Carpe Diem

When Rae from Fit for Art reached out to me about participation in a fashion show at the local Expo, I gladly said yes. They are such nice people and I like their system of garment construction. I have each of their base patterns plus a few of the pattern variations.

Their first pattern was the Tabula Rasa, or blank slate. It is an easy-to-sew and fit pattern with a narrow front, a narrow back and a side panel. The sleeves are inserted in an interesting fashion that I cannot adequately describe. I've made both jackets and vests from this pattern.

Tabula Rasa jacket in handwoven cotton from Guatemala and Eureka pants in cross-dyed linen.

Their next pattern was the Eureka pants pattern. These are fitted pants with darts in the front and back for proper fitting. When this was issued I was fortunate enough to go to the Expo where they set up a little booth and fit me perfectly. Then I lost weight. But because the fit was correct to start, lost weight did not change the overall fit. I simply took in the side seams and they seem to still fit nicely elsewhere. 

Their most recent pattern is the Carpe Diem dress pattern. Here they have created another *blank slate* modeled after the original jacket pattern. Of course I ordered it right away. But I had not made one yet.

I used the invitation to model as a reason to make my first Carpe Diem dress. It was fun to sew and I will enjoy wearing it. I chose cotton pinwale corduroy from stash in a gorgeous royal blue. It was an easy fabric to manipulate though I was careful to iron from the back side of the fabric. 

It is a little larger and a little shorter than I expected. I fit into size M according to the measurement chart. I wasn't sure about whether to make straight side panels or angled ones but decided on the wider angled ones to make certain this corduroy did not get stuck on my hips. I think I could take it in but, for now, I'm leaving it alone.

The pattern includes a long dress hemline, as well as a *medium* dress length, and a tunic length. I cut mine along the medium line. I'm not all that tall at 5'5" (and shrinking) but I notice the ladies at Fit for Art are petite. As long as I wear leggings or tights, I think it's OK. 

To ensure the longest length possible (yes, I should have checked finished back length first), I cut 3" bias strips in a remnant of cotton striped fabric. This allowed me to take it up only 1/4" when I hemmed it.

Just for fun, I also used the striped fabric for the neck facings. This part of the construction is nice, as the facings get caught in the vertical princess seams. 

I finished it the day before the fashion show. Whew! 

After the show, I went back and inserted pockets in the side panels and added a striped facing to the sleeve hem too so that I can roll the sleeves. I found the sleeves to be just a bit short too.

It was a pleasure to make this up and I hope to make some blouse versions next. I might go down a size but I'll take finished measurements before cutting fabric. What a good idea, right?

The Carpe Diem dress can be finished with a zipper in the back or a key-hole opening. I wanted my version to be V-neck and I wanted it to slip over my head. To accomplish this, I simply drew a straight line from the shoulder to the center front on my fabric. I measured to make sure it would slip over my head.

Then I made the same change to the front facing.

The only other change was a slight forward shoulder and rounded back adjustment. Once again, Fit for Art has created a super versatile pattern, I think! Nice work, ladies.

Today I woke up and just needed to make something. So I pulled out some quilt cotton that was gifted to me and constructed a little bag. It fits my new phone or sunglasses. Some days I just need a little taste of sewing, nothing serious.

Berwick Hack

The Berwick St Tunic came out a couple of years ago, I think. My first one was straight from the pattern with a few fit adjustments. I used a nice red and black cotton print. I need to pull it out and wear it again now that winter might be in the rear view mirror.

I love the fit around the neckline, shoulders and bust. The sleeve is beautifully drafted with height and a nice curve at the wrist.

This Nani Iro fabric has been marinating in stash for a while, petted occasionally. And I am so pleased that I finally cut into it. Just right for this simplified Berwick, I think. It looks black in the pictures but is really a deep navy, a favorite of mine.

