Oops!

I tried out some new alterations on these pants and I screwed up! OK, I screwed up in a couple of ways, I think, but the main problem I could have avoided if I would have been thinking. The front piece has side pockets. I was doing a hip curve alteration to raise the side hip according to the measurements I had taken. The problem was that I did the alteration to the front piece at the side - and I did NOT have the pocket attached. whenever you do any alteration to the front of pants, if they have pockets, or any other attached piece, those should be pinned together before doing the alteration. In fact, I should have had the wasitband/yoke attached as well. Not only did this raise the side of tha pants too much, it also meant that the pockets and the front center did not line up at all. I outlined the difference in chalk on these pieces so you could see what I mean.


As it turns out, I ended up cutting off almost all that I had added on to the side, but I have not yet sewn on the waist band, so there may still be tweaking to do. I'm happy with the way the rest of these are fitting, but I'm also thankful that the fabric has some stretch!

There are several things that are different about these pants. The pockets aren't really all that different, but I do like the way they are put together and the way they are looking at this point.

I have never done a multi-pieced fly before, but I really liked the way this one was done. There is a separate fly piece, fly underlap, underlap lining. The method of putting it in is also different than others that I have seen, and the fly is assembled before any of the pants pieces are put together.
Another thing that is different is that after the fly is sewn together, the outside side seams are sewn. Then the waistband is attached before the inseam or CB seam are sewn. Also, the center back seam is sewn at an angle instead of parallel to the cut edge. In other words, the seam allowance at the bottom of the CB is 5/8", but it is over 1" at the waist.

I did baste the pants together to see if they would fit, so now I will take that stitching out and sew the waist band on before sewing the legs back together.

Since things have been really busy this week, I'm only sewing about 30 minutes a day, so hopefully I will get to finish the pants this weekend.

Sneak Peek

Yesterday I went to the quilt shop and I worked for 5 hours on my quilt! The top is almost finished and I really like it. I have to sew on a couple of more border pieces, and then I will take pictures. It's kind of an artsy thing, and although at first I wanted to use it as a throw, now I'm thinking I might hang it up. but, it's kind of big. So, we'll see.

Here are some of the blocks.






















My piecing isn't perfect, but it is certainly better than any I've done before. I was excited because my instructor said that my quilt was "exceptionally good"










But, seeing the blocks individually like this isn't really a "fair" preview. The whole idea of the quilt is putting the blocks together in a way that creates a certain movement, theme, or overall design. I'm very pleased with how mine is turning out. You'll see what I mean when I post the finished top - of course, I have to find a place big enough to put the finished top and get the picture.







On the home sewing front, I've started making some cropped pants from a New Look Pattern. I think it may be OOP (out of print) since I couldn't find it on their website. I can see why - the pants have about a gazillion pattern pieces, and I'm not even doing any of the additional tabs, loops, or patch pockets! I'm hoping to get these made up in the next few days. I did not make a muslin. Somehow, I lost one of my favorite fitting books "Fitting Finesse" by Nancy Zieman. So, I ordered her new book, "Fit with Confidence" which is basically a revised version of the former. Anyway, the reason I ordered it was because I used her measurement fit method for pants once before and I liked it. I don't think I did it right last time though - either that, or I didnt' do it right this time! Anyway, I'm making these pants according to her method (or at least my interpretation of it) and making the pants without a muslin. I would like to say I am going to make them with wide seam allowances, but it seems that I forgot to cut them out that way. Hmm, I guess I better hope they fit!

Unexpected Pleasures

Last week my husband had a business trip in the Bay Area, and since I was on vacation, I got to go with him. I figured I would go shopping while he was at work and drive around. I have a cousin that lives in the same town as where we stayed, so I decided to give her a call. My cousin is a few years older than I am, so growing up we didn't really get together very much. Her mother and my father were brother and sister. Since my aunt and my dad were pretty close, I did get to see this cousin once in a while as adults, but we never really got to know each other that well, although I have always liked her a lot. Well, we are both in our 50s now, but as I was on my way over to visit her, I wondered what we would have in common. We've never really had the opportunity to just sit and talk with just the two of us. When I got to her house, which I knew would be very cool, and it was, she started to show me her kitchen which had been recently remodeled. As we talked about the process, she mentioned something about her "sewing room". As you can imagine, my ears perked up. After a while, I said, "I want to see your sewing room." Well, I think we passed the next few hours just sitting in there and talking about all things sewing. It was so fun to find out that we had so much in common. In addition to sewing, we found out many other things that we have in common, but the sewing gave us an avenue of conversation.

