Saying Hello...and Saying Good-bye

 

Good morning, friends!  (And to my beloved Kiwis, why are you still up?  Lights out!)

As you can see from the photo above, I've been pattern drafting again -- this time a top -- and if you're wondering where you've seen that outfit before, I believe Ann-Margret wore it in "The Pleasure Seekers."  Or was it Carol Lynley?

So much to tell today, friends.

First the good news.  Please help me welcome three yards of striped poly chiffon to my fabric family!

 





This will become my McCall's 1929 dress very shortly.  For you burnout and paisley fans, well, I'll make it up to you somehow.

And now on a more somber note, today we must also say good-bye.





I bought nearly five (!) yards of this glittery poly chiffon (the end of a bolt) back in my pre-Male Pattern Boldness days with the intention of making Cathy something slinky and chic with it.  Unfortunately no sooner did I get it home than I realized that this heat-transfer glitter fabric will shed glitter on EVERYTHING, ALWAYS.   Pinhead-sized sparkles will show up in your carpeting, on your pets, under your fingernails, and in your stool.  Today it becomes somebody else's headache.  (If you're interested in it, it should be for sale at the Salvation Army in Chelsea by noon.)  I can't be bothered with it.

I worked on my self-drafted top yesterday and there's still much work to be done.





I want to shift the side dart on the front piece (right) to the bottom so I can adapt this for a men's shirt, among other things.  I'll probably stitch up another muslin today with a deeper armhole too.



Paired with those cigarette pants, it makes quite a statement though I'm loathe to consider just what that statement is; I'm sure you can think of something witty but please be kind.

That's it, kids!  Much to do.  I hope you're happily stitching away wherever you are.  Everybody seems to be suffering from either too much heat or too much cold.  Anybody out there happy with their weather?

Oh and regarding my stripes: Should I cut the yoke on the bias?  I don't think I'll underline the yoke, but if I do, do I cut the yoke underlining on the bias too or cut it parallel to the selvage?   Nancy?  Debbie? 

Happy Thursday everyone!

"Oh, SHI--chiffon!" I'm in trouble.

NOTE: This post includes images that may cause temporary double-vision, vertigo, nausea and/or fatigue.  MPB is not liable for any resulting injuries or accidents to readers.   Please avoid if pregnant or using prescription medication.

Readers, look closely at the image above.  Do you see a pattern?   Does it repeat and where?

Look again.  Take a minute or two.



There is a pattern here, rest assured.  A very, very WIDE and subtle pattern.

Now look at this:



And this...



And this...



Loyal followers and lurkers, can you see what the problem here is?  Can you see why after a noon meeting uptown today that rest assured is not psychotherapy not that I wouldn't benefit from some at this point I will be heading back to the fabric store?

I can hear your collective groan of empathy and I thank you.  It means a lot to me to know you're there, wherever there is and half the time I have no idea.  I try to keep things in perspective.  This is not the BP oil spill or even the Exxon Valdez.  In fact it rates no worse than the Titanic and much less than the Jonestown Massacre.  Life goes on.

I will use this lovely periwinkle and lavender print, oh yes, I will.  Gathered and and covered with cheap beads, it's very lovely.  It will make a beautiful caftan, beach cover-up, or dress so flowing your eye never tries to make out what's actually going on with those artsy-fartsy medallions.

 

But the bodice, well really the whole front of my Twenties dress is flat.  Very flat.



A confession.  Confused and impatient to hear some words of validation last night, I took my problem directly to the Pattern Review message board.  (What was I supposed to do, post something here at MPB and hope that some reader in New Zealand would be up at 2 am my time?  I don't even know where New Zealand is, or Old Zealand for that matter.)

Anyway, a few kinds souls on Pattern Review confirmed my worst suspicion: this chiffon print is not meant for this dress.

Oh well.

Readers, has this ever happened to you?    Have you ever fallen for and purchased a print fabric that, upon closer examination at home, was wrong for your project?   Did you paid more than $2/yd for it?

That would make me feel much, much better.

Finally: what do you think about big polka dots?  Stripes?

Have a great day, everybody!

My Twenties dress: new fabric, new plan!

So thanks to popular demand, I've chosen McCalls 4907, the Twenties dress with the front and back yokes, as my next project for Cathy.  Isn't democracy great?

Now, as I mentioned over the weekend, I was thinking of using a black cotton velvet fabric which has since been identified as a burnout.   (Not a very propitious name if you ask me.)

I went fabric shopping yesterday and took a closer look at it and, I don't know, it just doesn't say "youth" to me.  It says funeral.  Rudolph Valentino's funeral.

Honestly, lovely as it is, it isn't summery or lightweight enough.



So I dug around the store and came up with this poly chiffon -- a totally new approach.



I'll be underlining front and back with this:



The two fabrics work well together and drape beautifully.  (I'll use light-colored serger thread, promise.)



The dress pattern itself suggests a similar look:



I just love this palette, especially for summer, and I think it's going to flatter Cathy tremendously.  It's not bad on me either... (it's actually paler than it appears here, as in pic below).



I'm not sure what this pattern is called; perhaps one of you knows.  I want to say it's Indian, but maybe not.  Is it Middle Eastern, European?  Any art history majors out there?



I felt a little guilty making this executive decision without consulting you guys, but what could I do?  I looked at a lot of fabric and some lovely, lovely things, some of which might have been harder to sew.  Let me deal with the challenge of underlining before I tackle velvet and silk.

Finally, I got this poly chiffon for $2/yd -- DING DING DING!   You already know how my mind works.

