Corduroy Skirt, Cynthia Guffey style

I'm finally back to sewing some clothes for myself.  The first outfit I completed is this corduroy skirt and coordinating tee.  The skirt pattern is Cynthia Guffey's princess seamline skirt with graduated pleats circling the hem of the skirt.  This is the second time I have made this skirt; the first version was done in denim.  I decided I wanted a deeper pleat for the second try so I altered the pattern to achieve this effect.  There are a total of eight pleats.

The fabric I used is a very soft and drapey baby-wale corduroy.  I thought the fabric could use a little extra body, so I underlined it with a charcoal gray silk organza I had on hand.  This organza has a soft hand, more like lawn than the typically crisp organza you normally find.  It had just the right body for this project.  I machine washed both before starting and cut both layers at once, layering the corduroy over the silk.

Here are the two layers pinned together as one.

On the denim skirt I made previously, I serged the cut edges before starting.  This was a little tricky down in the hollows of the pleats.  For this skirt I decided I wanted to apply a Hong Kong finish to the edges, which I did before I started the construction phase.  To accomplish this I did two things:

I rounded off the inside corners to make applying the bias strip easier (the pattern is still in place in this picture with its squared off corners); and

I cut about a mile of 1" bias strips from some lightweight silk crepe I had in my stash.  (An aside:  I try hard to keep my stash full of only colors I will wear but occasionally I bend that rule and keep something that I think might come in handy for a lining or bias strips.  Such is the case with this dusty purple silk, a color I could never wear.   I never feel very reluctant to cut into fabrics like this for some reason.)

I bound each edge with the bias strips, a task that took quite a while but was ultimately worth it.

With the exception of finishing these edges, this skirt is actually pretty easy to construct and doesn't require as much fabric as you might think.  The pattern piece fits on the width of a 45" piece of fabric which means you need two skirt lengths (plus some extra for a waistband if you wish), about the amount required for most skirts.  I decided to finish the waist with a bias strip of the corduroy fabric (remember to remove the upper seam allowance if you choose this method).  I hand picked my lapped zipper and used a hook and eye to close the top of the waist.  I'm very pleased with the results.  I'm hoping the underlining will keep the wrinkles to a minimum.

The top I'm wearing deserves its own separate post since it was a great learning experience, so I'll write about that in a day or two.  I'm already underway on my next project and will have pictures of that soon, too.  Thanks for visiting.

Happy Anniversary or How a Scrap of Fabric Transformed a Dress

My husband and I are celebrating 10 years of marriage this month.  One way we celebrated was by going on an overnight trip without the kids (for the first time ever), staying in a B&B and having a lovely dinner together.  Several weeks before that event I decided I wanted to make something new to wear, not because I didn’t have something to wear, but more as a symbolic gesture.  I wanted to feel that I could still find the time to sew for me, especially for a very special occasion.  With my limited time I realized this would have to be something super simple and something that did not require much fitting.  I quickly decided to use my Pamela’s Patterns Perfect T-Shirt pattern (which I wrote about here) and lengthen the design to make a dress.  I used a buttery smooth knit for the dress and planned to trim the neckline and sleeve hem with a solid black fabric.  When I went looking for that fabric I also came across this one:

I picked up this novelty knit at a fabric exchange (I think at my friend Jane S’s house).  What you can’t tell from the picture is that the space between the wide ribs is actually sheer.  I’ve kept this small remnant for years with plans to make an evening wear shell.  I decided it would add a lot more interest to this dress than the matte black fabric I had originally planned to use.

I very much liked how the neckline turned out.  When I sent two friends pictures to see what they thought about the overall and sleeve lengths, one of them suggested using some of the same trim down the center front to add some more interest.  Here’s a picture of the dress before the extra trim was added.

I cut two long ribs from the fabric and simply zigzagged the strip to the front of the dress.  I then hand-sewed some dark gray, oval beads down the center space between the ribs.

I love wearing this dress.  It is as comfortable as a nightgown and looks stylish but not too overdone.  I think the trim really elevates this from a ho-hum garment to one with some style.  The pattern is a great one and sews up super fast.  Once it is fitted you can create dozens of unique looks.  I’m heading to the annual Sewing Expo held in my area later this week and I’ll be on the lookout for a piece of knit to make another one of these dresses.

Alabama Chanin, Part II

On Thursday night I took the Metro into DC to hear Natalie Chanin of Alabama Chanin speak at the Textile Museum.  I got so much more from the evening than I bargained for.

