Simplicity 4636

Tammy's gown was a big hit at the wedding. Whew! Now I can relax on that one. She will be sending me pics as soon as she gets them herself. Today I went to a baby shower at her country home for her first grandchild. It was a lovely event. I was determined to make something for the baby instead of buying and am so glad I did. At first I thought of a couple of boy bonnets to keep the hot Virginia sunshine out of baby's eyes. I looked at my  heirloom fabrics. Nothing excited me. Then I went digging in my baby patterns and came up with this one, Simplicity 4636.

 I made view C, the car seat cover. I have awful memories of the twins in their food encrusted car seats that drove me to this decision. Mind you, my daughter did scrub them now and then but every day was a snack on the way home from daycare, one waiting to be embedded into the seat's upholstery and increasingly gross. I looked closely at the pattern and thought "very doable in a couple hours". While that is true, as is my fashion, I turned it into a daylong project.

First I had to decide on the fabric. It had to be soft, tough, very washable, and masculine. Ok. Remember those jeans I was going to make? I'll have to order more fabric now. They were pre-washed three times which took care of the soft and the washable. They definitely could have a masculine vibe and the denim is tough. Now to make it all look good. Hmmmmm.....I will make it look like jeans and I did.

The first way I extended the project timetable was to turn the simple machine made buttonholes into faced buttonholes. I faced them with more denim and sewed one eighth inch away from the long line you see in a rectangle shape. These BHs will accommodate the car's straps. The resulting rectangles were slashed and clipped into the corners and then turned.

The facings were then turned to the wrong side. There long edges were turned under and stuck in place with Wonder Tape to prevent movement. Then all was pressed. You can see the results below. 

Now it was time to make this little item look jeans-y. I topstitched twice around the faced holes with a golden Coats & Clark thread but using the triple stitch on my machine. I am getting to like that stitch more and more for topstitching. There is no need for special thread or needles. It goes back over the stitch three times so you then get a nice thick topstitch like you see in RTW. This project was great practice for upcoming real jeans. On this go round I figured out how to count the stitches and end up exactly in the corners where I wanted to be. 

I surrounded each BH with 1/4 inch masking tape to get sharp rectangles.  You can see the results here.

This got a second row of topstitching a scant 1/4 inch away. All of the seams were topstitched with two rows as well. Are we looking jeans-y and masculine or what?

 I think you can now see why what could have been a two hour sew-up turned into a bigger production. But that is just my style of sewing at this point. Yes, all the threads were taken to the back and tied off. How many years did I sew without doing that? Way way too many. It looks so sloppy to have those little end cuts sticking out on the front of a garment. ( eye roll)

After all that topstitching business, a band was attached to the circumference of the the seat. It had a turned facing with elasctic to enable it to slip over the car seat and be removed just as easily. All seams were serged as well on this. The short edges of the facings were too small to bother so they were simply pinked. I tried to make this tough so it could take a lot of washings.

The fabric used is denim I purchased on line, forget where, but think perfect jeans weight, no lycra. The elastic was basic 3/4 inch black elastic. I've draped this over a small child's rocker to give you an idea of how it would work. I think it will be a very practical gift for a new mom who doesn't know what she's in for. Did any of us?.......Bunny

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We've had a houseful of company this past week. Ern and I love Paella but have never made it ourselves. We decided to invest in a pan and spoon and give it a go. You really do need the spoon to keep the seafood submerged while cooking. We had a glorious evening of fun and Paella making with his sisters and look forward to doing it again. It's all about the pan and  it is damn delicious........... Bunny

The latest fabrics and plans!

My BFF will be welcoming her third grandchild into this world shortly. This little angel did not come by her arrival easily but will  be here by caesarean in a couple of weeks. I always make something in a sixth month size as new moms just get tons for the newborn but maybe not so much a bit further up the road. A cute little smocked dress is planned.

My coat is done for the most part. I have found that since  where the facing meets the lining, where that colorful little strip is, well since that facing is not secured to the shell of the coat it BILLOWS and I am not likeing that. I can see this ballooning out on one of our windy cold days up here. So I have pinned together the facing/lining SAs to the shell/coat SA and will hand stitch them together. They are pinned together and it hangs much better now. So there is that handwork to do, make the belt, and fussy up a label. We will see what the weather provides for weekend pictures and hopefully will have those up soon.

