What was that bit about jobs that require new clothes? Warming Them Up For The Novelty Wardrobe

The overalls were a little unexpected for the office, but the Ophelia's are pretty cute and corduroy, so they passed muster.

I started a new job and there's not been a lot of sewing going on. 

Mostly what I need to do is warm the office wardrobe up slowly, and then I can start wearing the usual wardrobe. I've been sticking to black pants and low interest patterned knit pullovers. It's still winter, so not much call for tshirts and dresses.

The Mom Job Wardrobe could be anything I felt comfortable in, with a mind to not clashing too much when I left the house. A large amount of novelty fabrics were worn.

And when I had this same job twenty years ago (no shit, the exact same job in the same office for the same company, all new staff and software to learn), it was a pretty loose wardrobe. When I was hired, the office was wide open, so you had to look acceptable (office casual) from head to toe. So when we moved to this location with a little more privacy from the street, the team wardrobe turned to tshirts and jeans and a jacket you could toss over your Motorhead or Pee Wee Herman shirt.  Look adult from the waist up.

Right now the prevalent office clothing is knit pants, plain knit sweaters and tops, and that one person who wears dresses and heels wherever they go. 

I plan on returning to my traditional garb by summer, with a nice version of this v8559 Tilton to throw over when I have to present as normal (or it gets chilly).

It's a pretty simple shape (and I'm not a big fan of setting in sleeves in knits, but I will do my patient best)

It's worth a gander on the internets to admire the various versions of this pattern. Plus Ann Smith pops up, which always makes my day. She is my sewing inspiration.

I did hem fifteen more things for the choir, now all I need to do is find the time to deliver them.

I did negotiate a day off to go to SewExpo, which I wasn't sure I would get to. I am sewing a Sew Powerful purse to donate, because it's a great project and I'm that kind of gal. 

https://sewexpo.com/classes-events/events/charity-events/

https://sewpowerful.org/
This is the part of the video that explained to me why the back is in two pieces
https://youtu.be/mIhZW1DT5bs?t=911
Watch this video all the way through before you cut your fabric. There are some differences between the pattern and these instructions, and while I prefer drawings to videos, this is somewhat clearer. Needs section titles, but who am I to judge?

I'm not taking any classes, just going down for a half day to peruse the usuals. I need some zips and some faux leather that won't stink up the joint like the Joann's continues to do.

And maybe a Pendleton scrap piece.
And a scone.

ReMake Nine: Some Challenge Thing Results

Last year, Green Violet did this

I remake stuff all the time, so it was a fair idea.

This is what I was going to do

Make a pullover bra from underpants

Remodel / resize t shirts

Transform a skirt into a hat

Reweave some sweaters

Make socks into mittens

Refashion one thing into another

Make two tshirts into one

Mend something into usefulness from the bottom of the pile

I have no bingo, even with a wild card in the middle.

Unders: I have photos, for my reference only. It does not quite work, but not for the reasons I thought. 

Simply: I like a wider bra band than an pair of underpants can provide. That waist elastic is too skinny for me. BUT THIS DOES WORK. You do need to put fold over elastic for the neck straps, and extend them past where the crotch fabric goes, but for a light day bra, yeah.

T Shirts: oh yes

 Slice em off and hem em up. Rinse and repeat. Although this one was a mistake, as when Spouse raised his arms to swing golf club, previously too long shirt raised to show off navel.
Note to self: do not alter too-large golf wear.

The best one this year was the Poe sweater from Archie's: it was too big by half, but not anymore.

I took it apart into pieces and moved the whole body up three inches (or lowered the neckline: pick one, same thing).

Cut carefully. Plan your piece cuts carefully. Make pattern pieces just to be safe.

It's a pattern for the neckline, so I can replicate it three inches lower.

Save any yarn you can to resew the neck back on 

(so it will stretch)

The redone shoulder and top armhole seam, interior.

Transformed: Skirt into hat: Not yet.

Years ago (2014), I cut a wool miniskirt into chunks to make a hat. The parts resurfaced when I made this grid. And then it disappeared again. No, I can't find the pieces. I could have sworn I still had photos on this blog. Apparently not.

Reweaving: oh yesss, Very overexposed to show the stitches.

This is the fun one.
Apparently I did not blog this one?

Now I have.

Feet into hands: Socks into mittens: did not work. It could, but I lacked patience. 

 Made mittens instead, cause needed mittens.

