#SewWrapped in Red

I finished my project for the #SewWrapped Instagram challenge that I mentioned last week -- I did get it in by the deadline on IG, but haven't got around to writing a full review of it, until today! I decided to use New Look 6081, a pattern from the 80s that's been in my stash for a while. I paired it with a stash fabric, a red & white, faintly sparkly stretch lace that I bought ages ago. 

The pattern calls for wovens or a jersey, so I thought that this not too stretchy lace would work for it. It's a fairly simple pattern, with four pieces -- front, back, and two ties. I had to make adjustments with my fabric in mind. First, I had to cut it out on the crossgrain so that the stretch was going around my body and not vertically. Luckily the floral pattern is random, not a vertically oriented one, so that didn't matter. The hems and finishes were actually easier than the pattern required; since this fabric doesn't fray, and I didn't want lumpy double folds I just turned and stitched - the single fold and the stitching don't show much at all. I can only press this fabric very lightly so didn't want to depend on flattening thick seams or hems. 

The other difficult part was the gathering at the bottom edges of the front pieces where the tie attaches on the right, and the buttons are installed to keep the left side connected to the interior. Gathering a stretch lace with so many open areas was difficult. Luckily the right side (the visible one) worked out well; the left side is a bit more of a mess but as it's inside I didn't try to unpick invisible stitches from a lace, I just 'made it work'. I didn't want to use buttons to fasten the underlap as called for in the pattern since I didn't want anything to get tangled up in the open spaces of the lace. I just stitched on three flat snaps - they are attached to the underlay and the right side seam and close up neatly. This fabric is so lightweight and forgiving in motion that I am not worried about snaps coming open here. 

The neckline is just folded in half at the back neck when you put it on, and that makes the rest of the front edges follow suit and gives that lovely swooping gathered look. One long tie is attached in the right side seam and wrapped around your back, while the short one is attached to the right front edge, and when they meet you make a knot and voila, a very quick wrap top. 

I am very pleased with this in this red lace - I can use it as a holiday piece or in this outfit that I'm sharing today. Here it's worn over a red camisole and with my favourite black skirt. Medium dressy, let's say. Over a red dress and with some sparkly jewellry it could really look fancy. I enjoyed this project and now a couple of my other wrap patterns have shifted up the queue a bit! 

Weekend Review: Make, Sew & Mend

Make, Sew and Mend / Bernadette Banner 
Salem, MA: Page Street Publishing, c2022
200 p.

This is a new book by the popular historical sewist/blogger Bernadette Banner. I must admit I haven't really followed her closely in the past, as hand sewing and historical costuming isn't my main area of interest. But I have certainly heard about her. So when this book showed up in my library, I had to check it out! The subtitle also caught my attention: traditional techniques to sustainably maintain and refashion your clothes. 

The book is set out in sections: Preparing Materials (fiber, cutting, pinning etc); Stitches (lots of hand stitch examples and how and when to use them); Applications (seams finishing, pressing, buttons, extras like pleats & insertions); Practical Alterations (adding pockets or sleeve gussets, hemming -- this is the entirety of the 'refashion' bits); and Care & Feeding (mending). In between these section are 5 different page long features on other sewists -- there is a range of people profiled, although all are quite young. I appreciated the attempt to widen the visibility of the sewing world, but the profiles didn't really seem to fit with the focus of the rest of the book, even if a couple did sew vintage and/or traditional clothing.

There wasn't anything here that was new to me, but it was nice to see some of the more detailed handwork talked about. And the discussion of the 'extras', including buttons and tucks, was interesting.

I thought it was a lovely book to look at, and will certainly appeal to fans of Bernadette Banner. I wouldn't recommend it to beginners, as the focus on hand sewing techniques, finishings and detail work are more likely to be of use to those who are already familiar with sewing and want to add some techniques and skills to their repertoire. Younger people who are getting into sewing via refashioning thrift finds would be better served by other titles, as this one, despite the subtitle, doesn't really go in that direction. It's a quieter and more detailed read, and sewists wanting to move toward slower sewing might really like it. 

