Lingerie Lust

I haven't had any desire to sew lingerie before. I've made bathrobes for various family members. But I'm not into making my own bras, panties, negligees, teddies, camisoles, garter belts, or anything like that. I think that's about to change! Hotpatterns just released some a new collection called Boudoir of Bliss (cheeky devils, Trudy and Jeremy!) Bliss is right. There are three patterns in this collection that I'm positively drooling over. First Up, the Trousseau Nightgown and Robe.

How do I love this? Let me count the ways. I'm particularly gaga over the gown. I love the lines, I love the drape, and I just got in the most perfect 70-denier microfiber jersey to make it with. I'll have that up on Gorgeous Fabrics tomorrow, and I'll place an order then, too. I'm not generally a big robe gal, but I think this will make a lovely exception. And I can wear it when I don't feel like schlubbing around (not like I ever really schlub around) in my plaid fleece robe.

The second pattern that caught my eye is the Buckingham Beauty Nightgown and Nightshirt. On nights and weekends when I am not in the mood to be a sexy thang, this is the kind of sleep shirt I love. I go for the shorter version. This will look great in a cotton shirting like this Striped Cotton Shirting in Blue and White.

The third one I want want want is the Bel-Air Lounging Pajamas. I just love the idea of making it with Silk Charmeuse in True Red, using the face for the bulk of the garment, and the matte reverse for the trim. I'll probably make a camisole to wear underneath the robe. I like camis with my jammies. The rest of the collection looks great too. But these are the three that I'm going to buy.

I'm almost done with my dress. I got slowed up earlier this week when I got some news that knocked the wind out of my sails. But today I sat down and put it all together except the CB seam. I'm debating between a lapped zipper application or an invisible zip. I think I'll go for the latter. I hope to have it finished by Sunday night.

Tomorrow is the monthly meeting for the New England Chapter of ASDP, of which I'm program chair. If you're in the Boston/Worcester area, it's going to be a great meeting and it's open to the public! The speaker is Jennifer Stern of J Stern Designs. She's giving a talk on making jeans, with lots of samples, examples and demonstrations. The details are as follows:
Date: Saturday November 14, 2009
Time: 1:00 PM
Cost: Free for ASDP members, $20 for the general public. It's going to be worth it!
Address/Directions: 12 Woodward Avenue, Berlin, MA
From Route 495:Take the RT-62 W exit, EXIT 26, toward BERLIN/CLINTON. Turn LEFT onto MA-62/COOLIDGE ST. Continue to follow MA-62.  2.0 miWoodward Ave. is on the right and Town Hall is on the hill to the left at #12 Woodward Ave.

That's all for now. I'm tired. It looks like it'll be a good weekend to finish my dress. I'll post pictures and lots of information as soon as it's done.

Happy sewing!

Slow Going, Steady Progress

I've been working on my McCalls dress, but it's been some slow going for a couple of reasons. First, I'm not crazy about their construction methods, so I'm using my own, which take a little longer. The way the pattern is designed, the bodice and midriff are lined, but the skirt isn't. I thought about whether to line the skirt, but I decided instead to underline it, so I can do a completely invisible hem. Here are the skirt pieces laid on my home cutting table after I had basted the underlining to it.




I don't really like the way they have you attach the sleeves. They tell you to stitch the bodice and bodice lining together, then stitch the lining of the sleeve to the sleeve at the hem, turn the lining to the inside and attach the sleeve/lining to the armhole of the bodice/lining. I decided to make them separately, setting the sleeves in  the lining, then setting the sleeves in the garment bodice. I'll attach them at the sleeve hems and necklines, but I'll do them in different order. I'll show it in a pictorial when I write the review. Oh, and to prove that I do practice what I preach, I set the sleeves just like I showed in my post on Setting a Sleeve Into an Armhole. Here you can see sleeve pinned and hand basted into the armscye.