Refashion: kind of a  meh

Turned tote bag into dog rain coat. It would have worked better with dog for measurements. I got it back all chopped up to better dimensions

This is the before photo.

After's note: "We bought a good one so no thanks"

That's my second son.

Just like his ma.

The sweater was a success

Two into one:  not yet. I need to toile one

She is my inspiration for the better version that I will make, vs the 'eh' one I was thinking of.

From the bottom of the pile: oh yasssssss

The neck on this Tilton V8813 just cut into my neck, so for a quick win after a couple fails, I put in a back neck facing

Made a paper pattern first! Yay me!

Mostly just stitching to seam allowances, although I did open up the back neck seam to slot this in.

I could enjoy this dress now. It's a light weight shirt fabric, so I'm not wearing it now, but I've got a tablecloth to make this my Pao Tribute Dress.

God I hated sewing this dress.....so maybe not yet.

---

My sewing plan for 2020 is I'm making a Chanel style, Western decorated jacket, I'm making a toile or two first, and I'm going to take way too long to make it. 

so this blog will get really boring.

Well, we will still have mending...

---

We'll see exactly how long this lasts.

Bias Theory With Flaming Skulls

I'm putting these illustrations at the front so I will see them right away.
Because this is also my sewing information storage bin.
And this is the summary of our Bias time.

Click on 'em to enbiggen.

Vogue Pattern Magazine's last issue is the source for the image on the lower left, with notations

This is worth a minute of your time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warp_and_weft

The warp is set on the loom and has to be straight and strong.

The weft is looped and threaded in different patterns inbetween the warp threads. It can be lighter, looser. Think of a jacquard weave, or a twill.

The thread/yarn/fiber is almost never the same weight and density as the warp.
If it's a crepe fabric, the weft is longer and curlier than the warp.

Your square grain won't stay square forever. 

Don't take my word for it? Marcy Tilton, from Threads 
https://www.threadsmagazine.com/2008/11/06/bias-101


"Center seam or not?
Depending on the fabric you select, you may want to add a seam at center front and center back so the garment will hang evenly. On modern wovens, lengthwise threads are stronger and more numerous than crosswise threads. When a full pattern piece is placed on the bias, the lengthwise grain will dominate one side of the garment, and the crossgrain, the other. Unless your fabric is stable, the two sides of the garment may hang differently, with one stretching more than the other, and you may get twisting, rippling, and an uncomfortable tug-of-war."

Fabric movement is exaggerated in cutting pieces on the bias. It starts moving from the second you put a blade to it.
To get the article to hang straight enough in the long run, you should have the fabric running in the same direction on all pieces. When you cut "with nap", that's what you're doing. 

Yes, I know: when you are using a fabric without a print or a directional weave, you can flip it around to get it to fit if you keep it ongrain. And given the lifespan of an article of memade clothing, it's entirely likely that it will hang straight and true. Crossgrain will be less stretchy than with grain, but generally, for most purposes, given enough exceptions to the 99% success rate you'll have......
it will eventually fail. Shrink to not fit. Not feel comfortable. If you're making a one use costume, this doesn't matter one bit. Honestly, I do have pieces that have lasted longer than I thought they would, that have ended up being binned because of this issue.
Maybe I should always sew for the long run.

This issue is exaggerated with bias cuts. 

https://youtu.be/8BGP68kq_Q0?t=242

Charles Kleibacker slides this idea right by when he's cutting the red fabric for the pants on a double layer. We don't want a crossgrain fold in the fabric when we're cutting on the bias, because then the back pants piece 1 will be heading up and back pants piece 2 will be heading down. This is easier to imagine with a directional print.

 You want the flaming skulls to be going in the same direction on the garment.

We either need a single layer cut or we need to cut the fabric to turn it to head the same direction to cut double layer.

I really should illustrate this with a flaming skull print.

Everything is better with flaming skulls

 I screwed up on this, and both front and back lean to the left. This is why I put the drawing at the top. I think about this stuff, I make notes about this stuff, and I forget. It is a novelty print of superhero valentines, so it's not going to last for years BUT it would be nicer to make sure it's entire lifetime was a superior one.

 I lay them out single layer. It's just easier and they are simple shapes.
I'm not crazy. Look at this photo from IthacaMaven's IG stories:
Two separate pattern pieces, yes, one grain up left, one up right.

This doesn't stop things from moving though.

This linen tank is growing at the lower right. Only a year old and probably twenty washes, hung to dry.