She is so fortunate to live where so much is available to her. In addition to all of the wonderful fabric stores the SF Bay Area has to offer, there is also a plethora of fabulous sewing instructors. She is attending the design/fashion program at a local college and I got to see all of her samples from all of her classes. I would love to be able to take some real-life (as opposed to on-line) sewing classes and workshops like tailoring, pattern drafting, draping, etc. From the sample I saw, her worksmanship is very good and she also has a good eye for design. I hope we get to get together again soon and spend more time together.

Back to School - 1

I can't believe it, but I am already going to be going back to school this week! School doesn't actually start until next week, but I have to go in a couple of mornings and get my room ready.
This also means that I will be needing Back to School clothes! It is still in the 100's and will be hot all the way through the end of September, so I need to be thinking "cool". Also, I will need to make a couple of cardigans or jackets because I can't stand how cold the air conditioning is when it blows on you, but it's too hot to not have it on!

So this is the first thing I'm making for back to school. It is NewLook 6802. Here is my review of this pattern:

Pattern Description: knit dress with sleeve variations and option for twist front or without the twist


Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, New Look typically has good instructions, however there were a few things I would do differently

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I saw Melissa B wear this dress at PR weekend and fell in love with it.
Melissa's Review










It was so flattering on her and I like the fact that the twist top has an underbodice, which makes it more appropriate for work and gives you more options


























What I didn't like were the stupid facings. I usually try to make a pattern according to the directions the first time. Sometimes I learn something new, or something that works well that I didn't think would. This time, I should have followed my original instinct to omit the facings. This pattern has you cut strips (about 1") for facings for the neckline and sleeves. After fussing around with the neckline facing (it kept rolling under and getting caught in the stitching) I decided to just turn under the seam allowance at the armhole and zig zag it. Next time I will do this same thing for the neck as well.


Fabric Used: Poly Lycra knit from Gorgeous Fabrics

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:
I had a difficult time deciding how to do the FBA for this top, but kind of came up with my own creative way that actually worked!
I always have to buy patterns by my upper bust measurement since I have narrow shoulders, a small rib cage, but a large bust. I cut a 10 in the shoulders, tapered to a 14 at the bust (front only) and went back to the 10 at the ribs. Then I tapered out to a 14 at the hips. Had this been a woven, none of these alterations would have lined up or worked! Knits are very forgiving!!


I also did a 1/2 inch sway back adjustment because I tend to get that pool of fabric between my butt and waist! I really like how this falls smoothly across the back





In addition to turning and stitching the armholes instead of using facings, I also did the front facing just a little differently. The pattern has you press under the facing and just baste it at the ends. Well, knowing this type of knit would never stay pressed under, I just folded it on the facing line and used steam a seam to press it in place.

On knits I like to use a zig zag stitch to finish the edges. I thought about using the coverstitch, but since I knew the double row of stitching wouldn't really show on this fabric (and because I was too lazy to set it up), I decided to use my favorite finish on knits, which is to use a 1.5 zig zag width and 2.5 to 3.0 stitch length. I get the best result from using this stitch or else using the Stretch and Sew method of lengthening the stitch length to a 3.0-3.5 and stretching the fabric while using a straight stitch. I did use the serger on all of the interior seams.


Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes, I will definitely make this again. This dress is super comfortable and flattering I think.

Conclusion: I'm very happy with this dress and the way it turned out. It took me a while to figure out the alterations, but the next one should go together much more quickly!

Neckline Alteration part 2

There have been a few questions about how and why I did the neckline alteration the way I did.


First of all, while I had the top on, I could see that it was gapping in the front. In fact, I am wearing this top today, and have decided to take a couple of small pleats in the CF because it is bugging me!








With the top on, I just started pinching out the fullness. I've noticed before that tops seem to need a dart right in the center front.
Well, I knew that would not look good, so I tried pinching out small darts at the side. This made the top lie flat the way I wanted it to.








