Snowmageddon 2010

Well, you might have heard about our little snowstorm in the DC area. In December I was bummed that I missed the big Snowpocalpyse, as I was already in Texas for the holiday. I had great stories from the President's Day Storm of 2003 (we have much better names these days) and seriously disappointed not to be able to update them. So Mother Nature decided to make it up for me with Snowmageddon 2010.

Alas, my stories from this one aren't that exciting. The night of President's Day Storm of 2003 I stayed with my best friend (now we are next door neighbors) because I was going out dancing in DC and her apartment was much easier to get to the District than mine way out in Huntington. I ended up snowed in there for three days. She undertook ridiculously arduous journeys to work as she was in private practice. I was clerking and the court was closed so during the days I foraged for food. We still talk about how much fun it was. So I don't think I could top that one. (There is also a story involving a houseboat but I won't go into that.)

For this storm I was at home safe and sound. I had spent an hour in line at the Safeway to buy provisions and ended up leaving my library book behind accidentally, about which I feel TERRIBLE. I spent a cumulative total of a couple of hours waiting for metro trains to visit Virginia. I made pizza for dinner last night and butternut squash tart tonight.

I was supposed to have jury duty tomorrow but deferred it because I really don't want to slog down to the court (amazingly it is open!). I am fanatical about shoveling--the ONLY way in which I am tidy, lol--and most of our neighbors are too so our street is passable. But trying to walk along some unshoveled sidewalks I realized it would be a total nightmare to walk all the way downtown. And metro is a joke right now! Work is canceled so with jury duty deferred I have the day off. I was really bitter about Snowpocalypse because I took vacation on a day that ended up being a snow day. So I feel compensated.

I have been doing some sewing, but what with the riding of the rails I haven't been *insanely* productive. I need y'all's help with a fitting issue. And now I have all day tomorrow to write about it!

You can see all my Snowmageddon photos here.

BWOF 09-2008-108, Lace Tulip Skirt

I rarely buy fashion magazines because they're too expensive, and then at the end I have a big lump of paper to add to a landfill. But when I am traveling, I do occasionally indulge and on the way back from Spain I bought the September 2009 issue InStyle magazine.

I enjoyed reading it, but wasn't inspired by much of anything I saw in it except for a spread on lace, one of those "at any age" features. Apparently, I am a slave to my generation because the item that most struck me on the page was a lace skirt for the 30s and 40s crowd. I immediately fell in love with it. When I got home I looked for it on the web so that I could study the details more carefully, but the brand has no web presence that I could find and of the few of their products being sold on retail websites none of them were the skirt. So all I had to go on was a small photos on the magazine page.

I already had the lace from Jomar in November 2008 (how time flies! it seems like that trip was just a few months ago); I paid either $1 or $2/yd for it. You might recognize it from my lace dress--and there is still so much left! The wool fabric for the underlay and the lining are both from The Carol Collection, so this was a very economical project. The only expensive part was the zipper, which was something like $2.50, and the magazine subscription. I learned my lesson with the lace this time and just sewed the lace and underlay fabric as one (and btw, I did go back and fix the horrible zipper on the lace dress--I unpicked the hand-stitching on the lace, trimmed off the seam allowances, and hand-stitched the lace back down; it now looks seamless).

Although looking at the closeup I can see that there are little vertical ruffles tucked into the pleats; I'm not sure I noticed that at the time. Even if I had seen the ruffles, I don't think I would have gone for them anyway. So I looked through old issues of Burda knowing that there plenty of variations on the tulip skirt in the magazine and found 09-2008-108. Not only was it nearly the exact shape I was looking for but I really liked the large center front belt carrier and the side-set belt, an unusual but interesting look. Although it has taken me months to post about it, I actually made it within days of seeing it in the magazine, I was so excited about it.

To get a look closer to the magazine, I moved the front pleats closer to the sides. I also added side seam pockets as pockets are so trendy in skirts and dresses. The combination of these two changes is a little unfortunate, as they cause the skirt to poof out over the hips a little. I hand-stitched the pockets closed for a couple of inches at the top, which helps.

I also moved the zip from the side to center back, adding a center back seam so that I could shape it instead of having a straight back for my non-straight booty. Because of this I split the back belt carrier into two.

I also decided to go all trendy and *finally* do an exposed zip. As with most trends, the first year exposed zips were out I hated them, the second year I got used to them, the third year I decided I wanted one, and the fourth year--as the trend is nearly passe--I finally made one. I like to think I have style, but I don't think I can claim to be fashionable!









I bought a navy blue metal jeans zip and then got it home. Ugh. The lace is very dark and looks black if it's not next to anything black, and the navy zipper looked ridiculously bright against it. However, you can see that a black zipper reveals that the lace is actually navy, and didn't look right either. I was frustrated; I didn't want to give up my dream of finally doing an exposed zip, but I didn't want a garish non-matching one either. After a few days it finally hit me, such a simple solution: I put the navy zipper into a black dyebath for about 10 minutes. Perfect! I cannot tell you how proud I was to figure it out. I always have a bottle of the Rit liquid black dye so I can easily do small batches; it is most convenient.



To install the zipper, I assembled the skirt and the lining separately; for the waistband facing I used the wool underlay fabric and stitched this to the lining.

Then I stitched the CB seam of the fashion fabric to the bottom of the zip, and basted the seam where the zip would be. Next I pressed it open and stitched the zip down from the top, having the top zipper stop just below the stitching line of the waistband/facing.

Finally, I stitched the waistband facing/lining to the waistband, catching in the upper edges of the zipper for a clean finish, and turned down the lining, turned in the seam allowances, and hand-stitched it to the zip opening. So basically, it was just like a normal non-invisible zipper, except the zipper was on the outside.

I was a little worried when making the skirt because my neutral is black, not navy. I was afraid I didn't have anything to wear with it. In fact, it has turned out to be a totally versatile skirt and I wear it all the time and LOVE it. When I was in law school and private practice and didn't have time to sew I pretty much only made skirts because they are so quick and easy. So I have had an unofficial moratorium on skirts for a while. I mean, ok, last year I still made 9 skirts but out of 60 garments, and considering how often I wear them and how many I *could*, it's not so many. But this project has sort of opened the floodgates of skirts! I want to entirely redo my skirt wardrobe. I really need to do a Great Closet Cleanout. If I get rid of some old skirts, can I make new ones?

All photos are here, including closeups of front/side/back, and the pattern review is here.

Mailbox Goodness from Marji and Musings on Border Prints

Marji is about to embark on her high seas adventure! To prepare, she is cleaning out the sewing room and found some goodies she wanted to share. When I saw that one of them was a knit print, I could not help but sign up. And, amazingly, I won! Thank you Marji!



Gorgeous, right? It's from Gorgeous Things, 60" wide, 3 1/2 yards so I can do a lot with this. It's a double border print with the border on both selvages. The stretch is crosswise, so there is not a whole lot of stretch along the length, parallel with the border, so the final result can't be *too* form fitting.

So of course, this got me thinking about border prints! In addition to this fabric from Marji, I also have a wool challis border print from The Carol Collection. Because the hem has to be straight, there are basically three choices for border print dresses: a straight tunic, a gathered/dirndl skirt, or a pleated skirt.


I like the Hale Bob twist on the tunic on the left, because it has a little more fullness in front and just a little more shape overall. I also like the tunic on the right with the contrast upper bodice yoke. I particularly like the way the upper yoke obviates the need to do a complicated facing for the front opening! But I think that would only work in a woven with a fair amount of body.
















The wide kimono sleeves on the left are awesome, and using the border for the sleeves rather than the hem would allow me to cut with the crosswise stretch going around the body. However, I think this pattern would be better suited for the wool challis than the knit, because the colors of the knit make me want it for Spring/Summer. The dress on the right also uses the border print vertically, though you do end up with a seam at center front and center back.











I like the way the dress at left uses the border print at the hem and the sleeves, particularly since the border is so bright compared with the rest of the print. The one on the right uses the border print every which way plus a contrast bodice, which definitely makes the most of the print. I liked using the border as the midriff in my Simplicity 3503 knit maxi dress.


















I think this style is the winner, however, for the knit print, although with a higher neckline! Burda has had several patterns in this style, 03-2009-113, 04-2009-122, 07-2009-119, and 10-2009-117 would all give me a place to start.


All my border print inspiration images are here.

What are your ideas for border prints?

V1020, Va Va Voom Side Gather Dress

I ordered some Vogue patterns online a while back when they were having a sale, and V1020 was one I just had to have.

I was drawn to it for the dress--you all know what a sucker I am for a knit dress. However, I also really dig the skirt and the jacket, if I ever had the urge to make a knit jacket (no urge so far). I think the waistband of the skirt could be a little ick, because it's designed with that wide yoke and then you put some elastic at the top. I haven't made it yet, but I fear the design would create an unattractive dowdy pouchy elastic waist look. If you have a firm stretch knit with good recovery you really don't need elastic at the top, or you can use elastic for security but don't need any ease at the waist (the line drawing shows some ease gathered in with elastic. The pants hold no appeal to me. This has been well-reviewed on PR.

I got the fabric from Fashion Fabrics Club in June 2008 for $4.75/yard. It is firmer than your usual ITY polyester knit, which is nice. I bought it because I always love black and white when I see it on the street, but then when it's in my sewing room or closet it kind of loses the appeal because I want BRIGHT! COLOR! all the time. So it took me a while to match this fabric to a pattern, but I think it was a great choice. This slinky little number does well in a more subdued print (although it also looks awesome with bright color, as made by The Lazy Milliner).

The pattern calls for a zipper, which is stupid for a knit you can pull over your head and I left it off. I finished the neckline with clear elastic and a twin needle and twin-needled the hem as well.

I also ignored the instructions for gathering the side, rather to my peril. Well, it's not much that I ignored them that I didn't read them until after I was done (it's a t-shirt dress, what's to know?). I gathered the front and back sides separately and stitched them to ribbon stays cut to the length the pattern instructs you to gather, then I sewed the side seams. In the past on projects calling for tight gathers this has always worked better than sewing the side seam then gathering it up as one. However, either Vogue's finished measurement for the gathers is off or I cut the stays too short, because the hem of the gathered side is about three inches higher than the hem of the ungathered side, so I have to hike up the ungathered side to wear it.

Which is actually fine because this puppy is, ahem, fitted. Like a glove. I fear I have officially reached the point where I am going to have to buy both sizes of pattern. I bought the size that is 6-12, cut a 6 at the top which fits well and then transitioned to a 12 at the hip. It's very snug at the hip. I had trouble knowing exactly where the waist and hip were on the curved front piece, so I may not have moved out to a 12 high enough. But really, I could have used a 14 or maybe even a 16 at the hip (and a 12 at the waist). I really hope it's just this particular pattern.

Anyway, yanking up the hem of the ungathered side allows the fabric to ruche (nicer than saying "bunch") over my belly so I am a little less uncomfortable. But I am pretty uncomfortable anyway. You all know how I feel about my belly and in this dress there is no hiding it. I made it back in November and wore it for the first time the past weekend. I was at the flattest-belly point in my cycle so figured it was now or never. It was appreciated, but I still felt self-conscious. In the photo at left I am trying to be sultry.

I did a swayback adjustment, but since the fabric is bunched (I mean ruched) over my back as a result of the gathers I don't know if it was necessary/made a difference.

I just don't do t-shirt dresses because of my self-consciousness about my belly, and I thought this gathered dress might be a way for me to do it. If I seriously size it up it might work, but it will need quite a bit more room. Objectively, I know this is flattering and sexy, but that doesn't really help if all I want to do is fold my arms over my stomach or carry a big purse to hide my belly!

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Book Reviews, Movie Review, and I've Been A Bad Bad Girl

I'm hoping if I hide the massive fabric infusion at the end of the post it will mitigate the damage.

Several months ago I checked out Jackie: The Clothes of Camelot by Jay Mulvaney from the library based on Cindy of Colour by Numbers' recommendation. It is a great book! It is a bit of a hagiography, more Franklin Mint than trenchant political history, but that is exactly what I'm looking for in a book about the fashion of a public figure. I just want to read about what they wore, not their larger historical significance (for instance, the book skimmed right over the issues of infidelity and unhappiness in Jackie and Jack's marriage).

It is full of lovely pictures, mostly black and white but color when they are available. It's organized chronologically and by type of clothing (evening, daywear, casual sportswear). There is just the right balance of text and photos--adequate description and information on the designers and Jackie's personal taste without getting too much about the author or the story and not enough about the clothes. Although it is neither high literature nor high art, I think this is a superb piece of fashion history.




Love the day dress on the left; it's similar in style to the Butterick 5209 retro reissue I made last year. And check out the muscle definition in her legs--I thought they didn't believe in exercise back then and just stayed skinny by smoking and not eating? The Grecian evening gown is just gorgeous.


The girls on Wardrobe Refashion are in love with Alabama Stitch Book by Natalie Chanin. Amazingly, the DCPL had a copy so I checked it out.

I'm glad I borrowed it from the library rather than purchasing, because the Hipster Cowboy aesthetic is sooooo not my own. I deliberately put the words in order with Hipster first and Cowboy second; although Chanin has returned home to Alabama the look is pure Brooklyn (where she lived while developing her style).

The idea is to use old t-shirts as the raw material for all the projects in the book, which is kind of cool (but, again, not my thing). The first section contains useful and well-written information on sewing basics; all the sewing is done by hand so there's nothing on using a machine. After the preliminaries come the projects. There are a good number of projects and the book includes patterns for a skirt (loose fitting, A line) and corset-style t-shirt refashion. I found it a little frustrating on behalf of beginners that she doesn't make clear the corset thingy is corset style, not an actual corset; it has no structure and being made of a t-shirt won't do anything corset-y or foundation-y. But that's a small quibble.

The book also includes extensive information on applique, reverse applique, beading, and stenciling. I admire the look of the reverse applique projects, but cannot picture incorporating it into my garments. Even though my style is Retro Fantasy, and you'd think the "fantasy" element would include room for lots of embellishment, I am very wary of embellishment. It doesn't come naturally to me and can so easily cross the line into Crafty Crazy, Dated, Dowdy, and just plain Hideous so I usually just leave it alone.

I like the tactile nature of the book, if that's the proper way to describe it. It includes a cardboard stencil (in addition to some additional stencil line art printed on the pages that you are to enlarge on a copy machine and create your own stencil from); two paper patterns at the end; and a postcard to bead.







Although the clothes didn't do much for me, I did love the chrysanthemum fabric flower project. As with the rest of the book, I don't think I'd make these flowers; I have pretty much zero interest in non-functional decorative objects. But I will keep the idea in the back of my mind should I ever need to create decorations for a shower or party for someone else. As mentioned, I found the beading and reverse applique projects inspiring. The skirt on the right definitely does not look Dated, Dowdy, or Hideous and if it's Crafty Crazy it's in a sweet way, but I just don't know that I could ever get there. Asymmetry is ridiculously hard for me, and looking as though I've casually scattered an assortment of beads on a skirt would in truth be an arduous, laborious mental process (leaving aside the physical work of it!).

I only snapped a few photos from each book so as not to go beyond "fair use" and violate the authors' copyrights, but all images from both books are here

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A friend wanted to see The Young Victoria for her birthday and I was all over that! The costumes did not disappoint; they were sumptuous and breathtaking. It was annoying that there was so much black, but I can't blame the filmmakers for the mourning rituals of the time period. The menswear was just as lovely as the women's clothing. Tall, skinny plaid pants are sexy! I didn't know anything about Queen Victoria other than having a vague idea of her as a prude (based on the colloquial use of the adjective "Victorian"). It was well done and extremely interesting. I highly recommend giving this movie a view; I might even say to see it in the theatre so the costumes have maximum effect.

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And now we come to the confessional portion of this post. Based on a seriously enabling post on the PR message board, I ordered a lot of the Vera Wang closeout fabric on fabric.com. It was $1.95 yard, and with free shipping and discount codes it was really too good to pass up! Well, that is what I tell myself. In truth, There Will Always Be More Fabric.

Clockwise from left in the photo above, we'll start with the silk/rayon satin. I couldn't get a photo that looks anything like the actual colors but they are beautiful. The fabric is a heavy satin with a beautiful soft finish. Unfortunately, I have already ruined the purple. :( People had posted that the finish of the fabric "crackled" in the wash. I started with the emerald and put it as flat as I could into a bathtub with a few inches of warm water and some mild shampoo and mushed it around, not crinkling it up to the best of my ability. Then I hung it to dry. In the morning it was softer but the smell of the sizing washing out in the tub had been heinous. It seemed very toxic. So I threw it in the wash. It survived with only a few stretch marks. Then I got cocky with the purple. I filled the washer and let the fabric soak for 20 minutes, thinking it would dissolve the sizing and the surface would be ok. I was wrong. It looks like it is covered with dirty chalk marks. I will try over-dying and see what happens. Otherwise I have a lot of pajamas in my future. Actually, I bought these fabrics thinking to use them for linings and it will still be great for lining coats--I love the heavier weight and the satin slide is perfect to pull over clothes. I've not touched the olive yet. It's my favorite color and I don't want to ruin the surface of it.

I ordered the rayon satin the next photo for linings as well, and it is really nice! I didn't happen to have any light colored lining so I tossed it in the cart and am glad I did. Next to that is fuschia silk chiffon. Yes, I know I swore off silk chiffon but the color! It is gorgeous! The fabric! It is soft! I recently made the high-necked version of McCall 5708 in silk/cotton and love it. I think this fabric would be sensational in that pattern, with an underlined body and sheer sleeves.

Continuing around the clock we have a polyester/spandex print. I expected this to be a jersey, probably because I didn't read closely enough, but it's more like a cross between a stretch and a woven. I have two ideas for patterns, the current version of the classic DVF wrap dress, which I've made before, Vogue 8379 or Vogue 8593 with the interesting pleated neckline. I ordered four yards of this fabric and by laying out both patterns at once and with some judicious cutting I might be able to get both dresses out of it, the wrap dress with 3/4 sleeves, collar, and cuffs and the pleat neck dress sleeveless. Also, can I give a big annoyed raspberry in the direction of Butterick/McCall/Vogue for their website redesign that has broken three years worth of links in my blog archives and creates web addresses that are no longer intuitive like Simplicity did? What was wrong with a web address like
"http://www.mccallpattern.com/item/M6723.htm"
for McCall 6723? Why do we have to add a bunch more crap to it?



Now we come to the wools. I got fuschia flannel, off-white boucle, lightweight wool/silk/cotton suiting, stretch black suiting, and brick-colored melton.

I was hoping for more of a hot pink in the fuschia flannel and was initially disappointed in this purple fabric, but it is definitely growing on me. I will start with a skirt and see where we go from there.

The boucle is very lightweight and has a square texture almost like a thermal waffle weave. I have been craving a winter-white coat for several years now but not done it because it will get so dirty so fast. Although the price of fabric for a coat pales in comparison to the amount of work, maybe I will just bite the bullet and do it. I will likely felt the fabric first, though. Right now it is drapey enough for a dress and won't hold structure. Will test that out.

The wool/silk/cotton was a surprise; I bought it for interlining (the cotton content isn't ideal for interlining, but wool and silk are both so warm I figured it would be ok). But the sheen and hand on this fabric are gorgeous. The problem is, I cannot wear this color. It is the same color as me. I would look naked in it, and not in a good way. It would make a beautiful dress, though; I'm thinking particularly of the cowl-drape version of Vogue 8413. Maybe I will experiment with dyeing. I will likely lose the sheen and the herringbone pattern, but I really can't wear that color. Really.

Next is the stretch wool "suiting." This is super lightweight. I would never consider it for pants, for instance, and I really don't see how it would work as a jacket. I ordered three yards of it thinking that you always need a black skirt in the current shape and so I'd just stock up and be done with it for the next 6 years or so (assuming a skirt lasts two seasons). But I don't know that this fabric will work as a structured pencil skirt, for instance, which is what I'm looking for now. It is nice fabric and has a great stretch, but it's not what I hoped for.

Last is the brick-colored melton. I ordered it hoping that it would coordinate with my favorite Carol Collection plaid. I love the idea of making the plaid into the Burda 01-2009-114 jacket with the bias strips around the edges and then a skirt in the rust color. Although really, who am I kidding? Although I make the occasional coat, I neither make nor wear jackets. Ever. Alas, the brick does not match the rust in the plaid; seeing them together I realize I would need something more on the burgundy spectrum than the rust spectrum to match the plaid.

However, the brick fabric is really nice and after your comments on orange I was thinking I should have ordered enough for a coat! I got 2 yards, which wouldn't get me much of anywhere. Also, the color edges toward 70s orange (the color is closer to in the wool composite picture above than the photo with the plaid); it's not a pure, bright orange. I will think of what to do with it. I could still make a skirt, but then it occurred to me that I would really have nothing to wear with it. I wear cools, jewel tones, and blacks, and pretty much never wear browns or warms. I'd hate to have a one-trick pony skirt with only one top made especially to match it, creating an outfit that in truth I would likely never wear. Although I do need to justify the purchase of some brown boots. But the fabric is so nice that I'm not ready to let go of it.

So, um, 46 yards. It took me three days to carry all 24 pounds of fabric home from work (my commute is about a mile and a half on foot, and uphill of course). That's almost half of what I sew in a year. Bad.

To atone for this in some manner, I did some stash cleaning last night and culled out an approximately equal weight of fabric (didn't measure the yardage). So Laura, is DC Threads still looking for fabric donations?