sewing

I’ve been wearing my quilt coat out and about (as much as I go out and about) and finally got some pictures of it, thanks to Doc.

I covered the piecing part in this post and the quilting part (that was all freehand, btw) in this post, so there’s not a lot of process to talk about here, except how proud I am of this one and how happy I am with it.

This was my first time really piecing a quilt and I learned a lot (mostly how much I respect the patience of quilters). I didn’t buy new fabric for the pieces, other than the black squares and the binding. The rest is all happy scraps: a tablecloth from my first apartment, a shower curtain I made right after I bought the house, fabric from a family vacation to Hawaii 15 years ago, fabric from our last trip to Moab before the pandemic. The backing fabric had been sitting in my stash for about 4 years and originally came from The Fabric Store in New Zealand.

For batting, I used pieces from my mom’s stash, which was a hard decision to make but felt right in the end–having something from her sewn up into this wearable hug makes it even more comforting.

For a pattern, I used Simplicity 8298, which I’d used about a year ago for another quilted jacket (before I really thought about whether I’m appreciating or appropriating Japanese fabrics; I kind of only wear that one in the house now). I left off the collar and straightened out the flare from the sides and sleeves by about 4 inches overall.  I’m considering adding a collar now, though–I’m just happier with something up by my neck and I have lots of leftover blocks.

And since I will never, ever get rid of this, it makes sense to fine tune it so it’s even more perfect, right?

I was pretty fed up with everything last week, including all my homemade bras. Even though they weren’t wired, even though I’d been happy with the comfort level all pandemic, suddenly having a back closure and elastic  edges and straps was Just. Too. Irritating.

So I made a couple sets of even more relaxed bras and undies over the weekend, with no exposed elastic. Hell, they might even be pushing the definition of “bra” and moving more into “undershirt,” but I’m not mad about that.

First up is a Greenstyle Embrace Bra and matching Stitch Upon a Time Bunzies in some citrus print:

You’ll recognize that checkerboard knit in the background from last week–I bought three yards so I used a little to make a Sophie Hines Axis Tank and more Bunzies, inspired by the checkered ones from Arq.

Long term readers will remember that the Bunzies were my first venture into making undies a few years ago; it’s nice to return to them and all their full coverage glory. This time I tweaked the leg bands to be half as wide and treated them like binding (to mimic Arq’s “signature bound edge construction” lol) and used my cover stitch on everything.

Yesterday was busier at work but I felt much happier about everything, since I was wearing my giant soft bra and undies. Nothing like a quick project that offers real rewards.

Doc got some new Walbrook Boxer Briefs to replace the last of his RTW pairs and now we’re an “all homemade underwear” family. Which is a thing I just made up.

Please enjoy looking at his undies:

Both fabrics are cotton/Lycra from The Fabric Fairy and I used the cover stitch machine liberally. I didn’t get the stripes lined up very well at the front of the burgundy pair so I added some reverse stitching to help it look more intentional:

These are fast and only take a half yard of fabric and Doc says they’re comfortable. Handmade underwear for everyone!

I’ve been seeing jackets made from old quilts all over my fashion radar for the last year or so. (The NY Times even did a story about them in November, so you know it’s officially A Thing.) I have a queen size quilt I made 12-ish years ago sitting in the linen closet but there’s no way I would ever cut that  apart, since it took so much work. I wasn’t about to cut up a vintage quilt for that same reason, so why not go to exactly the same amount of work and make a quilt coat from scratch?
I’ve been working on this since early December, when I pulled out scraps and looked at quilting block patterns and decided on half-square triangles with a black background as the least involved (ha! read on):

To get some scraps, I cut up a couple old makes that didn’t fit but I’d saved for the fabric (Toby and pink mousie helped).

Then I cut all the prints into 5 inch squares:

Then I sewed the print squares to solid black squares (bought pre-cut, thank god, although it felt a little weird to buy brand-new fabric that was already in pieces) and cut those up to get the half square triangles:

And then I had to press them all and square up all the edges and sew two squares together to get a half block, press gain, then join 2 half blocks into a full block.

And THEN I could finally see how many blocks I needed to sew together to get a pattern piece, then sew THOSE together, press, and then….cut them all up to get my jacket parts.

Reader, making a quilt with small pieces takes FOREVER. Three months into this, I’m only now ready to machine quilt the jacket parts and then finally sew them all up. (Granted, I also made three big coat projects at the same time I had this going, but still. Making the actual fabric really adds a step.)

I’ve never truly pieced before–the two quilts I’ve made just used big pieces, not really blocks–and wow is it boring. I do enjoy seeing all the prints as I work but I don’t think I’ll be making anything like these anytime soon.

