Muslins & Mixed Nuts

I've been doing a lot of sewing in the past couple of months but it's mostly been making muslins to try out new patterns.  Everything seems to be a good start and maybe not quite done.  I'll show you.

While at the Puyallup Sewing Expo last month we stopped by a booth with several Japanese cottons.  We all bought one or two pieces.  I wish I remembered the name of the company and the gal who was the owner because she was so nice to us.  She was wearing a tunic made from one of the cottons that I fell in love with.  I bought the cotton and she graciously offered to let me copy the pattern.  It is a Japanese pattern, I have no idea where you would get it.

I ran over to another booth, bought a roll of pattern paper and my pals helped me find a secluded table to lay it out and trace it.  That might be a first!

Here you see my muslin with some fabric I had on hand.  The front is a Japanese cotton.  I had 1 yard of this (intended to make Diane Ericson's Faultline Vest....I never did but still intend to make it!)  The back is a stretch woven that I appliqued a few of the front fabric motifs onto.

One of the things I like about this, which you can't really see in this fabric, is that the back wraps around to the front at the hems.  When I make it in the Japanese cotton I got you'll see what I mean.

This doesn't look great on the dress form but I think it's more flattering on.  And, it makes up in about 2 hours.

I like this pattern and with our weather changing to warmer summers I think I'll be wearing it a lot.

Here's another pattern I got in Puyallup.  This one is The Sewing Workshop's Fillmore Duster.  They were so kind to let us try on their samples.  Such a gracious thing to do.  I made my muslin from scraps.  It went together easily and was fun to make.  When I make it again I'll either change the collar or make sure it's made with a stiffer fabric.  The collar just sort of lays there with this lightweight knit.  Could-Woulda-Shoulda interfaced it!

I think I'm going to silk screen a little black onto the light grey stripe and carry it up to the left top a bit.  Seems like too much blank space.

Onward into spring and more lightweight sewing projects!

Making Cloth-Part One

It seems like everything I've been doing lately, in regards to sewing and design, has to do with using  small pieces of fabric that I've saved.

As you probably know, if you've seen any of my posts, I'm fond of black, grey and white.  So, most of my stash goes together!  That's the good news.  The bad news is that as much as I use these remnants, they just keep growing, it seems!  I feel like it's Linus' blanket, I keep using smaller and smaller pieces!

Not to digress but my sister used to sit outside under the clothes line on the day her blanket was washed.  She would drag her little chair out there and wait for it to dry.  The "it" got to be about 5" square before my mother "lost" it.  Sibling similarity...I just can't give up on my scraps.

So, at this year's DOL in Santa Barbara I wanted to drape a dress using my TNT pattern for a knit top with various stretch woven fabrics and other knits draped on the bottom to make a dress.  I brought my traveling dress form....she's quite a bit smaller than I but serves as a fluffed-out hanger of sorts.

I cut the top out of a stable black knit and worked down from there.  I regret not having taken any photos at the time so all I have is the finished piece.  I had a lot of help from Diane Ericson, who dropped by every now and then, plus I pulled her in whenever she passed by.  And plenty of help from Jenny Freedman, the class angel who worked with me really closely, invaluable!

And here's what I came up with.  I wore it to bookclub last night and I think most of them got it but you never know...

It feels really comfortable on and so I think I'll wear it a lot.  I wore it with grey capri legging because it's high (above my knees) on one side.

As you can see, there's a large dot fabric with huge pockets in the front and back.  I used an already made top that I don't wear anymore because my sewing pal, Janet, told me not to.  I did not argue.  It went into the fabric pile. 

I cut the top in two pieces and the sleeves became the pockets.  I'm lucky, I have skinny hips so I can bulk up in that area..I won't mention what I'm NOT lucky with...so the pockets help my profile...at least in my fantasy world.

Here's the top I cut to make the pockets.

I added three dots at the top of the dress to tie in the prints on the bottom, plus, there was just a bit of stretchy ugliness right there so...

The neckband and the sleeve bands came together really fast.   I wanted a little heft since the rest of the garment is pretty weighty.  I cut a 3" band of lightweight knit, doubled it, sewed it to the right side of the neckline with 1/2" seam allowance and then turned it to the inside encasing the seam allowance. Then sewed it down, stitch in the ditch style.   Sometimes you just get lucky.

