Simplicity 9461 blouse #2

 

The second version of the Simplicity 9461 blouse went together well, although the increased curve at the side seams appears to have made very little difference to the overall shape of the blouse.

 

After a brief start from my Mum, I taught myself to sew, mostly by reading pattern instructions, and trial and error, so I have missed out on some techniques that "everyone knows". In an attempt to improve this situation, I have been reading sewing books, and in my current source - The Readers' Digest Complete Guide to Sewing, the collars are sewn a little differently from how I usually do them. I do not pivot at the corner seam, having read elsewhere (years ago, so I cannot remember the source) that crossing the seams makes the corner stronger. In the Reader's Digest book, the seam does not pivot at the corner, but takes one or more stitches across the corner, depending on the weight of the fabric. The reason given, is a more neat point at the outside. This sounds reasonable, but I did not want to pivot, so I crossed the corner with another row of stitches.

 

I think the corner does look better than in the previous shirt - same pattern, same type of fabric, so I have learnt something today!

 

. The other techniques I have used for this blouse that are not in the instructions are due mainly to the fine, semi-transluscent nature of batiste fabric. I have trimmed all seams,including those contained within another seam, with pinking shears. This means the line of the seam allowance is less obvious from the outside, not being straight. I have done the same trimming to the interfacing, for the same reason. I did this on both the pink and rice colour blouses.
The design differences in this blouse relate to embellishment. As you can see, I have pintucked 5 tucks on either side of the centre front. (In both blouses I increased the overlap distance by 1.5cm, as I found the original overlap to be too narrow). As this number of pintucks does not take up very much fabric, I did this after cutting out the blouse, and have absorbed the small decrease in fabric width within the seam allowance. I also pintucked 3 tucks down the centre of each sleeve. I have a pintuck foot, but did not find it terrific on this fabric. I have previously used it numerous times on 100% cotton batiste and lawn with no trouble, and also on a mid weight woven stretch cotton. On the imperial batiste, for some reason the pintuck did not care to remain in the groove, and there is a bit of wandering. I did do this last night when I was a bit tired, so that could be part of the problem
The embroidery on this blouse was completed after cutting out and before construction so that there would be no knots on the inside. I have used 3 strands of DMC stranded cotton for the bullion rose buds, and 2 strands of green for the fly stitch calyx, stem stitch stem and detached chain stitch leaves. I was careful with the back, with all knots finishing in the bulk of the buds so that the knots and tails would not be visible through the outer fabric.
I have fastened the blouse with snaps just behind the buds on the centre placket, with the top snap just above the top bud so that it is not covered with the turn back of the facing. I would have preferred white or clear snaps, but silver was what I had, so there is a tiny amount of show through at the top snap.


Today I also made a tank/vest from the same wardrobe pattern to complete a 4 part mini wardrobe for the May patternreview contest. I will write up reviews tonight, and hope to post about this, and the other garments in the Travel SWAP tomorrow.

Simplicity 9461 blouse

 

I finished the first Simplicity 9461 blouse for DD the younger today. This pattern is a girl's wardrobe pattern I have owned for around 6 years, but the blouse is the only garment I have made previously. Last time I made a size 7 and was pretty happy with the fit, so foolishly, when making a size 12, I expected the same outcome. I did alter the length to a size 14, as both my daughters are quite tall for their width, but I don't think this was necessary! Actually the only part of the fit I with which I am not happy is the waist shaping. This occurs only at the side seams, as there are no darts, and in the size 7, the shaped seam looks very feminine. This is not the case on a 10 and 3/4 year old in the size 12, and when I make the next version (already cut out, rice colour batiste) I will increase the waist curve at the side seam to give a less boxy look. The blouse is worn here with the Jalie 968 jeans style shorts that I made earlier this month, also for the travel wardrobe.

 

Here is a close up of the embroidery. This blouse is supposed to be easy wash, quick dry, but I could not resist a little embellishment. I have restrained myself from piping, and quite like the saddle stitch around the collar, fronts and sleeve hems that I have used as an alternative finish. I did also use french seams throughout the construction, except when attaching the sleeves. This will not make the blouse dry quickly, but I think french seams look much better in a translucent fabric like the pink imperial batiste that I have used here.

