February Sewing Plans

 

I didn't get as much sewing done in January as I had hoped, but I knew I would be busy so I'm not being too hard on myself. Still, I want to make some plans for February so I can stay on track! 

This month brings some new sewing challenges and some old favourites, too. The Stash Contest at PatternReview is still going to the end of this month so I'm still planning on sewing for that. But there is also a PR Contest "Feel the Love", to sew something inspired by something you've seen at PR -- I am hoping to make a blouse using some techniques I've seen reviewed there -- and using stash fabric! Right now I am considering Butterick 3895 as a possibility for this project.

February is also the time to participate in the Black History Month Pattern Designers Challenge. This is one I've participated in previously and have always enjoyed it. More on my inspirations for this challenge are coming in my next post. 

February is also National Embroidery Month so I would like to finish up a new embroidery project that I've just begun. It's fairly small so I should be able to do it -- it's inspired by our Canadian Prime Minister's recent speech at Davos and I'm excited to share it with you. 

That's a full February and I hope I can get everything done that I'm planning for! 

Weekend Review: Birth Flower Embroidery

 

Birth Flower Embroidery / Amy L. Frazer
Beverly MA: Walter Foster Publishing, c2025.
128 p.

It's National Embroidery Month! I'm celebrating by trying to finish up at least one in-progress stitching project so that I can share it with you this month, and by sharing some of the embroidery books I've been reading lately. 

The first one is Birth Flower Embroidery - I found this in my library collection and thought I'd take a look. It's a great choice for the start of the year, as you can then plan ahead to stitch projects using someone's birthday flower -- unless their birthday is in January, then they will have to wait until next year ;) 

I thought this was a cute project book. The author gives an intro about the longish history of birth month flowers, and how there are at least two traditional ones for each month and sometimes even three. This means that there are 26 floral designs in the book, plus some extras at the end if you want to add some little bugs, worms or the like to your greenery! 

Each flower has a nice design, using different stitches, often in a spray so that the image is bigger and more visually interesting. Each one is shown completed, and then there is a chart of colours and stitches used for each design. She has included a glossary at the start of the book explaining her acronyms for the stitches she uses, and states that she is using DMC exclusively so those are the colour numbers included. (but you can find a conversion chart online fairly easily if you use another brand). 

The images are made for entry level stitchers - not too hard but challenging enough to keep you interested. Those newer to embroidery would learn some new stitches through the projects; while many are simple backstitch or satin, there are also a few more unusual stitches included. Instructions are pretty clear for each project. 

Projects are shown completed in the hoop and there aren't project instructions for other kinds of things, but there are suggestions as to how you might incorporate these patterns into other items than hoop art. 

The stitching examples and techniques are rough and modern; the author is an artist who uses stitch like painting, so the fine techniques of advanced embroidery aren't the goal here. They are designed to show the hand of the maker & to be fairly quick to stitch. 

The one quibble I had with it is her use of stem stitch. It's one of my favourite stitches for how fluid it can look, especially in lettering. I find her technique makes it visually choppy and it doesn't really look like a stem stitch in some projects, at least to me. But that's one small thing. Otherwise I thought this was a quick read, a creative guide to some ideas about personalizing embroidery projects, and I can see it being helpful in a variety of ways. 

Simple Sewing Room Fix!

Just a quick note about something that has helped my back in my sewing room a lot! It seems like a small thing but I have found it a fabulous addition to my sewing space. 

I sew with a folding table set up for my cutting and my sewing. When I'm tracing patterns or cutting, I can't spend too long at it because I'm hunched over and my back ends up very sore if I don't take breaks. I had seen someone mention bed risers for a folding table before but hadn't followed up on this. 

Well, I was lucky enough to get some of these bed risers in December - they're very simple, just heavy plastic lifts. I set them up in my sewing space and wow, the difference! So simple to just stick under the table legs to raise it for cutting or tracing, and to remove for sewing or usual table use. 

This has been a huge improvement for such a little thing. I can trace, cut or or do other crafts standing, and my back doesn't ache at the end of any of them. I can't believe it took me this long to make this simple change that I am loving. Highly recommend as a super easy and cost effective fix if you also sew and cut on a normal height table. 

Patchwork with Rae

One of my goals this year is to try new things, including classes and learning new skills. PatternReview offers some online classes and I saw that a class on making patchwork for garments was back. It was offered last year but I missed it then, so I quickly signed up this go round. 

It's given by Rae of Made by Rae patterns, and has two units. I just watched the first class and it went over choosing fabric, kinds of seam finishes, and various considerations to think about when you are using patchwork for garments, whether as accents or whole pattern pieces. And what to know if you make your own patchwork, decide to use it just as patchwork or to layer and quilt it, or reuse exisiting patchwork like thrifted quilts. 

I found it really interesting! And inspiring. I like the idea of patchwork garments but have a less 'noisy' aesthetic when it comes to using scraps, colourblocking or patchworking. So this was very helpful, to think about colour and print and balance. 

I have a patchwork clothing board on Pinterest, where I've been collecting images for a long time, but I've never really tried anything. I need to test out some of the techniques from the class, to use up some scraps and get a feel for what goes together. 

So far I have just laid out scraps to see what combos I might like, pulling from some recent leftovers. I didn't even iron them so excuse the rumpled nature 😄

The next class (next month) is about using the patchwork you create in garments, and will talk about the best kind of patterns to choose, seams, finishing etc. I'm looking forward to it for more info and more inspo. 

Weekend Review: Crafting a Cold Case

Crafting a Cold Case / Barbara Emodi
Concord, CA: C&T, c2025.
256 p.

