Enfolded By Love

Hello... Reader,

 I've packed everything up for camp and traveled a couple hundred miles to see my baby brother and some friends before camp training starts next week.

You don't realize what you're missing until it is there. The last couple days I have been embraced gently by love. As I had my very first soak in one of those claw foot tubs that were built for soaking, comfort surrounding me, I realized this was a visible expression of what had happened these last two days.
We're staying with some friends, a fabulous couple, a bit older than my parents. She offered her personal bathroom to me when she overheard me telling my mom I was going down to take a bath. They rearranged their menu so I could safely eat gluten free with them. They are the most giving, kind, funny and knowledgeable people... their house breathes comfort and the ease that comes upon you when you realize you have walked into a safe environment.

The night before, we saw my brother at his friend's house. With barely 24hrs notice they invited us to their Memorial day cookout. People I had never met before hugged me, included me, and made me feel ever so welcome. They invited me to play sports with them even after I showed how abysmal I was at them. I don't think I ever did hit that badminton birdie but they still had me get up there and play. It was another environment permeated by love and kindness.

I cannot describe how refreshed and thankful I am. As my nerves start to grow as the time comes to meet the strangers I'll be spending all summer with I only hope I can make the atmosphere around me as loving as what I have experienced these last couple days.

But this is a sewing blog and this has NOTHING to do with sewing. I disagree! Most of our sewing is done because we love the craft and some of our best work comes from love. Like my newest tunic top...

I really don't like the way my arms look hanging out of sleeveless tops. I didn't say anything about it in my last post and you all left such nice comments I thought, "Maybe this is all in my head." When I was gifted this very small piece of vintage fabric I immediately fell in love with it and buoyed by your comments cut out a sleeveless tunic before I could second guess myself.

This is how I'm wearing it most of the time

I love it and I love you all. We throw that word around so much it tends to lose it's meaning. But when you actually experience it, when it reaches out and touches your life, you can only sit back in amazement and bask as you are enfolded by love.

Stashbusting By Proxy Sorbetto Hack

My little friend came for sewing day and as we were browsing through my projects she caught sight of this great abstract print in the stash. After pulling it from the pile and deciding she really liked it we cooked up a plan that involved an asymmetric hem and a tunic. I was left to ponder how we were going to accomplish that.

Thankfully I remembered the Sorbetto pattern would be a great sleeveless base and already had the extra fullness in the pleat that we would need for this design. We found her size for the chest and I measured from the shoulder seam to the the lengths we wanted the hem to be. I flared the side seams out from the armhole so I didn't even have to mess with drafting out the bust dart.

Since the fabric was semi sheer I taught her how to do french seams and we used white bias tape on the neckline and armholes. The armholes are a bit snug in the finished product so make sure to check the fit before you sew the bias tape on. We were on a time frame and she'd already had to rip out some seams so getting her to redo the armholes wasn't an option. When you're eleven, everything is fine because you just made a shirt!

I'm so proud of her and how well her skills are improving over the years. She sewed this up all by herself even though it was fraying and shifting like crazy. She didn't even complain when we had to redo the shoulder seams. I got a bonus too because some super fun fabric finally gets to live off my shelf and I didn't have to do much to stash bust it! It's late so I'm going to leave you now! Night night.

My Free Japanese Spring Top Tale

Confession: This is a half stash bust and half preventative stash busting. But how's a girl to resist when she sees a cozy set of jersey sheets at the thrift store for a pittance? It was perfect for testing the pattern out!

Just in case you missed my continuous blabbing on twitter, this is the Athena pattern from Tamanegi-kobo I found this company from Yoshimi. They are updating their website and making it more internationally (english!) friendly and put a bunch of their fabulous patterns up for free! As soon as I saw pleats I was sold! 

This purple top was made from a jersey sheet and I stretched the neckline out. I was a good girl and tacked the front facing down but when I washed it it crinkled up... I could iron it but who irons your knit tops! Pfhhhttt, not me!

I think it will make a cozy lounging top and it's not something I'd be totally ashamed to be seen in. It was a great way to work out the kinks before I cut my special fabric. 

My second top, I made from the last bit of my stashed navy polka dot. It is lightweight and draped fabulously. I did alter the back to take the drape out of the shoulder seams. I didn't want another drapey back, nor did I have enough fabric. I ended up piecing the back sleeve but you can't tell.

I also carefully handled the front neckline so it wouldn't stretch but had trouble with the Understitched facing seam rolling to the front. Thanks to the sewcialists on twitter I added some weights and that seemed to help. Next time I think I'll try that super lightweight interfacing and see if that helps.