Next, I decided to transfer this to the pattern piece so as not to have to actually put darts in the the top itself. In doing this, of course, this left a bump in the pattern where it would not lie flat. The biggest part of the bump was between that dart and the armhole, so I slit the pattern there until it lied flat. This left a trianglular shaped open space, which I filled with a piece of tissue paper underneath (that is why it looks like two darts, but it is just one slit opened with tissue under neath)

I'm sure I could have rotated that opening somehwere else, but it seemed the best place to do it where I did because that's where the pattern did not lie flat. You may never find this alteration in a fitting book, but it works for me on this style top. :-)

Also, in the directions for this pattern she has you take your bust and upper bust measurements. All fronts have a darted and undarted version. Depending on the difference between upper bust and full bust, you know which front to use. I used the darted front. (I did measure, but knew there would be no question! The fuller your bust, the more you need the darts in order to add to the length in the front. Otherwise, your tops will hike up in the center.) What I did like is that this is a much smaller dart than I usually have to use, so I think it looks better.

Neckline alteration and a new TNT!

Today I made TWO new tops. This pattern was quick and easy and I love it. It is the sleeveless top from Pamela's Patterns Versatile Twinset. The first one I made from a cotton knit that did not have much stretch. Whenever I make tops, I always have the problem of them being too full above the bust. It seems like I need to dart the neckline. So, that's exactly what I did - but to the pattern, not the top.






I took a little dart at the neckline, and then cut a slit from the armhole toward the dart until the pattern lay flat again. This is like rotating a dart, but what it actually did was bring the shoulder seam up and in closer to the center front. This alteration increased the armhole a bit, so I reduced it at the shoulder seam by the same amount. You can also see where I drew the purple line. I cut it there to lower the neckline just a bit. After I did this alteration, of course I had to try it out. I found this great slinky knit that I had purchased in Mazatlan a couple of years ago that I have been afraid of since I bought it! I have always heard how hard slinky is to work with, but for this simple little top, I really had no problems at all.

Here you can see the neckline of the first top and how it gapped a bit.





















Here is the second neckline, lying much more smoothly.





















Of course, the slinky fabric will lie better anyway, but I think the alteration is going to make this top a favorite TNT!

Back to the Pamela's Pattern. I LOVE this pattern. I had to make ABSOLUTELY NO FIT ALTERATIONS - NONE! ZIPPO! (OK, the neckline thing, but that's different. Usually I have to:
cut narrower in the shoulder
Wider at the hips
Do a FBA
Add A dart
Do a Forward shoulder adjustment

I did not have to do any of this. I bought this pattern because I had seen one Anne had made on the Gorgeous Things blog a while ago. I liked the little bolero pattern, so I bought it. Then I found this on the Pamela's Pattern website today:

Here are just a few things that make Pamela's Patterns different from commercial patterns:

Commercial Patterns: Shoulder seam sits too far back on the shoulder

Pamela's Patterns: A forward shoulder is built into the pattern

Commercial Patterns: Shoulder seam extends too far past the shoulder

Pamela's Patterns: Shoulder seam is smaller to give a more realistic fit

Commercial Patterns: Back neckline is not high enough, causing shirts to "fall" back

Pamela's Patterns: A high round back is incorporated to keep the shirt where it should be

Commercial Patterns: Armholes are too long, creating a pucker in the armhole area

Pamela's Patterns: The option to petite the shirt and armhole area

Commercial Patterns: Garment pulls across the bust

Pamela's Patterns: Choose from two fronts - darted and undarted for a smooth finish no matter what your cup size!

Commercial Patterns: Too much fabric in the waist area

Pamela's Patterns: Built -in "essence of waist"

Commercial Patterns: Too tight though the hips

Pamela's Patterns: More generous in the hip area

Commercial Patterns: Sizing never seems to be right

Pamela's Patterns: More realistic sizing

I would have to say that all of the above is true for me. Now I guess I'm going to have to go back to her website and consider buying another pattern!

Black and Green Chiffon top

Here it is! I finished the BWOF 7/09 tunic and I have to admit, it was fun to make. I think I finally conquered my fear of chiffon. :-)

This is light and breezy, which is exactly what I was looking for. The shoulders are really wide, which makes the armholes ride down - aka "dropped shoulder" I think if I were to make this again, I would make the armholes much larger, especially if I were going to plan on wearing it over something else, like in this case. If you click on the picture, you can see that the fabric is totally see-through around my body, but you can really see the design over the black cami.

(Oh, these are the Kwik Sew cropped pants I wrote about in the last post.)



Here are some design details: I wasn't sure how I was going to hem this, so I decided to practice with my rolled hem foot. It turned out pretty well, but took me forever since I really went in slow motion on this. Hopefully practice will speed up the process in the future. I also did french seams (no pix)








The pattern called for a thread button loop and button on the inside of the top. I wanted my button to show, so put it on the outside.







