Very Disappointed

Tuesday I wore my new pants. They were comfortable all day. They looked good. They even looked good at the end of the day. UNTIL I TOOK THEM OFF. I did notice that there was a little pilling on the fabric after I washed it (It is 100% polyester - it should be washable) After reconfirming the fabric content on the fabric.com website, I did notice that it said "Dry Clean Only" Since I did notice the slight pilling after the prewash, I decided that I would dry clean the finished pants.

Well, when I took these pants off, I could not believe how terribly pilled they were!! This is the picture of the crotch area. I probably won't be able to wear these more than a few times before I will have to discard them. I'm glad I did not go ahead and make a jacket or skirt out of the rest of the fabric as planned, since I bought 4 or 5 yards of this. I have purchased from Fabric.com many times before and always been happy with the quality of the fabric. This time I am not.

McCalls 5239 - second pair

I'm much happier with this pair of pants. They fit better and the underlining really makes them comfortable. I did make the legs a little wider on these and I like it better. I'm glad I got the fit right on these, and now I can use this pattern to help me adjust other pants patterns.

From Pants 2009

I'm not so sure I like the shape of the crotch curve on this pattern because I still think it's a little tight across the widest part of my butt.

From Pants 2009

I did go to the gym today, and so if I keep that up, maybe all my pants will fit better! These pants have a CB zipper, and I really prefer a side zipper or fly front, just because it is easier to get on and off.

There were a couple of questions about the glue and fold method I used. I used Sobo glue, which is permanent glue, so you must be sure that it is in an area that will either be cut off or will not show. I have used regular craft glue before and it worked well too. I've heard that Elmers washable school glue is great because it washes out, but I haven't tried it. I've even read of people using regular glue sticks to do this. I haven't had much success with glue sticks since you have to rub them on the fabric and that sometimes distorts the grain, but I know that even Patti Palmer recommends them.
I used Sheermist Batiste for the underlining, which is a poly/cotton blend. I find that even the little bit of cotton that is in this makes it very breathable and comfortable. I have underlined pants with silk organza, and although I like the way it works, it was too scratchy for me. I would have to find an organza that was softer than the one I used for those pants. Regular lining can work for underlining too, but it should have a pretty firm weave and not distort easily. I would not use ambiance for an underlining. Even though it makes a beautiful lining, I wouldn't use it for 2 reasons. One, it wrinkles easily, and two, the fabric shifts too much and I don't think it would work well to stabilize the fashion fabric.


Although underlining does not looks as beautiful as lining, it gives a good finish and is very comfortable to wear.

Underlining also helps prevent wrinkles and helps the fashion fabric wear better. Underlining works great with sheer or white fabrics because the seam allowances won't show through like they do with lining. I would not use underlining if I were using a scratchy wool because the seam allowances would still be touching my skin. I would line those. Mainly I chose to underline these pants rather than line them for two reasons. One, I wanted to stablize the fashion fabric, and two, it's a little faster than lining since the two fabrics are sewn as one.

Underlining Pants #2

Several days ago I cut out another pair of pants. This time I made the legs wider at the bottom. The fabric is a polyester woven that is super soft.
Too soft. I was afraid they would look "saggy" so I decided to underline them. I know there are several methods for underlining. I like this one. I first learned about the "glue and fold" method from a book I got years ago called Painless Sewing (My book is older and has a completely different cover than this one.) I am using a poly/cotton batiste for the underlining on these pants and I think it gives them just the right amount of body.

First, cut the underlining the same as the pants legs. Now, Sandra Betzina shows a method in her book that puts a clean finish on the seam allowances and underlines all at once. I have also seen links to this method on Pattern Review. The only drawback with this method is that you must have the exact fit since you can't really do any alterations with this method. I prefer the glue and fold, since you can still make changes in fit.















