How to: Sew a Scout Tee from a Men's Shirt

What better time to take on a reconstruction project than in the Spring, when nature is overtaking the stinking heaps of winter trash and last Fall's unraked leaves to create new life ... much like (segway!) we can stitch another season into tired castoffs from the men in our lives, like this Scout Tee I made from one of my husband's old button-ups:

His and Hers Plaid Separates!

My apologies for the cellphone photos, but I'm trying to make it easier on myself to post regularly. Plus I wanted to share this prototype version of the Tiny Pocket Tank, which I modified to add a full-length button placket. I love the cut of this simple tank, but I thought it needed some visual interest:

If you've been reading my blog for some time, than that print may look familiar. It's a remnant from a short-sleeve Western style men's shirt I made my lucky husband Ryan. He's such a sweet man. He even agreed to let me take a pic of us together in our His-and-Hers shirts:

Wow. We look equally tired. 

Of course once I sewed a couple tank tops, the temperature dropped precipitously in NYC, so those of you who live in the Big Apple can blame me for the Spring backtracking.

Adding a button placket to the Tiny Pocket Tank is pretty damn easy. You just re-trace the front pattern piece, and then use your ruler to draw two lines parallel to center front, each one inch apart. Then you fold it on the lines and use a tracing wheel to true the top curve. When you're sewing, fold and then fold over again on the lines and topstitch. Voila: insta-placket ready for buttons.

I have since added some ease to the hip (as always; I have to do the pear-shape-girl alterations), and have drafted a 4 & 1/2-inch placket for another version of this tank, which I'm sewing from the navy deer-and-dot print cotton I picked up at Mood last weekend. It's very sheer, and behaves like silk, so I'm thinking it may be a blend. It will definitely require some layering, as I'm not one for letting my bra show through. (Well, maybe for that lucky man pictured above — but not amongst the general population. I am a Lady!).

Have any of you done other variations to this simple pattern by Grainline? I'm thinking of making one with a yoke and color-blocking. What else can you think of?

Two Canada-bound Bombshell Bodices

Badass Bombshell!

Sometimes I sew something for myself and the results are such that I say (to myself): "Self, THIS is why you sew." And these two dresses, sewn from Burdastyle's Bustier Dress With Draped Detail pattern (using Gertie's "Bombshell Dress" Craftsy.com class, which I highly recommend), validated my most consuming hobby this week, as I stole precious minutes to finish off these detailed bodices. (That's how I felt, sewing these: like I was stealing — that's how busy I've been, and how rewarding it was to take the time to actually sew for myself.) 

Anyway, somehow I managed to pull them together in the final days before I leave for Canada for nearly a month. The gray cotton printed with Russian doll owls and branches is from Snoozer Loser. I won a few yards last year in a Burdastyle contest. The black skirt is cotton-silk voile from Mood in NYC. I didn't have enough of the print to make a skirt too, so I opted for something simple on the bottom. I don't love it. I may go back and change it one day, but not now. Definitely not before I leave on Friday for Vancouver Island, my Home and Native Land — and where I plan to wear these two dresses, to a stagette (that's what we call a bachelorette party in Canada) and a wedding reception.

Here's the other, in navy and pale peach bow print cotton by Marc Jacobs (I got it for $5/yard at Metro Textile Corp. in NYC's Garment District; still mad at myself that I didn't buy more of it), plus a peachy pink skirt (also a cotton-silk voile from Mood):

The skirt is simply a gathered rectangle, with two layers. I tried Cynthia of Dapper Duds' dental floss technique for making the gathers (in mint, so I smell fresh!). It worked really well. So well, I did it twice this week:

I can't say enough good things about this bodice. With only a few adjustments, it fits perfectly. And Gertie's class: amazing. You all know that already, right?

Each bodice has seven pieces of boning in it. (I ordered boning in bulk because I'll be making another of these dresses soon  — not for me; for a friend). But my husband didn't make a single joke about all the boning in our apartment. Off his game, I guess.)

I sure like to put my hands on my hips. 

Just don't tell me the skirt should be shorter. I'm not that young anymore 

I don't know how to pack light for this trip when I have so many dresses I need to bring (plus a kid and all her crap, and a carseat, stroller — don't judge me; she's the lazy one). I really loathe traveling by plane.

