tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21705783278532195752024-02-23T21:01:50.529-05:00Handmade By Heather BHeather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.comBlogger542125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-67875175298240599042018-10-14T16:57:00.000-04:002018-10-14T16:57:10.454-04:00The Other Navy OutfitWell hello there everyone, guess who's been working a lot. Nope it's not Froggie. In fact he suddenly disappeared yesterday when I needed to hand sew two sets of shoulder pads in two dresses. I don't keep you around just for your looks Frog! You'd better get to covering a 3rd pair of pads while I finally write a blog post. On a related note working on 3 garments simultaneously can be fun....except for that part where you have to cover and sew in 3 sets of shoulder pads in two days. *And no, shoulder pads are not optional in my sewing room. No Saggy Shoulders!<br />
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I'd planned on getting my last summer garment posted in September, but pesky things like feeding my family, cleaning their clothing and sleeping took my available free time. Desmond might have licked a few classmates and brought some germs home as well. (Confession - he probably didn't lick anyone. I'm sure the germs were spread in an equally gross manner.) However Fall weather didn't show up in PA until yesterday, so I'm not feeling too bad about a semi late Summery make.<br />
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This summer I managed two navy outfits to complement the growing collection of navy hats. After finishing up the <a href="http://handmadebyheatherb.blogspot.com/2018/08/sewing-to-match-your-accessories.html">Hollywood shirtdress</a> it was time to get working on some separates. It was pretty egregious that the only solid colored skirts in my closet were black. (The devil on my shoulder screams "But Black Goes With Everything! So does red and pitchforks. Just go with me on that last one." OK, Ok dude, chill out. You don't have to sell me on pitchforks. They're awesome.) But sewing plain skirts is boring so I decided to make it a matching set with a bolero. Mostly because I had Hollywood 1326 in my stash already and wanted to sew it More Than Anything!<br />
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AHHHHHH! It's so cute! I even want the outfits in the color combos/patterns on the envelope. Shouldn't a pink and black polka dot silk be something you can go anywhere and buy? Why is it not? Who am I kidding, the jade/pink floral is the one I really want. Stupid past Heather for sewing up the stashed jade green cotton into a <a href="http://handmadebyheatherb.blogspot.com/2014/08/dusting-off-pattern-stash-with-beignet.html">Beignet</a>. To be honest I did like that Beignet a lot but it will never be worn now. Oh well, you must sew for the body and style you enjoy now or your child will throw all your fabric in a dumpster after you kick the bucket. This has been your stashbusting message for the year.<br />
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So yeah I bought some navy linen to make this happen. (Stashbusting, what?) And got to work musling this one up. Turns out that cute pointy waistband is not a waistband. It is a seperate belt that buttons on the side. It also turns out that it's not so cute if your bust line is so low that the points are poking you in the underboob. One does not need their own waistband harassing them so that had to go.<br />
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It was nice to sew a slightly different skirt style than the plain 4 gore style that has been my go to. It's just as easy to put together and paired well with the medium weight linen I'd closen. The linen also sewed up great in the bolero. The little fold back collar just makes me squeal with delight! It would have been an easy sew as well if I hadn't complicated it by adding a lining. However I've never said after the fact, "Oh God, why did I put this luxurious silk lining in my garment? I wish I was starting at bare cover stitched seams instead!"<br />
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This large scale ikat print had been sitting in my stash since Desmond was an adorable toddler. I've been a little concerned that it's too bold for any garment. But you know what I'm not concerned about being bold? A lining. What's that? Oh you're saying, "Umm Heather, you appear to be wearing a top out of this fabric?" Yes, Yes I am. Well after you finish you lining and have 1.5 yards left and have recently watched all of Ms. Masel then a matching bold top seems like a fine idea. Due to yardage constraints I turned to an old pattern friend, <a href="http://handmadebyheatherb.blogspot.com/2017/01/guess-what-i-made-3-months-ago.html">Simplicity 1155</a> of the darted neckline. Past Heather had even traced the short sleeve pattern back in 2017.<br />
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Once again you can barely see the the decorative neckline darts. One day I'll feel like torturing myself by sewing it in a solid. Until then you'll just have to enjoy the glorious button back.<br />
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One final thing, the sleeves on this are kind of odd, but odd in a way that I enjoy. The first thing that popped in my head is that they are vaguely Romulan. A google search tells me that I'm incorrect, but I think we both understand the importance of a strong shoulder.<br />
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Pssss Taris, what kind of sleeve heads/pads/scaffolding you have in that thing? I need to know.<br />
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<b>Pattern </b><br />
Hollywood 1326 - Bolero and Skirt. (Pictured Above)<br />
Simplicity 1155 - Button back blouse.<br />
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<b>Fabrics used</b><br />
Linen from Sawyer Brook for the main part of the bolero and skirt. Stashed Silk crepe de chine for the bolero lining and blouse.<br />
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<b>Pattern changes/alterations </b><br />
1. Standard 1/2" forward shoulder adjustment to the shoulder and sleeve cap<br />
2. Added 1/2" extra ease to the hip of skirt. - This style seemed a bit narrow in that location.<br />
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<b>Confessions/Advice</b><br />
I don't remember much of anything because this was finished about 3 months ago. That means I didn't do anything real stupid or stab myself.<br />
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<b>Husband Comment</b><br />
"Ooooo, I like that the lining is the same as the shirt. What is that paisley? Seems Eastery."<br />
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Bonus Son comment - "In case you don't know, that brooch is a pear."<br />
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<b>My Final Thoughts</b><br />
This is the button back blouse that launched a bevy of button back blouses in my sewing room so brace yourselves for that. I'm also pro bolero now. Next summer I'll probably revert back to type and sew a black one cause Black Goes With Everything! *Cue devilish cackle.*<br />
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*I've been in 40's clothing land so long that double shoulder pads is starting to look good.Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-81519146108926229102018-08-29T18:18:00.000-04:002018-08-29T18:18:19.371-04:00FailuresPreface - If you follow me on Instagram you might want to skip this blog post. You've already heard my mini sob story. Enjoy your favorite tasty treat and join me back next time for a fun FO post. Mmmmm chooooocolate.<br />
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Most of the stuff I post on the blog are successes. This is because I'm super anal retentive about muslins, have been sewing for decades and am a pretty good judge of what works with my particular set of fitting issues. But this month I took a gamble on a pattern and lost in a major way.<br />
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Here's the "offender" right here, Vogue 5290. <br />
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Looking at the fashion illustration again I still know why I bought it. The ladies look so pretty in their world with no gravity. Also I want a matching turban hat for something in the near future. And gloves, lots of gloves. Have you all figured out that I'm an accessory junkie yet? OK, let's move on. When buying this design I knew that the bottom half was a gamble. I'm a 40 year old woman with a nice c-section fat shelf and a big ass. I probably need hip/admondon gathers like a fish needs a bicycle. But this puppy was $12 bucks and I thought, "Let's roll the dice baby!!!! We can always sew it in a big print!"<br />
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It wasn't until the hard copy was in my hands that I realized the design also has gathers in the side seam of the waist. Oh crap, that usually doesn't work with my short torso/low bust combo. I don't have enough waist to gather material up on! Despite the number of red flags waving I decided to continue to roll the dice. Vegas baby, Vegas!<br />
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So yes I did spend my Sunday grading this pattern up to my size. Then all of my free Monday sewing up a muslin to find *Insert Drum Roll Here* It was a GIANT HOT MESS!<br />
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Oh you lost big time baby.<br />
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Issue 1 - Side seam ruching still a terrible idea on me. It doesn't even read as ruching because pretty much everyone told me the torso was too long. Yeah it kind of is because the ruching doesn't say in the waist area. I could take the ruching out but then I need to add bust darts and ain't nobody got time for that.<br />
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Issue 2 - V shaped abdomen yoke just as bad as it could possibly be on a mature figure. Just say no to "Lady Grotto" ruffles from now on Heather. You live in a world with gravity and cake.<br />
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Issue 3 - The top half of the bodice feels terrible. Several of my Instagram followers suggested swapping in a different skirt because they thought the bodice was pretty. I can tell you that it just looks pretty compared to the dumpster on fire that is the bottom half. The armholes are way too small, the yoke band doesn't sit on my body right and the shoulders jut out at a weird angle. I've graded up enough patterns at this point that I'm fairly sure that wasn't the problem. My gut feeling is that this design was made for a very different shaped figure than mine.<br />
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So that's the story in a nutshell. It could have been worse, I could have wasted good fabric on this pattern and thrown it directly in the trash can. At least with muslin you can make a sad horn sound and move on with your life. To rebound from this I'm sewing another version of <a href="http://handmadebyheatherb.blogspot.com/2018/06/hollywood-1413-easter-outfit-that-wasnt.html">Hollywood 1413</a> with 3/4 length sleeve.....in velvet. HAA HAA I'm a Mad Woman! So look forward to a post that's 80% me bitching about hand basting velvet and tasting velvet fluff in my mouth. It's gonna be fun.<br />
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<br />Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-61982679758035249522018-08-12T14:41:00.001-04:002018-08-12T14:41:12.042-04:00Sewing to Match your Accessories - Hollywood 1064Early this summer I looked in my closet and realized a few things. A - I have a lot of navy hats and shoes. B - I have no navy clothing to wear with said hats and shoes. C -Then I looked through my stash and found no navy fabric to sew up matching clothing. Which then begs the question why do I have so many navy hats and shoes? Hmmmmm, a real chicken/egg scenario there and not all related my paypal history. Maybe Froggie is buying them while I sleep. (Froggie says, no. He only buys green hats and hides them in the closet so he can sleep in them later.) Oh well, guess we'll never get down to the answer of "why so many navy accessories." In fact it's really just a fabric buying opportunity in disguise! Guess I "have" to go buy that navy cold rayon on Etsy now. And so I did.<br />
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Cold Rayon could alternatively be called "The fabric that makes everything else feel like shit." You know, if you're not into the whole brevity thing. One touch and I thought about throwing out all the rayon challis in my stash. This won't happen because I'm a hoarder from a long line of even bigger hoarders. However cold rayon is now the queen of my stash and rayon challis is it's lowly peasant. <br />
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Queen cold rayon told me right away that it was supposed to be a 40's style shirt dress, so I got to work finding a pattern that was pretty close to the Trashy Diva Sweetie cut. That wasn't too hard since that particular style is pretty faithful to what real 40's shirt dresses looked like. I settled on Hollywood 1064 because it had gathered yokes, a shirt collar, 3 button front and was available in my size.<br />
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To make a version a little more like the TD dress, I drafted some square pockets so that buttons could be placed on them. The front waistline was also tweaked a bit by changing the waist ease from gathers into tucks. Finally I shortened the sleeve a bit and left off the cuff.<br />
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My original intention was to keep this dress as neutral as possible, but it seems that I can't resist adding pops of bright color. Hand to god there were navy button/buckles in my cart but somehow these green ones showed up at my house. I couldn't let them go to waste. Oh and they needed matching green top-stitching. Or maybe queen cold rayon decided that. Probably the only reason I persevered contrast stitching patch pockets on rayon. (Don't do this to yourself....ever.)<br />
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Other than that pesky pocket top stitching this dress came together without any problems. Queen cold rayon was right, it was meant to be a shirt dress.<br />
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<b>Pattern </b><br />
Hollywood 1064 with a few minor design changes.<br />
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<b>Fabrics used</b><br />
Vintage cold rayon I purchased from Etsy.<br />
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<b>Pattern changes/alterations </b><br />
1. 1/2" forward shoulder adjustment to both shoulder and sleeve cap.<br />
2. 1/2" extra ease added to waist and hip.<br />
3. Reduced sleeve cap height by 1/2".<br />
4. Changed front waist from gather to 2 tucks.<br />
5. Drafted 3.75" x 4" pockets for front.<br />
6. Shortened sleeve by an 1".<br />
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<b>Confessions/Advice</b><br />
Confession - I did decide to switch the top stitching to green halfway through this process and had to do it on a partially assembled garment. Haa haa! I make everything harder for myself!<br />
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<b>Husband Comment</b><br />
"Looks like something that would be good to wear in the rain." - referring to the print that he feels looks like rain drops. I think it looks like leopard print. :)<br />
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Bonus son comment - "I love it. But in Minecraft that blue dress would be diamond armor. Unless you enchant it because then it will be purple." - maybe I should call this the Minecraft minute.<br />
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<b>My Final Thoughts</b><br />
So I which organs do I need to sell to get more cold rayon? I was saving them for retired LEGO sets but fabric might be more important. Look how happy I am wearing it!<br />
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Also my navy shoes and at least one of my navy trimmed hats is now on the blog. Success! Only 4 more navy hats to make assembles for. I'm sure that will only take another month or.....OH MY GOD IS THAT RED FABRIC! Never mind, it's going to take forever.<br />
