MMM '13 Week 2

 May 8. Am I standing funny or are my breasts really that lopsided?

 May 9. I really don't mean to cut off my shoes in these photos. They are cute yellow sneakers.

 May 10. It's a good thing it cooled down again, because this shirt only seems to go with my fall and winter clothes.

 May 11. If nothing else, this is forcing me to wear this skirt in ways that don't involve trying to match the orange thread.

May 12. Yes, it's true, I wore basically the same thing on Saturday and Sunday, with the exception of legwear in honour of the giant HAIL.

 May 13. Monday morning, too tired to stand up. I liked this combo. It's cuter when you can see the shoes.

May 14. I didn't like the shoes and swapped them for boots. I miss my lost mary janes.

Me-Made-May Week 1

Day 1. As you can see by the backwards writing, I was still attempting the mirror shots. :)

 Day 2. Look, I learned how to use the self-timer!

 Day 3. Forgot my sign - I made the skirt. I took this photo after work, so I'm a little wrinkled.

 Day 4 (weekend). I never wear this skirt. It's pretty obvious why when I look at it - I look twice as short as normal. I might try to shorten it, although frankly I think I might just get rid of it. And the shirt, too, really. Super unattractive all around.

 Day 6.

Day 7. I said on Twitter that jean skirts make me feel like I'm 12 years old. They're so useful, though.

I have one more skirt that I haven't worn yet, and then it's back to these! We'll see if I can manage to make them more interesting next time around.

Dress update

I'm actually enjoying doing the fitting adjustments on this dress - surprise!

When we last spoke, I'd made adjustments on the bodice, moved the darts, and had the side seams come out all uneven. So I made a new version of the pattern piece for the front bodice, with my adjusted darts, and evened out the side seam. Then cut out a new muslin of the top.

Here's where I am now: I had to shorten the shoulders - on the front I took it from the straps, and on the back I shortened the whole thing. Amazingly, this made the side seams the same length as the front (they were longer before). Awesome thing #1: I sewed up the back where the zipper will go, and still managed to squish it on, which helped immensely - I can't really figure out how to adjust the back by myself with my short arms, but at least I can see where the problem is! I do need to do a sway back adjustment, since the back is dipping down below my waist. And my adjustments to make the side seams straight means the bottom of the bodice is now bigger than the waistband, so I need to figure that out. Maybe make the darts from the waist bigger? Or just redraw the seams. Phew!

It's kind of hard to see with my crap self-portraits, but in the second photo on the right you can see that the back is dipping below my waist, and is also wrinkling around there. You can see the imbalance a bit in the last photo too. Also, please enjoy my pyjama pants.

Awesome thing #2: the fact that I managed to take a photo of my back in the mirror. SKILLS.

Update! I made the swayback adjustment, which seems to have worked well. And the waistband seems to fit to the skirt now, which makes no sense to me, but okay. Having sewed the waistband on, though, I suspect it's a bit too short right in the front. And possibly too large around the waist. I may be making yet one more copy of the shirt front pattern pieces. I'll attach the skirt and see how it works first.

(As for the ongoing shirt, my adjustment worked this time, hooray! And then I futzed with seam finishes for a while. I'm now ignoring it because the next step is to trim the edges with bias tape, which scares me a little.)

Me-Made May and more fun with muslins

Yes, I took the pledge. I'm going to participate in Me-Made May by wearing one thing made by me each day in May (except when I'm in NY). I only have something like 6 things so far, unless I manage to finish either March's failed shirt, or April's dress, so there'll be a lot of repeating clothes. But maybe it'll encourage me to hurry up and make more. :)

Meanwhile, last night I unpicked the shirt to make one more attempt at a bust adjustment that will actually work. I hope it does - I really like the fabric, despite it being a PAIN to sew. It's got these embroidered flowers that my wussy machine doesn't want to sew over. All will be forgiven if I can make the shirt work, though.

And I'm working on fitting my dress. I did a full-bust adjustment following the slash-and-spread method from this great book: Fit for Real People.

I needed to add 3 inches to each slash, which meant I ended up having to add a dart to the side (as well as the one from the waist that was already there). But adding 3 inches at each of those cuts, the new dart, and trying to go from a 12 at the top to a 16 waist, meant that my edges didn't end up straight. I still have some figuring out to do! I had to move the darts at bit, too, although I think I managed to get them ending at the right place so I don't have dart nipples. Anyway, I've had to try for another version of the front bust piece - as soon as I get more practice material, take 2 will be underway.

And then, after making two things that needed adjustment, I think my next project is going to be a super basic skirt!

Baby's First Wadder

First, the good: I finished the February skirt! I actually finished about a week ago, so not quite so far into March. :)

It's okay. It's a very cute pattern - I really like the scallops on the botttom. The darts don't fit entirely, but I'm sure that's easily fixed. I'm just not convinced it's the best style for me and my sizeable waist-hip ratio. I think things with actual waists look better on me. It's funny - this is the kind of thing I always buy: not fitted in the waist, sitting on the hips. Comfortable, but not actually flattering.

