Are you excited about the upcoming Project Runway season?

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*** Spoiler alert if you haven't yet seen Season 8 ***

So eight days before the season 9 premiere of Project Runway. Are you excited about the upcoming Project Runway season?

I'm kind of on the fence about this one. The last season left a bad taste and I'm not quite over it.

I'm still shocked that Gretchen won over Mondo on season 8 and I really don't know if I'm up for another season with Michael Kors.

The way that Michael Kors arrogantly dismissed Jessica Simpon's concerns over Gretchen's final collection... yikes.

"Project Runway should have a perfume. A mixture of fear, sweat and Chinese food." 

~Chris March, Season 4 Contestant. 

Instead of a new group of contestants, I think the show needs to put some new blood in the judge's chairs.

But I do love Tim Gunn, what a class act. I enjoy Mr. Gunn's advice to the designers even if I don't agree 100% with the advice he gives. I appreciate his perspective and how respectful he is towards the designers and their creative process.

Oh all this talk about Project Runway, I feel kind of dirty acknowledging that I watch reality television. Or maybe it is the Project Runway poster of the host Heidi Klum? Okay we get it... the host is a former Sportswear Illustrated model but isn't the show about designing clothes and how bitchy Kors can get?

Despite the cattiness that Kors brings to the show you do have to appreciate the comedy of it all. Who doesn't love the one liners that the designers come up with and memorable quotes? Season one to four quotes can be found here. There are some good ones!

And I can't wait to see what MadTV does with the Klum pose.

Housedress...

noun  \'hau's-,dres\

... a dress made with simple lines that is suitable for housework and is usually made of washable fabric...

Nowhere in the Merrian-Webster definition does it say anything about a housedress being ugly, yet Mama R is handing me fabric from the ugly pile of fabric.

Mama R has great taste but she's trying to use whatever fabric she has rather considering what it might actually look like when it is finished because it is something she plans to wear around the house and she wants to be economic. I get that.

Leaf print lightweight cotton

And actually, I don't mind lightweight cotton print that I'm sewing right now. The leaf print suits Mama R's petite frame and with temperatures in the mid-thirties (that's celsius) this week I can see why she is looking forward to having a dress made in the fabric. 

The ugly fabric

But when she handed me the ugly fabric, a purple and grey striped cotton I had to put my foot down... on the gas pedal and straight to the fabric store. Mama R deserves better looking fabric than that!  

I don't really think that it is ugly-ugly, I'm sure it would look fine if used for a men's shirt, or a tunic, or lining for the grocery bags I make with left-over fabric... but I just couldn't picture it for the A-line dress we were making with the front bust darts.  

100% printed Cotton stretch Sateen

Anyway, at Fabricland I found something that we both can work with, economical and I think cute. It is a beige and brown 100% cotton printed stretch sateen and it was buried deep in the sale section. And get this 70% off! Love it even more. 

I was lucky enough to get the last two metres of fabric off the roll, enough to make another dress for Mama R and extra fabric to make bias tape for the neckline.   

What did this piece of fabric cost?  $9.72!!!

Thankfully, she likes it. She never wants to treat herself and she is the type of woman who always puts others before herself. I'm just glad that she likes the new fabric and she has no excuse for making me feel guity about spending money on her, because I didn't.  

So now that I'm saved from sewing the ugly fabric into a dress (see, I'm really a selfish person), I can focus on finishing the leaf-print cotton dress.  

It is coming along nicely.   

Here the pockets are being placed after they have been serged.  I like to finish the edge using the serger and then stitching 5/8" from the edge.

I use the stitching line as my guide to press the edges in and create a nice curve.

The pockets are placed at a slant basically the same angle as the front dart. It just happened that way but it looks sweet and Mama R likes it and that's all that matters really.


The next step requires some prep before sewing the zipper.

I pressed the back finished openings for a lapped zipper.

No need to interface the zipper area even though it is a lightweight fabric it is quite stable. With some time to baste the zipper in place everything worked out fine. I didn't need to take out the seam ripper for any correction work.

Love it when that happens!

Anyway, I should get to work. Mama R's waiting for her new dresses.

        

Mama's finally got a brand new dress pattern

Mama R's Cotton Sateen Dress

Boy, make Mama R a new dress and she won't leave me alone! I'm kidding. I'm happy that she likes the tweaked Vogue 7836 dress that I made last month.

Vogue 7836

She's been wearing it and after me to make her a new one. Actually, she wants a couple more made.

"They'll be nice dresses to wear around the house," she tries to convince me.

I tried to make her something new, something different but it was not a peaceful process.

"I like the other one," fearing that the sizing might not work.

