Damselfly's Delights

Green Instead

July 7, 2019 damselflysdelightsLeave a comment

Well, now that I’ve gotten brown out of my system for awhile, I’ve moved onto green. I apologise in advance that my iPad’s camera has big trouble rendering this colour correctly! It shimmers back and forth between brown, grey and a really washed out green none of which are close. Trust me that these are all a matching and evenly dyed dark olive drab.

First up, this is the Peppermint Magazine’s Button-Up Dress, a free pattern designed by Emily Hundt of In The Folds. It features armhole princess seams and a relaxed easy fit.

The fabric was lurking about in my stash for a number of years, purchased on one of my trips through Portland, OR, at the Mill-End Store. It’s a lovely designer cotton sateen in a heavier weight that of course creases like the dickens. The buttons are from Dressew and are quite dreamy, like looking into a pool.

Since there’s 10 of them quite close together down the front of this dress, I thought it was worthwhile having buttons that actually show up! The changes I made to the pattern for fit were nearly but not quite right. I need a little more bra strap coverage on the back armhole and it gaps a little back there. Also the all-in-one facings needed some remedial work to lie correctly. I probably need to redraft them if I make this pattern again. The dress is quite short, above the knee even on my 5’3″ self, so taller folk might want to lengthen it. There’s only a tiny 5/8″ hem!

So because the dress felt a little too open on the armholes, I managed to find some nylon/Lycra fabric in the exact same colour in Dressew’s bargain basement. Yay! Out of 2 metres I squeezed a cap-sleeved tee, a pair of “skimmies” (aka undershorts) and a pair of Helen’s Closet Avery Leggings. I’m always needing layering pieces and these are perfect.

Wearing the cap-sleeved tee and the skimmies under my Button-Up Dress

The first two pieces are really quick to sew and have been adapted and changed enough from the original tee and shorts/leggings patterns that I consider them my own now. The Averys are quite a lot more work to make, with the doubled yoke, crotch gusset and elastic sewn in between the layers.

I prefer the high waist but the shorter legs. This pair has legs that are even shorter than the pattern by about 2-1/2″ because I was squeezing them in to a tight amount of fabric! However, they’re still long enough on my short legs coming just above my ankle bone.

I skimmed another wee slice out of the cuffs though because they were still a little looser than I like for my skinny ankles. It’s quite a lot cooler here today so I’m glad to be wearing them and with socks too! The high waist and doubled yoke design acts like a more comfortable version of shapewear on me, keeping the beluga blubber a little more under control than usual. Heh. Totally worth the extra effort to make them.

So now I’m busy cutting out the next pile of green sewing! This lot is a slightly lighter olive green soft cotton/lycra french terry, also from Dressew’s bargain basement. It’s a colour I have a lot of in my wardrobe and I don’t really tire of seeing it. This fabric was obviously hiding in the bargains because it’s quite off-grain even after washing and machine drying. No amount of tugging would straighten it out so I’m ignoring that issue and have 3 items all cut out and ready to sew. More green to show you soon! I’m on a roll here.

Brown, But Not Brown

June 24, 2019 damselflysdelights1 Comment

Yes, here I am again! I was pressed for time yesterday and realised I’d forgotten to post my last sewing project here. This is the McCall’s 7093 raglan-sleeved tunic that I wanted to test out for a basic raglan pattern for woven fabrics. I already have my TNT Lane Raglan for knits. I’m not sure I really got the best test with the fabric I used however. It’s a rayon crinkle and I pressed it quite thoroughly before I cut it out. I’m afraid it’s going to shrinkle right back up again the next time I wash this tunic!

The fabric is not really brown. The warp is black and the weft is rusty orange but your eye blends them together! The pattern was quite difficult to figure out the fit changes I needed to make. (Yay, Big 4.) I ended up with a size 10 at the neck/shoulders/sleeves and graded out to a 14 at the bust and somewhere out past the edge to about a size 18 at the hip. It was quite a lot more slender than I am! I also made the longer tunic version but added the pockets by lengthening them to the hem. It turned out okay.

Not fantastic but absolutely wearable. It’s light and airy and I’m sure I’ll have occasion to wear it a lot more this summer. Right now it’s actually too cool – except on those occasions when the sun peeks out and then it gets much warmer. June Gloom. Gotta love it.

The upper part fits pretty well so I know I’m going to use this pattern again, perhaps the version with the slits and/or the longer sleeves. Or maybe a completely different style from the underarms down. We’ll see. It won’t be for awhile though since I have lots of other sewing in the queue including 3 more items already cut out.