I read the latest volume of the Gasper's Cove series by Barbara Emodi at the very end of December, during a huge winter storm. Timely, as it is set mostly during a huge winter storm! It made it feel quite recognizable. 

This is such a fun series, and the characters grow with every new story. In this 6th installment, Valerie shows her inimitable amateur sleuthing skills again, when there's a murder, a snowstorm, and a number of strangers in town outside of tourist season. 

The story begins with the usually unflappable Catherine, former librarian and Valerie's cousin-in-law, calling her in panic mode. Valerie drops everything and heads right over, to discover that the crisis is two unwanted guests at Catherine's B&B who are driving her crazy. Valerie responds immediately. 

“I went over to the pantry and found a box of Morse’s Tea, the official consolation beverage of Nova Scotia since 1870. I picked up the kettle and filled it at the deep, stainless-steel, industrial-sized sink. While I waited for the water to boil, I found a tin of shortbread and put enough for four people onto a plate. Emotional breakdowns are no time to be skimpy with baked goods.”

This book is such a great balance of mystery and humour. I love this series for this reason, and I find that each book gets better. There are two extra guests, one a prepper who follows Catherine's partner Rollie around constantly, and one a peevish old professor there to talk to a local group about antiquities. The other stranger in town is a smooth talking podcaster, unfortunately brought to Gasper's Cover by Valerie's daughter -- nobody else really likes him, but her daughter seems enamoured. 

There is intrigue from the start, but then a storm blows in, one that their local weather station seemed to miss completely. And it's a bad one. It snows them all in, even as one of the locals in the antiquities group is found dead in a snowbank. Murder, and who was it? It's a real mystery this time with some pretty plausible red herrings sprinkled around liberally. Lots of people to dislike and suspect, whether of murder, stealing a snowplow, or just being a jerk. 

I really liked this one. So many good characters, intriguing setup, funny commentary, and an unexpected conclusion. Even a big surprise for everyone (even herself) when one of Valerie's guesses proves correct. I'd read this again, just for the characters. And that snowstorm!

 

Burda Sweater in Grey Merino

 

This week I finished a very warm top made from some merino wool jersey. It's a lightweight, two-way stretch fabric, which I received from Our Social Fabric in Vancouver as part of their Sew & Show program. Once you've joined, they select a specific deadstock fabric every couple of months, and you can opt in if you want to participate in that round. You can make what you like with it -- this was my first project for them. 

I've never sewn with merino before so I had a hard time deciding which pattern I was going to use. But I knew I wanted a comfortable top that had a little more oomph than a t-shirt. I finally went with a Burda magazine pattern, 131 from the August 2013 issue. 

The fun part of this pattern is that there is an integrated scarf, sewn into the front piece. You then wrap that around your neck and tie as wished. It was a bit puzzling to lay out but once I found enough room to do so it went smoothly. This pattern has four pieces: the really large front, a back, raglan sleeve and neckband. It sewed up really quickly and easily! 

I had a hard time figuring out how to cut the scarf and the front seam that attaches it all together. Should I add seam allowance to this part? Thinking about Burda patterns, I realized they are always a little wide in the neck for me so I didn't add seam allowance to the scarf and centre seams, thinking that would narrow it just enough for me anyhow. And that worked. I added on 1/2" seam allowance everywhere else, as I usually do. 

Back is pretty plain - please excuse this strange pose 😄

The only other alterations involved shortening the sleeves - as always for me. I took off a full 2" here, and they ended up just right. This is a lightweight fabric, and I was wearing it with my poly knit skirt and poly acrylic cardigan so it did get a little bit staticky. Sorry for the wrinkles here, I hadn't shaken it out properly. 

Otherwise, this was easy to sew and comfortable to wear. It was very light on but also very warm. I found the scarf really comfy, it laid nicely and didn't pull at all once it was tied and arranged. A heavier fabric would probably hold the shape of this top a bit more, but I found it nice in this merino and enjoyed the little bit of extra puzzle to the pattern. I did worry a bit whether the wool would bother me as a base layer like this, but it was soft and easy to wear, not scratchy at all and as it turned out, I found it very comfortable and airy. A really nice experiment for me!

All styled up! 

Cover Designs! #40: The Secret Life of Violet Grant

Cover Designs is a feature in which I try to match up the outfit on a book cover with a dress pattern and sometimes even potential fabric matches as well. Today's pick is The Secret Life of Violet Grant by Beatriz Williams. 

This story moves back and forth, between Manhattan, 1964. where Vivian Schuyler has defied her rich family to join a NY magazine as a journalist, and Berlin 1914, where Violet Grant, a young physicist, faces a decision between her older German husband and a young British army captain at the outset of WWI. Vivian's search for the truth about her long forgotten aunt drives a fascinating family story across the decades. 

As for the cover, we have an independent woman shown here, wearing a pantsuit in the 30s style. What could we use to copy this shipboard style? We might start with this vintage pattern, a 30s style 'beach pyjama' outfit. The pants are just right; wide legged, with front patch pockets. But the blouse is a little off. 

For a blouse that's a little closer, you could try this vintage reprint now available through Lady Marlowe. It has the right crisp short sleeve and slightly gathered front. 

To get this chic summer look, use a beautiful drapy white fabric. Maybe some Radiance Silk, a silk-cotton blend by Robert Kaufman, as found at Riverside Fabrics 

 Or a flowing linen-bamboo blend for that classic feel, at GK Fashion Fabrics

To this, add a flat, wide brimmed hat and a silk scarf, and you'd have the look exactly. Keep dreaming of summer!