But that's for another day. Today is all about two-for-one Bombshell bodice dresses! How would you style these dresses?

Turning Your Scraps Into Pure Sexy

 I love apparel sewing, yet don't get off quilting and other types of sewing that involve using up small pieces of fabric (Home dec sewing? Hate it!). That would be why I donate any pieces smaller than 3/4 yard to a seniors center where they apparently use them in craft projects or whatever. Because even a yard is nothing much when it comes to apparel sewing. And I'm not about to start sewing up a bunch of pot holders. You're going to have to look elsewhere for that, my friends. (My three-year-old is right; leftovers ARE yucky!).

But then there are a few beloved prints that I just can't part with — scraps I hang onto just in case I can make them work in some way (as pocket lining? cuffs? a headband?). Take these two dresses I made in 2011, both made from precious printed cotton:

Sewn from Snoozer Loser printed cotton I won from Burdastyle.com

Yes, that bow print is Marc Jacobs!

Anyway, even after several stash culls, just enough of these two printed fabrics remained for me to sew the bodice for Burdastyle.com and Gertie's Bombshell Dress. I seriously had nearly nothing left of these two fabrics, but just look at what I was able to muster:

LOVE!

Of course this bodice is fairly revealing, so it's on the itty bitty side as it is, but also it has 13 pieces, so if you are working with scraps, none of them has to be very big. Matching stripes (or bows, in my case) calls for a little more fabric if you're picky like that. But even so, you really don't need much for this bodice. The skirt, however, is another matter. But I think pairing a printed bodice with a solid skirt is a cute look. I'm thinking of choosing the lightest possible cotton voile and making a gathered skirt with lots of summery volume. (Black to go with the owl matroska print, and peach for the bows). Here's another look (keep in mind this is just the outer shell of the bodice, which will be lined with cups in it and even boning eventually.

I congratulated myself for tossing the last remnants from these two favourite fabrics. Surely nothing could be done with the six-inch-square odds and ends. What do you like to make with your leftovers?

Third Time's the Charm for BurdaStyle's Cap Sleeve Dress

I didn't participate in Tilly's One Week One Pattern challenge, though at the rate I've sewn Burdastyle's Dress With Gathered Skirt and Cap Sleeves, it would have been possible.  I didn't get in on the fun because I didn't know about it until quite late, and I don't have enough items sewn from a single pattern to make wearing it for a whole week possible. (And though I now have three of these dresses, the weather has not been co-operating lately for such summery clothing.)

Anyway, I was still not quite satisfied with the fit of this dress even after a bust dart rotation took out a bunch of ease at the neckline. The back was still big for me (I'm short through the waist) , so I  found a way to remove the excess. I slashed a straight line from the neckline through the armhole, overlapped the two pieces by 7/8 of an inch, then taped it together, and reshaped the neck and armhole using my French curve. It looked like this: 

The fit is pretty darn spot-on now:

I had this lightweight cotton leftover from a peplum blouse I made for Patternmaking class at FIT a couple years ago. I bought it at Mood, and I love it...it's sort of Starry Night-inspired, but Spring-y:

This time around, I went with the simple gathered rectangle skirt, even though i think dirndls generally look straight out of the Von Trapp Family Spring Collection:

So am I satisfied with this pattern now? The bust is a little pointy due to the size of the dart, which makes me just want to create a princess seam for a better fit. But then, you know, it's basically a whole new pattern at that point. I think it's time to move on. So long. Farewell. Auf wiedersehen, goodbye Burdastyle Dress With Gathered Skirt and Cap Sleeves!

Blogger jealousy and making up for missed opportunities

I don't consider myself a jealous person but now and then my magnanimous appreciation for the superior work of others is tested.

Take the other day when Cynthia at DapperDuds posted on my blog to say she had made a dress from the same Marc Jacobs bow print cotton I had sadly wasted on a poorly designed Misses Vogue pattern that constricted my upper body movements (and I like moving my upper body, so that was a problem).

So like a sucker, I follow the link to her blog only to discover that her dress (sewn from Simplicity 2444) is 10 times cuter than the hack job I eventually cobbled together from that same fabric last summer.

