Sewing Vloggers

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Tunic #2, Vogue 8924

This is my second iteration of Vogue 8924, that tenty little tunic that is so comfortable to wear and looks great with leggings and boots. You can see the first here.  I have worn it numerous times to work. Between rushing in the morning and looking frazzled in a dark winter evening, a self modeled picture isn't coming any time soon. But Graciela, today's name for the form, will accommodate the modeling! One day the form will get a proper name. I am trying out several and leaning heavily toward Graciela.

Pattern:
Vogue 8924, a simple, widely cut tunic with a shaped hem and large pockets.


Fabric:
This is a polyester dotted blouse weight for lack of a better term. I keep buying gray lately, which does give me wardrobing advantages, but I always feel I have to add a spike of color. I did this here with  some yellow and white retro buttons and a bit of shibori stitching in yellow on the back above the pleat. This fabric is very drapery, different from the first iteration, so looks good with a belt and has more of a blouse look. 
Construction:
I did a few changes to the pattern this time. Because I was using a nasty synthetic and because somehow the stay stitched neckline stretched out getting the bodice to fit the collar was a bit of a challenge. Here you can see the nastiness.
A natural fiber would have eased in and pressed out nicely but petroleum based fabric just does not do that. What to do?  I fudged and fiddled and decided it looks great with the collar turned down, not my usual style. I found a good break point for the placket and added a button there and I think it worked out fine.

 I also  changed out the pockets to something a little more fun. Actually it was all about funning up the dour gray fabric. On the pockets I flipped a corner down and secured it with another retro button as you can see in the second picture above. 

This was all pretty much stitched and serged. Nothing fancy happening here. But I did get a good basic garment that has been perfect for  work with some leggings, shoebooties, and a long  sweater vest. Library ladies wear lots of sweaters.  I did get lots of positive feedback when I wore it. And I was comfortable, something oddly becoming more important with each day. I love how this looks from the back. 

While I think I may make more tunics, I think I will retire this pattern for now. I definitely can see it for the summer in some linen with slim white crops. Highly recommend. 
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 My holiday sewing is all out of the way now and I will get going on my winter coat. Finally! I have cut and prepped the pattern and interfacing, a hair canvas sew in. To keep things nice until I get to work on them further I rolled up the tissues on cardboard tubes, one for lining, one for fashion fabric. Have my muslin fabric at the ready and just need to cut. I am thinking this could be a simple project. We'll see....Bunny

Sunday, November 17, 2013

American Girl Double Doll Carrier, McCalls 5019

 
This project was completed last night and this afternoon, quick and cute! It is a gift for my little granddaughter, Carly. Rumor has it that if she is a very good girl Santa may bring her a second American Girl doll for Christmas.  And this is a carrier for TWO American Girl dolls, perfect for girly overnights and friendly visits to Grandma's.

Pattern: 
This is McCall's 5019. The pattern features some cute jammies, a sleep fleece, a robe, a dolly sleeping bag, a "chair/pillow" and the double doll carrier. I don't think there is any other pattern out there like this, one that accomodates two dolls and all their paraphernalia at once. It is VERY easy and is ripe for additional embellishment. which I did. The heart design comes in the pattern. 

Fabric:
This is made from inexpensive 100% quilter's cotton from Joanns. You don't need anything fancier than that to make this wonderful, IMO. Whenever I make something for my granddaughters I try to make it in colors that will flatter them. Carly is platinum blond with turquoise eyes and a big tooth missing in front, therefore the turquoise fabrics. And because she loves animal prints I threw in a bit of zebra too. Anyone can do leopard, you know! ;)

The entire outer bag, other than the pocket is interfaced and I used Decor Bond here. The pocket is simple a large rectangle folded in half to make the top edge. I thought that edge was a bit weak so I added the black bias tape and some more calico to give it a little more heft. 

Construction:
This is easy peasy. I cut it out in short time last night. There is a big chunk of fusing to be done here and that took a bit of time. Then I basically made two tote bags, one being the lining. The lining has the pockets added to the sides to accommodate the dolls. Stitch lining to bag, turn, and done! Need a cute Christmas or Hanukkah gift? You can whip this out in no time. I did topstitch the top edge to keep it from turning out. 