Lay the fashion fabric and underlining together wrong sides together and press them as one. Then, lay the pieces on a flat surface and put small dots of glue about 1/5" apart along all of the vertical seams between the underlining and fashion fabric. Before the glue dries, fold one seam in toward the middle and smooth the underlining toward the opposite seam. A little bubble will form in the underlining as you're folding the fabric - push this toward the opposite seam. Repeat, and a little more fabric will scoot over the edge of the opposite seam. Leave the fabric folded like this until the glue dries - about 5 minutes.

Here you can see how the smaller under lining now pulls the fashion fabric up. This is because our pant legs (or skirts) are cylindrical and need the inside to be slightly smaller than the outside. This is called "turn of the cloth"








After all of the seams are dry, I baste through the center of the darts. This holds the layers of fabric together while I sew the darts. In the other method, you sew the darts separately on the underlining and lining before you put them together. (You can click on the pictures to make them larger.)

Now, using the pattern instructions, they have you sew the CF seam (leaving off about 1.5" at the inseam) and the zipper in the CB. Since I am using an invisible zipper, it is easier to install the zipper this way.






After the zipper is installed, it is time to pin fit the pants. I did not tissue fit the pants this time because I already did that on the last pair and I am using the same pattern. I decided to still pin fit the pants because this is different fabric and it is underlined. Either one of these things could have changed the fit. Also, I made some small alterations on my pattern after the first pair, and I wanted to make sure everything would fit nicely.








OK, this is a VERY unflattering picture, but I wanted to show you what the pin fitting process looks like. Here I am checking the fit of the pants while pinned. I can see that they lie smoothly in the front and back and there are no draglines that I can see. I did pinch in the waist about 1/8 inch more on each side. Other than length, I think the fit looks pretty good.

















I've sewn the inseams and side seams and serge finished the edges. Now, Carolyn, I know you said you thought this was a "cheat" when you did it, but again, I like doing it this way so that I can adjust the fit if necessary. I also think the serged finish looks just fine.

This weekend I will attach the waistband and hem them. I hope these will fit really well after I attach the waistband, because I like the feel of them and I think they will be really comfortable.

Time to Vote (Endless Combinations)

I just thought I'd put a blurb on my blog about voting in the Endless Combinations contest. As far as I know, there has been no announcement that it's time to vote, but if you haven't had a chance to look, go over to Pattern Review and look at all the wonderful things that have been made for the Endless Combinations contest. The idea of the contest is to make at least 4 garments. Each new garment must go with at least one previous garment. All of the entries look good, so it will be hard to vote, but if you get a chance, go over and cast a vote!

New Pants

From Pants 2009

Well, here is trial number one with the pants. Although not perfect, they certainly are wearable. I think the crotch is a little low and have marked the pattern to raise it next time. After all that raising and lowering I did on the pattern, I ended up taking out everything I added in. Also, since wool crepe is a bit stretchy, I ended up taking and additional 1/2 inch off the side seams all the way down. Wool fits so much better than tissue paper!

Even though I must have tried these pants on ten times while making them, there are some things that you just don't see until the waistband is attached and you take pictures.
These are the changes I will need to make for next time:

1. increase front inseam even more to accomodate large thighs
2. raise the crotch seam
3. decrease the back inseam to reduce bagginess under the butt
4. adjust the back crotch curve. It seems to be tight across the fullest part of my butt

From Pants 2009

From Pants 2009

One thing I did a little differently was on the zipper. The seam allowance looked like it was going to really fray there, and since I had not serged that s.a. before putting in the zipper, I decided to bind the seams with Seams Great. I have never been thrilled with this product, since I always expect it to be easier to use than it is. Maybe you just get better with it the more you use it. YOu can see that the second side (the right) looks better than the first.

