Fabric Dreams

Life. 

It has been very busy since we got back from our vacation two weeks ago.  We started our school year this week.  I also gave the girls their first piano lessons.  And the changes around the house and in our family mean that I can no longer count on having 60-90 minutes to myself in the afternoon.  I'm hoping that will change as our new routine grows more familiar to us.  

So, while there is no sewing, there are the occasional daydreams about fabric and what to do with it.  Like the lovely cuts that I scored in a very lucky series of blog giveaway wins!  Back in the spring I won five giveaways in a row.  It was crazy (and also awesome).  From Urban Sew, I got a yard of this Riley Blake stripe knit, and two yards of Nani Iro double gauze (my first).  I chose the stripe for boys' clothes.  I was a little disappointed when it arrived and I found that it was a printed stripe (I had assumed it was yarn dyed, I don't know why), so I hope it holds up in the wash.  I have no idea what to do with the Nani Iro other than pet it :)

In two of the other giveaways (Skirt Fixation and True Bias), I won a bunch of Art Gallery knits.  These are destined for little boy Field Trip raglans and comfy baby pjs whenever I can find a minute to make them.

In addition to my giveaway fabric haul, I have a few other pieces burning holes in my stash.

Like this cozy rayon/cotton French terry, grabbed from Fabric Mart a few months ago.

Three yards of this J. Crew cotton flannel voile (who knew there was such a thing?), also from Fabric Mart.  

I usually wait to buy fabrics from that site until they are on sale (which never takes long as there is always at least 40% off going on a couple of categories of fabric at a time - part of the reason I love that site so much).  But I actually bought this one at full price because there wasn't much in stock and I was afraid it would sell out.  I am imagining it made up in a simultaneously floaty and cozy Late Lunch Tunic.

Bought last winter with an Etsy gift card that I got for Christmas, this whimsical Lillestoff print.

I had intended to make baby clothes out of it before Niko was born but I never got around to it.  Now I would like to make a pair of Reversible Bubble Pants from Growing Up Sew Liberated and a Lullaby Layette jacket.

Finally, there is this gorgeous piece of silk dupioni - 1.5 intact yards found at a thrift store for ... wait for it ... 99 cents. 

I have no idea what to do with it.  Girls' dress?  Skirt for me? Top for me?

In all likelihood I'll just stare at it for years.

But I would much rather sew it up. Any ideas?

Quilty Aspirations

I often drool over photos of gorgeous quilts online, though I myself have never been very good at putting fabrics together. I made this quilted table runner with matching napkins three years ago, but I drew all my fabrics from the same collection (Valori Wells Karavan), figuring that would be foolproof.

Then last week I read a great post at Stitched In Color where Rachel took her readers through her fabric selection process, step-by-step.  It was fascinating.  I realized that, while I very well just may not have a knack for pairing fabrics, I definitely do not spend enough time on it.

We are on vacation right now, and today the stars aligned.  Rachel announced a fabric mosaic contest, and I was stuck inside with a napping infant and a sick toddler while my girls were down on the beach with family.  I spent about 90 minutes making two mosaics.  The theme is "almost primary, as in primary colors."  I spent the bulk of my time on the second mosaic, and I really love how that one turned out.  So much so, that I am seriously considering trying to turn it into a quilt.

For the first one, I focused more on colors than on prints. I ended up with more of a rainbow effect than a primary colored one.  I like it, but looking at it compared to the second one now, it definitely looks a bit more krafty than I think I actually like.

This is the one I spent most of my time on.  I had it in my head that I should avoid using multiple color ways of the same print - and yet, as you can see, I did it twice! Turns out I really love the Alison Glass Handcrafted line - I could not leave out any of the pluses or the flying geese.  I particularly love the chartreuse pluses in the bottom left hand corner and the storm geese in the top center.