This hack involves eliminating the *skirt* on the front and making it shirt length. I measured my new Sterling jacket to determine the length so that I can wear them together. I cut a size S with a forward shoulder adjustment. 

I extended the front placket to the hemline and cut two right sides so that I could use larger buttons. The original pattern includes a hidden placket that requires fairly small buttons. I decided I wanted visible buttons because it creates a kind-of vertical line in the front, always a good thing.

I also added an inverted pleat in the back, so that there is something back there besides a flat piece of fabric. This adds a little flare to the overall silhouette in a place where my flare is long gone.

Of course, the fabric is the star. What a luscious fabric this company produces. And the prints are artful and unique. More Liberty than Liberty. Soft, yet presses beautifully. Light and perfect for my hot summers though I want to wear it now! And that border print. I just love it. 

Using a border print in this way requires a little faith that it will hang properly because it is cut along the cross-wise grain, instead of length-wise. This fabric is stable enough that it is not an issue, as far as I can tell.

I was working with a limited amount of fabric and so decided to use some of my precious real Liberty of London for the inside collar, as well as a bias facing for the hem line.

I felt it needed just a little punch, so I added some frou-frou: bow ties on the sleeve cuffs instead a simple button. I also added two darts on each side so that the sleeves are little more narrow. I guess my wrists are small - TSW sleeves often feel too roomy at the wrist for me. 

And, yeah, the first time I dip them those ties in spaghetti sauce, I'll be re-thinking that design feature.

I am crazy about this shirt.

Vestments

From time to time I find myself making textiles for my church, vestments and related textiles for the altar. It has now been more than a decade since I made my first one - a stole created as a welcome gift for a newly hired priest. As it happens, he was fond of elaborate textiles. With some other church ladies, we made an embarrassingly expensive set of vestments including a frontal I constructed. At $200 per yard, it was a stressful make for me. And yet I wanted to make it.

Recently my current priest requested that I make new vestments and altar textiles for the church (different church). In this case, the vestments are owned by the church, not an individual priest. The old textiles have been in rotation for more than twenty years and are most definitely ready to be retired.

Initially I understood that he just wanted a stole replacement. As the project evolved it turned out much more was involved.

The only requirement is that they be green. My church follows a Christian liturgical seasonal color scheme. Green is the color of *ordinary* time which is almost any time outside of Easter and Christmas. In other words, these textiles are well used throughout the year.

The project started in November. I was struggling with a design to be honest, but then I broke my ankle and could not sew. That gave me a pass, and we were headed into Advent and then Christmas, so I had some time. I struggled with a design.

Here is one path I started to pursue. It looked very unsophisticated to me and I could not imagine it in church. Now I go to a very casual church and have a very easy-going priest. I'm sure he would have worn it. I abandoned the project.

Since my ankle surgery, I've been lucky to see lots of improvement and a gradual return to my sewing room. So a few weeks ago I decided I really wanted to get this done and let it go.

I still made lots of mistakes and kept telling myself that I was almost done. My husband stopped listening to me every time I said, I'm almost there! But I did finally finish everything. 

Here is what I made:

1. Two stoles - one for an average height priest and one for a taller priest. This is a kind of scarf that goes around the priest's neck and hangs nearly to the floor under other garments.
2. A chasuble - This is a poncho-like garment that is worn during Mass.
3. The chalice veil and the burse - The veil covers the chalice that contains wine for communion. The burse sits on top of the veil and contains additional linens used in the Mass.
4. A cover for the cushion that holds the Missal during Mass.

I learned a whole new vocabulary during this process. Like Steve Martin said about the French, my church has a special word for everything. I had no patterns for any of these items.

THE STOLES

When I finished the first one, I learned that another was needed for extra tall priests. I pulled out my drafted tissue from the first one and realized that during the design process, I had managed to make the first one too short! So I added a section to the bottom of the shorter one and I honestly like it better. I'm sure I made mistakes on the longer one too but I cannot remember any more.