I wore it with the Cutting Line Designs vest pattern I'd made a few months ago.  It looked better on my body than it does on the dress form tho.  There was a bit of the black bodice peaking out at the bottom of the vest.  I love this pattern, super easy, quick and adapts to so many fabrics.  I've just finished it in a http://marcytilton.comMarcy Tilton crazy laser cut neoprene.  As soon as I've figured out what to wear it with I'll show you.

I've just finished a wonderful class with Gwen Spencer, who works with Marcy Tilton on bringing her designs to life for Vogue Patterns.  She's a genius when it comes to "making fabric".  Her approach is subtle but so dynamic and balanced.  I'm still working on the top I made in the class.  More on that in Making Cloth-Part Two.

In the meantime, enjoy wisteria season!

Butterick 6138- Katherine Tilton Vest

I seem to be on the Katherine Tilton train lately. Her patterns are so well thought out and have great lines.  Something I'm looking for in my patterns now since I'm trying to stick to solids, stripes and dots.

I had so much fun making this vest/dress for the second time.  The first time I made it was to test the pattern with a "muslin".  But it was red upholstery fabric which was far too heavy.  It was a wadder, literally.  I took the buttons off of it and threw it in the garbage!  Enough of that!

This time it worked.  I got the fabric at Hart's in Santa Cruz a year ago.  Yes, it's a coat weight and would have been easier to make in a lighter weight fabric but I'm happy with the results.  

I think the structure shows a lot in this type of fabric.  But it would also be good in a dupioni silk or maybe even denim?  Or how about a black organza for evening??

I tried to use a zipper instead of buttons but it just didn't look as good as I'd hoped.  When I make this again I'll redraft the upper/center chest area at the collar.  It was a bit too large and I had to move the top button over to make it work.  So, I used a loop closure which seemed to make more sense.  Next time, when it fits better, a zipper will work and look great.

This is a fun pattern, keep it in mind.  I'm off to Design Outside The Lines (DOL) in Santa Barbara with Diane Ericson and her guest teacher, Jilli Blackwood.  Excited!  Love this sewing design retreat every year.

Winter Sewing

It's been gloriously rainy here on the Central Coast of California for about a week now.  And I took advantage of it to stay in the bunkhouse and sew, sew, sew!

First, I finished a coat I started last winter.  It's Marcy Tilton's coat pattern V9070 which I think may be out of print.

I got this fabric several years ago from Marcy and have been trying to figure out what to make with it ever since.  It's a reddish brown raincoat type fabric with copper threads running through it so it keeps it's shape, whatever shape you put it in!  

I love it but not sure how often I will wear it.  It's really dramatic so I can see wearing it out at night.  I'm not sure how rain resistant it is but will give it a try soon.  

I had a devil of a time with the button holes.  I think this is the most test buttonholes I've ever done, by far.  I had to do them manually since the buttons were too big to use the automatic buttonhole attachment on my Bernina 560.  Finally got 'em!

This tunic is another Marcy pattern that I loved making and really think is flattering.  I did take it in a bit in the back since my back measurements are so much smaller than my, eh-hum, front.

The fabric is a very lightweight knit from Marcy.

I'll make it again, next time in a fabric that shows the beautiful lines a bit more.

One of the most fun sewing projects in a long time is this Katherine Tilton top.  I thought it might not be flattering on me but was I wrong.  Although it's gathered it really doesn't have a lot of bulk.  I made it out of fleece so it's my new sweatshirt. I have an orange Italian fleece that's next up.

I thought about leaving off the hood but I'm glad I didn't.  I think it really brings a lot to the design.

AND, it goes with my new tunic!  Yep, they're both winners!

Coat Dress vs. Tunic

I've made this self drafted pattern three times now.  It's somewhere between a coat dress and a tunic.  I love it because it's so versatile.  

I can wear it over pants or leggings.  I wear it either with a top underneath or a Sleevey Wonder turned backwards.  What, you've never heard of a Sleevey Wonder?  It's the best thing that's happened to outfits since the dickey!  What, you've never heard of a dickey?  Throw back to the 60's.  I never liked them.  But on the other hand, Sleevey Wonders are the best!  Check 'em out!

This one is a grey and black ponte with buttons that look metallic but are lightweight plastic.

I love the drape.

And I love the way it curves in at the waistline to give me some shape.

This is the definition of a wardrobe basic.

More soon, I'm in the bunkhouse working away in winter mode!

