Category: Uncategorized

Nine Lives

Erin8 Comments

I don’t think I ever posted this one, did I?

Nine Lives dress

I made it for XOXO in Portland, around the same time as this dress. The bodice is Simplicity 1577 with the collar altered to be Peter Pan, the skirt is the skirt from Butterick 8500 (as seen here). The fabric is from Superbuzzy — this particular colorway is sold out, but they have a couple others.

Here’s a closer look at the bodice:

Nine Lives collar

And the side zip:

Nine Lives dress zipper

And the collar:

Nine Lives dress collar closeup

And the back:

Nine Lives dress back

It’s a little cutesy for someone of my advanced (and still advancing) age, but … [insert don’t-care-face here]. It’s definitely a fun dress, though. I wore it with a red cardigan and red Keds, and with the intention of eating lots of ice cream.

The Hundred Dresses: Day 5

Erin8 Comments

Ready for day five? Vroom!

Cars 1577 front view

This is a 1577; it’s from fabric I bought in Japan; and the cars on the collar are upside-down:
Cars 1577 collar

Which I’ve decided I like, in a way.

I wore this on Wednesday and really liked it (that was its first outing). I wore it with plain black Keds and a bright orange v-neck cardigan from Lands End Canvas.

The pocket linings and collar facing are just plain black cotton:
Cars 1577 pocket -- lining
Cars 1577 collar

Side zip? Why yes, there is one!
Cars 1577 side zip

And the back:
Cars 1577 back, take 2

As always, the 1577 is so easy to wear (probably because I make the pockets extra big). This fabric is a little bit heavier than quilting cotton (think light denim weight) and so this version seems a little sturdier.

Every time I make one of these, I think, “why don’t I make this dress all the time?” So maybe I’ll cut another one out in the next couple of weeks or so …

The Hundred Dresses: Day 3

Erin17 Comments

Let’s get right to it, shall we? Day 3 of the Hundred Dresses blogathon:

yellow stripe 9929 front view 2

Obviously, another 9929. (You’ll be seeing a lot of these.)

Here’s the back:
yellow stripe 9929 back view

You can probably just see that the yellow stripe is not completely flush with the edge of the hem. (I decided that I did not care.)

The side zip on this was a nightmare. The zipper broke, I had to take it out and put it in again, and … well, it was just UNFUN. So that is my excuse for why it is badly placed and why the waist seam doesn’t match up:

yellow stripe 9929 terrible zip view

 

What I like most about this dress is how nice it looks with red:
Yellow stripe 9929 -- front w/belt

The lighter stripes aren’t white, but a very pale gray, so I really like the red with it, it feels sophisticated to me for some inexplicable reason.  I bought this fabric from Fabric.com but it’s sold out now; there’s an olive/ivory colorway still available that’s really nice.

The pocket lining is from this shirting that I’ve been using as pocket linings for YEARS. It was so pretty yet really wrong for any pattern I ever tried to set it up with. But so right for pocket linings, because it has this subtle texture that feels really nice when you have your hands in your pockets.

yellow stripe 9929 pocket lining view

And of course it’s not really visible in this photo, but there’s a tonal thing going on with the gray of the pocket lining and the gray of the stripe. Trust me, it’s there. I pay an inordinate amount of attention to these things.
I’ve been really into stripey fabrics lately. (I’m not sure if it’s the influence of living so close to Alcatraz now or what.) There are a lot of stripes in the fabric hoard right now, and I’ve been ogling some more. There’s this Japanese fabric that is so perfectly Japan-does-France that it hurts … Anyway, how about y’all? Are you pro- or anti-stripe? (And remember, the idea that horizontal stripes broaden anything other than the mind is pure hokum, says SCIENCE.)

posted without comment

Erin47 Comments

Simplicity 3352 ... IN ACTION

 

Thanks to all of you who sent this. Also, I was lying about the “without comment” … how do you make these? On second thought, don’t tell me, I will spend way too much time making them if you tell me.