My next big project will be jeans. I have to master them. We are allowed to wear jeans to work but they must be with nice shirts or sweaters, jewelry, etc, nothing sloppy or looking ready for floor washing duty. Since jeans do age and not look so well after a while I use a lot of them and need to get this down. I have taken the RTW Fast pledge and these jeans are a big priority. In the meantime I will have some fun with this little baby project. I always like to have a hand project and machine project going at the same time anyway. This little dress will be hand smocked. I haven't settle on the design yet and need to do a bit more research.

The fabrics are a quilter's cotton in a rose pattern that I just fell  in love with and two white eyelets from the collection. One eyelet is 24 inches deep so I cut off the some of the plain batiste to do my smocked insert. There will be an eyelet underskirt and maybe something special going on with the rose top skirt. I am not finalized on this design yet. I also have an allover eyelet that I will use for the sleeves . The eyelets match perfectly.

The pattern is McCalls 6015 and you see the area on view F that will be perfect for the smocked insert. I will do the little cap sleeves from view E. I love that type of sleeve on chubby little baby girl arms. There will be some white eyelet panties too. All in all, this will be vivid and fun to make so stay tuned for this one. At this point the batiste is backed with a tricot interfacing and ready to hit the pleater. I won't cut out the rest until that is complete. 

I need to make a muslin for my jeans. I picked up this stretch cotton twill at Joanns for that. I'll be using my Sure Fit Designs sloper and the Sure Fit DVD for jeans. I figure that fit won't be too off but if it is, this print will hide things so I can still wear them and get in some good practice on the topstitching, rivets and such. Then it will be on to heavy denim. Does anyone have a preference as far as the weight of the denim? I'm not a big fan of stretch denim so that will affect the fit also. I really don't want stretch denim. And the weights, it's looking like an 8 ounce might be right? Any input appreciated. 

This is the state of my sewing right now. I should be able to get a lot done on this weekend and am planning it. The next weekend, a long one, I will be travelling to the Boston area to get my implant finished, I hope. It will be great to see family and hopefully wear my new coat!.........Bunny

Chanel Jumper??? Simp 1723

 

Sophie's jumper, Simplicity  1723, is a done deal! I put a bit of extra effort into this child's garment but that boucle made me do it!

Pattern: Simplicity 1723, jumper, jacket, skirt and headband, all with a slight nod to Coco Chanel. Amazing how her classic designs filter down to children even all these years later. It was not difficult.It does not require a lining but I did one. I recommend. My grandaughter loves any sort of jumper or long top to wear with her tees and leggings. 

Fabric:   It is made with an acrylic and cotton boucle and I pray it doesn't pill. It hasn't yet so that bodes well. I have machine washed and dried all fabrics used so expect no probs other than a lack of desire to press clothing on the part of my daughter. She will  more than likely send it to the cleaners. That's her MO for anything not knit. 

The lining fabric is a 100% poly, a charmeuse wannabe. It was "springy" as many older polies are. It was given to me by a friend when she cleaned out her stash. 

I used a poly grosgrain ribbon for the belt and some little lace flowers picked up at Fabric Place in Mass. I found the garment a bit too serious for an eight year old and had to fun it up a bit. Sophie loves polka dots.

Construction: After my last positive experience I decided to flatline the jumper much as I did my crinkle jacket.  It took a lot of "pre-sewing" but once done the process of putting the jumper together whipped right along. The facings, hem, and waistline are bound with the same lining fabric. The boucle really needed the structure of the lining and bound seams to keep it from unravelling, something it wanted to do with a vengeance.

If I had to do it again I would not face the jumper with self fabric. I would use a thin lining instead. It is far too bulky in the button area for my taste but I will just move on from that observation. It won't bug anyone but me. I did not make real buttonholes and just stitched the straps shut with the buttons. The zipper is plenty long so I don't think Sophie will have a problem getting it on. I used an invisible zip and machined stitched the facing ends into the zip, no handwork.