However, this split piece, center (and side) seam tank (novelty cotton, two years old, never put in the dryer either) is pretty stable.

It's something to consider when you're laying out your pattern.  Both of these tanks are extremely comfortable (unlike their straight grain pals of the same pattern). Not all prints will work as well with this layout.  Some will work better than you think (a bias plaid top is just as swell as it's bias plaid skirt sister). 

The Bride of Dignified Pullover Garment

Don't call it a reboot.
Well, it actually is.
Just a really tardy one.

Garments of a Dignified Lady

I wish I remembered why I ditched this version in 2015. I think it was the fabric weight and possibly too many large polka dots. Oh, and the seams were nasty to finish but too rough to leave alone. Joanns, sometimes you vex me.

As the Professor (King) says, you should mark your pattern pieces as if you might be struck by amnesia at any moment. Because you will.

https://erniekdesigns.blogspot.com/2015/12/dignified-pullover-garment-actual-sew.html

She bought all the Eames shirts at Uniqlo for this

I was honestly going to do this for Refashioners 2018, but it seemed less like an "inspired by" and more like a "coming up with a rationale to include this make in the contest"

I mean, I really do like this piece.

http://mail.dianeericson.com/index.php?id=903035939331312170

Diane Ericson's Faultlines jacket

But what I want isn't inspired by this, just reflected in this.

Read the rules.

I found some pretty cool knit collage stuff. 

https://www.matchesfashion.com/products/Matty-Bovan-Patchwork-stretch-knit-top-1236000

Okay, maybe not precisely this Matty Bovan. But you get the general idea. And now, months later, I have several collections of fabrics that want to become Dignified Pullovers.

Hulk wants shirt that fits SheHulk from too small shirts

Three BeBop that want to be worn at the same time

Because I love Cowboy Bebop. A series with a beginning, a middle and an end.

And that Eames pile

There's stacks and stacks more, but the Eames, the Bebop and the Hulk want to happen now.

I'm working on another toile from the pattern I traced off.

BluPrint Binge Watch and Tiltons

You can, with careful time management, use a Bluprint one week free trial EVEN IF YOU ALREADY HAVE A CRAFTSY account.

Plan open time.

Plan snacks and beverages. 

Start your free week.

Set a reminder in your calendar as to when to cancel your free trial.

Watch the hell out of the classes.

You won't be able to keep watching them later, but you can download the printed information for the classes while you are in them.

They will want you to make an account and they will want a credit card number. They are counting on you forgetting to cancel, and maybe you'll want to keep going 

(I did this with the Met Opera HD channel, I'm a sucker, and it worked out pretty well until it didn't and then I stopped)

Before we go any further, I'd like to plug Kenneth King's fancy fabrics class, as well as Melissa Fehr's activewear class. You can never go wrong with the Professor; he's a brilliant educator. Melissa's calm voice and clear manner is a balm.

Yes, I Watched Most Of Them.

Bras, velvet, sergers, coverstitch primers, all sewing all the time.

NO KNITTING classes

NO COOKING classes

Just sewing.

(my family was out for a couple days and the cat only eats canned food)

But I'm here for some knit tips.

And since I do love to binge watch, I'm binge-ing the Tilton's shirts classes

For those who just want the quick route, I'd do the Artful t-shirt, and then grab the sleeve chapter on the Ultimate t shirt. The Artful just slips past this, demoing a lot of the other construction bits. Which is cool, but I like to watch people do things that have just eluded me. And this knit stitching thing does elude me. 126 hems or not.

And Marci does sew the armscye seam first in the Ultimate class, then refolds and pins and does the sleeve and body side seam in one go. Which she says not to do in the Artful video. 

People change.

I can be flexible.

What I learned:

Consistency is more important than perfection. 

If I'm not failing, I'm not creative enough - Tiltons

Make samples.

Play.

A differential feed would be a nice thing in a serger.
And of course,

I wish Kenneth King taught everything.

Pressing over the largest ham in town

(by https://www.etsy.com/shop/StitchNerd of course)

I am not sure why I enjoy this. I should just make a YouTube channel called She Sewed Over A Pin.

And if this isn't good enough, have some Bernina tech p@rn.

OH MY GOD
JUMBO BOBBIN
Why did I just find out about this?
Do I live in a cave?
Or this one: it just pops out at you!

How many thousands of dollars will this cost?
Hm. Guess I can just buy more bobbins and wind them more often. Or buy a second bobbin case and be all ready to go.