It's a Wrap

Sewing Challenges are always a fun thing to follow on Instagram -- I must admit I don't do all that catch my eye, as my sewing schedule is always pretty full with preplanned things. But now and again one aligns with my ideas and my stash and piques my interest.

The latest one is #SewWrapped, hosted by @cloth_edit and @dahlia_sewciety

I have come across this one at the eleventh hour: the deadline is Nov 27, NZ time. The challenge is to make an item of clothing with a wrap or surplice feature. I'm not always very fond of wrap designs so don't have a ton of patterns with that feature -- or at least I thought I didn't, until I sorted through some patterns to see what I could make. 

Here are some of the patterns I'm considering: 

These are all stash patterns and I'm hoping to find the appropriate fabric in my stash as well, as I am not buying any more fabric this year!

And I also hope that by this Saturday (deadline Canadian time!) I'll have something to share with you from this collection. The only problem now is choosing a project so I can get busy in the evenings this week and start sewing :)

Weekend Review: Make Your Own Dress Patterns

 

Make Your Own Dress Patterns / Adele P. Margolis
illus. by Judy Skoogfors
Mineola, NY: Dover Books, 2006, c1985.
480 p.

I realized when I recently reviewed Sewing Love by Sanae Ishida that she mentions Adele P. Margolis' Make Your Own Dress Patterns -- which is one of my favourite books on patternmaking. Inexplicably I have never shared it here. That changes now! 

This is my Dover edition, the easiest one to locate if you're looking for a copy. It's an exact reprint of the original, though, and has all the delightful line drawings intact. I have talked about another of Margolis' books in the past, How to Make Clothes That Fit and Flatter, and many of the selling points for me in that book are found here as well. 

Margolis is funny, with quips in her intro and clever chapter headings. But she's also very knowledgeable, and this book delves into how to make a pattern for what you want to wear. It's broken up into two halves, both with various subdivisions. The first is Pattern Whys: the basic of constructing a pattern. It looks at basic shapes, darts, control seams, fullness, making an actual pattern, and slopers. The second half deals with Style Lines -- necklines, collars, closures, pockets, sleeves, and in the final chapter she touches on draping, grading and muslins. 

I find it an inspirational book, it's one of my favourites to just go through for ideas, over and over again. The instructions for different elements are pretty short but if you are familiar with sewing they are clear enough to work with. There are illustrations of the pattern changes for, let's say, changing a bland a-line skirt into a crossover front view. Or many other ideas for all areas of the pattern. One of my favourite parts of this book is all the illustrations. They are all line drawings, both instructional and simply showing the kind of thing Margolis is talking about in the text. There is something about the retro feel of the styles and the hairdos and the combinations of images that I just love. Some of them feel quite 60s while others are pure 80s. I really enjoy looking at all the style ideas laid out here in detail, both the clothing and the women illustrated. 

But aside from it being an entertaining read, and having fabulous figure drawings, this book gives you a lot of solid information on making your pattern, adding in the details that you want, and getting it to work in actuality. I use this one in combination with my Helen Joseph Armstrong Patternmaking for Fashion Design (which I picked up for $3 at a thrift store) whenever I need to figure out how I might do something particular to a pattern. It's well worth taking a look at this book -- widely available and a fun reading experience. 

Roundup of Interesting Things

 I've been doing some sewing the last little while, as you might have noticed from my last post about projects underway; sadly I can't share anything I've finished this week quite yet as they are both for other things right now. 

But I can share some of the interesting things I've been reading and watching and seeing around the online world! I have found that I've been spending a lot of time listening to podcasts while sewing, and they are 95% sewing/fashion ones -- probably the usual suspects, like Here We Sew Again, PunkFrockers, Check Your Thread, UnCut, Stitch Please, Stitchery Stories, and the Dressed Podcast, among others -- but if you haven't checked these ones out they are all a lot of fun to catch up on. I've also been listening to UkrainianSpaces, a fabulous Ukrainian based podcast (in English) in which the two hosts interview tons of people on a huge range of topics to do with Ukraine, colonialism and much more. So good. 

