in. I’m an experienced bagmaker, having made dozens of bags from a small change purse to a large carry-on tote bag. How hard could this small bag be, right? Egotistical me! The challenge with this bag is the straight edges that have to meet up with curved edges. I had problems with bag #1. I still had problems with bag #2. By the time I got to #3, I realized I needed to make little ⅛” snips all along both the straight and curved edges where they would meet. Voila! My seam ripper received very little attention on bag #3.

Bag #2, in Tula Pink Pom Poms and Stripes, color Foxglove. This was made pretty much straight to the pattern. I used foam with the exterior stripe fabric, and did not quilt the foam interfacing to the exterior fabric. I believe this foam was fusible, but I don’t think it fused very well to the fabric. I would say that was probably my error in the fusing process. The more I turned the bag inside and out while sewing, the less it stuck to the fabric. I used the Pom Pom print for the exterior end panels and the handle/strap. I love the interplay of the stripes and poms. The lining was the Pom Pom fabric. Next week this bag will go on consignment to Three Sheep Gallery and Workshop on Market Street in Youngstown, where I hope it will find a new home with someone who thinks it’s wonderful. (Let the record show I do think it’s wonderful, I just don’t need to add it to my extensive collection of me-made bags. I need to pull in a little money to help pay for the twenty-seven new windows I just had installed on the 2nd and 3rd floors of my circa 1927 home.)

Now #3, the music fabric bag. Both the exterior and the lining fabrics are from Exclusively Quilters’ “That Funky Jazz” fabric line. I can’t find either of these fabrics in stock anywhere that is searchable online. So sad.

What did I do right with this bag?

First, I took my time. I realized (after cutting the exterior side panel piece) that I was using a directional print. I cut another piece of the fabric and created a center bottom seam so I would have both sides directionally correct. (If you look closely at the picture accompanying this paragraph, you can see the center bottom seam.) 🙂 Happy sewist.

I carefully outline-quilted the foam to the exterior. I had as much fun looking at the wrong side of that quilting as I did the right side. How cool is that photo? Happy sewist to the 2nd degree.

As I was creating the zipper panel, I realized that I had inadvertently cut these panels so the keyboard made a continuous line spanning the zipper. Super cool. Happy sewist to the 3rd degree.

I snipped all around the zipper panel and the side panels and carefully secured the two sides together with pins and clips before sewing. I only had to rip two 1″ areas and I was very happy with how it came out—no puckers.

I do think I need to add a zipper pull onto the zipper tab. It’s a #3 zipper—the size zipper you would put into a dress or slacks. The tab isn’t easy to grab when you have to reach under the handle/strap to grab it. If I wire-wrap a bead or charm to the tab, it will be easier to unzip.

Both bags are treated with Scotchgard™ inside and out. Both are beautifully finished. The stripe/dot bag makes me happy, but the music bag makes me positively giddy.

If you decided to buy the Minikins pack of patterns and make the Sidewinder (or any of the bags in the pack), do make the time to watch the videos. I’ll be doing that on all the other bags I make from the Minikins and Minikins 2 packs.

Last night when I got home from Cleveland, my partner and I headed to our favorite local restaurant to sit at the bar and eat pasta. I kept pulling my bag onto my lap and looking at it. He said, “When you’re gone, who shall I give it to?” I laughed out loud, then told him exactly with whom it should live next. 😉

Thanks for visiting. Thanks for admiring. I wish you and yours very happy holidays. 🎄

Santa Sews!

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A lovely young woman named Sara Lawson creates sewing patterns for bags under the name Sew Sweetness. She has a Facebook group that 31,000 sewists have joined. We talk about her patterns, we ask each other’s advice, and we dispense encouragement. Liberally!

This year a member named Michelle Graham organized the first Global Sew Sweetness Secret Santa event, which almost 400 sewists joined. To join, interested participant-wannabes had to send an email to Michelle with their name and mailing address and agree to have their bag finished and in the mail/on the FedEx or UPS truck no later than December 1. In addition, if a person was willing to ship internationally or willing to sew an extra bag if something happened and one of the participants was unable to finish their bag, that fact would also be stated in the email.

One of Michelle’s emails to the group included the list of patterns from which we were to choose. Many required little more than two “fat quarters” of fabric, some interfacing and foam, and a zipper and thread. They were all easy, quick sews.

<Sidenote On>
Most quilting-weight cottons come in 44″ widths. Fabric is sold in yard measurements, or fractions thereof. Quilters and bagmakers frequently purchase a quarter-yard or 9″ of fabric. A fat quarter is a half-yard of fabric, cut horizontally on the center fold line of the fabric. So instead of having a piece of fabric that’s 9″ long and 44″ wide, you have a piece 18″ long and 22″ wide. Same area; same number of square inches. But you might have a pattern piece that’s a little taller than 9″ and the fat quarter lets you cut that pattern without having to buy a half yard of fabric. (Frequently a savings of about $3.00 and less waste or fewer pieces added to your scrap stash.)
<Sidenote Off>

I’ve only recently begun sewing with Sew Sweetness Patterns. I think I’ve made one of Sara’s bags before I joined the group. But it sounded like fun. I love making and giving bags, but I’ve slowed down on giving bags to my friends, as I think they’re probably all drowning in my bags. So this was the perfect opportunity to make a bag for someone who was implicitly saying, “I’d love to receive one of your bags.”

