Jeans, For Her

I finished my jeans, at last! At last! I finally dragged them out and did the hems. But rather than have Ed help me do the hems I just measured from an existing pair that I have that fits well and used that to find the best inseam measurement. Quick and dirty I suppose. But, it came out well.

The pattern is McCalls 5142:

I used red for the topstitching. I've always worn jeans with the typical yellowish/gold topstitching thread and wanted something different, especially since I saw that there was a nice variety of colors to choose from. So red it was!

The photos are a little washed out, but it is because we took them outside in the blazing sunlight. The sun here is intense! The denim is darker in real life than in the pictures; a very navy denim color.

Front


Side


Back

I also realized as I was doing the hems that I didn't topstitch the outside seams. I don't know if I forgot to do that, or if the instructions skipped it. Next time I will topstitch the outside seams, but for this pair, they are done!

As for the pattern, I think it is an excellent pattern. It shows you how to fit yourself and gives ample seam allowances (I believe 1" seam allowances) for the "perfect fit". Seriously, I will be using this pattern again and again. Paired with the book, Pants For Real People, by the same people that created the pattern, I think that this will be a pattern that I turn to over and over again when I want or need a new pair of jeans. And since I live in jeans, but it is hard to find the right size, this is a perfect pattern for me. Good job McCalls and the Palmer/Pletsch team!

Lots of Sewing! Part 1

I have a huge update to do and here is the first parter:

The Little Girl Dress



I made this dress for my niece, before I left on a rather short-lived vacation. I ended up coming home early, but I was still able to give her the dress. This is a size 3, although she is a little bit smaller than that, but the pattern didn't go to a size 2. It's McCalls 3949 View C. It is lined in the bodice, and has a petticoat in a contrast color. Ed actually picked out the dress fabric which is a polka dot chiffon. The lining fabric and what was used for the petticoat was simple broadcloth.
Ed also picked out the buttons:



The ruffle took the longest to do, but it was just from the quantity of fabric used rather than it going wrong or anything. It actually went rather quickly since I used a technique I learned on Sewing With Nancy tv. You take a thick button or upholstery thread and do a small zig zag over top of it, without catching it in any stitching. Then once you're done you use that to pull along to gather the ruffle. It was the first time since I watched it that I was able to use it. It came out perfect the first time!

Halloween Costumes - Details Part 2 - The Vest and Shirt

The Vest

The vest is a vintage 1979 McCalls 5297. It came in a smaller size than what I am, but being the industrious gal I am, I decided to try grading it. Scary eh? It was to me at first as well. But, following a few online tutorials, I was able to find that I needed to add more to the bust (since a woman's body has the most area there) rather than the back and/or sides. Doing so brought it up to my size, but I still had to do a full bust adjustment to it for it to fit right. It took even more pinning after I sewed the FBA to get it just right, since it had to be pretty much a perfect fit because of how fitted it actually needed to be. The vest is unlined, but does have a facing around the whole edge. I did make a muslin first to see where I needed to take in seams or add them and found that I had mismeasured somewhere in the grading for the bottom facing. I had to re-draft the bottom facing to fit, but it wasn't a terrible setback. Just an extra few hours.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the vest was made out of some $1 fabric. Now that I think about it, I may have gotten it from a thrift store rather than Wal-Mart since I found a piece that is identical a few weeks ago in a thift store. Sometimes I don't know where all this fabric comes from! But anyways, it's made from the wrong side of some lovely twill. I chose the wrong side because it was a shade darker than the right side and I wasn't too worried about doing things the "right way" for a costume.

The black lace on the bottom edge was actually one of the most expensive items I bought for the outfit. I did use a coupon for it, but it was still pretty expensive for my way of life. But, I do think it was worth every penny and am very happy that I chose to add it. I think it lent an air of "old time" to it that was perfect for a Victorian aristocrat.

The Shirt

The shirt is made from Simplicity 3990 and is the version that the model is wearing. This was one of the very cool B, C, D cup options that Simplicity has come out with. The fitting wasn't even an issue in the bust area and other than the pleating (which did take a while), this shirt was quick to make up since I didn't have to do an FBA on it. There are some minor fitting issues that I will tweak in future garments made from this pattern, but it's nothing I can't fiddle with and try and change.