"Just let me try out this pattern," I argued, "you always said you like dresses with buttons down the front.

The complaining continued, "the colour is ugly!"

"I'm just trying out the pattern," I try to explain, "It is linen you know." But she can't let go of the fact that she hates the colour.

"This colour makes me look like a nun," she continues arguing as I roll my eyes.

Trying on the shell she correctly observes that it was not roomy enough like the tweaked Vogue 7836.

"It's not going to fit," pleading that I give up on the project and get to the work on the other dresses that she wants.

"I can fix it," I try to reassure her, "Just let me fix it."

Sometimes I think I get my stubbornness from her.

Well, as you can tell Mama R finally won the battle.

Of course, I punished her by making her hang out with me in the basement as I made a new pattern according to her specifications using the tweaked Vogue 7836 as the guidelines.

"Can I help?" she asks.

"No, it's okay," I said, happy with the company.

"I can cut out the material," she offers fearing that I might pull out some "ugly" linen instead of the cotton print she wants for the new dress.

"So I'm going to drop the front neckline like the first dress?" I said certain that she would agree.

"No, it's fine the way the pattern is," she responds.

The pencil goes limp in my fingers as I try to process her answer. It is difficult so I ask, "What?"

"Make it like the pattern," she calmly replies.

"But you hated the original neckline," I remind her as I'm replaying the fitting scenarios in my head.

"I know but make it this way," she toys with me.

"Just don't forget the pockets!" she urges me to continue.

Now that the tweaked Vogue 7836 is reproduced on the Burda grid tracing paper and the fabric is cut, I have been able to get to work.

The markings for the darts are transferred onto the fabric and the darts are sewn.

The stay-stitching around the neckline is done.

The dress front and back pieces are sewn at the shoulder seams and the pockets are laid out.

But there is a sense of fear looming in the air, will she make me change the neckline when she tries it on tomorrow?

I'm sure she will, she likes to toy with me.

How far will you go for fashion?

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How far would you go for fashion?  Would you get inked?

It seems to be the it thing to do in my circle of people I know. And I'm not talking young people, sailors, bikers, or non-professional people. Think fifty-something catholic school teacher and thirty-something accountant as recently inked tattoo fans. Yes, the mainstream.

Could they be influenced by celebrity trends and the popularity of reality television shows observing tattoo culture with programs like LA Ink and Miami Ink?

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I have never been one for getting a tattoo. Any kind of tattoo, especially the kind where they use a needle and ink and your skin as a canvas.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not judging anyone who is thinking of or has a tattoo. I appreciate it for the art form that it is, an aesthetic representation that invokes an emotional response for the wearer.

My personal issue with tattooing is where that art form is presented. Let me explain. For me, fashion is not just about expressing yourself, it is about change.

Like I said, I do appreciate tattoo for the art form that it represents.

Baby Onsie with tattoo sleeves

So what is a gal, guy, or baby to do if they want to jump on the tattoo bandwagon without making that permanent fashion commitment?

For the non-committal there is Wild Rose Tattoo Clothing.

This Canadian clothing line created by Susan Setz in 2005 features a line of mesh clothing that she prints and manufactures. Her company also ships internationally.    

There is some cute stuff here besides the baby onesie (also available in pink!) and the cheeky tattoo sleeves.

What do you think, ink or mesh?

How CrAzY can things get?

Philip Treacy hat {source}

Did you hear the latest about Philip Treacy?

Yup, that Philip Treacy, the Royal Hat Maker, creator of the Beatrice hat that recently fetched over $100,000 on ebay. 

Well, according to an article in yesterday's Ottawa Citizen Lady Gaga will be starting an internship with Philip Treacy. 

Excuse me while I wipe down the computer screen... it just got splashed with coffee...

Yup, that Lady Gaga, the one that wore the dress symbolizing "our eroding rights"... or whatever. 

Maybe the famed hat maker liked what she did with that piece of meat on her head? I jest.

Is Lady Gaga really that creative?

My theory is that she was inspired by Carmen Miranda to wear food on her head and just over-accessorized because she appeared clueless to the original meat dress.

Well, good for her, she's quirky enough to aspire to (or borrow) something outlandish. It should be interesting to see what's ahead. No, pun intended.

I just wonder how crazy things might get?

Any thoughts?

Button Up!

It is the little details that I think make a garment, like a securely sewn button.

I'm often amazed at some of the workmanship that makes it to the mall in ready-to-wear garments and how a quality made garment stands out.

With sewing it is so simple to take control of these little details. I have a sewing machine that has an automatic buttonhole maker and the capability to sew on buttons, but I love sewing buttons on by hand.

