elizabeth_mn

Here is the jacket I made for work last week. The pattern is Butterick 6140.



The fabric is lana bolito, a boiled/felted wool and rayon blend. The pattern was designed for this fabric, or one very like it, and has raw edges everywhere since it doesn't fray.

I liked sewing this. The fabric is spongy and forgiving. The pattern is roomy so I sized way down, and I may still take it in a bit in back when I take it home. I cut a small in the bust and hip and an XS in the waist, whereas the chart would have put me on the high end of medium. But that's pretty much par for the course with big 4 patterns.

I can see wearing it in spring with bright turquoise and fuchsia, with a short pencil skirt and leggings and a big scarf.

I have another work project this week, a blouse in a Japanese cotton double gauze floral. This fabric is wonderful and amazing. So soft and pretty! The pattern is a pretty basic princess-seamed, button down shirt with a collar band and no collar. My vision here is something to wear under cardigans instead of a long-sleeved tee shirt. If it works I will make more, in soft light flannel and lawn.

Sewing for work can be a little stressful with the deadlines and the pressure to make things perfect, but it is a nice perk since everything for the project is free. And sometimes it lets me try styles or fabrics I normally wouldn't.

The fabric store where I work, Treadle Yard Goods, is on Grand Avenue in St. Paul, a local fashionable shopping street that has emphasized small independent businesses for the last several decades.

There is currently a controversial proposal about parking meters on Grand that you can read about here.

I think meters are a terrible idea. People already complain constantly about parking being "a nightmare" on Grand, and I often have customers tell me they circled the block three times, or that the only reason they bothered stopping was they happened to see a spot out front. Then they go on to spend $100.

Our classes usually run about 3 hours. If students have to pay for parking too I think we will get fewer signups!

People might be fine paying meters for necessary things like doctors offices and banks, or even restaurants, but for the majority of non-essential businesses (as much as I hate to think of fabric as non-essential!) no way.

The only thing meters will do is divert shoppers away from independent, locally owned businesses and make them decide to go to the Mall of America instead.

I understand that the city needs money and I am totally willing to pay my taxes and support services, but there are better ways!

I started this dress before christmas happened and only got around to finishing it yesterday. It's a project I was assigned at Treadle. Okay, "assigned" is not quite accurate, more like suggested. We got several free copies of the new Decades Of Style pattern, the Decades Everyday E.S.P. Dress, and I was asked to make a display along with another of my coworkers. She chose a bold Mondrian-esque cotton print and I of course gravitated to this hot pink silk dupioni.



Now that I have gotten over slubby silks for costume purposes (at first I used them because I didn't know better, then I knew better but used them anyway because they were cheap, now I just avoid, generally) I am all about dupioni for modern stuff. It's cute and fun and keeps it a little more casual. I am aware that a shiny bright silk might not have been the ideal choice for an "everyday" style pattern, but whatever, I went with it. I wanted a bright pink dress, dammit!

Here's a photo of me wearing it - I took this before I left for work so it was a little rushed.



The pattern was interesting. I like the idea that Decades of Style is making a more casual line but keeping that vintage feel. The raglan sleeves are easy and comfy. The gathered skirt is a nice width. The square neck is not what I would typically choose for myself; it's a little high and not the most flattering shape for me.

I found the neck facings a bit fiddly, but not really any more so than your average sewing pattern. Facings are so ubiquitous in modern sewing patterns, but they are a feature that's almost never seen on readymade clothing. I always find them tedious and untidy. The suggestion of under-stitching to keep them from rolling out never actually works. I always, always either tack them at the shoulder seams, topstitch, or use invisible hemming stitches (hand or machine) to nail the thing down.

Still, altogether a solid pattern, with a nice fit and cute shape.

Something for work!



Ok, that's not entirely accurate. It IS for Treadle, but I get to keep my displays when they are no longer needed, usually a couple months.

When I saw the printed corduroy with the foxes I just knew that F had to have pants made of it. I decided to do them as a display and the pattern I chose (New Look 6257) had a jacket too, so I thought why not? The jacket is made of lightweight wool flannel and lined in a cotton print. The collar in the pattern is stupid so I drafted a Peter Pan collar, using the tutorial here as a guide. I made covered buttons from the apple print.

The pants took an hour. The jacket I spent a few days on. It was pretty simple but I made a few silly mistakes and had to do a couple do-overs. Plus when I say "a few days," I really mean "an hour a day for three days," because I just can't seem to scrape together a nice long sewing session lately. It's all bits and pieces for me.

It is suddenly chilly here. 60s in the day and 40s-50s at night. So probably more autumn sewing like this will be on my agenda. I kind of want to make the same coat over again in a cotton twill or maybe a wide-wale corduory. And she definitely needs more pants!

I have a beginning embroidery class coming up, and I am stitching displays to hang in the store for promoting the class.

Still damp from blocking but you get the idea.



Stitches from top to bottom: running, wrapped running, stem, chain, back, herringbone, cross, feather, split, couching, laid filling, satin, long and short, french knots, speckling. It seems like a lot to cover, but theirs will be much smaller, and those linear stitches go pretty quickly.

I am planning a second display. One thing I have learned is that people really respond to color more than anything else, so I am making the next one in modern brights.

I also plan to display it in the hoop because that is still so hip these days.

All I managed to get photo-wise were a few really quick ones with my street clothes just before the corset was whisked off to work for display.



Reading about jenthompson's issues with wrinklyness in her corset, I should probably be ashamed of myself for calling this done, but I just don't have time in my life to make it (or anything, ever) any better than this.  That being said, I'm pretty happy with it!  It gives me a 2" waist reduction, the bust support is good, and the overall shape is nice and curvy.

( Lots more photos! )

I finished the last couple and set up a little display at work to advertise my class.

I wanted to go simpler for this one, totally monochrome, everything self-fabric.  It's silk noil.



( One more, and the display I made of them at work )

Our summer class schedule at work has finally arrived from the printer's!

You can see the whole thing online here: http://www.treadleyardgoods.com/classes

I am teaching two sessions of Basic Hand Sewing as well as the fascinator class.  This will be the most formal teaching I've ever done!  Wish me luck.  (Or, if you've ever been in one of my classes in the past, offer me tips on improvement.)