Time for a knit duster ...

Who can resist a fun unstructured duster when the weather turns cool...

Not I! I've spent hours in the past few weeks, just cruising duster patterns and lots of wonderful makes by sewists in the blogosphere.

Irresistible. I especially like the new Berlin Jacket by Tessuti and the Esme Maxi Cardigan by Named Clothing.

But I didn't particularly want to invest in a new pattern. Trawling through my stash, I pulled out an oldie but goodie, the Heading for Adventure coat by Louise Cutting.

I made it in linen way back in 2010, but it was very large on me, even thought I sewed the size Small. And the linen really bugged my skin - I never wore it.




Nonetheless, the design details are so appealing. I love the piecing and topstitching. And Cutting's techniques, which are beautifully articulated in the pattern instructions, are incredible.

 

It was a great starting place. But I wanted to go with the lines of the dusters I mentioned above - a softer neckline, an attached band, and slim-ish sleeves. And I wanted to use a knit fabric - a very lightweight rayon/spandex French terry that I purchased recently from Fabric.com. 

I was impatient to do all the re-drafting at one go, but I decided to be cautious. I actually sewed this in three steps. First, I cut out and sewed the entire coat from the Cutting pattern, using the size XSmall this time. And then I changed it, using the Jalie Cocoon Cardigan to redraw the neckline and draft an attached band, 

and the Grainline Studio Driftless Cardigan to alter the sleeves (I removed almost 6" from the width at the upper arm - the sleeve was voluminous). 

This sounds like a lot of tweaking, but it was not difficult, because the Cutting coat is all right angles. It was easy to lay it out and draw on it with chalk.

Time for pics (this gray is hard to photograph - it almost shimmers here. Squint, please)...

I love the back drawstring! It looks very similar to the back of the StyleArc Winsome Designer Dress (posted here), but the construction is not the same, due to the placement of other pieces in the back.

The patch pockets are very over-sized and long. Fun! 

I'm off to JoAnns now, to get supplies for Christmas gifts. And I have to remember to tell my kids to stay off my blog for a couple weeks :-) Check out this adorable cat house from SeeKateSew! My weekend project...

Hope everyone enjoys a safe weekend, with lots of sewing therapy time...bye for now, Coco

Grainline Studio Tamarack Jacket - having some fun...

Very selfish sewing - I've resisted the urge to try the Tamarack jacket for almost a year. But Jen Beeman has been posting so many nice versions lately, letting folks know that the pattern now includes a button front option. I thought I'd just give it a go. And I thoroughly enjoyed the quilting process and the sewing while I'm waiting for the arrival of some new fabrics (my stash is pitiful these days. I've done a great job of 'sewing it down').

The lines or the jacket itself are very nice, particularly the hi-low curved hem. In fact the latter is my favorite part.

Both my fabrics are straight from the stash. Nicely aged. I didn't have enough of either to do the entire jacket, so I decided to piece the inside. No, I did not do this in time for Halloween, but the combo does look 'seasonal'. Both are cotton quilting fabrics, and, coincidentally, both have metallic details.

About the batting:


I used a piece of low loft poly quilt batting that I robbed from a quilt project that's been in progress for about 4 years.


 And I cut it just as I would cut fabric: I pressed it on my poly setting to get rid of wrinkles, laid the pattern on top, pinned it, and cut it out. Jen suggests laying each cut fabric piece on top of a largish piece of batting and using the fabric as a marking guideline for the batting. IMHO, too much work.



If your batting is stuck to itself, wrinkly, and so on (it can be really wonky coming out of a package, e.g., a twin-size quilt bat), toss it in the dryer on low heat for a short time. It will be so much nicer.

Marking the main fabric for quilting:

I used 3" spacing, because my ruler is 3" wide. Years of quilting have shown me that using the width of a ruler to mark quilting lines (not going for some fancy spacing) pays off. Easier.

And there are no quilting police out there to say otherwise.






Here's a fabric-batting-fabric sandwich, post-quilting. On the left, the batting is a bit squished out. Cutting batting is imprecise, don't be dismayed if it doesn't fit the fabric precisely. On the right - a piece that's nice and trimmed, ready for construction.

A note: I wouldn't even try machine quilting without a walking foot. I pinned and thread-basted all my pieces, and had zero slippage between the fabric layers. 

I used black lawn for my binding, since I had so little of my main fabric. To answer the unasked question, I have an aversion to packaged binding. If you do use it, I suggest you give it a wash and dry in a lingerie bag before you use it. It comes full of finish, is very stiff, and is not preshrunk. 

To ensure an even width when I turned it to the inside, I butted the binding all the way up the edge of the fabric and used a 1/2" seam.

