Timmel SWAP

The Timmel SWAP 2008 is posted. I spent all yesterday evening looking at all the fabulous entries.

I am really keen to find some new blouse patterns, but unfortunately most of my favourites are self drafted, pattern drafting software, vintage or OOP. Maybe this is why I am still looking for a new blouse pattern!

I am also looking very closely at the use of colour and pattern in the SWAPs. There are some very smart SWAPs in the colours that are easy to find in RTW and fabric - red/white/black, black/grey/white, black/white, blue/white. These look good on other people, not me. I also think that people successfully using more complicated or unusual colour and pattern combinations have a much more personalized wardrobe. Although I think I like classic clothes, I find the little black dress and the plain white shirt rather dull. Perhaps if I were better at accessories I might think differently. I know that when I started my first SWAP with 3 cream blouses I felt unbelievably bored with them and did not wear them for about 2 weeks after finishing. When I made a beige and cream patterned blouse I wore it straight away and felt well
dressed.

I am most drawn to the colour combinations that I think might suit me. I know that these are harder to find in both RTW and in fabrics, and much more difficult to match to each other successfully than those in the black/white/red camp. There are some fabulous wardrobes that I would like to borrow from particularly for the colours. I am thinking of terracotta, dull orange and purple (not together)- this sounds very adventurous for someone who has just sewn 9m of brown wool flannel. I hope it is not an over-reaction. I thought sewing a knit dress in a loud print might dull this yearning for colour, but I may need a few more loud clothes before I can return to drab and classic. Fortunately children look great in brights.
I am also thinking about accessories. I definitely need smart shoes.

First SWAP finished - or not

 

NEW JEANS FOR A NEW TEEN
11 pieces, one of which must be made from a print fabric and must include fabric(s) or pattern(s)purchased from Timmel Fabrics, 4 bottoms, 6 tops, 1 or 2 of which may be dresses and one "jacket". All of the items must co ordinate.
4 bottoms
1. Medium Denim capri shorts, tan topstitching - pattern from Top Kids Magazine
2. Navy blue stretch woven cotton spandex, pink print trim - pattern Simplicity 5220 (wardrobe pattern piece #1)
3. Dark denim A-line skirt, pink embroidery with touches of green and chambray blue - pattern Simplicity 5220(wardrobe pattern piece #2)
4. Dark denim jeans, white topstitching, pink embroidery with touches of green and chambray blue - pattern Jalie 968 (pattern purchased from Timmel Fabrics)
6 tops, 2 to be more like blouses than t shirts, may include 1 or 2 dresses
1. Hibiscus pink and white cotton print dress, piped at neck and arm holes in green and white, hand smocked in pink and green with pink beading. Contoured bodice band hand embroidered and beaded in pink and green. Pattern - self drafted pattern.(print fabric)(not a t shirt #1)
2. Pink with navy polka dot knit twist t shirt. - pattern Simplicity 3800 (print fabric)
3. Pink shirred strappy top, cotton cheesecloth, trimmed with pink print - self drafted pattern
4. White cotton knit ( Fabric purchased from Timmel Fabrics)t shirt, hand embroidered at neckline in pink and green - pattern Jalie sweetheart top (Pattern purchased from Timmel Fabrics)
5. Chambray blue cotton sleevless princess line blouse with hand smocked insert (white smocking, chambray braid insert to seams - pattern adapted from Butterick 435 (not a t shirt #2)
6. Mandarin collar top in gold/pink/green brocade with pink piping and frog closures (Fabric purchased from Timmel Fabrics)- pattern Simplicity 5220 (wardrobe pattern piece #3)(print fabric)(not a t shirt #3)
Jacket
1. Off white cardigan style jacket from a cotton knitted lace fabric, bound with satin bias binding, one button at neck - self drafted pattern, cut down from tunic style top.

I am hankering after a sweet litte bamboo knitted bolero jacket from the last issue of Stitches magazine as an alternative jacket. I have the pattern, the bamboo yarn, but only 10 days to go, and plenty of sewing for my SWAP so I think finishing a different jacket in time is unlikely ( I am a slow knitter). I am pretty pleased with the SWAP as it is pictured.

