One stitch at a time... Aster progress

Hi all!

I'm trying to keep myself together during the last weeks of the academic year while feeling rather disconnected from it all. I took the General Surgery exam today which was a complete disaster that left me physically drained, so I couldn't finish the Aster I started, but a stitch a day will eventually result in a complete garment. I often expect that surgery will make sense to me, just as sewing usually does, but the reality is different. While nothing in medicine is ever black and white multiple choice questions tend to focus on the grey area in which choosing the "correct" answer is sometimes impossible; especially if you're the kind of person that always overthink things and don't accept "raw edges" in anything in life. I'm trying to remind myself that unlike these weird and crazy exams in real life I can sometimes find a place where I belong, and manage scenarios much better... and maybe I should also work on that "raw edges" thing. Imperfection can be perfect in its own way.

Back to sewing - I bought the Aster pattern immediately upon its release, a very rare impulse purchase, because at the time I was looking for a button down (or up? can you please explain the difference?) pattern that is less boxy and casual than the Archer, and also a pattern that offers short sleeves with cuffs along with the traditional long sleeve (with a tower placket!). The only down side of the pattern is the C cup bust that it is drafted for. I usually make a Small Bust Adjustment on my tops anyway (to correct the standard B cup to my AA), but I was afraid the pattern will not suit my body type, being drafted for a more traditional woman figure than mine. 

the Small Bust Adjustment for the Aster recommends the sewer to choose the size based on the circumference of the full bust corrected to a C cup. According to this I should have made a size 4 or 6, based on my "corrected" bust measurement (I have a 85cm full bust, with 85cm upper bust. true story). After overthinking it (for months) I decided to go with a size 2 according to my true full bust measurement with 1 cm extra, and do a 0.5" SBA on each front. Despite what it appears to be, sewing isn't pure math... 

Instead of sewing a complete muslin I decided to try a quick test garment with the only piece of stash fabric I don't really like - I got it from a friend's mother, while the print is crazy in a good way, the fabric itself feels like plastic. 

Despite breaking all the sewing rules, neglecting all the notches and not pressing any of the seams, the more progress I make the more I like this shirt. I only have the hem and buttons to complete and it might end up a wearable garment!

I feel stupid for putting off this project just because I was afraid from making a mistake - cutting the wrong size and ruining good fabric. The more I read about fabric waste and the ecological impact the more guilt I feel towards my NEED to create with PHYSICAL MATERIAL. I can't live only on the virtual world and fabric is like air to me. Depriving myself of it just because I'm afraid to increase my ecological footprint is such a burden, so is avoiding new patterns just because they might not suit me. At the end re-sewing TNTs or only attempting shape-less garments that require little to no fitting is not fun. It is extremely practical, but not crafty. Working on a new pattern and not thinking too much about the end result is so liberating. Like a child crafting in the present and not worrying about the space it will occupy in the world and such.

So with that positive spirit I'll leave you with a picture of me trying on my almost-complete Aster proudly worn over my me-made pajamas (city gym shorts, and a tank from a slip pattern).

I thought of sewing another Aster (the practicality!) but after a successful challenge I would like another... Now I'm thinking of sewing the Victoria blazer using a colorful bright floral I have in my stash. What do you think?

Wedding dress #1 (and the Linden I made while procrastinating)

Hi all!

I'm glad to report that the pre-clinical-rotations-two-months-of-frontal-lectures-hell is behind me! I past the exam and my body (and mind) are slowly recovering. Sitting in class all day IS NOT FOR ME and I'm glad I'll never have to go through this again in my life.

As I mentioned before, we are getting married in the beginning of February. We've been living together for several very happy years, so getting married and formalizing our relationship was not a surprising step for anyone. Therefor I naively thought that everyone will accept our opinions regarding the ceremony itself, and will let us hold it in a way that suits our lifestyle. I was wrong... Weddings in Israel are big (and expensive), the stadard is an evening wedding with dinner and a dance party (DJ included), in which guests are expected to give money as a present, to cover the costs of the party. Needless to say, this kind of celebration isn't really for me... but as the wedding ceremony is also a gift we give the families, we are doing what we are asked to do, while trying to fit it into our lifestyle as much as possible. 

