sewing

(Heads up, I’m gonna talk about fitting the Cloth Habit Watson Bra pattern, which necessitates talking about BOOBS. You’ve been warned.)

After I blogged about realistic projects for working from home, I got antsy to try the Watson Bra and ordered an elastic/notions starter kit from Porcelynne (seems to be out of stock at the moment). It gave me enough elastics and sliders and closures for three bras, which gave me enough tries to get the fit really dialed in.

Here are all three testers, and I am so tickled with all of them. I MADE BRAS! This pile would be AT LEAST $80 to buy.

I made useful clothing from GARBAGE, essentially:

• Bra #1 at the top used scraps from these crane-print joggers
• Bra # 2 in the middle used a remnant from this Nikko Turtleneck a couple years ago
• Bra #3 at the bottom used athletic lycra leftover from these gym leggings

OK, on to the fitting:

The Watson Bra is sized by subtracting your upper bust from your full bust. Now that I have muscles, there’s not a ton of difference between those measurements–it’s all between my full bust and underbust (where the bra band sits). I’m a 32C in ready-to-wear, but the Watson size chart  put me in a 34A for this pattern. I was dubious, but I also usually wear an underwire and this is wireless, so I just went with the recommended size to start.

Bra #1: 34A

As I thought, the band was too loose. I can wear it on the last hook but I can tell as it stretches over the day. Surprisingly, the cups fit pretty well. I put it on and said WOW, because the unlined cups just stretch over everything and give you such a nice “perfected” silhouette (especially compared with the “tank style” wireless bras I’d been wearing, which just mushed everything into place).

Verdict: Hallelujah, no more uni-boob! Definitely wearable, but the band’s a little big.

Bra #2: 32B

The cup pattern piece for the 34A and the 32B was the same (the sorcery of sister sizing) so this one really just got the band dialed in. As I thought, a 32 was good. (However, turns out I hate the longline version.)

I was curious as to where the cup seams should hit on this for the best fit–I didn’t see any info about that in any pattern review. With an underwire, I know they should go flat against the chest, but the seams here and on Bra #1 were slightly up ON the boob versus hitting down at the base of it.

Verdict: NO THANK YOU to the longline. Band was spot on. But what about cup seams?

Bra #3: 32C

The cup seams on this one hit lower down, flush against the rib cage, but as I wore it all day the cups didn’t feel quite as secure, like things were just starting to think about falling out. I also noticed a difference in the amount of lift, and I can only conclude that the cup seam is supposed to hit the boob itself in this pattern? (I don’t really know, honestly.)

Verdict: I can wear this (with a slightly tighter strap than usual) but the 32B is the winner for security and support.

Final Thoughts:

I love the Watson Bra! All three tester versions are wearable and comfortable, but now that the fit’s dialed in it’s like wearing nothing. But it’s also really glamorous and gives a great shape (which is, after all, the point of a bra in the first place).

The instructions are excellent and even dictate what type of stitch and length and width to use. If you’re an adventurous beginner, you could make this. And I regret waiting so long to try it–because now I’m a little obsessed with making bras.

BOOBS!

The new JoAnn store opened in my neighborhood about a year ago. My brother and sister-in-law went to check it out a little later, and my brother sent me a couple pics of prints from the quilting section. I offered to make them into shirts if he wanted to buy them…and here we are nearly 12 months later, with one finished:

I used Simplicity 3852, which I’d made for him before (seven years ago?!). I took a gamble that it would still fit, but sewed it with 1/2″ seam allowances instead of 5/8″ for a little more room, just in case. (It fits!)

I had a hell of a time fusing my interfacing–to the point I was ready to order a steam press and ended up throwing the rest of that interfacing yardage away–so I hope it stands up to washing ok.

Quilting cotton isn’t ideal for a garment but man does it take stitches well:

Having a baby is for people who are far more optimistic than I, but when friends decide to do it, you can’t help but wish them well on their moonshot–and sew them tiny clothes.