I hope to get this underway today though I'm supposed to meet my brother and future SIL to pick wedding invitations.  This is what happens when you're an arbiter of style, I guess.

So...the fabric?   What do you think?

Hot Monday Meltdown + GOALS

Good morning, sewists and welcome once again to my north-facing living room wall.

I don't know about the weather where you are but it is HOT in NYC.  And humid.  That said, it was breezy enough at 6:15 a.m. for me to wear my new self-drafted gray pants when I walked the dogs, and while they didn't exactly stop traffic, I didn't hear snorting under one's breath either.

Yesterday's post inspired me to dig out those Kwik Sew pants I made last month with those tiny gathers on the outer edge of the front pockets I obsessed about and, you know, those pants are SO much nicer than I'd remembered them and those gathers are hardly visible.  Does that ever happen to you: something you thought was SUCH a big flaw in your sewing project and weeks later you don't even know what the big deal was?

What I really need now are shorts -- did I mention it was hot here?  Maybe I'll whip something up in the coming days.

But first let's review last week.  For me it was all about drafting pants.  And speaking of pants and shorts -- look what Prada just showed in Florence this week!

Separated at birth? 



I'm like, Hello Miuccia?

So back to my week:

1.  I continued pattern drafting.   I drafted culottes and a pair of pants -- OK, so they were Audrey Hepburn-esque cigarette pants, but still.

2.  I made my first pair of self-drafted man pants, which I presented here yesterday.

3.  I bought Cathy a bathing suit pattern in anticipation of our trip to Fire Island next month.  More about that in the coming weeks.

I think that's it; shopping with Shona is less an accomplishment than a lack of fiscal discipline.

Now for the week that spreads before us like hot tar on a parking lot:

1. I want to continue on in my pattern drafting book to Lesson 4: Tops.   This is a relief as I'm really getting tired of fitting my hips.  Then we can move on to real shirts.

2.  It's time to get started on Cathy's Twenties party frock.  With your help I think I've decided on the pattern and main fabric, I just have to figure out the underlining thing.

3. Maybe I'll make myself some shorts.  Or just chop the legs off something I've made in the past.

But enough about my sweaty existence.  What's going on in your hot corner of the world?

Mainelydad: Happy Father's Day and how is that ongoing Japanese pattern drafting book coat project coming along?  Pattern Junkie: The skirt, the skirt, did you finish the skirt?  Elle: Belated congratulations on your daughter's wedding and how's that knit dress looking?  Jenny: Did you make the Father's Day shirt?  How did it turn out?  Ruth: Baby quilt update please.  Lisette: Did you finish the Ruby shorts?  indywriter: What are you sewing these days; I'm very confused.

Whew!  Glad that's over.  We're out of milk so I haven't had my coffee yet and it probably shows.   I made some peppermint tea but, lemme tell you, it's not the same -- though I do feel calmer.  So I'm not going to rag on you collectively.  You're all doing well...ish.  And when it's this hot, can we really ask for anything more?

I'm a little concerned about some of you who describe sewing machine repair issues cramping your style.   Get yourself to a thrift store or garage sale and for the price of lunch at Denny's you can get yourself some old backup mechanical machine that's probably as reliable as what you already have -- unless that happens to be another old mechanical machine.  They're practically giving those old machines away; won't you find it in your heart to give an orphan a home?

Last puppy pick of the day.  Freddy is the dog who does not like to be cuddled.  Tough!

So what are you sewing this week?  And how about this heat?

The Palace: So This Is Where the Asians Hang Out?, Chapter 7

Previously on The Palace: If theater ushering were like a CBS procedural

Peter's first self-drafted MAN pants

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there and their admirers. 

So I finished the jeans-style pants I made with my self-drafted pants pattern.  Last week I'd bought about three yards of a $2/yd. gray cotton weave (not really a twill) with a bit of stretch in it.

Using elements from a men's jeans Kwik Sew pattern I made pants with last month, I added fly, back patch pockets, front pockets, belt loops, etc.  I topstitched with plain old orange polyester thread.

The stretch in the fabric caused me all kinds of headaches.  My self-drafted pattern was sized for a fabric with no stretch, and I had to do a lot of stitching and ripping in the crotch, sides...basically everywhere, to make these fit well.  It's a minor miracle these came out looking as good as they do because at one point yesterday I'd resigned myself to making shorts.

Look closely at the weave.





It's not your usual twill but kind of resembles grosgrain ribbon.  Any insights, readers?  My knowledge of fabric is like, cheap or expensive.

The front, where I now have a fly, is an eensy bit wider than it might be; I think after I wash and dry them again they'll tighten up a bit all over.   Maybe I just need to drink more beer.



Frankly, these bear very little resemblance to my self-drafted pattern.  Once they were cut and front pockets attached, I just fit them to my body as best I could and threw seam allowances out the window.   Stitching up the inseam in particular, I had to cut a lot of fabric away.  The back pieces on a pair of jeans go every which way -- up and down, diagonally, sideways -- when they're stitched to the front pieces, and stretch complicates the fitting.  I did cut the fabric parallel to the grain so I don't get it.

The best part of the fit, imo, is the seat.  This is the last close up of my butt I'll post this month, promise!



So there you have it.  Very comfy jeans-style pants I drafted myself with a little help from Kwik Sew 2123 and lots of luck.  I'm SO over stretch fabrics, by the way -- enough.

Here's an album of project pics if you're so inclined, with a few gratuitous puppy shots thrown in.

Happy Sunday everybody, and I'll see you bright and early on the morrow!

The Palace: So This Is Where the Asians Hang Out?, Chapter 6

Previously on The Palace: Memorable movie theater outbursts