Off the Clock

Mallory helping with sorting the pattern pieces  I haven't been much of a skirt or dress girl for many years.  I work six days a week in a strictly jeans environment, even though I occasionally go all out with a pair of cargo pants.  Then I generally tend to continue the jeans theme or even jammies on my day off.  So I have to say that I was really glad to see skirts and dresses coming back into style, and have been determined to wear them more this year - even if it is just to the grocery store. Mallory holding things down in case of a sudden strong wind I really like the maxi trend and was very happy to see it being worn locally.   McCalls 6966 seemed to fit the bill for a casual maxi with some interest.  It is a pretty basic skirt to put together. I bought a basic polyester striped knit, cheap and cheerful.  The problem for me is that the pattern pieces are so big that I initially laid it out on the floor.  My arthritis soon put up a major argument to that plan,

I know I made a dedicated post for New Look 6735 , but I just had to show off this fabric.  It's one of the fabrics I bought with my coupon from Fabricland.  It is a medium weight knit synthetic of some sort with a bit of lycra.  It feels beautiful to the touch and is a nice weight for a fall/winter top, but what I love most is that colour!  I would call it a burnt orange, but it is absolutely delicious. I took the time to trace the grainline because (a) I really like this fabric and didn't want to screw it up and (b) because I thought it would be obvious if it is off grain because of the microscopic striping in the knit.  Having said that the striping made it very easy to trace the grainline (actually the cross-grain line) with the use of my lighted magnifying glass. The other change I made was to shorten the pattern.  Now that I have a coverstitch machine I find I only use a 3/4" hem turned once rather than the 1 1/2" hem allowance on knit patterns.  So I&

I'm not very happy with two recent tops I've made. Both of them have bust details and both of them look a little... frumpy. When comparing them to my standard tee they definitely left something to be desired. If I can't feel good wearing them I won't wear them. So I pulled out my pattern for NL6735 and started hacking away. First I decided to have at New Look 6940 .  I began by taking in the sides to match 6735 which meant taking it in by more than an inch each side for a total of 4".  This really helped keep the empire seam where it is supposed to be instead of it riding up.  Then I shortened it by about 4".  I probably should have only chopped off 3" but it's done now and I can live with it.  I think it is much better proportioned. Then, feeling inspired, I decided to take New Look 6977 in an inch each side, again for a total of 4".  And again, the bust gathers seem to sit better without riding up so much.  Not to mention that

Alternative post title: "I Should Learn to Listen to My Mother" Not the most flattering top I've made I've made New Look 6940 before although I didn't blog it. Previously I made version B ( shown here under the cardigan ) which is quite flattering, but wanted to give view C a try with its horizontal and vertical gathers at the bust. Mom thought it looked frumpy. I thought it was a cute little summer top. What could go wrong? I guess the first problem is a fitting problem. It seems that tops with a detail focus at the bustline generally are too short on me. This is a perfect example; if I'm not constantly pulling it down the top rides up over my bust as it's starting to here. The second problem is that the soft draping on the front that I thought would be good to hide my tummy ended up just looking - oh, I don't know, frumpy? About the only redeeming quality of this top is the centre seam in the back that gives a nice shape in spite of the l

Any Monte Python fans out there?  Anyway, I was prewashing a couple of lengths of my new fabric when I suddenly heard a whole lot of banging and bouncing and general wreckage coming from my laundry room last night.  I RAN down there and found this... Everything from the top of the machine had been thrown on the floor and the rubber door seal was all twisted.  Now I've played this game before.  My last front loading washer died when my son overloaded it with about 20 pairs of jeans and tried to run it regardless.  It didn't end well. The first thing I did was look up the warranty information.  I had purchased the five year extended warranty - yay!  But it expires... last January.  Boo! I was going to bite the bullet and call in a serviceperson but thought I've got nothing to lose and it is probably a loose spring (from previous experience).  A google search quickly gave me the info I needed to break into this bad boy, usually the most intimidating part of fixing app

