Tag: projects

Colette Patterns’ Laurel: More sewing adventures. Final muslin, Dritz magnetic pin cushion, pressing fabric & cutting out pattern.

Here’s the new fit with the new FBA.  There is still that line of extra fabric from the bust, but I’m done fiddling.  We will just go from here.
 
New sleeve.  Seems okay too.

I splurged and bought the Dritz magnetic pin cushion.  I did not like it.  The magnet isn’t very strong and the pins fly off.  Do not buy one.
 

Pressing 10.5 yards of fabric is a very daunting task.
 
Happily, my drying racks came in handy for storing the pressed material.
 
My apron patterns needed to be enlarged.  I took care of two of the pieces on the copy machine at work.
 
But two pieces needed to be enlarged more than 400% so I went to (what I still think of as) Kinkos.  (Now known as Fed/Ex.)  A wonderful employee Heatherann helped me and look!  For $3.75 I didn’t have to tape a million sheets of paper together.  That was so worth it!
 

Fabric Depot

This is where I buy a lot of my fabric, simply because it is so tremendously large.  Fabric Depot is (for my world) very far away from me. It’s a 20-minute drive or an hour on public transportation. But boy, is it fun when I get there!
 
In the summer you can shop outside and get great deals on clearance fabric.
 
Just one section of the store!  This is what I call the “fancy” material.  Bridal fabric as well as all the tulle and also material for workout clothing.
 
The pattern department is huge.  Aside from the usual shelf with pattern books, they have all these independent patterns.
 
Here is the fancy cotton, wool etc. section.  It’s such a big store they have to have huge signs hanging from the ceiling.

I regularly read Gertie’s New Blog for Better Sewing and often hear the lament from commentators, “I have no good fabric stores near me.”  So I feel very lucky to have Fabric Depot in my (extended) back yard.

Colette Patterns’ Laurel: Fabric Preview and more muslin action.

Straight from the dryer.  The blue in the back is the color of the shirts/dresses. The striped material in the middle is to make bias binding for the shirts/dresses. The green seersucker (this is how I can get more seersucker in my wardrobe) and awesome print are for aprons.  Note:  It is very difficult to dry 10.5 yards of fabric.  Very, very difficult.
 
To review: Full Bust Adjustment gave more room in the bust, but then, due to lack of dart, gave too much room in the abdomen area.  I have not been able to find any solutions for this on the Internet and so…
 
…here is where I remove some from the sides to attempt to fix this problem.  It’s all I can think to do.
 
Eh.  I’m not sure that did much good.
 
Plus, now I’m wrinkly in the back.
 
I’m making the sleeve a bit bigger.
 
And here I am with sleeves. I don’t like how they flare out.
 
Back view.
 
Yep.  I think the sleeves need to be even bigger.
 

Colette Patterns’ Laurel: Muslin. Fitting the back.

So I’m writing this a few weeks after I took this picture which is a bad thing.  First off, this is going to be a “hmmm.  I think I was doing this here” sort of post.  But here goes.

I’m pretty sure this was the first go-round with the muslin.
Back. It would behoove you to take note of how loose and floppy the back is, especially in the lower back area.
 

Front. You can see where I’ve drawn in a line at my waist.  Also, please note the lines radiating from the bust point above and below the bust.  This will become important later.
 
More back?  Or perhaps a picture where I show off my massive arm?

After I took those pictures, I’m pretty sure I had Matt pin out the back according to the instructions on the Threads Torso Fitting DVD.  It seems that patterns are drafted as if we are straight up and down in the back and surprisingly, we are not, so there is usually a ton of excess fabric.  So here’s how it looks now, after pulling some of that fabric out.  Better along the top.
 
But still a bit poofy nearer the waist.  Except apparently I found that okay at the time.
 
 The cats helped by watching.
 
Here is my muslin ripped apart and set up to redo the seam.  Look at all that I took out.
 
And then, due to my massive deltoids, I just went ahead and gave me more room in the underarm area.
 
Given the wrinkles around the bust line, I finally agreed that perhaps I am not a B cup any longer.  Which means it was time for my first Full Bust Adjustment!  And here it is.
 
And here is how it looks recut and resewed.  So much more room.  It was a bit of a revelation.
 
But I think there might be too much room now? And look how much extra is in the stomach area.
 
 This is me frowning because I’m not really sure how to get rid of that excess material.
 

Onto the next project: Colette Patterns’ Laurel Uniform Shirts!


I’ve mentioned the plan before and now that the Waste Not Napkins are done, I can officially launch into the Uniform project.  Material has been bought, enough for three shirts, two dresses and two different aprons.  Fitting DVDs have been watched.  So I’m off now, tracing the pattern, ready for another sewing adventure.

Waste not napkins


One of the things about sewing that drives me crazy is all the leftover material.  In the past I have saved every bit and piece, but not ever done a thing with them.  So now I try to squeeze as much out of the leftover material, but the question often is “what to make?”  I was lucky with the Crepe dress, to have goodly bits of material big enough for square napkins, so here I am cutting away, while watching a video on fitting.

Crepe finished! It’s a dress!


Things I like:  the sweetheart neckline, the back, the fun sleeves, the length, the material, the fact it’s a wrap dress that wraps in the back.

Things I don’t like:  it’s a good standing dress, but it gapes when I sit, which I’m not thrilled about.  Also, I have miles to go on the fitting thing.  The bodice is too loose.

Overall:  Very happy with it.  It’s so summer!