Category: Erin_Sewing

Partial view of a Simplicity 5723, with bonus authors!

Erin15 Comments

DARE_conference_May2012

Thanks to @PeterSokolowski, here’s a photo of another Simplicity 5723 — this one was taken at a lovely event for the Dictionary of American Regional English earlier this month in Madison, Wisconsin. The two spiffy gents in the photo are Simon Winchester and Jesse Sheidlower — so you get some bonus wordsmith-candy  in your (ir)regularly-scheduled dress post today.

The dress is in this fabric:
rose hash print

I’ve had this fabric since November, 2008, or at least, that’s the datestamp on the file on my hard drive. Could have been earlier, but this looks suspiciously like a saved-it-from-the-eBay-listing photo. It’s a nice heavy linen-y fabric, without actually (I think) being linen, which is my favorite way for fabric to be linen-y.

When I have a minute and the dress is not in the wash (I’ve worn it every week since I’ve made it, I’m pretty sure) I will take a picture of it on the dressform, so you can see how nicely I matched the (broken, which makes it easier) plaid across the skirt panels. Until then, you will have to take my word for it.

My only problem with this dress is that I don’t (yet) have a cardigan to match it. It’s not any of the various pinks and maroons I have in my Cardiganary (that’s my new word for “cardigan library”), and I haven’t started my ambitious new project of carrying around a swatchbook of all the fabrics of dresses I have made so that I can match cardigans anytime, anywhere. (My current process is to just say “eh, maybe it matches?” and buy the cardigan. Which has not yet ended happily, especially in the very tricky “teal” family of colors.)

You also can’t see in the photo that this dress looks nice with a very skinny black patent belt. Belts are my new cardigans, I’m now trying to amass them in every color. (This can only end in tears.)

Olive Drab Simplicity 5723

Erin5 Comments

I have a couple more Simplicity 5723 exemplars to post — here’s one, in a dim and fuzzy photo:
Simplicity 5723

The pockets on this one are lined in camouflage:

Simplicity 5723

Ignore the unclipped threads, if you please. They’re gone now …

Simplicity 5723

That’s more what the color looks like — it’s green denim from my trusty friends at FabricMart Fabrics.

I’ve been wearing this one with a bright orange sweater and belt — that’s my idea of fun. This dress in denim is a dream to wear, very comfortable yet stiff enough to hold its shape. I have some maroon denim that will soon find an incarnation in this pattern, and I’m really, really toying with the idea of a white denim dress. I don’t think I’ve had an all-white dress since high school graduation. I’m completely sure that after ten minutes on my person, it would no longer be an all-white dress, yet still I persist in this fantasy of a white denim dress. Talk me out of it?

A new favorite dress, and a new favorite size.

Erin15 Comments

I have a new favorite dress pattern. Made up, it looks like this (excuse the fuzzy picture):
Simplicity 5723

Which isn’t really anything like the pattern illustration, is it?
Simplicity 5723

I did add pockets, ganking them from Simplicity 1577, which is essentially the same dress:
Simplicity 5723 pocket

I also changed the pattern to have a side (rather than a center-back) zipper, and I shortened the sleeves. But other than that (Mrs Lincoln …) it’s that pattern. (The fabric is another piece from that trip to Japan — better picture at that link.)

The more eagle-eyed among you will notice that this pattern is a half-size pattern, and so that Simplicity 1577 is, too. Half-sizes are my new favorite, favorite, favorite thing, because, wonders of wonders — I don’t have to alter these half-size patterns. Not one bit, not one jot. It turns out that (unsurprisingly, since I AM a middle-aged woman) that patterns sized for middle-aged women who themselves have a bit of a middle fit me very, very nicely. They’re a bit matronly (duh) and harder to find, but man oh man, the pleasure of just CUTTING SOMETHING OUT WITHOUT MEASURING AND REDRAWING is a truly pleasurable pleasure, indeed.

It’s almost enough to make me try to lose three inches from around my waist so as to fit in to non-half-size (saying “full size” doesn’t really work here, does it?) patterns in the same bust size. It’s that awesome.

How awesome is it? Well, I’ve made two more of these dresses *and* have another one cut out and just waiting to be finished. Another reason this dress is a new favorite:  it’s SO FAST to make! It’s also extremely comfortable and easy to wear — just throw on a cardigan and a belt and you’re done. (And it looks good with loafers.)

Pictures of the other two are forthcoming …

A little bird told me

Erin10 Comments

During my blog-hiatus I did not stop sewing, oh no. I actually tore through quite a few patterns (literally and figuratively, ulp):
Butterick 6820

This is Butterick 6820, and I’ve made at least the bodice of it once before, but was always scared off from making the skirt by the fullness and the patch pockets. But … it’s always best to tackle things you’re scared of head-on (right?) so I took a deep breath and went for it. Here are those tricky pockets (which turned out to be not so bad):

Butterick 6820

This bird fabric is part of the stash I bought in Japan; the red fabric is the same as that bright red dress I made a while back (there was more than enough left over for the facings here). The reds matched so well, I couldn’t resist!

