Chocolate Caramel Explosion

Last year (when I bought this pattern) I thought that it would be just the perfect addition to my wardrobe.  This year - I'm not so sure.  It's the Alice and Olivia peasant blouse the red one.

V1245

I dawdled with the sewing.  There's not much that's really difficult with this blouse.  I actually followed the instructions, and yes, I made all french seams on the inside.  Guess you could almost wear this one inside out!  Mine is a cotton/silk voile.  Feels lovely.  Now I'm not so sure about the "explosion" pattern.  It does match (and sort of work with) my wide(r) brown linen pants.  That's about all that it goes with.  I think that the pants should, perhaps be much more narrow.  New dark brown pants?  Probably need to happen at some point before the end of the warm weather.  This isn't something that could be stuffed under a cardigan or a jacket.  Guess I've kept you in suspense long enough...

I did pull the elastic at the neck a bit tighter than prescribed - felt like the neck edge would fall of my shoulders at the least hint of movement.  The waist is on a drawstring - seems to me that it would be better with elastic, having the ties only for show.  The fabric is rather slippery, especially as "spaghetti strings" - I can just see having to retie that bow at the waist at least every 15 minutes.  I'm not crazy about the casing in the sleeves - it's just a tuck inside.  Makes the flounce hang in a "different" fashion to what I've come to expect.
As I look at the picture - no, actually, as soon as I put the pants under the blouse on Dummy, I thought that there might be hope for this blouse.  It's one of those items that I really have to wear for some hours before I can really decide if I like it or not.  Just standing in front of a mirror to see if something fits, doesn't really truly tell you if something is comfortable to wear.  For me, comfortable is something that I don't have to think about the whole time it's on me.  Some minor changes might have to be made.  Something tells me that tomorrow night's beginners' sewing class is not the right time to try out this blouse - I pretty well have to be a whirlwind at those classes, just to make sure that no-one goofs too badly.  Now - lounging around someone's backyard with wine glass in hand - that's more the appropriate time.

A Tale of two shirts

No, I had no intention of copying Gail, but I also decided to sew shirts.  It was still too cold to really get into "summer sewing", but the long sleeves make these imminently more wearable at this time of year.
I decided to compare shirt patterns, to see what I liked best - to know for next time.  The patterns ...

 Vogue 2634 and McCalls 5433.  In some ways similar, in some ways not.  The McCalls is more fitted, due to the vertical darts, so I suppose if I wanted to make it a blousier fit, I could just omit those.

The white print is the McCalls.  The gold is Vogue.  Both fabrics are voile, though the gold is much crisper than the white.
McCalls has a sewn-on front band.  The Vogue is simply turned under twice at the front edge.  Much faster to turn under a straight edge and press it down than sewing and topstitching a separate band.  So - if speed is crucial - Vogue wins.
Collar stands ...

I quite definitely prefer the McCalls - it's wider, easier to place and sew the buttonhole.
Cuffs ...

I prefer the McCalls, which ends flush with the edge of the opening.  That cuff extension always bothered me - looks a little too homemade?  There is not too much of a difference in the width of the cuff, but the two buttons do make the cuff sit more neatly on the wrist.
The McCalls sleeve is a two-piece.  Don't quite understand why.  Not like it's really fitted, as a jacket.  Though, I suppose, if one has arm-fitting-issues this would make the process easier?  Both patterns have the seam at the back of the sleeve.  Why?  No placket.  Just turn under the seam allowance and stitch.  And what is one to do with the raw edges that happen at the top of that opening?  I cam up with a less-than-perfect solution ...

a long bar tack across all the raw edges.  I do think that this needs rethinking.  Perhaps next time (and there will, I'm sure, be plenty more next times) the sleeve could be redrawn to place the seam at the underarm.  A placket sewn on to avoid those nasty raw edges.
I attempted pictures of me wearing the blouses ... outside.  It seems that I am finally getting the hang of camera settings indoors, but not for outdoors.  Very, very bad photos.  I'll try again when I make pieces that go with the

Olive

It's too cold to really get excited about summer clothes.  I'm definitely sick of the winter woolies, though a certain number of them does get pressed into service to keep me warm enough to function.  Thought I'd work on items that can get worn now, because I'm all about instant gratification - sew and wear.
Another shirt dress - this time it's Vogue 8028.  Seems it's OOP, but still available.  I made this up a few years back, so no surprises in the fitting department.  The fabric is a rayon challis that my sister-in-law bought to make a skirt.  I managed to squeek out the dress, but no collar and only three-quarter length sleeves.

The belt is a rather ancient one that I made many years ago, in suede.  Nothing terribly inspired about this dress.  It's pretty well "out of the package".  Sometimes that's the way it is.  It does work rather well with the jacket that I made a while back, that also has three-quarter sleeves.

It's difficult to pair necklines with this jacket.  A regular collar looks dumb, so I'm rather happier with just the standing collar.

