Sewing pattern review - BWOF 02-2009-124

More from the Feb 2009 BWOF issue. There's a lot of great versions of this dress - however, the one that made me trace and sew was Allison's fantastic version.

This dress was supposedly a muslin. The fabric is a 15-year old dupatta that I've been meaning to turn into some kind of dress. (My version is unlined.)

Holding the pattern up to me, I figured I didn't need to take any inches off the torso, which turned out to be decidedly untrue. At that point, however, the zipper was already in, so I took an inch off the shoulders instead. When I make it again, I'll also add a bit of extra ease at the hip, it feels a bit snug to me.

Otherwise, the dress was super-easy in construction, and sewed up quickly.

Good things:
This dress just goes to show, you don't need complicated patterns - sometimes the simplest pattern looks pretty good.

Bad things:
Well, it isn't a bad thing necessarily, but this dress turned out way dressier than I would have imagined - mostly because of the gold detail in the fabric. I haven't worn it yet - since relatively few of the things I go to involve dressing up to this extent.

Conclusion: I'm actually going to sew another (less dressy) version tonight, since I'm going out tomorrow, and have decided I've nothing to wear. So, its fairly safe to say I really like this pattern.

How am I supposed to get anything done?

When this happens?



Biscuit managed to get inside the plastic bag, and sit on my fabric. Little brat!

Although, to be honest, I'm not getting anything done anyway - I'm sick and I'm in my PJs feeling sorry for myself.

Dear mom. I lied to you.

Yes, mom, I know I said I'd make this shirt for you.

I lied.

You have plenty of shirts, mom. (Ok, so do I, but stay with me here.) And I really wanted this one. See how good it looks?

And its perfect for my regular day-to-day dressing - pretty shirt + jeans.

So, ma. Sorry. I lied. You can't have it. I'm keeping it.

Love,
Reethi.

P.S. BWOF 12-2008-113. Remnant of fabric from this Vogue dress.

On the bookshelf...

As I said in my last post, I recently became a library member. (To explain why this deserves comment - I have to get out of my front door and cross the street to get to the library. That's it. Its only taken me 11 months to do it.

Anyway, I'm taking full advantage of the ability to order from any branch and have it delivered to my branch. Here's what I've been reading in the last few weeks.


The Enchantress of Florence - Salman Rushdie. I liked this book! I grew up in India, and we learned all about the Mughal dynasty in history class. This book was an interesting take on a world that I knew a little about. (However, suspend belief in things like the linearity of time.)

House of many ways - Dianne Wynne Jones Ah, I really, really wanted to love this book, I really did. But alas, no. It was ok, readable, but nothing special. (On the other hand, this book is sort of a sequel to my all-time favorite book - Howl's Moving Castle, and Castle in the Air is also really good, and I recommend both of them highly.)

I'm reading Alice Waters and Chez Panisse right now. I'm finding it a bit heavy going, to be honest. Its filled with listings of menus, names of people that worked at the restaurant, etc. And detail of this sort mostly bores me. I wanted to be interested, but I don't think I'm cut out to read biographies, much though I'd like to.

Mini Project Week - Tuesday - Library tote

Ok, we'll call it the increasingly late mini-project week...


- Toronto is going to start charging $0.05 per grocery bag, which is an excellent thing for the environment, and one I support wholeheartedly.

- And I also finally went and became a member of the library.

- Plus, its getting close to the 4th of July.

- And finally, I have a lot of fabric.

All of the above led to this tote, which I am planning to use for groceries/library books/general errands around town. It is a nice large size, and I love the colors.

That's it for mini-project week, folks. This one is late, I just finished it.

I made 5 things - all very easy, some of them were UFOs, some of them were really simple things I'd been planning for a while, and some of them were projects designed just to use up supplies. Nonetheless, I had a lot of fun with this. I'm not giving up garment sewing, of course, but on an ongoing basis, I'm going to sprinkle in the odd crafting project to mix it up.

Mini Project Week - Monday - Using up remnants, with a little help from Anthropologie

More inspiration from Anthropologie, this time, this pretty scarf, which is actually fairly reasonably priced at C$21. Still, I did have all the ingredients at home...