THE CHASUBLE

After much fiddling, I decided that the best design would be one that I like. I know that sounds a little selfish but he gave me free reign and it ultimately made more sense to me to follow my instincts. The design is an abstraction of the ubiquitous crosses that appear in all Christian churches. I wonder if that comes through at all.

My most significant challenge was the lining. I *finished* it back in January and left it parked on my dress form while I struggled with the other items. The outer material is silk dupioni and the lining is my go-to, Bemberg rayon. Perhaps something else would have worked better but I was too far in to turn back. The rayon sagged and pulled and drove me nuts every time I looked at that dress form.

The final result involved removing the hem, shifting and pressing and fiddling until I felt there was nothing more to be done to make the outer fabric and the lining meld. I did add a bias cut facing all along the hem. My thinking is that if it continues to shift, then the silk dupioni facing will show, rather than the lining which is of course not an exact match in color. The lining is certainly visible but does not appear so sloppy now. Anyway I'm pleased with it.

THE CHALICE VEIL

This appeared to be fool-proof at first blush. It's a 24 inch square with some decoration. I borrowed a blue version from church and made lots of notes, but evidently not enough. I added a cotton canvas interfacing to make it easy to drape in the desired shape. As I was finishing, I decided to take a look at the altar one Sunday and discovered that it should not be that stiff. So off to remove the stiff interfacing and on to add something with body but way softer. Whew!

THE BURSE   

I knew from the get-go this would be a stretch for me. The examples from my church were like a little book cover covered in silk. Of course I consulted Dr. YouTube and I did find some tutorials. Just not for the style my church uses. You may have noticed that I incorporated sashiko in the above designs. The cover for the Burse presented a great little spot for a Celtic design done in sashiko stitch. To stiffen the front and back of the burse, I bought two cut-to-size mat boards from my local Dick Blick.  I stitched the design and made the two sleeves for the boards about 1/8 inch larger. I  finished it with hand-stitch on the inside, trying to keep it flexible for use. I hope it holds up to use. It was satisfying to see it come together.

COVER FOR CUSHION

Somehow I managed to make mistakes even on this! It's really just a pillow cover. The old ones close with hook-and-loop on the back. I asked the ladies in charge of such things gave me permission to use an invisible zipper instead. I think it will look nice longer that that sticky hook-and-loop stuff. 

Hudson Hack

It has been over a month since I blogged. What happened? I have been sewing but not really much for myself. Rather I finally forced myself to finish a project I started in November for my church. I will recount that in another post, primarily in case I make such liturgical pieces again! I'll want to avoid repeating all my mistakes. And there were lots of mistakes to avoid.

This past Sunday, I took it all to church and declare it DONE. Then I got right to work sewing for ME!

First up was the February project for Sew Confident! from the Sewing Workshop. In my previous blog post I described the new rendition of the Quincy jacket, now called the Sterling jacket. This year in Sew Confident! the theme is wardrobing. The Sterling jacket was for January and a hack of the old Hudson pants was introduced as the February project.

Original Hudson Pants

Hudson Pants Hack

The Sewing Workshop offered kits and I chose a dark navy linen version. The lovely thing about a kit in this situation is that I was sure it would match the Sterling jacket which I also purchased as a kit. The navy blue linen did not disappoint. It is one of those lovely soft linens that looks good when it wrinkles, especially after washing and drying. It is a nice medium weight fabric that was great fun to cut, sew and press.

The Hudson pants are a basic pull-on pant with only two pattern pieces - the front and the back. It is interesting because of the vertical hem darts. The addition of the darts slightly alters the overall silhouette and shape. I've made them a number of times but not recently.

an old shot of me in linen Hudson pants

The hack for February includes eliminating the hem darts, creating a separate waistband, and adding pockets. The pants are shortened, then overlapping panels are added to the bottom of each leg. The final piece has a silhouette similar to the original Hudson pants, I think. But it was more interesting to sew.