Of course I put pockets in the side seams.  Now I can jam my hands into those pockets when I shouldn't be waving them around.

And, of course. a little snap at the waist to keep everything in place and lined up.

Easter polka dots

The best laid plans ...  I really started to post this a, um, number of days ago.  The internet seemed a bit slow, but what the heck.  When I started downloading the photos, well ... after 20 minutes and only half a photo loaded I decided that this just wasn't going to happen.  Then life took over, and well, yes, it's been some time, but I'm finally posting my Easter outfit.
The fabric has been marinating for some time and so has the pattern.  I'm happy that inspiration hit when I put these two together.  A hint of vintage? 

Vogue 8026

 

 The fabric is a heavier silk broadcloth with (obviously) printed polka dots in cream.  Turned out to be quite the beast to cut out.  "A few flaws in the printing - no problem - I'll cut around them."  Famous last words.  Turned out that there were so many flaws, that what appeared to be loads of fabric for this outfit, was just barely enough, and I had to incorporate a few not too obvious flaws, hoping that they wouldn't jump out at everyone.  Sometimes a deal isn't really a deal.  The collar and cuffs are cream silk dupioni.  I think that it would have been too boring in straight polka dots.  The pattern called for shoulder pads.  My shoulders don't really need extra padding (except maybe to soften the bones), so I left those out, which did require an alteration to the shoulder line and therefore also the top of the sleeve.  Otherwise - nothing terribly exciting in the construction.  The pattern instructions were rather odd in places, so I chose to ignore them and did my own thing.  One thing I did try to check was the direction to press the tucks in the front.  The instructions for that particular operation made absolutely no sense whatsoever.  Sometimes it just doesn't pay to waste time on deciphering these things.

Back view of the skirt - cute little tab at the top of the pleat.  This time I decided not to crop out my photography assistant.  And now for a really bad shot, of "how it was worn", and the only reason for this is - it gives a much better idea of the actual colour of the fabric.

Yes, those are vintagey-looking green shoes.  That was my "shot of colour" for that outfit.  (Hmmm.  Must place camera a little higher up next time, I think.  Or perhaps I'll just stick to "dummy" pictures.)

Next dress is already sewn - just needs a press before it heads up to the closet.  I promise not to lag so much before my next post!

Chocolate jeans

I have a love-hate relationship with jeans.  They are practical.  They have lots of pockets - not that I ever stash much in those pockets, but it's nice to know that they're there.  Problem is, when you're bony, all those converging seams and rivets all seem to end up sitting on my hip bones.  It's downright painful after a few hours of wear.  Finding a pair that fits is next to impossible.  My last attempt (a number of years ago) at store-bought jeans resulted in an hours-long alteration session to take in many inches at the waist.  I decided to expand my pants sewing horizons - it's boring to have umpteen pairs of pants all cut from the same pattern.  So - my attempt at comfortable jeans.

Vogue 7608

These are from Sandra Betzina's first jeans pattern, which is now OOP, but still available.  I used stretchy waleless corduroy.  Not quite a velveteen.  Quite a bit of altering needed to get a better fit, and - truth be told - they're not exactly what would be considered a "perfect" jeans fit.  (I'm not including the derriere shot.)  I don't care.  They're comfortable.  Any tighter and I probably wouldn't wear them.  May-be I'm just not a jeans person.

 Topstitching is in grey - upholstery thread, just because I had plenty of it.  I topstitched every single seam, and questioned my sanity while stitching on the inseam when the outer seams were already stitched up.  It was like sewing in a never-ending tunnel!

No, I didn't follow the lovely curvy line on the pockets for topstitching - just had to be different.  Notice, too, these don't have a waistband in the back - just a yoke.  I suppose that makes it easier for fitting.  Oh - I had to add a fair bit in length, as I found this pattern to be quite short for my legs, and I'm not tall.

 Last but not least - the gory details inside.  Used up the scraps from my animal print skirt from last summer for facings and pockets.
When I decide to venture into jeansland again, I think I might try another pattern.  Overall, though, I do have a comfortable, wearable pair of jeans, even if they're not quite what others would consider to be well-fitting.

Mea maxima culpa

I must begin with an apology.  I did not intend to go missing from the blog world for such a long time.  (Life just got a little too complicated.)  That in and of itself is no great sin, but it turned out that I managed to go off the radar just at the time that Peggy nominated me for an award.  I did not respond in any way and that was unbelievably rude on my part.  My excuse is ignorance, since I have not been "checking in".  I thank you very much for the honour, Peggy, and I beg forgiveness.   Since I cannot even seem to keep up normal repartee, I certainly do not deserve any award.  Please allow me to just go on from here.

Missing from blogging does not mean missing from the sewing room, because even a little work accomplished while I have my morning coffee will result in something done over a period of time.  So...