Of course, as soon as I sent my email to Michelle, I started wondering what I had gotten myself into. But I was committed, so kept finding 30-minute chunks of time to steal away from practicing to give to this project.

I dug into my bagmaking stash and found a bit of Alison Glass’s Chroma collection in the color “Citrus,” along with a piece of Bali batik in the same colors. Oh, how I love these two fabrics together. I went through my zipper stash and found a zipper that was a perfect match, and I was in business.

I purchased a group of patterns called Minikins from Sara about six months ago. The original Minikins set is twelve patterns, with accompanying videos to help you make the bag and be successful the first time around. Brilliant! When you first look at the set, you question the price ($80), but that’s only $6.66 per pattern. (Sara recently released Minikins 2, a set of 13 patterns. I’m saving my nickles to invest in this new set.) From the Minikins patterns, I chose the medium-sized Sidewinder bag (many of the patterns are designed with several sizes in the pattern), printed it out (these are all PDF patterns), and prepared the fabric.

Sew Sweetness Sidewinder Bag

Once the fabric and the interfacings were cut out, the interfacings fused to the fabric, and some quilting done on the exterior fabric and foam, the sewing began. I think the sewing time may have been not much more than two hours—if that. Before I knew it, the bag was done and I was taking pictures.

Problems? Okay, you know there’s going to be something I might have done differently.

The quilting. The next time I make a bag with quilting, I must remember to cut the pieces of fabric and foam or interfacing larger than the pattern piece, do the quilting, and only then attach the pattern piece and cut it out. The quilting draws the fabric piece up so it’s smaller than the pattern. I was able to make the quilted exterior piece work once I began sewing, but I had some anxious moments. (Note: Quilting is not required for this bag; it’s just what how I wanted it to look.)

The stainproofing. I keep telling myself to spray the pieces with Scotchgard™ before sewing anything, but I get so excited about digging into the project, I forget.

The zipper. The pattern calls for a #3 zipper (typical narrow dress zipper), and I used a #5 (a wider bag or sportswear zipper) because that’s what I had. I was a little concerned the extra width, however little, was also going to cause a problem with all the pieces fitting together, but it came out fine. Whew!

Minimal problems this time. And one plus for me—I love handstitching. The lining instructions say to topstitch the lining in place around the zipper. I turned the bag inside out and hand-stitched it in place. Very happy me.

I love this bag! Oh, the uses—sewing clips; all the little bits and bobs rolling around at the bottom of one’s purse; pens and pencils. Limitless uses. And the large-size bag looks like the perfect clutch purse to me. Maybe some of the great vinyl my neighbor shares with me. I see quite a few more Sidewinders in my future.

Wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving. I’m thankful my mom enrolled me in a Singer sewing class back in 1963. I’ve found so much pleasure through the years with my sewing. May you find pleasure with your family today.

A New Bag. For Me?

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I’ve made a number of Swoon bags. (Explore my Swoon posts.) And I’ve purchased four Blue Calla bag patterns, that haven’t made it to the top of my to-do list yet. In early August, I learned that Alicia Miller, who is the designer behind Swoon Patterns, and Celine Allaert, who designs the Blue Calla bag patterns, had put their heads together and formed the Carried Away Pattern Collective.

They’ve had a brilliant idea. These bags are available by subscription only. The designers, Alicia and Celine, take turns designing a bag each month for six months—three bags each in six months. And they release the pattern early to a number of bagmakers whom they trust. These bagmakers, pattern testers, will make the bags, interpreting them with their own choices of fabric and hardware, and will have their bags ready before the pattern is released at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, on the 15th of the month. So we, the subscribers, have many bags to drool over on the day we download our patterns in PDF format. There’s a Facebook group with more than 5,000 members where we can share photos of our bags and encourage each other when we’re stumped by a new technique, or offer opinions on zipper color, lining fabric choice, and so on. There are also Instagram tags—#carriedawaypatterncollective, #swoonsierra, #bluecallaconeflower, #swooncarter—where we can share photos of our bags with our social media world.

And lest you’re thinking when the six months are over, the bags will no longer be available, don’t worry. The three bags Alicia designed will be available on the Swoon site, and Celine’s designs will be available on the Blue Calla site. Brilliant.

I started my Sierra the day before the second bag, the Coneflower Cross Body Bag, was released. And while I’ve been trying to bring Sierra to life, the third bag, the Carter Messenger Handbag, was released. So now I’m two bags behind, but I’m sure pleased with my Sierra. And I’ll be even happier tomorrow when I finish the shoulder strap.

