2016 Goals

My goals for 2016 in no particular order:
-Sew more. Finish McCalls 6696 and Deer and Doe Belladone at the very least
-Knitting: Learn how to do brioche, improve my double knitting and intarsia
-Learn how to use my loom well
-Make my Motorhead scarf like I've been thinking about for the last year. I think double knitting is the way to go so that the lettering won't be backwards
-Blog more than once every 18 months!

If you're on Instagram or Ravelry, add me!
I'm Sickofitcindy on both platforms
I had to make myself private on IG due to constantly being tagged by random people spamming me

Here are the latest Christmas presents that I've knit:

I'm a Lazy Sewist!

Lately I've been embracing lazy sewing, ie. no muslin, minimal hand sewing, etc. I know at some point I'll be getting back to sewing more involved projects, ie. my Style Arc Ziggi motorcycle jacket. I just haven't been in the mood for muslining though I did cut out a Cambie muslin so maybe I'm moving away from laziness?

Anyhow this was a productive weekend, I finished a pseudo Zinnia skirt and this April Rhodes Staple Dress . I chose the straight hemline with pockets. Admittedly it's maybe not the most flattering silhouette on me, through no fault of the pattern. I lowered the neckline into a scoop neck and used five rows of shirring. I think it would look best on a smaller bust with a larger waist to hip ration. That said I really like it for it's easy to wearness and how comfortable it is on a hot day. It also worked well with my stash. I used 3 yards of a scotty dog directional quilting cotton and felt like the combination worked well. I'm a bit larger that the measurements but there was more than enough ease so I think that someone with larger measurements than I could make it up no problem. I think I will make it up again because it's just so darn comfy.

...And we're back!

I haven't been sewing much, just here and there working on my corset. I did finish this easy top by Jennifer Lauren Vintage. It was the perfect project to get back into sewing. I rebelled and didn't even make a muslin! No darts or pleats made this really appealing. Just an easy to wear vintage-inspired top. I made the size 20 but took an additional 5/8" off of the side seams and took a little bit off the front seam. Normally I measure my flat pattern but I was kind of stumped about how to go about this as it has kimono sleeves and wasn't sure where the armscye would end. I contacted Jennifer and she suggested measuring right when the sleeve ends. There's a bit of ease as it's meant to be a pull over top. I found that even though my measurements are slightly larger, I had no problems with the pattern. I used quilting cotton which was fine but I think Liberty lawn would have been better. However, I tend to buy my LL in 3 yard increments and I would have had 1 yard left over. I didn't want to "waste" the LL as I'm just not thin enough to eke out another project with 1 yarn of fabric. I'm not really one for mixing fabrics either. This is a great wearable muslin. I could have taken off more on the sides but I didn't want to ruin the easy to wear factor my making it too fitted. The length is perfect for me too. I think it was designed to be tucked in which I will never do but it falls just where I like it.

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I'm not sure why I need to claim my blog. I guess if everyone jumped off a cliff, I'd jump with them!

Just so this isn't a pictureless blog post, here's the newest kitty to follow me home.

Sewaholic Renfrew

 

 

I have no idea why I waited so long to make this, I seem to be the last person who has. It was so easy and quick, I see many more in the not so distant future. I actually picked up a cherry print from Mood on Saturday during Lladybird's meet up. This was the perfect for the sewist who approaches knits with trepidation.

Gifts for a Baby

No not my baby! While I didn't get as much done as I had hoped before my friend's baby's birth, I'm proud of how these came out. 

I don't often work with knit fabrics but I'm pleased with these. I did things a little differently from the pattern. Most notably, I used foe instead of bias binding.


I took the Wee Ones class on Craftsy and stuck it out. I think it'd be easy for an intermediate knitter but as a beginner it was challenging. I'm glad I stuck it out and finished the bunny, even if he's a little deformed.

 
Needless to say, the parents are non-traditional, hence the Motorhead diaper bag. Figuring out the adjustable straps ended up being the most challenging part.







This entailed a lot of frogging and redoing but I'm happy with the end result, even if it's not perfect. It's my first sweater!

Oops I Did It Again

I bought more fabric than I had planned. I went out specifically to buy this hammered silk wool for a pencil skirt. I had first spied this fabric about a year and a half ago. In a rare instance of frugality, I did not purchase it at the time which is not like me. More likely I already had a pile of fabric ready to be purchased. I waited and waited and the price went up! So I bought this fabric but then I also found a gorgeous wool with lace fused to it. It's the same fabric that Gertie is using for her Butterick sew along but in a much more "me" color.

This is my unplanned fabric:


This is what I went in to buy:
I think it's apparent that my favorite color is purple!

New Pattern Lovelies

I recently acquired this book from Ebay France. Called Eclair Coupe Paris, it is similar to Lutterloh in that many sizes are included in the book that you must resize using the special ruler. The book did not come with these rulers but I can get reproduction ones so I'm not too concerned.  The auction included just one photo of the inside and the seller wasn't sure about the date but I guessed it to be from some time in the 30s and I believe I'm right. I'm so thrilled to have this and I'm thinking about making a coat from the book. I guess my pictures will go up in separate posts. For some reason I can't get the links to work.

I edited this post and added this from my desktop. I don't know why the link isn't working. Maybe I should go back to using Photobucket.

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100_1947.JPG, a photo by Sickofitcindy on Flickr.

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100_1949.JPG, a photo by Sickofitcindy on Flickr.

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100_1948.JPG, a photo by Sickofitcindy on Flickr.

