Design Outside the Lines 2024

I'm feeling grateful and creative, satiated with ideas to try in my sewing room. Yes, I just returned from Diane Ericson's Design Outside the Lines retreat in Taos, New Mexico. This year she invited Paula Kavorik, another stellar and generous textile art teacher. And, did we ever have fun!?!

First, there is Taos, a small town that seems to remain a small town decade after decade. My earliest memories of Taos are skiing with my husband and young children and having breakfast at Michael's. But I am fairly certain my family of origin camped there back in the 50s or 60s. Michael's is still there but I did not have an opportunity to eat there because I was staying at the magical Mabel Dodge Luhan retreat center where breakfast takes center stage.

Mabel Dodge Luhan was a colorful person and a great supporter of the arts. The property continues to this day to have that vibe. It invites creatives and travelers from near and far. This year, in addition to the dozen or so of us with Diane, a group of yogis were passing through following their own retreat. They sang to us each morning before breakfast, not because they are good at singing, but because singing makes them feel good. I am quoting their leader. Truthfully, their voices were lovely. And I definitely felt better for having heard them. 

While we were with them, Hurricane Helene ripped through their home in Ashville NC so their singing was mixed with fear, tears, and still hope. We sent them home with traveling mercies and prayers for their loved ones.

While in the workshop, I focused on Diane's River Tunic pattern. I had made one in a light weight denim, which I like, but I wanted to make another one while there and ask Diane to guide me in new directions with it. She sees it as a blank canvas. After nips, tucks, and finishing, I am pleased with the result and ready to try something more myself.

I made her signature overlap at the neckline, in both the front and the back. It adds interest, brings in the neckline, and produces an interesting pleat.

By folding up the hem in the front, a sweet little pocket was formed. We folded up the back hem to balance the overall silhouette.

A few more tucks were added to the back to add a little shaping, and now, I like it quite a lot.

The fabric came from a unique shop in Taos named Common Thread. They carry household linens, some yardage from India and other places, some cool but plain linen garments, and a plethora of gorgeous scarves. I have a weakness for buying scarves when I travel. Somehow I resisted that.

The household linens are great for garments. Diane always brings some that she has made with their household linens - always artful and inspiring.

I bought the green fabric last year at Common Threads and cut out a basic River Tunic right before coming to DOL this year. It was ideal for this project with Diane because the two sides are identical. 

This year I bought another fabulous piece at Common Thread that will become something and show up in this blog sooner or later. 

Fun fact - my iPhone camera labels this *artwork.*

Paula Kavorik brought something new and wonderful to this year's DOL! She is an artist who draws with her sewing machine. She is also imaginative and a truly gifted, seasoned teacher. If you ever have a chance to study with her, do not miss that opportunity! In the meantime, follow her on IG as yellowbrickroad.

Sometimes I get have to make *something.*

I am sort of addicted to Paula's process right now. I have little control but I am intrigued by what can happen if I just relax and gently move the fabric forward and backward, as well as to the left and to the right. Paula's mantra is "maintain the horizon." It is tempting to move turn the fabric around and around, but I'm gradually seeing the benefit of maintaining the horizon.

Paula encourages the development of this skill with drawing exercises. I do love those and play around with that every evening while watching the news. So satisfying. My eye-hand control with the sewing machine is still a far cry from my eye-hand control with a pen and paper, but practice makes progress. And that is good enough.

Drawing:

Now I am feelling the call of my sewing room.

Liberty Shirt Hacks

The Liberty Shirt is one of the most popular patterns ever published by the Sewing Workshop. I have noticed that other pattern companies have similar styles, but the one from TSW is my favorite.

When it was first published, I made this one.

Most of the fabric is a fine Japanese cotton that is printed to look as if it had been pieced. The back shows the original fabric best. It is really one piece of fabric.

As usual I failed to purchase enough fabric for the shirt, so I used solid gray silk dupioni for one sleeve, as well as the left front. I also added tiny burnt orange piping to highlight the wonderful front seams. There are no side seams - the back piece wraps around to the front, creating angled seams where it is sewn to each front. Lastly I spaced my buttons in pairs. Otherwise, I made no changes to it. I loved making it and have worn it quite a lot. 

My next one was made in this gorgeous silk shantung. Since it is fancy fabric, I do not wear it as much, but I love the look of it for a dressy occasion, maybe with black silk pants. I made no changes to this one - instead I let the cool design and the striking solid colored fabric shine.