Simplicity 5220 mandarin collar top brocade

I finished the mandarin top from my daughter's wardrobe pattern 5220 last night. We are very pleased with it. I used a synthetic brocade from Timmel fabrics. This was a little more difficult to work with than the cotton used in the trial version, and the top is a bit more fitted because of the thickness of the fabric. I needed to cut carefully to avoid flaws in the fabric. The top is trimmed with minipiping made from imperial batiste at the collar and at the false diagonal front. I made frog closures from the same fabric, making a very thin tube, then sewing the frogs as described at this website www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_sewing_buttons_zippers/article/0,,HGTV_3325_1376352,00.html

The frogs are only decorative. I did make a version of the frogs using pale pink braid, but these looked too bulky for the garment. The garment opening is an invisible zip at the back. I used the 25cm zip called for in the pattern, but this makes the top a little difficult to put on. The longer 35 cm zip used in the trial cotton top is a much better length for ease of dressing. I inserted the zip before applying the collar, and the back of the collar stands above the zip, which allows it to sit well and for more comfort at the neck. In the trial version we found the back neck was too high, so I lowered it 1.5cm in this version, extending the length of the collar slightly at the back to match this alteration.
I bound the sleeve edges and bottom edge of the top with skinny bias binding made from the same fabric.

Junior Swap January 28

This weekend is a long one for the Australia day holiday, but I have not spent nearly as much of it sewing as I thought I would. I extended my break from the V2925 jacket today, and kept sewing for my daughter. Here is the a vintage pattern, Butterick 435 which I made yesterday as a trial dress for my daughter's SWAP. This pattern was given to me by a elderly lady at church, who had used it for her daughters several decades ago. The fabric print does not show up very well in the photo - it is red/pink/white strawberries with green leaves on a variagated shade dark blue background. The dress is a princess line with a little shape to it, and is lovely and cool to wear in a cotton quilting weight print. I did not have any trouble with the pattern, although the facings seemed to have been drawn from another dress entirely - I made view D. I did not want to re draw the facings for this "trial" dress, so lowered the front and back neckline about 7 cm to accomodate the difference in the facing, and I think the neckline sits at a comfortable and flattering point. There were no finished garment measurements on the envelope or the tissue, so I made the dress up to the size 12 circumference, which fortunately happen to be the same as my daughter's measurements. I lengthened the dress by 10 cm to accomodate her tall figure and the longer length of current fashion. In fitting, I took the dress in 7cm on each side in the bodice, as it was very loose, but left this extra fabric below the waist to increase the flare of the skirt.

The second outfit is the pants from Simplicity 5220, with a shirred top made from a remnant of pink cheesecloth from my stash ( it was originally purchased from my local fabric shop, and most of it made into a Lizzie MacGuire top with bell sleeves). I used the corded buttonhole foot to do the shirring for the first time, and found it much easier than the bobbin elastic method. It also looks neater, and the shirring elastic did not break once - this is now my preferred method of shirring. I made a small folded hem for the top edge (I do not have a rolled hem foot), and trimmed the bottom with an on grain strip of the same grey and pink print used on the pants split hem. I folded the strip with my bias tape tool, making it easy to apply. This was a quick and easy top, and my daughter loves it.

More junior SWAP

I was tired of working on the toile for V2925 jacket today, so I worked on my daughter's Swap for a while. I made her a dress from a vintage Butterick pattern, I have taken a photo but will post it later. We were very pleased with it. It is a fitting plan for a chambray top with a smocked insert, but as I have used a navy print with red and pink strawberries, the dress can now be a reserve item for the SWAP, should I run out of things to sew. I have also started a shirred baby doll top for my DD in pale pink cheesecloth, I trimmed it with a quilting cotton print, which should give a bell curve to the top. I am using the button hole foot to do the shirring, which is a new attempt for me. Before I read the instruction book for my Husquavana sewing maching, I had been shirring by hand winding the bobbin with elastic. The c foot method seems much more successful already. My plan is to do some serious unpicking of the jacket tomorrow, as Debbie Cook has kindly given me some advice about adjusting the french dart. However, we have an Australia day long weekend party to attend tomorrow, and I have a feeling that this will significantly cut in to my sewing time.