This and That

Yesterday I got my pants cut out and the darts sewn. I had to stop progress because DH and I were going up to Three Rivers to see my brother play. My brother is a gifted musician - the kind that can just pick up any instrument and play it. Play it well. I taught him how to play guitar when he was in 8th grade and he hasn't stopped since. He has a band called Stillwater, but last night he played unplugged up at a small place in Three Rivers, which is our local "mountain community" Its really the foothills, but a beautiful place. We only stayed for a couple of sets, but it was really fun. I'm always awed a bit and inspired to get back to my own guitar playing whenever I watch Tony play. Sorry for the bad quality photo - I took it with my phone, so no flash, poor lighting, and ...oh well.


Oh, and BTW, can you see that beautiful artwork on that acoustic base? It was done by one of the local artists. I didn't get a chance to really look at it up close, but it was pretty amazing. (You can click to enlarge, but the picture's not that great.)















Maureen asked, "Which view are you making?" on the pants. Well, I'm making view A, which is the one on the far left. This pattern is set up with 3 views in levels of difficulty. They suggest starting with view A because there are no pockets, no pleats, and a center back invisible zipper. View B is similar, but with pockets, pleats, and a fly zipper. View C has pockets, stitched down pleats, wider legs, and a fly. Andy's working this morning from home, so I'm hoping to get some sewing done while he's doing that. That means I have to get off the computer and to the machine!
Oh, and just for laughs, here's why we had to take down our Christmas tree early.

Tissue fitting pants

Yesterday I spent a lot of time tissue fitting a pair of pants. After watching the Patti Palmer pants fitting video which I got from Smartflix, and seeing McCalls patterns on sale for $1.99, I decided to get the Palmer Pletch pants pattern 5239. I love that the pattern has super detailed instructions on how to tissue fit pants. I also have the book Pants for Real People, and the instructions on the pattern sheet are pretty much the same. PP suggests buying the pattern by your hip size and if you are between two sizes, to go with the smaller size. My hip measurement is between a 14 & 16 in patterns, so I went with the 14. I probably should have gone with the 16 since I ended up adding tissue to all of th side seams in the hips and thighs. It was also interesting that when I tried on the tissue after a few adjustments, it just didnt go up to my waist correctly, so I added 1" to the crotch depth - and in the end, I ended up lowering the waist seam by 1"! Its funny because basically I took out what I added in. I think this must mean that I have a high hip and needed the hip curve to be a little higher up. It really made a difference in the wrinkles and fit.

Here is a picture of the pants front pattern after the tissue fit alterations. I just put it on the purple fabric so you could see the tissue paper. And guess what? The pattern actually recommends that you make the pants in black wool crepe! BUT, since I am not allowing myself to buy the coveted black wool crepe (It's coveted because I have to get it online, no one sells it here) until I make two pairs of pants, I will have to make it out of another color. Today I will decide what to make it out of.....


I have had really limited success with pants, so I'm almost afraid to cut my fabric! The last pair of pants I attempted was a pair of black wool pants from a TNT. But, I over adjusted it and they came out too tight! What I do like about the PP pants pattern is that it is sewn with 1" side seams and you pin fit the pants before you sew them as well. DH is at work today and I'm not, so I'm hoping to get started on the fabric of these pants today. I'll keep you posted of progress.

Sewing Smarter and Resolutions

Happy New Year Everyone!

Thanks so much for all of your wonderful comments on my coat and my sewing projects of 2008. The blogworld is such a supportive place to be. I really do appreciate all of your imput. Some of you probably don't know, but my husband is blind, so I can't really "show off" my creations to him. (the good side of that is that he can't see how much stash I have!) Any way, thanks again for all of your support. It really does mean a lot to me.

The new year is upon us and although I’m not much for New Year’s Resolutions, I’ve been thinking about some things I want to do differently this year.
In the area of sewing, I really want to sew smarter this year. What does that mean? Well, first of all, I think I really need to take a look at the things in my closet that are my “go to” pieces. There are certain things that I tend to pull out and wear over and over, so these are the kinds of things that I need to make more of. Sometimes I am surprised at what these things are. And then I need to think about WHY they are my favorites. Is it the fabric? the style? the fit? the color?