My husband was walking by the computer and he said, "Is that you? I don't remember taking that picture." To which I replied, "NO, that's NOT me. She's younger and cuter and has better legs and more blog followers, and she made better use of that precious bow print fabric than I did....and she lives in Portland!! $%&$!!!"

And that's when I ripped our iMac out of the wall and hurled it across the room. Then I went and ate an entire bag of Mini Eggs to get myself together.

Following that heated incident, I decided to give myself a challenge. No, not to outdo Ms. Cynthia. That would be petty. My challenge was to make good use of the remaining yard and a half I had of this printed cotton I had used to line my Minoru jacket. Like that Marc Jacobs bow-print cotton, I bought it at Metro Textiles Corp. on 37th St. for just $5/yard. I quite like the geometric gray and blue design. I think they look a little like pencils, neatly arranged:

I thought the pattern Cynthia chose for her dress was a smart one because it was simple enough to showcase the lovely print. So I opted for something similar: Burdastyle's Dress with Gathered Skirt and Cap Sleeves.  I didn't have a huge amount of fabric left, so I knew sleeves were out of the question (hence, no need to buy Simplicity 2444) and the dirndl skirt would be a good way to make what I had work.

I made a muslin and made one adjustment to the front bodice pattern piece, but after sewing I realize I need to do a bust dart rotation to take out the ease that unfortunately lets me check on the status of my cleavage just by glancing downward. You can see from the photos, it fits beautifully through the waist and bust but my upper chest and shoulders aren't really filling this out so well:

Where's the anti-wrinkle filter in PhotoShop?

The fit issues won't be enough to keep me from wearing this dress, though when I make this pattern again, I will manipulate the dart to remove excess from the gaping neckline. And when I do, I will share it with you, because it's an important trick to have in your arsenal if you want to make well-fitting clothes (and are a lady with a bosom). I am most proud of how I laid the pattern pieces on this print. (The way the pencil/spears come together I feared that with the wrong placement I could end up accentuating my nipples in an egregious way. But look at how beautifully symmetrical it is! Suck it, Cynthia! (Only kidding).

Sewing Space Revamp

What do you do when you're facing a bunch of deadlines and feeling overwhelmed by the demands of work and family? Do you remodel your sewing room with a simple complicated woodworking project? Me too! (OMG, we are so much alike).

OK, so "sewing room" may be a bit of a misnomer in my case. My sewing room is more like a "sewing area," which also happens to be a foyer/busy thoroughfare in my one-bedroom apartment that I share with two other people (one of whom NEVER cleans up after herself). In clear view from almost every corner of our apartment, it sucks when it's in disarray, which it has been lately because I have so much on the go. You can see how it needed some work ("Before" photos are legally required to be shot with a flash, so they look extra ugly):

Blargh!

That's an eyesore, right? No wonder Burdastyle.com didn't feature any photos of my sewing space in their Q&A with me. 

Since I switch back and forth between sewing and patternmaking, I need to have lots of different tools close at hand. A proper pegboard seemed to be the best solution. And anyway, how hard could it be? I picked up a pre-cut piece at a hardware store nearby, plus a couple four-foot-long pieces of 2-inch by 1-inch pieces of wood. Plus screws. And drywall anchors. Then more screws. Of course all of these items required separate trips to the hardware store, because I am an idiot. Then I put my staff to work painting the pegboard a nice retro Pepto Bismol pink:

 Then I measured and marked holes on the wall above my drafting table, and then drilled and hammered in eight drywall anchors because this apartment does not seem to have studs. (There must be five layers of drywall atop each other, and if someone were to remove them all, we would get another 50 square feet out of this place. Fucking New York apartments.) Then I screwed the pieces of wood frame in place, like so:

Then, finally, I screwed the pink pegboard to the frame, et voila!! (OK, so a bit more was done before the "et voila" stage, but you don't need to hear about the hours spent tossing and organizing notions and tools.)

 I'm still waiting for my pegboard hooks to arrive (I ordered them via Amazon because it's hard to find them at our tiny hardware stores in Upper Manhattan), but you get the idea. All those tools, curves and rulers you can see on my drafting table will soon be displayed on high within easy reach. Here's another view:

Beautiful!