The contest is open through August 18, and winners will be chosen by popular vote! Go make your own mosaic or just check out the beautiful mosaics people have put together. And if you like mine, they are #24 and #25 in the linkup ;)

Sewing souvenirs

There is a fabric store here that I pass twice a day, on my way to pick up and drop off the girls from school.  Occasionally I'd stop in and browse the fabrics, which are all imported from Dubai.  This past spring, they got in a new collection, and among them was a smooth, lusciously drapey, Burberry-esque plaid rayon challis.  I kept going back to visit it until last month, when I finally gave in and bought two yards.

Sadly I did not think to photograph it until it a few days later, and by then it had wrinkled.  Ironing fabric just for a photo shoot seemed a bit precious, so here you go.

I just can't photograph it in a way that does it justice - and further, I have NO IDEA what I am going to do with it.  But I just couldn't resist.

They had it in three color ways - the one you see here, a hot pink and a black.  I'm still thinking about that black one; I may yet be tempted to go back and buy it and carry it home in my suitcase since all our stuff has already been packed.

In the last couple months I've also done a bit of button shopping.  I haven't been the happiest with the buttons that are available here - they are heavy on novelty buttons without a lot of plain, serviceable quality ones.  But I have collected an assortment that spoke to me.

The cream and light blue ones have sort of an iridescent crackle effect going on.  The polka dot ones are really cute - no idea what I will do with them but - polka dots!  So there you go.  My Georgian sewing souvenirs.

Slinky and the Grain

Back in January, I ordered a few patterns for me (New Look 6808, New Look 6781 and Simplicity 2447).  Around that time the U.S. was pummeled by some enormous snowstorms, which completely screwed up the mail for those of us who have APO/FPO/DPO addresses overseas.

My patterns  f i n a l l y arrived last week after a torturous wait on this side of the world.  I didn't waste time and immediately traced out View E of New Look 6808.  I drafted a size 14+FBA for my 39-31-41 self, and I rotated the bust dart down into a French dart, which I find a little more flattering on me than your standard horizontal dart.

Then I set about tossing through my stash for a suitable fabric.  I've been paying a lot of attention to fabric choice lately, and I knew I wouldn't be happy with this top in a crisp cotton.  I wanted something with a luscious drape, to skim over those wobbly bits and make me feel slinky.

Slinkiness is elusive when your kids use you as a human tissue, trust me.  But on those rare occasions when I can rock the slink, I enjoy it.  Don't you like feeling slinky?

(Although my tummy is far from flat, what you see there is the crazy wind whipping the fabric around, and not my belly.)

After some digging, I found a piece of black something-or-other that I bought eight years ago in Armenia, when I used to have clothes made for myself by a local seamstress.  I think I bought it intending to have a skirt made, but I never did and somehow it got packed and unpacked and carted around in our household effects for another four years until I began sewing.  I don't even know what this fabric is - it's definitely synthetic, matte like chiffon but a bit heavier, and has a slight crosswise stretch.

(See?  No protruding tummy).

This pattern is meant to have vertical front darts.  I sewed them in when I muslined the top (yes, I muslined, using an old sheet!) but it made the top too tight.  I didn't think too hard about why it was tight, and just forged ahead.  I thought that maybe the stretch in my fashion fabric would help out, and figured I could always sew the sides up with smaller seam allowances.

Well, the stretch didn't help me.  It might have, had I actually cut both the body pieces on the grain like I was supposed to - but somehow I accidentally cut the back on the crosswise grain, so the stretch on that piece runs bottom to top instead of side to side.  Facepalm.  I didn't have any fabric left to cut a new back, so I just went with it.



I sewed smaller seam allowances (3/8" instead of 5/8") but in the end I just left the front vertical darts off.  The back darts do provide some shape, so it's not a total potato sack.  I later realized what the problem was.  While my front FBA added width necessary to fit my waist and high hip, I had neglected to add the necessary width to the waist and hip of the back piece - I had just cut a straight 14, and I should have graded out to an 18 after the bust dart.  So my side seam is not actually in the center of my side, and there was no fabric to spare for the front vertical darts. 