Simplicity 5220 pants

I finished the pants from Simplicity 522o today. My daughter is quite pleased with them. Here they are with a purchased top. I have made the pants a bit shorter, due to fabric restrictions. The splits in the leg seams are finished with pink/grey/green/metallic gold quilting fabric.
Regarding my SWAP, I have worked a little more on #2 V2925 pants. I cut out the lining (short) this morning, then this evening after work, sewed the lining, and finished the pants except for the hems. I was a bit anxious about the fit, and sewed the outside leg seams with a 1cm allowance, and when I tried them on for the hems, I need to take them in about another 1cm - I have left this until tomorrow, as my son really needed to go to sleep.

Pants, Simplicity 5220

I sewed quite a bit today, but not entirely on the SWAPs. My daughter had a friend over to spend the day, and wore her twist top and denim shorts (they may be worn out before the SWAP is done). The first words out of Friend's mouth, after the polite salutations - "Your outfit is so cool, where did you get it?" Daughter and I feel very clever as the answer returns "Mum made it for me". I pass the teenager test (friend passed this Rubicon 3 weeks ago and is 13). Friend has gone home with her own new twist top in the remains of the fabric - one more completely out of my stash ( I hope her Mum likes the top as well, I would also like to pass the other mothers' test). It is so nice to be able to whip up a nice top. I think I am a knit convert.

I worked a very little on my V2925 #2 pants. I did some stay stitching, sewed inner leg seams, put in the invisible zip with my new zipper foot - so easy, then finished the crotch seam. That's it. My excuse was that I want to make a short lining for these pants. I had forgotten to pre-wash the lining fabric, and after I hand washed it in very hot water, it had to dry, and I thought I could work a little on the Junior SWAP. The rest of my sewing was on the Junior SWAP. I traced and tissue adjusted all the pieces we will need from her wardrobe pattern Simplicity 5220.

1. capri pants
2. sleeveless woven top
3. cheongsang top with mandarin collar
4. straight skirt

I cut out capri pants in navy blue cotton spandex stretch woven. This is a 70 cm x 150cm remnant from the stash, bought on sale at Lindcraft before the crash, and at least 5 years old. I think I had vague ideas of making a skirt from it. It is a medium weight and quite stretchy. I think there must also be some synthetic in it, although it is not labeled as a blend. I took a lesson from my previous cotton lycra pants experience and cut to her measurements with no ease, according to the finished garment measurements printed on the pattern. I stabilized the crotch seam with selvage, and will also do this for the waist seam when I attach the facing. I cut the facing with the stretch vertically, and bound the edge with bias binding - see the picture. All going well with inner seam, invisible zip (interfaced underneath), even edges etc. I then fitted the pants - this pattern is a weird cut.
You can see from the photo that I still had to take in a lot on the sides. The blue chalk mark shows the edges of the front pants pieces. The strange thing to me is that it is mostly the back that needs taking in. My daughter is not hard to fit in pants. Usually I can just sew them straight up with no changes. She does not have a flat backside or skinny legs which might explain all the extra fabric at the back. I checked that I had traced the pattern correctly, and I had. This will be an interesting pattern to review.
I have sewn up the side seams and put a little trim on the split bottom legs - this is not on the pattern, but an added extra. I will post a photo of this when the pants are finished.

SWAP items completed (not including 2 possibles made before jan 1)- 2 definite tops, 3 further possible tops, one definite pants, one possible pants - 7 items (and one in the pipeline)

Junior items completed (including 2 items made before Jan1) 3, (and one in the pipeline)

Junior SWAP

Here is a photograph of the twist top that set us off on a second SWAP. It is O.K. to do two, Julie from Timmel Fabrics posted that some people do 3 - 33 garments in 12 weeks is a lot. My daughter spent a lot of time today playing with fabric - I wonder where she gets that from? She wore her new top with the denim shorts I made her before Christmas. We were out all day shopping for the start of school next week - school shoes, covers for books, music books, groceries, the post office (it wasn't all for school), and the library. I didn't sew at all until after dinner, and then I only cut out a pair of pants, all set to sew, when I realized that I have only white invisible zippers, no dark colours and definitely not dark green. I will get stuck into something else tomorrow, and buy another zip on my way to work.

