Back to baby sewing

After making a bias cut satin dress for me, it was kind of nice to go back to simple cotton baby shirts! These two are based on the same block as the boys' ones, but I flared them out by slashing and spreading the pattern. They have different details, which were fun to do. Both have concealed domes at the front. I just attached them to the facing only, then used my zip foot to sew right next to them through all the layers so they're anchored in place but not visible except where the top one is open. I'm thinking about tiny flower appliques over the spot, or something similar to make a feature of the fastening on future versions.

The pleated inset on this shirt was directly inspired by the beautiful creations I saw here and here. For a baby shirt I kept the cutout simple - even and symetrical. I'm really keen to try something using this technique for me, but I'm not sure what yet.

Georgia and two of the neighbours are getting really interested in sewing and decided that they wanted to make clothes for the twins. They borrowed a couple of patterns which I felt were suitable and had at it! This red vest is very largely their work. I showed them how to lay out the pattern, and I pinned it for them, then after they'd cut out the pieces I showed them how to sew each seam and they all took a turn doing one on Georgia's machine. The button and appliques they sewed on by hand themselves. This is their first effort and they are very proud of themselves, and rightly so!

They are now working on a bubble dress for Isabella. With input from me they'll get it done, and Isabella will love the attention. I'll post a pic when they finish. Enthusiasm in kids is to be encouraged!

Finished, worn, loved

I finished my dress in plenty of time to wear to dinner last night. I was right about the bias dropping. I don't know how much extra it dropped for being hung for two days, but I was confident when I hemmed it that it'd be fine.

You can see in this photo what a big difference there is in length around the hem. The longest point is on the true bias.

I had no helpers when it came time to mark the hem, so took a deep breath and did it solo. I put the dress on and marked where I wanted it to hit. It was quite a challenge to hold it steady against my thigh while I marked a point just below my knee! From there it was a simple matter of putting it on my dummy and marking it by measuring up from the floor with a long ruler. My fear doing it solo is that while my dummy is very similarly proportioned to me it isn't as accurate as getting a helper to mark it on me. I figured it wasn't going to be significantly out even if it was a tad. (I've done this before with success, but not for a while). I have one of those chalk puffer thingies for marking your own hems, but I'm, um, not sure which box in the roof it's in.

Anyway, after doing my baby hem on the dress and pressing it and putting on a decent bra (which makes a huge difference!), it looks like this:

Photo credit to the overexcited nine year old who was looking forward to being babysat by her aunt and staying up past bedtime to help her with the twins!

And here's the one she took of me and David just before we left. That's Nicholas' head in the corner. Nothing happens in this house without his investigating! David's shirt is one of approximately 15+ I have made over the years for him or his twin brother. It's my absolute favourite, Burda 8471 I can churn one out in no time - the fit needed very little tweaking, so he doesn't need to be involved till I hand him a completed shirt. He likes this.

We had a great dinner with my parents (Dad's thanks for making the boat cover). It was great fun being with just them - usually when we catch up there are lots of other family members around, and it was really good having a long uninterrupted time to natter. We reminisced about all sorts of things, like our family reunion tramp of the Milford Track when I was 15. It started raining within 5 minutes of the boat dropping us off, we nearly got held up for a day by flooding on the track, the McKinnon pass was covered in mist (and rain of course) so we slogged up all those zigzags and didn't get to see any of the view, and it stopped raining AS I WALKED OUT AT THE FAR END! (The Sutherland Falls were spectacular though.) Dad got the best work day of his life at a similar time (my bitter and twisted memory is that it was a week later, but he thinks not) by being flown over the area in glorious sunshine in a helicopter to inspect some tie-down thing he had designed for a radio mast up a mountain in the area. Tough life.

Ahh - that's better!

Because I really can't leave well enough alone, here's the pic I took after I pressed the CB seam and checked that the dress was hanging straight! It's still not perfect, but I declare it Good Enough. The slight rippling you can see in the zip seems to be caused by the gaps between the sections on my dummy. As far as I can tell when I try it on they aren't there.

Now I can move on ;-)

Who was I kidding?

