Technical Difficulties And Yes, Autumnal Hemming Job Returns

 Hi!

I have a new computer. The old one....it died.

I had been saving all my photos to a separate terabyte drive.

That drive will not acknowledge me.

Dang.

I will bend it to my will, but it's going to take a hot minute. In the meantime, here are some photos of hemming pants

Alright, marking hems on pants. A sewing machine and an iron was used.

Panera is not my favorite place, but their catering delivery bag is a beast and will hold a family of four comfortably.

Black pants. Mmmmm.

In more interesting blog postings, Closet Core has a guest post from Sophie Hines about adaptive sewing tools. 

https://blog.closetcorepatterns.com/adaptive-sewing-equipment-guide-tools-and-tips-for-sewing-with-disabilities-with-sophie-hines/

Second Bridesmaid

 Mrs Mole was right about a five point bustle. Three isn't really doing it.

Five points of attachment snugs this up and our Bridesmaid/Work Pal will be comfortable.

Trust me: it looks like a million bucks on her.

It really has proven to be easier to stitch the hem mark on the dress, by stitching that distance from the existing hem. This stuff is chalk proof.

Stitch. Trim and turn again.

Use the cut off part to make more tubes

I sewed the ends before I cut them.

The tools to insert more tube loops

To get the tubes to be the same exposed length, I pinned them shut vertically and then marked the seam line horizontally with a pin. When I stuck the loop into the open seam, I used the pin as a stop, to line it up with the seam as it would be sewn. I basted them in and machine stitched the entire seam when I had them all basted in. Brain Satisfaction!

Threaded them.

the lacing goes into the center loop from both directions, and can be tied in a bow around the loop.

Confession: it's actually 1/2" shorter on one side. SHHHHHHHHH.

More collaged tshirts - what to do with parts of tshirts

Like I said previously, a million times previously, I am working on actual clothing, but work is has been nuts and the UFO and mending pile is easier to deal with than a new thing from scratch. Or a new pattern to alter. And there's more choir hems. 

I stumbled across this photo in my 'ideas' folder while looking for medical records. Isn't that how it always works?

which is from this

https://journal.alabamachanin.com/2019/01/2019-build-a-wardrobe-the-fractal-dress-pattern/

I taped together and am presently staring at this VersitiliTee from way back and.... it's not going to do what I want it to do. It has that solid piece front, with any shaping seams on the back, and while this does appeal to me in that ATATAC origami zerowaste manner, I need seams, my butt is big so I need the hem to be wider, and I just don't want to set in a knit sleeve. Not unless I have to.

I don't like a raglan sleeve - my shoulders have disappeared and I don't like being reminded of that. I want a seam at the top of where they used to be. So I enjoyed widening the bicep on this pattern, but alas not to be. Not a wadder but not for me; and you know about learning from failure by reading this blog.

And I have all these tshirts with images on them I love, and I am not going to make a tshirt quilt. Nope.

This style is just offset enough, the cut just abrupt enough, that i think it might work for collaging a tshirt. 

I had a long sleeve pullover knit similar to the brown shape, and I wore it to death in the late 80s.

So this is where my mind is going with this project these days

A brief hiatus in publishing

 

Hemming, working, hemming, maybe some sleep

I am mostly working on choir hems, starting a new accounting class and finagling a raise at work (to account for the more work duties I have taken on at said work)

At least I know how to hem dresses.

Somehow most of it is blue; resizing the 2 into a 13

 I do love this color of blue

Which is good, because there's even more of it

Although the latest alteration was on the black part of the dress, not the blue

The problem is: the bodice for a size 2 is the same chest measurement as a 13, but the proportions are very different, and on a young girl, that neck line of the size 2 is too low.

This is a good place to discuss fit models; grading patterns isn't just a case of sizing up, but recognizing proportional changes in ages and sizes. Children are not small adults; their torsos are differently proportioned. Old ladies are not young ladies, their torsos have shifted again. I could math it for you, but this is a post about me trying to do too many things in too short of a time frame. Like writing this post. So let's put a pin in that for now.