Talking of Ukraine, through some other podcasts I've discovered some projects people have put together to support Ukrainian refugees. One of these is a cute crochet amigurumi Bear that a Spanish couple designed, to give Ukrainian crocheters a chance to make these and sell them. You can find their info mainly on IG or FB right now, and it looks like orders are via direct message on IG or by email. Look for Amoami.Design. They are quite cute. 

Those of you who were following along with my Peace for Ukraine stitching project this fall might like to know that the designer of that project, Embroidery Art by Nat, is now a refugee herself; she and her husband and cats have left Ukraine and are currently living in Poland while they wait for applications to come to Canada to go through. She asks anyone who can help to join her Patreon, as that is their sole income right now. If you're interested, there are many cool patterns and perks in her Patreon subscription offering including the Peace for Ukraine pattern.

On a lighter note, I've also been watching some street fashion on YouTube to relax. I randomly discovered this Street Style Paris account and have really been enjoying their short videos. Always fun to see real people and daily style. 

I also just watched this London street style video that gives a tour of the wonderful Gingerbread windows at Harrods/Christian Dior. The video is 30 min. long but I just dragged it to the spot that highlights the windows ;) Pretty amazing. Can you imagine being the person to design and make these elaborate window displays happen? Watch this to kick off your holiday spirit ;)

 

Weekend Review: The Paris Seamstress

 

The Paris Seamstress / Natasha Lester
New York : Forever, 2018
453 p.

I knew I was going to have to read this one at some point -- I couldn't ignore the title or plotline, in which a seamstress from Paris escapes to New York during WWII and starts up a fashion line. However, I am getting a little read out on the WWII stories these days and so had put this one off for a while. 

But this month I finally got to it. It was a pretty good read, although the plethora of "WWII in Paris" novels do start to kind of blend together at some point. In this one there is the added intrigue of famous people who our main character slowly finds out are linked to her in inextricable ways. Lots of family secrets, dashing spies, political intrigue, romance, and of course a lot of sewing.

I liked the balance among all these elements. Estella is a young woman working in a Paris atelier when the war begins, and as things get more dangerous her mother, also a seamstress, basically sends her off to America with the sudden information that Estella had an American father. Estella heads out, still in shock from this revelation, with a suitcase and a sewing machine -- although she hustles down to the port with the sewing machine "banging against her leg" in one hand and the suitcase in the other. I wonder if the author experimented with carrying a 1940s metal machine in a clunky carrying case in one hand for any length of time, when it's described like this. And at one point Estella whips up a glamorous gold evening gown from leftover lamé, about 2 yards worth, in about 2 hours after a long day of work. A real Cinderella moment; I wish I could sew that quickly with such a little bit of fabric! 

But other than those small moments that gave me pause, I found the rest of the book realistic and believable. Estella's story is dramatic, with many strong characters surrounding her - her mother, her two best friends she meets on the boat over to NY, a socialite who looks uncannily like her which leads to a friendship of sorts, and of course her dashing love interest. She also meets many real people, like Elizabeth Hawes (author of Fashion is Spinach) and other fashion leaders of the day. Plus a couple of notorious characters of NY fame; this part was leaned on extensively and I didn't find it convincing at all -- and wonder if there are any descendants of those people who might take issue with the characterizations! 

But like most of these WWII novels lately, the book also has a dual timeline format. Estelle's story starts in 1940, and to me is the much stronger part of the book. We also have a 2015 timeline, in which Estelle's granddaughter Fabienne is discovering her grandmother's secrets just as Estelle's fashion house is being celebrated with an exhibition at the Met in contrast to Estelle herself, whose health is failing due to age. Fabienne thus has to manage the discovery of many secrets on the reader's behalf, including her father's birthright, and the war experiences of her grandmother. Fabienne is, of course, also developing a romance with a tall, dark, handsome, rich and tragic man, even though he's based in NY and she's currently based in Australia. 