Facings were understitched as much as possible and the edges bound with bias lining fabric. I used my clapper and tons of steam to get those edges as flat as I could.

As far as fit, I did have to alter the pattern. Sophie is very tall and slender so this was made in a size 8 with an inch added to the bodice and another to the skirt. I think dresses look cutest on little girls when the waistline is a bit elevated and this does that  on her. Her back waist measurement is 2 inches longer than the pattern measurements and I only added that one. 

All in all, this pattern is simple, cute and could be whipped right out if you don't  flatline, line or bind those seams. This would be great for the serger. But my fabric required the additional fuss. I must admit, it does feel lush and yummy in the way a Chanel jacket does. Maybe next time I would do an edge to edge lining as she did. I hope Sophie likes it. She did pick out the pattern and pink fabric.

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I just have to comment that we have had the most incredible Indian Summer weather. It has been in the high seventies for days with clear blue skies and leaves on the trees flaming with color. Will winter want payback?......Bunny

ETA: Why does my text publish in different sizes when I don't change the size?I've notice this on only certain computers, not all. Are you seeing my text in different sizes, other than the headings? Thanks...Bunny

Simplicity 1723 Begins!

Any notions I had about whipping out a simple little jumper for Sophie have left the building. First the fabric: It's acrylic and cotton pink boucle, cute, and it FRAYS! Oy, does it fray! That was dealt with  as you'c expect. It stretches out. I ended up taping the neckline and armholes. I had to cut the tape to fit  the pattern and steam the fabric back into the proper length and stay stitch the tape on. The tape is selvedge from other projects that I save up in a jar.

I also chose to flatline this garment, so that all took time. My entire sewing yesterday was all prepping the pattern pieces before actually starting to make darts and stitching the jumper together. Now that all of that is done I can just put the thing together today. This will have a facing because of the shoulder tabs and that will be bound as well as the waistline seam. I am also putting in an invisible zip so the sequence of construction in the pattern directions will not work but that's OK.  The flatlining and topstitching all those bound seams should really strengthen the boucle weave and prevent seams from popping apart. Sophie is an active little girl who loves to dress up, a girl after my own heart, and I know  she will love this.

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I have just discovered ground cherries at our Amish neighbor's farm stand. They are wonderful and today I hope to make a coffee cake with them. I am going to get lots more and freeze them up for the winter. Plan right now is to make a ground cherry pie at Thanksgiving. We will be having a houseful this year and I want to have a memorable feast. Have you ever cooked ground cherries?....Bunny

McCalls 5721, Cart Cover finis!

Cart Cover is done and I love it. Yup, this is a lousy shot. This is what happens when it is pouring out, you've just finished working all day, and your hanging out in the local supermarket parking lot and want to go home. But I think you get my drift. On the left you can see the giant pocket which really is a bag that the whole magilla folds up into. The white belting is the strap which becomes the handle to the bag if you do a perfect job of folding it all up. It's hard to see but there are two pockets on the inside that the child has access to, great for little toys, bottles or sticky gooey snacks. It is all totally washable and with a little effort and some body mass inside I think it will be pretty cute. No baby in my family is going to chew on those germ encrusted handlebars!

Pattern: McCalls 5721,the Three in One Cart Cover.

Fabric:  Joann's calico wall's finest! 100 percent cotton. This was a border print with a different border on each side of the yardage which I didn't pick up on till home. You can see here that the border difference was a non issue. The filler is a wool/poly blanket. The easy way to pull this off would be to use purchased double sided quilted fabric . It would whip right out in that case but the price would increase bigtime.

Construction: Not much unusual here. Most was discussed in the last post. Basically:

* Make your casing one inch wide.

* Use a French binding for the legs and pockets.

 ETA Update: Here's a pic of it all folded up in the bag. Thanks for this suggestion:

Everything else was just as the pattern spec'd.

This gets packed up tomorrow for our new Mom who is eagerly awaiting her arrival. She will not know the sex until birth. Maybe there will be more smocking in my future....Bunny

McCall's 5721, The Cart Cover

This is proving to be an interesting project to work on, no home dec or garment here! I am using McCalls 5721. It's called a 3 in 1 cart cover but I am not sure why. If anyone can solve that mystery, please let me know.

