Sewing with Love

As a grandma of 11, I have sewn items for all the grands - one quilt each plus the occasional PJ pants and other items. That activity has dropped away as they've grown older and more aware of their own styles and wishes. I used to go nuts around the holidays, trying to make something special for each one. Now I'm a bit more selective.

The youngest grandson just had his 6th birthday and made a special request - a Paw Patrol shirt. How could I refuse? The only down side is that I had to buy that fabric from the big box store that I do not like. They have exclusive licensing to fabrics of that sort. It was not too painful, though.

For children's clothes, I have an nice collection of Ottobre magazines. When the grands were coming fast and furious, I invested in subscriptions for several years and kept them. 

I'm glad I did. I also kept some of the pattern tissues cut out for an older cousin of approximately the same age, allowing me to make an educated guess as to the size for this 6 year old.

One time, I made a grandboy a darling plaid shirt in his team's colors complete with plackets, collar, collar band. He outgrew it in about 10 minutes. That made me sad. I wanted to avoid that this time so aimed a little larger than needed.

These Ottobre patterns are a good starting place for me. The instructions are extremely brief and they sometimes employ non-traditional construction. I chose a sort-of camp shirt, thinking to avoid all the messy (but fun) details of a dress shirt. 

For this shirt, the raw edges between the collar and the body of the shirt were to be covered with a bias binding. I knew I would not like that for a camp shirt because the neckline is kept open, so the binding would show, as would the wrong side of this printed fabric. 

I pulled out one of my husband's guayabera shirts, a lovely silk twill camp shirt. Based on this shirt, I drafted a front facing to enclose the raw edge where the collar is sewn to the shirt. In the back, I was able to enclose all the raw edges by rolling the outer collar edge under and slip stitching it in place. That probably makes no sense, but it worked!

And the shirt is too big. That is a win! Perhaps he will still be able to wear it when the weather once again returns to spring-summer. I think he looks adorable in it!

I'm wearing my fave Peony vest in cashmere-silk

At the same time, I had been visiting with my local grandgirl who was planning a Halloween party with friends around the pirate theme. She had a vision of the costume she wanted to create and began to shop the thrift stores for a vest. She is quite petite and that proved futile. So, of course, grandma to the rescue. And I had just the right pattern, one that I had never opened. I don't remember buying it even - might have been something someone gave me. It is one of those classic Folkwear patterns.

Even though she is local - only a mile away from me - I worried the whole time I was making it that it would not fit. Her mother is also petite and I never had much luck making fitted garments for her due to the need to shorten the torsos of everything. This pattern was just right without those kinds of adjustments. Hooray!

From my stash, she selected the outer fabric and the lining. I did not have enough of the print lining but was able to squeeze two fronts from it. This vest traditionally has a back constructed of two layers of lining, but that wasn't the pirate look she was seeking. 

I basted the shoulders and side seams together and ran over to her house. It was so tiny I could not imagine that it was right even though I had taken careful measurements. But it was very close. I had to let out the back and the side seams at the bustline. I also needed to scoop out the armscye but otherwise it was just right.

This basting led me to screw up the actual sewing of the vest. I came home and made all the adjustments I noted above, and then made duplicate adjustments to the vest lining. That's when I actually consulted the instructions. Oops. The lining was supposed to be attached to the vest while the side seams were still open. My fabric was fraying a bit and I did not dare take it apart again.

Instead, I attached the lining to the vest all around the outer edge (hemline, center front seams, neckline), leaving an opening for turning on the back hem. I carefully stay-stitched the armholes for both the lining and the vest and trimmed the SAs down to about 1/4-3/8". Then I rolled both SAs to the inside and slip-stitched them together. All good!

Then I realized I had omitted the back belt. Dang! Sometimes I just need to slow down but Halloween was looming. To fix that I partially opened the side-seams and slipped the ends into the seam, restitching securely. Whew.

The vest pattern includes 4 welt pockets, each big enough for a quarter. I marked these with tailors tacks and pondered whether to make them, or maybe just the pocket flaps. In the end I omitted them and I'm glad I did. No need to press my already frazzled luck, really. And welt pockets are dicey in the best of times for me. 

Making 7 perfect buttonholes reminded me how much I love my now old Bernina machine. It really came through for me. I returned to the big box and bought D rings for the back belt and the vest was complete. 

And it fits her perfectly. She says she'll wear it in the future too. She looks adorable in it. I am maybe a little biased but not much.

This Victorian pattern from Folkwear was gratifying to sew. It made me wonder if I would wear a fitted vest like this one. Nah. 

But these makes were very satisfying.

Still Making

As August slips away, I'm wondering where it went. Nothing new there, especially during covid times, just very little in the creative arena to account for my time. 

My excuses are many. We've had workers in and out of the house renovating our master bathroom, which is progressing beautifully. I've spent a fair amount of time selecting tile, cabinet styles, fixtures, etc. And we've had to move into the other end of our house. I'm very grateful to have such options.

And we've had family in and out, as we gradually expand our contacts to include irregular meet-ups with the kids and grandkids. Two grandsons stayed with us, each one for a week. Even though my husband took the lead with these two, I still prepared constant meals, accompanied them on hikes, gave baths (to the little one) and played and read with them. I've very grateful for this time with them.