Summerset commented about me already having supplies, but that's actually the big inspiration for this week. I have a lot of supplies sitting around, and I'm trying to use it or lose it. It does not help that I'm a packrat, and parting with anything feels like heartbreak (see this project, for example).

The fabric is a very sheer synthetic chiffon-type, left over from a sewing project (another 2-year old UFO, which I should make a note to finish), the trim I bought over a year ago at a thrift store in Michigan for 40c. Simple hemming, and sewing the hem on - about 30 minutes of work, tops.

And the result is that I have a fun summer accessory, and I've used up a tiny, minuscule portion of the supplies. Win-win.

Mini Project Week - Sunday - Finishing a UFO from 2 years ago

(The Biscuit had to participate in the photo shoot.)



(Once the photo shoot was over, she decided to guard the corridor against intruders. Because, you know, she's ferocious.)


And now, for those that want it, Biscuit-free commentary:

All these pj's needed was hemming, and yet, they've sat in the UFO pile since April 2007. I was cleaning recently, and found the PJs, so perfect mini-project.

(Full confession, work + social life has been crazy, I'm falling behind mini project week. This was done today, but I've labeled it Sunday, since I still hope to catch up with the rest of the week.)

Rather than hem, I decided to make them a tiny bit more interesting by using a coordinating bias-trim at the hem edge (the picture below). This project literally took me 10 minutes. I'm off to do another mini-project now, and try and catch up.

Good stuff - summer vacation plans!

Summer sewing is going to be very slow going for me. I'm going to be insanely busy at work (I'm traveling to 4 provinces in the next 4 weeks, enough said.)

But, better still, I have a bunch of travel for fun I'd like to do - I'm planning on driving the James Bay Road one weekend, I'm going to be in Montreal next weekend with a girlfriend (we are going to drink beer the entire weekend, good times!) and I want to go away to Europe in the August/September timeframe (I've been lusting after Barcelona, especially after watching Vicky Christina Barcelona... so maybe there?) My job can involve a fair bit of Canada travel, so I'm sure I'll toss in Vancouver in the mix, as well as Quebec City - I've never been to either place, and I'd love to go to both.

I'm excited about all of this, but most especially the James Bay road. I'm a bit nervous about doing this by myself (no gas stations, no cell phone reception, kind of out of options if the car breaks down or something) but also, really excited. Here's a bit of an excerpt from the James Bay Road info site.

The James Bay (Baie James) region of northern Quebec is located in northeastern Canada along the eastern side of James Bay. It is a vast wilderness area of taiga/boreal forest, reached by a single road - the very remote James Bay Road (Route de la Baie-James) - 620 km of forest and taiga and not a single town along the way!

I've a big map of Canada in my office, and I keep looking at it, and dreaming of these vast stretches of openness. I'm a very city girl most of the time, but I really do enjoy the remote, middle-of-nowhere road trips. I think Radisson, which is my northern destination, is as far north as you can go by road in Canada. And then, there are no roads, at all, which is a fascinating concept for someone who grew up in densely populated India. (Where there are bad roads, but still, roads.)

And, just to keep this from being yet another picture-less post, the picture above was from early April, I did a bit of a whirlwind visit to Phoenix and the Grand Canyon. (That's my buddy Dave in the picture, we went to school together, and I totally used his apartment as base camp. Bad Reethi.) I had a total blast!

Mini Project Week - Saturday: Quick & Easy Placemats

Way back in the time tunnel, JoAnns was clearing out a lot of its home-dec sample squares, and I bought about a million of them to make bags.

I don't really make a lot of bags anymore (although that's my mini-project for today), so I pulled three vegetable-themed samples together, and cut them out to make placemats. (Quick UFO reality check - I cut these out in March, they were for a friend's birthday - also in March. Finally sewed them together yesterday. Is it strange to give someone a birthday present 2 months late?)

