A few pieces of black clothing

It's been awhile since I posted anything. I have not been really busy so I'm not sure what has kept me from writing. It snowed here just after the new year. It was a beautiful couple of days.

I finished the Red Fox Quilt and gave it to our friend Chuck.  I used Elizabeth Hartman's Fancy Fox pattern...great pattern by the way. The quilt is about 48x40. I used a very soft flannel sheet on the back with a very modern pattern.

A couple of weeks ago I spent a Sunday afternoon making several pieces of black clothing. I had some knit/fleece fabric that I bought sitting in the studio and wanted to try to make a warm shirt. I have made several of the Jalie 2805 tee shirts and I think these are my favorite. They fit nicely and go together in about an hour. I bought a couple of cotton jersey bed sheets and practiced with those to make sure I really liked the end result. I have posted about making these shirts previously.  This time I made the shirt with a knit/fleece type of material that I had in my stash. Since the fabric is thicker the shirt is nice and warm.The only thing I would have done different is make it a crew neck instead of a V-neck, for some reason the fabric stretched out quite a bit around the neck. I had enough of the fabric left that I made a pair of leggings. I had some issues again with the elastic waist band again…but they fit and are nice and warm. I need to read about sewing with elastic then do a bunch of tests. I hate muslins or testing materials...even though I know it will help me in the end. I also made another little bag, this one with some of the left over Pendleton that I use to make my husbands Christmas shirt this year. 

I then pulled out some black rayon type fabric…again not sure where it bought the fabric or what the exact content is but it flows nicely & has a nice drape. I had a cotton slip that I really loved but the slip was falling apart. I made a difficult decision to take it apart so I could make a pattern. I had made a slip from the pattern a couple of years ago but since i used a quilting cotton the slip/dress was a little stiff. I made it again from a seersucker type of material and I loved it. Though I think the shoulder straps were a bit too thin. I felt the rayon type fabric was perfect, I could wear the slip/dress under a sweater in the winter or as a nice summer dress.

When I made the pattern the first time I felt the underarms were a little strange. So I looked a the original pieces and decided to add about 1/2" to the underarms. Well that was a little too much because now the underarms are too large. I think I have to use a facing or hem the neck and arms to make it fit better. That of course did not stop me from wearing the dress under a warm sweater last week. I'm always looking for simple summer dresses because I live in them all summer long. I think this pattern will work nicely after a few more tweaks. I guess I have to get out my pattern making books and read up on how to make the pattern to fit properly.

Sometimes it just fails

I got very excited when I saw the pattern hack for the Colette Florence Bra. One pattern hack for a lounge bra in jersey, the other for a fabulous slip, I bought the pattern and then set it aside as other things in life took priority. When I finally had a few hours started making the bra according the the original directions, so a couple of things quickly went south. I extra pieces and did not add 1" to the bottom of the band. .

I did a 3 step stitch zigzag stitch over the cup of the braw causing it to ruffle. I don't know what it's called but it's when the fabric stretches too much and instead of a nice smooth seam you have a wiggly seam. You can see it on the left cup, the right cup is just merged on the inside, no overstitch. 

  
Then I realized that I did not add the elastic to the front of the bra cups before I sewed them in place & I stitched the elastic to the sides of the bra cup instead of all the way around to the back. Even thought it looks kind of cute it was a complete fail. I could do some sort of rescue but I think instead of spending time fixing the mistakes I just need to start over.  Funny thing I read several reviews about the pattern and everyone said it was easy you just had to go slow and pay attention. I did neither. I think this could be a great comfortable bra to wear when relaxing so I plan to try it again. 
Oh on a mother note...I't hard to get your bra size straight. I have been wearing a 38C for a while but when I read instructions on the internet it said I was a 42B. So that also was a fail when I made this piece because I cut it out as a 42B...it was too big.
Like I said back to the drawing board...I committed to making more of my clothes and the includes underthings. I hope to start making my husband cute underwear...that's fun to wear.  

Sewing with Knits

I have crossed a couple of things off my sewing bucket list. I have seen several of the T-shirt quilts on blogs and I finally decided to follow a tutorial and make one. It's fairly simple I used this tutorial &  this tutorial that I saw in the Handmade Holidays series on Sew Mama Sew. I didn't have a lot of batting, so I used part of an old blanket in-between the t-shirt squares. This is a small 36"x36" blanket perfect for a cat bed. It's also amazingly soft. I want to make a larger one now. It's the effect way to use up small pieces of batting and puts old t-shirts to good use. I'm all about recycling whenever I can and I been hoarding t-shirts for a few years just for this type of project. I see a couple more of these t-shirt quilts in my future.
I also made a pair of leggings. I've had the Jalie 2920 pattern for a while but was afraid to try it. Strange that I would be afraid to try to make something. Sometimes I get it in my mind that it will not work and that puts up a barrier and keeps me from every trying. Well I was cleaning up my fabric collection and pulled out some stretchy black fabric that I bought 3 years ago to make yoga pants. The fabric was a little too stretchy and the pants fell right off me. I decided to make the leggings. The pattern is only one piece...it dosn't get any easier then that. I also found some non-rolling elastic to use for the waist. These leggings were so simple I made them in about an hour...that includes re-threading the serger and a couple of mistakes in my stitching. These black leggings fit great. This pattern would also work nicely as a pair of long underwear for my husband in the winter months. A serger makes this project go very fast but if you don't have a serger you can use a regular sewing machine too. I used my Brother sewing machine to put in the waist band, you can see the zig-zag stitch that I used in the waist band above. I love simple and quick projects that I can make is less than an hour, especially if they are things that I was afraid to tackle.

