Happy Halloween! Simplicity 2413, Paper Bag Waist Skirt

My work was closed due to Hurricane Sandy so I had some unexpected sewing time.  A bonus, unplanned item seemed the way to go.  I sort of fondled my stash for a bit and ran across this crazy fluorescent neon safety orange sateen.  I purchased it from Fabric Mart a couple years ago for $1/yd to be the trim for my Butterick 5315 piped shirtdress but I ended up using tie silk for that project instead.  I was wavering whether to put it into the giveaway pile or make it into a Halloween skirt.  Halloween won.  I love Halloween, but there is just nowhere for a grown adult to dress up in a costume and go someplace non-horrible.  It makes me sad that I've had to give it up.  This lets me celebrate a little.

I went digging through my skirt patterns and found Simplicity 2413.  I made the pleated skirt last year in silk organza, and had made a mental note at the time to try the paper bag skirt.  A bright orange skirt shaped like a pumpkin--what could go wrong?

Both the front and back are meant to be cut on the fold; however, I always prefer a center back zip.  The pattern has good instructions for doing a side seam pocket with a side zip, if you prefer to make it as drafted.  I sewed the side seams and then the zip before making the waist pleats, for easy fitting.

As drafted, the zip is supposed to go up to the facing self-fold line.  However, my zipper wasn't long enough for that, and I kind of liked the idea of having the paper bag portion of the waist open above the zipper, so I put the zipper stop at the waistline, letting the entire self-facing and above-waist paper bag overhang.

To get a nice finish I folded the facing right sides together and stitched above the zipper.  When turned right side out, it has a clean finish.  To keep the upper edges of the zipper in place I took a few hand stitches, catching the zipper tape.




I turned under the upper edge of the self-facing so it would look nicer on the inside, but this created a wrinkled mess on the outside at the waist.  This has to be worn with a belt or the sash.


I cut an 8 at the waist, transitioning to a 12 at the hip.  I ended up taking the back pleats slightly larger than marked so it was probably more like a 6 or slightly smaller, so I think this runs a bit large.

To keep the pleats facing the right direction, the instructions want you to topstitch all the way around the waist.  I wasn't keen on adding another element to the already unsightly waist, so I hand-tacked the pleats to the facing.

The instructions have you press the front pleats toward the sides (radiating out from the center) and continue the back pleats in the same direction, toward CB.  Well, as you can see that looks pretty terrible.  After seeing these photos I changed the back pleats to be pressed toward the sides as well and I think it is an improvement.

The skirt can be made with or without a hem band.  Without a band it is very short:  16 inches.  In cutting, I lengthened it by 6 inches.  I cut off two inches in hemming, so next time I'll add 4 inches.




Because I was lengthening it, it is not as pegged as drafted.  I went down to the drafted hem width at my 6 inches, but since it ended up being shorter than that I lost some of the pegged shape.  That was fine with me, however.  I wanted more leg room for walking and I can even ride a bike in this skirt, as the sateen has some stretch.

I hemmed it with a machine blind stitch, using about a 1 1/4 inch hem allowance.

This skirt ended up so much cuter than I expected!  The pockets are a little iffy, especially in this robust fabric, but the overall shape and the paper bag detail are surprisingly flattering and also fun to wear.  I'm even wondering if this could be more than a once a year novelty skirt (styled with gray instead of black).  I'll keep this pattern in mind for the future.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

How are you celebrating Halloween?

Travel Togs for Portugal: A Line Skirt and Waterfall Cardi

Thank you all for the lovely comments on my photos from Portugal!  It really is a wonderful place to visit.  I highly recommend it.

Since making my biking/travel wardrobe for The Netherlands, I've pretty much been set on travel clothes.  For that trip, I made 6 tops out of solid-colored wicking fabric and added 3 print skirts to my already broad repertoire.  Throw in a dress or two and you've got two weeks worth of outfits that you might not even get sick of.  However, for Portugal the weather was likely to be a little cooler than my sleeveless tops and summer skirts would work for, and plus I always need an excuse to do some sewing!

I made four new items and in writing about them I realized that all of them are TNTs, or at least based on a TNT.  Am I getting boring?  I hope not.  I think it's that with 275 pattern reviews (plus all the patterns sewn before I discovered PR and those I haven't gotten around to reviewing), I've got a lot of bases covered.  I'm also getting better at adapting patterns I already know that go together nicely and fit well rather than having to start over each time.

====================



The skirts I made for The Netherlands are mostly cotton, which sometimes doesn't interact well with tights, so I wanted a more tights-oriented skirt.  I turned to--what else--TNT A line skirt Simplicity 2211.  This is a recent addition to my lexicon, as I only made it for the first time over the summer.  I've now made it 4 times, and this certainly isn't the last.

