Stashoholism Confessional and Book Recommendation

So, I've been feeling a little out of control on fabric buying lately.  I decided that I would not buy any fabric during Lent.  It's not that long, and heaven knows I don't need more fabric, or at least no need would arise in 6 weeks.

I blame Cidell for this.  She sent me a tweet from Fabric Mart about it receiving a shipment of Dry Flex knit.  You know I've been looking for good quality knits for months.  They had it in peacock, one of my favorite colors.  I tried my mantra, "There will always be more fabric."  (My other mantra:  "Buying more fabric keeps me from projects I love.")  But in fact, this kind of fabric is not easy to find and definitely not at that price, and Fabric Mart's stock was quite limited.

Because it has flat rate shipping, it is just economically foolish to buy only one piece of fabric from Fabric Mart.  Right?  (OK, fine, I know that the best "bargain" is spending no money at all.)  But they were also having a 20% off sale.  (There will always be more fabric.)

At any rate, the knit print was so cheap I couldn't pass it up, and it turned out to be really lovely in person.  The print is high end-looking, if that makes sense, and the light parts are light gray rather than white.

The dupioni will be great for a silk shell, of which I don't have enough.

The purple silk was on deep discount as there was only one yard left and it was just so pretty I had to give it a home.  It will be a lovely airy blouse.

Oh right, and the dry flex knit is AWESOME.  Very high quality, thick, good recovery.  It could even be used as a bottom-weight for yoga pants.  I ordered 3 yards and will be glad to have this available in my stash for years.

I have to say, I'm not sorry and I would do it again.  But from now on I really will endeavor to keep my Lenten pledge.

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Enjoying sewing does not mean that you enjoy fashion, and enjoying fashion does not mean you have any interest in the business of fashion.  But if you have an interest in the business of fashion (or , I would argue, business *or* fashion), you must read this fascinating book. 

It explores how luxury brands--couture houses such as Dior and Chanel, custom luggage makers such as Louis Vuitton and Hermes--went from tiny purveyors of wildly expensive goods to the very wealthy to aspirational and then to attainable by the middle class. Chapters cover the consolidation of luxury brands (LVMH being the behemoth), vertical integration of the supply and distribution chain, the development of smaller items such as perfume to drive revenue and brand recognition, the explosive rise in the market for luxury goods (or luxury-branded goods, at any rate) outside Europe and the United States, counterfeiting (chilling), and the move from fashion into "lifestyle."

I may not be making it sounds interesting, but trust me, it is *riveting.*

It's not perfect, of course, and I identified two negatives.

The first is not Thomas's fault: the book just happened to be published on the cusp of the Great Recession. So the tone that takes continued, free-for-all growth for granted is a bit quaint and the data is dated. In addition, one of the big stories of the Great Recession has been the stability of luxury brands. They are not recession-proof, but have not contracted to the same degree as other industries, from what I've read (the Wall Street Journal does an excellent job covering the business of fashion). It would have been interesting to read about that in the book.

The second is totally Thomas's fault, and is evident in the book's subtitle, "How Luxury Lost Its Luster." A more fitting subtitle would have been "The Democratization of Luxury" or "How Luxury Became Big Business." But there is a tone throughout that indicates Thomas's great regret is that "true" luxury disappeared before she could join the luxury class.  The last chapter is devoted to reassuring the reader that the rich still have ways to spend lots of money on things that ordinary people cannot obtain, such as $800 made-to-measure bras (to which I say, eat your heart out over Sigrid's gorgeous bras!!!!).

There is a link to my Goodreads shelf on the right hand sidebar.  Please send me a friend request if you join!  

Variations on a Tee #2: Side Front Ruffle

Source: etsy.com via Trena on Pinterest

Pinterest really does have a use!  Although admittedly the time I spend on Pinterest is disproportionate to the actual creative output that results.

I pinned the top at left (from Etsy) a while back.  I just love the ruffle.  It's visually interesting without being too girly.

Source: travelsmith.com via Trena on Pinterest

The asymmetric ruffle is a fairly common feature in RTW, as on this Travelsmith tee ($54), with its half neckline flounce that trails down slightly off from center front.

