Cutting Out

What do these 11 fabrics have in common?

Nothing other than coming from the same scrap drawer and they are all cotton but they may all have a roll in the pattern pieces.

Let’s start cutting out all the pieces…

First, I pinned the paper pattern together, notice #4 didn’t get any adjustments.

Then I used the muslin as my pinning base:

#8 is cut on bias but #9 is cut straight of grain on the fold:

Going through all my scraps, most of them are from 2003 or 2005 when I worked in a quilt shop, just proving aging fabrics 20 years in a drawer is a good thing.

Starting by pinning the colors in a sequence trying to keep the bust area with darker colors.

Introducing flowers:

#8 upper back cut on bias using a batik fabric:

Lower back panel #9 is cut on grain with center back fold. Both #8 and # 9 have waistline darts for shaping.

Just an idea of how the colors play together nicely if you can imagine all seamed together and pressed flat before the center bands are attached.

Yes, it looks sloppy now but there are sleeves to come and a mandarin collar to bring it all together. Could I have made this all in one color using a solid…sure, but the whole challenge of this pattern was to follow the grain lines and see what happens.

All the options of using nine pattern pieces in the body and adding sleeves, a front band and a collar just makes it more fun.

The garden continues to produce more than 2 moles can consume, so my neighbors and friends get to share in the bounty that doesn’t get frozen for the future.

Red onions and green beans and finally the peppers have ripened:

A full bucket of Swiss chard:

Wishing you all a super week of sewing as we race through September.

Thank you for following along!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost Ready to Cut

There is a mathematical symmetry to this pattern…what?

Isn’t it just a random collection of mis-matched triangles? Possibly but each vertical section measures around 7 inches and why is this important?

When and where the buttons are placed will make a difference. Color blocking will certainly make this more apparent. If each vertical section is 7 inches then the button/buttonhole spacing can be around 3.25 inches. Using a SimFlex guide also helps make the spacing perfect.

                                         

We haven’t talked about the sleeve…let’s measure the front seam and back seam and see what the numbers are. The front from top circle to the underarm measures 11 inches and the back from top circle to back armhole is 11.5 inches. So allowing for an inch of ease in the sleeve cap, this sleeve will fit into the armhole.

I’ll probably be cutting the sleeve to be a 3/4 length.

Before taking the sloper apart, I marked the new seam lines on section #1 and #2 and #3 since they all have to intersect and play nice.

Can you see that the paper pattern has a real shape/bulge now over the bust point? What started out as totally flat now has a real curve, the same sort of curve if the pattern had front princess seams. All the shaping is done with these side bust seams.

Now, once placed flat on the table, you can see the invisible darts that were formed when pinning the pieces over the bust. Each of the three pieces will get an invisible dart for the best fit over the bust.

Removing 1 inch:

Removing 1/2 inch:

Removing 1.5 inches:

Once pinned and the eventual basting, we have the original armhole curve for the front with no gaps.

Here are the six pieces that make up the front. All have been altered and traced except #4. The lower panel #6 had the hem shortened by one inch since we added so much more to the upper bodice. Now the side seams match and can be sewn together.

On the back pieces #8 and #9 I have removed 1/2 inch from the center back seam mid-back to the hem but I didn’t take a photo. Oops!

Here is the stack of trial sloper pieces and original paper pattern pieces:

Now the real challenge is…what fabric(s) to choose? Stripes in all directions (oh my eyes!) or muted floral tones (yawn) or a solid to show off all the seams?

The garden is still producing and we are harvesting and giving away lots of Swiss chard in addition to these beauties:

Wishing you a Happy Labor Day weekend to my US readers and fingers crossed…cooler less turbulent weather for September!

Thanks again for following along!

Paper to Paper Front and Back

This post has more tweaks as we have the run up to the final cutting out session…yeah!

Neck tuck overlapped and right shoulder seam marked with added 2 inches on the lower edge:

Cutting out new #1 pieces in solid fabrics:

Both fronts have extra fabric added for armhole adjusting. The two lower lines of the seam allowance will be tested to see if more length is needed.

Fronts pinned in place without center band attached:

The #2 sections pinned to the new top seam line:

#2 sections pinned to lower seam lines:

The goal here with the red fabric is to see if this section can be shaped over the top of the bust and not lay stiff and stick out as it did in the beginning. The #2 section will control the shaping and angle depending on where the new horizontal seam will be.

The gingham patch will be raised in anticipation of the sleeve being attached. I will measure the front and back of the original sleeve and adjust the armhole. On the right side as I removed one inch at the shoulder, that will be removed on the right sleeve as well.

The dashed green line shows a possible new seamline.

The #3 section will also control the shaping as it attaches to the #2 section. Right now it looks like it is a long way from armhole!

The left side echoes the right with green dashes.

Even when all this was to be sewn together, there was always going to be a bust gap with no fitting darts.