Um, yeah, I had that zip unpicked and redone within an hour of my last post! Natasha was right - it would bug me every time I looked at it. Thanks everyone for the helpful comments. The seam isn't on the true bias, and being a back seam it has a curve at the waist, further complicating things. My wedding dress was also stretch charmeuse cut on the bias, and I had to do the zip a couple of times to get it right. Fortunately I remembered yesterday what I did - I stretched the fabric as far as I could as I applied the zip. You'd expect that to make the zip very ripply, but it actually counteracts the weight of the skirt almost perfectly. I took a very hurried pic after I finished but before I pressed it. (Twins were waking up and sewing time was over for the day, sigh.....)

If you click on it you can see it bigger. When I put the pic on the computer I realised that one side looks fine and one puckered, but I swear both were smooth when I tossed it on the dummy! I think it "caught" on the fuzzy dummy cover as I carried it outside. Anyway, sleepless night averted, and I'm now happy with the zip. (Or I will be after I press it and check it is smooth on me.)

I left it on the dummy overnight to let the bias drop. Since the fabric has elastane in it it is less susceptible to dropping, but I'm still expecting to have to even out the hem. Today's job is to finish the neckline and armhole edges, and then I'll leave it on the dummy overnight again before hemming it tomorrow.

Do I or don't I?

So far today I've joined the two halves of the dress, and I'm happy with the fit. However, I'm not thrilled with the CB zip/seam. I basted that sucker with two lines of stitching before I sewed it in, and I tried it on the dummy about five times while I was working on it. It was flat and smooth when I did it, but on the dummy it kind of puckers at the waist. I showed David when he came home for lunch and he didn't see the puckers till I pointed them out.

If you click on the picture you can see a bigger view. I took the shot outside in bright sunlight to show as much detail as possible. I have a bit more butt than the dummy, so it sits more smoothly over my backside.

So my question is this - is it worth ripping out that zip and trying again? David reckons that it is not noticable enough to be worth it, and I'm scared that a rework won't improve it to any significant degree. I have a horrible feeling that I'm going to be tossing and turning all night trying to talk myself into leaving it, and in the morning I'm going to rip the bugger out and do it over. And I'll feel so much better for doing so. (I did say I'm a bit inclined to be anal.)

Finished party dress, and MY dress

Here is J's finished dress on my dummy. She forgot to bring her undergarment when she picked it up, so I didn't see it on her. She did bring the belt and shoes she's going to wear with it. I love that red! It sits better on her than the dummy (as most things do), but you get the idea. I made red thread belt loops to hold the belt in place, so she can never wear it belt less now!

Gail asked why I didn't pin the neckline stay tape directly to the inside. Basically, because I am incredibly anal. (There's a reason I call my blog Everything Just Sew!) Bodies can be asymmetrical, and to ensure the neckline fits her properly I had to pin it from the right side. If I'd done it inside out there's a chance it would have sat differently if one shoulder was higher than the other, for example.

So after that was done, it was time for MY dress! I had no problem picking fabric and pattern from my collection. I got to it yesterday while the twins were asleep. I was planning to get as much done as possible, so needed fuel. I like this fuel. I chuck them all in a bowl so I never know what flavour I get till I eat it. (Entertainment as well as a snack!) Better not do it too often or I'll undo all the effort I've put in losing 10kg and my dress won't fit.

For my pattern I chose Vogue 2786, a vintage pattern I've had for a couple of years. I'm not keen on long dresses, so shortened it to about knee length. That also saved a LOT of fabric, since it's cut on the bias. I've had these two printed stretch satins for a couple of years as well. I love that one is a negative image of the other. I figured that would highlight the gathered section without being too big a contrast.

I'd traced it a couple of years ago to make in a cotton, but the fabric turned out to be elasticated and pulled into a wide seersucker effect when I prewashed it. Totally inappropriate for this dress, so the pattern sat forlornly waiting for the right fabric. A quick measure showed that while most of me is back at pre-baby size, my bust is still at production volume and I needed a bit more room there! The easiest way to get it was simply to add a bit extra at CF and CB and figure it out with fitting.

Here's one of the gathered insets sewn to it's stay. It's a bit hard to see, but the corners curl up because the stay is a very tight fit. This should make the inset sit nice and snug against my body, which will make the gathers sit in tightish folds - there's nothing worse than floppy gathers sitting around your middle!

