Sewing for Friends Continues: the Doug Edition

Doug's beloved Pendleton silk aloha shirt had run it's course. And the idea of making a new shirt for him has percolated for a long time.

That shirt has been hovering on the rack in the back of a lot of photos.

The black floral on the rack.

It's time came this spring.

I took a million photos of fabric in stores (redacted here for brevity).

We shopped the stash. The red cowgirls almost made the cut, but the barkcloth is too heavy for this.

We went to the store. Pacific Fabrics is open after work so this stuff can get done.

He chose the Japanese double gauze. 

The measurements were taken, a style was agreed on. A pattern was dug out and altered.

I may have four thrifted copies of this one pattern, Simplicity 5581. The bucket hat is lost to time, sadly, but the cargo shorts (not pictured) found their way into another envelope. 

Kind of a "one stop shopping for summer" pattern set. To add to the envelope space crunch, both mens and boys sizes are included. And they never all make it back into the envelope when you take them out - they just expand.

But this photo made me really look at the stripe option for the first time. Huh.

That could be very cool. 

Because there is not going to be a chest pocket.

This is where I admit to you, dear reader, that double gauze looks really frumpy to me, and no more so than with topstitching.

You know the classic 70's topstitch with the deep trench of thread, compacting the puffy fabric and giving that fat sloppy edge?

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK
this image taken from
http://kathyloghry.blogspot.com/2016/08/thats-so-70s-pantsuit.html

This is also whyI hate hate hate stretch denim patch pockets. They always look dodgy to me. Same reason.

And IG followers will notice that a lot of the inprogress questions were resolved on that platform.

So it did, indeed, get a front and a sleeve turned.

After all that, it's just a men's shirt.

Buttons auditioned. Still can't find those white pearl buttons.

The one in the lower left is from a huge set (20?) that looks like clear yellow plastic with straw bits. They don't go with anything, but they always get another audition.

One good thing about double gauze is you can catch stitch through one layer to secure the facings or the hem.

And it does not show. 

I hate my buttonholes.

I want one of these dedicated buttonholers from the dry cleaners. Or I want them to make my buttonholes for me.

I did grade out a lot of the seams (lotta layers in double gauze, awfully lumpy). 

As well, I did fake flat seam the side seams.

Which are easily hand sewn down.

And it's a shirt.

The return of the big pants (Hammer Time)

Spring and Summer call to mind blousy pants. Cool enough, warm enough. 

And nothing says big pants like Hammer Pants.

The cropped jacket is intriguing to me.  That black and red version is snappy.

Yes, this pattern eludes me still. The bonus is the official iron on transfer with signature and logo. I'm just not into it enough to drop more than $20.

Fun facts about Winterland Productions

http://theinkkitchen.com/2016/06/the-legend-of-winterland-productions/

Links you to a cool short promo on what a fun thing it is to be underpaid to make advertising t shirts.

Ventilation not included.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/04/29/MCA-buys-Winterland-Productions/2759578289600/

(from the latter UPI link): "Bill Graham founded the company in the early 1970s to sell such merchandise as t-shirts and programs at rock concerts. The company also markets the images of artists on various products.

Winterland, for example, provided all the merchandise for such recent events as Live Aid, Hands Across America, and concerts by Bruce Springsteen, U2, 

Madonna and  Fleetwood Mac".

And MC Hammer.

This one had escaped my attention before. The lower right is aMAZing

You know the name Winterland from the San Francisco concert hall bearing that name. The concert portions of The Last Waltz were filmed there.

It's not the same thing, but it's the same thing; same vintage time frame, same styling. 

At the price point I can find at Value Village, that is.

And it is a 90 minute pattern. Once piece, cut four times.

This is the least I have altered a pants pattern. I figured I should see what I got straight out of the box.

Side seam pockets, btw.

Not to be confused with Thai fisherman pants.

This is quite the DIY rabbit hole. You can buy a pattern for them, though many other people have left a lot of drawings on the internet for you to look for.