Embroidery for boys - Grasshopper t shirt

 

I feel that my son gets short shift regarding sewing and embroidery, and obviously so does he, as he has been asking me to make him things a lot lately. Usually, when I make or buy a t shirt for the girls I add a few flowers, or a butterfly, or something else pretty to jazz up a plain top. I brought out some plain t shirts for my son, as he had grown out of quite a few, and he asked me to put a grasshopper on this blue one.
I decided to make the grasshopper 2D, as I found drawing 6 legs very difficult, let alone embroidering them, and I made the grass hopper very stylized and cartoonish.

 

I used DMC stranded cotton thread. The outline is in single chain stitch, 6 strands. The hoppper leg is in two rows of chain stitch, decreasing to one, again in 6 strands. The small legs and the antenna are in stem stitch, 3 strands. The eye is a french knot. All of these are in black. I have filled in the body with random straight and cross stitches. I have used 3 strands of thread, and 3 different shades of green. I was hoping for a chitanous effect, and have crossed the threads in different directions to give an irregular surface texture.
My son is quite happy with the shirt, but it took a lot longer than a few lazy dasies! The rest of the t shirts can stay hidden in the top of the wardrobe until I finish a few more projects.

How to finish the collar

 I am making Simplicity 9461 for my daughter's travel wardrobe, and thought I would like to finish the inside back neck with a strip of bias binding instead of hand stitching the collar. There is no real reason for this, as I do not mind hand stitching, but I have noticed this finish on several shirts on patternreview lately and thought I would like to try it.
  I am making this blouse from imperial batiste, so have cut the fronts out on the fold, to give a double layer of fabric over the bust, removing the need for an under garment. I expect that this shirt will be worn in hot weather. To take advantage of the double layer of fabric, I am sandwiching the collar between the front and front lining by wrapping the fold around the collar. In the back, I have inserted a strip of bias fabric so that the stitching line will allow enough bias to turn over the trimmed seam allowance.
  I have butted the bias strip with a folded over short edge to the folded over lining. The plan is that there will be no raw edges sticking out, and that when turned in, there will be a neat finish on the inside shoulder seam and in the back neck. I have hand stitched a saddle stitch along the shoulder seam, and plan to also topstitch the collar and front opening edges with the same stitch. I have used 3 strands of DMC cotton in the same pale brownish beige colour as 2 of her travel pants for the topstitching, and this colour is also used for the french knots in the center of the lazy daisies on the left front bodice. The lazy daisies are in 2 colours of pink, 2strands dark, one light, and one light, 2 dark, to give a variegated effect.

Kwik Sew 1283, Frog Pyjamas

  Here is my son in his frog pyjamas. These started as Kwik Sew 1283. I added a constrast curved tummy for interest, using a different shade of green polar fleece from the main fabric. The neck and sleeves are finished in green cotton rib knit.
  I also made a frog hood. I used the hood pattern from Green Pepper #150 - Oregon Jacket, with a peaked front for the frog lips. I appliqued white polar fleece and black cotton knit for the eyes, and satin stiched nostrils.
The tongue is red polar fleece. After I had finished, my husband suggested that I should have put the tongue at the lower hood, like a tie, and this probably would have been a better idea, as it is rather in the way at the top of the hood, but my son likes it.
  The only real alteration to the Kwik Sew pattern for these pyjamas is the foot shape. I have made a 3 toed web foot as wide as I could manage without altering the heel part of the foot. The sole of the foot was cut out to the same shape. I have overlayed gripper fabric from Seattle Fabrics to the sole so that my son does not skid down the hall at too ferocious a speed.
 

Vogue 8379#2 and velvet ribbon wrap

 

I sewed for myself again this week. This is my second attempt at the vogue 8379 very easy wrap dress. I made version B, with longer sleeves, no collar, no facing and with fitting adjustments. The last version was a little short waisted. I made this one 2cm longer in the bodice, and did the same FBA. I would have liked to make it longer, but unfortunately I did not allow for the skinnier fabric, and ordered as if it was 150cm wide, so had only just enough for this length. This version has turned out a little too big, and I think this is due to the different stretch in this fabric. I really like the fabric. It is a sumptuous silk jersey knit from Gorgeous Fabrics. It arrived on Monday, and did not even hit the sewing table before I washed it (delicate wash in the machine) and cut it out. I used a jersey ball point needle #80. I used swimwear elastic in the neckline, folded over and double stitched, and used fold over elastic, turned under and topstitched, in the sleeve hems. The skirt hem is triple topstitched to help it to hang well. The shoulder seams and waist seam are stabilized with woven cotton selvage. I did make the ties longer, and the back neck a little lower. I cut the back out on the fold, and found it a little too wide, but the garment is very wearable, and feels incredibly comfortable to wear. I can see myself making many versions of this dress.