The plan was to finish up winter sewing while I cold still get a few wears out of these wooly items.  I managed a jumper, started a coat...  The weather became unseasonably warm and I couldn't bear handling the heavy wool coating, so that was rolled up and put away till the fall.  Now the weather is back to "normal", so I did get to wear the jumper.  From here on in, though, it'll be onto warmer weather sewing.

Vogue9282

Simplicity 2539

Ah, yes, the jumper...  At one point I weas trolling around the Simplicity site and was rather taken with the jumper on this pattern.  Nothing else appealed to me - just the jumper.  I thought about buying the pattern, but then I was browsing in my pattern drawer and came across this Vogue pattern.  With a little reconstructing...  So - jumper View C (that's the white one), eliminate the buttoned front by putting the centre front on a fold.  Neckline from View A (that's the brown one).  Add a centre back seam for a zipper, and you get...

The blouse is from a while back.

The fabric is a pinstripe wool suiting - I know, I know - brown again.  It's fully lined, though I also made facings.  I seem to have a fear of lining showing at the edges if there is no facing.

 To "dress it up" a little, I did three rows of topstitching in a heavier brown thread at the neckline and armholes.

Right - you'd be wanting to see me in the jumper.  Very boring on the hanger.  A little better in real life.

 I rather like jumpers - sort of like having a skirt and vest all in one, but much less bother to wear.

Looks like I have rather a lot of catching up to do on what everyone else has been sewing!

Frustration, boxers and aprons

I'm having a little bit of a "crisis".  Must be from all that non-stop sewing in January.  I'm feeling rather frustrated.  It's getting to the end of winter.  All my sewing plans are nowhere near complete, nor could they possibly be.  I think that I have no real concept of how much sewing I can actually accomplish.  I make lists and grandiose plans, and I completely forget that besides sewing there are other things in life.  Now add to that the fact that this has been the case for a good number of years.  Every time I look at the fabrics that I have in the cupboard, I realize that so many have been there for years (even decades?) and my frustration level rises.  Last year I decided to keep statistics, just to prove to myself that I actually accomplish more than I think I do.  (Very cute little spread sheet that adds up numbers all by itself - just to prove that I can do such things!)  What those statistics proved was that I sew far too much, but much more than half of what I sew is for others.  No wonder I don't see results in my closet!  Who made the rule that I have to present handmade gifts for every occasion?  Oh - and then there are all those patterns that I absolutely had to have - still unopened, waiting to be put to use.  Let's then add all the pictures that I've clipped and pinned to the bulletin boards that were supposed to be inspiration, but now only cause more frustration because I haven't been able to use those ideas yet.  When I start to think of all of this, then add to that all the amazing ideas that I see on all the blogs - I think that I will explode.  If only I could sew and do nothing else for the next ______ what? week? month? year? then possibly I could catch up.  But then I would have to stop looking at new ideas.  I definitely need a reality check.
In an attempt to calm myself down, I decided that I needed a new game plan.  For starters - no more statistics.  It really doesn't matter how much I produce, so long as I am happy with the results.  I will not make long lists of planned sewing that cannot possibly be realized.  One item or outfit at a time to be completed before moving on to the next.  Some items come together quickly - some items will take a while longer.  I do not have to measure my output against everyone else out there.  I would really like to mostly use what I already have on hand - so that I don't have to keep looking at it in the fabric cupboard!  Wardrobe plans are wonderful - they just are not for me.  I've tried many a time to "plan" my wardrobe.  Impossible!  Perhaps if I was starting from scratch...  I just know where the gaps are in my wardrobe, and then there are the things that I "just want".
So what have I actually been sewing while pondering these very serious issues?  Well, I did make another full set of covers for the daybed in the TV room, using up an old tablecloth, coverlet, etc.  (Sorry - no new pictures for the moment!)  A certain someone has decided that this is now his bed.  Pulling an old sheet over the bed doesn't work to keep the doggy dirt at bay - he just pulls it off, arranges the (new) feather pillows to his liking and plops himself on top very comfortably.  To make a long story short, I decided that two sets of covers would just make my life easier - one in the wash and one on the bed.  One definite problem here - this is supposed to be the place that I can lounge comfortably while watching a movie.  Why is it that I need permission from the dog to do so?
Well, and then there was my son's birthday present...

I couldn't resist those prints!  Boxers fit for a chef.  It was actually very hard to choose - there were all manner of vegetables and fruit.  (Don't worry - that's not the only thing that I sent!)
Still in "kitchen mode"... aprons for the church kitchen.

Oops!  Sorry!  Didn't realize that this was so badly out of focus!

Lovely prints.  Nice heavy cotton.  Three aprons of each print.  If I hadn't turn these fabrics into aprons I would have done something stupid like like trying to figure out how to make use of these in my wardrobe - lovely fabrics, just not my style.  At the last church dinner everyone in the kitchen was sporting a new apron - much better than those old holey ones that they usually wear.
I have now moved on to clothing for me.  I'm feeling much better about things.  Thank-you for listening to my ranting!