 I even managed to re-use three dowels I had on hand from the tents I made for my kid's camping themed birthday party. Check out my handy bias tape & trimming holder I made by putting a screw in each end of the dowel and hanging it on hooks off my pegboard (I wound the bias tape, elastic and trimmings on cut sections of toilet paper tubes):


Then I had a major brainwave, and used another two dowels to create a big spool for my pattern paper. It's so far hanging off the bottom of the pegboard in a makeshift kind of way, but at least it gets the paper up off the dusty floor, and makes it super easy to access:
 

It's a little Macgyvered in places, but I'm still super proud of it. I didn't spend much money ($7 on the pegboard, $5 on the hooks, $5 on the wood, and a few bucks on screws), but improved my sewing space dramatically. Hopefully it will streamline things for me, and help me sew and draft more efficiently.

If Only My Husband Actually Read My Blog (Without Me Asking)

It's been a busy few weeks here with more writing assignments than I know what to do with. Actually, I can handle all the writing assignments. What I can't handle is keeping a clean apartment or finding the time to sew anything. So my place looks like shit, which means it's high time to stop reading any and all blogs that feature perfectly lit photos of delightfully decorated homes. I might just kill someone if I have to lay eyes on another hyper-organized, artfully arranged baby room.

That time would be better spent vacuuming or telling my husband to vacuum.

Anyway, the one thing I have done is make an easy change to this blue cotton dress with the bow-print. Because I made it, I loved it, and then I never wore it. I thought I liked the A-line shape, but every time I went to put it on, I'd hang it back on the hanger. Then I had a brainwave: add elastic at the waist to make it more casual. My life is pretty chill after all. Here I am hanging out at Central Park's Sheep Meadow:

Here's the dress before:

And here I am in it after adding a casing to the INSIDE of the dress, and then threading a length of 1/2-inch elastic through it. Much more casual. Plus I don't look pregnant:

And from the back:

 

Much more wearable, right? This was a lovely day out with my family. We played at the 68th Street playground all morning and then had lunch at the gourmet food trucks now stationed at the former Tavern on the Green restaurant/tourist trap. I'm loving the food trucks this summer (another reason for an elastic waistband, am I right, ladies?).

From Tablecloth to Tunic Top

Is it obvious that this tunic top was made from a tablecloth? I hope not because I'll be wearing it for the rest of the summer and I wouldn't want anyone to try to eat off me. If it looks familiar that's because it is the perfect summer top, the Burdastyle.com Tunic Top With Crochet Flowers pattern, which I previously made in pink. Once again I've made it sans crochet flowers, because I neither crochet nor like excessive applique across my bust.Plus with the blue floral embroidery along the bottom, I've got enough embellishment, I think.

Once again, I recommend this pattern. And it's cheap, though some assembly is required. Just $5.40 at Burdastyle.com.

Two Sew Daily Tunics

A friend of mine who is a cameraman once told me how they make actresses look amazing on screen. Lighting. Lots of it. From all directions, including from below. There's also an extra light that adds a twinkle to the eye of a romantic interest or a lovely lady. And for villains, there's no twinkle light. So they look darker, empty. I hope I'm remembering this all right.

Anyway, the point is, good lighting makes you look so much better. Direct sunlight, however, makes you look bad. Squinty, shadowed. Ugh. That's why we shot these photos in a tunnel in Central Park yesterday. The filtered light was just perfect to bring out the peach and navy in this tunic I sewed from a free Sew Daily pattern.

The fabric I used here was left over from this skirt and blouse I made last month. I loved the print so much but didn't have enough left to make much. So it was perfect for the yoke, waist and sleeve bands you see pictured here.

This pattern (which again: you can download for free at Sew Daily) is supposed to be sewn with jersey and lace. Here's the other version I made, in which I stuck to the intent of the original. Still not too sure how I feel about it. A little too precious for me, but I think that has more to do with my colour choices, than with the pattern. I still stand by the peach, but paired with the lace....hmm, I don't know. Also, my sewing machine light melted a hole in the lace yoke, so I had to come up with some way of covering that up. That's what the weird ruffly thing on the left is:

 

meh?