Sierra is designed to use leather, faux leather/vinyl, or cork for the contrast straps and accents. I have used cork in bags several times, and have added some leather accents to some bags, but I’ve never used vinyl. My next-door neighbor designs upholstery textiles for a living, and when she has leftovers, she’s generous in sharing them with me. When I was selecting the fabrics for Sierra, I had just received a box of fabric from my benefactor, and saw several beautiful metallic-toned vinyls. I dug through my stash of bag fabrics and came up with a print that combined French writing and music notation and musical instruments and butterflies. Delightful and covered with elements I love. I tried all the vinyls in the box against it and loved this soft gold. Then I dug for lining fabric. And what did I find in my stash of musical-themed fabrics? Why, music notation and Eiffel Towers. Done.

So here’s how the project went.

  • Ordered the hardware kit in silver on the day the pattern was released;
  • Chose the fabrics. Realized the silver hardware wasn’t right for the fabric;
  • Ordered bag feet, rectangle rings, D rings, and swivel clips from Sew Deja Vu (SDV) in Stow, OH;
  • Almost as soon as I clicked “Submit” on my PayPal account, I remembered I wanted to order a tassel cap to be able to attached to my exterior zipper, so ordered a set of three (minimum amount) and emailed the store owner asking if she could combine the two orders so I could save on shipping;
  • Waited three days or so for the hardware to travel the 47 miles from Stow to Youngstown;
  • Opened the package and learned I had accidentally ordered 1½” rectangle rings rather than 1″; went online and placed order for the 1″ rectangle rings
  • Waited four days this time (thanks, Columbus Day) for the 1″ rings to arrive. Worked on as much of the bag as I could without the necessary hardware.
  • Opened the package when it arrived on Thursday and found the staff at SDV had only sent me one pack of two rectangle rings, not two two-packs. Called the store and explained the problem. They said they’d mail it right out. Thanks to the SDV owner for tucking in a new seam ripper as an apology for the earlier error. Oh, if she only knew how much I used that ripper on this project.
  • On Saturday morning I needed to drive 60 miles to Akron to pick up my sister at Panera and take her to Cleveland to see “Hello, Dolly” at Playhouse Square. I decided that I would leave an hour early and run by SDV on my way to Akron to grab the extra 1″ rectangle I needed. But I had to follow Jas to the mechanic’s shop to drop off his car, so I got started a half hour later than I needed to. I had exactly the amount of time I needed to get from Youngstown to Akron and arrive at the time I told my sister I’d be there, which left us just enough time to eat lunch and get to the theatre on time. Let the record show I parked my car in front of the store, ran in, grabbed the two-pack of rectangle rings, paid, and was back in my car in two minutes. Two minutes! I’m a champion shopper, but that’s a new personal best!

And I didn’t even tell you the number of zippers I purchased in trying to complement the exterior fabric while not distracting from the gold vinyl. Lots. I consulted with my neighbor and my sewing pal who lives in Oregon. We all agreed on the ivory.

Now with enough hardware, I spent Sunday trying to see how far I could get. But there was another challenge inherent in using vinyl for the straps, handles, and bag base. First, when sewing vinyl or other similar fabric, you have to remember to change the stitch length on the sewing machine. Second, you can’t pin it, because the pinhole is permanent in leather, vinyl, or cork. The straps and handles were 2″ wide and 24″ long. The instructions are to draw a lengthwise line down the center of the piece. Then fold the long side edges to the center and glue them in place. This was my first attempt at manipulating vinyl. You can’t iron the straps as they’ll be permanently damaged. I already had a couple of tubes of glue in my sewing room, but none of them worked to hold the two layers of vinyl together. The next couple of days found me doing a lot of internet searching and visiting JoAnn’s, Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, and Pat Catan’s to find every possible glue that might adhere the two sides together. I tried them all. One worked okay, but now I can’t remember which one it was. Oy. I ruined a couple of straps, the first one by clipping it with quilt clips for it to dry and another by forgetting to increase the stitch length. It ended up with lots of marks and dents on it and was unusable. Now when I glue a strap, I hold it in place until it’s tacky enough to hold for five seconds while I grab my 6″ x 24″ quilting ruler, laying it on top of the strap and then holding it in place with every heavy thing I can find on my cutting table.

So, finally, with much of yesterday and today dedicated to this bag, I finished it, except for the 4″ x 48″ shoulder strap. I folded and glued it tonight. As Jas was working in the basement when I was glueing, I was able to get him to come over and place the two quilting rulers on top of the strap while I held it down. He even looked at me placing every jarful of scissors and weights and sewing whatnot on top of the rulers and found two heavy 2″ x 4″ pieces of wood and two heavy bags of drills and placed those on the rulers to do the job right.

Tomorrow I will finish the shoulder strap and take one more set of pictures of the bag. (Edited 10/22/2018 – Here are photos of the finished bag with shoulder strap.)

I’m not sure if I’ll keep it or sell it. The perfectionist in me is not satisfied with the finishing on the bag base. I’m thinking I’ll show it to the owner of a local yarn shop/gallery. If someone buys it online, they won’t see the base until they’ve paid for it. But if I place it for sale someplace where potential buyers can look at it from all angles and know what they’re getting, then I would feel good about that purchase.