Source: bluefly.com via Trena on Pinterest

Another example is this RED Valentino top ($59.99 on deep discount at Bluefly), with applied ruffles in mixed materials.

Source: bluefly.com via Trena on Pinterest

A little wilder is this Shoshanna one shoulder top ($159, Bluefly).  It's hard to tell for sure, but it looks like the ruffle is a couple inches in from the side seam.  I like the way it meanders from the neckline to the hem.

























This is a fairly simple pattern to draft from a basic t-shirt block (which I now have, yay!).

Start by making a full front.  Mark a line from about an inch into the shoulder (exclusive of seam allowance) down to the hem, parallel to the center front marking.  Measure this line and make a note of it, as it's the length to which you will be gathering your ruffle.  Make hash marks along the line; mine are spaced 2 1/2 inches apart.

Cut the pattern apart along the line, then cut at the hash marks to the side seam allowance.  Spread at the slashes and lay the pattern out on more tissue, as shown above at the right (in the absence of pattern weights I used scissors and my pincushion to keep the pieces in place).

A note on grain: patterns I have sewn in this style generally have the grain marked such that the hem is trued up to run along crossgrain. Since this is just a casual knit, I laid it out in the most fabric-efficient way. It seems to sit fine, but note that "proper" grain should probably result in the hem being straight on the crossgrain.



Trace the pattern, making a smooth line on the spread edge.  Add ruffle allowance to your tracing.  My ruffle is 2 1/2 inches wide.  The ruffle ends at the shoulder seam allowance and hem allowance; you can see the notches at the top and bottom of the ruffle.


Measure  your curved center front edge.  Repeat the process on the other half of your front pattern, spreading the same amount.  Because your pieces are different sizes, the angle on the smaller piece is more extreme.  Also, despite my best efforts, I couldn't spread it to be quite as long as the larger half, so I had to take a few tucks when sewing the center front seam to get them to match.. 


Before assembling, finish the ruffle if you'd like.  My knit was a rather loose weave, so I serger rolled hemmed it.  Serger rolled hemming is such an easy finish it should be illegal.  The way it looks is so disproportionately high to how much effort it is!  I am LOVING my Juki MO 644-D for rolled hems.

I found it easier, to assemble the front before putting the rest of the top together.  Start by sewing the ruffle seam, between the shoulder seam allowance and the hem allowance, WRONG sides together.  You want the "seam allowance"--the ruffle--to be on the outside.  You will sew along the line where you traced the cut edges.  So in my case, I had a 2 1/2 inch "seam allowance." 

Be sure to leave the seam unsewn in the shoulder seam allowance/hem allowance.

A picture is worth a thousand words so I'll let the pic describe the next part.



Essentially, clip into the seam allowance to the top and bottom of the ruffle stitching. Turn the seam allowances (shoulder seam allowance and hem allowance) to the inside. Stitch.


After the ruffle, shoulder seam allowance, and hem allowance are sewn and you have an intact front, gather the ruffle to your measured length.

As my red ruffle front dress was fresh in my mind, I used the same ribbon stay technique with the three rows of stitching--from the front in the ditch, and then on either side of the ruffle (also on the front--click on the link for details).  Because this wasn't quite so formal a project, I did the stitch-in-the-ditch by machine, rather than by hand as I did for the dress.

Next time I make this pattern I will consider using a firm elastic rather than a ribbon.  In my lightweight knit, the ribbon interferes somewhat with the flow of the top, though it does provide plenty of stability.

Now just assemble the t-shirt as you would any other.



I am having so much fun with t-shirt variations!  I'm counting my McCall 6363 knockoff as Variation #1.  I've already made another variation and have ideas for more.

I even have a special binder just for my t-shirt variation patterns.  As I posted a while back, I keep my traced off patterns in page protector sheets in 3 ring binders.  I was lamenting how costly the large 3 ring binders are, and people had a couple suggestions for obtaining them cheaper.

I was listing a bunch of stuff on Freecycle a couple weeks ago when it hit me that I should request some binders.  I have never actually asked for anything on Freecycle, though I've given away a TON of stuff (probably a literal ton, oy).