<br />Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-61067085151928515462018-07-22T14:38:00.001-04:002018-07-22T14:38:36.798-04:00We get it, you like lemons - Butterick 6556Honestly, is there a lemon print I've ever said no to? Are lemons the new bird? Just put a lemon on it? Putting a lemon on it would actually work for me. "Look Steve! I bought a new power drill because it has lemons on it! I know we had a black one already but that's just boring." But enough about my weakness for good marketing, let's talk about lemon print dresses instead.<br />
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This is the third lemon print dress I've blogged about here hence the amusing, maybe only to me, post title. I imagine you all murmuring it when opening your blog readers. Listen guys, all the lemon dresses have different colored backgrounds, which is what a girl needs in her closet. I don't have a problem, I can stop whenever I want.......*Looks up lemon prints in Spoonflower*<br />
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This time I used a pattern currently in print, instead of a hard to trace vintage one. You're welcome? May I present to you my version of Butterick 6556, aka one of Gertie's new designs in the Spring catalog. This design caught my eye right away, especially the neckline. You guys know I like flashing my collar bones all over town. Even though my sewing is mostly 40's era garments now, I just couldn't resist. As soon as Butterick had one of their regular sales this pattern joined my collection.<br />
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I'd bought this stretch cotton sateen home from work last summer and didn't get around to sewing it. A fabric has to mature to reach its full potential....or something like that. In truth the sateen weight was a little heavier than I usually buy and didn't fit any of the projects I wanted to work on at the time. However it was the perfect match for the structured bodice and pleated skirt of B6556.<br />
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The dress is drafted to have a full bodice lining, but I decided to leave that out due to the thickness of the self fabric. Instead I used the neckline interfacing pieces as facings and hand stitched them down so that they don't flap out. The added facings do make the top of the lapped zipper insertion look messy on the inside. You have to kind of fold one side under so there isn't a raw zipper tape sticking up out of the neckline. If I'd switched out the lapped zipper for an invisible one then the inside guts would have been a lot cleaner. For some reason that day I'd decided that we had to do a lapped zipper, even though I hate them. Who knows what that's all about.<br />
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Construction wise I found this one extremely easy. Sew some darts, pleat the skirt, do some hems. Heck I didn't even have to hand hem the skirt on this one. Simple rolled hem on the machine and you're done. I did have to do an "on the fly" waist alteration thanks to the spandex in the sateen making that area too roomy. The side seams were taken in an additional 1/2" and I made the side seam pleats deeper to match the bodice. Going down a size in the waist probably would have been smart to do in the first place knowing I was using a stretch woven. That's OK though, it worked out in the end.<br />
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<b>Pattern </b><br />
<a href="https://butterick.mccall.com/b6556">Butterick 6556</a><br />
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<b>Fabrics used</b><br />
Stretch cotton sateen from Emma One Sock. (<a href="https://www.emmaonesock.com/fabrics/60165?catId=79&sectId=103">We happen to have this in stock still.</a>)<br />
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<b>Pattern changes/alterations </b><br />
1. Blended sizes 14-16.<br />
2. 1/2" Forward shoulder adjustment to shoulder seam and sleeve cap.<br />
3. Dropped bust dart 1" and shorted waist dart the same amount.<br />
4. Sway back adjustment of 1/2"<br />
5. Removed 1/2" from the neckline. - See below for more info on that.<br />
6. Removed 1" of ease at waist due to stretch woven. (1/2" at each side seam)<br />
7. Added 1" of length to the hem.<br />
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<b>Confessions/Advice</b><br />
Confessions - Hmmmm, I've already confessed about my messy zipper insides and that's about the only naughty sewing issue that happened when making this dress.<br />
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Advice - I nailed the square neckline fit on this dress by some "just winging it" pattern fitting. To remove the extra width I didn't need a small fold was made in the corner of the neckline and I taped it closed. Figured it wasn't much different than doing a sway back adjustment. <br />
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A poster in one of the Gertie FB groups told me that I should have slashed into the neckline and rotated that width into the bust dart. That does make sense, but also this worked and was less work? I probably should try the other method on a similar style if only to compare.<br />
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<b>Husband Comment</b><br />
*Started singing U2's song "Lemon." Declined to comment further as he was sure he already talked about this dress. *<br />
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Bonus Son comment - "I think it's cute. I love it and I love lemons." - The brainwashing has been successful!!!<br />
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<b>My Final Thoughts</b><br />
This was a fun, easy project for the start of spring. It fits nicely and gives me plenty of room for moving around. The only reason I'm not wearing it more right now is because it's been crazy hot. This weight of sateen will be nicer when we transition into Fall and have some cooler temps. And last but not least, when people say, "Nice Dress" you can say, "Thanks it has pockets."<br />
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<br />Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-84627924548685977892018-06-17T16:10:00.000-04:002018-07-22T14:39:06.470-04:002017 Flashback - Addicted to PlaidWell lookie here, my camera card still has more unblogged garments on it. There's also 3 different garments that haven't been photographed at all, but now I'm playing chicken with the summer sun. If I could take blog photos successfully in the rain I'd do it. Gotta keep that wet set from falling out before wash day. Momma don't have 2 hours to do that more than once a week.<br />
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Anyway I'm going to finally talk about one of my favorite makes of last year that somehow I've mostly kept under wraps until now. This dress is the complete opposite of the poor <a href="http://handmadebyheatherb.blogspot.com/2018/04/2017-flashback-i-might-be-too-pale-for.html">Dragnor</a> that didn't really work out. Several of you mentioned in the comments of that blog post that I look best with high contrast colors and here's proof of that. The pictures for this dress were taken the same day as the Dragnor pics. All I did was change my hair style and a few accessories.<br />
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The pattern here is Hollywood 1857, (pictured below). I bought it in a lot of 4 patterns and thought this one contained both a romper and shirtdress. When it arrived it turned out to be a romper with an additional skirt you could put over the romper. Oops, probably should have read some of the seller's description about the product. Sometimes I get excited and bid based solely on the pattern illustration and bust size.<br />
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I'm not anti romper on other people, but my romping days are done......if they ever existed. I'll keep my utilitarian english/german/irish/* insert other pale european based people here* legs covered thank you very much. But about that shirt dress now, couldn't one create one with some minor pattern hacking? Time to get out the tissue and make it work. Spoiler, hardly any work was required.<br />
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The original pattern drafter put the princess line seams in exactly the same location on the romper and the skirt. They also marked the natural waistline on the romper and drafted the skirt to sit there. All I had to do was draw a line across the waist of the various romper pieces and add seam allowance. Didn't have to do anything to the skirt other than omit the waistband. How easy is that! Thank you past pattern drafter, you did fine work.<br />
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Since that part was easy I decided to complicate matters and make this design up in plaid. Congrats Heather, you now have to match plaids across princess line seams and a waist seam. Oh and you picked a plaid that's not symmetrical. I'm sure that won't come back and bite you in the ass. Spoiler, it did.<br />
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Decision 1 - Where did I want the bright red plaid to go? In the lower corner or the upper corner? (Went with lower corner as you can see.)<br />
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Decision 2 - Was I going to mirror the plaid across the front seam? I probably would have if the back had a center seam. Since it didn't all the plaid was cut in the same direction.<br />
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Decision 3 - How much of an adult beverage should you drink before cutting plaids? Just kidding, though I wish that alcohol could be blamed for my cutting screw up.<br />
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Somewhere during the cutting marathon I flipped the direction of the fabric and cut several pieces with the red plaid block in the upper corner. (Probably during a snack break......hey it takes a long time to match plaid across 8 pieces.) The mistake was caught before I'd finished cutting everything but there wasn't enough fabric to fix it. I emailed Linda in a panic and asked if we still had any of this fabric at work cause I'd made a garment ending boo boo. She emailed back that someone had placed an order for this fabric over the weekend but she thought there was a yard left. The sewing goddess was with me because there was 1.5 yards after cutting that order. It was just enough fabric to cut new pieces with the correct plaid match and the garment was saved! Thank god, how else would I have gotten my "blue steel" on otherwise.<br />
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<b>Pattern </b><br />
Hollywood 1857 - slightly modified into a shirtdress.<br />
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<b>Fabrics used</b><br />
Dress weight cotton plaid from Emmaonesock (Sorry it's long gone.)<br />
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<b>Pattern changes/alterations </b><br />
1. 1/2" Forward shoulder adjustment.<br />
2. 1/4" Sway back adjustment.<br />
3. 1/2" Extra ease added to waist and hips.<br />
4. Waist seam added to create shirt dress.<br />
5. Button placement slightly changed.<br />
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<b>Confessions/Advice</b><br />
Confessions<br />
- I have fitting problems with square necklines that don't happen with other neckline shapes. Pretty sure it has to do with my hollow chest and low bust point. The annoying part is one fix doesn't seem to work on every square neckline. On this dress it's a little too wide in the middle portion and will collapse in on itself. One of these days I'll unpick my sewn down facings and take in the princess line seam above the bust. Until then I'm just going to wear it as is and be slightly irked about the neckline.<br />
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- Is sewing plaid addictive and do I have a problem? All signs point to yes.<br />
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<b>Husband Comment</b><br />
"It's plaid and similar to other things you wear."- the most Pennsylvania Dutch comment to date<br />
Bonus son comment - "I would never wear plaid but you look good in it."<br />
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<b>My Final Thoughts</b><br />
I should fix the neckline fitting issue and make more of these. You can fit a whole smart phone/ipod/tape measure in those pockets. All at once! Also where can I get more summery plaids? Feed my addiction people. A girl has needs. On that note I'll leave you with this picture of me being weird. Why am I doing this? No idea. Feel free to speculate.<br />
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<br />Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-50412044724449461752018-06-03T18:48:00.004-04:002018-06-03T18:48:39.113-04:00Hollywood 1413 - The Easter Outfit That Wasn'tHello everyone, happy summer 2018 to you heat loving people out there. You all are currently flooding my instagram feed with giant smiles on your faces as you gleefully break out your sandals. "Finally it's warm and I can ditch this sweater" you exclaim! I'm glad you are enjoying yourself, heck I can semi empathise having grown up with a beach loving father and sister and a weather neutral mother. They never thought the summer sun was a hateful orb sucking up all their life essence while simultaneously stabbing them in the eyes. Only I would be huddled under an umbrella hissing with distaste while successfully trying to read in the eye searing glare. Yes my friends, in my immediate family I'm the sole possessor of the nordic and/or vampire genes of my ancestors.<br />
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If you're a long time reader of the blog this is no surprise. I've been bitching about summer for probably as long as I've been blogging and will continue to do so. However I will admit to liking two things about summer. One - fancy summer shoes and Two - wearing rayon dresses. My closet is full of rayon dresses, but there's always room for more. Which brings us to some sewing actually done in 2018......gasp! So let's talk about Hollywood 1413, aka the Easter outfit that never was.<br />
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Here in southern Pa you have a 50/50 chance that Easter Sunday is going to be either 55 degrees or 85 degrees. There is no inbetween. In 2017 it was 85 degrees and my version of <a href="http://handmadebyheatherb.blogspot.com/2017/07/you-may-remember-easter-hollywood-1025.html">Hollywood 1025</a> was not heat appropriate. I wore it anyway because by god my sewing plans were not going to be ruined by a freak heat wave. However the memory of unwanted sweating did trigger me to choose a flirty short sleeve dress pattern for Easter 2018. It would look lovely paired with some stashed rayon from Gertie's JoAnn's line from the year before. See, a match made in heaven.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCQyO-QL93B9dHkfIjFt23i5QbUslhazhZcT30Yeb1ncausBJKIIivbfv7mrqc99OVorgGDTK1jEixVKhaFQb2w_3gZbXbbc_GiBf7zcZ_GptlBOp58ADlDKL-X5gviVLHlImei68PiVs/s1600/Pattern+-+Edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCQyO-QL93B9dHkfIjFt23i5QbUslhazhZcT30Yeb1ncausBJKIIivbfv7mrqc99OVorgGDTK1jEixVKhaFQb2w_3gZbXbbc_GiBf7zcZ_GptlBOp58ADlDKL-X5gviVLHlImei68PiVs/s640/Pattern+-+Edited.jpg" width="640" /></a>Hollywood 1413 is full of 40's design detail goodness. The bodice features a ruched center that is created by putting a seam along the neckline that extends down toward the bust. This makes it possible for center of the bodice pattern to be extended/more ease added. This extra ease is then gathered back into the seam area and sewn in place. A jaunty little self fabric bow completes the neckline area.</div>
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The skirt features 3 tucks that radiate out of the left hip and a sewn in cascade. The front skirt is pieced at the left hip to give you a seam for the cascade. Finally a bow belt balances out the bow on the opposite side of the bodice.<br />