That being said, I think my mission the first months of 2009 will be to get some great looking pants. I have made a number of pair of pants over the last few years, but none of the fitted pants am I that thrilled about. Last week I watched Patti Palmer’s pants fitting video from Smart Flix, and am anxious to try her method. Once I get a good fit, I want to make about 5 pair of pants to really have it down. I also want to make a pattern template once I get the fit I want, and use it to adjust other pants patterns.


However, my first pants project of the year will be another pair of the Marcy Tilton Pants. I made the cropped version for summer and ended up wearing them way more than I thought I would. so this goes with resolutions 1, 2, 4, & 6.









I think my other big project for 2009 will be to get a great fitting white shirt. I like wearing collared shirts under sweaters and alone. Short sleeved “camp shirts” seem to be the thing I always grab for when I don’t know what to wear and I am in serious shortage. Sleeveless collared shirts are one of my favorites in summer, so I need to make some of these as well. THe first pattern I’m going to try for this is the Palmer Pletch one shown here.







My resolution last year was to make more from my stash than what I bought. I have no idea if I followed this rule, because I lost track somewhere along the way. I still think know I bought more than I sewed, so this year I’m really going to try to reduce my stash! I’ve already started by pulling out a big shopping bag of fabric that I am planning to give away to another lady who sews in my church. I found that I don’t have that much that I want to give away, which means I need to hurry up and make a lot of clothes since I love all the fabrics I have.


And on that, a word about buying. This year I do not want to buy anything unless I have a specific purpose for it, plan to make it soon, and absolutely love it. I think I often tend to buy fabric because I know I can’t get it locally, so I buy things I think I will like and be able to use. Right now my fabric cabinet is stuffed, so I need to get busy and start thinning it out! So, right now I'm dying to buy some black wool crepe for pants, but I'm making myself make 2 pairs of pants from what I have before I can buy any black wool crepe!


And what about patterns? Well, I definitely have more than I need. I AM keeping my BWOF for another year, and this year I hope to make more BWOFs than in 2008. In 2008 I only made up 7 BWOF patterns out of the 45 things that I made. (I only did 41 reviews) My favorite BWOF pattern that I made this year was the poet’s blouse number 122 from January 2008.
But, OMG! Have you seen the new Vogue catalog magazine? There are some gorgeous patterns in there that I just love. In fact, I placed an order for the spring catalog yesterday. Their new patterns aren’t up on the site yet (well, not as of yesterday) but I’m drooling over some of them. So, I know there will be some new pattern purchases this year!

And finally, the TNT. This year, I want to try to make the things I like more than once. I always like when I see a review or blog post where someone has made something a few times in a row and changed it each time. I need to do more of that this year.
It’s so easy to get caught up in , “I could make that” but this year my mantra will be “Don’t make what you can buy” Sewing time is precious, so I really want to make things that I love. I do have a lot of fit problems with RTW, so I really want to get great fit and then make it over and over again.

So, to sum up, I guess you could say these are my sewing resolutions:

1. Make more things that I really love, are comfortable, and fit my lifestyle
   
2. Work on pants
3. Make a great white shirt - or two or three
4. Make more than I buy in fabric - there are no "if's, and's, or but's" on this one
   
5. More BWOFS than last year - so that means at least 7
   
6. Use more TNTs - or try to make new patterns more than once.
   

*I’m also really wanting to try some of the vintage patterns I have this year. Most of them are summery dresses, so that won't happen until at least spring (probably)

Also, I've really been thinking about contests. Although they are fun and motivating, I think sometimes they really stilt my creativity. I either want to finish by a deadline and so I hurry, or I make projects that are less detailed in the interest of time. I'm not saying I wont do any contests, but I'm really going to think hard before I join one. Speaking of which, my coat was the last piece to the Endless Combinations contest. Here is what I ended up making:



So, I’d love to hear, how do you plan to sew smarter this year?

