M5894 Muslin Adjustments

Hello everyone!

It's Friday, and I wanted to share with you how my M5894 muslin adjustments are coming along!  Let me show you an updated photo, and then I will get into what I did.  By the way, these photos are as cleaned up as I could get.  I realize now that I needed a lot more light, and I am too lazy to re-do them.  Next time will be better.  Here goes:

For the front, the main goal from last time, was to decrease the rise.  On the last muslin, I was swimming in fabric, and I had not even attached the waistband yet!  I took out 1.5" (I pinned and sewed the excess out), and with my waistband attached, I am now looking at my pants sitting right at my belly button.  I don't like it, so lower I shall go!  I plan on taking another 5/8" out of the rise, and I think that will be perfect. By pinching out this additional amount on my muslin, I still have what appears to be a nice fit for the front.

My waistband is really the reason it took some time for me to get my muslin adjusted.  M5894 has a straight waistband, and I really wanted one that is more contoured like Angela Wolf recommends, only because it conforms a little more to your waist.  So I ended up taking the waistband from S1696, and adjusting it for his one.  It worked out well, and I will use it for my final product.

Now for the back:

Not too bad, right?  Once I added the waistband, I noticed some gapping, but this can be easily adjusted. I'm sure my swayback/tilted pelvis and large rear end have something to do with this!  Anyhow, I do have a small amount of wrinkling in the back, but I think I scooped the crotch too low.  I will have to re-check my crotch length measurement so I won't over-scoop!!!!!

Overall, the muslin feels comfortable.  I compared the fit to my favorite RTW jeans, and lo' and behold, I have wrinkling under my bottom in those jeans as well.

Soooooo....all things considered, I think I will be cutting into my fabric starting next week!  I'm just going to make some notes about these changes, take a deep breath, and GO!  I can always fine-tune as I go, and my additional fabric came in, so I should have some yardage to fall back on if all my changes don't work out.

In the meantime, I will check back in next week by Wednesday.  We have a long Labor Day ahead, filled with visiting family so I plan on being busy.

Enjoy your weekend, and stay sew-filled!

M5894 Pocket Design

Hello everyone!

Today I wanted to spend a little time talking about the back pocket design for my jeans.

When I first sat down to doodle some ideas for them, I couldn't really come up with anything special, yet I knew I had a big chance to create something unique.  I tried looking at the embroidered designs on my sewing machine, but nothing jumped out at me.  I also tried playing around with loops and curves. Yet somehow I didn't want to draw TOO much attention to my derriere.

So, I finally decided on an inspiration.  I took the letter "V" from my name, and angled it out a little wider.  I began adding two more angles to the design to come up with my final result.  When I finished, I began to see a bit of familiarity in what I came up with.  It is similar to this:

My back pockets now look like the Corporal ranking symbol turned upside down!  But, it gets better. My father served in the Army for many years.  I remember him coming home in uniform, and I definitely remember seeing his different ranking symbols.  So, whether it is coincidence, or a deeply embedded memory springing forth, I like what it turned out to be.

Here is my process for the back pockets:

For the final result, I used a bright turquoise thread on the outer portions, and a camel color on the inside.  The same camel color was used for the edgestitching.  It will be my topstitching thread too. Underneath each pocket is a piece of stabilizer that tears away once the design is stitched in (my denim has 3% stretch)

I still have to place the back pockets, and finish the topstitching/edgestitching along the sides, but I am happy with how everything looks so far.  Somehow, it makes the idea of these pair of jeans more real.  

Stay sew-filled!

Simplicity/New Look Fall Favorites

Hello everyone!

I hope you are having an enjoyable weekend!

Today I'm going to highlight some of my favorites from the Simplicity/New Look Fall 2014 collection. I really am fond of the options becoming available to us home sewists.  While out shopping with my niece this past summer, she purchased a few sewing patterns.  The cashier, when scanning the patterns, incredulously stated "What! People still sew their own clothes nowadays?"  To that I say, "Why not? Especially when there are so many great options!!"  And then, what you cannot buy, you can create!