Well, within 3 hours of posting I had 3 large 3 ring binders in my possession.  It was amazing!  Freecycle is a great way to pass along your unwanted items.  I particularly like it for things that the Goodwill and other thrift-store type organizations would not be able to sell but are still useable, such as mostly full bottles of lotion or shampoo that I just didn't like or use.  Plus, people come to your place to pick it up!  For someone without a car, like me, this is a huge boon. 


All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Burda 01-2009-110, Mock Wrap Top

I have been wanting to make Burda 01-2009-110, a mock wrap top with a side panel, since it came out in the magazine.  I even traced it about a year ago, but hadn't gotten around to it.  While the serger was threaded in red, I finally did it in the sparkle sweater knit I just got from Fabric.com.

Unfortunately, I didn't make a great choice in the fabric, as it is just too much bulk for this particular pattern.  The stretch and recovery are also not firm enough.  So beware:  if you want to make this top, to use a normal knit with a good lycra content, not a specialty knit like sweaterknit or rib knit.



I did my usual Small Bust Adjustment for a crossover top of shortening the crossover.  This top has separate right and left front patterns, so be sure to adjust both (or not, read on).

To further ensure that I would have no gapage in wearing, I finished the neckline with clear elastic cut slightly shorter than the neckline and a twin needle.

Note that although the instructions did not seem to tell you this, the neckline must be finished before the side panel is inserted.  I sewed the CB and shoulder seams and then finished the neckline before proceeding.

As I recall, the pattern is not drafted with a CB seam but I need one for my swayback.  I have also finally wised up on duplicative pattern tracing.  As mentioned previously, I have been developing a TNT tee.  I used my perfected back and sleeve for this pattern (actually, my TNT sleeve comes from this pattern), and only used the front pattern pieces for this particular pattern.  This is going to save me a lot of time in tracing in the future!  I have also developed a TNT woven sleeve for Burda projects and will stop tracing a new sleeve for each project that just uses a plain set-in sleeve.  Why didn't I think of this years ago?


I was so proud of my cleverness in making sure the neckline wouldn't gape.  Then I tried the top on.  Um.  As you can see on the right, the shortened neckline seriously pulls and distorts the side seam where it is attached.  I've not had that problem before with my SBA, but I can't think of another pattern I've done where the neckline is attached all the way at the side seam.

I marked about 1/2 inch below the crossover and removed the clear elastic below that marking and then just stretched out the neckline seam as much as I could.  The pulling is reduced, but not entirely eliminated (sorry, don't have a good after shot as I have obscured the side seam with my arm in this shot).





Although the sweater knit is too thick for this pattern, it is also too thin to be worn on its own.  Oy.

I underlined the body pieces with a tricot type knit (a score on G Street's $2.97/yd table).  I thought about trying to do only a half lining on the underlap side of the front, but it got too complicated so I just lined the whole thing.











I cut the sleeves full length, and in this wimpy knit they ended up quite long.  Rather than cut them off, I stretched a piece of elastic on the inside and zigzagged over it to gather up the length a bit.





















I'm going to refrain from tagging this a "fail," but it's not a great project. You can especially see the bulk problem at the front hem, which is stiff and oddly-shaped.  If I make this again, I will cut the front underlayer several inches shorter at the hem and finish it before attaching the side panel.  That way the visible hem will only be one layer.

The style seems good, though, as long as I can find a balance between a non-gaping crossover and a non-pulling side seam (which may not be possible).  We'll see if I try this one again.

 All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Happy Leap Day!

As an single professional woman in my mid(ish)-30s, I am contractually obligated to love Tina Fey and 30 Rock.  I dutifully fulfill these obligations.  But truly, 30 Rock is an awesome show.  Last week's episode--available for free on Hulu as of this writing--was about Leap Day and it was hilarious.  I highly recommend a view.

In Liz Lemon's world, Leap Day is a big national holiday with a parade in every town, an old man who emerges from the sea every four years to throw candy in exchange for children's tears, and--of course--particular colors that everyone wears that day with St. Patrick's Day pinching type consequences for those who fail to do so.  I had to get in on the action, if only to pretend that I am friends with Liz Lemon.

Leap Day's colors are yellow and blue.  I don't have anything that combines those two colors but given how many clothes I have, ahem, there is enough yellow and blue in the wardrobe to last me a lifetime of Leap Days (though its position in February--usually the coldest month here in DC--is somewhat of an impediment).