2008 Review

I've been doing a lot of thinking about my sewing lately, and how I want to change it for next year. That will come in another post. I'm looking back and the things I've made this year and recounted them to find that I've made 45 things! Now, one of them was a quilt, a couple were handbags, a couple were gifts, and most of them were garments for myself. You would think that I have an endless supply of clothes, and though I don't regret making any of them, there is a lot that either don't fit right or really aren't "me". Next year I will do things a little differently, and I have already started making a list. But for now, here are some of my favorites:

At the left - black wool skirt. I like it because of the fabric and the style. I used the Nancy Erickson pattern, but I also have anther pencil skirt pattern that I really like too.


This blue, gray and black top. This is a New Look pattern and I love the neckline. The fabric also drapes really nicely on this one and it goes great with skirts or jeans. This is the other skirt pattern and actually, I made this skirt in 2007, but it is still a favorite.













This BWOF blouse is probably my favorite thing that I made all year. It is really comfortable fabric and I love the style and the details. I really should make another one of these. I like the fabric in these pants, but they are too tight in the waist so I never wear them. I think I am tending to "over-fit" some of my garments.

There are a few other things that made my favorites list because they are most worn/used. They include
Metropolitan handbag
My Quilt
Marcy Tilton Pants, and
the Little Brown Jacket
























And of course, my new coat. I wore it today and I love it!













Now for the not so good.


This BWOF blouse was a lot of work and has a lot of details. I only wore it once or twice and it was a little tight and uncomfortable in the sleeves. Also, the cuffs were heavy with all the big buttons. I eventually gave it away.













These pants went straight into the trash. They were just too big and baggy.









This is a beautiful BWOF blouse, but I rarely wear it because the fabric is a poly chiffon and it is not that soft. Also, I always have to remember to wear a cami underneath it. I do wear it occassionally, but it's not something I would wear to work on on the weekends, so I don't wear it that much







This cardigan I have never liked. THe main thing I don't like about it is the fabric. It is not soft at all and the first time I washed it it pilled terribly. It was not inexpensive fabric either. Oh well, win some, lose some. Also, this, like several other tops I have tends to slide down in the back at the neck. I think this means I need a forward shoulder, or rounded back adjustment.

So, as I stated before, I'm hoping to sew "smarter" next year and have more things that I totally love. If you'd like to see a quick review of all that I made this year, here is the link to the photo album.

A New Coat

I am absolutely in love with my new coat. I took some pictures this morning to show my progress, but I ended up working on it all day long and finishing it! Except for the collar/ neckline, this was a super simple coat. Raglan sleeves - so no set in sleeves or fussy fitting there. In seam pockets, so no welts or even patch pockets to worry about. The directions for bagging the lining are very clear, so the only hand sewing is hemming the sleeves and bottom hem and a tiny bit of catch stitching here and there. This is a Sandra Betzina pattern from Vogue, number 1024. I used a great wool coating from Gorgeous Fabrics, and the collar is "Veloba" which is a fairly flat faux fur. The lining is polyester crepe backed satin. I'll need to get a picture of that tomorrow and post it, because it is a beautiful lining.






As I said, the coat was very easy EXCEPT for the collar. I don't know if I didn't get may marking or cutting right, but I had the hardest time lining everything up at the neck edge to attach the collar to the edge. I had the same problem with the lining. I made it work, but it doesn't look as perfect as it should. Fortunately, I'm not turning this in anywhere to be examined by the sewing police! I did mark my notches and dots and squares with tailor's tacks, so I'm not sure what went wrong. There is one small error in the pattern, and that is that the notches on the upper sleeve do not line up. Mine were about 1.5" off, so I walked the pattern and found that they were mis-marked, so I fixed that on the pattern. I don't know why I had so much trouble with the neck.