Although I've made a few masks, on request, my primary sewing activity has focused on a quilt for my niece. I mentioned Chelsea in a previous post about my grandmother's wedding dress. More on that below.

I found this cool inspiration board on her pinterest feed to guide me.

I took the picture to a sweet little quilt shop in my home town, the Cotton Farm. I was the only one there, other than the owner, and so felt safe as we were both masked. She was delightful and seemed to enjoy helping me find fabrics to meet the spirit of Chelsea's pinterest piece.

When I'm making a quilt for a specific person, my left brain interferes with the creative process. When it's just for my creative pleasure, I feel more free. I guess that makes sense but it's frustrating.

As is my usual sewing practice I allowed the piece to evolve. I enjoy circles and started there with some 5.5 inch blocks containing appliqued circles. I let it grow, round-robin style. It finished at 65 inches square.

I returned to the Cotton Farm for the backing. Lacking anything similar in the wide quilt cottons, I chose to buy more of the front fabrics to piece into a back. 

Because both sides are geometric and symmetrical, I took extra time when basting the layers together to make sure the top and bottom layers weren't askew. I threaded and knotted two needles with a double strand of thread. Then I guided them through two intersections with the knots on the right side of the backing piece. Then I carefully arranged the batting and guided the two needles through it. Lastly I placed the top over the batting, once again threading the two needles through two intersections. Then I tied off the threads. I think it's pretty straight.

With workers in and out, I sewed everywhere but my sewing room. I sewed in the basement on my featherweight.

And I sewed on my mother's cabinet style 1950 Singer. That is always such a pleasure. As I sew I remember her and our fun times shopping for fabric and sewing together.

I did return to my sewing room to baste the quilt together, using my cutting table and a folding table on risers. This quilt is really much larger than I expected it would be.

And now I'm hand-quilting it. I feel a need for hand-stitching comfort. And Chelsea got married Friday, so there's really no rush at this point. I'll have it handy to fill (many!) happy hours.

Chelsea did use a portion of my grandmother's gown. My sister-in-law and I, almost simultaneously, came up with the idea of using the skirt for her veil. I was thrilled. SIL carefully removed it and attached it to a comb. I think it's lovely. This is a very quick shot by my brother. I look forward to seeing more soon!

And no real harm was done to the dress. I love that! The skirt was sewn on by hand and I can easily return it to its original state. AND the next brides have this option too. I am so grateful.

Grand Sewing

This week I introduced grandchild number last to the joy of sewing. He's 3 1/2. Like his siblings and cousins before him, he started by standing to my right, removing pins as I approached them. He learned how to put them in the magnetic pin holder and how to snip threads.

Of course, this is never complicated sewing, but it is a kind of joyful sewing, just being together.

Truthfully, I made major portions of these projects while he napped.

I suggested a back pack and he approved. He suggested a lunch bag and I approved.

After we finished he packed his lunch and his back pack. We marched into the sun room and played school.

In related news, we inserted zippers with sergers during my neighborhood group, Sew Incredibles. Another quick project - thanks, Rita!

Real Man's Shirt

I love making shirts.

I even have a shirts tab on this blog, though I've not updated it in a while. I find all the details fascinating from the button plackets on the sleeves to the double row of top-stitching on the cuff. The latter is especially fun since the double row shows on the outside, but not the inside!

I guess I qualify as a sewing nerd when it comes to shirts.

Though I've made many a shirt for myself and a few for the grandboys, I had never made a regular man's shirt until last month. My guy wanted a shirt to match one the 2 year old grandson wears. We all looked high and low for a similar shirt with no luck. The obvious solution was for me to make one for each of them.

Now I knew DH would discourage me from this project, so I kept it under wraps until Christmas. This was both good and bad. The down side to such a surprise is that I could not take his measurements. The next best thing was to use one of his many existing RTW shirts. The man loves shirts and has more than a few.

Men's patterns are not plentiful so that was a challenge too. I wanted a shirt pattern with ALL of the conventional men's details. Vogue 9220 comes pretty darned close. It has the button plackets on the sleeves and the instructions are quite clear. It has a yoke and forward shoulders. It comes in three views - standard, slim fit and formal wear.

The sizing is not conventional for men's shirts from RTW. I was really hoping it would be sized by neck size and sleeve length like DH's shirts. But I guess it makes sense that the sizes are listed by chest size, as that is a good place to start fitting.

Comparing his RTW shirt with the pattern tissue, I chose size 40, standard fit. Sleeve length was easy to adjust. The neck size seemed about right.

The fabric is a lovely cotton shirting from Gail K. With a plaid or stripe, I like cutting the top yoke in two pieces with a center back seam. This allows me to create a solid line where the yoke joins each front. It also creates a chevron in the back.

Plaids are such fun, especially on a man's shirt, because there are great places for bias.

The little guy's shirt was made with an OOP Ottobre pattern.

It was child's play compared to my guy's shirt. Some of the conventional details were missing from the pattern including the yoke and the sleeve placket. I think that's OK for a  two-year-old.

In the end my guy's shirt is too tight and the little guy's shirt is a bit large. But they were sweet to pose for the picture anyway.

By the time I remake DH's shirt, the little guy will have grown into his. Fingers crossed.