This image is from 2014, Peter Lappin's Male Pattern Boldness blog, http://malepatternboldness.blogspot.com/2014/02/thai-fisherman-pants-shirt-update.html

 He has done all the heavy lifting you will ever need on this.

Obligatory photo of Ren and Stimpy pants

But none of us have made a pair in gold lame.

Not yet, anyway.....

Summer Swing Top

Every summer, I make a bout...a gaumpty billion versions of the same top/dress. I get that summer's pattern down to where I want it, and then I just crank them out, with slight variations on a theme.

A couple of years ago, I made a shirt based on this pattern.

which turned into a series of woven pullover shirts, after I had refined the armscye fit.

You know the drill: there's the first, then changes, then the second, then more changes...

And I'm leaving out a couple.

This spring started the new one off.

with short sleeves and a new neckline.

Pretty much this shirt is the shoulders and sleeves of the previous shirt, with a new body. A trifle more width in the back between the shoulder.
And no buttonholes. 

I will go to great lengths to avoid buttonholes these days.

Originally, the * top had the semi v-neck. Which looked dumb.

So I picked it out and added seam tape for a little neckline definition.

I made the neck line into a circle that was a little tipped forward (the edge starts coming back to the center before the seam line)

and I traced off new pieces to make it's own set, rather than being the subset of the long sleeved version

 Just tracing over the old sleeve.

Taylor Mac watches over the process.

Still working on the selfie set up.

Hey, new pants. Same old pattern. We'll get to that presently. I do get MMMay points for finishing them (started them last summer).

Tasteful Incredibles2 scatter print sleeveless version.

I like to put my tag in the back on the facing. And yes, it's the Alexander Henry bathing beauties print.

  

And more in the next few weeks.

But right now, I have a present to make for a pal.

Prom Time! 2018

I don't have daughters, and there's not much costume work right now.

So prom.

We have two participants in the dress queue. Both with chiffon outer skirts.

One was purchased awhile ago by F'ces, Empress of the Universe (LLC), and then finals and stuff happened, and it needs to be let out.

This photo really says it all for me. There's a girl in a dress that won't zip up, and her mom and me and pins and a tape measure. I have other photos for reference of how much and where, but do you need to see this? No. I need a couple of inches to add.

And there's not much to shop from to add. I have an almost-similar-but-not-quite lining fabric to fill where it won't show so much.

So things have to be pieced together.

I found more 'outside' chiffon lining the back bodice. Why? So I could cut it out and use it.

Thanks Prom Dress Maker!

I made myself a sandwich of chiffon and lining and some mystery fabric mesh for a stable base. 

All machine basted in place

Stitched the pieces, cut them up. I pinked to save a finishing step later

And in this light, on the table, yes you can see it clearly. If F,EotU doesn't lie down on a brightly lit table with her arm over her head (either side), we're good.

And I think it needs more pins on the inside....

Also needs more in the skirts (yes, a chiffon and two lining layers)

So we gotta find that and it 's going to show more, so I need to find some of the original lining to cut for the outermost of the two skirts. The chiffon has some pleating that I can undo enough to get an inch.

The inner skirts have a little extra kick in the back below the zip. We can use that.

That long wedge fills the gap

Inside of a dress

Outside of a dress. 

There are prettier photos of F,EotU, but none that make her look more empirical than this one. It's actually a little too big in the waist now, but she had a great time at prom and could dance and move around, so I call it good.

Love that hoomin.

You didn't think I was going to leave the dress out of it, did you? Yes, it's overexposed. Need to work on the home photo set up this summer. I have been studying all your MMMay photos for ideas. 

Dress Two is a shorter story. General Leia Huttslayer's* niece bought a dress online and it showed up with a spray of what looked like bleach dots on the skirt.

Blingle to distract and cover!

Bad little bleach dots!

Blingle to the rescue. We'll camoflage the error with sparkle.

Nice enough, but the General wants to add some rhinestones, as she does

So pro tip: if you're gluing them on chiffon, you can suspend the area over a pie plate so the glue dries on the chiffon and doesn't glue the stones to the other stuff through the chiffon.

The Niece is in there somewhere, before the rhinestones.

*her burlesque title.