 The other thing that has slowed me a bit is the plaid. I've been taking my time and matching my plaid lines up, through careful cutting, sewing, ripping out and resewing, and steam shrinking. The bodice shell and the bodice lining are both complete. I haven't attached them to eachother. I'll do that tomorrow, I hope. The rest of the construction from here out should go pretty quickly so I hope to have this all finished this week. Here's the bodice (it's hanging open in the back)

Parting Shots: Hoover and His Boys
It was a gorgeous day here (and the Pats beat Miami - Go Pats!!!). DH and both DS's did yardwork. Hoover's favorite thing in the world is to be outside with his sheep people. DH finished chopping a big pile of wood - left over from when the trees were taken down last year. So here's Hoover with DH and the big pile of wood.

Poor DS the elder almost never gets face time on my blog it seems. But here he is in the front yard with Hoover:

And here is Hoover getting his belly scritched - that is one happy dog....

Happy sewing!

McCalls 5971 - Making Adjustments

In my post on Wednesday, I noted that the armhole for McCalls 5791 is drafted for the cap sleeve version. I'm making the 3/4 length sleeve, and the armhole was so low to make movement of my arm near impossible. So using a very unscientific method ("how many finger widths higher should it be?") I decided to raise the armhole by 1/2 inch (about 1 finger width) at the side seam. Since this is a princess seam garment, I added 1/2 inch in length to both the side front and side back pieces, tapering to nothing at the notches. In this picture, you can see the resulting muslin pattern. When I was done, I measured the resulting armscye seams to compare against the original. I wasn't sure if I needed to adjust the sleeve. Here are the differences between the original measurements and the raised armhole measurements

Original SF Armscye: 4 1/16 inches
Raised SF Armscye: 3 7/8 inches

Original SB Armscye: 4 11/16 inches
Raised SB Armscye: 4 5/16 inches

Clearly, they are measurable, but I think I can get away with shrinking them them out of the Loro Piana wool. The biceps measurement on the original sleeve is just right for me. If I take out any width on the sleeve to bring it down to match the raised armhole measurements, I'm afraid it will make the sleeve too tight.

An interesting side note to this is that raising the armhole alleviated much of the pulling of the neckline at the shoulders. I'll still put lingerie guards in, but they aren't as necessary as they would be if I didn't raise the side seams. Once I did the fitting, I took the muslin apart and pressed the pieces. I'll use that as the bodice muslin for the garment. This will make it a lot easier to match my plaids.

More tomorrow, and have a happy and safe Halloween!

PS - as you may have noticed, I did a little housekeeping  on the blog. The column on the right was getting a bit unweildy, so I updated it. I moved all the blogs in my blogroll to the new format, which shows blogs as they are updated. You can click on show all to see all the ones in the list. I had to do it by hand, so there's a chance I missed a couple. If you feel like you should be on the blogroll and I left you off, or if you just want me to add you on, send an email to me and I'll be happy to get you up there.

Happy Halloween!

Well, this week flew by with precious little to show for it. Poor DS the younger got the flu (I suspect seasonal, not H1N1, since the rest of us got seasonal flu shots and none of us have shown symptoms). He's fine now, but it meant that I didn't get much done on my dress. I have adjusted the pattern to raise the sleeve and I'll put another muslin together and post about it today. The good news about doing multiple muslins is that once I start on the final dress, it goes together really quickly. I'm hoping, now that everyone is healthy for Halloween, to get some work done on it.

Speaking of spooks, Happy Halloween! Every year we hand out candy for the kids and Witches' Brew for the grownups. It's essentially rum punch with green food coloring. Here's the recipe if you want to make your own:

1 part lemon/lime juice
2 parts simple syrup*
2 1/2 parts white or gold rum
1/2 part coconut rum
4 parts orange-pineapple juice (or to taste)
Dash (or to taste) Angostura Bitters
Green food coloring
Fresh nutmeg

*To make simple syrup, boil equal parts sugar and water together. Cool completely. Can be kept refrigerated for up to 2 weeks


Mix all ingredients but food coloring and nutmeg together. Add food coloring until you get just the right shade of green. Pour over ice, garnish with grated nutmeg and a lime wedge. Enjoy (responsibly, of course)!

