Highs & Lows

ETA - I'm supposed to mention my mom took the photos, and that's the reason I won. Thanks, Mom!

The highs: Awww, thanks! So, I won. I'm pretty pumped. I've only been garment-sewing since 2007, and still feel very much like a beginner, so it's extra-nice to be recognized for sewing something good.

Everyone that left a nice comment, both on my blog, and on PatternReview - thanks! Every one of your compliments really made my day. I joke that no-one other than my mom reads my blog, and I cherish each comment I get.

The lows? The way I found out I won was through a rather mean series of anonymous comments.

Let's see - they started out with this.

It's ok, you won! despite not entering on time AND having your items not qualify. Great job!


It felt mean, but I wasn't sure if someone was being mean, or if I was being overly sensitive.

But it quickly got clearer.


The correct date is on the fist page of the contest rules. Not the 15th page. And it does say bolero's are not allowed on the front page as well.
I guess it was too much of a pain to read the rules on the first page of the forums, or ask for clarification.
Very glad to see you won despite all that though! Guess you'll be getting that Jailie pattern :D

Great job winning by getting votes through your blog, even though you didn't technically qualify!
Pat yourself on the back :)

Hmm. I don't know if I should just be laughing here at the idea that enough people read my blog to swing a contest. Not to mention the implication that the people that read my blog & voted for me had *no free will* in the matter.

All I'll say is this - I understand that by blogging, I open myself out to nice comments and mean comments. I've been lucky so far that all my comments tend to be nice and supportive, and that's what I think of the sewing community, it is a nice, supportive group of people.

Dear Anonymous - I'm sorry that my Jalie pattern is causing you so much grief. But let's see - I made the case to the contest organizers that their signage was confusing, and they clearly agreed - otherwise I wouldn't have been able to enter the contest. And also - my cape isn't a bolero, which is clear from the construction instructions. I'm pretty sure boleros have sleeves.

And really, at the end of the day, why am I even dignifying this with a reply?

Back to the highs. I won!!!!! Thanks, y'all.

In which I feel very silly (and also ask you to do stuff for me)

Ok, what a perfect little storm in a tea-cup. That's what happens when you worry about a contest *before* sufficient cups of coffee.

All ended well. Deepika and Bluenines took care of me, extending the deadline till today, so I could get my entry up. My mom took the photos, I edited my review, and I'm now officially in the contest. Yay!

So, now of course, I'll make my shameless request - please vote for me? My entry is here, and the contest gallery (with all the other awesome entries) is here.

(Ok, a big motivating factor for entering this contest is because I want a Jalie pattern, and am too cheap to buy one. Which is ridiculous on many levels - such as - the cost of the pattern pales into insignificance when compared with, say, the amount I spend on beer. But, of course, with three boxes of patterns in my house, it's hard to justify buying another one. But if I win, and it's free? Super-awesome.)

Accessories - the final looks

I am really pleased with my end result looks. They feel normal, not-stunty, and stuff I would actually reach for in my day-to-day life. I do not have enough time to be sewing stuff that does not fit in my life, so yay for me!

In which my life is like an episode of Project Runway

You know the scene when the designers have been set the task, assigned a deadline, and then they go off to shop & sew?

And then Tim Gunn comes into the designers' studio and says, "Contestants - the rules we set out earlier? Not the rules anymore?"

Well, that's the way I feel about this stupid Accessories Contest.



Evidently, that bit where it says Oct 1? Really means Sept 30. Which I would know if I read their 15-page message board thread about the contest. In which I would have also learned that though their rules say nothing about a cape, evidently, the committee has ruled that a cape is not an accessory. (But a scarf and shawl are, of course.)

Excuse me for having, you know, a job, a cat and a social life.

I'm pretty annoyed right now, so I'll just finish up this post and walk away, keeping the ranting to a minimum.

But, if you are going to have 15 sources of information on your website about a contest - would it be too much to ask that they are all consistent?

(I'll still take photos of all the looks, I'm pretty pleased with them.)

Accessories - my version of Anthroplogie's Three-Piece Belt

Here's Anthropologie's version.

And here's mine. I left off the welt pockets (welt pockets in one evening? surely you jest.) I made it narrower than the Anthro version, but I'm pretty pleased with it.