Natalie is a warm and engaging speaker.  She began by telling the audience that she likes to “speak from her heart” and encouraging everyone to ask questions along the way.  Her story-telling was accompanied by a slide show of pictures from her various collections as well as her books.  I found it particularly exciting to see pictures from her third book, due out in 2012.  That book will include a number of new techniques for embellishing garments, things like couching and ribbon embroidery with a decidedly Chanin style.  I can’t wait.

all photos by Alabama Chanin

Natalie covered her very interesting background and how she came to be where she is now in her business as well as why she has chosen to share her techniques and supplies through her books and online store.  As I said in my previous post about this designer and her company, I am inspired by her story as much as I am by her work, and I was so pleased to hear her talk about it in her soft Southern voice.  Her desire to remove the “elitist” label that her clothes sometimes wear by sharing how home sewers can make their own, and even providing kits to do just that, really illustrates what a down-to-earth big heart she has.

So, that’s a synopsis of what I expected to get out of the evening, and Natalie didn’t disappoint (she made me want to come home and start a new project immediately).  But I received an even bigger gift that night.  When I sat down next to two women (a mother-daughter pair, as it turns out) the daughter, Linda, commented on the skirt I was wearing and a lively discussion ensued.  It turns out that Linda, an artist and knitter, loves Natalie Chanin, too.  She very much wants to learn how to make some of Natalie’s clothes, especially the little skirt I was wearing.  Her mother, Barbara, is the sewer of the pair, and Linda is hoping that between the two of them they can pull off her desire.   Barbara and I seemed to know all of the same people and visit the same websites (we’ve probably even sat through some of the same classes at the Sewing Expo).  I told Linda I am planning to go to Alabama for one of Natalie’s workshops in November and encouraged her to do the same, to learn from the experts and have her hand held along the way.  We continued our lovely new friendships after the lecture and the entire way home on the Metro, and I feel like I met two kindred spirits that night.  Those of you out there in various sewing circles will know what I mean when I say that there is an immediate familiarity and kinship when you meet others who speak your language and who “get you”.  I came home from that lovely evening with a warm feeling, grateful for new friends and inspiration.  Grateful also for this God-given talent that has brought me so much joy, allowed me to give back (or pay forward) and has brought so many wonderful people into my life.

And, to all of you creative friends out there, thanks for sticking with me as I settle into my new summer schedule of boy watching (my little boys, that is).  I am still committed to posting twice per week though the days may not be as regular as I would like (nor will my creative time be as regular as I like, either).  On Tuesday I will be posting details about and pictures of the skirt I made from Alabama Stitch along with a little tutorial on making fabric roses from t-shirt fabric.

Pique for Summer

Summertime and the living is easy. . . .  I think summer is made for wearing dresses, and dresses are the things I like to sew the very best when the temperature rises.  I've got a pretty good collection now of simple, slip-them-on-and-you're-dressed items, and I'll be sharing some pictures and thoughts over the next few weeks.

I'm starting out with a short sheath dress, one of the very first garments I made with Pattern Master Boutique software.  This dress was drafted to my personal measurements, but the pattern catalogs are full of other similar patterns.  This one has bust darts as well as waist darts.

The fabric is a darling pique print with umbrellas in blues and greens.  I used a lime green linen to pipe the armholes and neckline.  The hem was also piped, out of necessity, when I discovered the length was a bit on the short side.  I made a facing for the hem and stitched the piping into the 1/4" seam that I allotted, leaving the maximum length possible.  The lining is bemberg rayon.

Tomorrow I am off to see Natalie Chanin give a lecture at the Textile Museum in DC and will write a full report a little later in the week.  Until then. . . .

Windowpane Linen Shell

Following up on last week’s sleeveless top, here’s another from my closet.  When I started sewing again, a number of years ago, I attempted a commercial pattern for a sleeveless shell with a rounded square neck and side button closure.  It was a disaster from a fit perspective, and at that time I didn’t have enough knowledge to know what to do to fix it.  A few years later I drafted a similarly styled top using Pattern Master Boutique software and this time it fit like a dream.

The fabric is a pink windowpane linen.  I underlined this semi-sheer fabric to prevent the seam allowances from shadowing through and also to minimize wrinkles.  I’m not certain but I think I used a cotton voile fabric that I am fond of using as underlining.  The top is lined with bemberg rayon.  My plan to pipe the neckline and armholes ran into a snag because of the side seam closure.  I wasn’t able to use the traditional “turn through the shoulder” method which requires an open center front or back seam.  Instead I had to pipe the front and back separately; it took some fiddling (and prayer) to get the two joins to match perfectly at the shoulder.  In this picture you can also see the embroidered ribbon label I like to use in my garments.

Happy weekend, everyone!