Interlude

June 23, 2019 damselflysdelights1 Comment

We took a few days to escape the city for camping at Lightning Lake in beautiful E.C. Manning Provincial Park. The weather was most definitely chilly and changeable. We had sun, rain, cloud and wind – often all in the same hour! Luckily we’re quite used to the mountains and brought appropriate clothing and footwear along with our little propane heater for the evening. Thom’s brother and sister-in-law were kind enough to share their site with us so we had two blue VW Westfalias parked together. Theirs is a lighter blue and ours is a navy blue and they were purchased within a few months of each other over 30 years ago. Much camping has ensued ever since!

Lightning Lake, EC Manning Provincial Park

We saw some wildlife including loons, a momma merganser with 10 babies, a pika (in the rockfall you can see in the upper photo), a pileated woodpecker, deer and a bear on the side of the road on the way home. Trout were caught, trails were hiked and flowers were photographed.

I collaged a few of them for you! There’s too many more and although I can identify many of them, I don’t know all their names.

I also managed to finish those socks that have been on the needles forever.

The yarn is the no-longer-made DGB Confetti from a no-longer-in-business shop. What does that tell you about working from Deepest Stash? Love the colours obviously! The pattern is my usual top-down heel-flap basic socks on 64 stitches. No need to mess with something that works just perfect for my feet, eh? And then I started a new pair, this one’s for Thom.

The rib pattern is from Charlene Schurch’s Sensational Knitted Socks book. It’s only 2 rounds and easy to follow so these shouldn’t take too long. Notice that I’ve gone back to my Knitter’s Pride cubic needles? These are still my favourite way to knit socks. Even though my wee ChiaoGoo Minis are rather adorable. I will use them again soon anyway. Oh and the yarn is Trekking XXL and I quite like all the subtle colours that add up to brown. Almost made a pair for me with it but Thom won out. These are on 70 stitches since that’s what divided into the pattern’s 5-stitch repeat. I usually make his plain socks on 68 stitches.

So. Must run. My fishies need to be fried up in butter for supper now!

Sweatshop

June 14, 2019 damselflysdelightsLeave a comment

Been awhile, hasn’t it? We’ve had some major family drama over the past month or so with Thom’s very elderly but very independent mom (aka Nana). She had some health issues after her knee replacement surgery (the knee is just fine though) and she’s finally back in her own home with as much care assistance as she’ll tolerate. Whew! Hopefully back to life as we know it.

So meanwhile I’ve been working on a new pile of sewing projects: prepping/fitting patterns, cutting out garments and actually sewing up one of them. But first I needed a new wrist pincushion since the old Biscornu one allowed the pins to go right through it and into my wrist! Ouch. The elastic wristband was stretched and stained too and I decided a replacement wouldn’t take long to make.

Above: perky new pincushion. Below: sad old one.

This time I got Thom to drill a 1/4″ hole in the centre of a small canning lid which I embedded in the wool stuffing. The hole allowed me to stitch the wrapping threads through the “flower” and to attach the Czech glass button and then attach the whole thing to the wrist band. But now the very sharp pins can’t go through the lid and in to me! Yay. I also covered the elastic with fabric and used Velcro to fasten it to my wrist. Much easier and more adjustable. Not too fancy but functional. I can’t sew without it!

Of course then I had to start sewing something to try it out, right? This is kind of the wrong season for a heavy jacket, even a sleeveless one, but that didn’t stop me from making one anyway. The new In The Folds Flynn Jacket called to me as a great way to use up some 20+ year old heavyweight brushed cotton twill that’s been waiting to find the right garment. I almost made yet another York Pinafore with it but I have several of those so far. The sleeveless and more fitted version of the Flynn (View B) was just the ticket and it used up almost every bit of the narrow yardage. Don’t those curved facings with hidden pockets make you just swoon?

For the bias binding I used some of a badly dyed and stamped muslin sample swatch that definitely looked much better cut into narrow 1.5″ strips. I even managed to use my 18mm bias tape maker and it actually worked well for this fabric. I often don’t bother to pre-fold bias because it’s such a hassle to get right.

This is such a beautifully drafted pattern although it took me about 3 days to get the fitting right. I ended up taking 1″ out of the upper body and another 1″ out of the lower body at the lengthen/shorten line. The pattern is based on a person 4″ taller than I am so I couldn’t reach the pockets! I also narrowed and sloped the shoulder (though I could have taken a bit more out of the front armhole). I had to completely re-draft the armhole facings because the originals no longer worked with my adjusted armholes. The results worked out pretty well.