The Halloween Costumes

And we have pictures!

A Victorian Steampunk Halloween Costume

The details of the costume will come later. For now, I'll tell you what each piece is. Ed's vest is Vogue 7488, view B the double-breasted version, and his shirt and pants are store bought and something he already owned. My shirt is Simplicity 3990 the pleated version, while the vest is a vintage 1979 McCalls 5297. The skirt is a repro of an actual Victorian/Edwardian walking skirt made from instructions here. I decided not to use a bustle since I had plenty of rear end once I tried it on!

The hat and cane I made. The hat went over extremely well at the party! People couldn't believe it was made out of poster board (and fabric of course). Overall, we were very happy with the way our costumes turned out. More details to come...

Steampunk Halloween - a long post

This Halloween Ed and I have been invited to a steampunk Halloween by one of our Browncoat buddies. A few Saturdays ago the invitee and I went on a thrifting and craft store hunt for pieces of the steampunk costumes. She walked away with gorgeous dupioni silk (albiet from JoAnns) and some pretty red tag sari fabric. We also hit some of the local thrift stores and found some tablecloth things that were edged in scalloped eyelet, which was just perfect for the bloomers she had in mind. This Sunday she came over for a fitting and walked home with the things that just needed a waistband put in or something.

The silk has been turned into a skirt that has been pulled up in front to come above the bloomers so 'er knickers show, and has been bustled in the back. The hook and eye's we chose are large and brass and probably belong in something home decor but she though they were steampunkish so we're adding them to the back. Since we only have 6 of them and there are 8 points in the back that are pulled up, some of the bottom row will have regular, smaller hook and eyes.

I've planned for Ed and I to dress in shades of gray and black. Not the most exciting, but I think I can make some fun things using that palette. It also happens to be that I have found more fabric in gray and black that will suit our Halloween needs than any other...

My costume will consist of a 70's vest, a skirt with a bustle I'll make that ties around the waist to floof out the tush area and some kind of shirt (I haven't decided on the shirt yet but am thinking Simplicity 3990 with the pleated front). The vest is one that I graded! My first time grading anything actually. I got a tutorial from here to help me muddle through things. The original vest pattern is McCall 5297 from 1979. It contains, among the very dated pants, a princess seam close fitting vest that was perfect for my idea. The vest comes to points at the hem in the front and back. The weird thing I found was that the facings (yes, I graded and changed those too) connected neck to front to back, so all around the edge is a facing. Perhaps this is common with unlined vests since I've never made one before and I just don't know.




I went out and bought a tummy tucker thing, almost like a corset except that I have to pull it over my head (and isn't that a sight; I got stuck in the fitting rooms with nobody to help me when I first tried it on). I almost bought a corset type thing but the price just drew me off; this whole Halloween needs to be done as cheaply as possible but without looking cheap. This isn't a piece of undergarment that I will use repeatedly. My style of clothing does not consist of me wearing uncomfortable underclothes. Like ever. So, my hourglass figure (yes, I have one of those, although a little curvier than most) will be sucked in, although my ample busom won't be. I'm going for the tiny waisted Victorian look, but...not so tiny waisted that I need armor under my clothing like the days of old.

The skirt I already have material for and I found it of all places at WalMart for $1 per yard. I bought the whole bolt which was only a little over 7 yards. It's some icky polyester but the fabric pattern is perfect for something a little steampunk.



The fabric has a large black grid that is filled in with kind of a puffy gray fabric. As a skirt, it should do fine. As a short lived costume it should do even better since the fabric really is kind of polyester-y to the touch. If I'm feeling ambitious enough I may even line it, but I may not have the time.

The fabric for the vest is another $1 per yard beauty and I'm still not sure which side I want to use since they both would work for my needs:



Ed's costume will be a Vogue vest pattern for men. Vogue 7488 has a doublebreasted vest pattern that suits the need for him:



It will be done in black with a copper top stitching, which will be my first time top stitching with actual top stitching thread, which will probably be much different than the "top stitching" I do with regular thread. I know there is some adjustment of tensions with top stitiching thread. In any case, we'll just do a fancy dress shirt for him (perhaps in gray, which he already has in his closet) and some black pants (which too he already has). Ed will be sporting a handmade walking cane and a top hat.