Sometimes perfectionism is a heavy burden.

What’s in that bag?

  • The vinyl is from Richloom Fabrics. The pattern name is Lorusi, but it’s not available in retail outlets. I would suggest you try some of the Richloom vinyls available at Fabric.com or Joann’s. This vinyl is a dream to sew with, and I’d be willing to bet some of their other vinyls are just as nice.
  • Exterior: Eclectic Elements “Melange” (Color: Neutral) designed by Tim Holtz for FreeSpirit.
  • Lining: Timeless Treasures Collection “Bonjour Mon Amour”, designed by Jessica Mundo. A search on “Paris Eiffel Tower Music Notes” will find this fabric for you.
  • The hardware kit for this bag is available at 2 Minutes 2 Stitch.

[Edited: 12/28/2019]
I decided to sell the bag, so placed it at Three Sheep Gallery for about six months. When it didn’t sell, I pulled it and it’s been sitting on on the floor in my closet. When we were packing our overnight bags yesterday to come to brother Ron’s house for his elder daughter’s wedding reception, I decided I wanted to take this bag. And after carrying it and getting in and out of it for a few hours, I decided I love this bag. It’s spacious and has just the right number of pockets inside. It’s easy to put items in and get them out. I think I’m patting myself on the back for making this bag, and for saving it for myself. 😉

The Cottage Shirt

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Cottage ShirtThe Sewing Workshop has been having sew-alongs (SAL) all summer long. (If you’re interested in participating, there’s a Facebook group.) I first was going to participate in the Zayn top sew-along. I made a muslin out of a knit (in a pattern designed for wovens—hmmm), but then the more I looked at the actual design of the pattern, the less I loved it, and just never moved forward. Then when the Cottage Shirt SAL happened, I knew I wanted to make that top.

Water HabitatI shopped around to all my favorite online fabric stores, ending up at Smuggler’s Daughter, where I found this Max Mara “Water Habitat” print. Isn’t that the coolest print?! It just struck me as unusual, and with the black background, I felt it would go with all of my black slacks and crops.

The fabric arrived when I returned from Bali, and I thought I would get it made up before my Japan tour. Alas. I did make a quick muslin from an old sheet for the body of the shirt, just so I could see where the hem fell and if I needed to cut a Medium or a Large. I wear Large in most patterns, both Big 4 and Indie designers. But with Sewing Workshop, I frequently feel like I’m swimming in the Large. The muslin was a Medium, and I felt that would work.

Let’s get to the review and then I tell you more about my feelings regarding this top:

Shirt as jacket, unbuttoned

Pattern Description: (From the website) Loose-fitting camp shirt with a modern twist has tailored collar and stand, back yoke, armhole bands and exaggerated hems with side vents. Six-button closure.

Pattern Sizing: XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL
After making a quick muslin, I cut a Medium. Should I have cut a Large? This pattern isn’t loose-fitting in the way something like Sewing Workshop’s Balboa is. My Balboa has been ¾-finished for about 18 months and just hanging in my basement until I figure out what to do with its massiveness. And yet its description on the website doesn’t even mention “loose-fitting.”

Shirt-jacket, unbuttoned[/caption]Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yeah, I guess.

Back view

Were the instructions easy to follow? Hmmm. I kept going back and forth between the instruction sheet and the SAL hints and tips. At points there seemed to be a disconnect between the instruction sheet and the SAL files. I had an especially difficult time with the collar and collar stand. Honestly, this is not my first rodeo, er, collar insertion! I never was able to get it done in a way that matched either document. Towards the end of my collar patience, I just kinda shoved it in and hand-sewed it shut.

I do a great yoke burrito, but the collar burrito — not so much. Honestly, I think I attached that collar three separate times. My seam ripper got a lot of exercise with this project.

I’ll be the first to admit that I need instant gratification, or at least in-the-near-future gratification. I got so frustrated with this make that I totally lost my mojo. The only thing that got me through this, at some point, was my refusal to relegate it to the UFO stack.

Side view, showing vents

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? The deep hem is a fabric hog. I think a 2″ hem would probably be better than a 6″ or 7″ hem. And I’m sure part of my complaint is that 2 yards of a directional print did not give me enough fabric to lengthen the body.

My other complaint is the sleeve band. The instructions have you leaving the side seam open ⅝” below the armscye. I had a devil of a time getting that sleeve band set in without unintentional mini-tucks.

One more note—I interfaced both collar pieces, and I’m sorry I did. Use a lightweight interfacing and only do one side.

Fabric Used: Lightweight 100% cotton from the looms of Max Mara, purchased from Smuggler’s Daughter. I think a drapier lightweight fabric—maybe even silk—would have been better.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: None that were intentional. 😉

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I doubt I will sew it again, although I will sew the sister shirt, London. I’m thinking that will be better on my body. I will only recommend it to Advanced Intermediate sewers with slender bodies.