 

It is rather cool in the evenings here at the moment, so I knit a wrap to wear with the dress. I just happened to have 4 balls of Cleckheaton deluxe velvet ribbon in my yarn stash, and started this yesterday evening. I used 12mm needles, 40 odd stitches across, and garter stitch. The wrap is light, warm and has a lovely texture. I feel very productive today!
Tomorrow I need to work in the garden, but am also planning a bit of tedious mending, followed by a blouse for my daughter's travel swap, some work on a Mr Tickle jumper and maybe the beginnings of a new smocking project. I love staying home on the weekend.

Storyboard beginnings and finished socks

 

I have been trying to make a storyboard for my June Capsule entry at stitcher's guild. I have not progressed terribly far. This is it, a blouse coloured in with my print. I also have purchased some dark denim fabric with a brown underlay "dirty denim" and some red topstitching thread for a co-ordinating knee length denim skirt, but have not managed to make a picture of this yet. The storyboard is very time consuming! I am not sure what the other 2 items will be, but am planning to make a hat for my accessory.

 

I did not do any sewing last weekend as we were away, but I did knit. Here are the socks, nothing fancy, as I was knitting in the car. The wool is self striping 4 ply patonyle.

 

I did cut out a dress last night, the vogue wrap dress. I would like to wear it out tomorrow evening, but will only have a few hours to sew tomorrow, maybe 2, so am not sure that I can make it in time. I used some silk jersey from Gorgeous fabrics, I thought I had plenty, and could make the dress longer, but had foolishly forgotten that the fabric was 115cm wide, not 150cm like the fabric I used for this dress previously, so it is another short version, and I will have to piece the ties. I have also started to knit a wrap to wear with the dress as I have some ribbon yarn that matches perfectly. There is no way I will finish this by tommorrow, but I am going to a girlfriend's house for coffee tomorrow morning, and can knit whilst I am chatting. This I think is the great advantage of knitting over sewing!

Shorts from Jalie 968 jeans pattern

 
  
 
These shorts are pseudo jean shorts for my daughter's travel wardrobe. I used a technical polyester fabric by cutting up a vigilante wrap travel dress of mine that unfortunately had a stain on the upper front. The dress was a terrific travel garment, so I am sure the fabric will wear well, dry quickly, and be cool and comfortable to wear. It has an almost suede like right side texture, whilst the wrong side is smooth.
I traced out a size Q, then morphed the Jalie jeans pattern slightly to make the shorts. First I cut the leg wider from below the hip, and cut the leg as long as the fabric would allow to give me wriggling room later. Next I altered the front pockets. In order to avoid having 5 layers of fabric, I eliminated the change pocket, the fabric behind the hip facing, the facing for the front bag, so ended up with one layer of fabric above the pocket, and a maximum of 3 layers of fabric through the pocket itself. I hope this will allow the garment to dry more quickly. I made the waistband much more skinny, and did not interface the waistband, or use belt loops. My daughter does not like to wear a belt with shorts. I put in the zip a little differently this time, I did not use the Jalie instructions to topstitch the crotch seam before making the fly front, and the construction was more straight forward.
To finish the shorts I topstitched in pink thread to match the pink t shirts. I could not source pink topstitching thread, so used the triple stitch on my machine. This worked quite well except for the curves, where the back and forth motion of this stitch made each layer a little distorted in placement compared to the next layer of the same stitch. Because of this, the fly topstitching looks a little amateurish. I used a straight diagonal topstitch on the back pockets to avoid this problem here. I have put a bar stitched cross at the base of each pocket to disguise a mistake on one of them - this triple stitch is terrible to unpick.
The shorts fit well and we are quite happy with them. The photographs were taken indoors with a flash, and make the shorts look much more wrinkly than they appear in real life. I hope to photograph them later with some of the other garments I have planned for this week.

