sewing

The owner of my gym (and the guy I trained with when I first started lifting) and his wife are having their first human baby soon, a little girl. Their actual first baby is a Maltese dog named Sophie, who sometimes visits the gym–so clearly I had to find  fabrics featuring little white dogs and some dumbbells for a gift:

Both fabrics were from Spoonflower (using the vertical “Fill a Yard” feature, to get a fat half of each), with ribbing found on Etsy. Pattern is the Brindille & Twig One-Piece Romper, which is super cute but fairly labor-intensive (lots of ribbing to apply).

These were a big hit and, as I said in the card, I’m sure Sophie dog will be an excellent big sister.

After using a lot of spandex scraps and lace and Spoonflower poly jersey, I’m having a cotton moment for underwear again. I saw this print at Jumping June Textiles and clicked “buy” so fast my finger bones might have fractured.

I couldn’t focus on much last week but I did get the longline Watson bra and bikini cut out. When the election results came in Saturday, it seemed fitting to sew up a sunrise-and-flowers set over the weekend.

That accidentally perfect acid yellow straps and picot elastic came from a grab bag from Tailor Made Shop; the tiny pom pom elastic on the inner cups and legs is from Bra Builders.

I’m fully lining the Watson bras now (based on how the Mara is constructed) so this is a fairly supportive bra for being made of cotton/lycra. It’s also just so damn happy. Pretty pleased with this one.

This was one of those projects where the fabric and the pattern just come together–it’s fun to make and the end product is everything you hoped it would be, namely, A JACKET WITH JAPANESE WARRIORS ON IT:

This is Japanese cotton dobby I snatched up from Stonemountain without a project in mind. Looking through my patterns while planning the Autumn of WFH Jackets, I saw an old Built By Wendy for Simplicity jacket pattern, Simpicity 4109. I’d made the view with the wide sleeves back in 2007 (so long ago I have the post but no pictures) but hadn’t tried the straightforward “chore jacket” style.

I had to find a bigger size on Etsy, since I’m a lot broader than I was 13 years ago, but I’m glad I did. It’s a simple pattern but has some good details. There’s really deep back facing (I finished it with bias binding, because why not)…

…and some truly delightful pockets, on which I did the finest pattern matching of my life.

The print was big enough that I didn’t want to break it up over the front, so I took time to get the pockets perfect. I didn’t have enough fabric to do any matching that exact across the body but I think the scale helps disguise that.

This was just a fun sew that ticked all my boxes: easy construction, precise topstitching, contrasting undercollar, detailed print, HORSES, Bob Ross pthalo blue and all my other favorite colors.

Definitely one of my favorite projects of the year.

We’ve used cloth napkins for quite a while, long enough to be on a second set. The first set from World Market was so off grain they never folded up nicely; the second set from Crate and Barrell had a deep hem that warped and crumpled the minute it was washed.

I spent way too long over the weekend looking for replacement napkins online, only to worry that they, too, would be off grain, or have weird hems, or be exorbitantly expensive for something you’re going to use to wipe tomato sauce off your face. I definitely spent longer shopping for napkins than I took to actually make napkins–once I realized I could make them exactly how I wanted.

I got four napkins from a yard of Japanese dobby I had leftover from making a serger cover and ironing board cover back in April. They ended up 18 inches square and they are indeed on grain–I ripped the fabric vs. cutting (very satisfying). To finish, I tried out the rolled hem on my serger for the first time, using wooly nylon thread I had on hand from sewing gym tights. I didn’t have to press in tedious narrow hems and they should look just fine after washing. Boom!

I’m going to make another set of four today, since the serger’s all set up and I have an old shower curtain that would mix and match with this print. (All of my thrifty Midwestern ancestors are looking down on me and smiling right now.)

I call this one my “house coat” and yes, it’s a solid color AND a neutral (I know!).

I got the fabric (soft linen/rayon from Oak Fabrics) and pattern (Sienna Maker Jacket from Closet Core) back in May, when I thought a light linen jacket would be perfect for cool summer mornings. I honestly don’t remember why I didn’t make it right away–either I was bored by a solid neutral or I think it got really hot, really fast–but it’s still a nice layer for cooler fall mornings/evenings.

I was going for a copy of this Madewell linen blazer so I didn’t do the overlapping front with the belt as shown in the pattern (I didn’t do the belt at all, because I just don’t wear belts).

I was really impressed with the drafting and construction of the collar and facing–the directions give a super clean finish and a nice sharp roll to the collar. I was less impressed with the pocket construction, but the actual pockets themselves (three on the outside, one on the inside) are great.

I wear this a lot over all my printed pants and jumpsuits, I did a nice job with the finishing, I enjoy all the pockets–but I just don’t LOVE this the way I love my crazy prints. I guess not everything needs to be a print, but it’s where my heart is.

Good news, friends–I figured out what to do with one of the fabrics I bought in August: A TIGER TRENCH!

I’ve noticed The Youth wearing kimonos as coats and I like that look…but I know that I would just feel like I was wearing a robe all day, since I am not A Youth. So I made a drapey trench coat to give that kimono feel but, you know, look like real clothes.

I used Simplicity 8554, which I’d already made so I knew it fit. This is a wonderful rayon crepe from Fabric Godmother and it was really effortless to work with (I’ve had bad experiences with crepes before). The pattern is straightforward and fits well–all I did differently from the instructions was to blind stitch the facings down, since they wanted to flap around in the lighter weight fabric.

Now I’m one step closer to my ultimate goal of only feline-print clothing!

This wasn’t entirely a present, since my brother bought the fabric a year ago, but I guess I gave him the gift of finally sewing it up. It’s quilting cotton, so it’s a little rough, but the print is pretty great. (And seasonal!)

Here’s a closeup, along with the snazzy black pearl snaps from SnapSource:
(It’s not my most perfect pattern matching but it’s pretty good.)

This is Simplicity 3852 again, really straightforward and fast to sew up. I have a new interfacing hack, which I used here: take non-fusible intergfacing or just regular muslin and spray baste it to the fabric with Odif 505 (discovered thanks to lingerie sewing blogs). It works wonderfully and I will never fuse with an iron again, only to have it fail in the first wash.

When I ordered that tiger/volcano fabric from Fabric Godmother, I threw in half a meter of viscose knit from Celine for underwear (now sold out). I thought the print would be very Marie-Antoinette, but…I think my pattern choices made it turn out more Anne of Green Gables:

These were both free patterns and they’re really comfortable to wear, so I’m ok with the Anne aesthetic. The top is the Barrett Bralette and the undies are the Noelle Underwear, both from Madalynne Intimates. I’ve found I need to size down a LOT in her patterns and the instructions are a little wacky, but the finished product is great: The Noelles are currently the winner in my ongoing Trial of Giant Underwear Patterns and the Barrett has the best support of any pullover bra I’ve tried to date.

As for my fall sewing plans, they’re are all for underwear right now. It’s looking more and more likely that I’ll be working from home for the rest of the year l and I just don’t need any more clothes to wear at home. (You could argue I also don’t need any more underwear, but at least they don’t use a lot of fabric or time.) I want to turn this pile of fabric and lace into a set of mix-and-match (or matchy-clashy) bras and undies, so stay tuned.

(Yes that is hot orange stretch velvet in the upper left.)