Conclusion: Great idea, great design. An unsuccessful sew—in my opinion and through my eyes. (Note to self: take your next pictures after supper, not after lunch! Midday skylight is not your friend.)

So how did I feel about this shirt? I wanted to love it. In my mind, it was going to be a wonderful shirt. I don’t love it, and I’m sad about not loving it. It may get offered around my group of girlfriends the next time we meet for dinner. And I might make it again with these changes: a lighter fabric with more drape, probably one of the silk charmeuse pieces that are in my stash; use just the collar stand instead of the full collar, maybe even making the stand a little taller; and lengthening the body 2″. It might even be wise to cut it in Large rather than Medium. I’ll let you know ….

If you make this shirt, I’d love to see your review and learn how it went for you. Good luck!

Here are links to the sew-along files on the Sewing Workshop blog. My advice is to read the instruction sheet, then the SAL instructions, then back and forth a couple of times until you’ve really gotten it into your brain. And I wish you the very best of luck. I think this shirt would be great on some bodies—just not mine.

Cottage Sew Along Part One
Cottage Sew Along Part Two
Cottage Sew Along Part Three
Cottage Sew Along Part Four
Cottage Sew Along Part Five
Cottage Sew Along Part Six
Cottage Sew Along – Print Matching

Forgotten Work

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Vogue topFabric swatchBack in March, when I was getting ready for a trip with my sister to California that never happened, and simultaneously trying to get everything ready for three weeks in Singapore and Bali, I made a new tunic. I love this rayon knit that I picked up from Crinklelove [.com] when they carried more knit fabrics. Now they seem to be more about quilts, and I only can find one instance of this fabric anymore. (If you’re interested in grabbing a piece of this fabric in the inverse colorway, here’s the Etsy link.)

I used Marcy Tilton’s Vogue 9272. I had originally thought maybe I would take it along to Bali for cool evenings in restaurants. Alas, the more I looked at the weather forecast as the trip drew closer, and after an email from the tour leader who said, “Jan? Are you kidding?”, I nixed that idea. I wore the tunic once before I left for Bali, and I don’t think I’ve worn it since. That’s almost six months of a new garment just languishing in the closet.

Poor forgotten beautiful tunic. ☹️

Garment backIn Northeast Ohio, we have now—as of August 24—had two nights of 50-something degree temperatures. I’m loving it, and I’m loving the associated cool mornings. So for today’s 10:00 a.m. pedicure appointment, I slipped on this tunic with black lightweight cropped leggings. I didn’t love the blue and white with the black. It was okay, but I didn’t love it. And while I was sitting in the pedi chair with the lovely Amanda working her magic on my feet, I realized I had never blogged this top.

Garment frontBlog posts need photos, you know. When I got home, I switched out the black cropped leggings for their twin white pair, and now I love the look. And the sandals they’re styled with are Teva’s Ysidro leather sandals that are my new favorite travel shoes. They’re super comfortable, actually some of the most comfortable sandals I think I’ve ever worn, and have this brilliant strap in the back that prevents me from getting blisters on my heels. Score!! I was all alone at home and the camera wasn’t working, so I kept leaning my phone against an open window to get these pictures. You take what you can get!!

Here, at long last, is the review:

Pattern Description: Fitted, pullover tunic has neck band and godets at side hem. A: Contrast neck band, godets. For moderate stretch knits only. (From the pattern envelope)

Pattern Sizing: XS-S-M-L-XL-XXL. I routinely take a 16 or a Large in Marcy’s patterns. If this fabric had more stretch, I might have had to downsize. It’s about a 50% stretch and the Large worked fine.

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? Yes.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I’m not much for the sides of the dress hanging down like this (not sure what that design style is called …) but I really love this pattern and how the finished top looks on me.

The godets were pretty full and I wasn’t sure that’s what I wanted.

Otherwise I loved the lines of the pattern.

Fabric Used: 95% Rayon, 5% Lycra. Very nice feel to the fabric, very comfortable.

GodetPattern alterations or any design changes you made: As I said above, I wasn’t sure I wanted the godet as full as designed. Then when I realized I didn’t have enough fabric to make them as designed, that solved my problem. As I recall, the godet as designed is greater than a 90° angle—I’d have to go to the basement and dig out the pattern to check. But I think it’s much fuller than mine, as shown here. I’m very happy with this. What I’m saying is, don’t be afraid to play with the fullness of the godet.

Oh, the neckline. If you look at the pattern sketch above, you’ll see there are some funky pleats in the “collar.” I was a) in a hurry, and b) unsure what to do about those pleats. I read a few reviews and several people said they had omitted the pleats. So that’s what I did. I LOVE the face-framing nature of this neckline without the pleats. So happy I did it that way and will continue to do so with each subsequent make!

Most Big Four patterns are designed for a 5’6″ frame. I’m 5’8″ and normally add 2-3″ to Marcy’s and Katherine’s patterns. I think because of the godet I didn’t add anything to the length. I wish I had 1″ more. So when I make it again, if I already added 2″, I’ll change it to 3″. If I added nothing, I’ll add at least 1″.

