Second Halloween Costume

Halloween is one of my favorites holidays so admittedly I typically begin searching for a Halloween costume about mid July. I looked through Halloween costume sites as well as costume patterns and finally chose the Simplicity 3685 pattern.

It has several great options and after purchasing the pattern, I was tempted to make a plaid fabric version for a mad hatter. I found a really cool version of another seamstresses creation on PatternReview.com:

I might make this in the future; it is too cute! The main reason I opted not to make this version is my ongoing (and slightly dibilitating) fear of plaid or other similar fabric patterns. Someday....

Back to my lion tamer, I purchased solid red and black material. (Again, I'm sticking to the colors on the pattern sleeve, call me boring!)

In the beginning of September I cut out all the pieces and applied the necessary interfacing (to make the fabric stiffer). Then I put the fabric pieces next to my sewing machines and left it there for about a month. For some reason I just lost interest.

Cut to the first weekend of October and I realize I have less than a month to finish it, with very few free weekends. I was able to complete the jacket in a few hours. I venture to say I might actually be getting better at this sewing thing! Zippers aside, the collar on the jacket may be the coolest thing I've made. I was a little confused about the details so I pinned it first. Of course I had to repin a few times but that is a heck of a lot easier than ripping seams.

I still have the dress and the zest to complete but I made my first jacket!! This may give me the confidence to attempt more jackets in the future! Pretty exciting!

The almost-complete jacket:

Dress #2!

 After completing my first dress I was pumped to start a new one. Once again, I opted for a dress that I could wear to work. I selected the Very Easy Vogue pattern 8232:

This pattern was much easier than the first. I chose a brown linen from Hancock Fabrics. Once again, I played it way safe and chose material almost identical to the pattern cover.

There were very few pieces to stitch together in this pattern. The main thing to watch out for are the curved stitches. I pinned and pinned and pinned to be sure that the form would come out correctly. If you don't follow the curve correctly then the bust will come out too small or uneven.

I hit a couple of minor snags. The top of the dress calls for interface which is a thick cotton material that irons onto fabric to make it stiffer. Contrary to my interpretation of the pattern instructions, I was apparently supposed to iron it to the lining rather than the back side of the dress. It's no big deal and the front still looks fine so I left it how it was.

The other issue I faced was sewing the top two straps together. I cheated a little and didn't hide all my seams but it is very miniscule.

With my zipper class skills in tow, I sewed in the zipper in about 15 minutes! My mom happened to be at my house so I excitedly showed off my newfound abilities. I quickly hemmed the bottom and voila! A new dress! This was by far the quickest bang for my buck. It went from several yards of folded brown linen to a cute new dress in a matter of hours.

I was able to wear the dress the very next day to a friend's wedding. It was lightweight and comfortable for an outdoor summer wedding. And the icing on the cake was getting to brag about my sewing abilities.

Helpful Sewing Gadgets

The zipper class allowed me to work with some pretty cool tools that I feel I must share:

The magnetic stitch guide may not be helpful to experienced sewers, but even if I think I'm paying attention, my stitches (especially hems) tend to get a little crazy. This magnetic guide sticks to the needle plate and you can line it up so that your fabric stays in place while you stitch.

Sewing machines don't usually come with zipper feet so if you're planning to sew in zippers, I'd highly recommend it.

This was probably the coolest thing I used. It replaces pins that get in the way of the machine. It's basically heavy-duty double stick tape that washes out in the washer. Way cool, especially for zippers. It's a little hard to find but well worth it.

Zipper Class

After my sad attempts at sewing in a zipper, I decided to search the web for sew classes in my area. I got really lucky and found a class at the Stitch Lab, which is right down the road from work. The business is in a cute little house with tons of cool fabric and neats sewing tools.

The actual class was great - 3.5 hours of zipper emersion. I learned how to sew in a middle zipper, a lap zipper and an invisible zipper. Despite the way it sounds, it was actually really fun and the time flew by. We made a small bag and were able to take our work and papers home for future reference.

The next day I sewed an invisible zipper into the dress I was working on (more on that in a future blog). Needless to say, the class was well worth the time and expense.