Today's Pattern Story: Butterick 9625

Erin6 Comments

Butterick9625

 

Blue: Well, I told her. But would she listen? No. I even offered to take her shopping for one.

Yellow: I know! You’ve been a saint. Nobody else would have taken as much trouble. I mean, it’s ridiculous for her not to believe we all have invisible couches.

Black: There! In the sky! It’s Superman!

[Pattern on Etsy from Sandritocat.]

I am never, ever, ever, ever, ever putting this thing together

Erin30 Comments

I went through a couple of Giant Plastic Tubs of Doom before my recent move, and realized that there were some alterations projects, UFOs, and just plain WTFs that had been languishing, untended and uncompleted, for two moves now.

Looking through the bins, I realized that a lot of these projects felt like obligations, rather than opportunities. Time to LET GO.

If you’re having trouble letting go of some projects, here are some of the handy rules I used:

  • Did I think about this garment, even once, with anticipation, since it was put in the bin? If not, OUT.
  • Was this supposed to be a present for someone? Did they know about it? If not, OUT. If they did know about it, offer to take them out for ice cream in lieu of project. Win-Win. And … OUT.
  • Would fixing this garment involve taking it completely apart, and then figuring out if it could be saved? If so, OUT.
  • Am I saving this because I think that someday I will find a pattern that will use the fabric that I will carefully salvage from around the stained/ripped/worn parts? If so, cut it up for bias binding & pockets RIGHT NOW and be done with it. OUT.
  • Even if I finished this project, would I need to be a significantly different size than I am RIGHT NOW to wear it? If so, OUT.
  • Can you even find the instructions (where applicable)? If not, OUT.
  • Is this project “too good to toss,” yet just makes me yawn? OUT. Donate it asap, and think about how happy someone else will be to pull it from the racks of the thrift store.
  • Relatedly, if I did not already own this project/item/garment, would I buy it for $2 at a yard sale? No? OUT.
  • If this garment were magically finished by the brownies tonight, would I be super-excited to wear it tomorrow? If not, OUT.

I did save a few things from the pile — a few garments that need Pocket Upgrades, but mostly stuff that just needs buttons or a new zipper, since those are easy to bang out. (I’ve got a pleasant afternoon of button-shopping ahead of me some Saturday … )

Should we declare this Project Amnesty Week? Got a zombie project moaning at your brain? (Remember that there’s this thing called the Zeigarnik effect “the nagging feeling that you’ve left a task incomplete” that will wear on you FOREVER until the task is done.) I hereby declare that you can donate it, break it down for parts, give it away, leave it on someone’s doorstep in the middle of the night with a note that says “please love this project” or even (where possible) compost it. Whatever you need to do to get it off your mental stack, you can do it. No judgment, no guilt. Go forth and tub no more!

Such Cool Fabric

Erin17 Comments

cool_eyelet

Isn’t it, though? I wish this were yardage, but unfortunately it’s a vintage dress. (I say “unfortunately”, because it’s in pretty bad shape.) [Thanks to Robin for the link !]

I was unpacking all my fabric over the weekend and even though there’s quite a bit of it, it hasn’t really sated my fabric-love. I think having lots of fabric actually creates a desire for EVEN MORE fabric, since you start thinking “oh I’d love this weight but in this pattern and wouldn’t it be great if …” Lately I’ve wanted (and not been able to find):

  • large (like, 2″) gingham check in gray/white
  • large (like, 4″) red stars on a pale blue background
  • a cute conversation print of tiny red and gray tools on a mustard background (not “Welcome to the curtains for my little boy’s room!” tools, but like those 1930s prints that are so adorable). I want little hammers and screwdrivers and hacksaws …

I know I should just um, find another eight hours in the day and teach myself textile design, but I haven’t found those hours for all the other stuff I need eight extra hours for. And anyway, while looking for those fabrics that don’t exist, I found this one and this one (and this one and this one), and they’re all really nice! (Although I only bought one …)

What’s the most heart-stoppingly gorgeous fabric you’ve found recently? (I’m asking for a friend.)