Gortex jackets in use

 

 

Deepwater National Park, QLD. The jackets at work.

Gortex jackets#3 - on waterproofing

 
 
 
  Janine has just asked me a question about the Oregon jacket I made last week. "What have you used on the jacket seams to seal them, and is it available in Aus?" This is a very timely question. I am currently procrastinating about sealing the seams, as it is a rather messy job. So to procrastinate a bit more, I am putting in a photo of an alternate front pocket, that I used on a previous jacket. This pocket is made longer than required, so that there is a double fold when the pocket is fastened. This keeps the rain out better than the pocket I used on the green jacket, but I had very little fabric, so could not use it this time.

Back to waterproofing. I use seam sealer, which appears to have no brand name, that I purchased from my local camping shop, in rural QLD. Any place that stocks tents (maybe not Big W or Target tents) generally carries this, as most tents are not presealed at the seams. The local shop carries 2 types of sealant, the other one is more expensive. I have been very pleased with the performance of this particular seam sealant, it is a bit like glue to apply, and does not keep well in the tube once opened. I originally applied it to the outside of the seams - bad mistake. I did this to the size 2 jacket, now intermittently on the body of my nephew, so cannot show you how like a snail trail it appears. There is a photo here where I applied it over the mesh lining at the hood on an earlier jacket, as this seam is sewn after attaching the lining, but I am not sure you can see how messy it appears. I recommend that you seam seal on the inside. I found that you cannot do the whole jacket at once, or the seams stick together where they intersect. I work on horizontal seams in the hood,allow to dry, vertical seams at the hood, allow to dry, raglan shoulder seams, dry, under sleeve and side seams, dry, then the front zip seams last. I spread the sealant with a disposable plastic knife. It is a slow job. This is why I have tried to avoid seam exposure as much as possible during the construction process. It is also why I am procrastinating about this next step. We are camping this weekend, and I am hoping it does not rain really hard.....
Seam sealing works well for extreme conditions. I made my husband a pair of Gortex overpants for a 10 day hiking/mountaineering trip in South West Tasmania. The other guys had purchased pants. It rained, sleeted and snowed, he walked through creeks and slid down mud, and he said he was the only one with a dry behind.

Simplicity 8951 smocked romper

 

My SIL is expecting a new baby, and I am considering my newborn smocking patterns. This one is a real favourite, especially as the newborn size is tiny, and will fit a baby from about 6 weeks. I know that babies grow unbelievably quickly, but I love the extravagance of some pretty newborn clothes that really fit.

 

I made half a dozen of this pattern before my younger daughter was born, but gave most of them away when she had finished wearing them. I had been smocking for about 6 months at this point,and can see that I have become more picky with my stitches. This is one I kept for sentimental reasons, made from imperial batiste, pale yellow. My son did not wear it as he is an August baby, and this is winter in Australia. I also did not care for puffed sleeves on my little boy for some reason. I made him several rompers with the straight sleeve. There are a few things I change about this pattern. I always cut the neckline a little wider, and so also cut the collar wider. My Mum has made this pattern without the changes, and found that her collars turn up just like the collar on the photograph.
I know that some smockers avoid pleating over seams. This romper has a centre front seam, which makes it fit much better than the one piece front rompers. I have made this romper in batiste, lawn and quilting weight cotton, and am careful with my pleating. I make a centre french seam in fine fabrics, and a closely trimmed and zigzagged centre seam in the heavier cotton, and have not had any difficulties with the pleats. In a heavier cotton I sometimes make a bar stitch by hand on the inside centre valley to hold the pleat if it is not proving co-operative.
I finish the crotch opening with bias binding before applying firmly sewn buttons. I do not like to use snaps as I have had purchased snaps removed and eaten by an adventurous 9 month old, and have not trusted them since.

 

The smocking design is inspired by one in my first ever Australian Stitches Magazine, issue number 36, where it appeared as "Babes in the Wood" on a teddy bear romper. Looking at this design again, I see that only the central rows are the same, and that I have used a cross over technique for the top and bottom rows. I find baby rompers an excellent garment for trying new designs.

 

Here is the back view. This is an easy garment in which to dress a baby.