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The back is pretty plain Jane with standard darts and no design details. Not that I'm complaining..... there were plenty of new techniques and hand sewing in this design already.<br />
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The sewing goddess has been very generous with larger sized 40's styles this year and this pattern happened to be my bust size of 36 inches. Would I have purchased this in a 32" bust and graded it up? Probably not. That ruched bodice detail might have discouraged me from trying. As it was the pattern only needed minimal grading through the waist and hip to fit. Used my cheater method of slapping .5" on the side seams and called it good. <br />
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I did reference the instructions a few times since the drafting for the bodice ruching was totally new to me. All the neckline edges are faced which means there is a set order of sewing that needs to happen or you'll bungle the whole thing up. Good news is that the original pattern drafter did do an excellent job giving you reference/placement points. There are various sized circles in the neckline area to help you line everything up. After reading the sewing steps twice I was able to see what needed to be done and use these marks to assemble the neckline properly. <br />
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The skirt was a bit easier since sewing tucks is pretty much the same on any part of a garment. The cascade was a no brainer, just hand hem and insert into the seam. I only wish my nails looked as good as the illustrations while doing a rolled hem.<br />
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Hollywood 1413 was finished in plenty of time for Easter 2018, a whole month ahead of schedule! It didn't matter though because Easter wasn't 85 degrees this year. Instead we came down on the 55 degree side of the coin. Obviously Mother Nature is trying to neg me by looking at my sewing plans and making the weather the opposite of whatever's coming out of the sewing machine. Oh well, as you all may remember I put on <a href="http://handmadebyheatherb.blogspot.com/2018/04/its-easter-miracle.html">Hollywood 989</a> and saved this dress for hot weather. Now we'll be best buddies until the blessed Fall breezes arrive.<br />
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<b>Pattern </b><br />
Hollywood 1413 (pictures above)<br />
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<b>Fabrics used</b><br />
Rayon from Gertie's JoAnn's line in 2016.<br />
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<b>Pattern changes/alterations </b><br />
1. 1/2" forward shoulder adjustment to both shoulder and sleeve cap.<br />
2. 1/2" extra ease added to waist and hip.<br />
3. Dropped the bust dart 1.5" and waist dart point the same amount.<br />
4. Added a .5" of length to the bodice.<br />
5. Made .25" sway back adjustment.<br />
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<b>Confessions/Advice</b><br />
Not too much to add here for this pattern. Will note that I spray starched the rayon fabric before cutting to make it less slippery. Then all the pattern pieces were carefully cut out on a single layer, keeping the selvedges parallel with my cutting board. This method worked with with this rayon which was on the less slippery side of the spectrum.<br />
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<b>Husband Comment</b><br />
"The swirly pattern on the fabric works well with the loose fit." - I think loose fit actually means the design elements. If that's the case he might be learning something about sewing after hearing me natter on about it for 13 years.<br />
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<b>My Final Thoughts</b><br />
This pattern perfectly scratched my intermediate sewing skills itch of wanting a bit of a challenge. It was neither too easy or too hard, but jusssst right. <br />
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<br />Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-13408871437871956432018-05-13T09:13:00.000-04:002018-05-13T09:13:42.862-04:002017 Flashback - Suit Jackets Galore Part 1Confession - I have always loved suits. Back in high school I had a black pinstriped pantsuit with a double breasted jacket that was my pride and joy. It was a cheap ass polyester blend purchased at *Fashion Bug but I felt like a million bucks in it. One year I wore it to school with on Halloween with heels and told people I was a lady mobster. No one was charmed by my "creativity" or fashion sense. However this was one of two instances that my highly insecure self said...not outloud but internally.... "Fuck you guys, I look good in this suit." (The other time was when a boy I'd known for years disparagingly said I was the only girl he knew that had sideburns. That time I internally said, "Fuck you I have great hair.)<br />
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All of this is a roundabout way of saying that in the summer of 2017 I blocked out about a month and a half to make a couple of suit jackets. During the previous winter I'd been constantly annoyed about not having enough dressy options that worked with the weather. I didn't sew anything then for some reason, probably distracted by cake. Instead I just bought several new pieces of wool while cackling with glee. Oh wool, you complete me. Let's go get brunch. Honestly though, who wouldn't fall in love with this plaid? Only a monster.....or maybe someone who looks terrible in green. I'll cut you a little slack if that's the case.<br />
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You guys know how I feel about plaid, we're soul mates. Also it's super hard to even find a predominately green plaid. As soon as I saw this on the Mood website I was practically screaming, "TAKE MY MONEY! I NEED THIS IN MY LIFE!" Didn't want this one to languish in the stash for a few years, so sewing it up was priority number 1. One needs all the green or red garments they can get for Christmas season theme dressing. Aka the best season of the year because everyone wears my favorite colors.<br />
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For once my existing pattern stash was rummaged through for a suitable pattern. Memory fails me but I think I bought Simplicity 1207 on a whim during one of my random Etsy pattern browsing bindges. Nothing de-stresses me like staring at new patterns. That shoulder detail intrigued was very intriguing. I didn't realize it was a pocket until looking at the pattern pieces. Sure the lady on the left has a handkerchief in hers but sometimes I'm oblivious. Probably distracted by the shoes the lady in red has on. Would buy! **Can I get Royal Vintage shoes on the phone and make this happen? Also if you're wondering why the pattern number is different on this picture it's because Simplicity re-released the pattern about a month after I completed my jacket. I haven't bought the new version check if the patterns have been tweaked to make them easier to sew. Even so it is nice to be able say, "If you want to make this pattern you can easily get a copy."<br />
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Anyway, back to the yoke detail! Sewing it together was one of the most interesting construction processes I've had in awhile. It's a good thing I did have the original instructions to refer to because it still made me go......huh? Here's a photo I took mid sewing process to document the yoke area. What you see here is the back on the left with the yoke/back half of the pocket bag attached at the shoulders. On the right is the front with the back yoke area attached. The fronts have the other half of the pocket bag sewn in already. They're in lining fabric and you top-stitch the edge of the pocket before getting to this point.<br />
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To put these two pieces together press the seam allowance under on the "band" portion of the front. Then you lay it on top of the back and top-stitch everything into place. Pretty sure the pattern drafter wasn't thinking, "And maybe some crazy person will do this on plaid. That will be fun!" He was probably thinking the opposite. Of course I was that crazy person and was already past the point of no return. Time for a walking foot, lots of pins and maybe a burnt sacrifice to the sewing goddess. Though I like to think of her as a cousin of Jobu from "Major League" and she really just wants some alcohol. P.S. "Jesus, I like him very much, but he no help with curve ball."<br />
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As you can kind of see in this poorly lit photo, it worked! Bless whichever relative gave me the anal retentive fabric cutting genes. All....The...Plaids....WILL...Match. Then months later you can smile smugly into your camera about how awesome your yoke plaids match.<br />
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The other detail to talk about is the buttons. You might have noticed that my version has 2 instead of 1 like on the pattern illustration. Well when I muslined this up it seemed like the button was way too low to keep all of the jacket in place. The upper portion was gaping a bit in a non flattering way. If I had to guess my low bust point might be to blame. Lurking down low and pushing everything about with abandon. Solution, more buttons! I added another button 4.5" above the original button location. After wearing the jacket once I also added a snap to keep the bottom half in place. Gotta keep all those plaid lines in place.<br />
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<b>Pattern </b><br />
Simplicity 1207. Since making my version this pattern was re-released by the company as<a href="https://www.simplicity.com/simplicity-pattern-8461-misses-womens-vintage-2-piece-suit-and-dickey/S8461.html#sz=30&start=81"> Simplicity 8461</a>.<br />
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<b>Fabrics used</b><br />
Wool plaid from Mood fabrics, black bemberg from Emmaonesock<br />
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<b>Pattern changes/alterations </b><br />
1. Graded pattern up from 34" bust to 36" bust.<br />
2. Added 1/2" ease to the waist and hip.<br />
3. 1/2 forward shoulder adjustment.<br />
4. Added another button to the CF.<br />
<br />
<b>Confessions/Advice</b><br />
<div style="text-align: start;">
<span style="text-align: center;">The plaid matching might be on point, but on the other end of the spectrum we have the back of this jacket. I had no idea this suit was so puffy there until taking these photos. Checked the pattern and yes I did neglect to put in my normal sway back adjustment. Oops. At least I've got plenty of ease to move around.</span></div>
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<b>Husband Comment</b><br />
"It has a lot of real estate for pins. Also the pattern illustration looks like an air hostess. Not you though."<br />
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<b>My Final Thoughts</b><br />
One good thing about blogging months after completing a project is that you know how successful of a wardrobe item it is. I wore this one as often as possible from December to April. In fact I was always pissed if I'd worn it to church last week and didn't want to repeat my outfit. I will admit that the color had a lot to do with that. Pros for the actual design is that it's very comfortable and warm thanks to the wool and full lining. I do like the pocket yoke detail and it makes me think I need to pick up a pair of dress clips. Simplicity 1207 isn't a pattern that I'm planning on sewing again, but I'm 100% happy that I did make one up.<br />
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During the summer of 2017 I made two other jackets, one successful, one that's a bit of a mess. It may be salvageable if I rip out the lining and maybe replace a collar. Of course I hate taking apart finished garments so that one may never see the light of day. You'll definitely see the one that worked out even though it's a pattern repeat. Until then buy plaid and cake. I already am.<br />
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* Don't know how prevalent the Fashion Bug chain was but it was slightly better quality than Walmart but not as good as Macy's. Anyway the price was right so my Mom let us do a lot of our High School wardrobe shopping there.<br />
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** I happen to wearing the Royal Vintage Marilyn pumps in these photos and I'd give them a thumbs up.Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-48791545696318434692018-05-11T17:58:00.001-04:002018-05-11T17:58:26.111-04:00Meanwhile on another blog....<div>
When one of your virtual sewing besties asks if you can write a guest post you don't say no! Which is why I'm over on the Sewicalist blog today. Gillian, <a href="https://craftingarainbow.wordpress.com/">of Crafting a Rainbow</a>, asked if I'd like to talk about my transition to wearing vintage styles full time. We used a bunch of old Me Made May photos as reference points so you get to have a fun look back at my old makes.</div>
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I didn't put this one in the blog post.....but it makes me laugh like an idiot every time.</div>
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This post ended up being a companion piece to my last post about turning 40. Writing them at the same time might have something to do with it. I wanted to keep the birthday post light and fun, just a look at various wardrobe mishaps over the years. My transition to vintage post is more about why I made the change. It's by no means dark, but I did go into some of the internal changes that lead to my choice to be a full time vintage lady. To read that post just click on this little linky <a href="https://sewcialists.wordpress.com/2018/05/11/going-vintage-a-journey-through-me-made-may-photos/">right here.</a><br />
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I am doing Me Made May this year over on Instagram. Do people do blog roundups of that sort of thing anymore? You can find me over there under knitnbee if you wanna see what makes I keep pulling out of the closet. *cough McCall's 4264 cough*</div>
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Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-44633733403058786802018-04-23T15:21:00.000-04:002018-04-29T20:28:33.643-04:00Turning 40 - A ReviewHey guess what? It's officially my 40th birthday day! I've been celebrating all month because a "birthday month" is a thing and I'm secretly dramatic. Or maybe that's not a secret. Does a not dramatic person wear a hat like this? No girl, they probably don't wear hats at all....poor hat-less bastards.<br />
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It's been awhile since we had a purely silly blog post, what with me not actually blogging and all. I thought this might be a fun way to commemorate my 40th birthday. Also my sewing mojo has taken a mini-vacation leaving me with lots of time to do other stuff. Like write random blog posts, search for reasonably priced bakelite and eat too much chocolate. (Desmond's leftover Easter candy is in peril.) So let's have some fun with my edited review temple below. Don't worry, there's still a husband comment.<br />
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<b><strike>Pattern </strike> Age</b><br />
The big 40. Officially middle aged? Or halfway to becoming my true self? Basically a crotchety old lady who knits, eats cookies and only watches PBS dramas of Jane Austen novels. (We're just going to pretend my real true self isn't a "V" lizard human intent on using the rest of you for fuel.) Honestly I'm just relieved to be back at an age that I can remember. Try remembering that you're 37 for a year. It's impossible.<br />
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<b><strike>Fabrics used</strike> Influences</b><br />
This 40 year old self is brought to you by... avoiding social interactions to read too many books. Being raised on so many old movies that my teenage crushes were Clark Gable, Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner. (That is not a joke) Copious ingestion of cake, cookies and chocolate bars. And finally filling my brain with so many song lyrics that I spontaneously start singing something 95% of the time. My family loooooves this. (No they don't.)<br />
