2016 Review

Real Clothes
This year I made a lot of normal, relatively plain everyday clothes.  I reused patterns with only minor (or no) variations. And because of the simplicity of the construction I was able to finish some garments in a single sitting. Relevant posts here.

Firstly I made six shirts from Vogue 8328. I’d wanted to make this pattern for years but hadn’t had appropriate fabric. I made two versions of each view after which I decided that I didn’t like the fit very much. I have got a lot of wear out of the light grey one particularly.

I made two skirts from McCalls 6608 which I love. I got fabric at Christmas which will be a third skirt. These nicely replace my standard long skirts that were discontinued last year (just before mine all wore out). I wore mid-length skirts for a while but found that I really wanted to be a long-skirt person.

I developed a maxi-dress pattern which is very comfortable and pretty so I made three of them and, when the weather changed, I adapted the pattern to be a summer dress. I don’t think it works quite as well short as it doesn’t have the weight in the skirt to make everything sit right (although this might just be me being a long-skirt person). Blog posts for the first two here and here.

I made a couple of coats: a gold cardigan to go with one of the maxi-dresses and a fleecy McCalls 7025 to wear around the house when it’s cold.

Also from the McCalls range (which did very well out of me this year) was this dress, McCalls 7091.Posts here and here. While I do really like it I found that the pattern will need a fair bit of adjusting to fit nicely and comfortably. And I don’t think I want to spend the effort, not when making the dress itself is also a lot of effort – so many seams to be sewn and pressed and neatened... The skirt could be longer too.

I made another 40s dress, this time for cooler weather. It’s still in that phase where I am too aware of its problems to be sure I like it but I expect I will warm to it. I have more 40s dresses planned for next year. They have become the staple of my summer wardrobe.

For years people have been introducing me with “she sews all her own clothes” after which I’ve had to clarify that "actually I mostly make costumes and didn’t make anything I’m wearing". But now those introducers will be right.

Lessons
I continued to have sewing lessons this year. Lots of sewing lessons. In April I had a class for every day of every weekend except for one Saturday – and I made up for that by having one lesson on a Friday.

The stretch sewing course I did is largely responsible for my foray into making everyday knit garments. In the performance-wear class I made swimming togs and afterwards used that pattern as the starting point for my maxi-dress pattern.

In two garment making courses, in which I made a skirt and a pattern for a shirt, I learnt lots of finishing techniques and how to adjust patterns for my personal fitting issues. I also learnt that I have a lot of fitting issues – which explains why I have trouble buying clothes. (The reason I always wear skirts is that no-one, including me, makes pants that fit me).

I did an overlocker class because I won an overlocker and had several private patternmaking lessons for a costuming project.

Costumes
I didn’t finish any costumes this year. I am somewhat bewildered by this. I did, however, make a significant amount of progress on a couple of projects.

I started making Elizabeth’s first outfit from BioShock Infinite. I had patternmaking lessons to make the shirt pattern. Still to do are buttons and buttonholes, skirt hems, and accessories.

I continued working on my Assassin’s Creed costume, making a resin cast for the belt buckle. I didn’t expect to be good at sculpting but it worked well, so that was pleasing. I am still discovering how to proceed with the resin but I think it’s all going to turn out fine. I have also worked on the fabric component of the belt.

I did finish one costume-related item: a bag to go with my Misery outfit.

Events
At this year’s Canberra Show I won two first places and three seconds. My Eowyn costume won overall champion of the sewing section. The prize was a sewing machine (which has found a good home) and an overlocker.

In September I had an exhibit of my costumes at GAMMA.CON and entered the costume competition.

My church youth group occasionally holds ‘get to know you’ evenings where people present their interests to the group. It was my turn recently so I put up a display in the lounge room and told them about costuming.

My cousins came to visit at the end of the year and now both of them are sewing costumes! Having had lessons myself I’m more comfortable being a mentor as I now know some ‘right’ things I can tell them. I was pleased to be able to pass on the importance of seam allowances.

Miscellaneous
My favourite new sewing thing of this year has been my electric scissors. I was given them last Christmas and I love them so much. Now cutting out happens really quickly and my hand doesn’t get sore and the edges of the fabric are neater. However –  if you rush out to buy a pair make sure you give them a test drive first as some people find them hard to control and uncomfortable. But I think they’re wonderful!

I have continued to make glacial progress on my Bayeux Tapestry dress.

The gift of fabric

I have made some more real clothes recently.

This shirt from Vogue 8323:

And this skirt from McCall's 6608:

I thought I had finished making these shirts last time I posted about them but apparently I had one more left. To my surprise I found I liked the cowl-necked view better than the crossover view. I don't think I will make any more though. Something doesn't fit right across the shoulders, and while the square should adjustment I did helped, it's un-right enough to annoy me.

Both these fabrics were given to me by my mum as birthday presents. I've had the velvet for a while because I couldn't work out what to do with it. I think it looks very nice as this shirt but I wouldn't make another one in velvet because the nap pushes against a coat and bunches up in the armpits. This was sad discovery as I have a number of very pretty velvets in the stash that I've been trying to work out what to do with for ages.