I used a bronze silk dupioni I bought in NYC several years ago.  It was intended for another project but I kept using bits of it here and there and finally there wasn't enough for the original plan.  Also, I am (as ever) working on Too Good to Use.  Sometimes having a plan for something makes it TGTU.  If I really cared about the planned project, it would have been made sometime in the last four years.  It wasn't.  Better to make it into something I will wear than continue to "save" the fabric indefinitely.

The challenge with this was choosing the right side and then keeping all the piece straight.  I tore little pieces of tissue paper, marked them with CF, SF, SB, and CB and then pinned them on the wrong side of the respective pieces.


To add body to the dupioni, I underlined in silk organza using the faux Hong Kong finish technique, as described here.  You cut the underlining 1.5 inches wider than the fashion fabric, line up the cut vertical edges and sew right sides together (so the underlining is kind of bulging over the fashion fabric), then turn it right-side out, letting the underlining roll over to cover the seam allowances.  It creates such a high-end looking finish!









To complete the high-end look, I put in a hand hem.  I don't usually do hems by hand.  The machine blind stitch is truly nicer than anything I've ever achieved by hand.  But here I was able to sew the hem allowance only to the underlining, for a completely invisible hem.







The waist is bound with a straight-grain strip of fabric.  I sewed it first to the wrong side, stitching a ribbon in place as I sewed on the binding to ensure the waist would remain stable.  Then I folded it over to the right side and topstitched, using my walking foot to ensure even feed.  I left a tab overlapping the zipper opening, and sewed in a snap for closing.  I find snaps more secure than hooks-and-eyes.









This still isn't a great skirt for sitting in; the dupioni wrinkles like crazy despite the underlining.  So I think I only wore it twice, on the days we didn't take any train rides.  It is gorgeous, though, and I felt very luxe in this 100% silk outfit.  The blouse is McCall 5708 made out of Vera Wang silk from that Fabric.com $1.99/yd blowout a couple years ago.  The photos were taken near the Oceanario (aquarium) in Lisbon.

All photos for S2211 are here.






====================



I made use of my waterfall cardigan t-shirt variation pattern right away for this gorgeous wool sweaterknit I bought in New York last Fall.  It was $10/yd and I only bought one yard, thinking I'd make a pullover sweater (aka long-sleeve t-shirt).  To get the waterfall cardigan out of it, I had to cut the sleeves on the crossgrain.  Before doing so I tested the fabric and it appeared to have stretch.



Well, clearly my stretch test was not sufficiently rigorous because I could barely pull the sweater on, the sleeves were so tight.  Dang it!  Stupid, stupid mistake.  I contemplated it and then found scraps large enough to add gussets under each arm.  I carefully cut away the serged seams as narrowly as possible, and then added diamond-shaped patches (you can see them in the photo if you look carefully).














I should have made the gussets extend longer on the arms, all the way to the elbow, but the sweater is wearable now.  It is surprisingly warm, even with the lacy pattern.  I am wearing it here with Butterick 5382 in the fabric gifted to me by Marji.






Please excuse my appearance.  It looks like I forgot to put on lipstick that day.  Also, I look a little bit like I'm upset but I was actually having a lot of fun!  These photos were taken in the Castelo in Guimaraes.  It's an 11th century (? as I recall) ruin that has been rebuilt enough to be safe to scramble around in.  It is free to enter and you can climb up and down the walls and staircases.

While we were there some students were having some sort of initiation ceremony, it looked like.  Students in Portugal wear capes or robes, so three girls flowed by in their long robes, climbed a staircase, and called something out from the top of the walls.  The initiates down below, wearing street clothes and straw hats, had to shout something in response, dance a jig, do pushups, and generally carry on.  It was so fun--I felt like I was at Hogwarts!

All photos for the waterfall cardi are here.

=================

All is well with me through Hurricane Sandy.  We got a lot of rain and wind, but I have power and my roof didn't leak.  Those of you still dealing with it, take care and my fingers are crossed you get off as easy as I did.

Back from Portugal!

Back from vacation, back to real life.  Le sigh.  I have been back for more than a week but you know how it is to readjust (and the inevitable cold from flying).  Portugal was beautiful and easy to get around.  The people were all lovely and kindly spoke English.  I speak passable tourist-level French and Spanish and figured Portuguese wouldn't be too much of a stretch but, boy, was I wrong!  The spelling and grammar are similar, so I could read things well enough to get the gist, but the pronunciation is so different that I couldn't understand a word.


We visited Lisbon, Porto, and Guimaraes, a small city about an hour from Porto.  Guimaraes was named European City of Culture for 2012, so it was a great year to visit.  A lot of money had been poured into it and has a lot of interesting history.  The button sculpture at the top is the Guimaraes 2012 logo, a G turned on its side so looks a bit like a heart.


