reglisse in white for bolt

August 16, 2013September 23, 201323 Comments

i’m so lucky to have multiple awesome fabric stores within about a 30 minute drive of my house, but it’s no secret that “my store,” my favorite spot, the place i love to buy fabric, is Bolt Fabric Boutique. Bolt is a relatively small shop, but it is well-curated, which means all those designer fabrics you see online and lust after are likely to turn up at Bolt (i saw my first live-and-in-person Heather Ross fabric there!). they’ve also have non-quilting fabrics – knits, canvas, flannel, shot cotton, felt, etc., plus a selection of independent patterns, books, notions, you name it.

i’ve been shopping at Bolt since 2009, love to take out of town sewing friends there to visit, and i’m so excited that they asked me to guest post for their blog today!

i made the Deer & Doe Réglisse Dress in a summery Robert Kaufman seersucker, all found at Bolt (the fabric was provided, I purchased the pattern). what a sweet dress to sew and wear! for more info, come check out my post about this dress, and visit Bolt soon to see this dress in person! it’ll be on sample display in the shop (eeek!).

if you’re a local, you’re gonna wanna follow the Bolt blog for updates on what’s new in the shop, sales, and all that good stuff. i’ve definitely made a trip over after seeing they have something in stock that i was waiting for…so…beware of the temptation. OH and if you’re not in the Portland area, Bolt takes phone orders for fabric and will ship!

>>> come see my Réglisse! <<<

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ristretto dress tutorial

July 11, 2013June 1, 201443 Comments

i’m still enjoying my stint as a Britex Guest Blogger, and today i’m sharing a dress i made using Britex’s Smoke & Coffee Stretch Cotton, which i reeeally loved working with. this dress is actually a remix of my favorite dress pattern, Made by Rae’s Washi Dress, and though as i sewed it i was calling it “Frankenwashi,” i came up with a prettier moniker for this dress now that it’s all done. named after one of our favorite coffee shops – i’m calling it the Ristretto Dress!

my favorite sewing challenge is to take a proven, great-fitting, well-written pattern and modify it into something new. i do it when i sew for my kids all the time, but haven’t ventured into doing it for myself too often yet.

when i ordered this fabric, i expected to make a skirt. but once i got it, i loved it so much i decided squeeze a dress into it. this is made out of just 2 yards of (56″ wide) fabric!

i started with the Washi Pattern, since the bodice fits like Rae designed it just for me, and a million different dresses can be made once you have a favorite bodice. for the Ristretto, I changed the neckline to a v-neck, lined and lengthened the bodice, added pleats at the shoulders, added a full gathered skirt, and eliminated the shirring at the back (though you could still shirr it for a more fitted bodice – mine is pretty loose without the belt). i love the little extra cinch at the waist that a belt provides, though, and i think the dress is barely recognizable as a Washi!

those changes may seem like a lot of extra steps…but i promise it’s not that hard. in fact, eliminating the bias tape save so much time, i daresay this might even be a quicker sew than the original! and i’m here to walk you through it. let’s go.

ALTERING THE WASHI PATTERN

use a straight edge to lengthen the bodice to hit you at your natural waist. for me, that was about 3″ longer than the original pattern. then angle your ruler to lengthen the bottom of the dart line downward to meet the new bodice line. extend the fold line 3″ down as well.

to create the v-neckline, i measured 1/2″ up from the bottom of the U cutout line on the washi pattern and marked it (i like a pretty deep v-neck, but feel free to mark higher up – whatever makes you feel comfortable). then angle out from your point, gently curving up to meet the original shoulder line. i played with this a bit until it seemed like the right shape.

for the back bodice, add 3″ to the last shirring line and taper the side seam to more of a right angle versus flared out, if you’re eliminating shirring like i did. as a warning, i found the back skirt/bodice was too full to make my original idea – elastic casing – look right, and it might look similarly odd with shirring. i opted to use the belt to cinch in the waist instead. back darts may help if you don’t want to belt it – might take some experimentation.