Anyhoo, this is pretty simple sewing. Make placemat-size front, cut placemat-size back, sew right sides together, leaving a bit to turn; turn it through, slip-stitch the opening and iron well. (I might need to re-iron, since the placemat in the picture looks a bit wrinkled. I also opted not to use interfacing, but that's mostly because I didn't want to cut it out.

Of course, I didn't make just 1 placemat, that would be a sucky birthday present. I made a set of 4, and will give it to my friend when I see her this week.

Mini Project Week - Friday: Copying Anthropologie

I'm copying Amanda - and am going to try to do one mini-project a day this week. I've a ton of half-finished projects/easy craft projects, etc, and I'd like to take a stab at paring that list down.

Yesterday's project was copying the Gentleman Juggler necklace from Anthropologie. I love Anthropologie, and now, they even have a Toronto outlet. I, however, do not love their prices, and when I saw this felted bead necklace, I knew I could rip it off fairly easily, and significantly cheaper than the CAD 120 they were planning on charging.

I burrowed around - I conveniently had both copper chain as well as felted beads sitting in the massive pile of craft supplies, and I got to work. I threaded copper wire through the beads, and attached a bead on every link of the chain.

And here it is.



Other project details: My total cost - about $5. Total time taken - about a hour, while watching Law & Order reruns on TV.

Sewing review - Simplicity 2896

I've been going through a greens & blues phase - all the fabric I'm attracted to are in these hues... I've three dresses finished that are in this color family (one a disaster, the other two I love) and best of all, I was wearing a green scarf the other day, and some friends told me that green is a really good color on me.

Bringing me to this dress, the dress pattern in Simplicity 2896, my new favorite dress.



Fabric: A remnant from Joann's, bought when I crossed the border to stock up on patterns - 6-8 months ago? About $3, I think, and I have enough left over to also make a top, so I'm very happy.

Pattern: Simplicity 2896.

Pattern adjustments: I cut a size 10 on top, and a 12 at waist and hip - this is my standard Simplicity size. I took an inch off between bust & waist, and then enough length off so the dress would hit just above my knee. These are pretty standard adjustments on me.

Oh, and I completely left out the back darts - I just forgot, until the dress was almost done. Ah well. Here's a photo of the back - yes, there is some ease there, but I don't think it looks terrible.



And also, I didn't even open the instructions, so I've no thoughts at all on whether they are good or not.

Time taken: One evening's worth of work, so 3-4 hours. I'm a slow sewer - this is as straight forward as it gets, really, no sleeves, no waistbands, nothing that would slow things down.

Good things: I really like that the pattern has a combined neck & armhole facing - so, no fiddly bias binding. Also, I just love how this dress fits me, it skims rather than hugs my body, so I loved what they did with the sizing and the ease on this pattern.

Bad things: Really, none at all.

Conclusion: Love it! Love it so much, I have already cut out the next version (using this red fabric.)

Gratuitous Cat Shot

I couldn't resist. Biscuit is adorable. (Even when I found her asleep on my stomach at 5am. She's adorable, but heavy.)

Sewing review BWOF 02-2009-108

Finally, the camera batteries were charged, I had some spare time, so time for pictures and review.

The Feb 2009 BWOF issue rocked! I wanted to make almost everything in this issue. So far, however, the only thing I've made is this 1.5 dot t-shirt, so I better get cracking.

Fabric: A Joann's buy, from forever ago. I've used portions of it before, but I had enough left over to squeeze out this t-shirt. I don't know how much I paid for it? Probably $3-$4 a yard. Only problem - this fabric is really sheer. I'm wearing this tee with a tank top underneath, for modesty's sake.

Pattern: BWOF 02-2009-108.

Pattern adjustments: I cut a size 38, my standard BWOF top size. The only thing I did was sew the shoulders together, and then finish the neck edge, rather than finishing the neck edge and then sewing the shoulder.

Time taken: Pretty quick - this is a basic t-shirt, and it doesn't take long to sew up. 2-3 hours?

Good things: I love the boatneck tee, this is a nice basic, and it fits well.

Bad things: Bleah, the hem. I know I'm probably the only person that would notice that the hem is stretched out, but I do notice it, and I don't like it. Ah well. I'll still wear it.

