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?

A Tale of Four Purses: How I Finally Made A Clutch

I've been uber busy traveling for work and pleasure and haven't had a lot of time to sew lately. A couple weeks back I had a hankerin' for a sew-fix and decided to try a small purse - what I perceived to be a quick, satisfying project. I made a couple bags as a teenager, and always just made things up as I went along. I didn't think it would be that hard.

Little did I know, I was about the embark on a journey through purse construction... trying to get it right...mostly getting it wrong. And now I share my story.

PURSE #1: Too Soft
I made this little beauty out of some scrap teal linen and a fat quarter of quilting fabric. It started out so well. A front gather here. A snap there. The end result, however, is completely functionless.
Some mistakes I made:

• Only used lightweight interfacing to stabilize the pouch. It's quite flimsy.
  
• Didn't reinforce the snap. It's hard to open.
• Gathered the lining as well as the outer fabric. Why? I have no idea. I should have just cut it to size.

BEST USE: Stuff with potpourri. Put in sock drawer.


PURSE #2: Too Stiff
For my next go-round, I dug through my scrap heap and found the remnants of one of my favorite projects to date. My Macaroon. I was stoked to have another item out of this print. The results were less exciting.


This clutch is a stabilizing nightmare! I so wanted a sturdy purse after my first attempt that I stabilized this bad boy with EVERYTHING. If it was stiff, I bought it and attached it to the interior of this clutch. That's why the lining wouldn't fold under. You thought that was piping around the top edge? NOT SO.

As you can see, I didn't even sew up the turning hole in the lining. Another UFO for the pile.

BEST USE: Fold in half. Use as door stop.

PURSE #3: Too Small and Neon
At this point, I realized that I have no idea how to make bags and should consult a pattern. I found this great website, Keyka Lou, which has a number of downloadable patterns for reasonable prices.

I decided to try the Pocket Clutch, primarily because it could be done with two fat quarters.



This one came out better. Unfortunately, this blackbird on yellow fabric looked positively NEON when I got it home, making this pouch look like a child's toy wallet. Again, I haven't made the last few adjustments and closed up the turning hole yet. I may finish it up at some point. I guess can keep my allowance in it. Boo.

BEST USE: Hold money you're saving to buy a troll doll OR sleeping bag for a mouse family.


PURSE #4: (houndstooth is always) Just Right!
FINALLY: I returned to designing my own clutch, hoping it would work this time, promising myself I wouldn't rush. (I rush. A lot. Especially when sewing.) This time I did a variation of the first clutch, which a front flap to make it more useful.

Relief! A clutch I can actually use! The interior is the same teal linen from Purse #1 and the exterior is houndstooth calico. I used medium weight fusible interfacing on both the lining and the outer fabric. Next time I'll add a layer of batting too.

Now, granted, the snap is off center, but all in all - it looks good! It holds my keys, iphone, small digital camera and small wallet.

BEST USE: Carry while wearing the Lacey Shoulders Dress!

Who knew that trying to squeeze in a quick project would turn into a battle for decent bag construction! I hope this will save at least a few people from making the same mistakes. Have you ever had a project you just can't seem to get right?

Tutorial: Burda Dress Bodice Instructions

Burda, Burda, Burda. I love your patterns, but your instructions are confounding.

If you were confused by the instructions for the 02/2011 Dress with gathered rectangle skirt and cap sleeves, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s how I did it and recommend doing it too. But before we get to the instructions... a refresher on the finished project:

Burda Bodice Instructions

Pattern Found Here

1. Cut out your bodice pieces from BOTH the MAIN FABRIC and the LINING FABRIC.

1 front piece on the fold, 2 back pieces

2. Mark the darts with non-wax tracing paper.

3. Sew the darts.

4. MAIN FABRIC: With right sides together, sew the shoulder seams together. Repeat with LINING FABRIC. Press seams open.

5. With right sides together, sew the MAIN FABRIC to the LINING FABRIC along the arm holes and neck line. Press the seams open. NOTE: You have not sewn any side seams yet.