Having a "standard wedding" is difficult for me as my mother died when I was young, and nothing can make up for the fact my only wish for this happy occasion would be that she could witness it. therefore I tried as much as I could to push aside the traditions, the "should" and the "proper", and make this night about love and happiness in a less formal way. Unfortunately, as I wrote above, not all of my wishes were granted and for the past weeks I was just sad about this entire thing. 

I know it makes very little sense, as I get to spend everyday with the love of my life, and one night in which I put other people's wills above mine will not change it. But I still struggle with letting go of the things that will not be as I wish, despite knowing I'll enjoy this night no matter what.

Anyway, the wedding dress and all that involves my appearance is one place were I can do whatever I want (within reason). The process of designing my outfit started with deciding about several topics:

Do I want to make my own dress, rent it, or buy it?

Well, that was the easiest... I think that making my own dress will not only save money but will allow my to wear (almost) exactly what I have in mind. It will also spare me long hours of looking for an RTW dress, fitting sessions etc. Most importantly, the making of a garment is part of the experience in wearing it. I think I'll feel more "me" in a garment I spent time working on.  

How much money am I willing to invest? Do I want to save money, or try working with high-end material?

I want to feel special and beautiful in my wedding dress (aren't we all...?), and it shouldn't look cheap. At the same time, this is a one-night garment, so I didn't want to invest a lot of money in fabric. I prefer to invest money on fabric for garments I'll wear more (such as high quality denim, that I already asked for my birthday). 

How much time do I want to invest in this project?

Nowadays sewing knits is all I want. The speedy work on the overlocker and the cozy result excite me. I have plenty of projects on my winter sewing list, and since winter-wear is my favorite to sew (and I would also like to sew a cascade coat this year), I don't want to spend all my free time on the wedding dress. Therefore, while I think dresses with lots of bead work and hand-sewn lace are amazing, it is probably not the project for me.  

What is the general style I'm going for? 

There are probably one-million dresses I would enjoy wearing. The waiting gown from Sex and the City would probably be my top choice as an inspiration, while the Vera Wand dress from Brides Wars is another one I always liked. However while I like this aesthetic I probably won't feel comfortable wearing such a big dress to this particular evening, so I started a pinterest board and realized I wanted something with less volume and more coverage. 

At the end (of admittedly a very short search session) I decided to use the two-piece outfit from Rue De Seine as the inspiration (it's at the bottom of the board). 

After a few weeks of procrastination I finely went fabric shopping with a friend. For the top I decided to use the snowball dress by Waffle patterns, the base layer would be made of cotton-sateen in off-white, and the top either from lace we bought or from a lace shirt I already have (depending on the amount of lace needed). The skirt is "just" a full circle skirt cinched at the waist, made out of three layers of white chiffon and one layer of lining in cream sateen. 

I like the texture and pattern on the shirt I have so I hope I can use it for the dress (also, I got the shirt from my father's wife, and it feels special to integrate it into the dress)

 

Before we went fabric shopping, D jokingly said I can buy as much fabric as I'd like, but he will lock all my non-wedding-related fabric until I finish the dress, as I have no plan B and the wedding is getting closer (I don't really have time working on the dress during the week, and we still have to make all the decorations, since no made-in-China-by-children decorations will be part of our wedding...). Obviously Linden sweatshirts are made faster than the time it takes to persuade me to confront 20 meters of white slippery fabric, so this one was made immediately:

 

(Worn here with my Go-To Knit Pants. I know I promised a review but I'm still not sure what I think of this pattern). This is my 4th Linden, this one is made from Scuba knit I bought along with the aforementioned ridiculous amount of white fabric, and put immediately into good use. I made straight size 2 based on my measurements, and surprisingly my broad shoulders don't need extra room. Please note: Linden comes with 1/4" seam allowance!

