Monday's Mending Pile

These me-made sweatpants from 2024 made it to the mending pile because I wanted to replace the cuffs.  There was no ribbing in the stash when I made Vogue 8909 back then and I thought that I could get away with cutting the cuff pattern pieces in the fashion fabric.  It was a mistake.  One that was evident during the construction process.  And it didn't feel right when I wore these otherwise very comfortable pants.  

Today, I finally corrected that mistake and cut out some navy ribbing that has since entered the stash.  

First I had to cut off the cuff at the stitching line.  There was no way I was going to even attempt to remove a knit stitch by hand.  I'm at the stage of life that I am losing height so I don't think I will miss that 5/8" allowance from the leg length.  

Ah, that feels better.  

Elbows up and keep sewing.  
 

Stash busting: Black Cotton Pants / Butterick 6717

The latest version of Butterick 6717 was given a little more ease at the sides to see if they will fit more comfortably over the lower part of the back brace.  

And it worked!  There was also a little more ease added at the inner leg near the crotch area.  The length was shortened as well.  The hem lengths differ because of the shortness of one leg, all thanks to scoliosis.  But I didn't want to commit to a one inch hem because the shoes that I will wear with these have not been adjusted for the height difference.  This will give me the option to fix the hem if I loosen the purse strings for the shoes adjustments.  But I digress.  I left off the pockets on this pair, with the hard plastic of the brace it won't be an easy feature to use.  I'm just happy that I can wear these with the back brace.  

I used a printed copy of this pattern which I picked up years ago.  It is currently only available in PDF format.  I'm not a fan of PDF format patterns and I would have skipped this pattern if it were the only option back then.  I grateful to have the printed copy, the pattern for the pants is wonderful.  I like the dart free front and the elastic back is comfortable to wear.  I also like the shape of the leg.  

The fabric was labelled as a 100% cotton, I'm not a 100% sure about that claim.  I guess time will tell in how it wears.  It is the same fabric that I used to make this skirt.  It was pre-washed before hitting the cutting table and ironing board.  

Sewing IS Political

This project is another Canadian and tariff free creation.  All of the supplies required to make the pants were found in the stash.  The fabric came into the stash via Fabricland, a Canadian fabric outlet.  The elastic is Tailor brand and was made in China and also came from Fabricland.  The cotton thread used in the sewing machine is from Gutermann threads and was made in Greece.  The threads used in the serger are a combination of Gutermann threads and H.A. Kidd, a Canadian company, and were labelled as made in China.  All of the threads were purchased from Fabricland.  The scissors used to cut this project were made in Taiwan and purchased from Fabricland.  Butterick 6717, is an American product that entered the stash in twenty twenty-two before the convicted felon's resumed his tariff war on the world.  

Project details

Seams:  2.8 straight stitch

Seam finish:  Serged

Fabric:  1.5 metres

Elastic:  0.7 metres

Pattern:  Butterick 6717, circa 2019

Label:  1--KATM label

Additional Tools and Supplies:  Cutting table, pins, pin cushions, measuring tape, measuring gauge, fabric scissors, iron, ironing board, tailor's ham, screwdriver, tailor's chalk, Janome 4120 QDC sewing machine, walking foot, blind hem foot, safety pin, Janome AirThread 2000D serger, thread clippers, threads, back brace and tea.  

Stand Strong, elbows up and keep sewing.  

Gift Sewing: Cardigan / OOP Butterick 5760

It's been a few years since I made a cardigan with out-of-print (OOP) Butterick 5760.  The last time I made one was in 2018.  And then another request came for one with pockets and more ease.  I'm not quite sure what happened to my original copy of the pattern, lost in time I guess.  So I felt very grateful that I found an uncut copy of this pattern through a reseller.  

There were a few more changes to the pattern this time around.  The shoulders, armhole and neckline were cut at a size fourteen.  The sides were cut at a size twenty-two and the lower centre back was fanned out from the neckline to the hem on the centre fold to give a little more ease.  The sleeves and bodice pieces were shortened.  And front patch pockets were added.  

The fabric is a bonded knit that I found at Marshall Fabrics and one that has been seen before.  I used this fabric to make this top.  I found that this fabric worked best with OOP Butterick 5760.  It was a lovely fabric for the cardigan.  The fabric was previously pre-treated and ready for the cutting table.  There is still a couple metres left so there may be another appearance in the future.  

Sewing IS Political

This is another Canadian made and tariff free project.  Everything used to make this cardigan, except for the pattern, was found in the stash.  The fabric, as previously mentioned, came from Marshall Fabrics, a Canadian fabric outlet.  The out-of-print pattern, circa 2012, is a product of the U.S.A but did not contribute to the convicted felon's tariff econony.  I found the new copy of the pattern through a Canadian reseller.  The scissors used to cut this project were made in Taiwan and were purchased at Fabricland, another Canadian fabric outlet.  The cotton thread used in the sewing machine is Gütermann threads and were made in Greece.  The threads used in the serger were from H. A. Kidd, a Canadian company and they were made in China.  All of the threads were purchased from Fabricland.  

Project Details

Seams:  Knit (lightening bolt) stitch

Seam finish:  Serged

Fabric:  1.6 metres

Pattern:  OOP Butterick 5760, circa 2012

Additional Tools and Supplies:  Cutting table, measuring tape, tailor's chalk, pins, pin cushion, fabric scissors, paper scissors, Janome 4120 QDC sewing machine, walking foot, Jean-a-ma-jig®, thread clippers, Janome AirThread 2000D serger, tweezers, iron, ironing board, measuring gauge, clapper, sleeve roll, good tunes and tea.  

Elbows up and keep sewing.  

Stash busting: And Then There Were Two

There was just enough cotton knit left over to sew one more body sock.  And a head band.  

Now that I have two extra body socks made, the original ones from Brace Buddies were shortened, basted and cover stitched.  

Project details

Seams:  Knit (lightening bolt) stitch

Seam finish:  Serged and Coverstitched

Fabric:  1 metre

Pattern:  None used for the head band, the body sock was copied from the original Brace Buddies

Additional Tools and Supplies:  Cutting table, measuring tape, straight ruler, tailor's chalk, fabric scissors, hand sewing needle, silk thread for basting, Janome 4120 QDC sewing machine, walking foot, lint brush, screwdriver, tweezers, threads, Janome CoverPro 1000CP, Janome AirThread 2000D serger, thread clippers, iron and ironing board.  

Elbows up and keep sewing.   

Stash busting: I Cracked the Code!

I've been singing the praises of Brace Buddies garments since I discovered them.  But I've also been trying to copy them at the sewing machine.  I have the fabric, equipment and time, so why not?  Although, I do still recommend Brace Buddies with all my heart. I'm so grateful that this company exists and their service is absolutely wonderful.  But I do realize they can not ship everywhere at this time.  So if you are not able to access Brace Buddies and you or someone you love wears a scoliosis back brace, this post might be of interest.  

Let me start off by saying that in this project was created in admiration for the Brace Buddies body sock.  All the design credit goes to this Canadian company.  

I recently ordered and received two body socks and two more t-shirts.  The t-shirt is one of my favourites to wear.  It has a protective flap where the brace sits at the underarm.  The body sock is a new to me order.  I did try to copy it before but did not quite get it right.  In these pictures you can see both of them the t-shirt laying on top of the body sock.  

 

But let me tell you, in case you didn't pick it up from the picture above the strapless body sock is very long.  It's fifty-six inches long which is too long for my four eleven tall height.  I will have to shorten it.  But first, I wanted to make another one to test out the size.  You see, the previous one I made is a wee bit too short and parts of the plastic brace peak through the edges.  

This one turned out just right!  I cut the length at forty-nine inches and it has one inch hems at both ends.  The fabric was folded in half and cut eighteen and three quarters of an inch from the fold.  The seam was sewn with an half inch allowance.  

There was something else that I noticed with the original perfectly designed Brace Buddies version, it was cut on the cross grain.  This was something that I didn't do with the first try at copying this design.  The red version is cut on the cross grain and it is comfortable to wear.  

This is how it fits under and over the brace.  

And how it looks under a dress.  

Sewing IS Political

This is another Canadian made and tariff free project.  All of the supplies and equipment were sitting in the stash.  The cotton knit fabric came from Mitchell Fabrics, a local Canadian fabric store from a bygone era.  It's actually the fabric I used for this dress and there is enough left-over to make another body sock.  The Gütermann threads used in the sewing machine, coverstitch and serger were all labelled as made in Germany.  The scissor used to cut the project were made in Tiawan and were picked up at Fabricland, a Canadian fabric outlet.  

Project details

Seams:  Knit (lightening bolt) stitch

Seam finish:  Serged and coverstitched

Pattern:  The original Brace Buddies Body Sock

Additional Tools and Supplies:  Cutting table, measuring tape, pins, pin cushion, tailor's chalk, fabric scissors, Janome 4120 QDC sewing machine, walking foot, threads, thread clippers, Janome CoverPro 1000CP, tweezers, Janome AirThread 2000D serger, iron, ironing board, hand sewing needle, silk thread for hand stitching and tea.  

Elbows up and keep sewing!

Pullover Top: OOP Butterick 5561

I've made a few versions of out-of-print (OOP) Butterick 5561 over the last decade.  Most were gifted and there is only one currently in the wardrobe.  It fits over the brace so I thought I would revisit this pattern.  

This is the latest version.  Yes, a floral print for spring.  Actually, it was the egg shell blue colour that drew me to this print.  

The fabric is a lovely cotton fabric that reminds me of a Liberty cotton print.  It's not a Liberty cotton.  I found this in the quilting side of the local Fabricland.  It's not a stiff quilting cotton.  It's actually quite lovely both in the print and texture.  I picked up the last two metres just because I was seduced by the colour, print and feel of the fabric.  Oh and it was on sale.  That helped too.  But I digress.  The fabric was pre-treated with a tumble through the wash cycle and dryer before hitting the ironing board for a steam press.  It did have a shrinkage rate of about five percent.  Thankfully, with shortening the sleeve length, there was enough yardage of this 114 cm fabric to make this top.  The pattern calls for 2.4 metres.  

Sewing IS Political

This is another Canadian made and tariff free project.  This current copy of OOP Butterick 5561 recently came from a Canadian reseller.  The original copy I had of this pattern is lost.  The fabric and interfacing came from Fabricland, a Canadian fabric outlet.  The paper and fabric scissors used to cut this project were made in Tiawan and purchased at Fabricland.  The cotton Gutermann threads used in the serger were made in Greece and the silk thread used in the sewing machine were Swiss made.  The cotton threads were purchased from Marshall Fabrics and the silk thread came from Fabricland, both are Canadian fabric outlets.  

Project details

Seams:  2.8 straight stitch

Seam finish:  Serged

Fabric:  2 metres (115 cm wide)

Interfacing:  0.4 metres

Pattern:  OOP Butterick 5561, circa 2010

Additional Tools and Supplies:  cutting table, paper scissors, fabric scissors, pins, wrist pin cushion, measuring tape, ruler, tailor's chalk, canned air, Janome 4120 QDC sewing machine, walking foot, iron, ironing board, Janome AirThread 2000D serger, threads, thread clippers, tweezers, hand sewing needle, tailor's wax, sleeve ham, heat pad, many breaks and tea.  

Stand strong, elbows up and keep sewing.  

The Mending Pile: Blankets and Dresses

The never ending mending pile was calling for some attention.  First up was a duvet, it has been shedding feathers and needed some patch work.  

This was done by machine, once the holes were identified along the edges.  It is nice to have this piece of bedding back in service.  

I am going through the challenging work of editing my wardrobe.  I didn't wear this much loved turtleneck maxi dress at all this past winter.  And to be honest, I can't remember that last time I wore this dress.  It's time to change this into a pull-on skirt.  I know I will be able to wear it over the lower part of the brace.  

I did the same fix to this dress and it's one of my favourite pieces this past winter.  It's comfortable as a skirt.  The upper part of the dress is set aside with hopes to make a patchwork cardigan or pullover.  

I made another dress that ended up on the chopping block, the Merchant and Mills Trapeze dress I made a year ago didn't work out for me.  I felt frumpy wearing it over the brace.  And the gold metallic dots did not retain it's shimmer in high stress points such as the front underarm edge.  So it ended up on the cutting table and turned into another reusable grocery bag.  

Tools and supplies:  Cutting table, pins, pin cushion, seam ripper, fabric scissors, Janome 4120 QDC sewing machine, walking foot, safety pin, Janome AirThread serger, threads, heat pad, iron, ironing board and tea.  

Stand strong, elbows up and keep sewing.