I'm sewing on buttons on a linen button front dress, adapted and tweeked from Simplicity 2246.

The dress has eight buttons placed down the front.  I like to mark and make my buttonholes first and then slowing work up the garment placing each button smack in the middle of the buttonhole. Of course, it would be less time consuming if I just marked the buttonholes and buttons from the pattern but that's just not me.

I use strong thread if I can find it (coat weight) if it works with my fabric choice. Otherwise, I make sure that I wax my thread.

Waxing thread will give it additional strength and prevent the thread from becoming tangled while sewing on the buttons.

Once I find the place where I want to sew my button, I start sewing where the button will show.

I don't sew from underneath but rather from on top.

Once you pull the knotted thread through the fabric you can then slide the needle through the loop of the button.

Continue sewing the button on securing it from the top.

Catch a wee bit of fabric from underneath the button shank and then pulling the thread through the shank.

I like to do this about five or six times depending how secure the button feels.

And then I loop the thread around the shank for some extra security. I like to loop it around about six times or so.

Now I'm ready to tie it off with two good knots.



And that's how I like to sew on buttons. So simple.

And I think these buttons are cute too.

A co-worker brought these leather buttons back from New York a couple of years ago.

They have geese on them (how Canadian!) and I think they're adorable.

Patience Grasshopper...

"Patience grasshopper", is that iconic television quote that entered western popular culture in the nineteen seventies. As a kid I watched Kung Fu, the television source of the quote.

There are so many lessons that one can transfer from that show to the sewing room, patience on top of the list.

I have never been one with an over abundance of patience. I'm trying, making time for mindful meditation helps and trying to remember what I love about sewing. It is not the end result, rather the process. I really do find sewing a relaxing activity.

But I tend to rush through projects when time is a luxury and I'm busy with everyday life. When that happens I cut corners which only leads to sewing mistakes. Then I'm forced into the "practice" of patience with a seam ripper in my hand.

Most of which could be avoided if I would just make a muslin. Remember this Kung Fu episode?

Yes, many of my sewing mistakes could have been avoided if I just would take the time to make a muslin. In Kung Fu terms the muslin is the space, the object, that gives value to the final garment.

Boy, am I ever cheesy with linking Kung Fu philosophy with sewing metaphors! But it works for me.

And yes, this post is getting to muslins.

And here we are...


Muslin, the fabric:

If you walk into a fabric store and ask them to direct you to the muslin, they will likely point you to the back of the store somewhere deep in the home decor fabrics.

Muslin is not a sexy fabric deemed worthy of a salient position of the fabric showroom space. It is not seen as the kind of fabric that inspires the imagination for most people. It is a plain weave fabric typical of the fabric used in non-stretch sheets.

Now lets address the cost.  Do you know that a 100% cotton muslin can cost as much or more as your fabric choice! Currently, at my local Fabricland light to medium weight muslin is going for $10 to $12/metre (Cdn), compared to the $8/metre that I paid for the beautiful 100% cotton sateen stretch fabric I picked up for Vogue 2885. But it is worth the additional cost.

And you don't have to use the 100% cotton muslin fabric hidden in the back of the fabric store. As long as the fabric you are using is consistent in weight to the fabric you have chosen for your final garment it should work. I have used broadcloth (a cotton/polyester blend) in place of the 100% cotton muslin. It still transfers the information that I need to create a successful garment. When I made the Vogue 2885 skirt I used 100% linen fabric as my "muslin" and even sheets could make a great muslin fabric.

And remember when picking a fabric that is consistent in weight to the fabric you'll be working with... your "muslin" might very well be a stretch fabric if that is the pattern that you're testing.

Muslin, your three-dimensional notebook:

Making a muslin, and I've learned this the hard way, can save you some heartache. Treat your muslin as a three-dimensional notebook. Label it and keep it as a reference in case you want to use the pattern again. I like to date it also, since I've failed to remain a consistent weight for my entire life.  

Transfer all the markings (grain line, apex, dart markings) and sew it with the same care you would put into your garment because the attention you put into your muslin will give you a true reflection of the fit.  And when you take the time to mark the apex on a bodice front and if there is a need to add another dart it will help with correctly positioning and drawing into the pattern piece.

Be generous with seam allowance! It is your test run on the pattern, mark you seam lines according to the pattern that your testing but if you cut your allowances with extra room it will be easier to record and transfer this adjustment onto the pattern.

Another suggestion when making a muslin, use a package of multi-colour markers or pens. This way you can choose one colour to mark the original markings and another to mark any changes.

How do you feel about muslins? Do you make one every time you make a garment?  Or do you wing it?  Do you have any suggestions/tips that you like to share?