V8346 - Muslin Adjustments

It's hard to believe but I've managed to to all the adjustments suggested on the coat sewalong :

1) High Round Back - I raised the neckline 1-1/4" (sliced the back just under the seam line at CB, lifted the CB up and basted muslin fabric into the wedges)

2) Bust Point too high - Low Bust Adjustment - I lowered the bust point 1-1/4" (too chicken to cut the pattern tissue, from the side back piece I traced the pattern of the bust onto tracing paper, used the grainline of the side back as placement, shifted the template down and traced the new lines onto the muslin, merging with the original seam lines just before the top of the side back piece and the waistline.

3) Waist too Tight - let out 1/4" at each side seam - total 1" gained ('may' need a bit more - once I try it on with a winter weight sweater). Edit - Yup, needed a little more room - let out 1/4" on all 4 princess seams as well - another 2" gained.

4) Waist too Low - raised the waist line 1" (traced a line 1" up and folded original waistline up to meet the new line, basted the seam). Edit - front waist still too high. Raised back 1-1/2" to the side seams. Raised front 1" at CF tapering up to 1-1/2" at side seams.

5) Since the waist was raised, the hem needs to be lowered by 1" (front) to 1-1/2" (back) as well.

6) Still have to set in the sleeves. Edit - V8346 is a 1-piece sleeve, will try to fit M5247 instead.

7) Marji suggested changing the angle of the shoulder seams to make room for the shoulder pads - I'll try it on first. Edit - I think they're ok, will confirm when I post the next pics.

We have company coming tomorrow - will only be able to continue on Saturday.

Coat - V8346, View A

I posted my first muslin for the coat sewalong yesterday -

Here goes, I cut a size 16, basted every line, and sewed it together. I didn't think it was too bad til I saw the pictures. The grainlines are straight, the shoulders are in the right place (I'm pretty sure).

Here are my 'I thinks'

1) I think the length of the shoulders and the width of the upper back are ok

2) I think the bust points are too high (or I'm too low LOL)

3a) I think the stitched waistline is too low - if it is meant to be at the natural indent of my waist (that's about 1-inch higher)

3b) but the waist is too tight when I match up the CF - so would fixing the height of the waistline also fix this ?

Now, I don't know how to fix any of these, so here are my pics and request for HELP ! :-)

Now - after a couple helpful comments from Cidell and Lisette M. (Thank you !) and a lot of reading of the few sewing books I have, I got up the nerve to try my very first pattern adjustment - a low bust adjustment - OMG, it worked ! - well it half worked - one side is done. I was way too nervous to cut into the pattern tissue so I traced the bust portion onto tracing paper and used it as a template, shifted it down 1-1/4", connected all the dots and resewed. So, one bust fits and the other is to be done this morning.

The waist on the muslin is about 1" below my natural waistline, so I measured the length on the muslin and asked DH to remeasure me to find out how much to raise the waistline. THEY WERE THE SAME - HELLO ??? Can we say 'confused' ?

I looked at the pictures again and tried on the muslin - the top of the neckline is sitting about 1" below that bump on your neck where you measure from.

Now that I think about it, the back waist is 1" too low, the neck line is 1" to low, the shoulders 'could' come forward about 1" and the bust is 1.25" too high.

If I could put the jacket on and make it sit 1" forward, I think the only line that would be off is the front waist line. But this is where the jacket sits on me naturally and shifting it forward makes it really uncomfortable. So I have to figure out how to fix it.

I'll work on it today. Vacation this week - lots of time to play with it.

May Project - Ottobre Capris

Last week, I noted that I'd finished the Ottobre Capris and that they were a "bit loose". A bit loose ? Yeah right, just a tad :-)

Whoever thought posting pics of what we make was a 'good' idea ? Oh, alright, here they are...

The front doesn't look too bad, topstitching needs a lot of practice.

BUT THE BACK !!!!! :-(

I don't have a clue of what is actually wrong with them. There are lines everywhere, horizontal, vertical, you name it. I'm guessing just making a size smaller is NOT going to fix these !

April Project - McCalls 3341

Next up was McCalls 3341, View C - Just below the knee. This was faster, I wanted it for a specific date and only took a week to do. I know, I know if I was quicker at this, it would be a one day project, but not yet.

It's comfortable, but loose. All my measurements say I should be making size 16, but so far everything is a bit big. On every skirt I've made in the past few years, I take in side seams til they fit. I'm going to have to try size 14 and see what happens. Murphy's Law - 14 will probably be too tight ;-)

I would have shown a picture of me wearing it, but the zipper stuck in the 2nd wash and now I have to replace it. Mending already !

Pictures - M4399

Let's start at the beginning - except for a couple pairs of sleep pants, I started sewing again in January 2008.

I wanted to make DH a shirt...M4399, View C.

The darn thing took 8 weekends ! I'm slow, picky, anal, pick a word...anyway, I don't think there's a seam on this shirt that wasn't picked out and resewn at least once. But, it fits and he likes it. I will make him some more. Here are the pics (I hope).

Ta da - the whole shirt

The collar - On the neck, it's matched up at CB, not so much at the front edges, but I did manage to cut & sew it so the stripes on the collar itself are the same on both front edges.