I have so many things I want to sew right now and so little time! I think I may make a twin set next with a pattern from Pamela's Patterns:

Working With Chiffon

I have had this fabric in my stash for quite some time, in fact, I don't even remember where I got it. It is a polyester chiffon. I recently made some black pants from the Kwik Sew Easy Sewing book. If you have never looked at this book, it is definitely worth the investment. But, more on that later.

I have several pieces of chiffon, but have been avoiding them. First, I'm thinking that they will be hard to work with. Second, I don't know what in the world to make with them. Third, I know I will have to line them.

Well, I am here to dispell all of those myths! I decided to make #129 from the latest (July) BWOF. Unfortunately, they do not have a picture of this on their website, but it is a VERY basic sleeveless overblouse. In the picture in the magazine, it looks straight cut on the sides. IRL, it almost has a tent shape to it. In a regular fabric, this would look terrible on me, but I think in this chiffon it will look good.

As you can see in this picture, chiffon is very see through. For most things, I think I would have to line them. However, this top is more like a tunic or overblouse, so I think it will look good over a black cami or tank top.











So, this is how I started working with the chiffon. This is a polyester chiffon, so it is not quite as slippery as silk, but probably not enough difference to help a lot. First, I lined my cutting table with cheap left-over christmas wrapping white tissue. I laid the fabric on top of that as carefully as possible. It is almost impossible to get the grain straight on chiffon, but I lined up the selvages and tried to get the grain as straight as I could. I cut with a rotary cutter and a fairly new blade. The tissue paper really makes the fabric stay in place better and helps when cutting. When I have cut fine fabric like this before without the tissue, the cutter tends to embed it into the cutting board - not good for the fabric or the board.

This top is super simple and only has 2 pattern pieces, bias strips for neck and armholes, and a small rectangle for the front placket. I also picked this pattern because there are no darts, collars, or other fussy details. It does have a nice little placket in the front, and I like the way it turned out.



Trying to press the placket piece was almost impossible until I remembered to use starch. Actually, I like to use Mary Ellen's "Best Press" or Magic Sizing, but any of the 3 will work. This made a world of difference and the fabric behaved fabulously after that. I then starched and pressed the pattern pieces before sewing them. I have starched the yardage before laying it out, but I think it is harder to keep the grain straight doing it this way unless you have a large press board where you can really get that grain straight while pressing, I would recommend using the starch after it is cut out.

I did some sample stitching on scraps to make sure I had the right combination of thread, needle size, and stitch length.

What is working best on this fabric is
polyester embroidery weight thread
size 11 needle (I'm not sure if it is a sharp or universal)
2.5 stitch length
I lessened the upper tension by 2 clicks.

At the beginning of seams where the fabric may get pulled into the feed dog, I start the seam by sewing with a little piece of tracing paper underneath the edge. This tears off easily and keeps the seam from getting bunched up.

I am using french seams at the shoulders and sides. THe neck and sleeve edges are bound with bias strips. One thing I can already see as a problem is that I did not lengthen the front of this to accomodate for FBA (I just widened at the sides) and I'm thinking the side seams are going to hang down funny. I may have to adjust that after the side seams are sewn.



I have had this book for a couple of years, but never really used it until now. I have read it and looked through it many, many times, but never actually made anything from it. A couple of weeks ago I made a pair of shorts, and most recently I made the same pattern, but in the cropped pant length. These fit me well and are my new TNT for easy going casual pants and shorts. What I like about the book is that they have several master patterns and then show you lots of ways to change them. You really can do ALOT with these patterns since they are very basic and simple to sew. You can make them just as as, use the suggestions in the book for changes, or go off on your own with these. There are the following patterns in the book
button up blouse
T shirt
straight skirt
gored skirt
pants, shorts, cropped pants.

All of the patterns are shown with different lengths, sleeve variations, neckline variations, and a variety of fabrics. The author also shows you how to turn the top into a cardigan, change the width of the pant legs, different pocket applications, and a variety of embellishment ideas. The shirt pattern has no dart, but if you have any sewing book that shows alterations, it is easy enough to add one. Some of the pictures in the book aren't that up to date looking, but you can easily see how to make them look current.

What will people REALLY be wearing this fall?