Pinned in place:

On to the jacket - Emile is doing the honors today. First the inside:

And one more of the outside.  

The whole time I was working on this, I was thinking of ways to change it. Sleeveless and long as a topper, with a collar (which would change the vibe of the jacket completely), with cuffed sleeves. In a floral print, in pieced linen solids and prints, with a rounded corner at the front neckline, maybe not quilted at all... Because as it is, I really won't wear it - I'm much more happy in unstructured styles, and I'm not likely to wear something that reminds me even remotely of a suit jacket.

But I do love that hem... Ciao! Coco 

Morris and Sabrina...

Or what to do with 5 yards of ponte de roma! I picked it up at a very good price at Fabric Mart earlier this year, thinking I would make a long cardigan for the change of seasons. But I've been on the fence about it. A long cardigan would be an almost zero-use item for me, wearable on maybe a few days in January or February. So it's been sitting in my stash, while I've been sewing down the fabrics around it. (I've been on a bit of a fabric fast for most of the year - my stash was getting out of hand. I will totally break out during the Black Friday - Cyber Monday sales!)

So, I decided to go with a second Boyfriend Cardigan as a compromise. Only one pic, because I just don't love it. I do have other plans for it - hopefully I won't re-cut and sew it down to nothing. 

A note here about my hair: it came up blonde in this and two more pics because I took them with the settings I had been using to photograph the moon. Clearly my camera still has the upper hand. I've become very vain about my gray hair - I love it!

With the cardigan behind me, I decided to make another Grainline Morris Blazer, but with a concession - I sewed it to the original drafting, with none of the little changes I made previously to the bottom edge. And I cut it with long sleeves, a simple change. I thought I might like it better than my two previous versions. It's such a cute jacket, and I've seen so many terrific makes of the pattern - the Grainline Flickr group is a lurkers heaven...

 Actually, this one's pretty nice. The fabric works really well, and the fit is spot on. On Emile, pending sleeves:

To keep the facings - neckline, front edges, and hem - nice and fluid, I used tricot knit lining for all my interfacing. The pattern suggests fusible tricot interfacing, but I did not want to risk 'freezing' the fabric, as fusibles often do. 

I hand-basted the interfacing/facing just outside the seam line and removed the basting once the facings were in place. I enjoy hand-sewing, so basting is right up my alley. I baste all the time!

I'm really happy with the result. By the way, as before, I top-stitched along the edge of the front facing. This seems to prevent the fabric drag, between the shoulder and bottom point, that haunts so many Morris blazers.

Added top-stitching, red lines

I could not believe I still had enough fabric to make one more thing. An easy choice - the Love Notions Sabrina Slims are one of my favorite pants. Absolutely like wearing PJs.

And the ponte is all used up, gone, done!

Ciao! Coco

McCalls 6291 Not-so-short shorts...

Oh boy, did I ever need some shorts! 

Have you noticed how hot it is in the States this summer? I say that every year. But it's truly hot and humid now in Florida, and these new shorts will be in rotation for at least 4 more months.

I stayed with my favorite shorts pattern, McCalls 6291 (original post is here). I've made the pants several times as well, here and here. They're all just so comfortable and always look nice. Big plus features: front pleats, an elastic waist, and nice deep pockets.

The shorts have only one modification, to lengthen them and widen the legs - a very easy change. And I didn't use the cargo pockets, although I think they would be cute on khaki or denim.

I pulled up my shirt just to show the pleats and pockets. And actually, these shorts look great with a tucked-in shirt. But I know I won't do it - having the shirt loose is so comfy and cool. 

Not stopping with one pair, I made them in white as well. 

Both shirts are modified Grainline Studio Alder's, blogged here

A few sewing notes:

• Sewed size Medium.

• The fabric for both is 55/45 linen/rayon blend from JoAnns (Sew Classic Linen Look Solid), prepped with 3 passes thru the washer and dryer before I used it. This fabric is a favorite with me - I've used probably 8 times for pants and shorts.

• I used a 2" hem, just because I love the look of a deep hem. 

• The finished outseam is 21", and the inseam is 9.5". Walking shorts!

• The finished waistband is about  wide, with 1" wide knit elastic. Finishing touches: topstitching 1/4" from the top edge, one row of triple-stitch zig-zag to keep the elastic from rolling,

• And lots of serging to ensure a nice clean finish on the inside...

Parting shot from the garden this morning: Here's a little orange Julia (Dryas iulia), a true Floridian, but perhaps seen in south Texas. Her wingspan is about 3", and she only lives about 2 weeks as a butterfly - but she spends that time zipping around. She's known as a fast flyer...