The purple floral was a recent gift for the express purpose of making this skirt. It is most lovely.

A very productive week

Over the last week I made three tops and a skirt.

Saturday before last I went to Spotlight and while I was generally disappointed by their lack of nice fabric, especially in my price range, I did find a few things that I liked. Apparently grey is very 'in' for me this season.

First to get cut was a grey, hot pink and lime floral jersey – a sale table find. I used this to make McCalls 6608 view D, which turned out to be a really lovely skirt. I mostly left the pattern alone except for the waistband. Rather than using the folded over rectangle I used the shaped waistband from the woven skirt (views A, B and C) to have a more fitted shape. Instead of threading the elastic through after everything was sewn together I slid the elastic into the detached waistband and used the zipper foot to make a very closely fitted channel. I then ditch-stitched through the elastic on the side seams. I don't think the line through the waistband looks too bad and it is certainly the most comfortable elasticised waistband I've met.

After making the skirt I had a metre of fabric left over (plus a few patches from in between skirt pieces) so I decided to do a trial run of Vogue 8323 view A. Finally! I started laying the patterns on Sunday morning and by bedtime had everything done (skirt and shirt) bar the hemming. The jersey is a bit too jelly* for this top and the neckline flopped open way too low but once stitched in place I think it turned out well enough. And I'm not going to complain about a wearable mockup made from leftovers.

I hemmed the skirt during the week and on Saturday was ready to finish the top and begin another. View B this time. The pattern recommended 1.2 metres and there was 1.15 on the roll. So close to perfect... The only problem was that the pattern was for 3/4 sleeves whereas I wanted full length ones. 'Twas an easy fix. There was just, only just, enough leftover fabric for two cuffs (cut with the stretch in the wrong direction).

The fabric has a lovely subtle sparkle to it.

The collar does take a bit of convincing to sit in a non-weird way but I really like the top.

I finished the light grey shirt by mid afternoon. I think that's the first time I've taken a garment from fabric to finished in one sitting. I've expected it to happen before but something always comes up (that and I’m really bad at estimating how long sewing takes). Turns out there’s something to be said for using one fabric, a pattern as is, and no detailed embroidery or painting or hand-hemming. Working with knits also cuts out a bunch of time consuming steps that wovens require.

On Sunday evening I decided to lay out the pattern for another top. Once that was done I realised that it was only 7.30, not 10pm as I'd thought, so I cut it out then. And then I sewed it up too, because, you know, it's nice to get things out of the way. The top turned out really nicely. This fabric was actually sturdy enough to support the neckline.

Unlike the first two shirts I made from this pattern I used the sewing machine instead of the overlocker. I was much more comfortable with this and felt a lot more in control – I could always tell how wide I was making the seam allowance. (Although in a postscript to my overlocker thoughts my mum has decided that they're wonderful and the overlocker ought to be set up all the time. We just need to find the space.)

* Means slinky, wobbly, difficult fabric. Technical term. At least, it is in my house.

A Lockwork Purple

Over the last few weeks I have been getting to know the overlocker I won at the Canberra Show. I did the overlocker basics class at Needlewitch followed swiftly by the performance costume class (which used an overlocker). Then I set up the overlocker at home to make something by myself.

Overlocked leotard from the performance costume class - mine is actually swimming togs.

I looked through my patterns for a project that would be appropriate for an overlocker. I've wanted to make Vogue 8323 for ages but never had enough fabric in the stash for view A, nor could I find something I liked in the shops. But I had just enough shiny purple left over from my Misery costume to make view C which would test whether the fit was right.

At first I planned to line the shirt to make it a bit warmer and because I anticipated the fabric would be uncomfortable against my skin. I made the lining first and it fitted reasonably loosely but my outer fabric was less stretchy and the fit more snug. I decided to make the lining into a second top. It's a bit thin but will be good for layering.

I don't like how the sleeve inset on the purple turned out, but I think that has got more to do with me not knowing how to construct stretch garments than any fault of the overlocker. I'm making more and more of my everyday clothes as well as costumes and that means more stretch clothes so I'm going to need to improve my skills. The sleeves on the black shirt worked fine. The neckline and wrists of the purple shirt are finished with topstitched foldover elastic. I edged the black shirt with rolled hems. The first cuff worked well but the second cuff and hem both have some missed spots. I went over them again but I'm not sure how to solve the problem neatly.

My overlocker is a Toyota SLR4D which I'm told is a good one but at this point I have no way to judge that myself. When I finished the second shirt I packed the machine away and I'm not sure it will be brought out again soon. I have a couple of stretch projects planned but the thing that always put me off overlockers was the permanent cutting of fabric and that still bothers me. The purple shirt is a close fit and I wasn't able to redo the sleeves for a better fit because too much of the seam had already been trimmed away. Also, I can't leave the overlocker set up ready for use because the sewing room is already full with sewing machines.