First Sewaholic Pattern

My new fabulous yard offers a plethora of wonderful backgrounds for blog photos.  Observe the antique shed. Could look urban or rustic.  Very versatile.
 
Next we have this lovely wood fence with accompanying...what is that called anyway?  Chicken wire?  Vine latice?  Obviously some sort of hybrid of the two - there is vine growing on it nonetheless.
 
Okay, okay - this isn't a blog about my yard.  Let's get to the sewing.  The shirt dress was the first thing checked off my September to-do list.  This Alma Blouse from Sewaholic Patterns was the second.  I have a long torso - so belts don't always look right look ridiculous on me when I tuck my shirt into my pants.  Unless the pants are high waisted, (which is supposedly in style, and yet I can't seem to find anywhere.)  In sum: I'm always looking for shirts I don't have to tuck in.  I love the Alma Blouse because it has a tie belt and thus, no tucking.  Stats are below.



Pattern: Alma, Sewaholic Patterns
Fabric: Linen blend (from JoAnn's)
Time: A weekend.  It was a slow start.
Other interesting facts: There is a zipper in the side.
Changes for next time: I will add and inch to the torso length. 

I had never done a Sewaholic pattern before - although I have loved Tasia's blog for a long time, especially when she writes about running her own business.  My secret fantasy!

This shirt also reminded me how I never quite put an invisible zipper in perfectly.  There is always some weird little gap or bunched fabric.  I'm determined to get it right in my next project (Colette's Clover pants) even if I have to hand pick the thing!

Overall good experience.  I would try another...maybe the Cambie Dress next time.  We will see...

Multi-Tasking

I'm trying something new this fall: multiple projects at once.  I've been inspired by Hurricane Isaac - during whom I made a little mental back up plan for prolonged sewing outages: cut all pieces for the next few projects.  The outage (thankfully) was only one day, but the impulse to get several things going at once still lingers...

Here is what I'm working on for fall.

Shirt Dress (for school)

When I decided to give sewing a serious try...back in 2010...I intended to download the Coffee Date dress off Grosgrain's Frock by Friday series.  Instead, I accidently downloaded a shirt dress.  It was a disaster.  Photos later.

This put me off shirt dresses for a while... but now I'm ready to get back in the saddle.  With this dark brown pin stripe linen blend.  On the dress, the stripes will be going in the other directions. Obvi.

Tea Length Dress (for an October wedding)

Victory Patterns

Okay.  I'm a sucker for a sweetheart neckline.  The Macaron dress was the original catalyst of my sewing appetite, seen here, so you can imagine the DROOL when I saw the Ava pattern by Victory.  (Side note...I love independent pattern companies!)  I plan to make the Ava every which way...so this round is just the beginning. 

I'll be making it out of another Egyptian gift fabric.  Gus made more than one black and gold selection while abroad - a nod to the Saints?  Also Steelers compatible.  Makes for a versatile fall wardrobe. 

Blouse (for school)
So I have been blessed with a long waist.  I don't know if blessed is the right word, but anyway.  This means that most pants look funny when I tuck in a shirt.  Consequently, I need blouses that look nice untucked... which can be a bit tricky.

Not so if you sew!  As I said earlier, I love me some independent pattern companies... and one I haven't tried yet is Sewaholic.  Luckily my Alma Blouse pattern came in the mail today!  First up is View A...in this linen blend.

Much better than last September's line up...which ended in a sewing hiatus of six months.  Commitment: history doth not repeat thyself. 

Yellow Polka Dot Blouse

Pattern: Sencha
Fabric: Silk, $9/yd
Buttons: Vintage
Cost: $20

The photo above has some crazy light...but I kind of like it.

This garment is a synthesis of firsts. Components:

1. First Colette Pattern ever purchased... now almost two years ago. My first attempt at the Sencha blouse was an awful failure - between my inability to deal with the silky polyester and making a size way too small because I was used to crazy design ease. I have finally made a fitting version of this top!

2. First time using silk. Yellow Polka Dot Silk - my favorite purchase from shopping in NYC. Though tricky at times, completely worth it. Silk feels so much nicer than synthetics! Almost burned it a couple times with the iron as well... but crisis averted.

3. First major machine malfunction... right in the center of the front collar too. I nearly lost it. The needle kept breaking... I finally figured out it was hitting the presser foot. A week at the shop later...

Normal light:
Back view:
I'm finally back into sewing, after a long hiatus. I'm excited to start working through the Colette Sewing Book my brother gave me for Christmas - and use the $200 worth of fabric I splurged on at Fabric Place Basement on the same trip home to Massachusetts. Fabric Place has amazing stuff - and completely takes the excitement out of the Joann's that just opened in Baton Rouge. While I love to have an option other than Hancock... sigh...just a little boring.... ;-)

A Long Plaid Coming...