Oh, the tangled webs here! Lester is good at creating a complicated, interwoven set of relationships and plot points, which she then resolves neatly by the end. It's a little predictable and the drama is cranked up a little too closely to melodrama once or twice (at least for me). But the settings -- both Paris and lively New York (7th Ave, the Barbizon, the Met and more) are well drawn and the characters are memorable. Overall there is a lot of compelling detail in it, both generally and in more specific sewing areas. I did enjoy it, although I think I'll move on from the genre for a while now. 

Works in Progress, or #waiwot

What Am I Working On Today? Well, at least this week? A bunch of different things! 

I haven't been getting much finished on the garment making side of things. Life is busy, and in my sewing time I've been working on some small art quilts -- one just started and one an older project I've gotten back out to finish. I've just used basting spray for the first time to prep these for stitching and it is FAB! I'll never go back. Lots left to do on these, but I was missing the feeling of prepping a garment. So there's some cutting going on as well. 

What you can't see in the picture is that for the last week or so I've also been deep cleaning and reorganizing my stash. Yikes, so much to look at and it all takes SO much time. I'm nearly there now, just a few more decisions to make and a couple more bins to buy and it should all be somewhat tidier and all the fabric more accessible. That will be a huge relief, and I'm hoping it will also make it easier to grab what I need from my stash without searching for hours. All this 'getting ready' makes me feel like projects will be coming soon. That's the plan anyhow... 

Do you need a tidy space to work or do you prefer more of a creative mess? I've always been solidly on the mess side, but I'm finding that I am starting to need more organization. I guess it's a balance. And I hope I find the right ratio! 

Weekend Review: Ultimate Illustrated Guide to Sewing Clothes

 

The Ultimate Illustrated Guide to Sewing Clothes / Joi Mahon
Mount Joy : Fox Chapel Publishing, ©2022
288 p.

Today's read is an encyclopedic approach to sewing -- the "ultimate" guide, and a "complete course" on sewing garments. It's only 288 pages long, with many illustrations, so while it is a decent reference book I think it overstates its claim a little ;) 

I liked it for many features. As mentioned, it's heavily illustrated with clear photos, and has some good tidbits in it even for someone who has been sewing for a long time. However, I wouldn't suggest it for a beginner, and that's because, even though it's giving the basics and an overview of many things, I think you'd need to be familiar with what's being shared to really benefit from it. This might be an effect of trying to include an awful lot of subject areas.

It's broken up into 6 chapters; Sewing Basics, Selecting and Preparing Fabric, Achieving the Right Fit, Sewing Classic Garments, Ultimate Pants Workbook, and finally, Details of  Garment Construction. I think the first two are accessible, and the fabric section has a clear explanation of how and why to straighten fabric grain before cutting - something I don't see in many books like this. In the Basics section, there is a long segment on hand stitches, which I thought was a bit longer than needed; as with all books on stitching it's hard to explain the process of getting to the final picture of the stitch. 

The Fit section is good, but I'd recommend getting Joi Mahon's full book on fitting if that is what you're after. This section could be a bit overwhelming for beginners and not enough for advanced sewists. She does have a great section on measuring yourself, though, and I've never seen another author offer such detailed measurement options. Her fit book has all of this and more, though, so definitely check that one out if fitting is your main interest. 

The section on sewing classic garments was interesting but seemed, again, too much and not enough. There is a list of construction order for a few standard pieces, with directions to check the construction chapter for details on various elements. Helpful if you already kind of know your way around a garment. There is a lengthy bit on constructing a tailored jacket, and even as an established sewist who is interested in tailoring, I found this a bit complex. There are good tips in all the sections, and the pants section is interesting-- it feels like it might have been an existing workbook she used in her teaching that was slotted in here. 

Overall, I liked it and as I said I did find good bits throughout. But this isn't a must have for me, it just feels a little scattered. There's solid info on pattern matching, basic fitting, a good intro to fabric choice and care, and more. But I didn't feel a strong throughline to the organization of it. I'll probably use her fitting book a lot more often! But this is still well worth checking out if you can find it in your local library as I did.