6. Turn the bodice right side out by pulling the two back pieces through the shoulders. Press seams.

7. Open the MAIN FABRIC and LINING up at the side seam (which is not yet sewn). Match the arm hole seams and edges - MAIN FABRIC to MAIN FABRIC and LINING to LINING. Pin, with right sides together. Make sure the arm hole seams lie flat. Sew the side seam. Repeat on the other side.

8. Your options now are to put a zipper up the back of the dress or buttons. If you choose to buttons you will need to make a button placket.

BUTTON PLACKET:

1. Cut two strips of one of your fabrics. I used the LINING FABRIC. The strips should be 2" wide and however long your bodice is.

2. Stitch rip the neckline in by a stitch more than two inches. The idea is that you are sewing the strip into the seam of the neckline. (Yes, this could have been done when I originally did the neckline, but I hadn't decided on buttons yet.)

3. Turn the garment so that you can put the neckline right sides together. Insert the end of one of the strips and line it up with the center back edge. Resew the ripped part of the neckline seam and turn right side out again. Your strip should now be sticking out of the seam.

4. Fold the strip down the right side of the MAIN FABRIC and pin the edge to the center back edge. Sorry, this photo is from the opposite side from the last photo. I also used pinking sheers on the other side of the strip so I wouldn't have to hem it.

5. Sew the edge of the strip to the center back edge, catching both the MAIN FABRIC and the LINING FABRIC.

6. Turn the strip to the inside of the garment, gently poking out the corner. Press the seam down. If the seam is bulky, clip the seam allowance.

7. On the inside of the garment, pin the open edge of the strip down. Sew the other edge of the strip down, about a quarter inch from the edge.

8. Repeat on the other side of the center back seam. As you can see, I had extra length on the strips. If you do, just cut it off at the end. The strips only need to be as long as your bodice.

9. Before sewing the skirt onto the garment, overlap the button plackets and hand baste them together at the base of the bodice. Then use the Burda instructions to sew the skirt onto the garment.

*** BEFORE MOVING ON, SEW THE SKIRT ONTO THE GARMENT****

10. Decide how many buttons you want to use. I used 5. Place one button at the neckline and one at the skirt line. Evenly space the other buttons between these two. I used a ruler. On the side that lies on top, mark where the button holes should go based on where you want the buttons. Follow your sewing machine manual instructions for making a button hole. I did a test run on some scrap fabric.

11. REMEMBER: put your button holes on the placket that lies on top of the other placket. The buttons should be sewing to the lower placket. Sew your buttons on.

Good luck!

Sweet Swiss Dot Dress

In my last post (which I know, was forever ago) I complained about a lack of fabric shops in Baton Rouge. Well, my friends, I have discovered a shop I overlooked! It's called Village Fabrics, and it specializes in wedding and special occasion fabric... which means it had some lovely shantung for my bombshell dress! But we'll get to that later...

Village Fabrics also had some lovely white batiste that I purchased to line my Burdastyle cap sleeve dress. Here is the finished product:

Fabric: Swiss dot
Lining: Batiste
Pattern: Burdastyle Dress with Rectangle Skirt and Cap Sleeves
Changes: Buttons up the back instead of a zipper up the side

I rushed to finish this dress in time to wear it to an Enchanted Forest party on Bourbon Street... but ended up wearing jeans due to the presence of a mechanical bison. I didn't end up riding it, but when you hear a mechanical bison will be there, you want to leave the option open. I'm glad I didn't wear the dress - my clothes smelled like Bourbon Street when I got home. (For the uninitiated, its a slightly metallic combination of piss and liquor.)

But back to the dress... the directions were simply awful (as opposed to awfully simple). I love Burdastyle, but I think we all know its big weakness (written instructions). I used a technique similar to the bodice for the Green Goddess Dress, which is Simplicity 2219. I will post a tutorial on how I put the bodice together soon. In the meantime... here are a few more pictures.

Macaroon (yum!)

What an adorable pattern by Colette. As delicious as a real macaroon. This dress made me nervous because I chose to use a fabric from the "quilting cotton" area of the fabric store instead of the usual fashion fabrics. As much as I love Baton Rouge, the selection of fabric is a major drawback. Luckily, I recently discovered a Joanne's near New Orleans - guess I'll be making more frequent trips to the Crescent City!

On the upside - this cotton is incredibly easy to work with, even if it's not as durable in the long term.