A sneak peak

Well I will admit that I didn't get to work on my jacket nearly as much as I had hoped today, and it's not going to be finished until likely tomorrow night.  (Still have 4 button holes, attaching a snap to the bow band, and the hemming to do.)  I just wanted to give you a sneak peak of the most exciting part... The bow on the collar...

What do you think?  I think it came out extremely well, and is not twee at all.  There is a hidden bound buttonhole under the role line of the collar where the band goes through.  Here is the buttonhole before I finished it.  It's about an inch below the collar seam and a quarter inch below the roll line.  (Next time I would move it up maybe a quarter to half inch.)

I've decided to use a snap to attach the band (so it will snap to itself), so that the bow is detachable.  Then I can wear it either with the bow, or if I so choose without it. 

See no buttonhole showing!  (It's not that lumpy in real life, it was sitting on top of a jacket that was on my dress form.)  

Well what do you think?  I think I like it.  Here is one of the reasons why I didn't get to work on the jacket as much.  The little guy was a cranky poo all day.  Then I had to do real work for about four hours.  Boo that.  Well back to bound buttonholes and hopefully the little papelria that sells zippers next to my work has some snaps.  I used my last one on my black and white jacket.  Until we meet again.

I won! I won! I won!

I am so amazed that I actually won a contest with one of my me-mades!  My first Luffa Jacket inspired by the hockey great Don Cherry.  Thank you to Cashmerette for hosting, and you can see the amazing prizes I won here.   The husband is excited that I might make him something. ;) Thank you for everyone who voted!

Speaking of Luffa Jackets, I am making a lot of progress on it.  I have been working on it all day (on and off, as I've also had to do actual work and hang out with a little guy).  Here is a peak of the insides.  I had planned on only using the lavender lining (which I got in Izmir, Turkey, content unknown only assured that it is natural fibers), but alas I didn't have quite enough, so the sleeves are a wine bemberg.  Here is a sneak peak.

Notice all the notching I did.  I feel like I spent hours cutting little triangles out from the seam allowance.  I am about to go and iron and turn it right side out.  All I have left is: finishing the bound button holes, sew the sides of the lining up, hemming, and adding the bow.  I'm hoping to get it done tomorrow.  I see myself wearing it with skinny trousers in the same fabric as my winning blazer.  Now I have a question for you, dear reader, you may or may have not noticed, but the flower pattern is upside down in the jacket.

Look closely... that was the rookie mistake I made on it.  I was sooo bummed when I realized it (as I was finishing the bound button holes). Now if I make pants in the same fabric, should I also put the flowers upside down?  Chances are I will never wear them together, but if I do, it would be rather noticeable if one pattern was right side up and the other upside down.  Decisions, decisions, decisions, right?  

Anyway, while pondering that, I got some new toys this week.  Here we get mail once every week or two, so when it comes it can be like Christmas.  I got a fancy new tripod and a remote trigger.  I no longer have to bribe my husband and/or son to take pictures.  Also, I no longer have to have arguments about whether my loving husband is tilting the camera or if I really look that distorted.  I got both of them off of Amazon, since I am a Amazon prime member, so shipping is free.  You can see my pattern weights in the picture.  It's a coin from this past year's Marine Ball.  I have two and they make excellent weights.

I messed around with both.  What do you think of this pairing?  The top is Sewholic's Renefrew, I made it right after it came out.  I think the fabric is rayon, it was from my favorite fabric store in Yekaterinburg, Russia.  The fabric is so-so and so is the construction, so I don't wear it often.  I serged the whole thing and the tension was slightly off.  I do like the color.  I think the jacket makes a nice outfit.  (You can see the lining cut out on my table- is there any interest in a tour of my sewing room?)

  

As you can tell, I tend to buy fabrics from all over the world.  I love being able to wear something and reminisce about a particular trip or time in my life.  I don't tend to buy regular souvenirs, just fabric. For example, I ended up with an unexpected 36 hour layover in Istanbul in February (honestly not as glamorous as it seems.  I was on my way to almost-Siberia- Yekateringburg- for a 2.5 week work trip and after missing my connection, the next flight was delayed twelve hours, and there may have been crying at the airport).  But, anyway the first thing I did was go to the Grand Bazaar and buy some beautiful silks.  On a final note, I was lucky today that I had a little helper to help clean up all those triangles!  However, I'm sure that I'll be finding them for weeks.  Until next time!

World Cup!

The Copa do Mundo has finally arrived! Yesterday Brazil played Croatia in a really interesting opener, we'll just say with different officiating, the result might have been different.  Anyway, enough about the game, what did this sewist wear while watching it?  

I'll give you one guess what pattern I used for the skirt?  It's another V2514 this time in printed denim that I got from Mood Fabrics.  I actually saw a skirt made out of this by another sewist in a blog (I'll try and find once feedly is fixed) and bought the fabric straight away.  The nice thing about pencil skirts you can eke them out of a yard or less.  The top was a Christmas present from my husband.  It is even more glittery in real life.

Speaking of v2514, I am wearing a different version today.  This time without the back vent/slit as I had only the tiniest of scraps left.

It is paired with a ready to wear top that I've had for at least six years.  The fabric is a Oscar de la Renta wool from Mood Fabrics.  Mood was feeling generous with the cutting the day I ordered it, so I got 2.5 yards instead of the two I ordered.  I made a dress for my sister's wedding, and then had barely enough for this skirt.  I love the fabric!