The next time I made it, I used a cotton shirting, cross-dyed in black and white, so it reads gray. This fabric was not fun to sew, as I recall. I behaved like a silk in preserving all areas where I needed to unpick something. And it wrinkles like crazy. I replaced the usual collar with one from TSW's Now and Zen shirt pattern. I used the double collar.

I have made a white version more than once, each with slightly different details. The one below is made in a pretty textured cotton. I created a stand collar to replace the usual one in the pattern.

Evidently I made one in this linen knit. I say, evidently, because I have forgotten all about it. It looks great on the dress form, but I do not like to wear linen knits. They tend to be flimsy and cling to every bump and bubble on my torso. So I expect I gave it away pretty soon after completing it. The significant change in this one was to convert it from a button up top to a pull over. It is such a wonderful color.

The second white shirting version is below. Based on a tutorial from Linda Lee, I used the neckline from the MixIt shirt, omitted the collar, and made the sleeves 3/4 length. It is not visible in the picture, but I added one chest pocket.

My next version was a sweater knit pull-over. I really like this one. The fabric is what Linda Lee calls boucle. It is a wool/rayon blend and a little scratchy. But I always wear it over something else. Other than making it as a pull-over, I made no other changes. I accented those cool front seams with hand-stitch.

My next version was another pull-over, this time in a silk piece with a little lycra. I used black binding to finish the neck and sleeve hems. And I added black piping to the front seams.

And now, here is my latest.

The fabric is fine Japanese cotton from Nani Iro. It is a double weave and super soft. I bought it on a recent trip to NC. My grandson lives there. The fabulous Mulberry Silks and Fine Fabrics is nearby and a must-see for me.

I accented it with a piece of tana lawn that looks sort-of like Liberty of London fabric. I bought it at the local shop, Gail K, and so I do not really know. The piece was only 36" wide, so I suspect it is not Liberty of London. I have enjoyed using it as an accent on various pieces.

The neckline finish is a variation on the Egyptian shirt pattern from Folkwear. It is a shaped, reversed facing. I also used the tana lawn as a flat piping in the forward seams, as well as for sleeve hem facings.

This fabric has a sweet selvedge. So I hand-stitched that down the back to create a little bit of interest there.

I have already enjoyed wearing this. The Nani Iro fabric is so soft, but the flip side is that it sticks to my high hip fluff. That's OK.

Now I am thinking about my next Liberty hack. I've seen vest versions posted online. And I have a piece of nice fine whale corduroy that would be perfect. 

I suppose there might even be a dress variation left. Or a longish duster. Or. Or. Or.

The Hugo Shirt Lump

I am ridiculously pleased that I finally came up with a fix for the lump at the bottom of the Hugo Shirt from the Sewing Workshop! 

As background, I made the Hugo from linen-rayon white woven fabric about 4 years ago. I liked the finished piece but was never very happy with the finish on the hem at the lower front. I finally wrapped the edge in a self bias strip so that it looked neat, even though it was lumpy IMO.

Original hem fold with serged edge showing

Recently I brushed up against something black. It appeared for about 4 inches around that lump. I tried every cleaning tool on hand. Nothing worked. That black was permanent.

So I put it away to think about. Today I thought about it. I took apart the two fronts from about the waist to the hem. This, of course, meant removing my little bias piece as described above. I set that little piece aside.

My solution to the black stain problem was to cut the hem allowance off, remove the offending black and sew the hem back on, thus making the front slighly shorter than the back. It also introduced a seam along the hem line. I like that, frankly, because it adds a bit more weight to the hem, making it hang beautifully.

And then I began to wonder if there was another way to avoid said lump. Here is what finally worked. BTW, I worked on a sample in parallel with my actual blouse. That way, I could test each step on the sample, then do it on the real garment. The pictures below are the sample, as it pretty clear, I think.

I unstitched the center front seam from the lower edge until a few inches below the lower end of the placket. Next, I pressed the front ham into each side, keeping the left front separate from the right front.

After that, I re-stitched the side seams I had removed in the process of shortening the fronts.

Finally, I folded the lower hem of each front piece into place, and pressed.

With right sides together, I re-stitched the center front seam starting with the lower end of the placket, and stopping at the hem fold line. That point should be lock-stitched.

Then I re-folded the hem for each front piece. With them folded, but not stitched into final position. I placed the two fronts right sides together, aligning all 4 center front edges. Note that there are now 4 layers stacked.