SEWING THE RISTRETTO DRESS

sew your lining’s darts and shoulder seams. i could’ve taken my side seams in a bit more, and almost think i could’ve sized down on the dress entirely. i recommend making a muslin or using your lining as a quick muslin at this stage, to make sure the dress will leave enough room for you to slide it on, but isn’t too loose.

sew your main bodice like you did the lining.

place the bodices rightsides together. measure 1/2″ down from the point of the V and mark it with a disappearing pen. this will give you a precise pivot point when you’re sewing the neckline. pin generously and sew. once sewn, trim straight down into the seam allowance at the point (not clipping the seam) and trim the rest of the seam allowance to 1/4″. understitching is a good idea here.

next, sew the shoulder seams. because the Washi is not open in the back, you can’t just sew the shoulder seams flat – you won’t be able to turn it right side out (ask me how i know!). instead, go watch THIS VIDEO SERIES by Rae on lining the Washi Dress. video #4 is the one that addresses arm holes, and the one that taught me the amazing “sausage technique” that i’ll definitely be using again. you can sort of see it above, but watch the video to fully understand. then trim the seam to 1/4″ and clip into the seam allowance to release the curves.

turn rightside out and press, and you’ll have perfect, frustration-free armholes! glorious.

next, separate the lining from the bodice and sew front to back lining and front to back main in a straight line. turn right side out and press. this is another good place to test fit. if too wide, you can easily open it back up and sew another seam in from your first – i had to do this on mine to pull up the armhole and bring in the bodice a bit.

now prepare your skirt. i cut the fabric selvedge-to-selvedge in two 25″ long panels for this dress. this particular stretch cotton is 56″ wide, so that is one full skirt! i knew it’d look nice since it’s a cotton/rayon/lycra blend and those blends give it a lot of drape – with a less drapey fabric, a less-full skirt might be a better idea. sew up the short side seams. sew two rows of basting stitches on both the front and back, stopping at the side seams, and gather.

match the bodice to the skirt, right sides facing, and carefully sew together. press seam allowance toward the bodice. remove basting stitches. hem skirt to your liking (i folded up 1/2″ then 1″).

fold your lining under and pin so it covers the raw edge of the skirt. either stitch in the ditch on the right side of the dress (where bodice meets skirt) or handsew the lining down. then, after trying on the dress, i decided the shoulders looked too wide with the v-neck, so I made a simple pleat, folding out toward the shoulder and stitching in the ditch (seam line) to secure. the shoulder pleats add a nice formality to the dress that i love.

this dress is very comfortable, since the stretch cotton has a lovely linen-esque feel to it, and has a weight and softness that makes it ideal for skirts and dresses.

i love the smokey gray color with a hint of brown, and i love that the skirt is substantial enough that it doesn’t need lining.

bonus: it’s perfect for twirling! i want to go to a wedding now so i can dance in this dress!

you can follow along with lots more projects from my fellow guest bloggers over at the Britex blog (my posts are here). and if you want to get your hands on this lovely fabric, stretch cottons go on sale July 15!

thanks (once again) to my husband for getting these fun “magic hour” photos, and thanks so much for always sending me the most beautiful fabrics, Britex!

abstract scoop neck washi dress

June 6, 2013June 1, 201452 Comments

this dress has been in my head for nearly a year, and it took quilt market to finally make me sew it up!

it’s my third washi dress (four if you count mini washi!). i feel like sewing the same pattern three (four) times officially puts me in cult follower status, and that’s cool with me. the washi is flattering, doesn’t take long to sew, is super comfortable, and i actually wear mine on a regular basis all year round. the washi dress and the wiksten tank both teamed up to shift my mental state from “i’m scared to sew for myself” to “i LOVE to sew for myself,” so i recommend both if you’re looking to dip your toe in.

i scooped out the neck a bit (about 1″ on the bottom, tapering back to the normal shoulder width – make a muslin first if you try it) just like i did with washi two. the shirring is much tighter this time because i got a new sewing machine in January (cough Bernina cough) and it makes me want to shirr all the things, it’s so easy. i still sewed a medium, but it fits me better since it’s more cinched. i’m smaller on top than on bottom, so i like the top to fit nice and snugly to highlight that, while masking the larger parts of me. you know how it goes.