"Wait a minute, Reethi!", alert readers might remark. "Weren't you going to make an obi belt?"

Why yes, that was the plan. Except, I pulled out the pleather, and I definitely didn't have enough to make the long ties. So, I had to do some fast thinking today, and draft up this alternative. Which I actually like quite a bit.

Construction details:

- I free-handed the front and side pieces of the belt, and then cut out 4 pieces of each (left front, right front, left facing & right facing.)
- Sewed the front & side pieces together.
- The back is a wide black piece of elastic, wrapped in a brown tube to completely cover it. (In Anthro's belt, they use what appears to be suede. I used some leftover brown knit I had lying around.)
- I sandwiched the back between the belt front & facing, and edge-stitched the pleather.
- The belt is fastened with hook & eye closures, that are hand-sewn on.
- Finally, the buttons are stitched on top, also hand-sewn on.

It wasn't a difficult project, but it did take the *entire* evening to construct. Ah well. I'd like to think it was worth it.

Also, you'd have seen it in the poncho pictures last night, but I did change the game plan on the grey belt as well. I decided to keep it simple, and make a 1.5 inch wide plain belt, with a silver buckle. Not many construction details worth mentioning, just that I did interface the front side, and left the lining side uninterfaced (self-lined using the same wool). I cut my interfacing so that my seam allowances would be uninterfaced, and then put belt & lining right sides together, sewed up the tube, turned right sides out, topstitched, and attached the buckle. Not complicated at all.

So you want to make your own poncho/cape?

Don't worry, Mom, I'll still make one for you.

Ok - this is the easiest thing to make, and I swear, the versions in Hilltribe were exactly like this. And their versions were $50. (I scored a great deal on the fabric in Toronto's Fashion District - it was $1 a yard, with a minimum 5 yard buy. I think I used up a maximum of 2 yards for this, so my cape cost me $2. Feel free to hate me.)

Here's a little diagram that might help.


Here's what you need to do.

1. Decide how long you want the cape to be. I decided I wanted mine to be mid-thigh. Measure from shoulder to mid-thigh - and write that number down. Let's call that number A.
2. Decide how wide you want the cape to be. I wanted it to hit halfway between my elbow and my wrist, so I held my arms out straight, and measured from mid-arm to mid-arm. (Imagine a scarecrow.) Let's call that number B.
3. Now cut a rectangle, whose length is 2 * A, and whose width is B. (See picture below.)
4. Grab some tailor's chalk, and draw a line which divides the rectangle into halves on the breadth, where you'd expect to see the shoulder seam (in the diagram, I've marked it shoulder seam, except there's no seam, since there's no piecing here at all.) (For the math/geometry people, you've now drawn two rectangles that are A * B in dimension.)
5. Now draw a line which divides the rectangle into halves on the length - mark this line from one end of the rectangle till the shoulder seam. (One of the rectangles will be divided into two rectangles that are A * 0.5B in dimension.)
6. Cut down this second line (drawn in step 5). This forms the center front.
7. Draw out the back neckline, and cut it out. (The solid marked-area in the diagram below.
8. All done! Wear your cape smugly!



Another clear-as-mud tutorial...

Accessories: Sneak Peek at the Poncho/Cape

Ok, how much do I love this!!!??? It's no sew, it's warm, it's comfortable...

Love!!!

Here are some sneak peeks - I'll get better photos & a review up soon...

Accessories: The Reversible, MultiColored/Yellow Bag

The story of the design: When we got to PR Montreal, we were handed a re-usable shopping bag with the PR Montreal logo printed on it. (Similar to these.) I love this bag! The shape is great, you can carry it on your shoulders or just by the handles, and it holds far more stuff than you'd think. (I used it to move some fabric to my offsite storage - namely, the parents' basement, and I was amazed at how much fabric I could cram in there.)

I've been meaning to replicate it for a while, and the Accessories Contest was a good push.

The story of the fabric: This red silk fabric has sat in my stash for more than 4 years. (It might be one of the oldest pieces there.) I bought it when I only sewed bags, meaning to make some kind of tote bag out of it. (It was a sample in a design store, so I only a half-yard.)