 If you like pleats and drapey tops then this is the pattern for you! The way this top is cut/drafted is a bit of fabulousness that can only be appreciated when you put it on.
I'm a 37 bust and cut the largest size. I didn't add seam allowance and you can see it fits fine. The pleats allow plenty of room for girls bigger than mine.

I'm very pleased with it and look forward to trying some more of their patterns. I'm linking up to The Sew Japanese Sew-Along and Made By Rae's Spring Top Sewalong! Fun Fun Fun! Have you been participating in any fun sewalongs lately? I'm leaving you with my best impression of a fabulous linebacker!

TTFN, TaTa For Now! 

How To Master The Cabarita Collar

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This is how I feel guys! Winter will end! I had a mini knit marathon and grabbed this iffy stripe from the stash. I LOVE how it worked up and is my new favorite summer top! The stripes even match one of my wardrobe staples! 

The worst thing about this top is deciding which way to wear it! 

 So I don't know about you but I struggled a bit with my Cabarita's collar and sewed it incorrectly on my first top. This time I got it right and it turned out SO PERFECT! I'd thought I'd share it with you.

1. Lay your shirt front right side up and lay collar right side up on top, matching those squares. Or to say it in a more confusing way lay wrong side of collar on right side of shirt front. :) I serged along the entire shirt neckline edge attaching collar to shirt front.

Here you can see the serging and the under stitching. 

 I used a zig zag stitch to under stitch the serged seam to the shirt. You can see the close ups below.

Top Left: Wrong side. Top Right: Right side
Bottom: Perfect roll collar

 Turns out it really was simple! Hope if you were confused it helped you out too! Cabaritas go forth and conquer Spring!
This is also my Vibrant April Stashbusting project! Whoo hoo for using up a piece out of the stash! A not liked piece to boot! To end this post full of sunshine and happiness, here's my cat who was just chilling out in the tree patch! Isn't he so pretty!

Japanese Chiffon Top

Look what I got for Christmas!! My fabulous parents gave me an IOU for a Japanese sewing book of my choice! After several delightful evenings browsing, I decided on Cotton Friend Autumn 2012. As we know magazines have more patterns than the books and as I looked at all the photos I could find online, this issue won with the most designs I wanted to make up! It was also one of the few I could actually find for sale on an English website. :)

You get what you get and you don't throw a fit! Welcome to my tripod-less indoor winter photo shoot. So unlike
the clean uncluttered Japanese photo shoots. I think my model face is coming along though.

I chose a simple top pattern with raglan sleeves; gathered at neckline and cuffs. I knew it would be a perfect match with the chiffon I splurged on last November. But hey! It's all stash busting now! ;) I traced the pattern, added seam allowances, and simply because I chose chiffon as my fabric I added an inch to center front and back for fuller gathers.

I need to make some proper undershirts to wear with it this summer.

I'm delighted to have another top I can wear
with this fabulous skirt!

I am Size LL for this pattern, which I find highly amusing. Only in Asia or Hollywood would I be considered an LL size. THIS is why SIZE NEVER MATTERS and MEASUREMENTS ALWAYS DO when you sew!
I'm 5' 10" and added several inches to the length so it would be semi tunic length on me which was easy peasy since they had already drafted this pattern to dress length; all I had to do was draw in my hemline.
I'm a 37 inch bust and I flat pattern measured to make sure there was enough ease, and there was, since this is a looser style. Most of their stuff is looser. How do they manage to look so put together and stylish in all these loose and flowy things? The magic of Japanese style!

I took my time and did french seams on all FOUR of the seams in this top. I also "tagged" my back with a bit of lace
since I knew there was no way I was going be able to tell the back from the front!

I did that hem where you sew it three times.
1/4 in. to mark the allowance around
Folded up along stitching line and basted
Rolled 1/4in. of fabric up neatly encasing the raw edge and stitched.
This gives one line of stitching on the front and two in the back as seen in
this photo. Supposedly this is supposed to help give the hem some weight
so it falls better or something...

I'm delighted I got to accomplish one of my goals so quickly and practice a new skill! I'm delighted to finally get to try some of these Japanese designs I've been drooling over for years! I even have enough chiffon left over to try something else too!
I know NO Japanese but I found it easy to put together because most of the instructions are in PICTURES! Besides, how many of us, who have been sewing for awhile even read the directions on most patterns anymore? If you've been sewing for awhile and want to try something new give a foreign country's patterns a try! Oh yeah! I'm so pumped! 

Happy Hummingbirds Part 1: The Top Edition

I just finished the Hummingbird Sew-a-long put on by Cake Patterns. Since I pre-ordered the pattern I got sorted into Anna's House.

I cut out three tops and finished two of them in time to count for the sewalong. I'm going to take them one by one.