Here’s a closeup of the collar:
Butterick 6820 collar

And I didn’t have a red invisible zipper, or a mustard one, so I went old-school and used a metal zipper. This will probably confound anyone who tries to date this dress at some later point. Sorry, clothing historians!
Butterick 6820 side

That is most definitely not the best zipper I’ve ever put in … I will probably take it out and replace it at some point. It’s also scratchy (as metal zippers are wont to be).

Here’s the rear view:
Butterick 6820 back

This is a fun dress to make and wear, but I’m not sure it will see a lot of use, either as a pattern or in this incarnation … those winged sleeves just don’t work well under a cardigan. Maybe I’ll pull this pattern out again next time I find some bird fabric I love …

And we're back!

Erin8 Comments

Sorry for the long delay in posting … there was this thing, and then this other thing, and then I had to switch to WordPress (which is a thing in and of itself), and then I did a bunch of sewing (watch this space for pictures, coming soon) and well, you know how it is.

The sidebar over there (–>) is still under construction; let me know if there are any links you’re missing. Ditto broken image links … I’ll be re-linking all the pictures to Flickr sometime soon-like.

While I’m getting organized to take more pictures of dresses, here’s a sullen picture of me (taking pictures of myself makes me sullen) in a new version of this dress:

Self-portrait: Erin scowling

The fabric is some Liberty bought yonks ago in the UK. The dress actually makes up really nicely in Liberty, something about the tucks. Putting in a three-inch hem helps it hang well, too.

Anyway: hi! I missed you guys! What’s new with you?

Another 1577

Erin9 Comments

I still can't seem to stop with Simplicity 1577. I made this one a while back:

It's from some of the fabric I bought on my last trip to Japan. It's a very, very fine-wale plaid corduroy, almost a velveteen.

Sorry for the dark photos — dark dress, dark room:

 

Simplicity 1577

Matched plaids on the front skirt! (This was easier than I thought, I used instructions from the Colette Sewing Handbook.)

Simplicity 1577

Not so much matching on the back — I ran out of fabric! But then again, if you're spending enough time looking at my rear to notice that the plaid isn't precisely matched, there's another discussion we should be having.

 

Simplicity 1577

The fabric was heavy enough that I lined the collar with a lightweight black fabric, instead of self-lining it: 

 

Simplicity 1577

And a slightly brighter view of the bodice: 

 

Simplicity 1577

This fabric is so soft and comfortable to wear — it's lighter-weight than it looks, so the skirt doesn't quite hang as nicely as in the denim and seersucker versions. But it's not a huge difference. It does pick up quite a bit of lint (especially in the wash). 

I think it may be time for another one … I have some heavy corded cotton that might be just the ticket!

One Very Red Dress

Erin16 Comments

I tried Simplicity 6894 again, this time in a completely unforgiving, show-every-mistake solid red poplin: 

I'm not sure why I picked this red, other than that I started working on this dress around Valentine's Day, and I had the fabric hanging around. (I don't wear a lot of red.)  

I made the pockets (adding them was my main alteration to this pattern) a little deeper this time. I don't think I have it 100% right yet — the opening is still a little high.

This photo came out funny, but the zipper didn't: 

 

The wrinkles across the back are mostly due to my dress form not being set to my form any more. I changed the settings to take a picture of a much smaller vintage dress and still haven't gotten them back to "normal".  (The tangle of cords there on my computer desk is very much "normal".)

picnikfile_4GXF99

Whose advice was it to sew the tucks first, then cut out the bodice? It was great advice, made for very fast construction! 

The buttons here are vintage, have had 'em forever. They were my second choice — the first was a set of red, white, and blue buttons that I think I snagged in a fabric swap before I left Chicago. But the red was just a little off … this red is *perfect*. 

I gave this a test wear last Saturday — with gray Keds (see below). It was slightly too cold for bare legs in the San Francisco Mission in February, but as long as I sat in the sun (and had a copy of New Scientist to read) I felt fine … 

IMG_0088

I'm pretty sure I'll make this again … maybe even in another solid color! 

Another Favorite Redux

Erin18 Comments

Remember Simplicity 1577? I made it in heavy seersucker a while back, and have nearly worn that one to death, so I figured it was time for another version: 

Although I'm not a jeans person, I do like heavy denim dresses. They feel very utilitarian-competent. I'm pretty sure I could shingle a roof, raise chickens, or rivet a fighter jet in this dress. There is one problem in making them — you can't self-face collars in heavy denim, so you have to find some other fabric to use:

Good thing I have lots of Liberty scraps lying around, right? 