Conclusion: I do like this style - it is a nice basic, and I'll make more.

This last month...

flew by.

And sigh, the dress didn't get done. (Actually, the muslin's sitting in half-finished state as well.)

What did I do this last month?

- Went to Phoenix and the Grand Canyon on vacation.
- Turned 36.
- Sewed a tiny little bit - one McCalls dress, the BWOF boatneck tshirt that everyone's made with great results (mine's good but not great), one Butterick tank-top like thing. The camera batteries have been dead since Phoenix though, so no chance taking or posting any pictures.
- And a whole bunch of hanging out with friends and family, which is all good, but also busy and doesn't leave that much time for posting.

So, in May, I'm going to try to commit to staying home and sewing a bit more. I'm aiming for balance, either I sew far too much, or far too little. I'd like to shoot for just right.

What was I thinking?

13 pattern pieces. Welt pockets. Tons of inset seams. Tons of curved seams. A ridiculously busy life. A 3 dot BWOF pattern.

What was I thinking?

At the rate I'm going, if I get the muslin done by the 19th, I'd be shocked.

The Birthday Dress: Part 1

Deciding what to make:

I think it was last year (coincidentally, around April) that I talked about making this BWOF dress in orange and pink.



A year later, I'm going to get cracking. I've traced it out (12 pieces! good grief!) and now I need to add seam allowances and make a muslin.

Why am I making a muslin, you ask? Only because this is rated a 3-dot pattern, and I've never made a 3-dot pattern before. I want to make sure I'm up to the challenge, before ruining the good fabric.

My wearable muslin (despite this excellent post, I can't bring myself to cut and sew without getting something out of it, and good fit doesn't count for me) will be in yellow, with white bands.

Now, off to add seam allowances and cut it out...

Sewing review - Vogue 8386

I'm not sure if this dress caused my biggest sewing slump yet, or if it was inadvertently caught in the middle. All I knew is, all I had to do was sew the hem, and sew the bodice to the skirt (already basted, too) and it took me a month to do, due to vanishing mojo.

That being said, I really like how this dress came out. It is my not-so-dressy alternative to the little black dress. The fabric is from Fabricland - it has been sitting in the stash for almost a year. (Waiting to be made, I always knew, from the day I bought the fabric, that Vogue 8386 was what I was going to use it on.)

This is my first Vogue pattern, and for the most part, things went smoothly. However, two things caused me a bit of grief.

- The instructions tell you to understitch the self-lining on the bodice - but this caused my bodice to stretch out, which I was NOT happy about.
- To get the bodice to fall right, without huge gaping in the front, or flashing the entire city took about a hundred tries basting the damn thing in place. And I'll probably still need a safety pin, or double-sided tape (just like the celebrities!) when I wear it - I'll be too self-conscious otherwise.

Right now, I've plans (damn this social life) Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. I've a nagging feeling I have something going on Tuesday as well, which leaves me no time to sew. Aargh. I do have a project on the go - BWOF 02-2009-108, the boatneck tee, which everyone in the world has made. Also, my birthday's coming up, and like Trena, I want to make a birthday dress. We'll see.

It fell off a cliff...

My sewing mojo, that is. This is the first time since I started sewing that I've completely not felt like sewing, and I'm very perturbed.

Not coincidentally, my social life is busier, although when people I haven't spoken to for a while ask me what's going on with me, my stock answer is Nothing Much. Which is true. So, I'm busy doing a lot, but not anything really meaningful. Again, perturbing.

Friday, I'm trying to keep one of my new year resolutions - to cook one new dish a week. So far, I've really not kept this resolution well, but on Friday, I've invited people over to dinner, and hope that this will spur me to cook something new.

I started work on my first Vogue dress last month, before the sewing mojo fell off a cliff. Maybe I'll finish it this week? Here's to hoping.

Sewing review - BWOF 11-2008-103 B

Finally, some consistent BWOF sewing. I've used November and December. If only I make something out of January, I'll be sort of in the game.