Hummer 1

 

My first hummer I made up with some stash knit that was cut crooked off the factory spools or something. It wrinkles and hangs funny and is impossible to get any kind of grain lined up. I LOVE the color though and it is a nice weight so I used it to test the pattern's proportions.

See all the neckline wrinkles.

First, I was worried about the neckline being too low so I cut it higher. It was unneeded. The binding did something funny so I turned it to the inside and topstitched it down. Then it wrinkled after the wash.
The only thing I do not like about this pattern is the sleeve binding pieces are not wide enough. They were super messy and tiny and terrible.

Verdict 1: Proportion, fit and color are good. Change the sleeve band width and leave
neckline alone. Perfect top to wear everyday around the house when I'm feeling
the need for fun casual. I may have already worn it and gotten grease spots on it...

Hummer 2

PINK CAMO!!!! It was a cushy rib knit that made me break down on my stashbusting pledge. I figured what better way to further girlify camo than make it into a peplum top. It was SUPER stretchy but it still came together easily. I love the way it drapes down in the front. I may take it in a bit but I'm waiting to see how it works this fall/winter layered over other pieces.

I decided not to use the sleeve bands on the longer length but just turn up the hem. The neckband went on beautifully and I had fun using a decorative topstitch. I used the wrong kind of stabilizer on the hems and my machine hated to sew through it. I managed to get through the sleeves but ended up hand stitching the peplum hem during The Princess Bride. I would make sure to get some good stabilizer because you WILL need it to keep the rib knit from stretching out of shape while you hem it.

SHH, I'm hiding til fall.
Verdict 2: LOVE THIS!! While it took a bit of careful handling to make sure the rib didn't stretch out of shape, this top
came together beautifully. I can't wait until the weather cools off and I get a chance to wear it out and about.

Hummer 3

Pink for Anna's House!

I made this from a thrifted jersey sheet and it was wonderful. I cut the sleeve bands 2 1/2 inch wide which gave me a finished band of 1 inch. Much nicer than my first top. I haven't decided how I will hem the peplum after the debacle with the last two.

Look, I'm a fluttery bird!
Verdict 3: LOVE THIS! It went together quickly with no problems since I'd already tested everything. Being
a solid color it goes well with everything and the bright color is so cheerful. I wore it for the 4th.

In Summary:

•  Maybe I've gotten more familiar with Steph's sizing but I found this top to be the easiest pattern yet to find and trace to my size and put together. 

• I think everyone has said it but I LOVE the new heavy duty paper it is printed on. It is so easy to trace and fold back up. She also printed all the shirt pieces on one piece and all the skirt pieces on another. This made it so easy to make sure you hadn't missed any pieces when tracing.
• The solid tops are begging for embellishment or jewelry but also work well plain.
• My favorite thing of all is how I feel in them. I live in a ranching community and jeans with tshirts or western button front shirts are ALL YOU SEE. EVERYDAY. I can wear these floaty peplum tops with my jeans and feel fabulous, like I'm wearing a dress without wearing one. That's a win in my book.

Cabarita Love

Psst, isn't all this green beautiful! We actually had rain this spring!!!

I think this is one of my favorite shirts ever. I love the colors, the stripes and the pattern only plays up those wonderful features.

Back or alternate front. I was worried about the V being too low in the front but it is not.

In case you don't know what you are looking at this is one of Cake Pattern's latest riff releases. These come with only the basic instructions and no pictures and are marketed more toward the confident seamster than a sewing beginner. The directions were very easy to follow and tracing your size gives you a good fit first try.
The only part I was surprised by was the collar. Never mind that it's been marketed as a tshirt with a collar, I thought it was a yoke piece or something. No. It is a collar.

See. Collar. Not attached to the shirt. Unless you wear it
backwards then it turns into a mini superhero cape!

I sewed it so the seam allowance sits on the right side of the shirt under the collar which is the incorrect thing to do because then you have little bits of serged/sewn seams sticking out at your front shoulders which isn't too professional looking. Next time, gasp, I'll follow the directions and leave the seam on the inside. If you've done understitching at all it really isn't difficult to sew it the way it is written.

Even with its' tiny flaws I love it so much and the hardest part is trying to decide which way to wear it. This is also a stashbust from November for me so I'm very pleased to have this lovely fabric off the floor and in my drawer. Except it's spent most of its time being worn or on the floor waiting to be worn the next morning so......

Happy Stripes to All and to all a good sewing experience.

]

Brown Tencel Tunic

 After several pilly tee shirts and see through online knit buys, I went on a hunt for a more satisfying knit experience. I did my research and found tencel. It is supposed to wear extremely well; getting softer the longer you use it. It is also supposed to have moisture wicking abilities and odor killing properties. For all the “green” people out there tencel is good for the earth, I don’t remember exactly why and how, but good for the earth is always, well, good.