Because the size 13s are lost in transit, there are a couple of available size 2s, and the concert is coming up.

Can I raise the neckline? No.

I can lower the shoulder seams.

And. well,,... yes. Stretch velvet is a little forgiving that way.

I'm saying this now: these are the best alteration tags EVER. 

KaBLAMMY!

In brief:

The minute I put the red line on the sketch, I knew this would work. The proportions look alright.

Picked off sleeves, made template of armsceye, remarked and recut lower

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca1HMQqAPOl/ for hot video action

I swear by the lint ball. Thread sticks to my fingers and I need to get it off so I can pull the next one. I drag the thread across the ball and it catches it and I move on.

Though the tablecloth also does a similar job. Or my sleeve. 

Spent a lot of time reworking the shoulder sleeve and the neckline facing.

One was a bigger panic than the other and I just hope that it doesn't turn out to be totally askew and awful looking on the chorister. Some alterations look awful at a distance.

(cringe face)

And then I put the sleeves back in.

The puckering is all coming from the part of the neckline I didn't touch.

Hanging up, they all look fine (well, it's stretch velvet for the bodice, ponte for the skirts, which both hide/reveal a lot of slapdashery on my part as well as the original manufacturer.

I should mention these dresses are pretty well made in general. Now and then there's a seam that could have used a little more attention, but the sizes are generally consistent.  And these dresses need new size tags, which I neglected to add.

And a related sewing link, to a tribute to a shirt and the Liberty Fabric that it is made from (and how long lived that print has been)

https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022/03/13/my-spring-shirt-o/

On a personal note, I am now done with Accounting 120, I will have a 92% grade, and I am just brainially beat. Lucky for me, work is going to be INsane.

Perfect timing.

Second Shirt, with variations

 Doug did buy fabric for two shirts when he was at Mood.

https://erniekdesigns.blogspot.com/2021/12/new-shirts-new-fabrics-not-for-me.html

I traced this off last winter, and made the long sleeve that I knew I would need for this version, with long sleeves and cuffs.

I barely took photos cutting this out. Here's the box. 

I was busy watching Devil Doll on Svengoolie. A very creepy film.

During the spare time waiting for my awful exam results, I did some sewing together of things

the burrito method is magic

one version here 

https://erniekdesigns.blogspot.com/2015/06/burrito-roll-facing-trick.html

You just have to roll the entire shirt into the gap inside the yoke. Do this before you add the pocket or the interfacings or anything bulky.

It's just so nice looking when it comes out.

and this is where we are for the  moment, as Accounting 120 is KILLING ME.

There never have been enough hours in the day but this is getting ridiculous.

And while this is on the table,

I am in discussions with Doug's eldest child, who is planning an August wedding

"Ultimately I just want to be really comfortable while still feeling like a pretty pretty princess."

Well, YEAH. I think we can have it all here.

So it begins (each and every one a etsy/ebay purchase)

There will be more on this topic as things transpire.

New Shirts, New Fabrics, Not For Me

 Doug wants a new shirt

Doug went to New York with the bride and they went to Mood

Doug brought home fabrics and buttons.

Took new measurements, they aren't much different than three years ago

and traced off new pattern (because I just can't find the old one) from Simplicity 7030, mixing Small Medium and Large pieces

His wrists are smaller than mine, and he's a foot taller. Go figure.

The other shirt will have the long sleeves and cuffs (roll-up able)

Checking length - I traced the entire pattern this time, for future reference.

 Checking seams on the floor (also walking the armsceye)

Sewing action shots: 

the obligatory sewing the yoke/burrito facing roll

And a partial unfurl

Buttons. I like these better on this shirt, but I'm not the boss here

These are the buttons for the other shirt, but the same size. SO I trimmed one of the buttons down for the collar, just to see if it would work.

I need to reshape the sleeve. It should not tent out like that.

Needs a little more in the back. 

And he seems pretty happy with it.

The black buttons look fine. I will figure out how to work on that sleeve tenting out like that.

If you work with me and were wondering what the entire box of cookies I got for this work had in it:

Because the ex ate half of them overnight before I could bring them all in.