And here's one completed half pinned to the dummy. I've done both halves, and hope during today's nap to get them joined together. The pattern has you do a hand rolled hem at the edges, but I don't fancy that - too wimpy for armholes and neckline for my taste. I'm going to use narrow strips of self fabric as facings instead. They also use a conventional zip, which I've ditched in favour of an invisible one, and I raised the back. Several months at the gym mean I could wear a low back with confidence, but no amount of work at the gym is going to render my front capable of going without a bra and I don't fit my low backed one at the moment! I'm really not looking forward to hemming this. Bias cut stretch charmeuse. Oh yay.

Party dress progress

After the boat cover, it was quite a change to work on a dress! Since it's a one shouldered style I decided to stay the neckline with twill tape. In order to do that I had J try on the dress, right way out, and pinned the tape along the neckline on the right side, snugging the bodice to her body where needed.
Then of course I had to move it to the inside without losing the dimensions. That was easily accomplished by marking tape and dress at several points with pairs of pins before moving the tape to the inside.

After moving the tape to the inside, I sewed it in, easing the excess as I went. I used a LOT of pins to make it even.

Since gettng to this point I've sewn in the lining (I wish I'd photographed that, since it was an interesting exercise getting it in and understitched to neckline and armhole.)

And for no useful reason, here's a gratuitous skitey photo of me sitting on Dad's boat earlier today. I went out there so we could have a photoshoot of the cover totally finished. The weather was beautiful, which never hurts. This shot just shows how the sides can be rolled up so you can fish even if it's raining. (Dad has such a tough life!)

Hmm, from this angle my legs look about three inches long.

The biggest client I have ever fit

The blue line on the horizon above the bow is the sea. It was very important to get the sea in the same picture.

Dad's boat. The cover is FINISHED! I took these pics today before we added the last details - a few velcro strips to hold the sides when rolled up and the door when open. It's been a Very Big Job, but satisfying to complete. Dad and I both felt that without the one we copied to figure out how to do it, we wouldn't have had a clue where to start.

Which leads to some very enjoyable MEMEME sewing. I sewed it for Dad in exchange for the fact that he taught me to drive 7 years ago, and didn't even make me give him petrol money. (However, he had promised a chocolate fish upon completion. A whole one, just for me.) Then last time he was over while we worked on it he said that actually he'd like to treat me and David to dinner out (as long as it's somewhere good - if we pick McDonald's it's off!) to say thanks. So now of course I need a new dress. I have some great printed satins, and plan to spend the twins' nap time tomorrow searching through all the When-I-Need-A-Nice-Dress patterns I've been collecting.....

Naturally I've been doing other sewing as well. I had my first lesson with the girl I'm going to teach last Saturday, which was fun. I hope she enjoys it too! I wish I'd had someone tell me first thing in the first lesson that patterns don't necessarily fit.

I made another shirt, this time a size two. Funny how grading a pattern is not as much fun as drafting it. I wonder why that is? Anyway, this one is exactly the same pattern as the last one, with the addition of a bias strip to finish the back neckline. It just looks better I think.

Inside the collar.

And a bubble dress/tunic. I wasn't sure what I'd do with this fabric to show the neat print, and this just came to me. It was very quick and easy to draft and make and I really like it, as does Georgia, who thinks it's too cute to sell, and should be given to Isabella. She may be right.

Finished baby designs

I spent the afternoon yesterday at my friend's house, having a lovely time with her sewing machine. It's WAY up the food chain from my beloved 26 year old mechanical, and does all sorts of decorative stitches. I made a bunch of labels for my designs and did keyhole buttonholes on the jacket and coat below.

So today I got stuck into finishing all the things waiting for yesterday's work to be done, and I now have eight garments ready to take in tomorrow before I take the twins to their paediatric outpatient clinic checkup. (They're being followed because they were prem. No drama, thank goodness!)

This one is the third version of my shirt draft. I like the collar a lot better on this one, one piece, with a cut on facing on the shirt fronts. It's a neater, cleaner look and easier and quicker to do. On the next version I'm going to cover the overlocking at the back neck with a strip of bias. It's not rough to touch but it doesn't look as nice as I'd like.