Link to Vintage Patterns

I'm in the process of photographing all of my vintage patterns and hopefully my contemporary ones well so that I will be able to access them from anywhere at any time. I will hopefully be renaming the photos soon. Don't expect much photography-wise, these were all taken VERY quickly. Enjoy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sickofitcindy/

If you post them some where, please mention my blog.

Peggy Wood Tribute Dress

And we're back! I have been sewing. I just haven't been taking pictures or blogging about it. It's one part hating having my picture taken, one part annoyance over transferring pictures to my computer and one part having a slow computer. I saw this gorgeous Peggy Wood sarong on Etsy Peggy Wood Sarong dress and fell instantly in love. It would never fit even in my thinnest days but that is why draping is such a valuable tool. You know the Big 4 aren't going to make a pattern for this one.  Luckily I have the best draping teacher ever! She helped me work out the twists and turns on this pattern and I'm so happy how it turned out. It's hard to tell with the print but it does look like my inspiration photo. I ended up using my tnt circle pattern that I draped last summer.

Some construction notes:

• Silk organza underlined bodice
• Seam lines marked by hand
• Lined bodice
• Horse hair braid on full circle skirt hem (makes hemming so much easier).  If I were making a formal dress, I would have underlined the skirt and catch stitched the horse hair to the organza.
• Lapped back center zipper

I am in love with this dress and will make many more. Next time I may attach the bodice lining by hand as it was kind of tricky to line the bodice close to the top of the cups without stitching over them. I will also understitch the sweetheart neckline better.

Success!

After the debacle of the last top, I'm glad that this one came out so well.  A commenter suggested wearing it open over another shirt.  I hadn't thought of that but that might be the way to go until/if I make another one.  I will purchase more of the same fabric but I'm once bitten, twice shy.

Anyway, I will be participating in a wardrobe contest on patternreview.com.  After we came home from the car show last night I had an itch to sew.  I will be using 9 vintage patterns and 1 repro pattern.  One pattern I've used before and the rest are new to me.  As we are allowed to muslin, I've decided to start working on muslins for the tops.  I'm less concerned about fitting the skirts.  I chose Butterick 6927 as it seemed like the easiest to re-size at 11pm.  I used the Kenneth King method of using my sloper to compare to my pattern.  Based on the comparison, it looked like I only needed to add to the side seam allowance.  Luckily this pattern uses neckline gathers and released darts for shaping.  I didn't need really worry about bust points which I would have to if it had a bust dart.  I ended up taking out almost 2 1/2 inches at the bust during the fitting but the waist fit perfectly.  Because the sloper and pattern match looked good, I decided to cut into my good quilting cotton rather than using the plain muslin. 

The only change I made other than the sizing issue was to bind the armholes as well.  I love this top and will re-make it not just for the contest but in other fabrics.

How to read the instructions (or what I should have learned in school but never did)

This blouse looks good. In fact it's one of the best blouses I've ever made. The collar is properly interfaced. The buttonholes look decent. The sleeves don't have too many puckers. It fits the dressform great. Unfortunately said dressform is dialed down as small as it can go. And I was this size... once. Not even that long ago relatively speaking. Sigh I had high hopes for this blouse as it was going so swimmingly. I love this print which is a deviation from my normal novelty/skulls/tattoo motif fabrics. I even took the darts out. Double sigh. Of course I trimmed the seam allowances next to nothing before I realized it didn't fit. Must get going hardcore with the Wii. Just in case, I will order more fabric. I'm not sure if I want to remake the same pattern. Is it cursed? Going forward I will pay more attention to the finished size. Or I will re-check my measurements.

60 Days of Summer (or swimsuits in any case)

I guess I got over the swim suit phobia. After the success of my first one, I've made an additional two. Now I just need to get swimming before the summer ends! Both have been worn once so they pass the pool test. The red skull suit is more flattering as it offers more support in the boob area and I think looks more slenderizing. Though I do love the hula one too.

My First Swimsuit!!!

I bought a bunch fo stretch lycra about a year ago. I've finally bitten the bullet and made my first swimsuit. Now I don't know why I was so anxious about it. I thought the stretchy factor would make it complicated but I found it to be quite easy. I posted on Pattern Review for help and many people recommended Kwik Sew patterns for their ease. I can easily buy a suit but I really wanted a retro style one. I bought one from a repro site. It was cute but for some unfathomable reason, they only lined the front. It is wearable but I find it a little thin from the back.

The pro to using lycra is that it makes fitting easy. My measurements don't fit into the pattern's measurements 100% but the stretch factor takes that worry away. I'm officially hooked on making swimsuits!

Colette Patterns Macaron

Normally I kind of let my patterns marinate in my stash until I get a burst of inspiration. I originally had purchased the solid red and cherry print fabric while on vacation in Florida with the intention of starting a vintage pattern- Advance 6675. However, to my sadness and dismay, despite the pattern still being in factory folds, the pattern DID NOT match the envelope or instructions! The initial plan was to use the red fabric for the bodice and the cherry print for the full skirt. Alas sometimes things go awry. So I made lemonade out of lemons, or rather, a Macaron. There haven't been too many reviews yet but the few that there are are favorable, as well as for the whole line.

I am very pleased how this pattern came out. Normally I can be a bit slap dash when it comes to my sewing. This time I actually took the time to press my seams when indicated and even interfaced the neck facings. I accidentally interfaced the contrast waist band. No harm done. I love this pattern and recommend it highly!

Poor neglected blog...

I promise to do better. I will try not to cop out so often and rely on my pattern review review widget. Promise.

Making What is Old into New #2

With the same idea as the first shirt, I am using a vintage 1950s era pattern with modern fabric. This was intended to be worn on Valentines Day but I forgot that February in New York can be cold!