The top hat, frankly, was kind of hard to research. There aren't many good tutorials for making a top hat in real size and all the old ones are very expensive. What we're going to do is make a base in poster board, like this link. After we finish the base we will glue or adhere a satiny fabric to it to mimic a real silk top hat. I think for a night of Halloween fun, which I may add is our favorite day of the year that supasses even Christmas, it should hold up fine.

Ahoy me mateys!

My nephew, who is 6, is in love with pirates and everything pirate related. Ed and I were in Hobby Lobby looking at patterns. Yes, Ed looks at pattern books! I send him in search of guy stuff that I can make for him. He was flipping through McCalls costume section when he came across 5446, a pirate costume. We called my brother to see if he and his son would like to be matching pirates for Halloween, and of course he said yes. We're doing the more ruffian type of pirate (the larger image in the pic) than the tailored type, as per my brothers wishes, although I would have liked to make them the fancy coat.


So, we bought the pattern and the next day I went to the thrift store (I go to the thrift stores around here a LOT, as in I think it's another hobby of mine, but I refuse to admit it) and found this great length of black and white, jagged striped fabric that would be perfect for pants. So I've sewn the pants already and they look great, and started onto the shirt in the boy size last night.

I must have picked the wrong fabric to work with. It's some poly blend that is really soft, but a little slinky. I should have known from previous experiences with similar fabric. I just couldn't get this stuff to stay put. The seams were puckered and wavy, when I tired to attach the collar I got little pleats from the fabric straying from it's position, no matter how careful I was. I spent 6 hours between cutting and sewing this thing before I just chucked it in the trash and went to bed. I have another, more losely woven white cotton, similar to the faux linen they sell at JoAnns that I think I'll use instead. It should behave a lot better.

I will keep updated on the costumes and have some pictures to show once Ed gets his new camera up and running. He even bought a macro lens to take close up pictures of the beads I make, for me! What a guy. Of course he too wants to do macro photography, but the bead thing was what sealed the deal for him I think.

Thrift Store Fabric and Current Project

This is the latest acquisition from Savers (thrift store)


One yard of the butterflies for 99 cents and about 2 1/2 yards of the funky orange retro stretch twill for $2.99. The orange print just screamed to me to buy it, though I am NOT a fan of orange at all. But, look at that pattern! So funky! I was thinking a handbag of some sort from it.

My current project is McCall's 8107, princess seam dress, view G (the center one with the belt). I'm not really a dress person, but I figure if I go to the trouble of making a muslin, doing the fitting and then another muslin and finally a finished object that I will probably wear it! So far I just cut out the second muslin after the first turned out to be a size too big. Who knew? I should have started with the high bust measurement, but that hasn't worked for me in the past, so I decided to just go with a size 20 off the bat. I was swimming in the dress (what I hoped would be a wearable muslin). I have had to do an FBA on the size 18, and trimmed away some excess in the back. The book Fit For Real People was instrumental in learning how to do adjustments on princess seamed dresses; I didn't know it needed all that!

I hope this fitting and muslin does it; by now I 'm a little tired of all the pattern pieces. Thankfully it sews up rather quickly, even with the little inside out thing the pattern has you do with the facings.

Now, where to find a belt for this dress. I don't even own a belt!

Vintage McCall's Pattern Find

Boy do I love thift stores! I stopped in one last night and they had a lot of nice fabric, which I didn't buy because while it wasn't over priced, I wanted a bargain which some of it wasn't. They normally don't have a great pattern selection, but while walking by it this caught my eye:

So I snatched it up in a heartbeat and saw this one behind it:
Not that I am either bust size (guess higher. No, higher!) but someday I will either be a size 14 (quit laughing) or I will learn how to grade a pattern, which is beyond my abilities right now. Of course I could also turn into an obsessive pattern collector and just buy patterns willy nilly. That is something I'm debating on...since it's already started. I think I have about 50/50 of patterns that fit and those that don't. Quite a few from the 70's, although these are the oldest I've found yet. But I digress; I think these are complete. One is certainly still in factory folds (6759), and the other I haven't taken out yet since I don't have enough room on any surface to spread out until I get my sewing area cleaned up (and a project completed). Overall, a great find for $1.38 total!