Another SWAP?

I had a very productive sewing day today, although the fan does tend to blow all my pattern pieces down the hall whenever I stop using my scissors as a paper weight - at least every 10 minutes. I played with knits. I had not used up 100% after all, there was a bit more under the bed, I so like my stash. I made several tops from my wardrobe pattern V2925 (pictured above), then moved on to Simplicity 3800 (pictured even further above), and while I was gleefully whipping up twist tops and making knickers with the scraps (inspired by lauralo's lingerie ( her blog is on her posts at artisianssquare) , but definitely not to the same standard) my older daughter came to sit with me in my sewing room, also known spuriously as her brother's bedroom (His bed,- yes, his room, - not quite yet.)
DD " You are making a lot of new things for yourself. I like all these new tops."
Me "I'm enjoying doing SWAP, it's great"
DD" I really like all the new clothes you made me before Christmas"
Me "I like them too."
DD " That twist top looks really nice, Mum, do you think I could have one?"
Me (thinking of Marji posting at artianssquare making a whole SWAP for her sister and feeling a bit guilty) "Sure" (thinking, that last top only took 30 minutes, this will be a snap). from further under the bed I pulled out some hot pink cotton knit with navy blue polka dots, courtesy of my mother's quilting group (i.e. the result of someone else clearing out their stash).

I made the short sleeved twist top from Simplicity 3800, scaled down to a size 4 and with a small bust adjustment for the 12 year old figure. It looked great, and I said so, as did her Dad, and her sister, who now wants one too. (Her brother was too busy playing with his truck to comment).

DD, reading the SWAP requirements ( in prime position behind my sewing machine) whilst I snipped off a few threads "You know Mum, if you put in my Christmas dress and the denim shorts you made me and this new top, it would be easy for you to do a SWAP for me too". Well you can't blame the girl, it is at least 3 weeks since I made her anything other than dinner.

This may be a good idea. We pulled out a lot of fabric, none in my colours, and mostly remnants that are much more likely to permit a garment for a slim 12 year old than they are to stretch around me. I truly want to reduce my stash, although mainly in order to make space for delicious new fabrics. At the moment we are thinking Simplicity Lizzie McGuire 5220 for the wardrobe pattern. I have just looked this up on the Simplicity website, but it is no longer in print, or available out of print, so I can't include a picture. This pattern has a Asian influence with a chongsang style top, a sleeveless top, capri pants, a skirt, a kimono style top/jacket and a handbag. The colours so far are denim and navy blue for the bottoms, and pink and white for the tops, possibly with a white knitted cardigan, for which I have the wool. I have already ordered some shirting fabric from Julie at Timmels Fabric that should fit in to the very preliminary plan, so I think this meets my qualifying purchase.

I have asked if doing two SWAPs is permissible, I have read that someone completed 2 in a previous year, so if the rules have not changed, I think it may be. I also am not sure if I can include a purchased item (I am thinking jeans, as DD fits nicely into RTW jeans) and a knitted item - a cardigan as a jacket. I will make up my mind when I get a reply. If I can enter the competition for DD, this means I have already completed 4 of 11 items for her, and there are still more than 2 months to go, so it is possible timewise.

I have completed 4 definite and 3 possible items for myself, without using a purchased or a knitted item, so my main problem for my own SWAP is finding pants fabric, and whether or not to attempt a jacket. I do have vague ideas of including a dress in my SWAP, even though I will not wear it to work, as I would love to copy a "smocked" linen Jag dress I bought in Melbourne. My version will have beautiful hand smocking and embroidery (at the moment, it is a vision in my head, and looks perfect, hence "beautiful"). I have the ideal fabric, but I will need at least a month to work on such a big project. I will see how I go. I have just looked at the Jag website to see if I could include a picture of my inspiration dress, but it is not there. I bought it in the January sales so it is probably very last season. Fortunately I am not at all fashionable.

I will look for the scanner programme disc tomorrow to see if I can get it working. I photographed my fabrics, but the camera has real trouble with the solid colours. My chocolate brown fabric looks a grey-white colour, and the camel fabric is almost green. I would like to make up digital storyboards for the plans.