Knitting socks

 Here is the knitting project I have recently finished. I took the last sock kayaking last weekend, and finished it off whilst we were away. These socks were a special request from my husband. He only likes black socks, but agreed to the insertion of a cable to save me from terminal boredom. I am quite pleased with my cable, this is the first time I have altered a knitting pattern, and I do not think I have done too badly. Unfortunately, I also started these socks whilst away on a kayaking weekend, and took the wrong size needles - 3.25mm, and they are a bit loose. I washed them in very hot water today, and hopefully they have shrunk a little.
  These socks are my current portable project. The wool is 4ply Patonyle, and the socks are pretty simple, rib, stocking stitch, a knit, slip over purl reinforced heel and toe, and a rib section in the foot. The wool is self patterning stripes.
  I just bought this yarn from an Australian on-line shop called Yarnomart. I wanted to try a corn based yarn, as I have read that it knits rather like cotton, but feels more soft. Each ball reportedly makes an average size adult sock. The balls look tiny to me. I love the colours, but may try a toe - up pattern for the first time, in order to make the most of each ball without running out of yarn. I also need to source some new dp needles. My local shop has 2mm, which I bought, then the next available size is 3mm, which I already have and are using. I want 2.5 and 2.75mm needles in order to knit fancier socks. I still cannot convince the proprietor to stock sock yarn.

Sewing today was minimal. I cut out the Jalie shorts variation for my daughter, then lost all inspiration. Instead I cleaned out my wardrobe, I have a big bag of rags, a big bag for the op shop, including 2 items from my SWAPS - I have decided I will no longer wear clothes that I do not find flattering even if I have nothing left to wear - this should force me to sew more for myself (I am not counting pants, this garment genre is a lost cause I think). All my winter things are back on the shelves, although I haven't stored my swimmers yet. It was cold in the evenings this week, I think that is why I feel like knitting.

Gortex jacket post#2

 

I finished sewing the green Gortex jacket today. It is modelled here by my older daughter, as my younger daughter did not fancy modelling today. This has caused some claim jumping, as the jacket fits my 13 year old nicely, although it was constructed with my 10 year old in mind, as I allowed some growing room!

 

This shows the sleeve closure. In the Green Pepper pattern, the sleeve is finished with elastic in a self casing. I have chosen this alternative for several reasons. 1. The degree of tightness can be varied, according to the size of the wrist, and whether or not garments are worn underneath. 2.The sleeve is a little too long for my younger daughter, and this closure allows her to hike up the sleeve when needed. 3/ This is how the sleeve closes on my jacket, and I find it useful, and comfortable, and the sleeve can be left open for a more urban look. There is a velcro closure at both the tight position (5cm long, allowing variation) and at the loose position (2cm long)

 

I changed the pocket construction. I added one zip closing internal pocket, and one internal velcro closing pocket. The fabric is "breathable" nylon. The pockets are attached at jacket seamlines (breast pocket) and within the seamlines of the external pocket (internal hip pocket) so that I do not have to seal additional seams to maintain waterproofing.

 

The external pockets are also a little different. I folded the front fabric to allow more pocket capacity. I would have done this vertically, but did not have enough fabric. The pockets are smaller than I would have liked to make them, again due to lack of fabric (I should have made this jacket in a size 12 when I first ordered the fabric, then there would have been plenty). When attaching the pocket, I formed an additional side opening pocket between the jacket and the top opening patch pocket.

I did not apply the waist casing and cord, as my daughter felt the jacket looks better without it. I have kept the waist band in reserve in case she changes her mind, or the jacket prooves too subject to drafts after she has used it a few times.

This is not my favourite type of sewing, but I feel that I have made a useful and practical garment that will be much more comfortable than a raincoat I could buy for the price of the materials used. Next I plan a pair of jeans style shorts in "breathable" polyester for my daughter's travel wardrobe. I have traced out the Jalie 968 jeans pattern in her size, Q, and hope to make them tomorrow. Tonight I plan to knit easy stocking stitch stripey socks and to have a glass of red! This has not been a good sewing week, and I am perculating a plan for an embellished garment that I can really get my teeth into, not too much more ultra practical clothing. I fancy using an Indonesian batik sarong length that I bought this week to make a blouse, more about this later.

I need to apply waterproofing seam sealant to the jacket tomorrow.