Yes, that's a new name at the top of the blog.  I've never been very enthusiastic about the old name, it was just a space filler.  I tried to think of something more appropriate to what my blog is about.  Yes, it's about sewing.  But it's also about knitting, my garden, my pets, vacations, or anything else that has nothing to do with work.  And that's the key - it's about my time away from work: off the clock. Now with that out of the way, let's talk about New Look 6107.  I stopped in at the fabric store yesterday to get some swimsuit elastic and a button for  the beige cardigan .  This stretch denim was calling my name and a meter ended up coming home with me.  I've been wanting a casual summer skirt and I figured this fabric would fit the bill. I am quite happy with all of the New Look patterns I have tried, and this one was no exception.  The instructions were easy to follow and my size fit right out of the envelope.  I did change the zipper

I ALWAYS prewash my fabrics before sewing them.  I think this makes a lot of sense so that I don't literally wash away a lot of hard work through shrinkage or other laundry nastiness.  But the cardigan above?  Did NOT get prewashed. I have been having trouble sleeping and was up sewing from 3am until 9am making the first cardigan and tank top .  I had plans to go to the Bluesfest that evening and hadn't yet decided what to wear.  The forcast was for hot earlier in the evening (80's) and then cooling right off (mid 60's) so I knew I wanted to bring a cardigan or something, but the one I had just made seemed to much of a fall fabric for a summer festival.  On the other hand I had this brand new stash of knits including the beige that screamed "make me into a cardigan!" at me.  I decided I needed a nap more than I needed a new cardigan so I went to lie down.  When I got up I panicked and decided I REALLY need this new cardigan - immediately!  So I did lol.  

The busy pattern of the fabric makes it hard to see the details of this outfit, but trust me when I say that it looks fabulous in real life.  I have wanted to replicate Angela Wolf's twin sets but haven't been able to find a pattern for a cardigan that fits like hers. Jalie has a couple but one has huge built in pockets and the other has pleats.  I just want clean lines.  Angela says she is hoping to release a pattern at some point but I am too impatient to wait so I came up with my own.  Or rather, I modified New Look 6735 . I used the tee pattern (a tried and true pattern for me) for the sleeveless top and cut off the 5/8" seam allowances at the sleeve openings.  I then took off a further 5/8" from the top half of the sleeve openings.  I finished them with banding the same as the neckline. The cardigan in this pattern is pretty big and mostly shapeless, using a belt to bring it in at the waist.  The sleeves are a bit wider than I wanted, presumably to accomm

Edited July 16, 2014:   My credit card refund was process the other day and today I received a package in the mail with two lengths of fabric, one black and one grey as requested.  My guess is that Sherri of Michaels's Fabrics hand picked them herself because they are absolutely gorgeous.  I am flabbergasted by the amazing customer service I've received from these folks.  They went well above and beyond what would be expected to correct a simple oversight.  I can't recommend them enough and I look forward to doing business with them again.  _____ I want to clarify this post right off the bat - there was a problem with my order but Michael and Sherri at Michael's Fabrics have bent over backwards to make it right for me.  I would definitely do business with them again. Yes, I am easily persuaded.  I read about a lot of folks ordering fabric online and have tried to stay away because of shipping costs.  I finally decided to bite the bullet and ordered a special pa

I decided it was time to try out a new tee.  I have been having so much success with New Look 6735  that it's hard to switch over to something untried.  I wanted to try this particular pattern because I thought the raglan sleeve would be a good opportunity to use up some scraps from previous tees, so technically this tee is a freebee.  My final verdict?  Meh. I think the gathers in the front should be lower - centered over the bustline instead of running to the neckline.  IF I were to make it again I may just leave those out entirely and redraft the neckline. The raglan sleeves are too big and gapey (is that a word?).  This is a common complaint of this pattern at Pattern Review .  I tried to compensate by sewing a vee into the underarm seam similar to the dart at the neckline.  This resulted in a wierd bulge underneath that remains hidden as long as I don't raise my arms for anything.  Sigh.  On her version my mom tried to compensate by adjusting the top seam of the s

I have decided to put up a dedicated post for New Look 6735 .  Because I have made so many versions of it, it really doesn't require a new post every time I make one.  This will make it easy for me to track my projects with this pattern.  I have made this up now as the 3/4 sleeve tee, the cap sleeve tee, a sleeveless version and the cardigan (although heavily modified).  The fact that I have certainly got my money's worth out of this pattern makes the cheap bastard in me very happy!  So here we go (with newest versions on top): With narrower neckline Blog post Blog post Blog post Blog post Blog post Blog Post Blog post Blog post Blog post Blog post Blog post Blog post Blog post