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

Conclusion: A flattering top, perfect over skinny pants or leggings. I went outside my comfort level in making this top and am so glad I did.

And to add a little sweetness to your day, we’ve got a late-season pregnancy going on in the dogwood tree outside our 2nd floor family room window. 😉 (Okay, humor me. I know it’s not a “pregnancy.” I just liked the sound of that.) Can’t wait to see what comes of this effort.

Linen, You’re Cool!

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StyleArc PetaAfter so much travel, I’ve finally gotten my sewing mojo back. Before my travel to hot and steamy destinations, I picked up two pieces of linen at Jo-Ann. I normally do not utilize Jo-Ann’s convenient location for fabric, but I didn’t think I could go wrong with 100% linen. And, you know, coupons.

I wanted a couple of pair of lightweight, cool pants for my summer travels. Digging through my pattern stash, I chose the StyleArc Peta Pants. (StyleArc is an Australian company that turns out some wonderful designs of simple, classic clothes.) I first made a Peta muslin in an old piece of a high quality lightweight linen that had been in the fabric stash for about 20 years. I cut them above-knee length or, actually, as much as I could get out of the remnant I had. The fit was fine, so I moved forward. The bronze pair I cut sort of crop-length. They were finished before I went to Japan, and went along for the ride. And I made the tan pair full length, as shown in the pattern, but without the drawstring. They were cut out before Japan, but didn’t get sewn until I got back. I was able to finish them before I headed to Interlochen to take the grandbabes up for camp. And that muslin, which was a namby-pamby light pastel—and that’s NOT redundant—blue-violet? I’ll be dyeing that pair with Procion MX Indigo and will have a bonus pair of shorts, now that it’s starting to feel like fall. Oh, well, they’ll be ready for next summer.

My newly 17-year-old granddaughter came over today to help me do some sorting and organizing with my stash, so the first task I gave her was take photos for me in the pants. That was much easier and faster than trying to do it myself.

Here’s the review:

StyleArc Peta PantPattern Description: “Great pull on pant with beautiful leg shape.” (Quoting the StyleArc website.) Really, if you fold the hem up to the knee, in a size 16 it’s about 1¾ to 2″ shy of being straight leg, i.e. it tapers in 1¾ to 2″ from the knee to the hem.

Pattern Sizing: 4-30. Pattern available in both printed and PDF. I cut a 16. I wear 14 in RTW.

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? Typical minimalist instructions. The only problem was the pockets.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? Oh, the pockets. The pocket pattern piece is rectangular. The picture of the pocket pattern piece in the instructions is a typical in-seam pocket that you’re used to seeing, if this is not your first pattern with in-seam pockets. On my muslin, I didn’t bother with the pockets, so was unaware of the discrepancy between the printed pattern piece and the instructions. When I got to the bronze pair—the crops—I put the right pocket in using the pocket pattern piece that’s provided, then I said to hell with the left seam and just sewed it as if it were intended to be pocketless.

For the tan pair, I spent time digging through my stash of patterns from the Big Four (Butterick, Vogue, McCall’s, and Simplicity) to find a pair of pants with in-seam pockets from which I could borrow the pattern piece. Finally found what I wanted, redrew to match the shape of the side seam, lengthened the top so it would come up to the waistline fold and be fully enclosed in the waist casing. I followed the directions from the pattern instructions of the borrowed-from pants, and am very happy with how it ended up.

Fabric Used: 100% linen from Jo-Ann’s, light- to mid-weight.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
Here’s a picture of the pockets—click on the photo to enlarge, then use your device touch screen to zoom to see the detail. (Oops, when I shot the picture just now, I realized I only edgestitched the right pocket, not the left.) My side seams and inseams are double-stitched about ¼” apart, as I would do with knits. And then the seam allowance is trimmed close to the outer stitching and zigzagged to prevent fraying. And look at that casing for the waist elastic. I’m in love! It’s an incredibly comfortable finish, and quite pretty, if I do say so myself.

StyleArc Peta hemsI cut 1¼” strips of fusible tricot interfacing, fused them to the hem allowances, zigzagged the raw linen/interfacing edges, then folded on the inner cut edge of the interfacing and pressed. This gives me a lovely crisp hem. The picture looks like it’s double-needle stitched, but it’s just a single needle run once around (I hand-baste from the inside along the cut edge of the hem so can get a very straight seam line.), then I moved the needle closer to the hem by about an ⅛” and followed the previous seam line around.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I actually prefer a narrower leg in my pants, but Peta definitely has a place in my wardrobe. For a straighter-leg pant, she’ll now be my go-to pattern. Yes, I will sew it again.

Conclusion: The only reason I classify this pattern as Intermediate skill rather than Beginner is the challenge with the pocket pattern piece. If you’re a beginner, make a different pair of pants or a skirt with in-seam pockets first, then make a copy of that pocket pattern piece and the instructions and store them with your Peta. Or just skip the pocket altogether. No harm done.