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<b>Changes/alterations </b><br />
Baby Heather. I'm just giving you this one to show that I arrived on this planet with more hair than was necessary. Now we're fast forwarding to where I started dressing myself and it's scary.<br />
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Child who wore too many things her grandmother bought at "<a href="https://www.cowtownfarmersmarket.com/">Cow Town</a>" Wait, I'm just now finding out there's a rodeo there? Shit, I would have enjoyed a rodeo more than factory seconds bought on the cheap.<br />
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That stage where I was too big to fit into kids clothing but for some reason didn't fit into teenager clothing? All I remember is having to buy clothing from the middle aged ladies department. You make a lot of friends in middle school that way. (No you don't.)<br />
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The early 90's vest phase. I don't remember having a vest phase but I just counted 4 different vest outfits section of the photo album. And that's the only the outfits my Mother thought to take a picture of. Confession - I've been thinking about sewing a vest for about 4 months now. Would this be a vest reboot?<br />
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Mid 90's ill advised flannel shirt semi grunge phase. Nothing like totally obscuring your waist so you look 20lbs heavier.<br />
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Late 90's phase when I wore khakis and T-shirt from surf shops. I have no idea why this happened. I hate the beach and am very unathletic. Was this just a late 90's trend? You can see my friend Steve's outfit is equally bland so maybe it was. Oh and we used to be somewhat tan. We're still friends but we don't tan. We just text each other about how much we hate the sun.... exactly 2 weeks ago. (We both decided to clean our houses instead. Just call us the life of the party!)<br />
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Early Aughts "I have to train people older than me for a living so I buy everything from J Crew" phase. That one explains itself.<br />
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Late Aughts "I'm cold all the time but can afford to buy a lot of cashmere turtlenecks" phase. This is when I met Mr. B.<br />
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2012 - Post Desmond and when I started sewing again.<br />
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2018 - Gasp the Present!<br />
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<b><strike>Confessions/Advice </strike> Pros/Cons</b><br />
<u>Pros of being 40</u><br />
- I used to be really concerned about "What Other People Thought!" in my younger years. Now I don't give a damn. It's really wonderful and freeing.<br />
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- On a related note my decision to become the local eccentric is working out really well. I've always been a weird lone wolf on the edges of society. Now I'm also well dressed and confidently wearing a killer hat while doing my own thing. Most people seem to like it.<br />
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<u>Cons of being 40</u><br />
- I spend a fair amount of time on Youtube looking for stretches to fix various muscle knots. Have I been using my body incorrectly for 40 years? The answer is yes. Oh and I take a lot of supplements now and fiber. All of you in your 20's and 30's enjoy not worrying about your fiber intake while you can.<br />
<br />
- I have turned into that adult who goes, "OH MY GOD, YOU'VE GOTTEN SO BIG!" God I hated that person when I was a kid. Also things are "too sweet" or "too rich" now. And I wear leopard print which I swore never to do. Oh well, I'm owning it now. Kids grow up too fast, those marshmallow peeps are way too sweet and leopard print rules. Soft kitty, round kitty, little pile of fluff.<br />
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<br />
<b><strike>Husband</strike> Family Comments</b><br />
Husband - "I noticed that you're a lot hotter than many of the 40 year olds I know."<br />
<br />
Son - "I don't really care, Carver's Mom is way older than you." (Who's Carver? Husband Steve says he's one of Desmond's classmates. Really? the only one I can remember is Sal because his grandfather looks like, and I quote Des -"One of those rich guys who look poor." Me - "Do you mean stereotypical Italian movie mobsters?" Des- "YES!")<br />
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Froggie - "I do hope you're still sharing the chocolate cake."<br />
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<b>My Final Thoughts</b><br />
I'd like to thank my mother for her "young face" genes. She used to win us prizes at the "guess my age" attraction at the fair every time. Also my younger self for starting to use sunscreen in her early 20's. Oh and my vampire eyes that keep me from going out in the sun period. HISSS, IT BURNS! Where is my sun hat and two pairs of sunglasses!? (Also not a joke.)<br />
<br />
Other than my face vanity I'm pretty happy with this whole getting older thing. Younger me spent a lot of time trying to be something I'm not. A socially normal person. And no one bought it because it's obvious that I'm not that. As a semi-close relative told me in 2012, "Well you've always been odd, but not in a bad way." I'm a lot happier now that I've embraced my oddness with as much bright colors and hats as possible.<br />
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I think that's enough introspection for one day. Let's all sit down have some cake and talk about summer sewing plans. :)Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-84964513851510144992018-04-12T18:00:00.000-04:002018-04-12T18:00:21.185-04:002017 Flashback - I might be too pale for this dressIs there an expiration date on unblogged garments? It's not like any of you live near me and are thinking, "God Heather, I've seen you wear that dress for 3 months. You're blogging about it now? As far as you all know this dress never existed until now. Well if you've forgotten about any instagram progress posts in the summer of 2017. I'll just get out my "Men in Black" light stick forgetting thing and take care of those memories. Ha! Now let me tell you all about my "new dress" the Dragnor pattern from "<a href="https://www.howtodofashion.com/shop/no1dragor-printed-sewing-pattern">How to do Fashion</a>."<br />
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Come to think of it I should have waited until it was summer and passed this off as a fresh new make. Ta Da, my hair is mysteriously less gray around the temples for one blog post. What is my secret! Witchy trickery of course. Definitely not living through 3 consecutive traumatic events that happened one after another in a space of 3 weeks. *insert crazed laughter* (Seriously though the 3rd quarter of my 2017 was a shit show which I can't really talk about since none of the events happened directly to me or my husband/kid. But I was only 1 degree removed so there was plenty of feelings and stress to drive me more than a little crazy. But enough about real life stuff that's a bummer, let's talk about sewing.)<br />
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So back in 2017 I'd been eyeing the How to do fashion site for a bit. Nanna's style is similar to my own and I always like trying new pattern brands to see what they're like. I chose to go with the Dragnor pattern because it looked like a good match for some vintage border print in the stash. See, look at the pretty fruity border!<br />
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I purchased the PDF version and had a positive experience with it. The layout of all the pattern tiles was nice and clear and I didn't have any trouble getting the pieces to fit together. As is my habit I traced a copy of the pattern onto trace paper and made my fitting changes on that version. One thing to note is that the sewing instructions are not in the PDF download. You need to go back to the website and <a href="https://www.howtodofashion.com/no-1-dragor-home">download another PDF</a>. The link to the instructions is clearly marked in the pattern purchasing area, just thought I'd mention it. The dress itself was easy to put together. I like the fact that the bodice comes with a full lining, so you don't have to worry about neckline and armhole facings flipping around. There's also a nice amount of bra coverage for those of us who prefer not to wear strapless bras. (I'm definitely in this camp because strapless bras just end up at my waist.)<br />
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Overall this was a fun sew and I was excited to put this dress on......only to find it looked a lot better on the hanger than on me. Ru Ro Reorge. What went wrong?<br />
<br />
- Maybe I'm too pale for this much white background. I hear some of you saying, "Don't worry Heather, you just need to wear this in the summer when you have more color." Well these pictures were taken at the end of summer sooooo this is my summer color. My aversion to the sun is good for the face wrinkle situation, but maybe not for wearing white.<br />
<br />
- Maybe I got the proportions off a bit. Thanks to my low bust point the inset area had to be reduced 1" in width. The skirt length also might be a bit too long.<br />
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- Maybe a waist inset is not the best design feature on my body. Kind of highlights the whole pear shaped situation.<br />
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To be honest I'm not entirely sure why this is a bit of a miss. Maybe you guys can weigh in.<br />
<br />
<b>Pattern</b><br />
Dragnor from How to do Fashion. I used the non draped neckline for my version.<br />
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<b>Fabrics used</b><br />
Vintage cotton border print bought from Etsy a number of years ago.<br />
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<br />
<b>Pattern changes/alterations </b><br />
1. Raised the front and back necklines about .5"<br />
2. Made standard .5" forward shoulder adjustment.<br />
3. Took .25" off strap height on both the front and back.<br />
4. Added 1" of length to top of front bodice and removed 1" of length from waist inset.<br />
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<b>Confessions/Advice</b><br />
- I did try to fully line the entire dress for opacity but that created too much volume in the skirt area. The finished garment only has a lined bodice.<br />
<br />
- Despite taking in the shoulder straps they still feel too long.<br />
<br />
- I might have enjoyed this angry outtake so much that it became my FB profile pic until this month. Oh and strangers will DM you and ask why you're using such an unflattering picture as your profile. (For Irony, Duh!)<br />
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<br />
<b>Husband Comment</b><br />
"Red and white, first aid colors. You could be a nurse, a fruity nurse."<br />
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<b>My Final Thoughts</b><br />
Long story short, great pattern. My execution, not so much. So do any of you have thoughts on how to rework this dress? The fabric is so pretty and I don't want it to go to waste. I'd be ever so thankful for you recommendations.<br />
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<br />Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-20997829675775971042018-04-01T17:46:00.002-04:002018-04-01T17:46:58.378-04:00It's an Easter Miracle This could be an Easter miracle or more of a Dr. Frankenstein hooking up a corpse to lighting sort of situation. Either way you slice it, the blog is ALIVE! ALIVE I TELL YOU!!!!! *cue manic laughter*<br />
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Sooooo how's everybody been? Over here it's been snowing....every week. On the one hand I've gotten a few extra sewing days in. On the other I'm all, "I'm getting to old for this shit" every time my eye falls on the camera tripod. Unless you've got a winter coat to model who wants to go saddle up their team of huskies to go get some blog photos? (Confession, if I did have a team of huskies I would 100% do a photo shoot with them. It would be a disaster, but probably hilarious.)<br />
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Anywooo, today it wasn't snowing or torrential raining and I thought, "Hey I've got myself all made up. Might as well take some blog photos." Looking around I saw that my son was distracted with his new Easter Shark* and my husband was happily eating his easter chocolate. I grabbed the tripod and ran out of the house before they could grab me and demand more food. FREEEDOM! Well freedom to squint into the sun while dog walkers at the park wonder what the hell I'm doing. (BTW - One of them did tell me my outfit was fantastic.)<br />
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This wasn't what I'd planned to wear for Easter. There's a nice blue/white floral rayon number all ready to go for a festive Spring celebration....except it doesn't feel like Spring yet. After sticking my head out the door I said, "NOPE, not suffering for fashion today....other than my shoe choice. Let's pull out the wool." And low, I clothed myself of in the fleece of a sheep and was happy. But how did I get here you might ask? Oh, oh, oh, I'll tell you.<br />
<br />
At the beginning of the month I went on a pattern buying bender since it's only way to get myself excited about sewing up fabric that's as old as my son. Just give me something new and shiny! As usual Etsy came through and hooked me up with a new Hollywood Pattern. Bam!<br />
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All winter I'd been staring at this glen plaid and thinking, "That would look nice in a suit jacket with some pleather. But what pattern would work?" Nothing really came to mind even though there are a healthy number of suit patterns in my stash. But when I first clapped eyes on Hollywood 989 I knew it would be perfect.<br />
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The illustration doesn't show a version with contrast fabrics even though the construction makes it easy to add them. The collar is inserted in similar to a button down shirt collar, so you don't have to worry about piecing a facing on the inside. The pocket flaps are only decorative, no worrying about sewing bias bound pockets in pleather. I also decided to do the undersleeves in pleather so there wasn't a nasty plaid mismatch on the back sleeve seam. There's some extra ease in the elbow area so it was impossible to match the two pieces across the seam.<br />
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One other interesting design element is that the jacket does not have a side seam in the normal place. The front piece wraps around to where the back bodice dart might be positioned. A fish eye dart is used to shape the side seam instead. But you'll have to take my word for it because my plaid matching is obscuring all vertical seams. Thank god for that CB seam because that make sway back adjustments even easier. (Looks like I need to take out a bit more for the sway back looking at these pics. Darn curvy backside.)<br />
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<b>Pattern </b><br />
Hollywood 989 - Jacket only. Probably should grade up the skirt because a one with an inverted pleat would be a nice addition to the wardrobe.<br />
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<b>Fabrics used</b><br />
Plaid wool with a bit of a boucle texture/medium weight pleather. Both of these are long stashed Emmaonesock purchases. The cobalt lining is also from the stash, originally from Gorgeous Fabrics. In fact even the interfacing, shoulder pads and buttons are stash. A 100% stash project!<br />
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<b>Pattern changes/alterations </b><br />
1. Graded the pattern up to a 36" bust.<br />
2. Standard for me forward shoulder adjustment of 1/2" to shoulder and sleeve cap<br />
3. Decreased sleeve cap height 1/2".<br />