Look at that gap! Since I've started sewing, I'm so much more aware of fit. In fact, I think I'm too aware of fit, to the point where I often can't figure out what proper fit is. I need the pattern designer there with me, to tell me how tight or loose it's supposed to be. I looked at this skirt, and I think it's fitting the way it's intended to fit, but that fit is just not the best style for me. But maybe it just needs to be adjusted? Maybe if I make the waist smaller? There's no actual waistband, though.

In any case, the skirt is fine, if not awesome. I wore it to work, and with a shirt over instead of tucked in, it's not noticeable, although the waist ends up rolling oddly through the day. Super comfortable, though, since it doesn't come anywhere near my waist. :)

And now the bad. The March shirt, which was going swimmingly and was totally going to get finished before April (the power of long weekends and the end of the month being on a weekend!), is a wee bit disasterous. I hit a point where it was basically sewn together, so I was able to try it on properly. My bust adjustment worked perfectly to put the band where it's supposed to be - except that it's now giant and gapey in the middle of the bust. I guess this is what 3 extra inches of fabric does! So I'm thinking maybe if I take it back to the original length in the centre, give it more of a W shape. I'm frankly just making things up here. Because otherwise this is a dead shirt, and I'd be sad to lose the fabric.

In any case, to make that change I have to basically unpick the entire thing. So I think it's going to go onto the back burner for a little while, and I'll unpick it slowly and see what I can do.

Instead, I'm going to move on, start something new. April's project is calling!

The Power of the Toile

Hello! I'm still finishing off February's project (just a little more handsewing of the hem to go), but I started working on March's project during all the zipper foot ridiculousness.

Here's what's happening for March:

I'm still not certain about how to pick the right size for tops. Straight up bust measurement puts me at an 18, but that's an 18 with a B cup, which I'm definitely not. So I need a full bust adjustment (FBA). But! I've read some things that say if you're going to do a FBA, you should start with your upper bust measurement, which puts me at a 16. Confusing, I tell you.

The bust part of this is gathered, not fitted, and the bottom is loose, so I thought I might be able to get away with a straight 18 and no FBA . But something like this definitely calls for a toile.

Look - it's a muslin in actual muslin! Which, by the way, was not as cheap as I would have thought. I think when this runs out I'm going to pick up some secondhand sheets or something.

Perfect fit, right? Heh.

Here's what happens when the band is where it's supposed to be. Classy. I always have this problem in RTW clothes in this style - either the underbust seam is in the wrong place, or it's cleavage central. Also, you can't really see it, but the shoulder seam is pulled about 2 inches forward.

But at least now the hem is even, not raised in the front like it was.

So, the obvious - not nearly enough room in the bust. Which I knew was going to happen. I'd originally planned to raise the upper bust line by a couple of inches when I cut out the muslin, but I forgot. And it's gaping around the armpit (although there's a bit of a seam allowance which won't be there. and I think I'm planning on doing one of the sleeves). Plus the bottom is too tight, and stops at exactly the widest part of my hips.

So new plan: cut the top in a 16 (which I think will also take care of how it's pulling so far to the back when I tie it, creating those lines around the waist), grading to a 20 in the bottom. Add 2 1/2" to the bottom of the front piece, curving down from the regular height on the sides (which fits fine - I just need the extra in the front). And cut the longer length; then I can hem it wherever it looks okay. I'm also rethinking the sleeve - I was originally going to do the little puffed sleeves in the main picture, but they'd probably not be super flattering on me. So maybe one of the fluttery sleeves? I'll have to check how much drape my fabric has.

In any case, all of this means I have to start again - retrace the pattern pieces (but now I've learned the benefit of tracing! If I'd cut the tissue pieces to the 18, I would have had to recreate the size 20 for the bottom this time around), cut them out, cut my fabric, sew it up. But it's all good. If I'd sewn this without a muslin, it would have been a waste of fabric - a complete wadder. And maybe it'll be faster this time around because I've sewn it once?

I'll be back soon with my completed February project! And probably with a vote - the skirt is super cute, but I can't decide if it's cute on me. STAY TUNED.

February update

Well, I didn't get my February project done on time. One month this year I will, I promise! I blame February for ending on a Thursday - I need that last weekend.

Although actually what slowed me down was the zipper foot I needed for the invisible zipper. I thought the machine came with one, so I didn't think about it until I sat down to sew the zipper in. Sadly, no zipper. So eventually I found somewhere to buy one...and promptly lost in on the way home. In my defense, they're tiny!

I did buy another one. So annoying. Even more annoying when I tried to use it this weekend and it didn't fit on my machine. AUGH. I faked it with a regular zipper foot, but the results weren't spectacular.

Not exactly invisible! Also there's that bump at the bottom, but I'm pretty sure I know how to make that not happen next time. I'm going to attempt to find the correct foot for future projects.

Onward! There are technically only 2 steps left, but, as always, tons of tiny steps contained within those.