For Leap Day 2012 I went for Vogue 8633, accessorized with a blue scarf I wore for just about every interview I had in law school, a blue bracelet, and my blue glasses.  And also tights and boots--it's a good thing DC isn't holding a Leap Day Parade this year because it is cold and pouring rain.

Due to my love of costumes, I generally dress for holidays.  In a subtle way, though; wearing the particular color associated with the holiday, rather than a literal Quacker Factory-style be-spangled, be-jeweled, and be-dazzled sweater. 

How about you?  Do you dress up for holidays?  And what are your big plans for Leap Day?  (My plans involve wearing yellow and blue and going to work.  Very exciting.)

Upgrades and Stashoholism Confessional

Aaaaand we have a new serger.  I had been meaning to get one for months.  After I couldn't get the tension fully repaired on my old Bernette (it overlocks fine, but won't rolled hem) I gave it to my mom when I went home for Christmas.  It was a nightmare to transport, and I'm pretty sure I cracked the overhead bin as I pulled it out (it didn't really fit; to pull it out I had to stand on the seat and tug with all my might and it emerged with a loud pop).  I gave it away on purpose so I wouldn't continue to use it but would buy a new one.  I "temporarily" went back to my old White Speedylock, which never had great tension.

 Ming kindly loaned me her Brother 1034D to try out.  Threading the lower looper is a DREAM on the 1034D, but I decided that I would treat myself to a little bit of an upgrade.  I thought I wanted a Juki, and the Juki website said there was a Juki dealer in metro-accessible Maryland.  It's a good thing I called them before heading over, though, because they went out of business who knows how long in the past.  So I continued to dither.


Then I was working on my red dress.  The tension on the old serger was never great but it pretty much gave out as I was trying to rolled hem my ruffle.  If you click on the photo you can see it larger.  Those threads are barely holding themselves together.

So of course now it was a crisis!  I wanted to finish my red dress, but I couldn't go any further on it until the ruffle was properly hemmed (it would have been unpleasant to finish the edge after the gathering was done).

I had been waffling between the 4 thread and 5 thread Jukis.  I have, in the past, had a problem with buying the cheap version of what I want, hating it, and eventually buying the expensive version.  This wastes both the money spent on the cheap version and adds unnecessary aggravation to life.  So I have focused on buying what I really want rather than cheaping out.

However, after much thinking, I decided getting the 4 thread would not be cheaping out.  I have no idea what a 5 thread serger is used for, but I understand the chain stitch is generally used in the home dec context.  Given that I wouldn't know how to use it and have obviously not been missing the functionality in my life, I finally decided on the 4 thread Juki MO 644D.



The other thing that was stopping was how to actually GET the serger.  As mentioned, there is no dealer closer than 90 miles away (I don't have a car). I can't get private carrier packages at home because I work and it is not secure to leave things on my front porch.  I hate having large packages sent to work because it is unfair to ask the mailroom to handle my personal stuff.  And I wanted it NOW.  Enter Amazon Prime.  Love.  For $4.99, I got overnight delivery on a Saturday.

Threading the lower looper is no fun on the Juki--certainly nothing like the sliding lever of the Brother 1034D and it doesn't even have the lever that brings the looper into the main body of the serger like on my old Bernette.  It comes with a fancy paperclip you can use to thread it, but it is more trouble than it's worth.

But overall threading is not too bad, and it has a threading map inside the front cover.  So I thread it and do a test stitch aaaaaaand:  thread nest.  Rethreaded the lower looper.  Thread nest.  Rethreaded both loopers.  Thread nest.  I was just about ready to cry, thinking I had gotten a lemon.  So then I rethreaded the lower looper in a different color.  Thread nest, but it wasn't the lower looper like I thought.  Rethreaded upper looper in a different color.  Huh.  It was actually one of the needle threads.  It turned out it hadn't fully clicked into the tension disk.  Argh!

Once I got it actually working it was fabulous.  I did the rolled hem on the ruffle of the red dress (after shot on the right) and it's perfect.  For edge finishing and construction on a regular overlock stitch it's been perfect. It has its quirks--I will do a full review after I have more time with it--but overall I'm pleased with it and I'm so glad I finally got this taken care of!