I enjoyed the special attention to detail in the instructions too. For once I actually followed them to the letter! The jacket ends up completely finished inside.

There’s lots of extra little techniques included: under-stitching, stitch-in-the-ditch, trimming the facings for smooth turn-of-cloth, 2 different bias applications. Lovely. I got great use out of my stitch-in-the-ditch foot too which really helped to do the job nicely. All-in-all this was a very satisfying project. Now I’m hoping to find the right fabric in the stash for View A, the more loosely-fitting jacket with drop-shoulders, sleeves and a box pleat in the back. I’ve already done the fitting changes on the pattern. I think it will need a lighter weight than this heavy-duty twill. The hunt is on.

Meanwhile I still have four more garments cut out and ready to sew. Yes, I’m quite the factory sweatshop here! Going with the enthusiasm while it lasts. It was even literally a sweatshop for a couple of days though now the temps have gone back down to normal. The Swamp Cooler is already in the studio for the summer and ready to go back to work when it heats up again. Moving right along…

Bright and Dark

June 1, 2019 damselflysdelights3 Comments

How did it get to be June already? The weather has certainly been pretty nice here for the last couple of days. I got my zucchinis and cucumbers in the ground. Finally. The beans are all up and the peas are flowering. I haven’t quite finished cleaning up the front garden sections but making good headway on them. Thom does all the pruning, tying up and big weeding but it’s up to me, as he says, to fine-tune it by more careful weeding and planting annuals. Somehow it’s been taking much longer than usual to get to where we just have to water and watch things grow. Guess I say that every year, huh? Must be true.

Anyway, I’ve also been spending quality time in my studio (which is probably why the gardening is taking so long!) and finished all 8 of my knit garments that I had cut out before the end of May. Whew. Here’s the last three, starting with the second T-shirt from the snow-dyed cotton knit. This is the bright part.

As you might recognise this is my raglan TNT, the Hey June Lane Raglan. This one has 3/4 length sleeves which are actually more like 7/8 length on me. I went back to using my walking foot on this one and it went quite a lot more smoothly than the La Bella Donna tunic in the same fabric. I also snugged up the neck binding a lot more than usual and that solved my too-loose neckline problem quite nicely. It still lies nice and flat. This top is so fast and easy to sew and I’ve managed to fit it loosely enough in the body that I feel comfortable with it as either an underlayer or on its own. I will be making more of them very soon.

Hey June Handmade has patterns (most PDF but a few also paper) for quite a few basic casual wardrobe pieces for women and children. The drafting is quite good and the instructions are excellent. There’s lots of tutorials and hacks available on the website too. The Lane Raglan is my only personal experience with Hey June but obviously I’m very pleased with this one. The original pattern goes from an XS to a 2X with a finished bust measurement of 47.5″. The included FBA pattern piece will bring that up to 49.7″ so it should fit quite a broad spectrum of bodies. I think it would be relatively easy to grade up if necessary too. As usual I’ve done a few fitting adjustments: raised the front neckline and then the whole neckline and graded out from the size L (FBA) bust to beyond the 2X at the hip. Also shortened the sleeve. I do know it’s very hackable because I’ve made T-shirts, tunics and dresses. It’s also quick and easy to sew. A perfect TNT.

Next for the dark part, we have the two pairs of leggings I made from a novelty black rayon spandex from Dressew. Here’s a close-up of the interesting fabric.

The sales person at Dressew asked me what I was going to make with this when I bought it. I’m sure she hadn’t thought of leggings or tights! I am now kicking myself because I should have bought more. The weight and stretch and slink factor are perfect for underlayering. And of course black is a neutral that goes with everything. Unfortunately that was way back in January and I’m pretty sure there’s no more in the store. And since I’m on a Stash Diet until I can use up some of what I already have, I’m not going there. It’s like trying not to taste some of everything at a banquet! I have no self-control.

My first thought was I wanted to try Helen’s Closet Avery Leggings pattern with this fabric. I’ve had the pattern for awhile but hadn’t even assembled it. I had to decide on the pattern size(s) to print since Helen has layered sizes so you can print whichever one(s) you want and the rest doesn’t clutter up the printout. I went with the L and the XL but ended up using the L just as it comes. How unusual! I combined the shorter legs with the wider waistband and I really like the results. The legs below the calf are a little loose on my skinny ankles so I’ve modified the pattern for next time. Too lazy to fix this pair.