So, not really thrilled with this jersey tunic (which I made with remnants from the Batwing top I made a few months back, plus a piece of lace I got from a neighbor who was thinning out her fabric stash), I decided to give the Sew Daily pattern another go. This time I made it with silk. Because I that's what I had on hand, and I thought it would be nice and cool and flowy for spring and summer in NYC. But then I realized I'd have to line it (with polyester lining, also a remnant from another project) so I'm not sure how cool it's going to be come warmer weather. I also eliminated the ruffle, having decided it was not all that flattering on my figure. And I added a band at the bottom hem, and sleeve bands to make the (almost nudeish) peach blouse more interesting (and so I wouldn't look so naked from far away).

I'm pretty happy with the results, and will definitely wear this top. But the silk was hard to sew, and I redid the yoke I think four times...so there's something strange going on with the drape of the front. Also, it gets static cling — the silk clings to the lining and then wrinkles up. Anybody have a solution to that problem?

Tunic-in-progress

 Despite not being pregnant (see earlier post) everything I make seems to be maternity-like. It's due in part to the fact that I like my summer tops to allow as much air flow as possible around my midsection. New York is hot! (a new friend recently pointed out to me how much I complain about NYC in summer — even in the wintertime. It's true. I start sweating just thinking about summers here. As a West Coast (Canada) girl, I cannot take the heat. In the words of Rachel Zoe: I die!) Luckily, I just love the look of loose tunic-style tops with leggings or skinny jeans. This work-in-progress here is another version of the Lace Ruffle Tunic by Sew Daily — minus the ruffle, and made in silk (leftover from this project here) not jersey, like the pattern calls for. I loved this printed silk and had just enough left for this yoke and some details. I added a band of the contrasting printed silk at the hem, and on the sleeve cuffs. My yoke did not sew together nicely at all (silk is hard to sew!) so I have to take another crack at it.

Someone make me this, please?

If I only had a garage. And tools. (Oh, and some time to spare) I would totally try to make something like this for my apartment. Or if you live in Cape Town you could buy it from a number of shops that sell this South African designer Katie Thompson's repurposed furniture.

Make it: Chiffon Flower Corsage!

It's yet another snow day here in NYC, with schools, bus and subway service suspended. Libraries are all closed. Many museums are too. The streets and sidewalks are a mess. So what to do with a toddler who hates playing in the snow? I wish she were movie-marathon age, or read-Harry-Potter-while-mommy-sews age. But instead she's needs-to-be-entertained-at-every-second-of-the-day age. I love winter in New York because it's not sweltering hot and I don't have allergies. But when the snow is this frequent and heavy, we're going really stir-crazy. 

If you're stuck inside today like we are, maybe you should make something. Like this springy chiffon flower brooch in a peachy orange, which if the Golden Globes were any indication, is going to be a hot colour this spring.

I started making these flowers because I thought they'd look pretty grouped on the sashes of the flower girl dresses I'm making for a wedding in the fall. The colours are green and orange, which clearly look beautiful together when done in the right shades (see left)

It will take you only about 20 minutes to make one of these.

The Grosgrain-inspired Leaf Sweater

I just the love the mottled sunlight that filters through the metal gate that keeps intruders from entering our apartment via the fire escape outside my kid's bedroom window. Now and then my husband will claim to have OCD, but as fas as I can tell, his condition only flares up when it comes to making sure that gate is locked before we all go to bed at night. (OK, he's also OCD when it comes to checking CNN's politics webpage during election time — which is ALL the time in the U.S.)

Anyway, here I am this morning in a newly revamped sweater that I got at a clothing exchange last winter. It's a nice sweater, but kinda boring so when I saw this sweater over at the amazing Grosgrain blog (where the very talented and prolific Kathleen is posting tutorials for all sorts of embellished sweater projects this month), I was inspired to make it...better. See hers:

 I'm not going to post instructions or anything. She's already done a great job of that, and if you're interested, go see her site and tutorial. I should note this whole thing took maybe a half-hour. It's a super quick project. The thing that takes the longest is felting the sweater used for the leaves. I had to wash and dry it three times before it was felted enough. Here are some close ups of the neck and wrists: