Stash busting: Winter Scarves / No Pattern Used

I'm in the process of cutting out a winter jacket.  It's a lesson in the benefits of having the proper tools or if you're lucky enough to have the right tools, the importance of keeping your tailor shears under lock and key.  But I digress.  

I took a break to give my hands a rest from cutting to make a couple of winter scarves.  With left over coat fabric, I was able to cut two lengths and with the help of the Janome Air Thread serger, I finished the sides with a rolled hem.  

These are a charity sewing project.  Easy peasy.  Now I should get back to cutting out that coat.  

Happy Sewing!

National Accessory Day!

Today marks National Accessory Day!  I do like accessories even though the Fall / Winter 2022 accessory trends are a hard pass.  According to Vogue these include

Mile High Boots

This trend is not designed for the under five foot crowd.  I'll leave the mile high boots to Puss in Boots.  

Double Bags

Wait is that a trend?  

Glitzy!  

Yeah.  No.  

Okay, that's enough, right?  Accessories are a personal stamp, my only advice would be wear what you want.  But if you want to check out the rest of the latest it-looks, visit Vogue's must-try accessory trends list.  

Happy National Accessories Day!

Stash busting: Wool Pull-on Pants / OOP Butterick 6717

The third time is the charm!  

I do like the design of these pants, a simple plain front, elastic back waist, pull-on pants.  I like this pattern enough that when I came across another copy for a larger size option, I jumped on it.  I was trying to solve the dip at the center back waist.    

The previous versions were sewn in a size medium with 1" extra ease added at the side seams.  This worked out to being the same extra amount at the side seam for the next size up but didn't match the changes in ease at the crotch curve and inner thigh.  So, I gave a size large a try.  And I'm happy that I did because the fit is spot on.  

I cut a size large straight out of the envelope, there was no additional ease added to this pair.  The only changes were leaving off the pockets (same as the other pairs) and inserting a 1 1/4" elastic instead of the one-inch recommended elastic.  Oh, wait!  I did remove 5/8" length from the left leg to compensate for a difference caused by scoliosis.  The hem was finished with a 1 1/2" blind hem.  

The stash busted 100% British wool fabric has been in the fabric collection for years.  It was pretreated with a tumble in the washing machine and dryer followed by a steam pressing to hopefully get all the shrinkage worked out.  I'll be hand washing these going forward.  

Project Details

Seams:  2.6 straight stitch

Seam finish:  Serged

Fabric:  2 metres

Interfacing:  0.7 metres

Elastic:  0.6 metres

Pattern:  OOP Butterick 6717

Additional Tools & Supplies:  Cutting table, paper scissors, fabric shears, pins, pin cushion, Janome sewing machine, regular presser foot, blind hem foot (for edge stitching and hem), Janome serger, threads, hand sewing needle (for hem basting), thread clippers, safety pins, iron, ironing board, coffee and audio book (This Changes Everything).  

Happy Sewing!

October in Review...

Sewing

This month has been all about gift sewing and preparing for the winter ahead.  

Stash busting

All of October's projects were made with fabric and notions found in the sewing stash.  This month 10.2 metres of fabric, 3 metres of elastic, 1 label, 1 zipper and 3 buttons were used from the stash.  

Mending

There has been some mending happening this month.  I'm thrilled that I was able to rescue two pairs of wool socks from the neglected and forgotten pile of socks I have for mending.  As well, there was a pair of pants, Vogue 1325, that now fit after extending the elastic.  

And a previously gifted pair of pajama bottoms came back to the sewing workspace to have the elastic shortened.  I used to dislike mending but lately, I've embraced the activity.  It feels good to fix and rescue these pieces.  

What's Next?  

There was talk here about making another winter coat, only to discover that I don't have enough fashion fabric to make Vogue 8934 when I started laying out the pattern pieces.  There is enough fabric to make a short coat, I will just have to decide on a pattern.  

Charity sewing projects are in the plans for the November sewing list and will likely be the first items to be sewn.  I've printed off the tuque pattern I used previously and plan to whip up some.   Maybe, I'll try my hand at making pompoms for the tuques?  I think there is some yarn somewhere in the stash.  We'll have to see how much time I have to search for yarn to accessorize the tuques.  And maybe some winter scarves if I can find enough appropriate fabric in the stash.  I would like to get the charity sewing done and delivered this coming week.  We'll see how that goes.  

Happy Sewing!  

Stash busting and Sewing Bloopers: Butterick 6296

Other than the sewing machine and serger, the seam ripper has been my most valuable tool for seeing this project to the end.  I was working on this project while feeling under the weather, not the best condition for sewing.  But I digress.  

The collarless feature of this pajama top, Butterick 6296, was part of the countless sewing bloopers that happened throughout the day.  I didn't realize this blooper until I reached the ironing board to press the facing.  At that point, I didn't have the energy to open up the neckline and try to make the correction.  

And there were other bloopers, I lost count but let me try to recall. 

1. Tailor chalk markings were made on the wrong side of the fabric.   
2. I forgot to stitch down the facing on the pocket before stitching it in place.  I had to hand-stitch it down afterwards.  
3. I sewed the wrong side of the pockets to the front of the pajama top.  
4. I sewed the front facing pieces to the wrong side of the back facing and had to tear those stitches out and try again.  
5. Did I mention that I cut out the collar pieces, interfacing and attached the interfacing only to forget to sew the collar and attach it with the facing pieces?  

Yup, it's a miracle that I ended up with a finished pajama top.  

There were also some intentional changes / alterations to the pattern.  The sleeve length was shortened, and the front pockets are from vintage Simplicity 6851.  There is an extended back facing top-stitched in place to the shirt back.  

This pajama top is the matching piece to these pajama bottoms that were made earlier this month.  The set has been gifted and thankfully well received.  We both agree that even though leaving off the collar was not intentional, it may be something that will be revisited on future pajama top project.  

Project Details

Seams:  2.6 - 2.8 straight stitch

Seam finish:  Serged

Fabric:  1.9 metres

Buttons:  3 - 1"

Pattern:  Butterick 6296

Additional Tools & Supplies:  Cutting table, scissors, pins, wrist pin cushion, tailor's chalk, tailor's wax, hand sewing needle, sewing machine, serger, buttonhole foot, regular presser foot, threads, iron, ironing board, seam ripper, thread clippers, Vick's, tea with lemon and honey and many breaks.  

Happy Sewing!

Make Do and Mend: Wool Socks

It is sock wearing weather.  Now, I do have a batch of me-made wool socks that should keep me warm and toasty this winter.  But there is also a box of wool and cotton socks sitting in the sewing workspace waiting for some make do and mend attention.  Not the American band, rather I'm talking about the act of taking care of one's clothing.  

Make do and mend:  To maintain one's possessions for as long as possible, repairing rather than replacing them when needed, with the goal of not buying and/or consuming more than is necessary.  

I'm not sure if it's a sign of the times with consecutive interest rate hikes to try and cool eye-brow raising inflation and talk about a 2023 recession coming but there seems to be a lot of focus on the bookstore shelves dedicated to mending.  Could mending become the cool thing to do?  

It appears so.  Lladybird and WinnipegSews along with so many others offer mending workshops.  Mending has moved from the bookstore shelves to sewing community gatherings.  This is wonderful news.  Taking care of what we have has so many benefits not only for individuals but the community at large by keeping our possessions out of the landfill as long as we can.  

The chill in the air nudged me to pull out a couple of wool socks to mend.  I used an old lightbulb to fill the interior of the sock and give a curved surface to sew.  Then I cut out some "patches" from an old wool sweater that no longer fits and threaded my needle with silk thread. 

Then I got to work with some visible sewing stitches working in a circular direction from the outside edge moving towards the centre.   

My favourite SmartWool socks were also mended.  I used the ribbing edge of the sweater to give a texture that mimicked the cable-like texture of the socks.  

It feels good to have these two pairs of socks back in rotation this winter.  And I have to admit I like the cushioning effect of these wool patches on the heels of the socks.  

Happy Mending!

In Sewing News Today...

Instead of sewing, I've been busy changing over the seasonal wardrobe.  Winter is around the corner and it's dressing-in-layers season right now.  

And I'm dealing with some hard clothing truths.  I've outgrown some of my clothes.

No matter how lovely the wool suiting fabric and well-made my collection of wool pants is, I'm likely never going to fit into most of them again.  I made many of them with out-of-print (OOP) Vogue 1325.  There is one pair that still fits I can still squeeze into.  The other four pairs are sitting in a pile waiting for re-fashioning inspiration to strike.  This dress no longer fits and also made it onto the to-be-refashioned pile.  I don't want to lose this treasure of wool to the donate pile.  I am thinking maybe a dress or something can be made with the harvested fabic.  

I am also trying to see what I can fix / alter before going full-on re-fashion mode.  

This too-tight-to-wear pair of pants, Vogue 1642, was sewn back in 2019 and found its way to the mending table to adjust the elastic back.  

I opened up one side to expose the elastic casing and dug up a length of elastic to stitch and add another four inches of elastic.  It was exactly what these pants needed.  They are now the most comfortable pair presently sitting in the closet.  I just might have to dig out this pattern, Vogue 1642, and give it another try.  All I know is that I'm at the elastic back pull-on stage of my life, it's all about comfort and this style is my secret pajama pants.  

There are socks to be mended.  I've neglected this task in the early spring when I discovered that I could sew socks and just forgot about the RTW pairs that could use some care.  But now that the cooler temperatures are here it's time to sit down, listen to that audio book I've also have been taking too long to get through and get some sock patching and mending done.  

There is a crazy idea of sewing another winter coat.  I've been putting off because it's a big project.  I would want to underline it with some wind-blocking fleece.  That's going to mean a lot of hand stitching.  And OOP Vogue 8934 has a lot of hemline darts to sew.  I'm going to use the dart shortcut I recently discovered on a rerun of Sewing with Nancy.  

I didn't get everything that I want to sew this past summer done.  But that will have to wait, winter sewing is calling, and I need to replenish my pants if I'm going to stay warm this winter.  

Talking about staying warm this winter, I would like to answer the call for some charity sewing from the church.  Winter items, hats, mitts and scarfs were asked for from parishioners that knit and crochet.  I'm not that talented but I can sew some winter scarves.  Maybe some hats?  I will have to check what is in the stash.  I know that I will have some left-over wind-breaking fleece that will be perfect for winter hats.  

Well, I better get back to work.  I think I will start with cutting out the coat and seeing what materials I have left over for the charity sewing.  

Happy Sewing!