The Basics Revisited

Earlier this year I asked over at pr.com about what others consider their wardrobe basics which later turned into a sew along. Most people after  finding what they like to wear and what works for them tend to keep to their own personal style. For me this has been something I have been working with since I started sewing and even a lot more lately since I decided to find my own set of go to patterns that fit and flatter and can make up at least most of my wardrobe.
When I first started out, I had one child and a lot to learn when it came to sewing. The most I had made successfully  before that was some elastic waist skirts that I made in Girl Scouts and some of my hijabs in high school which is very basic beginner stuff. I was learning slowly how to sew and had a good idea of what I wanted but then I started looking to the internet for more to learn, ideas and patterns. That put me on an up and down roller coaster ride of sewing and learning. I would see things that others were sewing up and looked nice on them and thought I could do that or learn to make that, but knew nothing about fitting and my basic sewing techniques still needed a little work. I learned about pattern sales and just would buy every pattern that looked good and for me that was almost everything or something that came out great on someone else, I just ignored my own taste and what I wanted. I became blinded by internet sewing but it also taught me a lot  especially about fitting. Even with all of the fitting books out there they are still limited as to how much they can show you but with sewing forums you get to see a lot more fitting, analyzing, and problem solving at work. Now 11 years and 8 kids later I really feel like I don't have much to show for it. I'm really trying to buckle down and get some basics under my belt. I have made this list several times and have changed and refined a few times but I think I have it down for the most part.

My List

1. Fitted knit top
2.  A-line Maxi skirt 
3.  Skinny Jeans
4. Tunic like top
5. Fitted button down shirt

Skinny Jeans

6. Empire waist maxi dress
7. Denim or Chanel type Jacket
Extras
8. Cardigan
9. Slouchy knit tee
10. Straight leg pant

The ones in red I plan to try and draft myself.

I'm hoping with these I can start building my wardrobe instead of wasting the little bit of sewing time I have with refitting and hoping that it works patterns.

Basic skirt

Basic t-shir

Basic pant

Basic dress

They only one on this list that I am not keen on getting started on anytime soon is the fitted button down shirt. Finding the space to keep an assortment of buttons and then to shop for them is not easy for me right now but zippers and interfacing are much easier for me. I have patterns already planned  for the ones I'm not drafting. Also this year I'm just going to try and focus on this and not try and fit every contest or sew along into my plan. I want to take my time and enjoy the journey.

Until next time, happy sewing...

Sewing Room to Sewing Space

Just this past week I lost two sewing days to moving, my sewing room that is. We did some rearranging of some the rooms and I got the girls old bedroom for my new sewing space. Its a little bigger so now I'm calling it my sewing space. The first room was pretty small and was very tight now I have bit more space and can now walk around my cutting table with no problems but the biggest gain now is now my room is not a walk through. You had to walk through my room to get to the front of the house, a problem when you have small ones and want to leave somethings out.

Table for my machines and ironing board

Cutting table with calendar behind it

Books/ Fabric and patternmaking table

Tracing and patternmaking paper rolls

Door and Pattern drawers

Books and Fabric 

I need to hang some of my kids art as the walls are pretty bare

Number 9 and in his favorite place, under my cutting table

Until next time, happy sewing

Design-It-Yourself Clothes Basic T

First Muslin

A couple of months ago blogged about wanting to return to patternmaking and I am so glad I did. I'm just enjoying it. I have already drafted the basic skirt again. But this time I started with a sloper draft from Building Patterns and then mixed in DIY Clothes draft to make my basic skirt pattern that fits me a little better. I have already made two muslins and have my final working pattern that I'm pleased with. I'm currently working on my first skirt and hope to be done soon.

Next up was the basic t-shirt pattern, this took a little bit more time to get the results that I'm looking for and its still not quite there but I am going to keep working on it. After drafting the pattern with my measurements              using the/ instructions, I sewed up muslin number 1 the pink black and off white knit. It was quite clear that I over measured on some things. The shoulder length was way too long, the neckline was too high for me and the sleeves and shirt length too long also.

Second Muslin

Muslin number 2: Sleeves still just a tad too long, shoulder length still too and neckline is just right but I forgot to take off the neckline length when making the neckband so the band was the same length and made the neckline stand way from my body.

Third Muslin

 Muslin number 3: Almost there but still not quite. I'm still not happy with the shoulder or sleeve I'll continue to work on that. I'm thinking about adding a center back seam for a better fit. For the most part the length of the sleeves and body are right where I want it.

Muslin number for is going to have a wait a couple of weeks since I want to finish the basic skirt and complete my level 2 garment for YCMI. A post on those coming soon.











Until next time, happy sewing

Pink Maxi Skirt

I have finished my pink maxi skirt which I made with the YCMI learning to sew program. The skills in this level are very basic and I am far beyond this level but I wanted to complete the program from beginning to end which meant sewing an elastic waist skirt.  The skirt is a little darker than what you see, it also longer and looks better on me than my dressform. I used BurdaStyle 07-2010-138 which I lengthened and eliminated the back seam to get what I wanted. For the fabric I used a pink stretch linen that I found locally. The skirt was easy to sew just two pattern pieces folded down for the elastic casing, folded up for the hem and inserted the elastic into the casing. The part that took the longest was hand sewing the hem, other than that I could have finished in one sewing session but I wanted it to be perfect and not rushed. If I decide to make this pattern again I think I'm going to make the elastic narrower for a half inch width elastic instead of the 1 inch that I used, its just a bit too bulky for me. Now to see how much wear I'll get out of this skirt since pink is not a color that rush to. I want to try new things with my wardrobe this year since I'm committed to making my own wardrobe for a year.