Getting Back on that Horse

After boo-hooing for a while over the stoopid frickin' self-induced hole in my pants, I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and started on the muslin for my McCalls dress. I'm going to make it using the same plaid Loro Piana fabric as the stoopid frickin'  doomed pants, so I will wear it and get great enjoyment from it, despite my previous efforts. And thank you to all who gave me suggestions for what to do with it. The best was to burn it, but I hate the smell of burning wool, so I'll pass. Lah dee dah, life is grand and I'm all that and a big bag of stoopid frickin' chips!

No, seriously, thanks to all of you for your support and tea and sympathy. I decided that the best way to get over my mistake was to get right into the muslin for this dress. I made just the bodice muslin since the flat pattern measurements on the skirt seem right on for me. And I found a couple of interesting things about this pattern so far.

The pattern is specifically drafted with different pieces for B, C and D cups. Normally on a princess line bodice that's drafted for a B-cup, when I do a FBA, I need to lower the bust point as well as add to the pattern pieces. On this pattern, I don't need to; it's already factored into the draft, which was  a nice surprise. Second thing to note is that the neckline on this baby is wide, both in the front and in the back. For most wearers, I recommend putting lingerie stays in so you don't end up slipping it off your shoulders. You can buy them from Banasch's or you can easily make your own.

The third change that I'll need to make is to the sleeves. If you look at the line drawing, you'll see that the pattern has both a 3/4 length sleeve and a cap sleeve. It's clearly drafted for the cap sleeve. The 3/4 sleeve (which is what I plan to use) was obviously an afterthought. I say that because McCalls uses the same armhole for both versions. The cap sleeve version has a lined opening below the bottom of the sleeve, so you can freely move your arm. Unfortunately, they drafted the sleeve to fit that hole. So the armhole is low and restricts movement. Also, the sleeve is tapered so it is fine at the bicep (for me anyway), but very narrow at the opening. So I have to raise the armhole so I can move my sleeve, and I will add between 3/8" and 1/2" at the sleeve end so it doesn't cut off circulation in my lower arm when I bend my elbow. I should add here that I don't have very big forearms. This is one of the very few times I have ever run into this problem.

I'll do one more muslin to test the changes, then I'll cut into my fabric. More to come!

Happy sewing!

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The Pants that were Not Meant To Be

Today has been one crazy day. We've had people stopping by that we hadn't seen in years, and both sons have places they had to be early. DS the elder is marching with the high school band at the Woburn Halloween Parade, a very big deal around here. DS the younger is doing an exhibition dance at Tufts University. I tried to sneak time to make my Razor Sharp Pants. I got the zipper replaced, and in doing so came up with a much better way to apply a fly zipper than any of the books and patterns tell you to. I'll do a tutorial on that at some point. So I sat down, got the inseam sewn up and went to the serger to finish the seam allowances. The phone rang. It was a minor emergency. Done, taken care of. I sat down and started serging. The phone rang again. Another very minor crisis. I sat down and continued serging. I finished the first side and the phone rang again. This time it was DS the elder trying to figure out timing for parade and Confirmation class tonight.

Finally, I get a little uninterrupted time and I start on the other seam allowance. Halfway up, I see that tragedy has struck. Somewhere between all the phone calls on the first side, I managed to serge the center of the pant leg front into the seam allowance, cutting a big hole in the process.
Yep, that would be in front, at mid-thigh. There's nothing to do with it but drop back and punt. Here's the heartbreaking end to a frustrating project....
I think someone was trying to tell me something with these pants. They were just never meant to happen. I still have lots of this fabric left, and I really love it (sniff, sniff!) so I am going to start on my McCalls Dress. And this time I'm not answering the phone.

Dontcha Just Hate When that Happens?

So here I am, chugging happily away at my Razor Sharp Pants. The fly is in and looking perfect; I'm pleased with my matching of the plaid. I trimmed off the top of the zipper in preparation for applying the waistband.

Then it happened.

Yep. I did it. I pulled the zipper just a wee bit too far and....

BAMNNNFFF!

I spent a good long time ripping out the zipper to reapply it, cursing myself the entire time. That's it. Next time I'm going to say to hell with it and shorten the zipper before applying it.