Pants, Vogue 2925

Here are my alterations to the pants from V2925.

I have just managed to post my first attempt at a storyboard, which has been cancelled by the failure of the stretch woven pants from V8305 to remain even semi fitted after 3 hours wear. Today I did not work on rescuing the V8035 pants with refitting and stay tape, because they were in the wash. This was just as well, because I was not at all inspired to attempt this sure- to- be- difficult project. Instead, I revisited the woven pants from V2925. That's right, a different sure- to-be - difficult project, these being the pants I sewed the wrong way multiple times last night, thus eventually ensuring that they would not fit by sewing drastically inside the seam allowance in several places. Everything looks better in the morning. This morning I could not believe I'd experienced any difficulty in sewing these pants. There could not be an easier pair of trousers to construct (elastic waistbands are not found on trousers, just pants). It did take me until 10am to work up the fortitude to unpick the sewn and overlocked seams. The fabric is a very loose weave linen/viscose/silk that looks a bit like soft, finer hessian bag and frays incredibly, so the unpicking was not entirely stress free, and I ended up losing some precious seam allowance. However, the pants fit. In fact the pants fit pretty well, even though they are more snug than originally planned. I have started a review of the pants on patternreview.com, but have not pressed the pants or taken any pictures, so it is still in draft mode.I worked very hard on the fit of these pants. I made 2 toiles. My final alterations were :
1. Redraw side seam for size 12 waist, size 16 hip
2. Add another dart at the back and widen dart at the front to fit from hip to waist.
3. Lower waistline by 2.5cm, front and back.
4. Slash at back centre seam to add about 5 cm to this seam without altering side seam.
5. Redraw crotch curve at back to deepen, as shown in Morzel's review of this pattern.
6. Add 1.5cm to inner front leg seam at crotch.
7. Add 2 cm to inner back leg seam at crotch.
8. Taper outside leg seam ( The straight leg would have been fine for wearing fitted or tucked in tops, but I want to wear these pants with a semi fitted blouse outside the waistband, and the quite wide leg made me look big(ger) all over)
9. Shorten legs a little. (I have short legs, and these pants are to wear to work with flats.
10. I also used an invisible zip at the back, rather than a regular zip.
I have taken some pictures to show these changes, but they are still on the camera.
After this hard work on the pants, I had great fun making knit shirts. I had a few metres of chocolate cotton lycra knit that I bought on ebay from Fabric Warehouse Sydney. I played with this with great success. I made the camisole/almost t shirt from V2925. It went together in about 30 minutes including cutting out and drawing the pattern on to interfacing. It looks great and took hardly any fabric, definitely not the 80cm it calls for on the back of the pattern. I made the size 12, which should have been a good fit from the high bust measurement and ease, but was actually a bit big. I have redrawn it to size 10 to try tomorrow. I will use this t for my SWAP, even though I am unlikely to wear it by itself for work. It will look good under the jacket if I can achieve one. I bought small amounts of gorgeous camel brown and a deep red knit from Kerryn's fabric World last week for this item. They were very pricey, but have washed really well and are lovely colours.
After this I escaped from the SWAP for a while. Yesterday I went to my local fabric shop to buy an invisible zip, and check out woven fabric for pants now that I have scrapped the camel and the chocolate stretch woven pants. There was nothing unless I want Navy Blue drill (school uniform fabric). There were a few possibilities for shirts, but shirt fabric is a fruitful area of my stash and does not need attention. To cut a long story short there is a 50% off sale on Simplicity. I could not resist and bought Simplicity 3800 in order to try a twist top. This was fun and easy. Again, the 12 was too big, but I can wear it with a camisole underneath if it ever cools down enough. I will make this again tomorrow in a 10 if there is sufficient chocolate knit left. This is my only knit fabric other than some terrible, cheap looking white and blue interlock that my mother gave me because her quilt group couldn't use it. I must learn to throw out these fabrics as soon as she finishes her visit. Once it is in my cupboard I seem to be incapable putting fabric in the bin. At least I am using lots of rubbish fabric for all these toiles.