News from the Dye Pot

For those of you who are not interested in eco-printing you might want to forward on to the next blog you follow and catch me in a few days when I post a new polka dot tunic!

If you are still tuned in this post is a recap of most everything I printed over the beautiful fall months here on California's central coast...Monterey Bay to be exact.

All of the pieces are recycled cashmere sweaters; some in pieces and some the whole sweater.  You will see, in some cases, where I printed more than one piece with the exact same materials, in the same dye bath to get enough fabric to make something.  The smaller pieces were testers but I think put together they will make a very wonderful shawl or huge scarf.

 I'll try to list all of the plants I used.  I came to find that fall is a plentiful time to gather leaves.  Most of the colors I got were in the green and yellow/gold range, which is lucky for me since I love those colors and can wear them.

This and the following 5 pics are all late autumn green, yellow and orange nectarine leaves from our tree.  Sometimes they fall when they are still green but mostly yellow and orange.

This was printed on a very light weight cashmere and silk blend.  I'm looking for more of this type fabric, it prints so beautifully.  I believe it is similar to a fabric India Flint loves to use that uses merino wool.  I'm on the lookout!

 This is from Dodonaea.  It's a landscape plant that's pretty common here.  It prints both green and purple...love it!  It looks like a landscape itself.

More nectarine.

These two I printed in India Flint's class.  I'm sure it has apple leaves, onion skins and dark spots from the iron in the dye bath.

Boy, I know this one has decorative plum leaves which dye an amazing dark teal green.  And a wee bit of loquat that prints the most amazing apricot/melon color...but what else I do not remember.  Bad on me. I vow, once again, to keep better records in 2016.

This is apple leaves and onion skins with some dark spots due to the eucalyptus/iron dye bath.

More decorative plum and loquat.

More onion and mystery stuff!

This is fallen yellow persimmon!

Yet more nectarine, my tree and that of some generous unknowing donor in Santa Cruz who had gorgeous fallen orange leaves by the bucket.  Thank you, Lisa, for introducing me to this find.   I only pick up leaves where I think I am doing the owners a service by cleaning up their yard!

These three are eucalyptus but exactly which one I cannot say.  My friend Joan brought them to me from her garden.  I will be finding out which on because the pumpkin color they produced is exhilarating!

There were some maple leaves thrown in, too.  But again, my friend Lisa gave them to me already dried so I cannot name them.

More decorative plum leaves and one big loquat.  It's from the same dye bath as the other one above. I'm in the process of making a vest from these combined with the two pieces dyed with the Dodonaea.  Yes, I'll post...you can't stop me.

  That's all for now, as if it wasn't too much!

Winter Dye Pot Tales

I haven't been getting much sewing done lately.  I've been holed up in my freezing garage, hunkered down over the dye pots (I now have three...) freezing my patootie off and getting addicted to eco-printing.

Fall is a wonderful time to be introduced to dyeing with plants because the colors are so wonderful and the windfall is plentiful.  I've been all over town collecting fallen nectarine leaves (thank you Lisa), decorative plum leaves (thank you Diane), eucalyptus of several varieties (thank you Joanie), persimmon (thank you Daniella), apple, locust, dodinea, maple, oak...you name it.

I have managed to get some sewing done.  I was left with dozens of small pieces of cashmere that I used to test the color of different plants so I made them into scarves.   

Above I used plum, eucalyptus and apple in an iron/eucalyptus bath.

A closer look at the same scarf.

The above scarf is made from a sweater that had quite a bit more pile so the images are softer.  I used apple, eucalyptus and orange onion skins.  Iron/eucalyptus bath.

This one I tried bougainvillea, not too strong a print, I'll have to work on that.  The lower edge is maple.  Scarves give a good opportunity for hand stitching because it will be seen up close.  You can really see the raw edges on this one.  They will felt and soften quite a bit after just a couple of wearings.

This one I think I used (oops, I learned later not to trust my memory and have been taking better notes!) things from the Pacific Northwest in the India Flint class.

I'm enjoying the idea of using the pieces from sweaters in their original shape instead of cutting them into perfect squares.  I got this idea from Gwen Spencer who is using this technique to spur her creative process.  At the bottom of this scarf you can see the armhole on the edge.

I have dozens of new samples and pieces, mostly in the lime green/yellows from nectarine leaves, fig leaves and apple leaves.  I'll show those after the holidays.  Stay warm and enjoy the season.