These are for a friend who isn’t finding out the gender and whose parents thought the ultrasound picture she used to break the news was a loaf of bread at first. Naturally, I had to find bread-printed fabric for an outfit for the “Little Loaf”:

These are FREE patterns from Brindille & Twig, the Ringer Tee and the Bummies diaper cover.

I did the “fill-a-yard” option from Spoonflower which meant I could get two prints into a yard, so I found more carb-printed fabric and made a romper, too:

This is the One-Piece Romper, which is pretty labor intensive but SO CUTE. Ribbing on both was from Urban Kids Fabric and the snaps on the romper are from Snap Source (the only snaps I’ll use–seriously, give them a try. Life changing.).

I’m pretty sure my friend doesn’t read the blog, so I hope I’m not spoiling the surprise. Making these over the last week or so was really therapeutic–the yellow, the fabric, the smolness of everything. It’s always nice to share some optimism, especially now.

Nine weeks into working from home, I’ve been trying to pick projects that are more involved or take more time, so I don’t end up with a 70-piece wardrobe and nowhere to wear it. Case in point, this kinda-pioneer, kinda-Japanese quilted jacket:

I had been saving some of my favorite clothing for YEARS thinking I might make a quilt. On the left is a yukata I bought right after high school, which I loved and wore to literal shreds along the neckline. On the right is one of the first wearable dresses I made back in 2007, in Japanese quilting cotton. It didn’t fit but I still loved the fabric.

The quilted jacket that didn’t really work was languishing in my closet and I’d outgrown my quilted Tamarack jacket. As I was digging through the stash to make all the masks, I saw the yukata and the dress together and it all clicked: New Quilted Jacket! I’d use the back and pockets from Unsuccessful Jacket and piece together the fronts and sleeves.

I did use a pattern–Simplicity 8298–but I pretty much eyeballed the placement of the different prints before I started:

I spent some quality time with a seam ripper breaking down the garments and then just pieced them as I went to fit the pattern:

I had batting on hand, leftover from the other quilted jackets, and used some chambray jacquard I picked up on our trip to Montana a couple years ago for the lining. Then I machine quilted the different pieces, going diagonal on the fronts and straight on the sleeves just for the hell of it.

The Medium in the pattern fit great out of the envelope, but I ignored their method of finishing the collar seam.  I also straightened out the bell sleeve near the end because it was taking it all from “world-traveling ceramics teacher” to “Mikado cosplay”.

But all’s well that ends well–this might be the garment that feels the most like “me,” if my essence were translated to clothing: Print mixing! Japonisme! Pioneer spirit! Mandarin collars! Celestial motifs! Navy blue!

They may look like a skirt…

But they’re pants. TIGER PANTS!

These are the Helen’s Closet Winslow Culottes again, this time in deadstock rayon crepe from Blackbird Fabrics (sold out). I made the elastic back waist vs. a zipper, so I could fit into them for more than a couple years.

That fabric is really nice–opaque but light, a fairly full-bodied drape for rayon, non-wrinkly, and TIGER STRIPED. I wish I had gotten more because I would love a matching blouse for a complete lewk.

I really love these, even if I’m just swanning around the house in them at the moment in my Road House t-shirt. One step closer to only having feline-print clothes!

Back at the start of quarantine, I ordered something from all my favorite indie fabric stores, both to support them and to make sure I didn’t run out of fabric.* Fancy Tiger Crafts in Denver had just gotten a shipment of Ruby Star “Tiger Fly” rayon so I grabbed a couple yards with no plan.

At some point in the last year I had picked up a bigger size of an out-of-print Built By Wendy pattern, Simplicity 4112. I had made it before (ten years ago!) in a beloved Kaffe Fassett rayon, but I had outgrown it.

I saw the pattern in my stash and boom! A fancy lady blouse in fancy tiger rayon:

This looks fancy but is actually super-simple to make–just 4 pattern pieces and no interfacing on the placket (it’s “grown on” so you just fold the fabric on itself). I used my narrow hem foot for the sleeves and my Bernina handled the buttonholes like a champ.