I'm trying to think ahead for fall, and even late summer, since I have to start back to work in just a couple of weeks. But what are people really going to be wearing? The FSG newsletter is saying "skinny pants", but their definition of "skinny" is really more of a slim cut. I'm seeing every width imaginable on the websites, but I do NOT see myself wearing "jodpurs" or something like the picture on the left. BWOF, which is usually ahead of the fashion curve, is also showing a variety of widths of pant legs, but also a lot of clothes I know I would never wear (Uh, sorry, the neckline to the navel doesn't work while you're teaching) Again, same problem with most fashion magazines - too low, too short, or just not flattering for anyone over 30. But, again, I do not want to dress like someone's grandmother either. Yes, I have to have shoes that don't hurt my feet, so that is a consideration, but I want to be comfortable and stylish at the same time. For some reason, this season I am not seeing things that really fit the way most of us really live.

Looking at websites like Style.com and watching fashion shows can give you lots of ideas, but really, much of what I'm seeing is nothing that would fit my real life. I love Lucky magazine, but let's face it, I'm not 20, but I'm not 80 either. Also, lately I'm seeing so many more ads in Lucky and much less real wardrobe possibilities.
The look on the right is from the Carolina Herrera collection, and I could see modifying something like this to work for me. However, I'd have to think about it by cutting about 12" off that models legs and widening the hip substantially :-)

So, how does a woman who is 50 something and wants to look stylish and a little trendy, but not like the "old lady trying to look 20" find what really is in fashion? I like to be a little ahead of the fashion curve, but not so far ahead that no one else gets it. (I'll never forget the day I wore green shoes with a brown dress to church and one of the women commented (innocently) that she was glad to see my necklace with green in it because she couldn't figure out why I was wearing green shoes when nothing else I was wearing was green - sigh.)

I'm really having to think hard about what I am going to wear this year since I'm getting too fat and none of my clothes from last year are going to fit - arghh!!! Of course, this does give me opportunity to make some new clothes (like I need an excuse.)

My "one block wonder" quilt is really coming along and tomorrow is our last class. I'm hoping to have the whole top finished by the end of the day tomorrow. I ordered some fabric for the back, but don't intend to put it together until the weather gets cooler. Also, I need to really get on the stick and make some clothes for work!

First up, I think, will be a knit dress or two, since I got some great knits from Gorgeous fabrics earlier this summer and am anxious to make them up. (also, they should be quick to make!)

So, where are you getting your inspiration this season?

One Block Wonder

I am taking a quilting class and am excited about it. There is a type of quilt called a one block wonder that is made from just one fabric and just one shape (equilateral triangle)
Here is my fabric:
























First you find the repeat in the fabric. Then, you tear on the line of the repeat. It's best to have a repeat of 12" or more. Mine is 23", so I'm going to have a fairly large quilt. (Why can't I learn to do "smaller"? I would be done much quicker I think if my quilt weren't so big!) You need six repeats so that you can get six layers. Once you have all of the layers torn, you line them up as perfectly as possible using pins. Next, you cut them into strips, and then triangles.







Now you will have stacks of 6 indentical triangles and you lay them out like hexagons. You really need a design board/wall to make this quilt so that you can arrange the hexagons. Here is my poor-man's version - batting pinned up on the wall with push pins. It works great! (I can also roll it up and take my quilt to class without having to mess up the order of anything.)





The class is just 2 Fridays, but I'm going in today to work on mine a little bit. I have all of my triangles cut, and most of my hexagons sewn. Actually, you lay out the hexagons, but you only sew halves. That way, the quilt can be sewn in rows instead of fiddling with all those inside corners.

I'll keep you posted as I progress.

July

July is a fun month for us and also my one month of real vacation. June seems to go by so fast and entails a lot of catch up on appointments, paperwork, cleaning, etc. I start back to school the first week in August, so really, July is the month that truly feels like vacation to me. Not only that, but our anniversary is on the 7th and my birthday is on the 11th, so we usually do something to celebrate. We love to go to Hawaii or Mexico, but this year, that is just not in the budget. So, instead, we went to Pismo Beach. It is only about 2-1/2 to 3 hours from here, so its an easy trip. It's been in the 90s here and not cooling down much at night, so the 50s and 60s were a welcome change. It did get up to the 70s for an hour or so each day, still a far cry from 95-100!
We stayed at an inn called the Spyglass and had an ocean front room. There also was a restaurant there right on the edge of the water. One night we even saw dophins jumping out of the water while we were eating dinner. That was the first time I"ve seen that (except in a zoo or something) so that was pretty awesome. We could also hear the sea lions early in the morning. It was really a nice getaway.




























