Dark navy is hard to photograph but maybe you can see the sweet overlapping panels.

There was also an emphasis on pants fitting for February so I took the opportunity to re-evaluate my older Hudson pants to see what I liked and what I did not. I lost some weight about a year ago now, so I took in the side seams to create a more slim look.

Recently adjusted for my current size.

I made a serious attempt to *read the wrinkles* in the back, but also consulted a bit with Linda Lee via email before making the new pair of Hudson pants. The separate waistband gave me a late-stage opportunity for better fit than the original cut-on waistband did. 

I made some tweaks and then added extra height in the upper portion of the pants. Before adding the separate waistband, I pulled them on with a knotted elastic at my waistline. Once I adjusted the position of the elastic band, I marked the elastic position with chalk. I stay-stitched along the chalk mark and cut off the excess fabric. Then I added the waistband and inserted the elastic.

For elastic waistbands, I like to mark the two ends with Sharpee so that when I insert it, I don't twist it. The elastic provided with the kit is softer and more stretchy than I'm used to sewing with and required a number of tweaks to make the pants fit closely enough. I may need to remove just a little more but it's pretty good for now.

I do love the pockets. They are lifted directly from the West End pants, an older TSW pattern. They are simple and fool-proof to add to any garment with side seams, I think. The result is a pocket with very little bulk.

This is a super comfortable ensemble and really puts me ahead in my spring sewing. The jacket is made with cotton jacquard from the January project kit. The pants and tank are linen from the February kit. There were lots of color ways from which to select a kit. I'm pleased with my navy pieces. Just right for spring in Atlanta.

MixIt Tank top with Hudson (Hack) pants

I cannot decide if I like the overall length of the pants. I may take the lower panels off, shorten the main body of the pants, and then re-attach the panels. They seem just a little longish for cropped pants.

Through careful placement of the Hudson pattern pieces, I had enough fabric left over to make a little shell using the MixIt tank pattern. Yay!

I adjusted the hem so that it is a sort-of shirt tail. I used the navy linen for a bias facing around the neck but created a more light weight bias facing for the armholes using a not-silky silk from stash. I used it in the Sterling jacket too.

I added a little patch to the back neckline (of course) using my shrinking stash of remnants purchased from Mieko Mintz. I'm sad to report that she no longer sells her remnants, as far as I know. Too bad. They are so pretty.

And now I have an ensemble! Maybe. Should I shorten them?

Now Sewing!

Happy New Year and hooray for 2022! 

DH helped reconfigure my sewing room to make sewing a possibility. It's still a bit challenging to maneuver knee scooter, crutches and/or a boot, but I'm feeling good about it all. And I'm making real progress on the healing of the ankle I fractured over Thanksgiving. Life is good.

My first make of the year was constructed using the Sewing Workshop's Quincy jacket. I made it when it was first published in a light weight linen, I think. It was the wrong fabric and moved into the donate pile pretty quickly. 

During her regular Tuesday FB live broadcasts, right before Thanksgiving, Linda Lee of TSW showed the first garment for her 2022 Sew Confident series. This is her extremely successful subscription program that I've been participating in for a number of years now. The new pattern is called the Sterling jacket and is a riff on the old Quincy. There are enough changes that I'm glad I purchased the new one.

While waiting on the publication of the Sterling, I decided to revisit the Quincy, using this cotton fabric that looks like it's quilted. It is not quilted exactly, but woven to look like it, a jacquard, I believe. The back side of this fabric is not pretty at all, kind of like a loose weave terry cloth, so I definitely had to line it. The lining I chose was one gifted to me by BSF. I think it is silk. I just love the way it looks peeking out.

I cut the Quincy out before Thanksgiving and cut out part of the lining. When I returned to it this month, I somehow forgot that I must have lengthened the Quincy, as my lining was too short for the outer pieces. I shortened the fashion fabric and actually like the result quite a lot. It reminds me of a cross between a bed jacket and Chinese peasant jacket. It's cozy but not too warm.