 Wishing everyone a safe and enjoyable weekend! Coco

Grainline Studio Willow Tank Top...

Grainline Studio and a new pattern - for me, it's an equation for sewing happiness. I really enjoy Jen Beeman's designs and drafting, and her prices are reasonable.

I admit I hesitated to buy it. It's a very simple design, one that I can duplicate easily from other patterns I have.  E.g., the Grainline Scout tee -just add a little swing and bust darts.  But, the Willow already has all that, and I do like owning all things Grainline.

Since I really don't mind the trimming and taping, I got the PDF version. OK, once I decide to try a pattern, I'm also impatient. PDF patterns are so fast! I'm a frequent customer at Sewing Patterns for just that reason - they have an incredible selection of Big 4 and Indie patterns in PDF format.

Back to the Willow - I only wanted the top, which is an easy 15-page tape-up.

Three rows taped, almost done...

Just a few sewing notes:

• I cut the size 10, my usual Grainline size.

• I wanted a cropped top to wear with summer pants and shorts, so I followed Jen's tutorial for cropping the pattern. I shortened mine by 3.5".

• The front neckline on this pattern is fairly high - I lowered it by 1/2".

• The front and back meet at a rather square-ish angle, not the easiest place to apply a bias binding. So I also trimmed the back neckline just enough to relax the curve in this area.

• The armholes were a little high  and tight on me - I trimmed 1/2" at the bottom of the  armholes, gradually decreased about midway up the front and back edges.  

• The fun stuff - Cotton lawn is pretty sheer, so I added a little detailing with center front and back seams. They're pressed open and topstitched about 3/8" away from the seam.

Fabric - Robert Kaufman Cambridge lawn, purchased at Craftsy.

This is a nice little top, versatile, easy to modify...

Pants - V9114  Kathryn Brenne pants in cheetah stretch sateen.

Parting shot - How about a spiny-backed orb weaver. I have lots of these in the yard - their webs are usually stretched between the wall of the house and a tree. Very wide webs, easily 4' - 5' across. I don't mind them, but I really don't like to get them in my hair!

She's so pretty (gender is easy to determine - the males have grey abdomens and short, humped spines). AKA the clown-face spider and Florida crab spider...

Gasteracantha cancriformis

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I wrote this post last night, and today is once again framed by a horrific and inhumane act, this time in Nice, France. My thoughts are with everyone impacted by this unspeakable crime and terrible loss. 

Coco

An Alder Shirtdress shirt!

What's not to love about the Alder Shirtdress by Grainline Studio!

View B on left, View A on right

When the pattern came out in 2014, I jumped on it right away with a v-neck version of the skirted Alder, View B. Like everything Grainline does, it was fun to sew and more fun to wear.

Since then I've been reluctant to sew the another one, mostly because of my scleroderma. Good news - this might be the summer of going sleeveless. So I worked up a shirt version of View A, using Michael Miller Bright White Cotton Couture from Hancocks of Paducah.

Pants - Love Notions Sabrina Slims

This was a really easy pattern adaptation. I sewed the size 14, with just a few changes to the tissue:

• Shortened the hem by about 3". 
• Lowered the bust dart by 1".
• Left off the attached button placket on the right front - I just used the self-faced left front to cut the right side as well.

• Trimmed the armscye by 1/2" all around, to accommodate binding on the armhole, rather than a narrow hem.

• And I added an inverted pleat in the lower back, which I think looks very 'shirt-like'.  I just widened the back by about 1 1/4", and made the center pleat when I attached the yoke. I thought about adding a loop on top of the pleat, but I forgot about it until after the yoke was finished...

The finished back length is 30.5", the front is slightly shorter. This is my favorite length since it covers both the bum in the back and the crotch in the front. A nice view coming and going...

Notes on finishing seams and hems. These were pretty easy, because cotton is so cooperative (compared to, e.g., ITY, charmeuse, or chiffon!).

• I sewed the side seams with a straight stitch and serge/cut the seam allowances together at 3/8". Using the cutter ensures any ravels get snipped, for a nice clean finish.

• For the curved hem, I started with stay-stitching 3/4" from the bottom edge, side to side.

• And used the stitching line as a helper to press the hem up,

• Next, I pinned it - lots of pins. I always press the hem at this point, to flatten the folds and work out any quirks. Since I use glass-head pins, this is not scary!

• Almost done... I top-stitched the hem, working on the inside, for a pretty finish...

• And the very last step, I pulled out the stay-stitching and gave the hem another good press.

Parting shots from the summer garden:

Hoya carnosa

Dates in the areca palm (only for the birds)

Strawberry guava - edible, delicious, but usually Mr. Iguana and Ms. Squirrel get them first.

Ciao! Coco