Opinion: Easy, great gift, nothing complicated and fun! Highly recommend. It will make your little darling very happy!
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I want to sew. I want to blog about sewing. My attentions lately have not been on either. We have major company coming for Thanksgiving. Since we downsized to our little retirement home in the Adirondacks we have always gone to our daughters' homes for the holidays. They are much better equipped at this stage to do lots of entertaining. But this year, this year it's at our home, at their request, and we really are excited. I will have 8 adults and five children for dinner. Some will go to the lodge up the road, very nice, and others will be staying in our home. We are so looking forward to it. So the past two weeks we have been cleaning, moving furniture, finishing overdue decorating projects, etc You know how that works. I must say the house is looking pretty good. So if I am scarce for the next few weeks you will know why. We will have a repeat at Christmas! Prime rib, anyone?..................Bunny

Here's our new back foyer off the family room, all of which were ruined by last fall's flood. Finally done......



Thursday, November 7, 2013

Monday, November 4, 2013

The Wolves have howled! Simp 2771

Zackie's PJs got finished this morning. Took one hour to whip out the pants. Here's the lowdown:

Pattern:  Simplicity 2771 , "Unisex Pajama". There's a lot I love about this pattern and have used it many times. First it carries every size from little tyke to Big Daddy and is not gender specific. I would love a pair of these for myself. It is pretty easy and you can take it to the next level creatively by doing the piping but not necessary. The only caveat here is dealing with the neckline band. It is sort of counter intuitive. You put on the band AND THEN you face the band after. It looks like the band is the actual  facing but that is not the case and the first couple of times I made this it took me a bit to get my head wrapped around that.

Another thing I like about this pattern is the neck treatment. I've made classic notched collar pajamas. Forget that! With this neckline you don't have pjs coming out  of the washer/dryer with a skewed crumpled collar. I mean really, who is going to iron pjs? Not even moi, who irons everything. With this neckline it always looks neat, especially for those Christmas morning snapshots.

A bit of advice: if you would like to add this to your stash for sewing lots of different sized jammies, wait till a Joann sale and get all the sizes at 99 cents a pattern.All the sizes are in one envelope but by having several envelopes you can cut out each size needed. It will save all the tracing I have done.

Fabric: This is a 100% cotton flannel from EQuilter,com from the North Woods Collection. There are some exquisite flannels to be seen there. It is very heavy, washed and dried with nearly no shrinkage and came out holding its appearance. I've used this line of flannel before and it is a delight to sew with. Be aware that sewing pajamas takes a lot of fabric and this is not cheap. You have long sleeves, pants and bodice. I believe I used 4 yards at 11.95 so you can do the math. BUT, these are being passed through the family, wear like iron, wash beautifully and most of all, the kids love them and ask for them. I have bought cheapo flannel and you never know quite what you are going to get. I highly recommend if you can go the expense. When your grandchildren ask you to make these and it's unsolicited, you know it's worth every penny. 

The piping was also 100% cotton flannel. The bands are interfaced with Armo Weft. 
PIC

Construction: This is pretty straight forward and just take it slow figuring out how to put the band on. It is easy to attach the wrong side which I did the first time I made this. Other than that it is simple.  This would be a great pattern to learn/attempt piping as there are no sharp corners to turn. On my version the seams are all stitched then serged with some being topstitched. There is topstitching next to all the piping which brings out the 64,000.00 question. In my last post how did I get the moon on the pocket to not show the stitches? I did nothing. It is topstitched with the same navy thread but the flash bounced back off the moon and made it disappear. Pretty cool, huh? Now if time were nothing in my life I might have switched threads to a white for the moon but sorry, not this time!  Because of yardage limitations I also did not make an effort to match the band. That could be done but it would require additional yardage and I felt maxed out on the expense of this project already. But that pocket matches and I feel good knowing that.

In conclusion: This is a great pattern. The fabric was wonderful and it's going to a very appreciative young man. I will no doubt make this again and again. I am thinking a pair for me but a winter coat is coming first. Got my Kasha lining today!!!...Bunny



Had to Refurbish This One!

    About  6 or 7 years ago , during the dawn of the Zipper Trend,  I bought one of my rare retail items. It was a blush pink and black bord...