It does need to be a very stretchy fabric to wiggle on over my hips but this stuff was up for it. I like the way the doubled waistband cuts the belly jiggle down but not as restricting as shapewear. I’m somewhat leery of the enclosed 1/2″ elastic which may eventually die and not be at all easy to replace. It has 3 separate layers of stitching through it which usually doesn’t improve its longevity at all. I usually prefer to keep my waistband elastics easily adjustable and replaceable if necessary. That really contributes to keeping a garment wearable for much longer. Now it’s a contest to see whether the fabric or the elastic gives up first. We shall see.

The Averys do take a bit more fabric and more sewing since there’s 7 pieces total to assemble as compared to my TNT, the OOP Kwik Sew K2797 (from 2011), which only has 2 pieces. I used the latter for a pair of Skimmy Shorts to wear under dresses this summer to prevent chafing.

I would love to have 2 more pairs of these! Sigh. Who knew this fabric would work out so well? Did I mention it was very easy to sew? Totally cooperated all the way.

So what’s next? I have lots of patterns I want to make and lots of fabric to make them with! I need another major cutting out marathon first. I’m having some trouble figuring out where to start and matching which fabric goes to which pattern. Guess I’ll just have to dive in and do it, yeah? Once it’s cut out that will be what it will be!

Looking A Little Brighter

May 27, 2019 damselflysdelights2 Comments

I was going to wait until I’d finished the second project with this snow-dyed cotton knit fabric but what the heck! This one is done and I might as well get on with blogging about it, right?

The pattern is Love Notions La Bella Donna. This was actually a test sew for my fitting changes and I’m not totally pleased with how loose the sleeves are. I didn’t do my usual adjustment of raising the underarm and I think this needs at least an inch plus the sleeve bands adjusted to match. Otherwise grading from a size M at the top through to an XL below the bust worked okay. The neckline is a bit wide for me however, especially if I didn’t have the hood to fill in the extra space. I would bring it in if I was making a plain neck top.

The fabric is kind of fun and I had a good time cutting the garment pieces to take advantage of the dye patterning. I also had enough to cut another Lane Raglan T-shirt too which is my next project. I did have trouble sewing this tunic neatly for some reason. The stitching lines which are in white thread show every wobble and there are a lot of them including top-stitching the single-layer pocket bags onto the front. These sit nicer than regular in-seam pockets but they aren’t invisible. I somehow managed the twin-needle stitching better. Besides the hem I went around the neckline to hold the hood’s seam down and also around the sleeves to match.

Wonky stitching aside, I quite like the results and will be using this pattern again for more versions. I’m already wearing my new hoodie a lot. There are some things I love about Love Notions patterns. Tami has made the PDFs layered so you can choose your size/sizes to print and there’s also no need to trim. That makes them especially easy to assemble. This pattern also has the front and back pieces, which are the same except for the neckline, combined into one pattern which saves paper and ink. (Although it does make it a little more difficult to arrange pattern pieces on your fabric.) There is a cool way to keep them connected but still make it easy to cut out which I should show you in another post.

What I’m not so enamoured of with Love Notions patterns (and this could just be me) is that the instructions are meant for digital use on a phone or tablet rather than printed. They flip around with hyperlinks to hop from one section to another and aren’t presented in a linear fashion. Not super-critical since the designs are pretty simple to sew but I don’t like to have to turn on my iPad every time I want to check something. I printed the instructions out for myself with Adobe Reader in booklet format and it’s okay but not wonderful. It also seems as if some information is missing that I would like to have. Like finished measurements. Illustrations are pretty basic. And even though it’s included on nearly every page it took me awhile to find out how much seam allowance has been allowed for! It’s in a tiny shaded box which is hard to read on the printout. On the other hand, there’s lots of info on printing and preparing the pattern, an “inspiration” section and a glossary. If you need all that.

In gardening news, I’m really very disappointed this year. The bug and slug damage is the worst I’ve seen in forever. Somebody keeps ringing the stems of my plants, including the Japanese indigo, and I find them one at a time with the tops severed and wilted. There are holes in absolutely every leaf. And I can’t seem to catch the culprits at work. Probably because they’re out there in the dark doing their dastardly deeds when I’m sleeping! The usual remedies aren’t working either. I’m really trying to be philosophical about it. After all, we aren’t dependant on my produce to live. There are perfectly good vegetables in the market, right? And they probably cost less if you include all the work I put into my garden.