 

A few brief impressions of a new Echino 9929

Erin10 Comments

I finished that Echino 9929 I postulated a while ago. I’m quite pleased with it but I haven’t managed to take a full-on picture yet. Here are a few glimpses for you!

The zipper (notice my lovely, even basting and careful clipping of loose threads from the waist seam — uh, actually, not so much):

love a perfectly matching zipper tape

A fuzzy view of the skirt:

Echino 9929 in progress
Bright pink pockets:
inadvertently Georgia O'Keeffe-y

 

I’ll see if I can’t post a pic soon, I’m definitely wearing it this week!

What's the Fuss! (Or, how not to write about zippers.)

Erin34 Comments

I made Simplicity 2226 this weekend (pics coming soon) and it’s a nice pattern — very straightforward, which is good as it’s intended for beginners. (I liked it because I wanted something that in my head I was calling “a Modcloth-esque bike-friendly skirt” — something that looked kind of kicky and cute, but had good pockets and wasn’t so full that I had to worry about it getting caught in my bike spokes.)

Because it was so simple, I pretty much ignored the instructions. (At this point, I can make a waistbanded skirt in my sleep. Actually, if I could be a sleep-sewist, that would be the best thing ever. Wake up to find myself hunched over the sewing machine, having just finished hemming something? Awesome!)

But in folding up the instruction sheets to shove them back in the envelope, my eye fell on this:

what's the fuss!

 

INSTRUCTION WRITERS: DO NOT DO THIS.

Leaving aside the slightly unidiomatic “what’s the fuss,” telling someone “oh yeah this thing you heard was hard is just a matter of simple steps” is step one on the list of ways to make people 1) fail and 2) feel bad about themselves for failing.

Because, honestly, zippers don’t just “appear complicated”, they ARE complicated. They require you to have both spatial eptness and patience, which are two things that it took me years to develop as a sewist. Sure, putting in a zipper is simple, but simple ain’t necessarily easy.

I’m not saying that beginners shouldn’t attempt zippers! I think you absolutely should — I think everybody should. Zippers for all! But underselling the difficulty is not the way to inspire confidence in beginners — because when they screw up (and they most likely will, I end up unpicking zippers at least ten percent of the time and I’ve been doing this for DECADES) they won’t think “oh hey zippers are hard, let me cut myself some slack and try again,” they’ll think “oh hey the instructions said this was simple and I screwed it up and oh noes I will never learn to sew!”

Lest you think I am overstating this, I regularly have this conversation:

Would-be sewist: “Did you really make that dress? I would love to learn to sew! I tried to make a skirt once … but I couldn’t put in the zipper right.”

Me: “Zippers are hard! They take a lot of patience.”

WBS: “I guess I just don’t have the knack!”

Me: “It’s really just practice.”

WBS: ::disbelieving stare::

It’s much better to be upfront about it. “Zippers can be complicated, but with careful attention and patience you can get one inserted straight on the first try 90% of the time.” I’d also include a list of things you can do to make zipper-insertion less painful, like hand-basting (some people have luck with gluestick basting, I’ve heard), making sure you have a good zipper foot, always sewing in the same direction on both sides, marking where seams should cross on both sides of the zipper tape (I always do this, it makes a huge difference in getting waist seams to line up), increasing the seam allowance if necessary, and so on. (Has anyone written a “Troubleshooting Your Zipper Insertion” blog post or YouTube tutorial yet? That would be genius.)

TL;DR summary: telling people something is simple makes them feel stupid if they don’t get it right the first time. Telling people something takes hard work but is worth it makes them feel great, even if they get sub-par results. (Psychology geeks: this is probably related to the “Fixed mindset/growth mindset” paradigm.)