Sorry about the lighting, still working on photos.

What I made: I wanted to add this to my traveling wardrobe. I chose long sleeves since I’m usually cold and wanted something that felt like a dress but not a dress so I don’t have problems with airport security and have easy access to my insulin pump. I also decided to jump on the high/low trend. 

Pattern: Altered TNT knit shirt to tunic.

What I learned:

• High/low hem. If I do this again in a lightweight fabric I will not flair out the front side seam so the back will swoop up in a clean line instead of rippling and folding on itself. 
• High/low hems are easy to draw in. I lengthened the front about an inch and freely drew in the back curve.
• Skinny arm bands for an easy clean finish. 
• I used Megan N. tutorial for the neckbinding. It worked wonderfully.
• Embroidery on Knits

1. I used double sided wonder under to tack the hem down. It took longer than usual for it to adhere.
2. After various transfer experiments I decided to freehand the design. I did the bottom running stitch along the measured hemline then laid down masking tape for the top line. I freehanded the stars being careful to not pull the stitches too tight. 

• At the last minute I decided to scrunch up a scrap for some fun neckline detail and loosely embroidered it on so there would be some red at the top to pull it together.

The verdict: I’m in love!! The fabric was thinner than I was expecting but it is buttery smooth and silky. You feel like you are wrapped in a deliciously soft, warm cloud. Worn alone the wind will blow through it but worn as an under-layer it heats you right up. 

The first time I wore it over 24 hours straight. I put it on in the afternoon, slept in it, got up and wore it all day. There were no wrinkles and no stink. We’ll see how it does when I get all sweaty. 

I love the pop of color the embroidery gives it, how simple the style is and how easy it will be to dress up or down. Now I just need to make some skinny jeans to go with it!

Feeling fabulous. Dog and kitty, not so much...

Belated Bustier Top Stashbust

Hiya Stashbusters! Are you enjoying your long weekend? Mine started early when my family whisked me away to town to watch the latest Star Trek movie instead of blogging on Friday. So today I have something special I couldn't wait any longer to show you!

The only sailing I've done is through books.

My Mother picked up this red and white stripe rib knit remnant at the thrift shop haul she made for me last fall. I loved it from the beginning but it was so short I knew I'd have to add something to it so it would be long enough for me to wear. After searching all over the blogosphere for the "sweetheart neckline tutorial" I knew I'd seen somewhere I finally rediscovered it on Pinterest under the "Bustier tutorial" I knew it was on So Zoe's blog!!
I don't know why I procrastinate on the "drafting" pattern hacks. Every time I do one I think, "Whoa! That was easier to figure out than I thought!" I held my TNT knit top pattern up to me to get the curve placement in the correct spot then traced over those lines to make the top part of the pattern.

I don't know about you but a lot of my projects evolve as I work on them. Cake Pattern's stripe inspiration soaked through with the contrasting neck and sleeve bands which lay much better in real life than they do on the dress form.

I had fun with the topstitching as well. But the pieces de resistance was when I remembered I had these buttons in the stash! Just in case you weren't sure of its nautical roots yet...

I forgot to take a picture of the V in the back. Needless to say it is fabulous too! I can't wait for summer and the fun I'm going to have with all my new tops.

How's the May Stashbusting going for you? Did you go with the theme or are you working on your own projects? Are you enjoying our long weekend? Getting any sewing done?

If You Give A Girl A Computer...

If you give a depressed girl with high blood sugar a computer she'll start browsing the new fabric website she found.

THE WEBSITE

While she's just looking she'll discover the BEST PRINT EVER which only has two yards left before it's gone forever. She will HAVE to buy it now!

Refute me if you can!! 

As she adds it to her shopping cart she will remember she just went through her large stash, and realize she doesn't have any knit prints. She will have to search the website for all her favorite prints so she can save on shipping by buying them all now. When they finally arrive she will lovingly pet them, wash them, and set them on her shelf. When spring arrives she will bring out her amazing print and turn it into a lovely top!

Since she's part of the GLOBAL STASHBUSTING SEWALONG she'll use the rest of her yardage to make her mother a matching top as a belated mother's day gift.

Aww, aren't we cute!!

She'll be so pleased with her results she'll take pictures and want to blog about all the details.

Self drafted Peter Pan collar sewn wrong sides together and
topstitched down with zigzag stitch.

Still working on proper tension for the double needle. Thanks
to MoonThirty's tips it's getting better though.

To blog her successes to the WORLD she'll have to get on her computer...