Of course, while we were there, I had to check out the local fabric shops. There are not many fabric shops at the coast, but there are a few quilt stores.
The first quilt shop I went to is called Quiltin Cousins, and that is actually in Pismo Beach. It is a really cute store, friendly owner, and a good selection of cotton prints. They also have a lot of different patterns, including things like Amy Butler and Indygo Junction. I bought 2 pieces of fabric there.
One of the days we took a drive into Morro Bay (about 20 minutes away) and had lunch. They have a quilt shop there, which is actually bigger than the one in Pismo. It is called The Cotton Ball, and even though it was larger, I did not like it as much. They weren't as friendly there and their fabric was more expensive than at most quilt shops around here.
On our way home, we decided to take a drive into San Luis Obispo, which is a college town. We were just driving around when I happened to see a store called Betty's Fabrics. This fabric store was great. Half of the store was all quilting cottons, and they really had a large selection of good quality fabrics. The back wall of the store was all decorator fabrics and the rest of the store was dressmaking supplies. They had wools, silks, linen, rayon, shirtings, satins, knits, boucles, just about everything.
In one little corner they had a locked cabinet with glass windows. Inside this cabinet was a very nice selection of ultrasuede fabrics. then, down at the very bottom, something caught my eye. There were just the ends of some rolls of fabrics, and you could barely see them. The first one that I could actually read the label on was an imported cotton lawn. The next one said "Liberty" on it. I asked the clerk to open the cabinet for me, and there on the bottom was a whole row of Liberty of London Prints. The cotton lawn that was there (I can't remember the brand, something like "Tany or Tawny") felt like silk. It was really nice, but $22.50 a yard was a little high for me right now. I must have looked at those Liberty prints for about 20 minutes before I actually picked one out. The fabric is only 36" wide, so I thought that 2 yards would be the absolute minimum I could get to make even a sleeveless top. The first one I picked out only had 1.5 yards. Not enough. The second, third, and fourth prints I picked out had even less ! I was disappointed. The rest of the bolts were a wool and cotton blend, which is what I finally chose. I don't know why I picked this print, but no matter what other print I picked up, my eye kept going back to this one. It's not the kind of print I would usually choose, but something about this kept after me until I bought it!

"The Perfect Shirt"

I just finished McCalls 5433, which is a Palmer/Pletsch pattern. This is a classic fit shirt/blouse. It does not have any yokes, but it does have 4 darts in front and two in the back for fitting. I followed the P/P guide sheet for all of the fitting and made plenty of adjustments/alterations.













As you can see here, I needed to add 1.5" in the FBA to get the cf of the pattern meet my cf. After doing the FBA, you re-mark the bust point so you know how to angle the dart. I need to be a little more careful with my tissue fitting. I thought I needed to lower the dart after I did the FBA and did by one inch. After stitching the dart and pin fitting, I realized I needed to raise it back up. I moved the bust point of the dart up and inch and just angled it up. On the pattern, I cut out the dart and moved the whole thing back up where it started.

Now that I think I have all the fit issues taken care of, I want to make it again and see how it turns out. These are the alterations I made:
-FBA
-narrow upper back
-High round back - on this pattern I don't think I needed it, so I will try it without next time
-sway back
-forward shoulder
-narrow shoulder
-widened at the hips

My poor pattern piece is so cut up and taped up. I will probably copy it onto other pattern material now that I think I have all the adjustments on it.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with this blouse. Now I will have to make some pants to go with it!

Want to learn a new Technique?

The new techniques contest is starting today at Pattern Review. If I weren't managing the contest, I'd sign up for it! There is hardly anyone participating on the board. After looking through my Reader's Digest Sewing book, I'm seeing that there are a LOT of techniques I'd like to try. this contest is the perfect motivator. You make 3 samples of a technique and then use it in a finished garment or item.
Here are some new techniques I have not yet tried (or tried once, unsuccessfully!):

• welt seams,slot seams, fagotted seams, corded seams, lapped seams
• lapped darts, abutted darts, catchstitched darts
• shirring, smocking,
  
• corded neckline, placket bands,
  
• inset waistline, ribbon finished waistline,
  
• separate shirt cuff placket
• separate fly application
• different varieties of bound buttonholes and welt pockets
• hand worked buttonholes
• tape fasteners like hooks and eyes or snaps

and lots more! It seems that the more we know, the more we want to know!