4. 1/2" extra ease added to waist and hip for my pear shape.<br />
5. 1/4" sway back adjustment.<br />
6. Took 1/2" out of the center back seam at the waist.<br />
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<b>Confessions/Advice</b><br />
- No tricky construction issues on this one if you're an old hat at jackets. See what I did there, old hat. *wink, wink*<br />
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- Desmond convinced me on using these buttons that were in the stash. I was going to self cover some buttons with pleather instead. After mocking one of those up I admitted that Desmond's pick looked better. More Sparkle!<br />
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<b>Husband Comment</b><br />
Him - "Oh it's got shiny parts. It's like a hybrid of a leather jacket and hounds tooth." <br />
Me - "It's plaid, not houndstooth."<br />
Him - "Are you sure?"<br />
Me - "YEESS. Who has a fashion design degree around here?"<br />
Him - "Hmmmm, well the plaid is houndstoothy."<br />
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<b>My Final Thoughts</b><br />
This baby turned out just like it looked in my head. I've also worn it all day and wore like a dream. So warm and comfy. This patterns is going in the "would make again" pile.<br />
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My sewing machine has been humming all winter so there are plenty of garments I could show you. But will I? Maybe Frankenstein's monster could ghost write for me. His grasp of English is probably better. Until then enjoy your chocolate haul!<br />
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*Easter Shark patent pending. It's a real thing and not something I just made up for my shark obsessed 7 year old. The Easter shark brings steaks, chocolate, and a stuffed shark for you to hug. He's awesome for all ages.Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-49805877180856330902017-10-09T11:17:00.002-04:002017-10-09T11:17:24.676-04:00Bandwagon Sewing - Simplicity 1554Hello everyone, hope you are enjoying the beginning of Fall. Or as I call it about these parts, "Just die already summer." Oh course summer is aware it almost succeeded in breaking me this year and is sticking around trying to finish the job. Not gonna work summer, all my Halloween window clings are elevating my mood. I'm also on a sugar high from bite sized Halloween candies. (A 10 pound bag will last me till Halloween proper...right? God, when will I learn never to break the candy bag seal.)<br />
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The small upside of it being 85 and disgustingly humid is that I got photos of all the summer sewing you know nothing about. Let me quantify that, photos of all the summer garments. Not all my summer sewing was seasonally appropriate. Two fully lined wool jackets and one unlined wool blouse/jacket were also completed during the season of too much sun. One lesson I have learned is that Christmas garment sewing (for yourself) doesn't get done if you wait till the 4th quarter. This year my closest has more red/green/black garments for my Christmas theme dressing needs. I can barely wait!<br />
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Let's put a pin in the merits of wool and roll the clock back to June to some of the last bit of stash busting that happened this summer. (Hazards of working at a fabric store.) May I present Simplicity 1554, my second favorite blouse pattern.<br />
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OK so usually I buy vintage patterns just because of the look of the fashion illustration or the design details. I've rarely seen a completed garment on someone else and then went to look for a copy of the pattern. However this blouse kept popping up on Instagram on other vintage ladies accounts. They'd mention the pattern number and I'd look it up every time. After about the 3rd of 4th time it was obvious I'd better just buy the damn thing already.<br />
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This one is labeled "Simple to make" which is mostly true. I'd guess that making bound buttonholes wasn't as big of a deal in the 40's if it was your only option. The style is easy to fit due to the kimono sleeve and the waist area not being especially fitted. There are two tucks in the back waist mostly to reduce bulk in the hip area.<br />
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The pattern gives you a variety of neckline options but they all share the same shirred detail at the shoulder. This particular design element will join the category of button buttonholes in that it's fiddly AF to make, but you're happy to have done it afterwards. The pattern comes with a stay piece for the gathered area. You have to hem the stay piece, run 5 parallel lines of gathering on the shoulder of the blouse, tie off the gathers, then hand stitch the stay piece on the wrong side of the blouse to reinforce everything. The thought, "why am I doing this?" ran through my head more than once.<br />
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However current me is pretty pleased about this picture. Gathers and a dragonfly brooch? Sweeet.<br />
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The rest of the construction is straight forward if you've had prior shirt making experience. The collar on version 1 has no stand, so you just sandwich it in the facings and call it done. All the hems are rolled, which you can do by hand or machine.<br />
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<b>Pattern </b><br />
Simplicity 1554 -View 1.<br />
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<b>Fabrics used</b><br />
Polka dot stretch cotton from Gertie's etsy store. That glorious summer in 2013 when she sold yardage from NY and I bought soooo much fabric and wish I'd bought even more. This may be the last piece from that stash building hull.<br />
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<b>Pattern changes/alterations </b><br />
1. Graded up the pattern to a 36" bust.<br />
2. Put in standard 1/2" forward shoulder adjustment.<br />
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<b>Confessions/Advice</b><br />
Those of you who follow me on Instagram may remember that I completed all the bound buttonholes on the front only to discover they were not evenly spaced. I had to cut a new front and start from scratch. Why do these things always happen with bound buttonholes? Pretty sure someone cursed me for stealing their bite sized candy bar. <br />
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<b>Husband Comment</b><br />
"More polka dots for my sours!" (He is "sweets", I am "sours" and as they say, the shoe fits.)<br />
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<b>My Final Thoughts</b><br />
This blouse was my most worn make of the summer. While it didn't knock <a href="http://handmadebyheatherb.blogspot.com/2016/06/polka-dots-are-forever.html">McCall's 4265</a> out of the top blouse spot, I keep wishing a black windowpane plaid version would spontaneously appear in my closet. The kimono sleeves and loose fit made it great for all but the hottest weather. Most of the time I paired it with this black circle skirt, but it also looks nice with an A-line skirt of pants. Overall I'd highly recommend getting your hands on a copy of Simplicity 1554 if you're looking for a good wardrobe builder.<br />
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I've got two more summer dresses to show you....hopefully before December. Maybe frog can hide all my electronic devices until the blogging is caught up. Bad bloggers don't get match 3 games or 10 pound bag of Halloween candy.Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-88444507170341735922017-08-04T13:40:00.000-04:002017-08-04T13:40:30.590-04:00When Ebay closes a door, Etsy opens a window - Hollywood 1411I'm sure you'll all agree with me that spending a quarter of your feel time searching the internet for new sewing patterns is perfectly normal. Just something we seamstress's do to relax and is in no way tied to us being pattern addicts. Thrill of the hunt? Nonsense! I just need to use up all that fabric I have in the bedroom. Anyway, now that we've got that out of the way let me tell you my tale of the pattern that almost got away.<br />
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One day I was checking my ebay saved search results for Hollywood patterns. (A perfectly normal thing to do and not something an addict might set up to get their daily hit of vintage.) I was delighted to see a new to me design in Hollywood 1411.<br />
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Did some pattern drafter of long ago design this exactly for me? They combined all of my favorite things, shirt dresses, scalloped necklines, and pockets. Oh My! This pattern had to BE MINE! So I bid on that puppy and happily planned what fabrics and buttons to use.<br />
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Then something happened....I just don't remember what. Near the end of auction I should have been monitoring the bids like <strike>an addict</strike> a serious seamstress making sure to close the deal. Guess I had to parent or maybe sleep? Curse you real life for interfering with my sewing acquisitions! Anyway someone else won the pattern with a modest bid and I was <strike>weeping into my pillow</strike> kind of bummed.<br />
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A month later I was still <strike>simmering with suppressed anger</strike> sad about loosing out on this pattern and decided to do a pattern number search for it on both Ebay and Etsy. Because I'm not in anyway an addict, I just had the fabric ready to go! Sadly, but not unexpectedly the searches did not return any results for my lost lovely. With a heavy sigh I thought, "Well might as well browse Etsy while I'm here. I'll just put in a general Hollywood patterns search." And yes my friends while I just browsing pages on Etsy this pattern appeared like a mirage in the desert. I blinked in disbelief for about 10 seconds and then pounced on that pattern like a lion upon a gazelle. Sure that sounds like the phrasing of a pattern addict but.....I'm fine, totally fine. I may have huffed the pattern when it arrived in my mailbox but that's not out of the ordinary behavior for anyone. Right.. Right? OK I might have a problem but I can stop when ever I want. (Pay no attention to the open ebay tabs currently on my computer.)<br />
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Well my pattern hoarding tendencies paid off in this case because this dress is everything I'd hoped it would be. How could a shirt dress with scallop details and pockets not be?<br />
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<b>Pattern </b><br />
Hollywood 1411<br />
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<b>Fabrics used</b><br />
Dress weight floral cotton from Emmaonesock.com. (Think we have this in stock still)<br />
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<b>Pattern changes/alterations </b><br />
1. Graded up the pattern from a size 34 bust. I was able to do the cheater way of adding more ease to the side seams on most of the pattern pieces. The front skirt was graded in the proper manner because of the scalloped pocket openings.<br />
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2. Standard .5" forward shoulder adjustment.<br />
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3. Standard dropping of bust dart about 1.5". The waist tucks were also shortened an 1".<br />
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4. Had a little extra fabric floating around in the shoulder area so I pinched it out by making a .25" fold in the shoulder.<br />
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<b>Confessions/Advice</b><br />
Advice - I've noticed that a few of my 40's patterns like to do this thing where the belt has either a curved or pointed edge that sticks out. Annoyed by this I finally sewed a little snap to the back side to keep the belt in place.<br />
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Confessions - Usually I'm pretty good about remembering to put interfacing on cut on facings. For some reason it slipped my mind until finishing up most of the sewing. I decided to to skip the interfacing all together but it did make sewing buttonholes a complete nightmare.<br />
Otherwise I had one of those really enjoyable sewing experiences that kind of ruin you for other projects. All I can think of is making the bodice with the set in sleeves for Fall. If I had any suitable fabric for it in that stash I'd be sewing that right now.<br />
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<b>Husband Comment</b><br />
"Oooo that neckline is really nice!" - This one met with approval from both male parties in the house<br />
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<b>My Final Thoughts</b><br />
100% sure I'll be sewing this pattern again and not just the alternate view. The neckline depth is perfect, keeping you cool while not flashing too much cleavage. There's plenty of room for a full range of movement with the kimono sleeves and the A-line skirt. This one is already in the section of the closest that gets worn every week. I could definitely do with another!<br />
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P.S. - I may enjoy accessorizing but something the weather does not cooperate. Curse you hat snatching wind!<br />
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<b><br /></b>Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-45619901188341668902017-07-23T18:02:00.002-04:002017-07-23T18:02:16.515-04:00You may remember Easter - Hollywood 1025Hey guys, do you remember Spring time? When the flowers were blooming and we weren't dying of oppressive heat? No me neither. My current hobbies are switching out ice packs and bitching about being hot. I'm so Delightful to live with in the summer! #summerhater #nordicgenes #whyamIhashtagginghere<br />
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We've probably reached the point that blogging about April makes is ridiculous, but I'm doing it anyway. I didn't entertain/confuse the people driving by my picture location for nothing. (I should make a little sign that says, "Can't understand your drive by yelling," for photo shoots. Right now I just assume they're yelling complement about my hats.)<br />
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In the tradition of seamstresses everywhere, I used the Easter holiday as an excuse to sew a new piece of clothing.... and to buy a new hat. Can I blame my mother for buying me pretty dresses and hats when I was a toddler? I'm just trying to recapture that sugar fueled high of matching dresses and sun hats. If only I could still find chocolate covered animal crackers that come in a pencil box the trifecta would be complete.<br />
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After freezing my butt off previous <a href="http://handmadebyheatherb.blogspot.com/2015/04/put-on-your-easter-bonnet-and-dress.html">Easter </a> <a href="http://handmadebyheatherb.blogspot.com/2016/03/rosey-easter-dress.html">Sundays</a> I decided to go with a 3/4 sleeve jacket/blouse made out of cotton sateen for Easter 2017. No worrying about finding matching cardigans this year. Ya hear that Mother Nature?! HA! (Spoiler Alert - Mother Nature took that as a challenge and made it about 87 degrees on Easter Sunday. F'ing Nature. ) <br />
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But enough about my personal vendetta with weather, let's talk about sewing. You know I like peplum jackets and Hollywood 1025 is the third version to grace the blog. This design's claim to fame is that the waist shaping is created with inset pieces. I'd eyed this design a couple of times but couldn't get past all the things that could go wrong grading up insets. Images of too tiny insets going across my bust danced through my head at night. Then BAM, the pattern showed up in my waist size. Huzzah! Now my insets won't wind up in unsightly locations. There is a bust dart on the front inset seam that needed to be tweeked due to my low bust point. The angle is a bit funky but that's why we sew things in bold patterns. You can't see a thing! <br />