(Clicking on the pictures will make them bigger and clearer)

This is the first version. (The second is cut and waiting to be sewn. It has a stand and fall collar, and I'm not sure I'm going to like it, so I skipped straight to version 3!) Version one has a collar drafted straight from Aldrich's instructions to look like a stand and fall, but cut in one piece. As I sewed it I kept thinking that I've never liked this type of collar. I finished it, but I still don't like it. It's way harder to make a one piece stand and fall sit nicely than a proper two piece or a single piece like my third version. I'm not using this collar again.

This is the finished jean jacket. I love the red keyhole buttonholes and muted finish on the buttons. The buttonholes did give us some problems, notably on the yoke where there was uneven bulk affecting the feed. My friend had the very clever idea to shim the lower side with folded fabric, which we pinned into place. Going slowly and carefully worked a treat.

This coat also has keyhole buttonholes. I just love how they look! I am coveting a machine which will do them. I wonder if I could track down one of the Singer attachable buttonholers I've been envying on other people's blogs?

Now on to the party dress.

Party dress, but not for me

A friend is having a birthday with a zero in it, which naturally requires a new dress. She chose this dress from one of my Burda WOFs, without the huge shoulder ruffle and with a reduced skirt. Her measurements are very close to a Burda 42, so I cut a muslin to that size and fitted it to my dummy with the expectation that it'll need tweaking.

I was interested to see where the princess seams are placed. They're a long way towards the sides, and the front ones don't go over the bust at all. I'm really keen to see how they sit on an actual body.
The dress itself is to be a vibrant purple colour, and I'm looking forward to making it. It may not be for me, but at least it's a proper detailed project! Underlining, actual lining, invisible zip, well stabilized neckline, hand hemming....... How geeky is it that I am salivating over the tricky bits?

Squeeee!

I am so excited! I went into Miracle today. It's a lovely baby shop here in Dunedin, (where I buy my flushable nappy liners.) I've talked to the staff there before about the possibility of selling my designs (after they commented on my red coat, hehehe), and today I took in what I've done so far. I was utterly stoked to get a very positive response, some very useful suggestions, and willingness to sell them. The staff member I spoke to said that she thought my first coat could go for about $120, and the matching pinafore for about $80! I was very pleasantly surprised to put it mildly! I'm going to finish the things that need bits and bobs done and make a couple more things and see where that takes me. This is such a fun way to use my spare (HA!) time when inpspiration for my own sewing is sadly lacking.

I actually finished one!

I know these are not the most exciting pants in the world, but they are my own design, made from my own drafted block, and I'm really pleased with them. They're made from the same soft lightweight cotton as the vintage inspired coat, so I self-lined them. The waistband is a knit to reduce bulk and make them more comfy to wear.

And the back. Very basic jean design lines, but there's no shaping in any of the seams so they're a piece of cake to make and line. If I don't ever get around to selling these I'm looking forward to putting them on Nicholas.

When I started this blog I intended to chronicle my more interesting sewing projects, but apart from my red coat it's been mostly basics and kid's sewing. And I have got a huge amount of satisfaction and enjoyment from my drafting and designing, as well as clothing my children. BUT since I've been keeping track of it all I've realised that I really really really want another complicated challenging project for myself. I'm going to go through all my patterns and all my fabric stash and if I don't find a suitable project I'm going to break my self-imposed Must-Use-Stash-Instead-Of-Buying-More-Fabric rule. Enough is enough. It's MY TURN!

Another one Almost Done

I seem to have a bunch of garments which are all done but for buttons, an extra row of topstitching, that sort of thing. Here's another. My take on the vintage pattern just needs buttons. I have to take my eldest to the orthodontist tomorrow, so I'll go and get buttons while he's there.

Here's the front. It doesn't actually wrinkle at the armhole the way it does here. It's very hard to photograph garments flat, but I'm scared to put it on Isabella to model in case she dribbles or spills on it!
And the back. I didn't put the inverted pleat in from the original, but I may in a future incarnation. I just added flare to the sides, and a little at the CB.

I chose a nice bright floral cotton for the lining. I like fun linings - bright and cheerful. To finish the hem I used bias binding which I pulled tight as I applied it to ease in the lower edge. Worked a treat and gives a very nice finish on the inside.

The new vintage

As much as I WANT to sew something for MEMEME, I'm stuck with not really having suitable fabrics in my stash (I have a lot of I-won't-find-this-again-on-sale type fabrics - mostly far too dressy for what I actually need), and since I'm still breastfeeding and loving my nursing tops I'm not bothering to make any other style just yet. So instead I've been working on my own designs and drafts.