Simplicity faves

I love the side insets on this dress!  It is very figure-enhancing.  The different sleeve options are also nice.

Wow!  Talk about a statement piece!  I really like this cape.  View A, B, and C are gorgeous!  When I saw that this was an In K Design, I wasn't surprised.  I seem to like a lot of their work.

I love this pattern because it is a marriage between a stylish top, and a nice legging.  You could end up creating so many different looks just by this one pattern!

And of course I can't forget about Mimi G's new patterns!!!  I love how current they are!  The cardigan for Simplicity 1283 is one of my favorites, as well as the skirt.  I will definitely pick these up with the next sale, for future sewing possibilities.

New Look faves

Can anyone ever get tired of seeing a wrap dress?  Not me. View C & D are nice. 

This dress is nice.  I can see it over leggings, for sure.  While I am not too sure about View A (it looks a little more like a nightgown), I think the other Views would work.  I think this would be great made up in a sweater knit.

Here is another pattern that has a lot of great pieces that work together.  The cardigan is beautiful, and the top is a basic one with simple lines, a nice wardrobe staple.

I am not a fan of ruffles, but I think this pattern is so cute!  

Now this skirt is awesome!!!!!  It has been a while since I've sewn a skirt, because I don't wear them often.  But this one, if I made it, would make me wear skirts more often.

Last, but not least, this one reminds me of S1280, with a few different styling variations.  I love the loose, flowy look.

To see the whole Simplicity collection, click here.

To see the whole New Look Collection, click here.

I am working on a few posts for this upcoming week.  I have tweaked my muslin, and am finally close to cutting my denim.  In my haste, I realized that I did not order enough denim, and had to reorder some last week.  I don't know when that will be in, but I will be starting to sew with what I have.

Stay sew-filled!

Fabric Haul and M5894 Muslin Pics

Hello everyone!

Happy Monday!  I hope you enjoyed your weekend!  I got a chance to tweak the fit on my muslin for Mccalls' "Perfect jeans" pattern, M5894.  I spent a little over 2 hours on the crotch curve, and though I still have more tweaking to do (yes) I am happy about the direction it is going in.  In fact, I thought it was terrible having to create two muslins, but Angela Wolf says that she made SEVEN the first time she made jeans!!!  Wow!  Somehow, knowing that makes my second muslin not as bad.

So, I got a comment on my last post from Anne about showing pictures of my muslin (on me).  I have no problem doing that, I just didn't know anyone was interested in the process, so I left that out.  When I went to take the photos, I quickly realized that it was not easy to get good pics of my back.  So...I did the best I could.  I hope you get the drift from the photos I have:

For the front, I think I have WAY too much fabric coming over my navel.  I originally added 1/2" to the crotch depth, but didn't think about the fact that the waistband sits right at the waist.  That extra 1/2" makes the rise WAY too high for me.  I like my pants a little lower than the navel.  The rise is also covered in Angela Wolf's Craftsy class.  I will be experimenting with taking 1/2" to maybe more out, and making sure I don't get any wrinkling as a result.  Other than that, I am happy with the way it is looking.

The back is my favorite!  I really wish I could show you a picture of how it started--there has been SOOO much improvement!!  I started with a swayback adjustment, still ended up reducing the waist side seams by 1 inch on each side, tapered the side seams from the hips down to shape the legs some more, and took a 3/4" wedge out the back waist.  

I also deepened the crotch curve and lowered it an inch or so.  It was A LOT of fiddling, but worth it.  There is still a bit of excess fabric under my bottom, so I will look at more scooping today.

Transferring all these changes to my original pattern makes me a little uneasy, so I will probably deconstruct my muslin and use that as a template.  I read about it on a blog somewhere and thought "How brilliant, why didn't I think of that?"  

After all my changes I will attach the waistband for the final look on my muslin.  Hopefully that will be done by today, and I will get some updated pictures for you soon.