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As you may have expected, sewing the insets is the trickiest part. I like to mark all my seam allowances around the point of the inset with disappearing marker. Then I clip the allowances a bit and do a bit of basting at the point. Then go in and sew the whole seam on a slightly smaller stitch length than usual. There's always one inset that you have to rip a few times but the rest sewed up fine.<br />
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Everything else was pretty standard jacket construction minus a lining. :) That might be while I like jacket/blouses so much.<br />
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<b>Pattern</b><br />
Hollywood 1025<br />
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<b>Fabrics used</b><br />
Stretch Cotton Sateen from the stash. (An old Emmaonesock purchase.)<br />
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<b>Pattern changes/alterations </b><br />
No grading on this baby, Hooray!<br />
1. Standard .5" forward shoulder adjustment to shoulder seam and sleeve cap.<br />
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<b>Confessions/Advice</b><br />
This was the first time I've made a peplum style in a heavier weight fabric and hoo boy did that make a difference in the body of the peplum. Duh. The top is supposed to go with the standard A-line 40's skirt but with the fluffy peplum it didn't look right. (Because flat butts do not run in my family.) Happily I'd sewn up this dark red circle skirt a couple of years ago and it was the right amount of volume to balance out the peplum.<br />
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(I also confess that I made a dirndl skirt to go with this and it was so hideous that it went straight into the the trash. We shall never speak of it again.)<br />
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<b>Husband Comment</b><br />
<b>"</b>Very festive color and I like the slightly puffy shoulders." - I assume he's talking about the shoulder pads. If so I've successfully brainwashed him into also liking shoulder pads.<br />
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<b>My Final Thoughts</b><br />
If you've been reading my drivel for awhile you may have noticed that I have a fondness for <a href="http://handmadebyheatherb.blogspot.com/2016/03/vintage-pledge-1-hollywood-1032.html">the peplum </a><a href="http://www.kestrelmakes.com/2016/07/heathers-vintage-pledge-project.html">jacket/blouse</a> combo. They are more versatile if made in a blouse weight fabric. You can layer them with sweaters and they work with more styles of skirts. It was fun to try a different weight of fabric and it worked well in the outfit. I probably wouldn't do it again though. Better to save that bottom weight sateen for regular jackets.<br />
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Not related to the pattern, but when I walked into the yard at church it was a sea of clothing in blue/white or tasteful pastels. As I was gleefully giggling to myself about my searing red ensemble a lady ran up to me and said, "I was dying to know what you were wearing today because you always look fabulous." Then I talked her ear off about my hat because I'm bad at social interactions and crazy about hats.<br />
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P.S. - There's me on the right at age 3 on Easter Sunday. I'm probably that happy about candy but let's pretend it's about hats.<br />
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<br />Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-59784232933767044672017-06-17T09:44:00.001-04:002017-06-17T09:44:04.990-04:00McCall's 3242 - The Pendleton Jacket Knock OffLast year I feel deeply in love with the Pendleton 49er jacket. At first I was all, "Oooo look at me, embracing boxy plaid garments. How shocking!" Then I slowly remembered that my mother had a closet full of 90's style Pendleton suits with plaid jackets and matching kilt style skirts. These were in the hall closet that also held all the family photo albums. Sometimes you'd tunnel yourself in there to get out the pictures but also to sniff the wool/cedar blocks. (Unrepentant wool sniffer since my early years.) Sooo yes, we all become our parents eventually, but with slight variations. :) Also I wish I had a closet to fill with just wool and cedar for my boy to sniff.......Digression finished.<br />
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After buying my first 49er jacket I discovered a bunch of other great things about the garment.<br />
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1. Giant patch pockets you can throw just about anything in. Phones, kids toys, pens, measuring tapes, snacks, your toy frog eating the snacks, etc.<br />
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2. The roomy fit lets you put all manner of shirts underneath. Well maybe nothing bulky around the wrist area but I can work around that. Three quarter sleeves anyone?<br />
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3. Plaid fabric helps hide food stains if you happen to be a be one of those people who's hands randomly release things without your brain's instruction. (I am one of those people.)<br />
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4. Wool fabric does it's job of being a great insulator without making you feel overly sweaty.<br />
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5. Boxy fit goes great with swing pants and man-ish shoes making it a practical work outfit. (Pants are the Living History Smooth Sailing Trousers once again)<br />
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Basically the 49er jacket is exactly the kind of layering garment I want in my life right now. However the thought to make my own didn't cross my mind until my father gifted me 3 yards of plaid wool for Christmas. Should I try to copy one of my vintage Pendleton jackets or was there a vintage pattern out there that was similar? To the Internets, the power of Google compels you!<br />
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Googling "vintage Pendleton pattern" took me to some long dead message board where several vintage pattern numbers were suggested. I had Froggie write them down for me and then we surfed on over to Etsy to see what was available. Low and behold Etsy had most of the patterns mentioned and McCall's 3242 was perfect! <br />
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Perfect doesn't really describe it because McCall's 3242 is an exact copy of the Pendleton 49er jacket. Shoulder pleat in the same place? Yes. Back yoke gathers? Yes. Collar has same curved shape on the outer edge? Yes again! Obviously someone in charge at McCall's thought this design was popular enough to copy for the sewing public. I thank you sir or madam for doing all the work for me.<br />
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Construction was easy pleesy since the style is basically a cross between a jacket and collared shirt. Well as easy as plaid matching can be. My walking foot does help a bunch to keep everything matched up after it's been pinned. The only construction details I changed was tweaking the pocket placement, flat felling the side seams/under arms and serging the armhole seams at the finish. At the end you get a very pretty inside where the only exposed seams are the armholes. Nothing like a pretty inside to make you feel accomplished.<br />
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<b>Pattern </b><br />
McCall's 3242<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwasksKaT5cQh8xqdQzvfXETxvsM1xYGGzpp2vpb6199Xde9mec1yFZWqKo1TX6j9zgFrmDm78L6rlyWtcXFdTGgGgyya_N-sAFlnhRLwPWJGp_Rpa_nPURCC3xb9a8DeeI_Q0GS1joS8/s1600/15941201_1277574908974650_4447890075256969339_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwasksKaT5cQh8xqdQzvfXETxvsM1xYGGzpp2vpb6199Xde9mec1yFZWqKo1TX6j9zgFrmDm78L6rlyWtcXFdTGgGgyya_N-sAFlnhRLwPWJGp_Rpa_nPURCC3xb9a8DeeI_Q0GS1joS8/s640/15941201_1277574908974650_4447890075256969339_n.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<b>Fabrics used</b><br />
Light weight plaid wool that was a gift.<br />
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<b>Pattern changes/alterations</b><br />
1.Standard forward shoulder adjustment to the shoulder seam and sleeve<br />
2. Reduced with of cuff by .5".<br />
3. Took in side seams about an inch.<br />
4. Lengthened sleeves .5".<br />
5. Reduced the width of the pockets .5".<br />
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<b>Confessions/Advice</b><br />
-The fit came out a bit roomier than I'd wanted. Probably need to grade the entire pattern down one size for the fit to be similar to my vintage jackets.<br />
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-The color in the plaid are probably a little too 60's for regular wear. I do like that kelly green though.<br />
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<b>Husband Comment</b><br />
"You finally made something with decent pockets. Good job."<br />
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Bonus son comment, "That doesn't look to good. I mean you look good, but that jacket doesn't." (I'm still laughing about this.)<br />
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<b>My Final Thoughts</b><br />
McCall's 3242 is a excellent copy of the Pendleton 49er style. As with our modern Big 4 patterns I think it comes with a little more ease than I'd like. Mind you I muslined the whole thing up and decided the ease was fine, so I have no one but myself to blame. I'd like to give this pattern another go with a heavier wool plaid after grading it down a bit. That should give me the exact fit I'm looking for.<br />
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Long story short, Excellent pattern but check your sizing. And with that I'll leave you with an action shot. <br />
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See you next time with the exact opposite of this jacket. Fitted, Floral and Floucey, Oh my!Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-22209128339630140622017-05-27T12:43:00.001-04:002017-05-27T12:43:41.854-04:00Deep Stash Sew-a-long ResultsIf it wasn't obvious by now intermittent blogging is the new normal. If you could call blogging every couple of months intermittent. Hmmm let's call it a quarterly "gift" instead. Gift or flaming poop on your door step, take your pick. ;) <br />
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Today's gift/poop is an overview of the garments completed for the Deep Stash Sew-a-long challenge. I don't expect you to remember what that was all. I'll just put <a href="http://handmadebyheatherb.blogspot.com/2017/02/deep-stash-plans.html">a link to the particulars</a> if you're interested. With the help of my trusty sewing helper Froggie, we were able to finish about 2 garments a month and complete the challenge on time. We might have had a cake celebration about about it...just like we do about everything else. Cake, it's not just a dessert, it's a lifestyle.<br />
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Most of that productivity was due to TNT's. Even Froggie can't muslin and sew 8 new garments in a four month time period. How would we fit in our cake celebrations if so much time was devoted to sewing? Anyway I'm pretty sure none of you are derisively shaking your heads while muttering, "How dare you sew more of a pattern you like Heather! What kind of monster are you?" (A monster who likes cake obviously.) I'll link to my review blog posts for any of the TNT patterns in case more detail is desired. So let's get on the photos shall we?<br />
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Garment #1 - <a href="http://handmadebyheatherb.blogspot.com/2015/09/more-fesa-makes-smooth-sailing-trousers.html">Wearing History Smooth Sailing Trousers</a> (4th pair of these) in some tencle denim we have at EOS. <br />
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Garment #2 - My <a href="https://sewing.patternreview.com/blog?s=2092010">hacked Grainline Studio Lark Tee</a> pattern in some cotton jersey from Marcy Tilton.<br />
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Garment #3 - McCall's 3242 in some wool plaid that my father got me as present last year. </div>
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Garment #4 - <a href="http://handmadebyheatherb.blogspot.com/2017/02/my-annual-winter-coat-project-hollywood.html">Hollywood 1214</a> in wool coating from Gorgeous fabrics many years ago. You'd remember this one since it was my last blog post in......February.</div>
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Garment #5 - <a href="http://handmadebyheatherb.blogspot.com/2016/06/polka-dots-are-forever.html">McCall's 4265</a> in washed silk. Also a very old Gorgeous fabrics purchase. This was my first time making the long sleeve version and as some of you know I had to make the sleeves twice. On this pattern the single notch on the sleeve head was the back of the sleeve. (Which I didn't notice) Thanks to my standard forward shoulder adjustment I couldn't just rip the sleeves out and swap them. At least there was enough fabric to fix my mistake.<br />
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Garment #6 -<a href="http://handmadebyheatherb.blogspot.com/2016/03/vintage-pledge-1-hollywood-1032.html"> Hollywood 1032 </a>(Skirt Half) in some black wool suiting from Mood Fabrics. <br />
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Garment #7 - Hollywood 1025 (Blouse Half) in an cotton sateen which was an old EOS purchase.<br />
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Garment #8 - <a href="http://handmadebyheatherb.blogspot.com/2013/09/hey-baby-nice-buttons-mae-blouse.html">Mae Blouse</a> from Blueginger doll in some cotton oxford. I got this from the brick and mortar Steve's Sewing. (Holy crap, my photography skills have improved since that last Mae post.)<br />
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A couple of good things came out of doing this sewing challenge.<br />
- All of the fabric used was from the stash. Sure 3 pieces I bought in late December before the challenge started but It Got Sewed. ;) You know how planning garments doesn't necessarily mean they happen.<br />
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- The challenge got me to sew a few basics that have come in handy. The trousers, back skirt and black knit top weren't exciting to make but I've been thankful to have them in the closet.<br />
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- The challenge got me to sew a few projects that have been "bucket list" items. I stole this term from Crystal in the stash busting group because it perfectly describes those garments that have been on your "to sew" list for years. The gray coat and green blouse were my bucket list items and also used some deep stash fabrics. Feels good to clean out some of that old stash layer.<br />
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On the flip side after 3 months of sewing only stash fabric and patterns my sewjo died. In early April I even posted in the group I might be tapped out at 6 garments. At the start of the challenge sewing those long planned items felt good. After about two months I started to itch for something new. A new pattern to sew some long stashed fabric would have been fine. Or some lining to make any number of jacket patterns I already have wool for. (Poor planning on my part here. Could have gotten the lining during the last minute December buying spree.) You can see that I had to psych myself up at the finish by digging out the fun prints. At least it did the trick!<br />
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In case you're wondering, after this challenge I bought 7 yards of various linings. In May I've been lining all the things which I'll hopefully blog about before August. In fact I'm hoping to do my regular "review format" on the new makes of McCall's 3242 and Hollywood 1025 sometime in June. Maybe Froggie could plan a cake party for me if I complete them? Let's hope so.Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-51566342048773084442017-02-26T17:14:00.000-05:002017-02-26T17:14:19.837-05:00My Annual Winter Coat Project - Hollywood 1214I think most of you guys know by now that I'm not much of a planner. Usually I cast my little squirrel eyes around and sew what ever seems bright and shiny at the current moment in time. Funny though, I looked through the blog archives this week and discovered that my squirrel brain always likes sewing a coat in January/February. It's almost like the cold weather sets off a craving to cocoon myself in coating weight wool.<br />