The cuff - not as hard as I thought it would be, but the continuous lap placket was another story. I sewed and undid one 5 times til I gave up - any more attempts and the material would've fallen apart. So both sleeve plackets are wonky, but they're almost exactly the same, I didn't lose any sleep over it - much - but will practice more.

The pocket - stripes nicely lined up with the shirt front, it was the first thing a friend (male) noticed - the pocket disappears into the shirt - Yaayy !

I will say, I'm very happy overall with this first attempt.

A Play Day - No Sewing

Twice a year 2 friends and I desert our families to have a girls’ day out & today’s the day ! Plans are always subject to change once we meet up but it looks like a day spent in Old Montreal today with supper at a steakhouse in that area that we all like.

On the sewing side – I FINISHED the Ottobre capris ! They’re quite loose (next pair will be a size smaller for sure), but with summers that get quite a few 30°days, I’ll wear them anyway. I wore them yesterday to work, got complimented on them and found them very comfortable. I tried to take some pictures but what an awkward thing to do ! I’ve asked DH to take some for me and I’ll post a pic or two.

List Partially Done

I didn't get everything done, but more than I expected. I knew writing it down was a good thing - a kick in the pants, so to speak.

So, along with all the regular weekend chores that weren't on the list, but had to be done anyway...

Gardening - DONE

Baking - Oatmeal cookies in the cookie jar - DONE

Sewing -

Coat - true up grain & start the London Shrink on the wool flannel - DONE, the flannel is almost dry & ready to go.
Cut, press and measure the pattern pieces; cut out muslin - To Do

Capris - finish them (fly zipper & outside seams - DONE
Waistband & bottom legbands w/buttons - In Progress)

A Productive Weekend ?

My weekends begin at 11:30 am - yes, only half-day Fridays at my place of work - and not just summer hours - all year !

So, the plans for the weekend include...
Gardening - Plant the tomato plants, purchase and plant some herbs, clean up the iris bed (those darn dandelions are competing with my beoooootiful irises)
Baking - not sure what, but something sweet for hubby
Sewing -
Coat - true up grain & start the London Shrink on the wool flannel; cut, press and measure the pattern pieces; cut out muslin
Capris - finish them (fly zipper, outside seams, waistband, bottom legbands w/buttons)

Let's see what actually gets done...

Edited Sat night - bold is done - it was 30°C today by 10:00am - baking & gardening weren't happening !

No Sewing Tonight

If Detroit wins tonight, I will win the pool at work and another woman will come in 2nd...neither of us follows hockey and there will be some gloating rights if we beat the guys (those who made all their choices after analyzing everything !) - gotta go watch - right now Detroit 2, Pittsburgh 1....

My First Post

Well, I`ve bit the bullet and joined the ranks of the bloggers. Whether or not my posts will be of interest to anyone else is secondary (although it would be nice to know if they ARE :-).
What I would like is to keep these notes (& pictures if I figure out how to include them) as a diary or journal of what I sew.

I've done some sewing in the past, but the projects were few and far between. I lay claim to the title of 'world's slowest sewist' even though I've seen others say the same.

During the 1990`s I made curtains, moved on to simple skirts, a dress and actually made 2 pairs of pants before I realized I am supposed to be afraid to them :-) - They fit and I wore them a couple of years til I outgrew them - now, how WELL they fit I don't know, but I will definitely be making pants again. My inseam is just a shade longer than standard RTW, sleeves too.

OK - so I decided this past Fall that I wanted to sew more - I discovered blogs and oh, boy, internet fabric sites !!!! Blogs, I lurked - Fabric Sites, I shopped - Now I MUST sew, I have a STASH.

In January, I decided I would start simple - a shirt for my DH (did I say simple ?, buttonholes, collars, sleeve plackets, oh boy) - he prefers t-shirts but, I wanted to make a shirt, so he got a shirt - it took 2 months ! He very patiently modeled while I measured & fitted and gave lots of encouragement while I sewed (slowly, and almost every seam twice)...Hubby, who does not prefer shirts said 'the next one will be easier' - I guess he wants more. He saved it for a wedding a short time later and proudly told anyone who commented on it that I made it - Cool.

A LOT of credit goes to Liana (Sew Intriguing) - my printout of her shirtmaking tutorial was dog-eared by the time I finished. Her shirts are amazing !

Now, I've joined Marji's coat sew-along - we start now (June 1), work on it through the summer and have a finished coat by end of September, we'll see....

I picked Vogue 8346, View A in a charcoal wool flannel, underline with cotton flannel and possibly lined with Kasha (I'm even learning the terminology) - the plan is to work on it slowly enough to also be able to work on other projects at the same time, yeah, right.

Well, I do have a pair of capris from Ottobre 2/2007 that I'm in the middle of - I think they might even fit - and I want to finish them - BEFORE summer is over.

So for now, I need to try to figure out how to insert pictures, links, etc...& after checking the preview on this post, I HAVE to learn how to tell a `short`story - LOL, oh well, apparently I`m as much a chatterbox typing as I am talking.