In other things, I also created a small dent in fabric-buying for my Fall Wardrobe.  I purchased some goodies from Fabric Marts Fabrics that I LOVE!!!!

See for yourself:

I love the Maggy London Ponte Knit!!  It is so luxurious feeling!  I also love the cream and sand color.  They will be great neutrals to tie in with other things I am sewing.

None of the Ponte Knits I ordered are a disappointment.  They are all midweight, and fabulous!  I haven't decided what to do with these yet, but I love the colors.  For the black cotton blend knit, it is pretty stable, and will be great for a stylish tee or two.

This ITY knit was one I considered my "I'm going to try something a little different than what I normally choose."  It is part of the Julie's Picks club, and I really liked the swatch when I received it, so I figured "Why not!"  I'm sure this will become a top too.

Also, a word about the Julie's Picks club.  I don't ever see anyone mention it, but I like it. Membership ends at the end of each year, so the club price starts out at $50, but is now pro-rated to $25 since there are only four months left in the year.  You get a discount of half the amount you pay for membership, and that goes toward any fabric purchase from Fabrics Mart.  Of course, the fabrics offered are exclusive to club member's only, and you receive swatches of all the picks (30) by the 1st of the month.  You also get an email with a digital download of the collection.  I was super impressed when I received all my swatches.  I really liked over half of them, only I didn't buy a lot of them because they would not fit into my wardrobe scheme well.  Also, my other favorite was already sold out when I got to it.

I'll see how the rest of this year's picks go, but I am happy about it so far!

Stay sew-filled!

Update on jeans sewing

Hello everyone!

I hope all is well!  I figured I would check in with all of you and at least let you know how I have been doing.  As you know, my fall wardrobe sewing is in full effect...and I am finding out that sewing pants is not for the faint of heart.

I created a second muslin yesterday, and have been working out the fit on this one.  I realized I was in desperate need of a swayback adjustment with my first version, so I added one in muslin #2.  Now I have this weird pooling under my buttocks, so I will need to try adjusting the crotch curve.  I tell you, I knew fitting my full butt would be a challenge, but wheeeeeewwwww!  The only thing that keeps me motivated is knowing how grateful I will be once I get the fit where it needs to be.

I have been using the Colette Pants fitting Cheatsheet to help myself along, as well as my pants fitting book by Palmer/Pletsch, and some library books.  I should also add that Angela Wolf's Craftsy class I am taking has an area on achieving good fit where she demonstrates some common alterations people need.  Between all of this vast information, I think I can figure out how to get a great fit.  And if all else fails, I can always show Angela Wolf a pic of my muslin, and ask her for her opinion.

Speaking of Craftsy, did anyone take advantage of their big summer sale?  They definitely got me--hook, line, and sinker!  I ended up buying two classes.  One about fitting the back, neck, and shoulders (something I have had a lot of trouble with), and another on....THE BODICE SLOPER!!!  Ha, ha!  I knew I would get back around to my sloper sometime.  This class uses your own measurements to develop a fitting sloper for wovens AND (with some minor adjustments) knits.  I am SOOOO excited!!  The instructor, Suzy Furrer says that the whole process can be done in 10 hours.  So if I multiply that number by 3 I should be able to have a sloper done by the time the year is out!!!

Lastly, my kids started school last week!!!  I have been enjoying relaxing days of sewing, and I am realizing just what a SLOW sewer I am.  Nevertheless, I am loving having time to enjoy my craft without little voices constantly asking me questions.  Here is a pic of them on the first day:

My hubby and I decided to take them to Chick-Fil-A for breakfast in order to "celebrate."  My princess started Kindergarten, and my son is in second grade.  This is their first year in the same school together, and big brother was taking it SERIOUSLY.  

He has definitely taken on the responsibility of making sure his little sister was well taken care of!  He made sure she got to the right class, and knew the best ice cream to buy in the lunchroom.  I loved watching them walk in together, and it made starting Kindergarten a little less hard for me.

Stay sew-filled!