Sew Chaotically! ~ Summer project of scrap busting summer tops! And a study in hems...

Throughout the summer, I've worked on what turned out to be a fun and useful little project.  In an effort to do some stash/scrap busting and come up with some functional easy tops I got to play, practice different hemming/sewing techniques, and achieve my goal.

First up was the FREE pattern, Frances, from Fibre Mood.  

I used almost the last bit of this pretty blue crepe - more on that below!  It was first used to make Sew Liberated's Matcha Top back in 2018 ~ 

When they say this top is "loose fitting" - that is no exaggeration!  I ended up making size XS, though my measurements indicated size M per the instructions, and it is perfectly loose and flowy.  The pattern is designed to have the neckline dip lower in the back than the front.  Since I am not a fan of that, I just used the back piece for the front and front for the back!   It worked a treat!  I finished the neckline with home-made binding, made with leftover fabric bits from a skirt I made 20 plus years ago!  It is so pretty!  Due to fabric constraints I pieced the back.  Here, I used my rolled hem foot.  It provides a beautiful result, though you have to keep a very consistent placement of the fabric to the foot or you will have a bit of a mess. Stopping and starting can also be a challenge.  There are many good tutorials on using the foot so I won't even try to explain, but this was a good garment to practice on!

Next up was my attempt to salvage some fabric I used in making a bias cut skirt from one of the Big 4 pattern companies back in 2012.  Between my negligible sewing skills (I didn't start sewing in earnest until 2017) and the machine I had at the time (He was not kind to fragile fabrics!) - it was a disaster!!!!  The seams were a bungled mess and my handstitched hem wasn't much better.  I wore it as a beach coverup for a bit and then it languished in a box of scraps.  But, the fabric was still pretty and surely it could become something!  I took it apart and after combining some artful piecing with my TNT Tate Top, also generously free, from Workroom Social....

...Ta dah!!!  I think she's pretty!  I used bias binding made from some shirting that remained after hacking this York Top!  I machine stitched it on, but hand stitched it down.  For this one, given the bias pieces and fragility of the fabric, I u-tubed some tuts, and did a hand rolled hem.  It was surprisingly easy and fairly quick to do.  I think it was a good choice for this fabric.

This next top was perfect for the final smidge of the blue crepe above and a remaining silk panel, previously used in making a couple of Lindens by Grainline Studio back in 2017 ~

I used a new to me pattern and technique for creating a rouleau button loop or thin spaghetti strap ~ Maison Fauve's Panama.  I stitched a size 40, which is my usual in French patterns.  I probably could have gone down one size or taken in the side seams just a bit, but I wanted an easy fit so this worked out just fine.  The pattern came together very nicely!  The back finish on the bodice is so pretty!

Roo shared a tutorial with me in which a cord is stitched within your loop or strap for ease of turning such a narrow piece.  I didn't have an appropriate cord on hand, but did have this bit of a tie from a ready-to-wear garment (see pic below).  I used that and it worked very well!  After practicing here, I will no longer be put off when I see those pretty little rows of buttons done up with rouleau closures!  For this hem I chose a "baby" hem, which I've used before. There are many nice tutorials out there, but Marcy Harriell's of OonaBalloona fame, is really good!  Overall, I'm very tickled with this pretty little blouse.

View of hem from inside the garment...

...and the outside.

Another FREE pattern!  In The Folds/Peppermint, Peplum top.  I made my usual size D, lengthening the bodice by 3 1/2 inches.  The fabric is a bit left over after finally stitching the ubiquitous M7969 earlier this spring.  The fabric was probably purchased from Hancock's more than twenty years ago!!!  It is actually a lovely soft woven cotton.  Though it turned out to  be too warm to be worn much at that time, I'm sure it will get good wear soon. This little top on the other hand, has been great for summer and will move nicely into fall with a cardi on top.  Finished with bias binding and simple hem.

Since I was on a roll and there was the tiniest bit of this lovely Liberty of London fabric left from making Le Laboratoire Familial's Scarlett Blouse, what better use, than my old stand by?  Another Tate!!!  Pieced in the back and cropped, but just perfect for summer or layered come fall!  Also finished with bias binding and a conventional hem.

Between stitching up these tops, little bits and bobs for the Jammer, and back-to-school skirts for Roo, I've have really enjoyed creating these mostly "free" and useful pieces this summer.  It makes me happy to use all the remnants of precious fabric to stitch up something pretty and functional rather than have them languish in the bin.  Not to mention, nothing feels too precious to risk experimenting and learning on.  As an added bonus, my fabric stash and sewing area are now very neat, tidy and manageable! 

Sew and live chaotically! ~ les

Sew Chaotically! ~ Maison Fauve - The Sparrow Shirt! (And a little Tate Top out of the scraps!)