When at my parents a few weeks ago, I traced out BWOF 11-2008-103B. It finally got sewn up over the last week. (The big delay? Adding seam allowances to the tracing. I swear I sat at that step for over 3 weeks. When I finally got to it, it took 10 minutes while watching tv.)

Fabric: Fields Fabrics, in Kalamazoo, over Christmas. What fun I had at that store! (And how much money I spent!) I bought 1.5 yards of this red knit fabric, paying about $4.50 a yard, so about $7 (which is $8 or something in Canadian dollars, but I'm not that technical on this blog.) I'm hoping I have enough left of the fabric to squeeze something else out of, even if it is very tiny.

Pattern: BWOF 11-2008-103B.

Pattern adjustments: I cut a size 38, my standard BWOF top size.

- Omitted the hem allowance, as well as took 1.0 inches on the lower front piece, and the back piece, in the torso area, to petite-size it.

- Omitted the shoulder seam allowance, since this pattern runs very low.

- Finally, I changed the sewing order, as detailed below, to raise the neckline. (Allison did it by raising shoulder seams, but I am petite, and I would have had to raise it even further, hence my method.)


1. Finished the back neckline, as detailed in the instructions.
2. Joined the back shoulders with the front shoulders. Did not finish the neck at this stage.
3. Joined the center seam of the upper front pieces about an inch, to raise the neckline.
4. Attached the lower front piece (with band) to the upper front pieces.
5. Finished the unfinished portion of the front neckline, not by turning under and sewing, but by using bias tape (same as for the back piece.) I was afraid the front, which is on the bias at that point, would stretch out of shape, this way, there is still a tiny bit, but it is very minimal.
6. Finished rest of shirt (I also set the sleeves in flat, as I do with all knit sleeves.)

Cost: Fabric - $7. Pattern, $11, since I've made nothing else from this BWOF. Total $17.

Time taken: I sewed this sporadically over three evenings, an hour here and an hour there. This is a 2 dot pattern, it is easy to sew and there's nothing complicated about it.

Good things: It fits really well! Plus, I love how bright this print is, and the new, better and more modest neckline.

Bad things: One side of the neckline doesn't lay flat. It isn't super obvious (you can see it in the picture, however.) My parents think that only I'd notice something like that.

Conclusion: I finished it last night, and I wore it to work & out after today, so its safe to say I really like it.

January sewing recap

(Shamelessly copying Carolyn.)

I do love the end of year recaps people do, but I'm never too organized to remember what I've sewn - and when I saw Carolyn's monthly recap, a light bulb went off in my head! 12 Monthly recaps = 1 Yearly recap. Awesome.

(Pictures to follow, for those without, when I get home. Did I mention work is slow? Work is very slow. Thankfully, things will pick up next week.)

- Three quilt tops got made - this red one, this pink one and this green one. None of them got quilted though.

- Four (or five, depending on how you count the twin-set) tops got made, three for me, one for my mom. The red paisley, the black, the twin-set and my mom's BWOF. I'm also very happy to say that all of them got worn to work. (Well, except my mom's top, but she's worn that out too, so she must like it.)

- Three skirts got made. (And one UFO has been created - go buy that damn zipper already, Reethi!) The red suede skirt has been worn, the other two I'm saving for spring. (Thin cotton + no lining? Not for winter.)

- Three UFOs got finished. One blue knit top, which needed hemming, one pair of pants (needs a photo), which also needed hemming. And one brown t-shirt, pictured above, which needed the arm-holes finished. The blue knit top has been worn. I'm trying to figure out how much I'll wear the others. (The top above? Some weird armhole pulling, and serious bunching in the back. Maybe under a jacket, where all of those flaws will be hidden.)

So, grand conclusion? I completed 13 projects this month, and added 9 pieces to the wardrobe. I did go through the wardrobe and pull a bag of stuff I don't wear for the Salvation Army, so clutter was kept to a minimum. However, any month in which I sew 13 things is a month I didn't do a lot other stuff in (like, say, going out). Winter does make me hibernate, but this is somewhat ridiculous.