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This year I finally broke out the coat pattern snagged off of ebay months ago for $5.00, yes $5.00! Oh I was sooo pleased with my bargain pattern acquisition of Hollywood 1214 that it was never even pulled it out of the envelope. When I did so to trace it in December that's when it was discovered there were no directions. Crap!<br />
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Now I don't rely on directions that heavily, but they do come in handy on non printed patterns. I use them while tracing a copy of the pattern to correctly label all the pattern pieces. It's also nice to have a reference for things like top-stitching and any sort of vintage sewing technique that has fallen out of fashion. I was also a little concerned about the pockets on this design. I've sewed a lot of garments, but never one with pockets that look quite like this. After mulling it over for a day I decided to give it a shot.<br />
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Between several years of coat sewing experience, 1 year of familiarity with non-printed patterns and an excellent fashion illustration it all worked out. When sewing the muslin I turned off my brain and my hands figured out how the pockets went together without a hitch. Isn't it nice how a lot of garment constructions is common sense? The rest of the sewing was standard coat/jacket stuff that I can do without any directions. Hooray! I also lucked out that the 40's fashion illustration was very detailed and showed where all the top-stitching should go. You'll probably have to look at the illustration yourself to be able to see any top-stitching details. My light gray on light gray stitching mostly gets lost in the photos. I do want you to know that I spent hours trying to get smooth top-stitching curves on my coat lapels. ;)<br />
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On to the review portion of the blog post..<br />
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<b>Pattern</b><br />
Hollywood 1214<br />
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<b>Fabrics used</b><br />
Stashed gray wool coating - originally from Gorgeous Fabrics<br />
Stashed floral viscose as lining - originally from Emma one sock<br />
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<b>Pattern changes/alterations </b><br />
1. Standard 1/2 forward shoulder adjustment to the shoulder and sleeve head.<br />
2. Added 1" extra ease to the hem line and hem.<br />
3. Removed 3" of ease out of the sleeve cap. Some was removed by making the dart at the top of the sleeve wider. Some was pinched out.<br />
4. Drafted my own lining for the coat.<br />
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<b>Confessions/Advice</b><br />
- This pattern seems to have been drafted with shoulders that are supposed to jut out past the natural line. Despite all the extra shoulder padding I added in that area it still looks like I didn't fit the coat right. If I had to do it over again I would take the shoulder line in to met my natural shoulder edge.<br />
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- I do like all the little details this pattern has. Lots of top-stitching, the little faux belt at the back, the lovely big pockets. It's really hard to keep your hands out of them!<br />
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- Compared with all my other coats, the lack of buttons below the waist feels a bit odd. I'm always thinking that I've forgotten to fasten a button or two. Thanks to the thickness of the coat there isn't too much problem with the bottom half blowing open unless it's a really stiff wind.<br />
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- Confession, the bugs got to this piece of wool too. One yard was badly compromised, but there were nips taken out here and there through out the yardage. The bugs seemed to favor the fuzzier side which probably was the right side of the fabric. I decided to use the "wrong side" and not worry about cutting around any nips in the fabric.<br />
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<b>Husband + Son Comment</b><br />
Steve - "Looks like there's a lot of room in that coat."<br />
Desmond - "Room for 100 people the size of ants!"<br />
Steve - "I was thinking along the line of thick sweaters or smuggling goods, but sure."<br />
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<b>My Final Thoughts</b><br />
Not gonna lie, my red McCall's 6800 is still my favorite coat. You know how a looooove red. However this project was an interesting sew and gave me a real ego boost. It's nice to find out that you can finish something without out any directions.<br />
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Can you guys believe this is the last of my stashed wool coating? I'm going to cry big crocodile tears next year when I have to fork money over for my seasonal coat.Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-6824982344162563022017-02-09T08:38:00.000-05:002017-02-09T08:38:31.164-05:00Deep Stash PlansIt's February but it's never too late to talk about first quarter-ish sewing plans. Heck at the rate I'm currently sewing what else do we have to talk about? OK maybe cookies, but I'm fresh out of those too. Could someone send a cookie drone? Carbs/sugar are the only things keeping me stable right now.<br />
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This year I have to keep a tighter reign on my purchases to continue reducing the size of my stash. (BTW, total stash reduction for 2016 was 90.5 yards.) So far instituting the rule that I must complete garments out of stashed fabric to get "credit" to buy new fabric is working. In January I sewed up 3.75 yards and didn't buy any new fabric. Froggie laughs and asks if I'd like a gold star for lasting a whole 5 weeks without buying fabric. Hey frog, I work in a fabric store so give a girl some credit! I only thought about buying fabric every Friday.<br />
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To help with the stashed garment sewing I signed up for the Deep Stash sew along going in the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1650929411795464/permalink/1912717175616685/">FB Sew along group.</a> The general guidelines for the sew along are:<br />
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- All patterns and fabric need to be from stash.<br />
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- You need to sew 8 garments for the same person.<br />
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- No repeat garments. All 8 garments need to be from a different pattern.<br />
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There's a 4 month time frame to complete everything if you want to be eligible for the prize pack. That might be too short for me cause I've got to overly complicate everything. That's OK, having a prompt to get me pairing stashed fabric and patterns together is great. Here are the garments I've got planned so far.<br />
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Garment 1 - Hollywood 1214 in light gray wool coating and some stashed lining not pictured.<br />
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Garment 2 - McCall's 3242 out of plaid wool which was a Christmas gift from my father.<br />
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Garment 3 - McCall's 4265 in some washed silk.<br />
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Garment 4 - Smooth Sailing Trousers in tencel denim.<br />
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After sewing those 4 up I'll have to figure out another 4 garments. Maybe I'll put my number #1 man on the job. Froggie work your magic!Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-91917548547572767952017-02-01T19:00:00.000-05:002017-02-01T19:00:50.614-05:00Sewing Vintage in February Hello all, today's post is about the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/stashbusting2015/">Stashbusting Sewalong FB group</a>. I've been an active member for a number of years and it's been a wonderful group that has helped me make put a dent in the size of my fabric stash. Mr. B no long worries about being smothered in his sleep by toppling piles of fabric. He still can't fit all his clothing in the closet but I'm working on it. That goal might also be reached if Mr. B throws away some of his 10 year old T-shirts/pants with visible holes....but we're getting off topic.<br />
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This month I'm hosting the stashbusting group sewing theme which is Vintage Sewing! Seems we have a number of vintage sewers in the group because this was one of the most requested themes. So without further ado let me lay out the general guidelines for sewing on theme.<br />
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- You can sew true vintage patterns. <br />
Break open your pattern stashes and pull out all those vintage pattern you've been hoarding. Or go out and buy a new vintage pattern you've had your eye on. The definition for vintage patterns is 20 years or older, which means any patterns from the mid 90's and older are eligible. (Feel free to harumph and say, "What I wore in high school isn't vintage!" That sentence has been heard in my sewing room more than once.)<br />
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- You can sew vintage reprints or vintage inspired patterns.<br />
Not in the mood to grade up a vintage pattern to fit yourself? Really like that new pattern from Gertie's line? No problem. Feel free to sew up patterns that have a vintage look even if they were published recently.<br />
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-You can sew something you drafted yourself.<br />
Have something on your sewing list you've been meaning to draft that has a vintage vibe. Feel free to use this month's theme to finally get that project done.<br />
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-You don't have to sew clothing, vintage accessories or home decor counts.<br />
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As you can see there are many way to sew along with the theme. I hope everyone has fun and I can't wait to see your makes.Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-55236586562155828642017-01-09T11:41:00.000-05:002017-01-09T11:41:56.355-05:00Guess what I made 3 months ago? - Simplicity 1155 and Decades of Style Empire Waist TrousersWhat's that I see on the horizon? Is it a new blog post? It couldn't possibly be! We all know I've disappeared into the fabric shelves of EOS and/or my winter hibernation cave. It's true, I've been spending most of my time in those places and battling the tidal wave of germs that elementary kids so helpfully bring home to share. But today I'm temporarily germ free and thought it was time to finally show you the last two FO's of 2016.<br />
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Wayyyy back in October of last year I blogged about some "Unofficial Halloween" sewing plans. You may remember that only because of the kick ass skull fabric that was dug out from the bottom of the stash. Fueled by the desire to show off my sewing skills to impressionable children, I stayed up a few late nights to finish in time. My "candy giving out" costume was exactly what is pictured here. It managed to simultaneously scare children under the age of 5 and illicit exclamations of, "That is so cool!" from middle school aged girls.<br />
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One of the design features of this blouse is the high neckline with visible darts on the front. Mmmmmm delicious darts. Of course if you need to lower the neckline then all those delicious darts are gonna become a problem. I thought, "Well I know that 40's necklines can be super high but I'll muslin this as is and hope for the best." Yeaaaaahhhh, that muslin was like being slowly strangled by a lethargic snake. Not exactly what I'm looking for in handmade clothing. After letting my brain mull over the problem over night, I decided to try lowering the neckline and lengthening the darts the same amount. Viola, problem solved.<br />
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No other major issues to report on Simplicity 1155. The sewing is very straight forward if you've made any sort of blouse in the past. I do like both the button back and the full sleeves. (You can tell I've drunk the 40's cool aid because I would have laughed about these sleeves a few years ago.)<br />
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Now on to the trousers. Those of you familiar with this pattern might be saying, "I'm pretty sure they're not supposed to have a waistband." You are correct eagle eyed readers. I got a little excited about sewing this outfit and didn't think about how a nice soft rayon probably isn't the best fabric for empire waist pants. (I was thinking about how rayon would make nice swingy pant legs instead.) Also once muslining the pattern I realized that my low bust point wasn't making this look like it did in my head. Any sort of waist definition disappeared and that bothered me. So what to do to solve both of these problems? Cut some of the Empire waist off of the top of the pants and turn it into a wide waistband. I did take pictures of this process so if you'd like a quickie "How to" blog post just say so in the comments. Otherwise I sewed this pattern as drafted and like it a whole bunch.<br />
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(Not the best pic of the back, but this was literally the only on in focus out of 35 pics)</div>
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<b>Patterns</b><br />
Simplicity 1155 and <a href="https://www.decadesofstyle.com/collections/1940s-sewing-patterns/products/4004-1940s-empire-waist-trousers">Decades of Style</a> Empire Waist Trousers.<br />
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<b>Fabrics used</b><br />
Blouse - Stashed Crepe de Chine from EOS. Thanks to Facebook time hop I can tell you this was bought in 2010 about a month and a half after Desmond was born. (Just making myself feel better about not sewing it right away.)<br />
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Pants - Stretch Rayon from Marcy Tilton. Fabric was a new purchase in October, but has sold out since then.<br />
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<b>Pattern changes/alterations </b><br />
Blouse<br />
1. Lowered the neckline .5" and lengthen the neckline darts the same amount.<br />
2. Standard 1/2" forward shoulder adjustment to shoulder and sleeve.<br />
3. Added 1/2" more length to the sleeve.<br />
4. Redrew the placement of the buttonholes on the back.<br />
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Pants<br />
1. Extended the back crotch length about .75" (Used the Wearing History Smooth Sailing Trousers as a guide since those fit me well.)<br />
2. Took in 1.5" inches in at the side seams at the waistline. This alteration was mostly because of my fabric choose of a stretch woven. I had to give that area some negative ease to get it to stay in position.<br />
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<b>Confessions/Advice</b><br />
1. I found the bias width of 1.25" a bit slim for my fumble fingers when finishing the neckline. I increased it to 2".<br />
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2. The directions say to close the sleeve cuffs with thread loops and buttons. I found this out really late in the process and was not in the mood to hand sew some thread loops. Instead I checked to see if the cuffs would fit over my hands with a buttonhole added. They were wide enough thanks to my hand and wrists being the daintiest part of my body. I did end up doing a standard button and button hole finish to the cuffs. Now 3 months later I'll admit that doing the thread loops would have been better. The cuffs are just a little bit too tight when the blouse needs to move with me.<br />
