The Gory Details

Finally, as promised, the gory details of the changes I made from the Kwik Sew2728 pattern for Brandon's jacket. One small change that doesn't really bear detailing is that I used the curved shirt hem instead of the straight one, which is shown on the hooded view on the envelope. Just a minor change because I like the look of the curved hem. Also, I lengthened the sleeves about two inches, which I like to refer to as "monkey arm alteration"

1. Adding in-seam pockets. This was probably the largest change that I made. It was surprisingly easy. In-seam pockets, it turns out, are pretty much the same shape and size for anything. I borrowed the pattern piece from a vintage robe pattern I had. I measured how far up the from the shirt hem the pocket was on one of Brandon's store-bought lined shirts to determine placement. (For those who are curious, it was 3.75" up, but remember, I used the curved hem, so it would be different on the straight hem.) I followed the instructions for in-seam pockets from my Vogue Sewing book, plus I top stitched the pocket pieces to the seam allowances where the pocket pieces connected with the shirt-side pieces, to make the pockets lie flatter.

2. The shirt has a yoke in the back. To reduce bulk (the lining is a fleece that is already bulky enough), I traced a separate lining piece of the yoke and back piece together, minus the seam allowance between the two. So the back of the shirt that the world sees was done with the yoke, but the lining is a single piece. If you are looking to save time, it takes longer to trace the pieces than it does to sew the lining yoke to back piece, but for reducing bulk it works well.

3. I made a casing for a drawstring on the hood. I felt this was a necessary change so that the hood would be warmer and stay on his head better. I decided arbitrarily to put the buttonholes for the drawstring 3" up from the bottom of the flannel hood pieces, and a quarter-inch from the side. The buttonholes had to be made before the flannel and lining were sewn together. Two inches was too far up. It would have been better at around .75" or so. I wish I'd gotten some metal eyelets for the drawstring to run through, as I'm not sure the buttonholes will hold up. I used a black boot lace for the drawstring itself, which works well enough.

Instead of topstitching a quarter inch from the edge of the finished hood as suggested in the instructions, I top stitched a half inch away, to leave plenty of room for the drawstring. That distance worked very well.

4. The other minor change I made was to add a slot in the top of one of the chest pockets for a pen to slip through. This is a useful detail found on many store-bought shirts, but neither of the men's shirt patterns I've made have included it. Luckily, it's not hard. I won't explain it here, because if you want to do it, and are of sufficient skill to be sewing a man's shirt, you probably have sufficient skill to figure it out by looking at an existing shirt, or even my picture.

First Serger Project

Christmas day, I was too tired to even think about messing with my serger, knowing that it was going to require intensive concentration and use of the manual. So I put it off, and didn't actually mess with the thinkg until Wednesday night. And I wasn't very sucessful then, either, but Brandon figured out the problem, and so yesterday, I was rarin' to go and MAKE SOMETHING with it. (You will have to excuse my photo. My lovely assistant is driving the truck today and so wasn't handy to take pictures)

A month or so ago I bought a size medium men's long sleeved polo shirt at a thrift store with the intention of cutting it up to use the fabric for a long-sleeved tee from the New Look 6160 pattern, with some adjustments, since I didn't like the fit of the first one. I hadn't gotten around to it, though, and figured it was a nice, low-risk first project for the serger, since it was a simple pattern and I wouldn't cry if I messed up the fabric. It's a strange houndstoothy sort of plaid, which I like, yet think is ugly. Kind of like troll dolls. Anyway, there are some challenges inherent in cutting out a pattern from fabric that you have an extremely limited amount of, which is why the sleeves are 3/4 length. I guess I should have bought a size large or extra-large. It is also why the neckband is black fleece leftover from Brandon's shirt jacket. But I actually like the effect.

The changes I made besides sleeve length were to add about an inch to the circumference of the garment, since the original was too narrow for me in the shoulders. Then I changed the neckline and made it lower and wider since the first one I made barely fits over my head. Because I wasn't sure what length to make the neckband for the new neckline, first I made one too short, and then one too long, which I didn't realize until after it was applied, and that's why the neckline has a slight cowl effect.

I serged all the major seams, and only used the sewing machine to top stitch the neckline and hem and baste in the sleeves (Another pitfall of creating from existing garments with no extra fabric, I cut two left sleeves out, and there was no fabric left to fix the mistake. Luckily, you can barely tell. The right and left sleeve of the pattern aren't that different.)

Overall I think it went pretty well, although I think this shirt will mostly be worn around the house. I like the looser fit, since I added about an inch to the circumference, and the serger makes narrower seam allowances, so that added a little room, as well.

Does a chocolate covered cherry count as a serving of fruit?

Christmas is over, and it went very well for us. Brandon and i made a quick trip to Texline and celebrated Christmas on Christmas eve at my parents' house, with my brother and my sister and her husband. The insulated shirt jacket went over well, and my mom liked the Christmas table runner I made for her (pic at left). I'm so excited to finally get to post pictures of all the things I've been working on for the last month or so.

Christmas morning we had Brandon's parents, maternal grandparents, and his brother and sister over for brunch. His mom brought muffins, his grandmother brought spiced cider, and I made a breakfast casserole, fruit and yogurt parfaits, and pecan praline biscuits.