As usual, I did things a bit differently than the pattern spec'd. Instead of quilt batting I used a flatter firmer heavy wool/poly blend blanket that has been washed a zillion times. I have used this king size blanket in many projects so needed to put it back together to get a piece large enough for the cart cover.  I triple zigzagged the pieces together and then cut out my cover. The ripples you see disappeared as soon as it was all pressed. I wasn't sure about this change at first but have since decided I like the flatter look. I think it will fold up into it's bag more easily as well.

Here you can see the two print fabrics and the blanket all stitched as in a pillowcase and then turned. The pattern has you stitch around the leg hole area and then cut them out leaving a half inch seam allowance. Then it instructs you to cut back only the batting  to the stitching line. I was not digging that little layer of batting out and doing that. I just cut the whole staystitched leg hole to a 1/4 inch. You'll see why in a minute. The pattern then has you stitch 3/4 of an inch away from the edge to make a casing for the elastic. I went bigger, one inch. I hate pushing elastic through tight areas. I know this is a border print, but I assumed it matched on both sides. Assume nothing! I think it will all work in the end however so I am not worrying about it.

Sewing around the leg holes makes a lot of bulk on the machine, fair warning. Here's another change: the pattern has you make bias binding that is folded in to the center and then you wrap it around the hole and topstitch it on. I am not always successful with that method. So that is why I cut the leg hole back to a 1/4 inch. I did a French binding instead, folding the 2 inch strip in half, applying it to one side, turning and pressing, and then applying it to the other. It made the bias more of a contrast and wider looking which I liked as well. Above you can how I did the leg hole. The raw edge is sewn in a 3/8 inch seam to the leg hole starting one inch away from the beginning of the bias strip. That needs to stay clear at this point. When you get to the end stop about two inches short of the beginning. Cut the end to fit and tuck it inside of the folded begining edge. Pin (must) and keep stitching to finish the seam. I say must pin because the strip will definitely want to pull out of the fold. Once this was done the leg hole was trimmed back to 1/8 inch. Then the binding was pressed to the other side and topstitched.

Another interesting aspect of this pattern is the giant buttonhole you make two of to accommodate the strap to hold the child in. This was pretty easy. My thread is a nice blue to match but looks black here. Once I cut the buttonholes open the white blanket showed through of course so I took a blue sharpie and touched that up. Lots of Fray bloc was used as well. You can see one of the pockets topstitched to the left. Here is a closer look. They have loops to hook toys on to (?).

It's hard to see but I tacked the ends of the pocket/loop with a tiny zigzag, like you see on jeans.

This pattern is basically an oval with two leg holes and two pockets for toys or such and a big bag pocket off the back that the whole mess folds into. I think it's pretty clever construction. I hope to finish it today and go to market tomorrow and take a pic of it in the cart. Think I'll turn a few heads? .....Bunny

Fit Update on the Circle Dress, Simp 2466

I brought the Circle Dress to Carly this past week and she loved it. I made a big mistake, however. I did not check Pattern Review before making up this pattern. Shame on me! It clearly has fit issues which I soon discovered with Carly's try on. The pattern looked big to me so I made a size 4 for my little munchkin who takes a five. Carly carries her weight in her chest and shoulders. This dress hung off the shoulders and the yoke/underarm area could have carried my own arm. Why didn't I notice this? Other reviewers had issues with the fit and I would definitely recommend reading the reviews on PR for this pattern before starting. How was I going to fix this? Well others described their retrofits but here is what I did:

First I addressed the armhole. I took a tuck on each side of the side seam, basically making a box pleat that was one inch wide. I hand stitched this together. If Carly ever needs more room this will be an easy rip out. It does affect the hang of the circle but not enough for the uninitiated to ever notice the issue.

Next, I made a strap just like the one that ties the back closure together. Make this long enough to have a bit of tail. Make two strips. Push the fabric flat at the elastic and stitch on the strap as above. The top will look like this when done:


Here you can see the adjusted dress:

That extra set of straps across the back keeps it all together and I think looks cute, no one wiser. I think the straps work well enough that you could automatically add them to the design without worry.