Maison Fauve has so many pretty designs.  Though the patterns are in French, between common sense, B's translation and in the case of the Sparrow - a sewing video on the site - they go together easily!  This past winter, I made several Bob Fauve - the cutest hat, easily stitched and FREE!!!  

On to The Sparrow, another early spring make from shirting purchased at Mood in what seems a lifetime ago!!!  As seen in the link, Sparrow comes in a male and female version.  Both with a hidden front button placket and lots of ways to individualize.  Mine has bracelet sleeves and a fixed cuff.  I may have to make one for B!!! Much like Orageuse and Republique du Chiffon, size 40 was perfect for me.

Isn't that collar detail the cutest????  And because I think the FREE Tate Top by Workroom Social is just PERFECT for summer - 

I made another with the remaining bit of shirting.  I can't begin to tell you how much wear it had!!!  This fabric is perfect for dressing up or down.  Check out either of these excellent pattern makers.  I know you won't be disappointed!  Happy sewing! ~ les

Travel Chaotically! ~ A strange and rambling trip that started in D.C.

October was busy!!!  After celebrating their marriage with Jamie and Roo, we took off - on a rather strange trip!  Yes, one that I concocted!!!  Though some things didn't turn out as planned (or imagined) it was still lovely to share it all together and with dear ones along the way!

Arriving at the airport to find that our flight was delayed for over an hour and changed to a smaller than advertised plane can't get you down when your outfit is comfy AND matches your luggage!!!  For you sewists, I'm wearing the Tate Top I made for fun at Roo's wedding along with these luscious linen Flint Pants!

In DC with no other mishaps.  Negotiated the subway with no problems, especially with directions from a kind and funny attendant, that B made laugh by initially asking, "Is this the DC zoo?"  However, once above ground walking to our hotel, the skies let loose with a POURING rain!  We got SOAKED!!!  As in water all the way through our shoes and some of our luggage!  UGH!!!!  Made it to our hotel pretty easily despite that.  Checked in via kiosk??!!! No peeps needed - apparently.  Then, the rain having subsided, took a little explore of M Street (in our wet shoes) to find dinner.

This was our reward!!!!  A lovely double rainbow and fun conversations about rainbows and ROYGBIV with other damp admirers!

Yummy dinner at El Canal.  Yes, the Margarita pizza was mine and I ate every bite!!!

We were rewarded with beautiful weather the next couple days and had a great walk along the canal, over to and through the Mall, and on to the Smithsonian!

An all me-made kind of day!  Vintage S6544 Pants, whose outer pocket was perfect for slipping your phone in and out of!,  Jean Jacket B5616  and  Grainline Studio Archer button-up!

We were greeted with pretty fall leaves...

...and mums that were celebrating with Roo and Jamie's wedding colors!

Remember when we thought Watergate was bad????

Remembering the fun of seeing these "creatures" with the kids years ago and wondering about a world filled with them ever so many years before that!!!!

A happy boy!  Yummy gambas, tortilla and pulpo at Bodega Spanish Tapas and getting to speak Spanish with the Texas/Mexican proprietor!

Off to the zoo!

Same pants, but you can see their amazing pocket a bit better.  Paired with Grainline Studio's Linden sweatshirt and rtw sweater today.  Feet a bit blistered and bunged up from walking so far in wet shoes.  But nothing a few band aids couldn't fix.

B loves zoos.  I have mixed feelings about them.  However, the DC Zoo is very well laid out and park like.  AND entrance is FREE as it is part of the Smithsonian.

My favorite menke!!!

This guy!  So beautiful.  Reminded me of the poem by Valerie Worth included in Eric Carle's book Animals Animals that I read to the kiddos:

Tiger ~ The tiger has swallowed a black sun.  In his cold cage he carries it still.  Black flames flicker through his fur.  Black rays roar from the centers of his eyes.

Our return walk home via a bike/running path along Rock Creek gave us a great view of these guys!

Wood ducks never look quite real!!!

Delicious falafels and humus!  So much that we had enough for breakfast!  A little weird, but not bad with tea!!!

Grateful for my Bentie and the beauty of rainbows!  Off to Maryland tomorrow!!! - Travel chaotically!!! ~les

Sew Chaotically! ~ MAKING deets! The DRESS!!! MOB outfit and decor!

The making begins!!!  Rose and I looked through my patterns, mainly for me to get an idea about shapes she liked, but she ending up picking one!  I had every intention of taking her pattern shopping among the "bridal" selections - but she insisted she was set - so we were off!!!

It started with the veil that dear Kay contributed.  It was attached to a strange plastic and lace "crown" which was not what Roo envisioned at all, so I removed it and covered the edges in a satin ribbon.  Later...

...a bit of the ribbon used for her dress was hand stitched on.

Two combs like this one were hand stitched, side-by-side, to the inner aspect to keep it in place.