Let’s be honest. I was hesitant to post the backside photo of the bronze pair. But really—aren’t I better off knowing what I look like from the backside in these pants? For a 68-year-old carrying a couple dozen extra pounds, it’s okay. It could be much worse. And now I’m motivated to step up my daily walks. (Besides, DGD said it looked okay. And she’s 17. She wouldn’t post a picture of her grandma if she was embarrassed by the way I looked in the photo. Would she???)

Pants styled with an Eileen Fisher cotton ballet-neck t-shirt and an Eileen Fisher silk knit tank. Mephisto platform mules from about fifteen years ago, and Vionic flat slides from last summer. Pictures taken on the front steps of my 90-year-old home.

Bali Batik Going Back Home

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Kaye Tunic FrontI’m leaving for Bali in eight days. Two years ago this week, I was scheduled to leave for Bali on Thursday. The Jazzman and I had just returned from Easter dinner in Columbus with his brothers and their families. I was carrying our bags out of the car when I caught my toe on the sidewalk. I realized I was going down and was determined not to break my wrist again, so consciously threw my body into a turn to protect my wrists. In doing so, I fell on my back on the lawn in such a way that the muscles in my back were severely bruised. After a trip to the ER for X-rays, I was in so much pain that I knew I could not live through the thirty hours of travel required to get from Youngstown to Denpasar. My Bali Fiber Tour was cancelled. ☹

Duffel

Duffel bag made for travel to Bali

Fast-forward two years. I took advantage of another opportunity and signed up for another Bali Fiber Tour with Barb Alexander. The best part of the tour this time is that nine of the ten women on the tour are alums of the Design Outside the Lines workshops that Diane Ericson (previously co-taught with Marcy Tilton) hosts several times a year in various creative locales. The women on this tour understand my passion for fabric and textiles. I’ve partnered with Tina Daily, a Portlander whom I met and instantly clicked with at the Design Outside the Lines session in Taos last June. We’ve been in touch weekly since we decided to take this journey together, and even had a sew-a-long making duffel bags out of canvas that Tina ice-dyed as our carry-on luggage. And now we’re one week away from departure.

Once I washed the three meters of fabric and hung it up to dry, I realized the ginkgo leaves were sparsley printed on one meter of the fabric, but the other two meters were densely printed. Cool! A great opportunity for playing with mix-and-match. Searching my pattern stash, I realized the StyleArc Kaye Tunic was perfect for this fabric. The sleeves and the pocket were the place for the sparsely printed section, while everything else would be cut from the densely printed section. In the photo at the top of this paragraph, you can see my shoulder, with the sparsely printed sleeve and the densely printed body. (All photos are clickable for enlargement.) Love this pattern play.

Here’s the review:

StyleArcPattern Description: A long line tunic top with a unique symmetrical hemline that creates a flattering draped effect

Kaye tunic side viewPattern Sizing: 4-30. I ordered the paper pattern in a size 16.

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? StyleArc’s instructions are succinct. See my comments in the changes section.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I love the bias-cut pocket. The neckline is very flattering. Dislike – nothing.

Fabric Used: Rayon batik created during one of Barb Alexander’s Bali Fiber Tours two years ago. At the last minute, I cancelled because of a fall; Barb completed my batik project and shipped the fabric to me after the tour.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I’m 5’8″ and usually add up to 3″ to the torso of a tunic. I added nothing to this and it was fine. If you’re vertically-challenged, you might need to shorten the body some—or you may need to skip the Kaye tunic. (Maybe make it without the pocket, but the pockets are one of the best features of this tunic.) The only (IMO) glitch in the instructions was in the insertion of the sleeve. I undid the side seams ⅜” at the armscye. Sew the sleeve down to the ⅜” opening. Then pin and sew the bottom of the sleeve to the top of the side/pocket panel across from side seam to side seam. Leaving that seam open the ⅜” makes inserting the sleeve much easier. (Otherwise, you’re going to have to carefully pivot at the ⅜” point on that top of the side panel seam. Tricky.)

Kaye tunicIn the comments on a previous review, a reader asked about the hems on the pockets. Here’s how I handled it: The first step is attaching the pockets to the side panels. At this point, I fused a ⅜” strip of fusible tricot to the hem, turned it up and pressed, then top-stitched just inside the hem allowance. The tricot is soft enough to not stiffen the soft drape of the pocket, but firm enough to give me a crisp fold on the hem. When I attached the pocket/side panel to the back and front, I left ⅜” of the front and back pieces extending below the bottom of the pocket. Then I fused a ⅜” strip of tricot interfacing to the front and back hems, folded, pressed, and top-stitched. The edges of the front and back hems meet the hems of the side panels as if it was all seamed together—but it’s much simpler! (Again, IMO.)

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I will absolutely sew this again. I’d like to try it in a firm knit, maybe a light ponte. I do recommend. Just take your time on the side panel and the sleeve and think it through.

Conclusion: Beautiful, drapey, flattering tunic to wear with leggings. Can’t wait to wear to dinner in Bali.

Duffel

Here’s another look at the fabric that made these bags. To see more of Tina’s beautiful work, here’s a link to her Etsy shop.