Then, while holding the 3 top layers of the edges together, I wrapped the 4th layer from the bottom, around and over the top layer, creating a sandwich. There are again 4 layers stacked, but it a new order. Note this only works if

1. the lower hems are folded in place, but not stitched, AND

2. the vertical center front seam is finished down to the fold line for the final horizontal hem on the two fronts.

In this position, I stitched all 4 layers together. Then I unwrapped the layer that I had previously wrapped and pressed it all.

With this deep hem, there is nothing poking out and it is easy to press the placket in place.

This creates a beautiful enclosed seam from the horizontal hem fold to the top of the hem allowance. Sooooo exciting, right?!?

Finally I had clip the center front seam right at the top of the hem edge. Now it folds back on itself, forming the most beautiful finished front. Hooray.

I went back to the instructions from the Sewing Workshop. There is a chance that what I have described above is exactly what they intended. Here is the language used, which still does not make sense to me. In any case I plan to tuck my little sample into the pattern envelope in order to save myself a headache on the next Hugo shirt.

With right sides together and facings ou of way, sew Right Front and Left Front at center fron seam. Sew from dot to bottom. Bottom of placket is sandwiched in seam below dot. Clip Left Front seam allowance only to dot. FINISH seam together. Press towards Right Front. 

The key is the making of the *sandwich.* Now, if only I can remember this next time...

I am still sewing

I am still sewing. And making. Maybe I am making more than sewing. Here it is August, and, for the life of me, I cannot remember if I made anything from start to finish during July. There is no July blog post.

Wait! I did make something. Printed pants. But I have not worn them and I need to figure out why. Oh, yeah, they make me look fat. Yes, I know that is a cliche. I will pull them out and see if I can *fix* them.

The pattern was my tried-and-true fitted pants pattern, the Eureka, from Fit for Art. It still fits me in the challenging places. And it is easy to adjust for weight fluctuations.

The fabric I chose is a firm cotton Japanese print from deep stash. It has a pretty selvedge so of course I tried to incorporate that. I may have to rethink that, as I believe one of the issues with this piece is the hem length. I was going for a cropped length, but perhaps this is just awkward.

I will make it work, if only because I love the fabric so much. It is a deep navy with a muted print. It is solid navy on the other side - no bleed through of the print creating an ugly and wrong side.

These are definitely comfortable, so what gives? Maybe it needs pockets.

In other sewing/making news, I have taken two classes. One is the Sashiko Summer Slip-ons class, an online class offered by Tatter Blue and taught by Sanae Ishida in two sessions. There was an optional kit that I ordered. 

Sanae Ishida is delightful and the folks at Tatter are lovely to work with. 

That class concluded a week or two ago. Yesterday I finally finished a second slip-on, completing a wonky pair. 

They feel insubstantial. So I added a pair of arch supports which makes them stay on, more or less.

I have enough supply from the kit to make another pair. But, I am not sure if I will. The first one I made was entirely (well, exceipt for one mistake) like the provided instructions. That is, it was made entirely by hand. The sole is faux leather. Sewing it to the shoe top is definitely the only challenging part of the whole process, especially around the heel. My hands hurt when I finished.

So, now, several weeks later, my hands have heeled. I have completed the other shoe in the pair, this time, by machine. Using the machine definitely saved my hands, but it was still quite difficult to attach the tricky heel portion. I definitely should have added some stay-stitching and clipping there before trying to sew it.

The machine saved my hands, but it is quite difficult to control all the layers with a machine. If done by hand, it is easy to see if the layers are shifting and move them back into place.

So, if I make a second pair, it will be hybrid. I will make it by machine up to and including some important stay-stitching and clipping around the heel. But I'll sew the heel by hand. Maybe. We'll see. I am beginning to itch to make a garment. It has been too long for my mental well-being.

Meanwhile, my second class is another wonderful online class with the magnificent Jane Dunnewold. The title is Complex Compositions. I have been wanting a way to learn more about artistic composition. The principles apply to all sorts of arts and crafts.

This class with Jane, like previous ones, lasts several months with lots of videos, hand-outs, Q&A's, as well as an online community for sharing work and questions. It also includes a good deal of homework. It is not required but, knowing how I learn, I keep up with it for the most part. It really does help me remember stuff and then integrate it into future projects. 

The Jane Dunnewold course is not sewing but it sure is fun and definitely challenging.

So that is what happened to July!