I finally got some pictures of my parka! Please enjoy Doc’s photography skills in a fresh mountain snow and then buckle up for an essay about making it:

This was a project that would have been simple but was really complicated by my fabric choice. I wanted an insulated jacket that was breathable but also warm and water repellent; this Polartec Stretch Wind Pro Hardface seemed ideal….but I somehow ignored the “stretch” part of the name. Which means I had a thick, spongy outer layer with maybe 40-50% stretch getting layered over non-stretch Thinsulate and nylon taffeta. Thick wool coating layers were nothing compared with trying to get that combo under my machine, but she did it. I used the cover stitch machine to topsticth all the outer shell seams and she also did great.

I had originally picked a vintage pattern for this and ordered fancy brass zippers for it from Zipper and Thread. Then I realized I didn’t want a metal zipper right up against my chin in the cold. I went looking for a pattern with a zipper guard and found the Jalie “Maxime Three-Season Jacket.” I had to lengthen it about 4 inches to accommodate the length of zipper I ordered for the other pattern (I wasn’t up to trying to shorten a metal zipper). I also left out the elastic at the bottom hem and didn’t even attempt the patch pockets in a stretch fabric; I did inset zipper pockets instead.

The pattern was drafted with a lining but no insulation, so I just basted the Thinsulate to my taffeta layer and treated it like an underlining:

Despite the challenges, this turned out looking pretty fancy–more fashion than technical. I love the color and the high collar and the pattern itself had some really professional construction techniques (bagging the lining through the sleeve, basting the collar seam allowances together before you turn the lining [genius], using the elastic casing of the sleeve as a facing).

The zipper guard is a really nice detail, even if my collar topstitching isn’t all that precise (I was really ready to be done by that step, if you couldn’t tell).

Is it my absolute best work? No. Is it fancy and orange yet also functional? Yes! Is it warm and does it seem breathable? I think so! (I forgot our traction chains and pack so I still haven’t actually hiked in it but the temp control from car to outside seemed really good?) And I was able to get all the materials with a gift card to The Rain Shed from my brother and sister-in-law.

I finished a hiking parka a couple weeks ago and need to get some pictures of it before all the snow melts in the mountains…but in between ambitious outwear projects, I’ve been sewing up a ton of spandex for the gym.

I made some neon tiger Super G Tights (as seen in this post) and a Solo Tank with an order from Blue Moon Fabrics:

I sewed up the orange “Memphis Milano” print in this pic into another pair of Super Gs and have been wearing them a lot (yet have no pictures of them on):

I got even more neon from Spandex World and made even more Super Gs and my first sports bra!

This is the Embrace Sports Bra and it’s even easier to sew than a regular bra. I found I needed to size down to get the compression I wanted but the un-layered option is super quick to make and almost a dead ringer for this ready-to-wear one.

And I have this print on the way for more tights (probably the Greenstyle Inspires with added patch pockets) because sewing spandex is fun and wow, once you realize you can make a pair for about $25, you kind of go crazy.

PS–this isn’t a sponsored post (lol, I don’t even do affiliate links) but as you noticed from all the links to Greenstyle patterns, I’m a big fan. The fit is perfect, they’re super functional (I lift heavy things, run, jump, and sweat a lot 4-5x a week in their patterns), they’re size-inclusive, and there’s a lot of support with sewalongs. If you want to try sewing activewear, you can’t go wrong starting with them.

Winter dressing has always been hard for me, even when I left the house. My winter WFH wardrobe has been not-really-matching joggers and warm tops and I was so, so tired of all of them. So I wanted to make a spring equivalent of all my summer jumpsuits that made me feel so pulled together: A sweatsuit.

I did debate just buying one from Big Bud Press–they’re ethically made in the US, they’re hand dyed, they looked high quality. But I didn’t want to deal with the high demand nor trying to find my size, nor did I really want to spend $200 on sweats.

So I found some mystery French terry on Fashion Fabrics Club and used the Greenstyle Brassie Joggers and their newest Bianca Pullover for the hoodie (a great pattern; I will pretty much buy and make anything they release at this point). I coverstitched the hell out of it and was really pleased with myself….

…until I tried it on.

Granted, this isn’t “modeled” but…I just don’t feel cool, like I thought I would, and I’m trying to figure out why. Is it because my fabric was thin and soft and so it feels like pajamas? Is it too drapey and lightweight so the hoodie just feels big, vs stylishly oversized?  Is it that the tie dye is a print, not an actual dye? Am I just Too Old to wear something like this, even at home?

I don’t know what’s wrong with it, but as an outfit, this wasn’t great. So I’m thinking of it as a wearable muslin test of that hoodie pattern, in which case it’s a great success. And of course, it wasn’t $200; just a few hours of my time.