Parting Shot: Dance Exhibition!
DS the younger was in a show at the studio last night. They did a couple of group dances with a bunch of the kids. The first was just the kids
The second was kids partnered with pros from the studio. DS the younger was paired with Sarah, who's wearing the red dress. Cool note about her - besides being a great dancer and an absolute sweetheart, she and her partner Evgeni (to her right in the back row) took 36th at the Worlds in Tokyo this year.
The kids did GREAT (the pros did okay, too) and they all had a blast.

Now back to the damned fly.
Happy sewing!

Emmett was in Town Last Night!

Actually, he's been here since Wednesday. He's doing work with Gretta Luxe in Copley Place. If you're in Boston today, he'll be there from 1-7 doing a trunk show. Go say hi!

Last night, he was a judge for an event to benefit the Faulkner-Sagoff Center, one of the premier breast care centers in the Boston area. They did a gala benefit, the highlight of which was a Project Runway-style show by students at the School of Fashion Design in Boston. Kevin Christiana, another Project Runway alum (season 4) was also a judge. It was a lot of fun, and it raised a lot of money for the center. But enough of me talking, let's see pictures!

Emmett, me and Kevin. Emmett is really tall and makes cropping photos an adventure.

But, it can be done!
I'm wearing one of Emmett's dresses, of course.

Courtney, Emmett's able bodied (and really sweet) assistant.

Me and my BFAM

Check out the centerpieces!

I got to take one like this home. Kewl!

The runway show was a lot of fun. 5 seniors from the School of Fashion Design presented mini collections which were critiqued by a panel of four judges. All five contestants were incredibly talented, but the gal who won did a really superb job and was, as the judges described her, visionary. Here she is with her finale piece.
Here are a couple of other pieces from the collections:


There were also pieces displayed around the reception area. This was one that Courtney and I particularly liked.
The evening was a resounding success. It raised lots of money for a good cause. Emmett, Courtney and Kevin were fabulous and fun. All in all, a very successful evening!

Leather Shopping in New York City

Photo: Leather Suede Skins

Right now, and continuing into next year, leather is all over the runways and stores. And why not? It's sensuous; it's edgy, and it's fun. And once you get used to it, it is surprisingly easy and rewarding to work with (see My Post on Working With Leather/HotPatterns Homage Tote for some hints and how-tos).

My travels take me to New York on a pretty regular basis, and I have three favorite sources there for leather. When I need a skin for a project, my first stop is Leather Suede Skins. Lambskin, cowhides, exotics, embossed, printed, and furs of various sorts are arrayed in an almost dizzying manner. The store is small, and the owners are incredibly knowledgeable and helpful. Alla (one of the owners) is particularly great to work with. If you can't get to the store in person, you can order color cards from them, which give you a great idea of their inventory. They also have a small but impressive selection of leather straps, trims and braids. If you only have time for one leather store on a trip to New York, this is the one I would send you to.
Leather Suede Skins
261 West 35th St. 11th Floor
New York, NY 10001
212-967-6616

My other fave-rave in the Garment District is Leather Impact. This ground-level storefront is cavernous in size, with a great assortment of all types of skins, including full hides hanging up on one wall. They have one of the larger selections of metallic skins (so hot right now) that I have seen. They also have the best selection of strapping, both beveled/stitched and plain, that I have seen anywhere. I bought some great leather strapping for handbags in several colors here.
Leather Impact
256 West 38th St. Ground Level
New York, NY 10018
212-302-2332

Another very good leather store is Global Leathers. I have to admit, this is the one I use the least, but not for any bad reasons: I just seem to find what I need at the other two. But they have an enormous assortment of all types of leathers, from garment weight to upholstery weight. The store is large and packed, one might say cramped. The selection is excellent.
Global Leathers
253 West 35th St. 9th Floor
New York, NY 10001
212-244-5190

One thing to note is that these stores are open Monday-Friday 9-5. (Global may be open Saturday).

Several other fabric stores in the Garment District carry leather skins as well. Mood and B&J are just two examples. But these three stores specialize in leather of all types, and can get you what you need to make your leather project perfection!

Happy Sewing!