This old Butterick pattern was Roo's pick.  However, instead of the sash, she requested a corset look.  With some yellow cotton sateen that had a bit of stretch, from Fine Fabrics in Atlanta - we were off!!!

While not usually one for making a toile, this was not my usual sewing circumstance!!  And it was a good decision!!!  My first invisible zip ever!  Not bad, not perfect.  Though the zip was cream not yellow, cause that's what I had!  I made a larger size (12) than I thought we needed - on purpose - so I could learn where to tweak it.  And then there was the 'corset'!  The first trick was deciding where to place and space the loops.  Not too difficult.  Then, what to use.  I hit upon the idea of tiny elastic cord.  The sort you might use to loop over a button for a closure.  I hand stitched them to the seam and used tape to hold them in place for machine stitching the side seams.

Seems okay!

Here they are.  Pretty cute.  Hand stitched.  Then the seam was machine stitched and serged.

And here we are!  Hmm....  Poor Roo touched one of the loops and was horrified that she had ruined her dress when it popped out completely.  Apparently the processing of serging/trimming the seams had done away with my hand sewing in which I had carefully punctured the elastic and the round little buggers had just rolled away from the needle during machine stitching.  Further, the few that remained intact did not work at all!!!  Elastic is stretchy - DUH!!!  So NOT a good idea for a corset.  The dress was WAY too big - it is much pinned here in a fitting, but that was what I expected.  AND ~ I learned that I had misunderstood the length Roo wanted for THE dress!!!  She wanted above the knee and I had envisioned tea length.  Not to worry!  That's what a toile is all about, right?  In the end, I removed all the elastics and fitted this dress, with a length just below the knee for this version resulting in a very wearable cute yellow dress!!

The veil was perfect and this is where we decided to add the purple ribbon.

Back to the drawing board for those loops!!!  I had plenty of 3/8 inch, white satin ribbon.  SEW!  I folded it in half and carefully stitched it together.  Then stitched along the folded side at the same distance for a balanced appearance and strength.

I love Neena so much!!!!

The "toil" and benefits of a learning curve...

Voila! Better invisible zip installation!  And more hopeful about the result of the ribbon loops, hand basted in place in this pic.

YES!  Much better.  They look neat.  Stay in place.  (A rather simple but important requirement!!)  And ~ they work!!!  Fabric is a Rosie selected material from JoAnn's - categorized as a stretch denim by them but seems more like a stretch cotton sateen to me with it's sleek and semi-glossy finish.  It is completely opaque which is good as she wanted neither a lining nor a slip!  And while it is thick enough to have a nice structure, it drapes very nicely.

I ended up making a straight 10 and still had to take in the sides a bit to get the perfect fit.  Mannie is not quite the same size as Roo, but you get the idea!

I added a few sweet details.  And there was a use for a bit of that elastic!  HA!

Despite reading grey in this photo...a little 'something blue' was embroidered at the hem.

In the end...

...sew perfect!!!!

 
It was such a lovely experience to create this dress with and for my Rosie.  While it certainly isn't for everyone, I am really glad I did it.  I also made it several months ahead.  Which meant I didn't have a time crunch and knew we could go buy her something lovely if this process didn't work out! 

Next up, runners for her tables:

Using a variety of paints we had on hand (some for fabric and some not) B and I did as we were directed by the artist bride and had great fun painting away on jute burlap in smoke/charcoal that I cut in strips to fit the tables from Fabric.com.  We thought about finishing the edges with a hem or some such, but in the end left them raw.

They turned out pretty, didn't they?

With all that out of the way, I had time to consider what the MOB was to wear!  HA!  Jamie's peeps were partial to green and Roo's to purple with a background of grey for both. 

I considered wearing this dress, The Bristol Dress by Orageuse , but I had long been thinking of a pattern hack based on this inspo:














Orageuse even provides the deets in a tutorial! 

Armed with this perfectly purple sateen from JoAnn's, (no stretch in this one) I made this!  The fabric had a lovely sheen, though in truth it was a little too stiff for this application to be its best, but it worked!  I will definitely be making another one in a material with more drape.

I paired my new Bristol top with some much worn, but never blogged, Flint Pants from Megan Nielsen in a lovely grey crepe.  They started out full length and were worn that way for about a year until I decided they would be more versatile with a bit of a chop. Since then they have gone on dates with dressy heels and to the grocery with tennies! 

For fun, with just a smidge of fabric left over, I made ANOTHER Tate Top, from Workroom Social, to wear when we decorated the venue and got ready at home.  (I know, I have a strange addiction to Tates!)

There you have it!!!

Being a maker is fun!  The DRESS, the decor, the MOB outfit!  Oh!!  And, I did play a pretty substantial role in making the bride!  HA!!!  It was all so lovely!  Ever so blessed to get to share in the making of this special day!  May the coming year bring more fun adventures to all of us! 

Sew and LIVE chaotically!  Much love ~ les