A least the weather has improved finally. We’ve had some cool nights and quite a lot of rain this month which slowed things down and probably contributed to the happy bugs and slugs. Of course along with sunshine and more warmth comes the fact that all my early greens are immediately starting to bolt! At least the ones that survived. I could plant more but they don’t usually do very well until fall. And the lettuce should be edible for awhile longer. Meanwhile there’s quite enough to eat saved in the fridge. The peas are just starting to flower and the beans are coming up. It’s starting to feel almost like summer. The hammock stand is out and just waiting for one of us to take advantage!

More Boring Grey Sewing

May 23, 2019 damselflysdelightsLeave a comment

Happily, more sewing has been happening around here! I knew if I cut out a bunch of things then I would have no excuse not to just dive into the sewing. I seem to work most efficiently with this Batch Method. Anyway, here’s the next three items hot off the machine.

Smiling woman standing in front of a large houseplant with a window to the right and a chair to the left and wearing a grey top and matching cropped pants. — Cattywampus Top and Croppies Pants

The first top (tunic? sweatshirt?) is one I’ve made before so no modifications were necessary. It’s B6101 from Katherine Tilton. I’ve nearly worn out my original Black Snakeskin version so this is a more subdued substitute. I’m calling it the Cattywampus Top because it’s asymmetrical and rather wonky which I love. This time I interfaced the collar so it doesn’t flop down so much. I also brought the neckline in slightly for a little more warmth. Now it just fits over my head! The fabric is the same cotton/lycra doubleknit as the Croppies and as you can see they go together quite nicely as an outfit.

Next I moved on to the darker charcoal grey cotton single-knit jersey. Not sure if there’s lycra content in this but not much if any. It stretched out some when I test-sewed a scrap so I used my walking foot for the first time.

Close-up of grey jersey fabric on a sewing machine under the needle and showing the walking foot attachment. — Janome walking foot

It helped keep the layers aligned and stopped them rippling up. The foot is a little more difficult to attach to the machine because you have to unscrew the clip-on part and screw this monster in place, making sure the arm (on the right there) is above the needle screw. As the needle goes up and down it moves the arm which engages the white teeth to help move the top layer forward. The whole beast is rather large and bulky but works fine and doesn’t seem to get in the way at all.

I also had trouble with the serger stretching the fabric when I was overcasting the single layer hems. To solve that issue I engaged the differential feed (set at 1.5) which worked well but switched back to normal for the other seams. So what did I make? A plain ordinary Hey June Lane Raglan t-shirt dress with 3/4 sleeves and a straight knee-length hem. No pockets because I ran out of fabric.

Dark grey dress with three-quarter sleeves hanging on an orange door. — Lane Raglan Dress

This pattern has been my raglan TNT but I’m still not happy with the neckline. I kept thinking I was stretching it out when applying the neckband but I don’t think that’s true. The neckband lies nice and flat which is how it should be. I did bring up the whole neckline about 1/2″ but I think it needs about 3/4″ more on the back and sleeve areas. It’s just a little too breezy on my neck and threatens to expose bra straps. We’ll see what happens the next time I make a Lane Raglan. Meanwhile this one is quite wearable. It’s meant to be a layering piece anyway.

Then there’s the other garment from this jersey fabric, a test sew for a self-drafted Big Pockets Tunic.

Grey tunic with big pockets hanging on an orange door. — Big Pockets Tunic

For this one I used my personal stretch blocks for a long-sleeved, shoulder-princess tunic with pockets integrated into the seams. I think it turned out the way I had envisioned. The neckline on this one is more comfortable than the dress because it’s somewhat higher on the back and shoulders but a similar height on the front neck. Lesson learned. Maybe.

In future I’d like to play with princess seams some more. I suspect armhole princess might be a better shape for me. The shoulder version’s back seams end up right on top of my bra straps for a rather lumpy look. I know you can get some nice closely-fitting garments with the extra seams to manipulate but I’m rather avoiding anything too tight from the bust down. Anyway, I seem to be gaining confidence in my drafting skills which is rather exciting and very freeing. As long as I have my blocks that fit properly then I can use them to hack whatever I want. Such power! Must be used for good, right? Heh.

So that’s four garments in boring grey. I spent some quality time cleaning up my sewing area and vacuuming out the sewing machine and serger ready for a new adventure. What’s next on the agenda? Some colour! I have 2 items cut out of snow-dyed cotton knit to sew. It’s rather wild stuff. Get out your sunglasses!

Dyer's chamomile, fine toothy green leaves and white flower buds. — Dyer’s Chamomile, ready to burst into flower