i got the fabric from Britex Fabrics last August while on vacation with my husband in San Francisco. i found it in the remnant area and it didn’t have any markings on the selvedge, but i loved it and bought it with the intention of making a washi dress. it’s sooooo nice – it feels like art gallery fabric, sateen-y and light but still crisp and not see-through like voile can be. it’s really lovely stuff, and i adore the print too – sort of messy-pretty. and the colors are so saturated and rich.

i didn’t have a relationship with Britex when i bought the fabric, but I’m glad I do now, because i was comfortable sending them a photo to find out what it is! it’s called Abstract Dyed Cotton – 100% cotton and 57″ wide, and they still have 20 yards left in the store! so if you’re interested in ordering some, you can email service@britexfabrics.com and they’ll hook you up. tell them i sent ya. 😉

so i made this dress to wear to quilt market, which was funny since the fabric was a mystery to me at the time and i was wearing it around a bunch of people that live and breathe fabric. i think quiltmarketgoers walk around silently identifying fabric and pattern on each other’s handmades, so it was kind of ornery of me to wear something mysterious, though the washi dress pattern itself is VERY well known.

washi pattern designer Rae even saw this dress in person when she came over to my house for a bit! i’m not sure if she saw it on me without a cardigan over it, though…so here ya go, Rae! the full washi!

thanks once again to my husband for taking these photos! he’s getting pretty good, eh? 😉

full disclosure: i was a pattern tester for the washi dress (which means i got it for free) and Made by Rae and Britex Fabrics are now both sponsors of my blog (though this fabric was not free). i’m just glad i have sponsors that make such great stuff!

vintage may: flap pocket skirt and tutorial

May 13, 2013May 13, 201356 Comments

today is the first day of Vintage May! i’m having fun sewing for myself lately, so i thought i’d kick the series off with a vintage-style skirt that i could make look retro or modern, depending on my mood. it’s a current-day pattern with a twist to add the type of special detail you’d expect to see in vintage clothing…a flap pocket. and i’ve included a little tutorial on how to easily modify any pant/skirt pattern to do this yourself!

first, a little about the skirt, which i sewed in Anna Maria Horner’s beautiful “coordinates in saffron” cotton from bolt. i love this print and had been saving it for a special project – this fit the bill nicely. wouldn’t it be so gorgeous in field study linen too? love that stuff.

the pattern is simplicity 2226, a basic, inexpensive, easy-to-find pattern which i bought back when Anna did a sewalong! i sewed a size 14 but should’ve taken her advice and sewed a size or two smaller to get more waist cinch. it’s comfy as is, but waaay bigger than my store-bought skirts (i’m usually a 6). the pattern instructions are really well-written though – i’d never sewed a non-indie pattern and i was pleasantly surprised at the clarity of it! i sewed view A without belt loops and added an extra 1″ in length just to be sure it hit me below the knee.

so i knew i wanted to make a skirt but didn’t know what era to go with. i googled “20s skirts” and “30s skirts” and “40s skirts” on up…aside from the more flowy, flapper-esque look of the 20s and the more structured look of the 40s, there didn’t seem to be TOO much in terms of everyday-type skirts that would make you say “that skirt is from THIS decade.” i made this skirt to have a ’30s vibe (which to me is more casual than the decades surrounding it and slightly art deco) but people i’ve shown say it has a 50s/60s look…so i don’t know.

i guess it’s kind of a “know it when you see it” type deal – styled like i typically dress, it just looks like a normal skirt. styled with red lipstick and vintage silk headscarf with a tucked-in cardigan, it’s a throwback (especially when you stand next to a beauty school door).

anyway, onto the pocket tutorial! this is the same method i used for sam’s shorts in moonrise kingdom film petit, and it’s easy but adds a pretty neat detail. the pattern comes with your typical curved front pockets, so this tutorial is to show you how to modify those.