I got a serger! I've been wanting one for quite awhile. I will also have to be buying a new sewing machine sometime soon, since my old Kenmore barely made it though the Christmas projects. The stitch length randomly varies itself, and the tension is wacky.

Brandon loves the shirt jacket I made for him. Thanks to it being the second one, I think it turned out better. I had Brandon try Ty's on several times to assess fit and such, so I tweaked it a bit to suit Brandon, putting in side seam pockets (he thought Ty's should have had them, and the first thing Ty did when he put it on was stick his hands where the pockets would have been) and putting a drawstring on the hood (there are two views for the pattern, one with a collar, one with hood. Brandon got the hooded version, since he likes to have his ears covered.). Of course there was the inevitable "monkey arms" alteration. I am planning a post to detail these changes.

Brandon's grandmothers both liked the potholders I made for them. As you can see, the teacup pattern abounded this Christmas. I really like it, which isn't surprising since I collect teacups. I am toying with the idea of making a teacup quilt for myself, although it is a very big project, and would have to be some time down the road.

Sewing with Knits, Part 3 - Trials, Tribulations, and Triumph

I sewed the sleeve seams and hemmed them, no problems. Then I went to put the sleeves on, and in the instructions, either they don't expect that you will need to sew gathering stitches across the top of the sleeve cap, or they just left that part out. So I tried it without gathering stitches, and just stretched the knit to fit. It worked okay, but the sleeves are a little funky. I'm not sure if it was sewing them up that way, or the fact that the material is not cut on the grain.

When I went to try the shirt on, the neck hole is very small. I can barely get it over my head.

As I was sewing the hem, over halfway through with it, I ran over one of the pins. I've done this before, and bent pins and broke needles, but never quite so spectacularly. The pin was jammed way down in the plate of the machine. When I pulled it out, it left a big hole in the fabric. Well, big is a relative term. I could probably fit my pinky through it. I put a little patch over it and called it good, though. If it had been on a project that had gone perfectly up until that point, I would have been more upset, but this shirt has so many other issues that it is low on my scale of concern.

Basically, as the shirt turned out, I will wear it, but if I am going to make the pattern again there will have to be some major changes. For one, the neck hole is too small and needs enlarged. For two, although I cut the pattern to my size given my measurements according to the chart on the back, the shoulders are about a half inch too narrow on each side, making the shirt pull and stretch oddly around the shoulders and neck. And people, my shoulders are not that broad. This is not a normal problem for me. I have had fit issues with New Look patterns in the past, only in the other direction - the pattern was way too huge for me, even on the smallest size.

I like the idea of making my own tee shirts. Tee shirts are truly a wardrobe staple for me, and I love this sort of long sleeved close fitting tee in the winter for layering. So I'm disappointed that this pattern will take so much tweaking to work (since I cut on the smallest size and can't now cut out the next size up, which might fit better). I know, I could just go out and buy a pattern from a more reliable pattern company, and eventually I might, but I will probably first try to tweak this one to work, since I'm (A) cheap and (B) get a perverse enjoyment out of making patterns work that originally did not work for me.

In case anyone is wondering, I am going along quite well with my writing, keeping up my daily page counts. :)

Sewing With Knits, Part 2

The second day of progress on this shirt (which was actually two days ago because I am lazy about blogging these things) went fairly smoothly, thanks in part to my dear husband, who oiled my sewing machine and tinkered with it so that it ran a lot smoother than before. I don't have a real "knit stitch" on my machine, so I used a narrow zig-zag and then trimmed the seam to 1/4" and overcast the raw edges together. I like the nice finished seams it made. I really want a serger for Christmas, though. Does anyone have serger recommendations?

The Shirt - Cutting Out

I started on a long sleeve tee from the teacup fabric. When I prewashed the fabric I found out why it was $1 a yard. The washing and drying made obvious the fact that the printed teacups are not on the grain. It was such a pain to cut out, since I wanted the teacup "stripes" to look sort of straight. I pinned the fabric to the carpet and laid the pieces out all weird and slanted. I couldn't for the life of me get the stripes to go evenly across a fold for the front piece, which is supposed to be cut on the fold, so I had to make a second half out of leftover tissue paper and cobble the halves together.

The pattern is a New Look pattern I've had for three or four years. My mom bought it for me while I was in Ecuador and I had just bought a sewing machine. They don't have patterns in Ecuador. All of the women who sew clothing have learned pattern drafting, which is commonly taught in what we would call vocational high schools. I didn't use the pattern, though, because I didn't want to sew with knits. Instead, I carried it back home with me after Peace Corps and it sat in a drawer. I tried to sell it on Ebay (with two other patterns) and got no takers. But finally it is coming in handy. I did lengthen the torso of the shirt by two inches, as I am not fond of lifting my arms and having my tummy on display.

It took forever, and made me really really wish I had gotten some NORMAL fabric for my first try at sewing with knits. I think this pattern would have been a snap to cut out, otherwise. Not a lot of pieces, and not a lot of notches and circles to mark. The print still turned out a little wonky, not straight across all the pieces as I had hoped. But I think it will all work out now. It's just a sort of wearable muslin, an experiment, anyway, to see how I like both the pattern and sewing with knits in general.

The best tip for cutting out knits that I got out of my Vogue Sewing book was to pin the pieces to the wrong side of the fabric and cut them out. That way they curl less. And it's true. I cut the neck piece out on the right side, and it curled like crazy. I'm not sure why that is, exactly.