I actually kind of like it without the front darts, though.  In my post-childbirth, gym-less life, my stomach tends to really show how much I ate that day; sometimes it feels like, if I eat a banana, you can see the banana shape through my shirt.  So a top that skims over the lumps helps me feel put-together.  Fabric choice was key in this, though.  Most of my non-knit apparel stash consists of woven cottons, none of which would have been as fluid and skimming.

When I finished the top, I felt like it was missing something.  So I added the lace trim to the bottom.

I am pretty happy with it top, though the collar turns out to be just slightly too wide for my taste.  It's a bit sailor-girl, which is cute but interferes with the slinky.  The collar on view D is a bit narrower.  I think I will use that collar for my next iteration.  I also plan to redraft my back pattern piece to be a little wider below the bust so that I can try out those front vertical darts.

The wind on this particular day was killer.  Chicago ain't got nothing on Tbilisi.  There were a few times I was afraid the gusts would blow me off the cliff.

Cousin It, signing off.

Fabric choice and 2+2

I've been trying to sew down the old stash (since I've recently added, um, four packages of new stash and have two more on the way), and it's going fairly well.  The only sticking point is that top shelf of my fabric bookcase - the one full of quilting cottons.  You have a shelf like that too, don't you?  They are just so tempting - the adorable owls, the trendy chevrons, the polka dots - oh, the polka dots, in every color combination imaginable.  Yeah, I fell, and I fell hard.

Ah, memories.  This photo was taken about two and a half years ago, though somehow it feels like it's been much longer!  But yikes, talk about Becky Home-Ecky!  I don't remember what I was thinking pairing those prints, or using either one of them in these peasant tops at all - look at how stiff that fabric is.  It makes the peasant tops look even more boxy than they are.  A lighter, drapier cotton would have made a big difference.

I made countless other outfits like this, and my girls wore them happily, before I realized that there was more out there.  Fabric actually suited to apparel, that drapes nicely and doesn't stick out like a tent.

Before you quilting-cotton fans out there storm my blog with pitchforks, let me just say that there are lots of beautiful prints on quilting cotton, and that they are lovely for many projects.  Like quilts.  And cloth napkins and table runners and nursery decor, etc.  I think they can also make adorable summer skirts or fuller dresses for little girls.  I mean, where would I find a print like this one except in the quilting cotton section (pattern: O+S Bubble Dress, fabric: Joann, project: last summer)?  It's perfect for a three-year-old.

And among the quilting cottons, there are some with a hand better suited to apparel sewing - some that are very shirting-like, like the orange batik I used for N's Class Picnic top (Legacy Studios from Joann).

But when it comes to apparel, I think there is usually a better choice than quilting cotton.  And since I order most of my fabric online and thus can't feel before buying, I have moved on to apparel fabrics: Glowing sateens and silky voiles, soft gauzes and crisp poplins.  It's like a whole new sewing world.

Recently, I let each girl choose fabric from the stash for an Oliver+S 2+2 Top (sleeveless, my favorite way to make them; actually, the only way I've ever made them).  N chose a Lisette printed sateen and Z chose a yard of Michael Miller Meadowsweet (quilting cotton), which I fell in love with a couple years back.

Do you see? The top made from quilting cotton quite literally stands up by itself.

There is nothing on the inside supporting that top, other than perhaps some sewing spirit that haunts those who choose the wrong fabric for the garment - it is just the stiffness of the fabric, which, yes, I prewashed and dried.  The spirit wasn't interested in the sateen top, apparently.

These pictures were taken on a windy day, but I think you can see how nicely the sateen falls compared to the quilting cotton.

The material in this top reminds me of one of those paper cone cups they used to have by the water coolers in offices (do they still use those things?).  I think the sateen is probably more comfortable to wear, too.

Both girls are thrilled with their tops, though, and my stash is down one cut of quilting cotton, so I'm happy.

What about you - do you like the quilting cottons for clothing?  If you have suggestions for ranges that use a less stiff substrate, I'd love some suggestions for those occasions when I just have to buy a trendy print.