sewing

I’ve been sewing lately, just not a lot and not always successfully or with great associations: I stress sewed a robe during my week off when Matt was sick; I made a two-piece set that I was going to wear to a second interview…before I didn’t get the job or the interview; and most recently I took some precious jersey from Doops Designs in Australia and tried to make a jumpsuit. It didn’t work. Then I tried to cut it apart and salvage the pants and make a new top with the remaining fabric and that didn’t work either.

I needed a win, is what I’m saying. So I pulled out some different precious Australian jersey (because I learn nothing) and made a True Bias Nikko Dress and not only did it work, there’s no unhappy baggage around making it!

I’m so pleased with it I’m not even waiting for a modeled shot. This is the final try on before I stitched the hem down and I love it–all my 90s-teen turtleneck dreams have returned but this time I have awesome swole shoulders and arms (and confidence, and maturity, and meds for anxiety).

I went up two sizes from the recommended size based on body measurements and looked at the finished garment measurements instead. It translates well as a column-style dress versus a bodycon one, I think. I also shortened it about 10 inches from the full length. The jersey itself is lovely, thick and opaque even in white, with lots of stretch and a cool hand.

This was so fast and made me so happy, I’m tempted to make another. It feels casual enough that I can see wearing this to Target with Birkenstocks, but I can also put on ankle boots and go to a client meeting.

We’d planned to take a quick trip to Bear Lake in northern Utah over my week off, so I’d been planning this bikini for a bit. We canceled the trip but I made it anyway as a stress sew, checking in on poor sick Doc in between steps.

This is another pair of  Greenstyle’s Waimea Swim Bottoms–with POCKETS–paired with a Greenstyle Elevate Crop Top modified into a swim top per this tutorial on the Greenstyle blog. (I promise I’m not sponsored by Greenstyle; I just really like their drafting.)  The top fabric is the last of some nice “Olympus athletic” from Fabric.com a few years ago and the bottom fabric (and all swim lining and the rubber elastic) is from The Fabric Fairy.

I’d read somewhere that thin rubber swim elastic (vs. knit or braided elastic) is the trick to making your swimwear feel really professional, and that is correct. This was my first time using it and it really cuts down on bulk on the folded edge. The cover stitch machine continues to pay for itself with topstitching the elastic and finishing the back edge in one step.

I ended up taking my nephew to the pool at the end of last week, when Doc was feeling a little better, so this did get a “vacation” wear after all. It stayed in place on a water slide, in the lazy river, and while swimming after a 10-year-old, and I got a compliment from another lady there on it.

It’s gonna be great when we make it to the lake.

I’ve been trying to use up some remnants and had a big piece left from some space-dyed spandex I bought for gym tights, so I made some new hiking shorts. Of course, then I bought fabric for a top, negating any benefit from using what I have, but hey! look at my new outfit!

The shirt fabric is a deadstock Under Armour “cooling jersey” and it’s the best technical fabric I’ve used to date. With a lot of my gym tights, the fabric says it’s wicking but it really isn’t. But this stuff was magical–I could feel a breeze through it and the minute I started to sweat, it was cool (but also didn’t show sweat on the surface? magic!). I used the Waimea Rash Guard pattern from Greenstyle and, like all Greenstyle patterns, it went together beautifully.

The shorts are the Venice Beach Shorts, also from Greenstyle, and this Elder Millenial loves the late 70s/early 80s summer vibes. I used the free “Contour Waistband” download on their site instead of the waistband as drafted and they sit great under my pack. I also added inset zip pockets instead of the regular slant pockets and made the pocket bags out of mesh for more ventilation.

Like I said Monday, we’re not hiking as much lately–but a new outfit is a good reason to start again, right?

I had built up the patio slipcover project in my head as something that would be annoying and hard, based on my experience sewing lined drapes for the house 10 years ago. Well, I have 10 more years of experience now and a lot better tools, plus I found a tutorial to do the math for me, so this actually ended up being a fun and easy project.

I wanted a slipcover to be able to wash it throughout the season and I wanted it to be reversible for even wear in the sun. I found this calculator and video tutorial from Sailrite and it was fantastic. I ended up with a perfect fit, just snug enough, and look at this slick zipper installation:

The tutorial calls for continuous zipper tape but I used a spare separating zip I’d bought for my parka project. It worked well enough but if I make more slipcovers, I’ll get the continuous tape. Because this was so easy, I’m already looking at the rest of the furniture and thinking, “I could slipcover that.”

PS, the pool is a delight as we contemplate a summer of 100+ degree days:

It’s been a bit since I’ve made a shirt for my love. Considering that I forgot our anniversary in March, he deserved a really nice shirt when he got one again. Maybe in some…TIGER PRINT RAYON?

Those tigers came from The Fabric Store in New Zealand and the quality is just gorgeous–opaque enough for a shirt, buttery soft, and cool (temperature wise, but also it’s just cool). I used the New Look 6197 that I’d used a couple times before, so no construction mods or issues.

I pattern matched the hell out of the pockets but the center fronts didn’t turn out quite as accurate as I’d hoped. But overall, I think I did the fabric justice.

Even though I was “meh” about my swimsuit, I finished it up–and added a rash guard for Doc as well. Can you tell I’m really excited for any type of water vacation, even if it’s just half a day in some hot springs?

When I tried on the swimsuit again, I liked it more. Wearing the waistband of the bottoms unfolded makes them super high waited (plus they have POCKETS, which are hard to see here). The halter cut and the palm print on the top add to the retro vibes. (Neon performance knit from Fabric.com; palm print scraps from deep stash.)

For Doc, I tried out the Fehr Trade Surf to Summit Rash Guard, which I can’t recommend. It makes a decent finished product, but the pattern was missing notches and the sizing is super limited. I used performance Lycra from Joann and some football mesh from a Fashion Fabrics Club order. I had to add cuffs since I forgot to lengthen the sleeves for him, and I added a zip pocket across the low back because who doesn’t want a pocket?

That cover stitch machine keeps proving itself to be a good investment–putting on the elastic in my suit was so easy and all the seams on Doc’s guard got a nice topstitch.

We’re wearing it all today to see how it does in the water. Hot springs, here we come!

In my last few batches of giant soft undies, I’ve mentioned the styles from Arq, which are American made/sweatshop free and thus not overpriced at $38 a pop–but if I can make it myself for less, why not?  For this latest set, I was directly inspired by this image from the Arq Instagram:

An evening of clicking around turned up two very similar knits from Knitfabric.com and then in two hours I had this dupe:

Seeing them side by side, I could scoop out the front of the Greenstyle Embrace bra a little more next time, but those Bunzies undies are nearly identical.

I’m all recovered from the second vaccine dose yesterday and realizing that in two weeks we can take a ROAD TRIP–maybe to a hot spring, maybe to a place with a pool? Either way, it’s time to start working on some swimwear next. I might just use the same patterns.