Examples of the zippers I made:

Middle Zipper

Lap Zipper

Invisible Zipper

Forrays into the land of Garment Construction

After completing my first project, I was on the hunt for a garment pattern that I could wear on any of the other 364 days of the year. Since graduating college, I am constantly searching for cute work dresses so I went straight to the Very Easy Vogue section of the Vogue pattern books. They have so many great dresses, although I have to say "Very Easy" is a relative term. I believe this designation originated in the mid 1900s when Home Economics was a required course. For those of us who have never seen a sewing machine up close, let alone grasped the numerous terms used in pattern instructions, a well-placed * might come in handy. (*Extreme beginners will need Google pulled up on a nearby computer and a bottle of wine in the house before attempting.)


http://voguepatterns.mccall.com/very-easy-vogue-pages-856.php


Anyhow, I settled on a simple sleeveless dress. There are a few darts in the front but it looked fairly straight forward.

Chalk it up to my first impression of the dress or my lack of an imagination but I made the sleeveless version on the right with just about the exact color of fabric. I'm way too chicken to attempt any sort of plaid fabric similar to the picture on the left.

Some of the directions were odd, such as basting the darts. For beginners or inexperienced sewers, that basically means long stitches that are generally just temporarily holding a fold. If you look at the picture, you can see the fabric is sewn together at the folds right under the belt. Regardless, I followed the pattern and basted at the top but now that the garment is complete I'm fearful that the thread is going to come undone. It's sewn at the top to hold the folds, but if the basted section comes unthreaded, I think the fabric will pooch out too much. The way the dress is sewn I can't really go back and re-stitch so I'll just have to be careful with it.

The only other snag I hit was the zipper. The instructions on the pattern and in the zipper package leave a lot to be desired. I made my best attempt but resigned to calling a family friend. I was actually pretty proud of my results based on my complete lack of experience but she took one look at it and handed me a seam ripper. After it was removed she sewed the zipper back in place with far better results. Thanks Tina!

Despite a few minor issues I completed the dress and it fits like a glove! One of my top recommendations for sewers would be to be honest with yourself. Don't try to lie and say you're really a size or two smaller or plan to lose weight. If you're putting in all that effort, you should have something that fits as soon as you're done.

Let me just say that trying this dress on and getting to wear it to work made all the stress, bottles of wine, and lost pins worth it. There is nothing better than getting a compliment on a dress and getting to say you made it! As soon as I got off work that day I went straight to the fabric store to find more patterns.

Sewing Machine

After using my mom's outdated sewing machine for my first project, I decided to buy one for myself. I looked at several option with varying functions and prices. Employees at the stores I went to seemed to only speak to their personal machines that they had had for past 30+ years. I was pretty lost so when I saw an ad in the local paper about a Singer sale at Hancock Fabrics, I jumped at the chance to speak with someone who really knows the machine. The salesman had several options on the simpler end but I decided to spring for a little more and got the Singer Inspiration 4210. In the beginning, it was a little difficult to control the speed but the more I've sewn, the better I've gotten. The machine is straight forward and easy to understand.

I took a zipper class a few weeks ago and my teacher had some choice words to say about my machine. If I remember correctly, her exact words were "I can't believe the Singer name is on that and I'm mad at Singer for putting out those machines." But she concluded her rant with "love the one you're with," which I fully intend to do. It has served me well thus far so I'm sticking with it. Perhaps in a few years I can think about upgrading.

In the mean time, I have some other items on my wish list. I would love to get a dress form.

Is it bad to say that a HUGE part of me wants it just to make my sewing room look a little cuter/legit? Despite the aesthetic improvements to my room I would love to be able to fit my projects as I go. This as opposed to my current system of holding up garment pieces against myself in front of the bathroom mirror. Anyway, I'm saving up my pennies!

First Post!

I have been dallying in the world of sewing infrequently over the past two years and have decided to make it a more regular hobby.

I started with a Halloween costume in the Fall of 2008.

With much help from my mom I completed the three-piece costume (a dress, a vest and a skirt). I shortened the skirt and left the costume a little more basic than the picture. But I think it came out great!