This was a delight to make–it’s so YELLOW!–and I think Doc and I have really hit our photographer/model stride. Really happy to have this decade’s version of the blouse in my closet.

*Reader, I am NEVER going to run out of fabric.

What better thing to do with your quarantine time than to make a fancy robe and then force* your significant other to recreate fashion shoots?

This all started with the fabric–a tiger print rayon from Workroom Social that was sold out for, no joke, over a year. When I got the email that it was back in stock, I bought first and figured I’d make a plan later.

I still get emails from Emerson Fry about fancy clothes I can make for much less, and I remembered they were selling this tiger print “Fete Kimono” that caught my eye. Then Helen’s Closet had a sale and I bought their Suki Robe pattern and it all fell into place.

I didn’t have anywhere near enough fabric but I made it work: Since I was going to wear this as a jacket, not a real robe, I cut a size down. I also chopped 5 inches off the shortest length and just lengthened the sleeves vs. cutting a separate sleeve band. Once again, I was really impressed by Helen’s Closet drafting and instructions–I thought the neckband inset would be fiddly but it all went together really well.

I’d seen some younger coworkers wearing the “kimono as jacket” trend (back in the Before Times) and always wanted to try it, so I’m happy I was able to make one for myself. Plus, I can literally sit around working in my robe.

*Doc has actually been extremely patient as I make him take pictures for the blog, which is usually in the afternoon when everyone’s (my) blood sugar is lowest and we’ve already rattled around the house together all day. He’s a good sport.

When this quarantine started, I realized that if I just sewed clothing I’d come out of it with three new wardrobes. So I’ve been making baby gifts, I’ve been making masks–and now I’ve made a few house projects that have been on the list for a long time.

First up, a serger cover and a matching ironing board cover: The fabric on both is a Japanese dobby from eQuilter. I used the CCP free serger cover pattern and made my own piping, because Jo-Ann is entirely sold out of anything resembling bias tape. It’s a little big–you can see the hem folded under there–but it keeps the dust off.

The ironing board cover “pattern” is just the shape of your ironing board plus 3 inches all around. Then you sew a bias tape casing to the edges, thread the drawstring through, and boom! A fresh new ironing surface, without fading or scorch marks or interfacing glue.

For the last house project, I made a silk pillowcase (recommended for curly hair). I’d had one but it blew out at the seams a couple months ago (unsurprising, since it was a $15 online buy). So I got a yard of deadstock charmeuse from Stonemountain and made a better one:

I love this print and the silk is way more luxurious than my previous version. It makes me feel so fancy, I want to get more of the fabric and make pajamas and a robe to match–although that might just be all the Phryne Fisher mysteries I’m reading.

(If you weren’t a teen in the 90s and don’t think of Cake every time you hear “long jacket,” here you go.)

This all started as an “I could make that” when I saw this Everlane Drape Trench:

It was in a cotton/lyocell blend, which made it drapey, but I knew lyocell was going to wrinkle like crazy once you sat on that long jacket. It was also $148.

My shoulders had outgrown my old J. Crew Factory trench; I was starting voluntary isolation; and indie fabric stores had just had to close their brick and mortars and needed some love. I knew what I had to do: Order 3.5 yards of 100% cotton twill from Hart’s Fabric and make my own version.

I used Simplicity 8554 (view A). It’s an unlined trench style, pretty close to the Everlane inspiration but with no buttons. It would have been e a super fast sew…except I decided to go all-out with my finishes and Hong Kong finished EVERY. SEAM. with bias tape I cut from a Japanese print from deep stash. (I also added a back vent instead of the side slits, using this tutorial.)

I even added the belt loops and belt, even though I’ll probably wear this open 90% of the time. I was a little worried about sewing on the loops, since that meant sewing through 6 layers of heavy canvas, but my machine handled it like a champ.

Whew! A long post for a long-ish project. I haven’t ever had a jacket this long and I love wearing it–it brings me back to the 90s when the cool dangerous kids at school wore long dusters and didn’t care about failing classes (unthinkable!). This may read as a classic un-dangerous trench, but in my mind I’m the girl in the Cake song.