I know that you could also read the PR reviews and if you are mathematically inclined redraft the yoke and skirt. I would take out a good two inches from both front and back if doing it that way. Frankly, this seemed a much easier correct to me. She loved her circle dress and can't wait to get it back to wear.

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Thank you, thank you, thank you, everyone, for all your words of kindness and prayers. It was and is difficult but we know Danny is at peace and in a better place. He was honored with dignity, respect, and grace for the short life he led. For those of you coping with mental illness in your families my heart goes out to you. I know how difficult it can be. Blessings on all of you and thank you again. Lovingly,,,,Bunny

Carly's Circle Dress, Simp 2466

I really wasn't sure how I would like this dress while I was making it but now I love it. DH really loves it.  The dress is a complete circle and I wasn't sure how all those folds would work on such a little girl but now I think it will. It definitely has major twirl factor and that's always a big plus.
Here's the 411:

Pattern: Simplicity 2466, Daisy Kingdom. Lots of pluses as well as minuses here. All sizes, 3 thru 8, are on four very large sheets of tissue. Some pieces overlap, some don't. Given that the fabric calls for two fabrics, (I used three), and all those pieces in all those sizes, it was a bugger to cut. Plan out a long afternoon or whole day just to get through the cutting. I recommend buying this in several sizes on a 99 cent sale as it is just too much of a pain to work around the different sizes, IMO. The instructions given in the pattern are clear. There are just not enough of them. I also don't like the v. large hembands not being cut on the fold. I learned that lesson too late as you can tell but Carly won't mind!

Construction: As mentioned yesterday, no interfacing is required. I highly recommend you interface the yokes. Also understitch the yokes, something not mentioned in the pattern as well. Topstitch the hemband to give it a more finished look. Edgestitch the neckline edge of the sleeve ruffle.

I did make this a bit more difficult for myself by using three fabrics. I also chose to bind the hem band which I think is much better looking. As I often do, the side seams are french seams and the center back seam is serged separately and then stitched together in a 5/8 seam. The pattern then has you turn under the SAs to create an open placket. The ties are attached to the placket in the seam.

One of this pattern's charms is the large flower on the hemband. I did this a bit differently from the pattern.

I actually tried two techniques. First I fused two layers of fabric using Steam A Seam and then cut out the flower with pinking shears. My other sample, the one I decided on, veers from the pattern as well. I cut two layers for each flower layer, turned them and then zigzagged on the designated stitching lines, simple but cute. I like the finished edge better than the SAS edges. The pattern has one layer with raw edges. Because some of the flowers are straight edges, this would not look good once it survived the wash. The pattern also has you put a smaller flower on the yoke. There is also a pattern for a bag with the flower as well as a headband with the flower. I decided to make the headband with the flower because Carly loves hats and headbands. I am leaving the flower off the yoke, just too much IMO.

 When I spent the day cutting this out it included bias binding from one of the prints, the small one.  I added the binding to the sleeve edge and the hemband. In the pattern it is only spec'd on the armhole.

Fabric: The large print is an Amy Butler design from our quilt shop on the nearby Native American Reservation. The plaid is a cotton homespun and the small print is a quilt cotton, both from Joanns. When I blend prints I like some connector in each print. In this case it was the rasberry plum-ish color.  I like to have a large print, a small print, and a geometric of some sort, in this case the plaid. Sometimes, if I can get the right coodinates, I will go for a medium print, stripe, and a dot. I really enjoy the hunt of pulling the fabrics together. You just never know if it works, though, until it is completed.

I would recommend this pattern based on it s high cuteness factor. I would not recommend it for beginners. The pattern leaves off information, that in my opinion, would make this a more professional garment. I also think dealing with all the tissue and pieces could discourage a newbie. This really simple design became much more difficult due specifically to the directions, or lack thereof, and the way the pattern is printed, not for the faint of heart. I would definitely make this again and think it is quite darling and unique, just like my precious Carly who I know will look wonderful in this minty color....Bunny

The back:

Simplicity 2466, Carly's Circle Dress

Would you look at this mess? I have lots of issues with this pattern. Yesterday I went through my patterns for little girls and found this darling Daisy Kingdom dress, Simplicity 2466.