Ditto for the pockets: 

It's a dark black denim (cue Michael Penn) and I've been wearing it with bright long-sleeved t-shirts in rose or teal underneath. With stripey socks. So I look a little like a Raggedy-Ann doll in it, but it's so much fun to wear that I don't care.

I've also made this in black plaid low-wale corduroy (part of the Japan fabric haul) — pics of that soon!

Simplicity 2180: Maybe It's Worth It

Erin19 Comments

So remember the tsuris I had over Simplicity's 2180 printable/downloadable pattern? It was all rendered moot, because I wandered into JoAnn's on a day when all Simplicity was $1 or something ridiculous, and I thought: "the hell with all that tape", and bought two copies in two different size ranges. (Which is what I should have done to begin with.)

Anyway, I opened it up and looked at it and thought, "oh hey, this looks easy". Note: whenever you think "oh hey this looks easy" about a pattern, especially latish at night, and just fire up an episode of RadioLab, assuming you can put your brain on autopilot, get ready to get that seam ripper out. Which is what I did with this dress. Here is a short list of things I put together upside down:

— the upper neck collar piece (twice)

— the piping for the upper neck collar piece

— the midriff

— one pocket (put in on wrong side of skirt)

Honestly, I know Jad and Robert are mellifluous as all-get-out, but I have NO IDEA why this was so hard for me to put together. My mind was not just wandering, it was on an extended gadabout with time out for some lollygagging, and was toting a bindlestiff while whistling "King of the Road."

Oh, and the best part? After I got it all put together I put it on and realized it was EXACTLY 5/8 inch too tight in the bodice. Five-eighths of a measly inch is the worst amount to be off by. It's too wide a gap to just hope the zipper will accommodate you, and just narrow enough that you can RIP OUT EVEN MORE SEAMS ARRGH and resew them to get the necessary ease. Which is what I did.

Anyway, enough whining, where's the dress?

 

So there's no pink piping on the midriff (which had been part of the plan) because I had to use it to get the Neck Piping: Take Two done. Although it didn't get done that well — the vee in the back (although really, really pretty ON) is a bit tricky, so it's much more bobble-y than I'd like:

 

Here's the front: 

And here's the oh-god-don't-have-a-cupcake side seam: 

 

photo.JPG

The verdict? Unproven. I've only tried this on (haven't really worn it yet) and I haven't made a version in the right bodice size, either (although I have one cut out). I kind of want to widen the midriff by two inches, too … 

On the plus size, the neckline really is lovely on — it stands out a bit from the body — and the pockets are great. It seems like a really wearable dress (will report back once I, you know, actually wear it). 

This fabric is left over from a Heidi I made last year (I can't find the picture, weirdly) and I think I still have three more yards! It is the neverending piece of black floral vaguely vintage-y-looking cotton (okay maybe I did buy ten yards …)

Return (Slightly Elevated, Not Yet Triumphal) of the Shirtdress

Erin29 Comments

I think I've posted about this before, but I can't find it: Simplicity 6894.

Simplicity_6894

Anyway, I made it. Here it is:

 

I chose such a busy print because 1) I hadn't done tucks before and figured that if they were uneven, uneven on a bed of slightly abstract ochre roses was the way to go, and 2) I have had this fabric SO LONG that it has been giving me reproachful looks. Especially as new yardage has continued to come in … it was well past the eye-rolling stage, and into heavy sighs and significant eyebrow-raising. So. Now it's ready for its close-up:

 

You can see a little of the red thread I used to thread-mark the buttonholes. The buttons are vintage, I have no idea where I got them, either. This is not their first rodeo — they had little bits of cloth and thread on them that I had to remove. Looks like I cut them off whatever they had been on before. (Or maybe I bought them that way? My buttons are not what you would call "organized.")

The fabric is very lightweight, just a couple steps up from voile, so I did a very deep blindstitch hem. [PHOTO NOT AVAILABLE] 

Oh! I added pockets, slash hip pockets: 

And in lieu of my usual "here's the side zipper" picture (which is nearly invisible in this print, anyway, but you can see it here if you are so inclined) I present to you instead the "here's the set-in sleeve cap." Not my finest work, but not the worst I've ever done, either:

 

(My set-in-sleeve-setting life changed when I finally started taking the time to sew from the top center of the shoulder down to the underarm seam on each side, instead of trying to sew the whole thing in one go from underarm seam to underarm seam.)

Verdict: A+, would sew again. This is not so hard to make (after I figured out the tucks, which look FAR more complicated than they actually are) and it's fun to wear. I felt like a 1960s schoolteacher all day, which is better than it sounds. It did end up being slightly too big (it's fine through the bodice, but I added too much ease for the pockets). I will go easier on the wearing ease next time. 

I have another shirtdress coming … one I'm very pleased with, and another one cut out. Oh, and a semi-traumatic encounter with Simplicity 2180, but I think we managed to hug it out. Stay tuned!