I must say... my blogging has gotten away from me! Between a job change, traveling for work, and Mardi Gras... I haven't had time to sew a thing. (And am now secretly glad I didn't post my "sewing resolutions" back in January... I'd be in deep water now...)

It doesn't help that my new job is teaching 1st grade... which is amazing, but "weekend craft" heavy. Let's just say I cut out a lot out of laminated letters. And crazy shapes. And sea animals. Not as many dress patterns.

So let's REWIND to September 2011 and look at a plaid variation of Sorbetto that I made, but never photographed, way back then.









Pattern: Colette's Sorbetto
Sleeve: Colette's Macaroon
Fabric: Plaid Shirting from Hancock's
Trim: Something lacy I picked up in NYC - August 2011.
Cost: No idea, but I'll guess $7.

I love how the Macaroon sleeve looks in the crisp shirting. A very comfortable shirt.























I used the trim to finish the sleeves and neck line by stitching the trim on right-sides-together, turning the seam under, and top-stitching it down. This method caused the trim to stand straight up - as you can see below - which is a little odd, but I kind of like it. 3-D Baby. Perfect to wear around the house while I start my next sewing project!

Suddenly Sorbetto: How I Made a Work Appropriate Shirt in 3 Hours

I was catching up on my Google Reader, when I noticed that fabulous Shawnta of Peace, Love, and Namaste had added the Self-Stitched-September '11 button to her side bar.

GASP!

It was just this time last year when I started getting serious about sewing...or at least serious about thinking about sewing.

That's when I realized... I've made very few practical garments in the past year. Sure, that Macaroon made of quilting cotton is adorable, but it's mighty close to showing off my business when I sit down. Not appropriate. And my Green Goddess Dress is divine on a hot Louisiana evening, but a little too curve hugging for the office. If I'm going to survive Self-Stitched-September, now a year old dream, I'm going to need some work clothes.

And so, a Wednesday night became Suddenly Sorbetto.


Of all the Sorbettos I've seen out there on the interweb - and there are quite a few because the pattern for this little number is FREE - I have never, NEVER, seen one that couldn't been worn to the office. Provided pairing with a pencil skirt or slacks. With Mena flouting her 45 minute Sorbetto completion average on her Seven Days of Sorbetto series, I figured I could cerntainly make this bad boy in no time, provided I had some usable fabric in my stash.

I found some left over swiss dot from my Sweet Swiss Dot Dress, and Gus was at poker, so at 7pm I told myself I would finish this Sorbetto TONIGHT.

Here is what my sewing table looked like mid-Sorbetto.
For work, I thought it best to add a sleeve to the blouse. I downloaded Mena's sleeve pattern from The Sew Weekly... unfortunately I don't think it came out to scale. It appeared to be a sleeve for a small child... so I used the Macaroon sleeve to estimate my size (I eliminated the curved edge of the sleeve because I wanted to finish it with bias tape.) You can easily scale up Mena's sleeve, or use a sleeve from any other pattern you have around.


With a black pencil skirt, this blouse is 100% work appropriate! And kind of cute too. For my next Sorbetto (and yes, there WILL be a next Sorbetto) I plan to extend the length to make it easier to tuck in. The whole thing took about 3 hours - including a trip to Hobby Lobby to get white bias tape!


Self-Stitched-September '11 here I come! Living the dream, folks. Is your wardrobe ready for a full month of self-made attire? If not, what's missing?

Oh My Shirt

On Friday, I wore this freshly completed shirt to work... and got a compliment from a stranger in the elevator! To make it even better...she asked me where I got it - the perfect set up for beaming "actually, I made it!" It was the perfect sewing conversation.

This is an incredible, magic shirt. It fits perfectly, not too snug, not too loose. The shape looks great with a professional skirt or jeans. Best of all, the steps were all nice and easy - I think the whole thing took me 5-6 hours to make.

As I get better at sewing, and start to see the possibility of making all my clothes, I'm on a positive body image high. My closest friend, S, and I had a long conversation about this the other night. Our conclusion: much like making your own food allows you to control the nutritional toxins that enter your body, making your own clothes allows you to control the body image toxins that enter your mind. As I've grown up, I've realized that no matter how much you love your body, those toxins are still out there - and every time you go shopping you're confronted with them. Consumer culture is set up to make you feel inadequate, and therefore in need of more STUFF.

But then there's sewing! Instead of looking at style and fashion as something I can only be part of if I fit into it, I'm looking at style and fashion as something I can make to fit me. It's being creative instead of trying to keep up.

I'll leave it at that for now. It's something I've been thinking about more and more... so don't be surprised when I bring it up again!