I managed to encounter some interesting textile and fashion related stuff along the way.  The fabric sculpture at leftwas in the Teleferico station in Guimaraes (the sky gondola that takes you to the top of Mt. Penha).  The fabrics are arranged in the color of a rainbow, and there was also a flag garland.  Unexpected little piece of art!

On the right is an azulejo, blue-painted tile, from the Palacio Nacional in Sintra.  I loved the woman's hat!




I was amazed to encounter a fabric store on the main tourist drag of Rua Augusta in Lisbon.  The window displays were gorgeous, with tonal fabrics draped artistically and inspiration photos showing how the fabrics can be used.  I have to confess, though, that I didn't even go in the store.  The fabrics seemed to start around 40 Euro/meter, and while I'm sure I could have found something gorgeous I just don't have a need for a luxurious and luxuriously expensive souvenir fabric.





In Lisbon the Museu do Design e da Moda (museum of design and fashion) is free to visit.  It's in an old bank building, and the permanent exhibit downstairs is really cool.  It's a chronological look at design and fashion over the past 100 years, with about 8 different "stations" as you walk in a circle through time.

There wasn't a whole lot of fashion--a lot more home and industrial design--but I really liked this coat from Dries van Noten.


The textile-related photos from my trip are here.  You can see all the photos from my trip here, and view them as a slide show here.  There are a few new wardrobe elements in them which I will write about soon! 

Variations on a Tee #4: Waterfall Cardigan and Mini Wardrobe

As usual, I am a little late to the party--the waterfall cardigan has been a thing for several years now.  In fact, the first time I saw one was on a fellow traveler when I took a bike trip in Italy in 2004!  But hey, better late than never.

Etoile Isabel Marant
Lexy Leather Trimmed Boucle Jacket, $430

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

The fabric is a stable knit from the $2.97/yd table at G Street Fabrics.  At first I wasn't crazy about the fact that it is essentially striped, but then I saw this Isabel Marant jacket/cardigan and felt a little better.  Heh.











This is a pretty simple variation to draft.  It looks like McCall 6084 is the same style, though I've only looked at the line drawing so I don't know what the pattern pieces look like.  All you do is extend the front neckline at the inner point of the shoulder the same length as the back neckline (I did not bother redrafting my back neckline to be straight--the curve on my TNT sloper is gentle enough that it didn't make a difference) and then extend center front your desire width.  I made it as wide as half the front--doubling the width so that each front half is as wide as a whole front.

The only tricky part in sewing is keeping track of what is being sewn together where.  It might be helpful to add notches at the shoulder for this.   This photo might help you visualize how it looks to put together:



First, you sew the center back neckline seam of the fronts together (the upper edge of that extension you added to the front neckline).  Next, sew the shoulder and neckline all at once.  Pin the front and back together starting at the outer/armscye edge of the shoulder, continue the line by pinning the front neck extension to the back neck, and keep going onto the other shoulder.  You will need to clip into the seam allowance of the front at the shoulder/back neck extension to get a straight line to sew.

Then proceed as normal.  I like to set the sleeve in the flat and then do the sleeve/side seam all at once.  The last thing is the long hem that goes all the way around the cardigan and the sleeve hems.  This is a really simple project and only takes a couple of hours to make.





The sweater can be worn a variety of ways.  I liked the idea of being able to tie the fronts together, so I pinned and marked the spot at the waistline where the regular tee ended and the extension began so I could make a hole to thread the ribbon through.  I pinned a large interfacing patch to the wrong side.






Next, I stitched the buttonholes from the right side.

After the buttonhole was done I trimmed the interfacing patch to only slightly larger than the buttonhole before fusing.

Because of the texture and pattern of the fabric, the buttonhole is nearly invisible, and certainly not noticeable while wearing.

To keep the ribbon with me but out of the way while I'm wearing the cardigan a different way, I stitched a loop of elastic into the side seam just below the armscye.  The ribbon hangs through the loop and doesn't dangle down to the outside.



This is a fun little sweater that I ended up liking more than I expected.  I don't have many cardigans in my closet because I buy so little clothing and I find it hard to make a cardigan that doesn't look homemade, as so much of the commercially-manufactured versions are done on specialized machines using techniques the home sewist simply cannot duplicate.  The waterfall idea obviates the need for the special ribbed collar and placket finishes.  I foresee more of these in my future.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.









======================



The cardigan is the "key" piece in my 2012 Mini Wardrobe Contest entry.  The wardrobe had to be 5 pieces, at least 4 made during the contest period.  I had one more piece planned, but just didn't have time to get to it so I pulled a dress out of the closet.

The idea was to make neutral separates that will go with a lot of other things in the closet.    It is not like me to wear neutrals or dark colors or solids, but sometimes I do feel the lack of them in my wardrobe.  These pieces do take me a little closer to a versatile closet!

Pieces:
Self-drafted jeggings
Self-drafted waterfall cardigan
Manequim 02-2012-216 cowl sleeve tank
Burda 02-2011-103 godet pencil skirt
Burda 05-2010-105 Grecian draped dress (from the closet; I made this in 2010)

The items actually make 10 combinations (6 is the minimum) but I forgot to photograph one of them.*

Silver top + jeggings
Silver top + jeggings + cardi
Silver top + skirt
Silver top + skirt + cardi
Cardi (as a top) + jeggings
Cardi (as a top) + skirt
Dress
Dress + cardi
Dress + jeggings
Dress + jeggings + cardi

My mini wardrobe review is here and the photos of all the combinations are here.



*Dress + Jeggings + Cardigan, if you're counting at home.

Manequim 04-2012-216, Cowl Sleeve Top

Melissa made this top a while back and I was very intrigued.  It's a twist on the cowl top with the cowl at one of the sleeves instead of the neckline.  I thought it might be a good pattern for a special piece of silk that just can't decide what it wants to be.

I found the magazine on eBay and getting it was a drama.  The Post Office left me a peach notice slip, which I dutifully signed.  The next day they left another one, which I again signed.  Then they sent the package back to Brazil.  Then I had to pay shipping *again.*  Finally, it got to me.  I was *quite* annoyed with the USPS and sent them an email, which they assured me would be answered in 24 hours.  Three months later I'm still waiting.


Anyway, tracing this pattern was crazy!  The pattern sheets are about as dense as the new Burda sheets, but actually slightly easier as most of the items only come in one size and therefore have only one set of lines.

This is in 5 different pieces, as I recall, that you then have to connect once you have them traced.  The final pattern piece is HUGE.  This photo does not convey, but I can tell you that I cut on my dining table, which seats 4, and the pattern piece is hanging off the edge.  HUGE.

This top comes only in size 44, which is somewhere between a Burda 42 and 44.  I wear a 34-->38 (transitioning from bust to hip) in Burda, so sizing was a concern.  Before I started tracing I naively thought I might be able to do some grading but seriously, no. 

So instead I went slapdash, my default mode.  I figured I'd need to narrow the cowl armscye and generally make the whole thing smaller in circumference.  I also thought I'd probably need to shorten it between shoulder and armscye.

I folded out width as follows:
 -Shortened at non-cowl armscye in front (1 inch)
-Narrowed back neckline (1 inch)--I still ended up putting in back neck darts
-Narrowed the cowl armscye (8 inches) tapering as I reached the hem (4 1/2 inches)




I thought it might be helpful to do a tissue fit.  Ha!  There are some disadvantages to tissue paper, LOL.  I first tried to do it on my body, but I really couldn't get any information out of that.  So then I put it together on my paper tape dress form.  Um, yeah.  Without drape, it was really impossible to tell what was going to happen in fabric.

So I just went ahead and cut it out in this very drapey silver poly satin from the G Street $2.97/yd table.  I bought it for lining.  Before I had it cut, I shook it vigorously to try to create static electricity.  When none developed I was satisfied and bought five yards.  Well, I think that was just a particularly humid day because it is indeed extremely staticky and therefore not useful as lining.  Grrr.




As I was putting it together I determined that I should have shortened the shoulders in the back, so I took up an extra inch there.

All in all, the fit isn't too bad.  Because it's meant to be a drapey style the same size can fit a fairly wide range of figures.  Melissa found to her surprise that the cowl sleeve doesn't reveal her bra.  It does on me, unfortunately.  Not terribly much and only if I lift my arm up and away.



This fabric was not fun to cut--very difficult to keep on grain.  I sewed it with French seams, and finished the neckline and non-cowl armscye with bias tape.  I tried cutting bias strips of self fabric, but it was just too wiggly to get it right, and the fabric doesn't take a press very well.  Although it doesn't look like it in the flat, the bias tape does not show in wearing.  I topstitched the bias tape in place 1/4" from the edge. The cowl armscye and hem are turned and stitched.

I gathered the cowl armscye shoulder by hand and then hand-stitched a decorative band in place encircling it.




Alas, this pattern will not do for my special silk.  I really like the cowl armscye and think the drape is especially interesting from the back.  But the front is pretty plain and blah.  I don't think it looks quite as bad as in the photo at left, but not a whole lot better either.

The pattern is quite interesting--very Japanese.  The patterns in the Drape Drape books are generally one piece like this, which creates interesting drape as the grain moves around the garment.

I won't be making this again, so if you'd like the tracing (let me be clear--the tracing, *not* the magazine) let me know in the comments below.  Please make sure I have some way of contacting you; to protect your email from spam harvesters add spaces and write out words such as "at" and "dot."

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.