Alabama Chanin Dresses

I have several Alabama Chanin Dresses. The top photo shows off my favorite and likely the one I'm most proud...the Turquoise and Silver Paisley Fitted Tank Dress. This pattern is from Natalie's last book "Alabama Studio Sewing + Design". The pattern has 4 panels, making it really hard to mess up. The pattern is called the Fitted Dress/Skirt/Tunic you can make a skirt, a tunic or a dress all from the same pattern, just cut off the top or the bottom of the pattern piece. It's very simple and flattering pattern, the nature of knit fabric helps it fit to your own body. "Alabama Studio Sewing + Design" includes more stitches which compliment the simple lines of the patterns in this book. 

I have made 5 of the Tank Dress from Natalie's 2nd book "Alabama Studio Style". This is a 6 panel dress that flairs out quite a bit on the bottom. A fitted top with a nice swing to the skirt of the dress. The tank dresses were made with one layer of fabric except for the Burgundy Merino Wool with a mauve cotton layer under it. This dress is a very warm dress, last winter I wore it when we went sledding with the neighbor kids in the snow.  This dress has perfect panels for interesting and fun details. I reverse screen printed a chandelier then beaded the image on one of the dresses. Reverse screen printing uses a bleach to bleach out the color of the fabric. Sometimes you find wonderful colors under a dark color. You can use soft scrub...it contains bleach and works on most 100% cotton knit fabric. On the Merino Wool Dress I did some simple Eyelet stitches along the bottom of the dress. It adds a little interest and is something that I work on when I have time, it's a work in progress. 

I'm really looking froward to Natalie's next book due out in spring of 2015. She is taking pre-orders starting thursday October 30th.  She is also having a 24 hour sale at the factory and on line...25% off...for 24 hours on thursday October 30th. Get yourself a DIY kit so you have a new skirt or dress for Christmas, or give one of her DIY kits to the sewer in your life. 

I wear these dresses on a regular basis, they are comfortable and some of the easiest pieces of clothing I have ever made. When I think back to how afraid I was of knit fabric I laugh because in a lot of ways it's much easier then woven material. You can make clothes a little snug and the knit fabric will hug you and fit to your body. Very flattering! Of course there are some items that I have made that were WAY too big but that was mostly because I had chosen a 4 way stretch knit. I still have a lot to learn about knit fabric but I'm getting better with each garment I make. 

Alabama Chanin

The recent interest in Slow Sewing is interesting to me. I started hand sewing knit skirts after taking a workshop with Natalie Chanin in Portland Oregon several years back. She did an show in the gallery I was managing of her quilts (they are beautiful if you ever get a chance to see them in person). She offered the class to me for hosting her at the bookstore and having the show. I was hooked!! Sewing knit fabric by hand took all the fear out of sewing with knit fabric. Earlier this summer I bought another kit from Alabama Chanin because they were having a sale. It was the Facet Pattern. Now that is slow sewing…it has taken me all summer to complete the stitching on the 4 panels of the skirt…now I have to cut out the centers for the reverse appliqué  I also want to add some beading detail to the skirt. I hope to get it completed by Thanksgiving. 

 The top photo is of the 10 skirts I have made over the years (the most recent Facet skirt makes 11). I added beading detail to some skirts when I got a chance, I look at some of these skirts as a work in progress. I can keep adding detail when I have time. 

I have not even talked about the dresses I have made from the Alabama Chanin books. That is another post. 

Party Dress By Mary Adams

A couple years ago I took a class from dressmaker Mary Adams. I fell in love with Mary's work when I saw her book The Party Dress.  Mary makes the most beautiful dresses I have ever seen. The detail work is amazing. She makes a dress called the Bias Dress in which the skirt has been covered in bias cut fabric.  The actual dress is fairly simple a fitted bodice and a full skirt. The details are what make her dresses so wonderful and very desirable.

I love this dress though I do not wear it enough. 

This is one of the bias dresses made by a very talented lady in one of the classes. I forget to get her name but she made this dress for her daughter. 

This is one happy lady in the dress she made in our class. She looks like sunshine. 

The reason I'm telling this story is because today I received an e-mail for Mary Adams. She is going to be in Portland again for a convention called QUILT!KNIT!STITCH!. She was looking for ladies that took the class and completed a dress to be in a fashion show wearing the dress. Of course I was very excited to get the chance to show off my dress, but also to be asked by someone I really admire to be in HER fashion show. What an honor. So if you are at the QUILT!KNIT!STITCH! convention on Friday August 1, check out the Street Style Fashion Show from 1-1:45pm. I will be the one wearing a pink party dress.