I added patch pockets but then realized I did not line them up correctly, so I removed them. I may add some smaller patch pockets later, as I do like something for a tissue or two.

I also added a simple placket to the left side so that when I close it, right over left, there is not a gap. I created bias tubes for button closures and used some fun buttons that read "Sewing Workshop." That must have been a party favor during Sew Kansas. Except for needing to add pockets back, I like it a lot.

Then the Sterling came out last week. It's a PDF download pattern, not a printed pattern. There are a number of options for printing these PDF patterns. I was stuck on the couch anyway, so I printed it at home and taped it together. 

I had seen Linda's Sterling mock-up at a sewing retreat - several of us there encouraged her to publish it. It is based on the Quincy but shortened, and a bias flange has been added to the hem. It also has a more narrow collar, extended center fronts for buttons, and appliqued front plackets. All edges have a 5/8" seam allowance with instructions to finish with a 3-thread serged rolled hem.

Kits were also made available last week. I had seen a preview of the kits and the various color choices. I knew I really, really wanted to make up the navy fabric. Ordinarily I resist kits, but this was just too good to pass up. And I'm so glad I did not. This navy fabric is just lovely with great drape for this pattern. Unlike the gray Jaquard, this one is pretty on both sides, with that positive-negative light-dark effect. I had trouble determining which side to use and marked it very carefully!

This is how it looked prior to adding the flange - cute, I think!

The kit included 4 spools of cotton thread, 3 for the serged edges, and one for regular sewing. I tested my serger with the fabric and thread, along with some edge finishes I like. The rolled hem was better than I expected, probably because the cotton thread is more beefy than typical serger thread. I was tempted but, in the end, I chose my more conventional finishing methods. This is an unlined garment, so I also spent time thinking about how I wanted seams finished, as well as the collar.

Seam finishes:

For the shoulders I used a mock fell seam. For the long sleeve seams, I used a French seam. I knew I'd like that best when rolling the sleeves. For other seams, I finished with a serger and then top-stitched so it has the outer appearance of a felled seam too.

Hem finishes:

For both sleeves and the lower edge of the flange, I created 3" bias strips from a light weight silk in stash. I folded the strips wrong sides together so that one edge was a fold. Then I attached the raw edges of the bias strips to the raw edges on my hemlines, graded the seams, and turned the bias tape completely to the wrong side. It looks similar to a narrow facing. 

For the lower front corners, I followed the excellent instructions in Linda Lee's old pamphlet on miters. It worked beautifully. I am very happy with the result.

Collar:

Here I followed very traditional techniques used in shirt making. I sewed upper and lower collars right sides together along 3 sides, graded the seam allowances, turned and pressed. I machine sewed one collar to the jacket and invisibly stitched the other collar to the neckline, enclosing the raw neck edge.

All in all, the Sterling was a fun make and I think I'll wear it a lot. It works well as a shirt. It also works well as a jacket. I put my blue-black silk Now shirt under it and like that looks a lot. Unfortunately I do not think the photos show that as I see it IRL. 

I may add another button to collar so that it can be buttoned up higher. And I may add a patch pocket or two. I do like a pocket in a jacket.

This is really a good pattern with lots of possibilities. For this first one, I used size M. I added a little length to the back pattern to manage my rounded back (I did not want a CB seam  with this particular fabric). I also added a forward shoulder adjustment. Lastly I rotated the grainline on the side panels just slightly, as I noticed in the Quincy that there is a tendency for it to flare out too much in the back. 

I hope to explore this pattern quite a bit more. It is similar to the patterns from Fit for Art. Both are similar to a much older jacket designed by Jean Cacicedo, now published by Diane Ericson. I' hope to explore that one from Jean Cacicedo soon too. The square armhole is holding my interest for now.