During my time away from the internet I was working on a t-shirt draft and redrafting my skirt pattern which I will share in the next few post coming up.

Until next time, happy sewing...

I'm Back Again..... :-)

And yes I have been doing some sewing and pattern work. Not having the internet has given me much more time to sew and draft, maybe I need to go offline a little bit more often. Any way just checking in and letting everyone know I'm back and I hope to have an actual sewing related post up soon. I have updated my learn to sew blog if your looking for more to read.

Until next time, happy sewing...

Internet Out

Blogging for me has come to a complete halt. Why? No internet service this time. I'm not sure when I'll be back online but until then I'll keep sewing and taking pics so I can share all of my sewing adventures when I'm back.

Until next time, happy sewing...

Returning To DIY Patternmaking

As much as I love sewing, I also love making my own patterns, there is just something satisfying and gratifying  about creating something from scratch that is exactly what you want and fits perfectly. I have only made a few successful patterns, but I want to keep trying. I know that patternmaking is a skill that is not learned overnight and even the best patterns still need fitting sometimes.

I'm going to once again try to make everything in the book ,BUT with my own taste in mind. So they might not be exact copies. I plan to start with the skirt. Even though I have my own skirt pattern that I drafted from this book, I want it to have a looser fit this time. I want a wardrobe of flowy maxi skirts for the summer with simple tees. Getting the fabric for the skirts I think will be easy, the hard part is finding some good knits. Also I want some cardigans also. It does get very hot here but most of the time your indoors somewhere and talk about the AC kicking. It will on something like 20 degrees F. So after my shirt I think I'm going to work on getting a good basic t-shirt, cardi and maxi skirt, because summer is already here.

Are you seeing the pink skirt trend here?

All pics courtesy of pinterest.com

Until next time, happy sewing...

Mix It Up March

As you may have guessed by now I love a sew along and this month over at Sew Much Talent is Mix It Up March. And I'm sewing along. Each week is a different sewing requirement. The first week is completing a half done or UFO sewing project. For me this is my LBMD (little black maxi dress), it has been sitting on my table for weeks. I originally started for the LBD contest over at Patternreview but never got around to finishing it on time. 

And here it is, it. I did not make the deadline again which I am not surprised since I found about the sew along late in the week and still didn't get to start on it right away since I had a busy weekend (Thursday and Friday here). I did work on it for a couple of hours on Saturday and I really enjoyed working on it. I now wonder why it took me so long to get back to it. I know I stopped due to lack of notions but still it didn't have to take me this long. But I'm glad I did and will continue to work on it slowly while I work on this week's project.

Up next is my fitted shirt/blouse BWOF 1-2008-124. I still need to work on the fit before I can start cutting. After that I need to sew like the wind if I want to finish on time this time.

Until next time, happy sewing...

Working Knit With Simplicity 2345

I just finished up my latest top from Simplicity 2345 and I don't think with it just yet. So far I have made 4 tops and dress using this pattern, that is a lot for me. I love the cowl neck line and how it shows off my log neck with a nice necklace. For me its not your average tee but not too unique that if you made it a lot someone would notice. This particular one sat for almost a year as a UFO while I made others. Only because I quickly learned that I like this pattern more in a poly knit than a cotton knit, the cowl just hangs better to me. So any future tops or dresses from this pattern will be made in only knits that drape well.







Gray, White, Black and Red in a Cotton Knit

Purple, Black and White Stripe in a polyester knit

Gray Cotton Knit

Black, Red, Off White in a Polyester Knit

Various Shades of Purple and White in a Polyester Knit as a Dress

If I do make this a dress again, I'm going to have to A-line the pattern a little bit more. While I do wear the dress that made, I wanted something that is not so clingy in the hips, more like a flowy maxi dress. What I did was to the a-line shaping starting just above the hips which did not give me the amount of ease I wanted in the hip area. What I think I need to do is to start the a-line just below the bust like in a empire waist dress. I have a green and white knit that was given to me by a good friend that I think would be perfect for my next dress. 

You can read more on this pattern here.

Until next time, happy sewing...

Burda WOF 1-2008-124 (modified)

This month is the fitted blouse contest going on over at Patternreview and I was so hoping to participate but with the new " on a person" rule my hopes disintegrated in front of my eyes. Oh well that is life, not everything works in your favor. I understand why the rule is in place, it is a fitted blouse and one needs to see the fit on a person to judge so I can't complain too much. I'm just going to sew along and hopefully show my blouse in the contest thread instead and also the  fitted/ semi fitted blouse sew along that was started, I'm happy with that.

I'm using BWOF 1-2008-124, I have been wanting to make this ever since it came in the mail back in December 2007, but of course stuff happens and things get pushed back and at times forgotten. Now I'm hoping to try it but without the bottom ruffle or the ruched darts, it has only taken me 5 years to get to it. Its a good thing a basic shirt/blouse doesn't go out of style. I love wearing fitted shirts, I love them more than t-shirts. So I'm hoping this will be THE pattern I use a lot.

While I was waiting for the contest thread to start, I pulled out my arsenal (my books) for this project. I want this shirt to be the best it can, like with all my projects. I think for now I'm going to use flat felled seams for the side and sleeve seams and David's cuff and collar application technique. I know these two things alone will improve my shirt making compared to my last attempt. I have already cut out a half muslin for practice. Right now some parts of the both techniques are a little confusing even when watching it but I'm hoping it become clear once I practice them a few times.

Next up fitting, I'm still not sure which size I am with Burda magazine patterns. I have already traced the largest size (44) and will go from there.

Until next time, happy sewing...