It is a full circle around with a separate hem band. The sleeves are gathered with elastic inside but the yoke is flat. It's an all around twirly girl dress including the flower at the neckline and the big flat flower on the skirt hem which is hard to see. It looks sort of like a sun rising out of the hem band. See that mess on the couch? Thats the four, larger than usual, pattern tissues for this dress. There are lots of pieces and the pattern takes a lot of fiddling. Some pieces are overlapped and need to be traced and others aren't. Separate pieces are drawn out for the shorter top. Why not just have a "cut here for top" line on the dress pieces? Clearly there is no worry about concern over our forests with all the paper used in this one. I haven't seen a pattern this big with so many pieces since my wedding gown, seriously. Anyway, its really cute and I'm powering through.

Because I only had a yard of the large print I came up a bit short on one part of the circular skirt. After talking it over with myself I remembered that often in bias garments there is piecing, so I just went for it. Here's what I did in case you ever have this problem.

First I arranged my pattern piece so it was on grain on my board. Then I cut the nasty raw edge so it was perpendicular to the grain, nice and straight. Then I had to look through what little was left to find an "almost" match. I knew I couldn't have a total match with the amount of fabric I had left. I matched it best I could while keeping the same grain on the new piece. I cut a strip long enough to fill in the missing fabric, stitched it on to the skirt, serged and pressed it. The I recut the pattern.  I think it looks quite good. At this point I am actually nearly complete on the dress and you don't even notice it.

I think it was a good save. Once that was done I started on the dress. I spent most of the day cutting yesterday. I haven't taken so long to cut something in a long time. I have three different fabrics being used here. That takes a lot of thought and time and going back and forth with the cutting.  I also had to make bias binding. All of that with adding on the missing fabric just took a lot of time before I could actually get started.

Once again, there is no mention in the pattern of interfacing or understitching. I interfaced the yoke and understitched. I mean, these dresses are clearly going to be made from lightweight, usually cotton, fabrics. They need interfacing, Pattern People! The better someone's finished garment comes out the more likely they will buy another pattern to sew some more, duh! Oy,,,,,all I have left to complete the dress is the hemband and I should get that on tomorrow....Bunny

Sophie's Knot Dress, Simp 2171

 

Pattern:  Simplicity 2171, a "Sarah Rose" design. Frankly, I don't know who Sarah Rose is and must do a google. This dress is easy, peasy with little fit issue. It is called a knot dress among the cognoscenti as the straps, which are sewn into the back bodice, come over the shoulders and in through a buttonhole and after adjusting, are tied in a knot to hold the dress up.  In this case I used the heavy turquoise lace I got at Fabric Place Basement for the straps. I did not want to knot the lace until I try it on Sophie so what  you are seeing are rolled up balls of lace, not the knots. This pattern has an optional apron which I gave a bit of smocking to as well as some ruffly bloomer type pants. Originally I was going to do the pants but there is enough volume here and I think this will be cute with a little white tee and some white leggings. 

                                                        (The buttonholes appear uneven. Not.)

Construction: There is nothing complicated here and this would be a great design for a beginner who is not afraid to make the big buttonholes on the front bodice. I did make a few changes, however:

*   I added piping to the waistline seam. Smocking just is not pretty butted up to a plain seam. 

*   I found the fabric just didn't have enough oomph to carry all of the volume of the skirt and apron. I backtracked at the end and interfaced the bodice. This helped prevent seam show-thru from the waist seam as well as give it needed support. Highly recommend you interface back and front bodices. You will be glad you did. 

*   To finish off the inside facing the seam was understitched as you can see. This is not recommended in the pattern. Again, all that skirt weight will pull those facing out, guaranteed. So, understitch! 

*    To further secure the facings, the raw edge was serged and then the facing was ditch stitched in the well of the underarm seam to prevent roll out. 

I pretty much followed the embellishment ideas from the pattern other than adding the smocking to the top of the apron, the extra row of lace to the bottom of the apron and the piping to the waistline.

I will definitely be making this again, for Carly next time. I am on the hunt for fabrics but so far have struck out. I highly recommend this easy, quick to make dress for any little girl who wants to twirl and catch a few rays in the sunshine...Bunny