Anyway, just a short post, as it's time to go to work.  I should finish my Luffa jacket this weekend, I put in the pockets and sleeves yesterday, so it's just the insides to do!  (The World Cup opening game is a reason for a holiday here in Brazil!)

Don't forget to vote for me here, voting closes today.  I'm in first place (super surprisingly), but only by a vote or two. 

Two patterns three looks or my favorite TNT.

If any of you followed me for Me-Made-May, you might remember my two favorite patterns of the moment Vogue 2514 and New Look 6013.  V2514 is an out of print Michael Kors pattern that I picked up ages ago.  It's a trench coat style blazer and a pencil skirt.  New Look 6013 is one of those patterns that is everything (well almost).  It has a jacket, dress, vest, pants.  (No skirt or top.)

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We'll start with the Vogue.  There are many pencil skirt patterns out there, and they are all slightly different.. Slightly different darts, how they do the slit, etc.  Out of the many patterns I own (a lot), this is by far and away my favorite pencil skirt.  I love it for two reasons, first there are no darts in the front, and second the slit has mitered corners and overlaps.  The New Look dress has raglan sleeves and is a flattering sheath dress with no waist seaming.

Now why would I be talking about these two patterns together?  I took the New Look dress and turned it into a top.  I have made four versions of the top and too many to remember versions of the skirt.  I would like to show you three of them, as they all came out very different.

The first is a white cotton eyelet top with a polyester pique skirt.  (Sorry about the oddly framed shot, my son has gone back to Kansas for the summer and my new tripod hasn't shown up.)  I like cotton eyelet for tops, as it gives a bit of visual interest to a somewhat plain color. I used french seams to make the top, as it's the tiniest bit sheer.  Here are some close ups of the top and the mitered slit of the skirt.

Today, I wore a different version of the same outfit.  This time the skirt is in a green cotton ponte and the top is silk twill.  This time I didn't use a zipper for the skirt (entirely unnecessary for a knit in my opinion) but added a waistband.  For the top, I also used french seams, but this time I used bias binding to finish the top.

The one mistake I made on the top was that I cut the sleeves on what I thought was the bias so I didn't have to match up the plaid.  However, I failed to think through that the wrong part of the sleeve would be on the bias.  Oops!  I love the top otherwise.   

The final version you've already seen here.  Which reminds me... have you voted yet for the Everyday Casual contest?  It'd be awesome if you voted for me. 

I didn't think that I could pull off the entire top in the shiny charmeuse, so for the main portion, I used the matte side. I've worn these three outfits in the last week, but haven't felt that I've worn the same thing over and over again.  What do you think?  Are they different enough to wear one after another? 

Vote for me!

I made it to the second round of the Sewing Indie contest in the Everyday Casual.  Vote for my Crazy Don Cherry inspired jacket.  Here's the link: http://cashmerette.blogspot.com.br/2014/06/sewing-indie-month-vote-for-your.html

I am bowled over that I made it this far. Here's a reminder of the jacket.

Also update on my new jacket.  I'm going with plain straight welt pockets.  I don't want to take away from the bow on the collar (which will be detachable).

Looking like a jacket, but what pocket?

It's starting to look like a jacket.

My question for you dear reader(s) (if there is even one), what kind of pocket would you put on this jacket?  The pattern calls for a slanted double welt pocket, which I used on the last Luffa I made.

I think maybe I phrased the question wrong.  I think it should have been how many bows makes a design too twee?  See my design hack is making the left collar into a bow.  Somewhat inspired by this Simplicity pattern

The newer version can be found here

I was thinking about the possibility of patch pockets with bows, or a flap pocket with the flap being a bow.  Too confusing? I sketched out a couple of options.  After sketching, I narrowed it down to two, but I'll wait to see what y'all have to say. 

Woohoo Progress... Bound buttonholes are done (for now)!

What do you do when your mom is in town?  For me it means very little time for sewing.  There has been progress made on the jacket.  More on that in a minute.  But first- the view from lunch.

Today I took my mom to Garuja, a little town about 60-90-180 minutes away from Sao Paulo.  As it is winter here, there was no traffic, so it took about 60 minutes to get there.  We went to two beaches, names already forgotten, but both were super tranquil and nice.  The water was too cold to actually get in, but the day was beautiful and waves soothing (to a degree.  To be honest, sometimes the sounds of waves makes me seasick a little bit, especially if I'm even slightly dehydrated, but it was nice to breath cleaner air.)  We had to leave suddenly, when my little guy got stung or bitten by a bug and his ear swelled up.  He's fine now, but it certainly freaked me out.

Now on to progress on the jacket.  Bound buttonholes made, and I added fusible to the roll line, as the one buttonhole near the collar was causing some wonkiness on the roll.

How do you make your bound buttonholes?  I use a mishmash of ways, but they seem to be ok.  Here is an action shot of making one.   I love my machine, but notice something wrong with her? 

 The LED light no longer works.  The Bernina store in Sao Paulo told me they couldn't get the part, so I have to wait until my vacation in August, when we're home in Kansas before we move to Kyiv.  Which also means, instead of shipping my 25 pound machine with the rest of our stuff, I get to lug it with us on the plane.  But what to do in the meantime?

I sew with my Ottlite lamp extremely close to the machine.  It's especially necessary when you have to be super precise- ie. buttonholes and pockets.  But anyway, since there isn't much to report, I'll leave you with a cute shot of my little guy.

I made him a bunny tie shirt for Easter.