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I have been out of control on the fabric shopping lately.  It is a real problem.

After our successful DC Pattern Review Meetup, Nikki continued our streak by organizing a Baltimore Fabric Crawl.  We started at Guss Woolens, which I had visited previously, but hadn't gone upstairs.  There is a small room on the first floor and then on the second floor is a largish room with a big table in the middle and the table is piled with by-the-piece remnants at really reasonable prices (there is also a third floor but it only had a few items and none were interesting).  Guss specializes in wool (as you can guess from the name) and there were a fair number of them on the table.  Most of its stock is menswear, which generally doesn't tempt me.  However, I was totally drawn to the wool herringbone.  My photo is gross, but it's a soft white with aqua accents.  It's a little bit of an oxymoron of a fabric--the color is too light for Winter but it's wool so it may be too hot for Summer.  It was $20 for the piece, which is over 2 yards long, and I finally decided I had to have it.  Not sure what I'll make with it.

Underneath the cutting table downstairs they had a few tie silks.  I wear my tie silk obis (I've made 3 at this point) all.the.time so I got a 1 yard cut for a purple and gray one.  I was suspicious of the $5/yd price, but I burned it and it really is silk!  Huge bargain.

We also headed to Michael's/A Fabric Place where we petted some amazing (and amazingly pricey) designer wools, but I didn't get anything.


I am obsessed with stripes lately, even though I hate sewing them.  This pink, red, turquoise, and white stripes knit is a little crazy, but it has all my favorite colors and is a nice, opaque knit with good recovery.  The taupe fabric is for knit lining.



So, speaking of opaque knits, why are they impossible to find?  Ugh.  I have been wanting to make solid-colored long-sleeve t-shirts forever but have never been able to find good quality knits for it.  I ordered some rayon/lycra knits from Fabric.com, thinking that their high lycra content indicated good quality.  Nope.  It is the same lightweight, sheer, no recovery, endlessly growing rayon knit available everywhere.  I did my first return to Fabric.com with them (which was super easy--I sent them an email, a few days later they sent me a UPS label; I just had to box up the fabric and drop it off at UPS).  I kept several of the things I ordered, though, the blue stretch lace, off black sweater knit, yellow stripes, sparkle sweater knit, yellow floral watercolor knit. 

The red sweater knit was *not* described online as metallic, even though it is very, very metallic.  I debated keeping it, but finally decided to do so.  I made a top out of it and it pilled terrible on the first wear!  I might have snagged it on something because the pilling was in one spot, but I was so annoyned.



On yet another visit to G Street, I found these heathered turquoise and metallic black and white stripe knits.  I can't stop!

Source: net-a-porter.com via Trena on Pinterest

Elizabeth came to visit DC last weekend on the spur of the moment, and we made an excursion to Exquisite Fabrics, which is open through March 23.  They still have most everything on discount.

Lace tops are huge this season, as in this Valentino embroidered organza top ($1890 on Net a Porter).  When I saw this lace at a bargain price (it is poly, but quite lovely) I had to get it.  It perfectly matches the batiste I got at the DC PR meetup swap.  That's gotta be a sign, right? 

Now I need to find a pattern and make some decisions.  First, do I want a pullover blouse?  They aren't great for me because you can't really have waist definition in a pullover blouse.  But a zipper really weighs down the lace.  Second, so I want to line the top or make a separate tank top to go under it?  It is again a zipper issue.  Inserting a zipper directly into lace could look terrible.  But I really prefer the lining on a sheer fabric to float freely at the side seams and hem, attached only at the armscye and neckline.  Dilemma.


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My other upgrade is at work.  For the next six months I am working one level higher in my organization.  It is a great opportunity and I will learn a lot.  However, it will mean more days and hours in the office and will cut into my sewing time.  In my usual position, I work a compressed schedule of longer days with every other Friday off.  I get about 70% of my sewing done on that bonus day.  In my current position, there are no bonus days.  Perhaps that's why I've been buying so much fabric--I know I'm not alone in buying fabric when I don't have time to actually sew! 

Hopefully I can work out a new rhythm, but if you see less of me the next 6 months you'll know why.