: SUPPLIES :

pants/skirt pattern with front pockets
point turner / chopstick / knitting needle
1/4 yard (or fat quarter) of contrast pocket lining fabric
two buttons

: METHOD :

first, lay out your pattern’s skirt front. see the scooped line for the pocket on the far left? use your ruler to extend the top and side lines to meet at a 90 degree angle. this will become your flap.

fold down the corner until it looks like a good proportion to you (in my case it was 6 inches) and mark those spots. add a notch at each mark.

overlay the pocket back pattern piece and add notches to match. cut two “backs” from your contrast fabric and two from your main fabric. i ended up trimming the pocket back and lining pieces more to a slightly wider square shape versus the rectangle indicated in the pattern, since i was lining it in a contrast fabric and didn’t want to fold it back on itself as the pattern instructs.

sew contrast lining fabric to skirt front with 3/8″ seam between the notches, backstitching at both ends and pivoting at the corner. clip corner and turn flap right side out, pushing to a point with your point turner. clip into the seam allowance at the notches to release the flap so it can fold out of the way as you sew the rest of the skirt. then with the flap folded down and the skirt wrong side up, place pocket back over the lining and sew around the inner two edges (in the photo below i’m folding the fabric out of the way so you can see right/wrong sides, but you’ll want to sew it matching the edges – NOT folded up). finish the inner edges of the pocket via zigzag or serger.

then working on the right side, baste top of the skirt and side so the pocket stays put as you move on to gathering the front, sewing the side seams, and adding the waistband.

continue to sew the skirt as indicated. at the end, sew the button on to keep the flap down and add visual interest. mark 1/2″ from each edge, then sew your buttons between the flap and inside of pocket only (not all the way through the skirt – gotta get your hand in there!).

and you’re done!

now go hit the town in your new skirt, girl!

i never wear a red lip, this was actually my sister in law’s gloss and i felt pretty sassy wearing it…!

and a huge thanks to my husband who took these pics and put up with my compulsive overdirection. 😉

alright! now you KNOW you want to see Jess’ adorable little gal in a vintage-inspired gingham “romper” over at Craftiness is Not Optional…here’s a sneak peek! she is WAY TOO CUTE.

back tomorrow with our first guests!

grape scoop top

May 2, 2013May 2, 201318 Comments

this is the “wearable muslin” for my scoop top, after i graduated from using my husband’s old t-shirts as muslins and cut into “real” fabric. once i saw that this top worked and i had the fit and construction down, i cut into my Britex tissue knit and took the tutorial photos. i had posted this one to Rae’s Spring Top Sewalong flickr group but didn’t have time to blog it before it was time for KCW and then time for my two guest posts to go up.

what i’m saying is, sometimes blog post timing is weird.

anyway, it’s made in a purple rayon jersey from JoAnn, which wasn’t super expensive but is super soft with a really nice drape. the fabric was just finicky enough that my machine ate it a few times until I pulled out Jess’s tissue paper trick for the hemming, which worked like a charm! first time a double needle has really worked for me too, so that was fun.

it has the pocket that i include in my pattern, and i ended up angling the placement in the final version since this seemed a bit crooked. i also played with the hemline a bit after the shirt was already sewn, so the hem has a bit of a “don’t look too close” situaish going on. probably not noticeable to anyone but me though.

it’s really comfy. probably the comfiest shirt i own. annnnnd yes i’ve definitely worn it as a pajama top. i just love it so much! it’s like something i’d actually buy in a store, you know? big accomplishment over here, i’m still waaaay too jittery about self-sewing (but trying very hard to get past that, because wearing clothes i’ve made is incredibly rewarding).

my necklace is from rare bird on etsy – husband actually spotted it on my pinterest board and got it for me! good man. thorough.

oh hey, did you see that Anna made a scoop top?! it looks so awesome! it’s crazy to me that someone else could make a wearable top from my pattern. it’s like when i sewed my first skirt for Em and had this irrational fear that it would fall apart at the seams when she wore it. i just designed this top to fit ME so well, it’s pretty cool to see it fits other gals too! guess that’s the beauty of knits though, eh? 😉

i’ve seen a couple other lovely versions popping up on instagram and in comments too, and it makes me so happy you guys are giving it a whirl. this has been a fun “dip my toe into patternmaking” experience. i also want to give a huge THANK YOU to Melissa of Melly Sews and Blank Slate Patterns, who got me going on Illustrator – she offers a full class on it which she talks about here, and the first lesson is free! if you’ve always wanted to learn Illustrator but don’t know where to start, start there. it’ll blow your mind.