We took a Craftsy class to make the bags. The class is Betz White’s “Sew Better Bags: The Weekend Duffel. The bag is not an easy make, but we’re happy with the finished bags and will be carrying them onto the plane with us for the long trip. I leave from Cleveland; Tina leaves from Portland. We meet in San Francisco; thirteen-and-a-half hours later, we’ll land in Taipei. After a four-hour layover, we’ll fly to Singapore. We leave SFO at 12:45am on Tuesday and arrive in SIN twenty-two hours and forty minutes later, at noon on Wednesday. We’ll hang out with Tina’s niece in Singapore for a couple of days, then take a five-hour flight from Singapore to Bali, when our two weeks of creativity begin.

Did I say I can’t wait? I can’t wait!!

A Second Courtney for Bali

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On the heels of Friday’s seersucker StyleArc “Courtney” top, I made a second Courtney from a lightweight linen. And I love it!

StyleArc Courtney in linenWhile constructing the seersucker top, I also had a dye job going. First I took a pair of Eileen Fisher stretch knit crops that I hated the pale gray color of, and dumped them into my wringer washer that came with the house (lucky old house purchaser!). I had prepared the dye bath with a bottle of Rit liquid dye in Taupe. The pants didn’t contain much fabric, and half the bottle would have been sufficient for those pants to come out a lovely taupe color. But I used the entire bottle and they came out somewhere between avocado and olive. And I love them! As the Rit process didn’t involve adding soda ash or anything that would expend the color, I was pretty sure there was enough dye in there to turn a piece of white linen with tiny pinstripes an inch apart into a beige that would be more practical for travel. So I wet the fabric and tossed it into the old washer while rinsing the crops.

<Sidenote>
You might wonder why I kept the wringer washer and why I love it so much. My regular laundry wash machine is a Bosch front loader. Forget about trying to dye anything in that. The old washer agitates the heck out of any piece of fabric I put in there, which is exactly what you want when repurposing an older garment that’s already shrunk all it’s going to shrink, or a piece of fabric that you want an even color on. That washer and me—we’ve got a love affair goin’ on.
<Sidenote Off>

Dyed linenIt is an odd shade of beige/ecru, but isn’t that the fun of dyeing fabric? It’s got the tiniest hint of pink to it, and I love the fabric and the finished top.

Linen topThis sewing experience was basically the same as the seersucker, except I didn’t need to reference the instruction sheet at all. One thing I didn’t mention in the previous post was my hem. This is a trick I learned from Diane Ericson last summer at the June “Design Outside the Lines” retreat in Taos. On all my knit garments, I fuse a strip of tricot interfacing to the hem allowance. The width of the strip is equal to the depth of the hem. In other words, if the hem is ½” deep, I’m going to cut strips of fusible tricot to equal ½” wide and the circumference of the skirt or pant or top hem. Once fused in place, all the loose threads are fused into place. You don’t have to do a double fold on the hem. You don’t have to zigzag or otherwise finish the hem. Just fuse, fold, press, stitch. On a knit, I stitch with a double needle and wooly nylon in the bobbin. On a woven, I just single-needle stitch. Voila!! Love!!

I don’t think tricot is required. I’ve also done it with bias strips of Pellon SF-101, or even on-grain strips. If my hem is perfectly straight, as on a pair of pants, I’d cut on-grain. But if the hem has a curve to it, I want bias-cut to be able to move with the curve when fusing. The important part is the fuse. I want fusible interfacing to grab all those thread ends on the cut edge and keep them from raveling once my garment is finished.

ThreadAs I was preparing to sew, I searched my thread stash for the perfect thread color. I found one small spool that had about a tenth of the thread remaining. My nearest thread stores (rhymes with “hate-that-store-ann’s) are ten miles away in either direction. I did NOT want to interrupt my motivation to drive up there and deal with them. (I should write a blog post on my feelings about coupons being required to get a decent price. Why can’t stores just set reasonable prices and do away with the coupon BS?!)

So I started sewing with a beige in the bobbin and a cream on the top. Yeah, yeah, the cream was near at hand, and the beige was a bobbin already half-full. Each seam allowance was zigzagged, pressed, and topstitched. Anytime I finished a seam, I’d change to the nearly empty spool of thread, topstitch the seam, then pull it out an inch from the needle and clip. And look at what was left on my spool after sewing the last stitch. Bwah, hah, hah – I tricked Jo-Ann’s.

And I’d say that’s a sign this top was supposed to be finished on Saturday before going out to dinner with friends. No, I didn’t wear it to dinner. It’s still fricking winter in Northeast Ohio, even though we got a breath of spring the past two days. I asked the Jazzman to take photos of me on the back porch, so I could show you that the Royal Star Magnolia blossoms are budding. Alas, getting decent light on the subject meant you barely see the little blobs of white in the background on the first photo. But there is green. There’s lots and lots of green. I may be able to live until spring comes to stay. In the alternative, I think I’ll head to Singapore and Bali for three weeks. ☺