Then, when I started sewing clothes, I thought I'd make an A-line skirt out of it. This would have been complicated, due to the stripe-matching issue, and the extremely limited amount of fabric I had, and so it sat, un-sewn.

Finally though, I've come full circle, and used it for a bag. Much better idea, I can't imagine where I'd wear a red striped silk skirt. (A bit dressy for work, a bit too distinct for everyday life.)

For lining, I was a bit stumped in terms of what was available in my stash. Finally, I pulled this mustard silk-cotton fabric, bought in India, that I had less than 1/2 a meter off as well. (It was another remnant.) I had *just* enough fabric, my shoulder straps are pieced, but I feel pretty good about using it.

This is a pretty fancy lining, and actually makes the bag reversible, which I love!



Construction Details: In terms of construction, here's what I did:

- I traced the bag outline onto my fashion & lining fabric, adding a seam allowance.
- I sewed the sides together (both fashion fabric & lining), and the bottom (leaving a bit unsewn in the lining so I could pull the turn the bag.)
- I sewed a bit of the bottom and sides together, to add 3-dimensionality.
- I left the shoulder straps unsewn, both of lining and bag.
- Then, I placed the lining and the fashion fabric, right sides together, and sewed up the straps (leaving an inch at the top.)
- Because there is a curve near the straps, I clipped the seam allowances so it wouldn't create puckering.
- Flipped the bag inside out (to expose the right sides) and then sewed my shoulder seams of both the fashion fabric and lining closed.
- Finally, I top-stitched the straps, and slip-stitched the opening in the lining bottom closed.

Clear as mud, I know, but it is a pretty common way to line a jacket and bodice.

And that, in a long nutshell, is everything you need to know about the bag.

Accessory Wardrobe - Inspiration Looks

For accessory inspiration, I automatically turned to the Uniform Project. If you wear the same dress for 365 days, you know how to accessorize.

A lot of looks weren't really me, but here are a few that I loved.







These images provided a load of inspiration, though my pieces in the end don't look anything like this.

Accessory Wardrobe - the plan & the pieces

I've been intrigued by the Accessory Wardrobe contest for most of the last month, and thought I might participate in atleast one contest this year. (I was hoping to participate in the wardrobe contest, but the summer months were crazy/insane, and it didn't happen.)

The trouble is - a lot of the accessories you can make for the contest - hats, gloves, aprons, mittens, ties, socks, slippers, fanny packs, headbands, leg-warmers - are items that I just don't wear.

So, my thoughts have revolved around what I can make that will fit my life and personal style.

In the end, I've decided to make the following items:

- A brown pleather obi-style belt (Dawn made a great red leather version here)
- A grey fabric belt of some kind. Most likely, it'll be another obi. I have some light grey wool that I think will work great for this.
- A multicoloured bag (the predominant colour is red.) Bonus? This bag is reversible.
- My black & white striped Infinity scarf.
- A mustard poncho/wrap thing. I was in Hilltribe in Halifax, and was very inspired by some really simple pieces that could be worn in a variety of ways. I want to replicate that.

I'm envisioning all my outfits being worn with a basic black knit dress. (Which I'll need to sew in a hurry!!!!!) I have 4 different looks in mind.

1. Preppie. Basic black dress + infinity scarf + brown belt.
2. Warm. Basic black dress + mustard poncho + brown belt.
3. Pared-down work. Basic black dress + grey belt + bag (solid-side)
4. Global hippie. Basic black dress + brown belt + multi-coloured bag

So - there you go. I have 2 days left - 4 pieces to sew (though of course, everything except the dress is relatively simple, and worst case, I can use an existing dress to model the outfits.)

To Infinity and Beyond!

I think I mentioned this before, but I'm planning to participate in the wardrobe contest. (Umm. It closes in 3 days, so I better get a move on.)

One of the accessories I've been meaning to make is an infinity scarf, which I first read about on Cidell's blog. What a great idea, no?

So, I used some of the G-Street haul, and made myself one.

Here's a couple of looks...

A messy version of a Capelet


Triple loop round neck


To be honest, I'm pretty simple in my scarf tying ways - this will be worn as a triple/double loop around my neck most often.

Photos taken in Toronto's Little India on Gerrard Street. I had lunch there with my parents and brother, and my mom and me strolled through some saree stores after. Super fun!