The collar is interfaced on this jacket and so are the hems of the sleeves and the bottom hem. I used Patti Palmer's Perfect Fuse Medium for this and I really like the way it worked out. I had used the lighter weight Perfect Fuse before, but this is the first time I used the Medium. The facing is cut on grain and the strips for the hems are cut on the bias.






If you have never made a coat before, this is a good one to try. She gives very clear directions, and even gives you tips on hemming and hand stitching.























I would like to make this again in a shorter version, and I recently purchased some brushed wool melton from Fabric.com that I would like to use. Either that, or I have some really nice looking woven suede that I picked up at Hancocks that would give it a totally different look.

The making of a (new) quilt

Well, wouldn't you know that I would start this one week before Christmas! Will I finish it in time? No. I think I better move on to another project and come back to this after Christmas. I am making this quilt for my daughter, and I picked the easiest, fastest pattern I could find. But even still, once I started it, I realized I would not finish it in time. this pattern is from the book Quilts! Quilts! Quilts! which we used when I took the quilting class. It is a great book with a wealth of information. For the quilt I am making, everything is cut into 2" strips. I'm making the twin size, and for the version I am making, you need twice as many dark as light strips. I ended up buying almost all of the fabric for this quilt, but I bought some of it from the clearance rack at Beverly's and the rest I got from a quilt shop in the town where I work. As a rule, I don't really like the quilting fabric at JoAnns, because it just doesn't feel as good. I always pre wash all my fabrics, although most quilters do not.
The first evening I worked on this, I cut all the fabric into strips.
Then I pulled darks and lights that I thought would go together and put them in piles. Now I am working on sewing all of those strips into strip sets.




After the strip sets are made, you cut each into a 5" square. I'm doing this as I go. Right now I only have about half of the strip sets made. maybe not even that much. Why did I start this project right now? I really want to make my coat instead. DH and I are leaving for San Francisco the day after Christmas and I really wanted to have my coat to take with me. Looking at my schedule, I really only have one day I can sew between now and Christmas, so it doesn't look like the quilt will get done, nor will the coat make it to SF. I also had planned on making DD a clutch purse, so maybe I can get that done in time.

Videos and Coat

Many of you may know about Smart flix, but it is new to me. They have tons of "how to" videos available for rent. Also, they have something called "universities" where you pay a flat monthly fee, they send you 3 videos and you can keep them as long, or short as you want. When you return one, two, or all three of them, they send you new ones. And yes, they have a sewing university with videos from names like Nancy Zieman, Sandra Betzina, Margaret Islander, Peggy Sagers, Marta Alto, and others. I thought I'd give it a shot. The list of titles sounds interesting. You can check out the universities here.

No sewing yesterday or today, but I did make a trip to the local JoAnns and got some great things. Wool in a khaki color to make another pair of the Marcy Tilton pants, a black brocade to make a clutch for DD for Christmas, thread, and fabric for lining and collar for a coat. Last week I got this Sandra Betzina pattern(in addition to the clutch pattern)
in the mail from club BMV.


I don't know if I'll renew the club BMV because I can get the great $3.99 sales on Vogue from JoAnns, but the problem is that they usually do not have the latest patterns in stock when they have their sales. They also are often missing at least 1 or 2 patterns on my list when ever they have their great sales, no matter what the pattern company. So, I may or may not keep it. This is the first time I've ordered from Club BMV.

I'm using the wool coating shown here from Gorgeous Fabrics, the crepe back satin for the lining, and the veloba "fur" for the collar facing. I'm excited to make this coat, and hope I can get it done before Christmas. There is not a lot of fitting to the pattern, and I'm basically going to make it just like the directions in the envelope. I recently saw this pattern featured in one of the magazines, but I can't remember which one. Can any of you help me out? I looked in the last 3 issues of VoguePatterns, but it wasn't there. I know I saw a 2 or 3 page spread on variations of this coat. I saw the pictures on the Sandra Betzina website under "Sandra's Closet", but I'd like find the article again.