After finishing my Linden I was ready to conquer the piles of white fabric, which meant I had a "white Christmas" after all! The results of this first sewing session will follow shortly. 

Till then, Happy Christmas and may you all have a fabulous end to 2015!

   

 

Strathcona by Thread Theory - endless possibilities

Hi all!

I know Matt and Morgan from Thread Theory have a discount on their Strathcona pattern and since I've made this pattern many times I thought I'd share my versions. While this pattern is designed for men, my first make resulted in one of my favorite loose-fitting shirts ever and many versions followed. Some are still in progress, waiting for mojo (=I can't bring myself to cut the welts, as you'll see below) or for a change of thread color on the overlocker. While I've never blogged about these makes, I did try to take some pictures. Some pictures are rather old, and some are selfies in front or our mirror (dirty-mirror selfies used to be legit blog pics a few years ago!), but it will have to do.

Following my first try, I used the only knit fabric in my stash at the time to make this version: 

  

The fabric was bought to make D a Strathcona but I really wanted to make another version for myself and the only garment he ever asked me to make him is a button down shirt (I'm waiting for a pattern so D is still waiting for a shirt), so I went for it. This version is still un-hemmed but I wear it all the time. I added sleeve bands and narrowed the sleeves, and I like the puffy look of it. I started with size M but changed the shoulders and narrowed both the back and the front, so I have no idea what size it is now. D is wearing his jeans version of the Jedediah pattern, btw.

I also played with the back neckline, tried to lower it considerably but the end result is more of a low boat neck rather than the design I was going for: 

Even though I wanted a lower back neckline I still like the end result because it's low enough to be irregular but high enough so the bra doesn't show. The pictures were taken during a hike we took, so they demonstrate how well this tshirt fits in my wardrobe. 

Following this successful experiment I went on and made another one: 

I tried to avoid unfortunate pattern placement, but got into some trouble when I realized the pattern was completely off grain. It took me a while to identify the problem, it appears that the vertical and horizontal lines don't meet in exactly right angle. As a result I couldn't win this game and ended up with a weird pattern going diagonally. I got used to it after a while, and people don't seem to notice it anyway. Both tshirts are in constant rotation and have the perfect silhouette for dance lessons (I dance flamenco).

At this point the weather started to change and the days became colder (yep... It was 6 months ago). Considering I had only a few winter clothes (have no idea how this happened) I had become an overlocker monster and started sewing knits as if my life depended on it. I went to the textile district with the sole goal of purchasing enough knit fabric to create a  variety of winter clothes so I can lengthen my laundry cycle (my life-goal is 2 weeks, currently at 10 days so I'm getting there!). I wanted to play with the Strathcona and see how it would look in different types of fabric, and also expend the variety of materials with which I work. For the next make I tried a sweater knit in purple, and the result is still one of my favorite garments and is in constant rotation:

Worn here with my moss skirt, a garment I finished ages ago but never written about, and secret pajamas in the form of fleece leggings. Other accessories are a grumpy face and tired eyes, it was cold, early in the morning, and a work-day, so... I'm not giant, btw, our fridge is rather small. I love sleeves in unusual lengths so for this version I used the original sleeve length of the Strathcona, which is super long for my frame. I added cuffs and I like the extra material bunching around my wrists. The cuffs also help in preventing wind from freezing me on my way to work so it's a win!

After yet another successful version I wanted to push it, test if I could hack the pattern and create raglan sleeves. 

The first result of this experiment is this grey sweatshirt (if you look close enough you'll notice I'm wearing it over the purple version, and a red version which was a fail):

 

When I first tried it on, I felt I was wearing an armor rather than the cuddly grey sweatshirt I was going for and I didn't know if I'll keep it or give it away. After 3 months of constant wear the fabric had softened considerably, and I finally hemmed it. The fabric is a bit strange: it has almost no stretch (except for the mechanical stretch of the knit), and it unravels a bit which is very unusual for a knit fabric. 