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<b>Husband Comment</b><br />
Pretty sure he said, "I like your sleeves" because Napoleon Dynami quotes are a staple of our household. Though I think this outfit is on the husband scale of "I'll keep my mouth shut because she'll put on a less weird outfit soon."<br />
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<b>My Final Thoughts</b><br />
It might have taken me three months to show off this outfit but I'm pretty pleased with it. In the end it turned out just like I'd imagined.<br />
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Going forward I'm hoping to blog a little more regularly. There's still plenty I want to sew and share with like minded people. So here's hoping for a little more sewing and blogging time in the new year.Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-74465206944911854042016-10-03T11:40:00.001-04:002016-10-03T11:40:22.786-04:00Ch - Ch - Ch - ChangesWow, I've had quite the busy and exciting September! For those of you who don't already know, in mid September I was hired at Emma One Sock. Hooray!!<br />
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I really couldn't ask for a more perfect job for my current situation. I get to touch fabric all day people!!! Also thanks to Linda's and Eric's flexibility I start early in the day and can finish in time to pick Desmond up from school. I love that we don't have to give up our walks home from school yet. Otherwise I wouldn't get my daily dose of animal facts and kooky 6 year old theories of how the world works. <br />
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We're still adjusting to the change, but so far it's going pretty well. Mr. B is doing great handing the morning start by himself. (I'm already up in EOS headquarters by the time the Boy B's get up.) Desmond hasn't commented on the change at all. Well he was surprised that I was at home on a Saturday morning because the concept of a weekend is still an amorphous thing when you're 6. "Wait....is it the weekend again? Yeaaaaaa!"<br />
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While I'm super happy to be working in a sewing related capacity, the reduction of my actual sewing time is a bit shocking. How have all of you full time ladies been making garments by only sewing on the weekend? I try and squeeze in 30 minutes on work evenings, but most of the time my brain is too tired. Back in September I'd planned out a whole "Unofficial Halloween" wardrobe to complete this month. Not gonna happen. Siiiigh. First world problems, am I right?<br />
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The logical side of my brain took over and reminded me that some of the "Unofficial Halloween" wardrobe could be sewn. I only had to decide what garments would make the cut. First up will be my new pattern acquisition Simplicity 1155, view 3. "I like you're sleeves. They're big."<br />
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I'll be using a long stashed Emma one sock fabric, this silk crepe de chine. Skulls = Unofficial Halloween. you see where I'm going with this.<br />
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Most of the "Unofficial Halloween" wardrobe is just an excuse to sew black separates which are needed for the rest of the year. I did get a jump on this by finished up a pair of black rayon "Empire Waist Pants" from Decades of Style. <br />
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These will go very well with Simplicity 1155 so maybe I'll hold off and photograph them together. I'd also like to sew the skirt portion of Hollywood 1756 in black rayon as well. We'll see if there's enough time and if I feel like buying more black rayon.<br />
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That's all I've narrowed down for now. Hopefully I'll settle into my new sewing groove this month and get a few of these pieces done. Cross your fingers for me. :)<br />
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<br />Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-61388459622121613142016-09-30T17:50:00.000-04:002016-09-30T17:50:28.295-04:00PR Hacks - Split Cowl DressI know what some of you are thinking. "I say Heather, that dress looks verrrry familiar." You're right! I was a sneaky knock off artist this month. Muhaa haa!<br />
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It probably won't surprise you to find out that stuff designed for slim 20 older old's doesn't fit me right. There's a lot of things I can let slide, but bad fitting garments isn't one of them. Therefore I had to take matters into my own hands and draft my own version of this dress. Of course I documented it all to share with you.<br />
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Using the PR Winter Street dress as a base pattern, I'll be showing you how to alter the bodice to add a waist inset and change the skirt shape. After that we'll do a little free hand drafting to created the cool color and the waist tabs. Pop on over to the <a href="http://sewing.patternreview.com/blog?s=2216685">PR blog</a> to get the details.<br />
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Bonus Husband Comment - "Heyyyyy First Lady! You can wear that when I get inaugurated."Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-10195818555875045172016-09-17T08:09:00.000-04:002016-09-17T08:09:01.554-04:0040's Casual StyleThis summer my Sister-in-law gave us the option to join her family on a cabin camping trip up in Rickett's Glen. They usually do some sort of camping trip during summer vacation and had plenty of extra room in their cabin for the three of us. Steve and I though Des would enjoy running around the woods and cooking with fire so we accepted. Which meant it was time for every seamstress's favorite activity.... planning some trip sewing!<br />
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Seriously though, as someone who is a "lifetime fancy dresser" the amount of casual clothing I own is 3 pairs of yoga pants and some ratty old Renfrews. My suitcase was in desperate need of a few items of clothing that could handle a slog through the woods. Guess I just "had" to buy some new patterns to fill this hole in my wardrobe. (Let's pretend I wouldn't have bought a new pattern for any type of vacation.) What I ended up purchasing was the recently mentioned Simplicity 3885. The bottom half of the pattern worked out a lot better than blouse portion of the pattern.<br />
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View 1 is the button up skirt with some nice little patch pockets. Pockets which happen to be big enough to stow your sunglasses when the hiking trail turns out to be deeply shaded.<br />
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Then maybe it gets hot or you want to go play tennis with the girls....assuming you are far more coordinated than I. Unbutton the skirt layer to reveal.....<br />
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View 2 Flirty Shorts! Here I am doing "Vanna hands" to show off the pocket welts of the nonexistent pockets. <br />
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The plan was to have pockets, but the residual post baby fat shelf caused some major gapping issues. In a perfect world I should have muslined with pockets and figured out how to adjust for that. Instead this was deadline sewing and some corners were cut.<br />
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Pocket issue aside, these were very easy to fit to my lower body. Mostly thanks to 40's styles being really loose around the lower derriere area. Not having to worry about under butt wrinkles is a giant relief.<br />
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<b>Pattern </b><br />
Simplicity 3885, Shorts and Skirt.<br />
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<b>Fabrics used</b><br />
Light weight stretch denim from Emmaonesock.com<br />
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<b>Pattern changes/alterations </b><br />
1. Graded up the bottom pieces one size.<br />
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2. Raised CB of shorts 3/8".<br />
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3. Removed side seam pockets from the shorts.<br />
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4. Took in CB of skirt 1/2".<br />
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6. Let out side seams of skirt 3/8".<br />
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<b>Confessions/Advice</b><br />
- I didn't muslin the skirt portion figuring how much fitting does a button up A-line skirt need? Ummmm plenty if your me. Ended up having to take in or let out most of the seams and I'm still not happy with the waistband fit. You'd think I'd learn by now that muslins are not optional for me.<br />
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<b>Husband Comment</b><br />
"Hey pretty lady, I like your grandma shorts."<br />
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<b>My Final Thoughts</b><br />
Both garments served me well on the camping trip. I ended up wearing yoga pants for the long hike and used these garments for short walks and trips to the lake. It got me thinking that adding a few more causal garment projects to the sewing list would be a good idea. Occasionally....only occasionally a dress isn't appropriate for having fun with your kid.<br />
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Speaking of him, let's just say he had a blast. <br />
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<br />Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-45484279708620714712016-09-09T17:18:00.000-04:002016-09-09T17:18:02.378-04:00Striking Out this SummerBlog posting has been reaaaaaly sporadic this summer, I'm sure you've noticed. Part of it was the normal aversion to standing next to an iron while it's 95 degrees outside. Mmmm heat exhaustion. However most of it was loss of sewing mojo due to STRESS!!!<br />
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I've been a stay at home mom or mom to be for 7 years now. My husband was on board with this plan with the caveat that I would need to return to work when our child started going to school full time. Mostly because being a one income family was something we could not sustain indefinitely. So I went into the the summer knowing that I'd have to start hunting for jobs. Ugh. Let me tell you the dread of starting a job hunt and the depression of being the middle of one are equally draining to your creativity. It almost makes me long for the days of learning a trade... or bartering. Can you pay your mortgage in cookies? What if I threw in a chocolate cake?</div>
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Anyway we've got that stress and the normal stress about how your kid is doing in school. Desmond just made the cut off for entering kindergarten last year and I think being the youngest kid in the class is sometimes hard. I also worry about him socializing with other kids because he's a lot like me and I was HORRIBLE at that. (I sat alone during recess for the entire 5 years of elementary school. My mother was very relieved when I went to middle school where there was no more recess.) I keep wishing there was another kooky kid who's crazy about dinosaurs so they could be best friends. They might successfully make a dinosaur hybrid that would eat us all, but it's a risk I'm willing to take.</div>
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So yeah, adulting is hard when you're not eating chocolate bars at 10 in the morning. Fortunately I did have a chocolate bar today so we can talk about the other source of my lost sewing mojo...... a string of muslins that didn't make the cut. <br />
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As someone who's been sewing for a long time I know that not every pattern is gonna be a winner on my body. But it still sucks when you have back to back projects that don't pan out. I started to wonder if I really was any good at sewing. Has this whole blog just been a lie?! Maybe the frog does sew all the garments after all. On to a parade of badly lit muslins, I know you can barely contain your excitement.<br />
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First up the top half of Simplicity 3885.<br />
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OK, this doesn't look too bad from the photos. What you can't see is that it's super tight around the neck. So tight that I couldn't button it closed like the causal lady in the sunglasses. This one is in my bust size so my own grading isn't at fault....that problem will come later. I also found some of the construction on this pattern to be annoying which colored my impressions. The neckline issue could be fixed but frankly I liked <a href="http://handmadebyheatherb.blogspot.com/2016/06/polka-dots-are-forever.html">McCall's 4265</a> a whole lot more and it didn't seem worth it. Bye Bye blouse, into the bin of failure you go.<br />
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Second victim, suit jacket from Hollywood 769.<br />
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This was the first size 34 bust that I graded up and my math was WRONG! This baby is about 1 size too small in everything but the length. I've pinned that scant 1/2" overlap to give myself that pregnant look all the girls are going for these days. Sexy. The style gets a thumbs up, but have I felt like regrading 9 pattern pieces for the second time? Nope! This one goes in the bin of shame until the pattern grading frenzy seizes me.<br />
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Last questionable muslin of the summer, Advance 4227.<br />
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This time I was able to do basic math correctly and properly grade up the pattern. The skirt portion gets a thumbs up, but the bodice was drafted for someone much much much bustier.<br />
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Honestly I could smuggle a pair of cantaloupes in my bra and still have extra ease. Since I'm not into shoplifting this bodice needs some serious adjustment. Adjustment that I do not have the head space for at this time. Into the bin it goes until next summer or some perfect fabric talks me into giving it another go.<br />
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So that was my summer with the exception of one successful project that I've yet to take photos of. Hopefully I can get off my butt and do that soon before blogging summer projects seems ludicrous. Until then I hope your sewing projects are being a lot more agreeable than mine. :)</div>
Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170578327853219575.post-5795014639897587182016-08-12T14:57:00.000-04:002016-08-12T14:57:01.294-04:00PR Hacks - Decorative DartsMid August already, how did that happen? I certainly must be getting old if all I do is exclaim that, "Time is going so fast!" Soon I'll be pinching children's checks and saying how much they've grown. Anyway, things continue to be quiet on the sewing front because my sewing mojo is still no where to be found. I think it took a nice European vacation without me. In it's absence I've been knitting socks and ...... cleaning things. Good god it's come to that! My husband is happy, but I started missing having a new dress to wear. To scratch the itch I dusted off the sewing machine and come up with a new dress and pattern hack to share.<br />
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The month the base pattern is McCall's 7279 and I'll be teaching some dart rotation principles to spice up the bodice. The hack shows how to rotate the waist dart into the shoulder and split it into 4 darts of varying lengths. Then you can leave them as is or top-stitch them like I did. Hop on over to the <a href="http://sewing.patternreview.com/blog?s=2198389">PR blog</a> for all the details.<br />
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<br />Heather Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16301752361056276451noreply@blogger.com0