I saw this totally adorable vintage coat pattern on Thornberry's blog, and just HAD to interpret it myself. Winifred Aldrich's drafting for childrenswear book had exactly that yoke detail covered, so it was a snap to draft. Sewing had to wait till today when I was able to get to Spotlight for thread.

The fabric is a lightweight cotton, so I doubled it. Normally I'd have hand basted the layers together as for underlining (which it is), but I figured that with such small pieces I could control them well enough, which has proved to be the case.

I am a total sucker for inset corners. I love the fiddling and precision required to make them come out nice and crisp. For this coat I had to use an unconventional sewing order to get the armhole sewn in the round rather than flat from hem to wrist. Here's my construction order:


Firstly I fused scraps of interfacing to the inset corner seams and drew on the stitching line.

Then I stitched immediately inside the drawn line and clipped to the stitching.

Next I sewed each seam to within a few centimetres of the underarm.

After sewing fronts and back in this manner I sewed the side seams and the underarm seams on the sleeves, then finally the lower armhole seam. I think that garments like this sit better when the sleeve is set in rather than sewn as though flat.

After topstitching this entire yoke seam and sewing one shoulder to hem sleeve seam I realised that I hadn't applied the rose applique/embroidery I'd intended to put on the front. DOH! So now I'm doing that. It's the same one I did on this coat. I, um, kind of like roses.

Now that I have the threads I needed, I can make progress on several other garments in production. I almost hope I don't sell them because I want them for the twins!

Karen, the cover I'm making for Dad's boat is tent-type canvas. He got it from a manufacturer locally. We copied the style of a cover on another boat, and while the style and measurements were set before we started, a lot was worked out as we went. It has a clear plastic zip up door, and is intended to be a roof when they sleep on the boat. I'll post some pics next time he comes over to work on it. It's a very big job, and requires the two of us to sew - my machine handles the canvas just fine, but I need Dad to take the weight of it because it's too heavy for my machine to drag off the floor!

8kg = 17.6lbs

This is the amount of weight I lost before my husband commented. The subject of weight loss came up on Friday as I recounted a conversation I'd had with a friend that day. He asked how much I'd lost, and was shocked when I told him it's 8kg. He had noticed about a month ago, and REALLY noticed a couple of weeks ago, and apologised for being so wrapped up in himself that he hadn't said anything. He's just finished two weeks of working on his own while his employer was in Fiji, so it was pretty hectic leading up to that, and while he was away. I'll forgive him :-)

I was busy sewing for other people all last week -

Monday I had all the girls over and one of them dropped off fabric for V1061 because she'd seen mine and wanted one too. I owed her sewing in return for looking after my kids during school holidays from before I had the twins, so I was very happy to make it for her.

Tuesday the friend for whom I was making V1061 came to visit while I worked on it so I could check the bust point before cutting. Another friend came over to look through my BWOFs to find a dress pattern to wear for her upcoming 60th birthday. She found a few possibilities!

Wednesday my father came over with his boat so that we could work on the cover I'm making for it. We got the last of the fitting and shaping worked out, which means that now it just needs finishing. Still a lot of work, but at least Dad doesn't have to tow his boat across town for fittings!

Thursday the V1061 friend came over to visit while I sewed. She's a beginner sewer. We're working on that.

Friday the BWOF friend popped in to drop off the magazines she'd borrowed and some calico, and the V1061 friend dropped in to visit and have a fitting. The bust dart I'd carefully repositioned after tissue fitting dropped with her lovely drapey rayon knit fabric and had to be put back where it started out. I hadn't overlocked it, so no drama. I love company while I sew!

Saturday she came over to pick it up and get her jeans hemmed. After that I sat at my desk and thought "What do I feel like sewing now?" and instead of working on baby designs, or heaven forbid, something for ME I whipped up another Jalie 2682 for Georgia. I can't link to it at the moment because the site is down while they upgrade it, and I can't photograph it because she wore it to school.

Sunday V1061 friend texted to say that she was wearing the top to a church concert and had had lots of lovely comments on it. Made her feel a lot less frumpy and dowdy. Yay!

I so need to make something for myself.