So What are You Making Today?

On our daily walk, he asked me, what are you making today? Mistakes, said I.

after my second round of goofs began

That is the way it seems some days. Not often and never for long, but there are days like that, right? And it's tempting to avoid blogging about it.

I think it happens when I let my thinking get too far ahead of the project at hand, especially when making something that should be straightforward.

This project started with the desire for a simple turtleneck tee. I remembered the Urban tee from the Sewing Workshop and thought I could quickly convert it to a simple tee. I'm thinking I misidentified the center front, so important in this adaptation. 

the Lark by Grainline Studio

I measured twice and cut once but you cannot uncut. After cutting most of the pieces I realized that something was wrong. The front piece was entirely too narrow. I've given up trying to figure out what I did.

So I pulled out my trusty Lark Tee pattern from Grainline Studio. It is a winner, IMO. This one fits me nicely with a slight curve at the waist. I have no idea why I did not start with the Lark. Anyway I was very lucky. I was able to fit the pieces onto the remnants of my screw-up including the turtleneck piece.

I worried over whether or not I needed to change the neckline before committing to a specific turtleneck piece. So I sewed the shoulder seams and slipped it over my head. Just right.

I cut the collar piece using Linda Lee's 7/8 rule, rounding up. Then I stitched it without aggressive back-stitching (I've learned to avoid that) and slipped it on over my head. Also just right.

The rest was easy. I'm in love with this yummy fall layering piece, even though it's now spring here in the southeastern US. I suppose it's not a real turtleneck as it scrunches, but I like the way it feels up against my neck.

For my next round of mistakes I used another knit fabric purchased from the Sewing Workshop, a cotton-lycra black and white jersey with 1" wide stripes.  I fondly remembered their Trio pattern that included a simple top with raglan sleeves. I carefully started cutting out each piece single layer to make sure that the stripes did not drift, matching the stripes using the notches. I worked my way around the garment, carefully matching notches as I went along. And then.

That required some very careful piecing, not an artful touch, but OK.

Well, oops. I should have matched the stitching line, not the notches. The seams are angled in such a way that the notches do not relate well to where the seam is sewn, especially with such wide stripes cut at an angle. Yuck. 

I was also working in a make-shift sewing space while my sewing room was being painted. So, for once, I realized I needed to just stop. Stop cutting. Stop ripping. Stop sewing. It was a good idea.

Now back in my sewing room, I returned to the Lark tee. I managed to cut two fronts and two backs, with two different black and white strips. The narrow stripe was a remnant from my leggings. Just enough. whew. That eliminated the issue of matching and I like it better anyway. Really.

I did not have much left for sleeves and so opted for cap sleeves. Somehow my first round with these went badly and I had these puffy places on my shoulder blades. I could not bear to take pictures. 

So I once again ripped out seams. I went back to my original Lark pattern (the taped together PDF version) and recut the sleeves. Since I had added CF and CB seams, and this fabric curls like crazy, I decided to reassess all pieces with the original pattern too. A little re-cutting was more-or-less successful.

Next I worked on adding a little color to the neckline. I imagined a double binding that I've seen Linda Lee demonstrate. No problem in the first round of sewing. Then I could not decide how to finish the edge of the neckline binding. Machine stitching looked terrible, so I thought, OK, sashiko to the rescue.

Nope.

So the next and final step was to invisibly under-stitch the binding down. That worked.

Now the shirt is too short.

Splice, now thrice

Another Splice top: As soon as the pattern was published, I knew I wanted to use this fabric with it.

It's a linen-cotton blend from Craft South. It is perhaps a bit too heavy for this pattern but it's striped. Stripes are great fun to sew, especially one like this that is perfectly symmetrical and in a neutral color. The stripe that reads gray is a shot weave in black and white. And I'm almost always drawn to a shot weave.

As described in my previous post, the Splice top is a blank canvas. It is a loose-fitting, drop-shoulder shirt with 3/4 length sleeves, side panel pieces and an uneven hem. The weave of this fabric places the stripes vertically, so I was mighty tempted to make pants, but in the end, I knew that this was not the kind of stripe that makes flattering pants. The stripe is too bold for that (on me).

This stripe was perfect for a cross-grain cut on those small splices in the sides, with the body following the usual lengthwise grain. The weave is quite stable.

before top-stitching the hem

It has facings that I like but I worried that the stripe would show through and distract from the simplicity of this top. So instead I cut a bias strip for the neckline. I finished the front neckline and then the back neckline before sewing the shoulder seams. I like this treatment for a bateau neckline as it prevents a center front gap by drawing the neckline in just slightly.

I made one additional change to the pattern. It is very loose fitting. The earlier versions were all size M, my typical for Sewing Workshop tops. But I was curious about making a size S. The finished measurements are plenty generous for my hips. I cannot actually tell any difference between the size S and size M, probably because the fabrics are so different.

In other sewing news, my latest *fix* (hack?) was to add a pocket to a pair of Picasso pants. I was short on fabric when I made this last pair and had to piece one of the side panels. Each pant leg has three panels so I figured, the additional seam was a good fit with the style, even though this one is horizontal.

As I wore them, I realized how perfect that would have been for a pocket. Inserting a pocket into the seam would have been super simple if I had thought to do so during construction. Inserting the pocket after finishing construction was a bit time-consuming but not difficult.

BEFORE:

AFTER

Inside - pocket was attached to the upper and lower seam allowances, top-stitched at the bottom.

At the same time I've been increasingly interested in a pattern hack I see on Instagram - the Clyde pants hack.

Original Clyde pants for Elizabeth Suzann

The hack starts with a pair of favorite pull-on pants. These pants are then hacked so that each pant-leg is composed of three panels, with a pocket in the side panel. That side panel becomes an easy location for almost any pocket shape.

I did all the pattern work for this hack, starting with Cutting Line Designs One-seam pants.

And then I realized. Duh. The Picasso pants are perfectly suited for interesting pockets. And they are loose fitting, a must with deep side pockets. The shape of the original Clyde pants is more narrow than the Picasso, but otherwise, just right.

So now I'm thinking about a future pair of Picasso pants with more cool pockets. Or maybe I'll make a pair of pants using the One-Seams I hacked into Clyde pants. I can always use another pair of comfy pants!