To test the raglan again I tried another version with sweater knit:

 

I used matching ribbing (all the starts aligned and I found matching ribbing!) and matched the pattern across the raglan seams. I wear it and I like it, but not as much as the purple version. in hindsight set-in sleeves could have been a better choice for this fabric. Also I'm freezing in this picture, it was taken during a snow day while I was sewing brocade ultimate trousers and wanted a picture to help me judge the fit. It's a story for another post though.

After experimenting with the raglan variation my verdict is - next time I'll use the Linden pattern. Jen is an alchemist when it comes to everyday clothes and I want to try her raglan pattern!

I did however tried another hack of the Strathcona. Using my raglan variation I wanted to make a bomber jacket. I had a blue version of the grey fabric in my first raglan try and floral neoprene in my stash, both perfect for this experiment. I hacked the raglan some more, and while both version are still in progress I think I'll like the end result:

both versions are worn here with go-to knit pants, a pattern I'll review soon. In order to achieve better fit across the shoulders I added a shoulder dart, and narrowed the front some more. At this point there's barely any resemblance between the current pattern and the original Strathcona, I guess you can call it pattern evolution. 

I'm stuck here, because I can't decide on the welt pockets placement. Additionally I want to draft the pocket bags in such a way they'll be caught in both the zipper seam and the bottom band seam. I still need to draft the facings and decide what to do with the lining. Both versions are stretchy, and I don't want the lining to compromise mobility. I think I'll do a partial lining - only line the body of the jacket and leave the sleeves un-lined. I'll add a pleat at the back to increase mobility. I'm in no rush, though, and don't mind having a few UFO's sitting around waiting for my mojo. I rather take my time than end up with a garment I'm not happy with.

The weather is colder than expected, but my sewing list includes a couple more versions of Strathcona with short sleeves and cuffs once I find fabric I like. I love everything about this pattern and am looking forward to future variations.

Please tell me I'm not alone here with my womenized Strathconas!

Work in progress - quilt

Am I the only one overestimating the amount of sewing I can do in one (short) weekend? For this weekend I planned no less then 4 garments (moss skirt, knit top, "lady skater" dress and ultimate trousers). However when I came back home Friday afternoon I realized I had way too many UFOs to start new projects this weekend. I had the black Summer Dress that needed hemming and our new quilt I started in April. While I wanted to start new fall projects, especially after some realizations post OWOP, I know better than piling up UFOs. 

The hem on the black dress was done within a matter of minutes using a double needle. I started hemming the dress using a blind stitch, but since it's a knit dress I thought it wouldn't be sturdy enough. I've yet to take any "finished garment" pictures so I'll wait with posting about the process with this one. 

The quilt, however, is a different story. I started it months ago and planned on using a simple solid yellow for the back. But I had too many triangles left over from the top and I don't like scraps. I spent some time designing the back using the triangles but few weeks have past and I haven't started sewing it. A week ago I realized it will never happen. The new design required more cutting and calculating things (and converting cm to inches and vice versa), and I wasn't up to it. So yesterday I decided to just do it, stitched it, and today I finally basted the quilt sandwich. 

I had to move all the furniture and just barely had enough floor space to lay it down. I taped the back right side down to the floor, smoothing the fabric as much as I could.

 I was so happy to finally take the backing out of the closet. It took up so much space!

 I used all the pins I have, knowing I'll have to take the quilt off the machine and back on the floor mid-quilting to smooth the fabric and re-distribute the pins from areas I would already have quilted. 

I'm more than half way through with the free-motion quilting, my favorite part (and the reason I made the quilt in the first place...).
I hope I can finish it in next next few days, so it'll be off my "to do" list and on our bed!