Original paper pattern pieces were overlayed to see gaps.

Not sure if this pattern was even made for a “B” cup at this point but it says a size 24 has a bust circumference of 49 inches and a waist of 52 inches finished.

Let’s finish up with the back section:

I traced off the size 22 and drew a line where the slash will be and also redrew the top center back neckline seam.

Sliding a new paper under the slash before pinning:

After taping the new patch into place and drawing the sew right shoulder seam line:

You can see how using a center back seam, we can make a nice curve that conforms to my body. If this piece was cut on the fold, then we would have to make neck darts.

The back neck top edge will probably be trimmed lower as there is a neck band to be attached.

Taking another look at the back after the front adjustments and it may look better with 1/2 inch removed from center back seam and the lower panel fold.

Next time all should be resolved and a final perfect paper pattern drawn and cut out and ready for the fashion fabric to be cut out…fingers crossed!

Why would anyone try all this maneuvering?

Well, the longer I have this on my duct tape dummy, the more I like it and think about possible color blocking and with a little more tweaking, it will fit me well and be comfortable compared to the first basting below!

Our everbearing strawberry variety is still producing every week while the blueberries are almost done for the summer.

Soon all the little chillins will be back in school and some moms will have more sewing time and if the fabric stores have any influence…it will be Halloween costume making time…oh no!

 

Altering Triangles

Last time we saw so many issues with the pattern right out of the envelope with none of my prior personal adjustments done to the paper pattern.

Why not?

Well, as each of the pieces have been cut on bias and there is lots of stretching and growing, I think it was wiser to just cut one size and then pin out or add to whatever was needed.

So let’s start at the top and start pinning out what we don’t like…my slooping right shoulder is always one inch lower than the left so I pin out that amount.

I also pinned out the left shoulder just temporarily. Since both shoulder seams are bias, they want to “grow”.

 

The left side shows lots of things that have to be adjusted. Drag lines point to where the slash should be. The angled up waistline seam also indicates the problem is higher up across the upper back. The lowest back panel shows how the fabric is flaring away from the body as well…maybe one slash and spread will fix all this?

The center back seam at the neck is also bias cut and “growing” so I pinned out 1/4 inch for 1/2 inch in total. Adding 1/4 inch gingham allows me to know the exact inches to add to the paper pattern at the center back seam by counting the little squares.

Adding this patch has allowed the waistline seam to drop and become horizontal and the back lower panel to not flare away from the back/butt.

Using the front drag lines, I slash above the bust and add more gingham…the same amount as the back.

Right side view shows how the gingham fills in the gaps. The armhole will be reshaped by laying the original pattern over the altered pieces so the sleeves will fit. Then the neckline will need a 1/4 inch tuck on both sides to lay flat.

Side seam is vertical after adding the front and back patches.

The left shoulder seam was unpinned to relax and lay flat.

The waistline darts should match up but the paper pattern was off by 1/4 inch for each.

Next, I will unpin all the top pieces and add to the paper pattern sections after tracing the seam allowances. Who would think that all this has to be done just to get a blouse pattern to fit and hang correctly?

Do you get the feeling that this started its life as a flat bodice and someone just drew diagonal lines, cut on the lines and added seam allowances and called it done??? I sure do with no fitting features like…darts?

Next time I will show all the additions to the paper pattern and another preview if this can be salvaged and the armhole bust gap eliminated.

With the whole northwest of the US and Canada overwhelmed with forest fires, the air we breathe here is deemed unhealthy and the storms and heavy rains are too far south to help out.

If only we could wake up our lawmakers/politicians/old white men who make laws and set policy to the fact that this is a real emergency year after year no matter where you live.

One bright spot this week was Walmart self check out…with so many folks complaining that our local stores have eliminated ALL cashiers and everyone must check all their own purchases…guess what? The company has realized that thievery is accounting for some pretty great losses and they are going to bring back cashiers…money talks louder than their customers!

 

Layout for Triangles

In preparation for cutting out the pattern pieces for my sample/muslin I decided to lay them down and see what was what since almost all of them are cut on the bias/diagonal.

Normally, this would eat up a lot of fabric and have wasted fabric but you can see the pieces play nicely with each other. If you buy unbleached muslin by the roll like I do, when you unroll it you have lots of wrinkles so it must be ironed very flat and with some steam.

View B calls for 2  3/4 yards of 45 wide fabric with the 3/4 length sleeves so no matter whether I choose View A with the mandarin collar or open collar, I pretty much need that length. Now if you wanted to use different fabrics (as in large scraps) for different areas, then your yardage would vary.

Let’s check out the possible layout:

There will be a center front band cut either crosswise on the fold or lengthwise depending on the fabric motif (as in stripes or directional).

Once the pieces are cut, I will draw lines on the grain so when assembled, we can see the directions. The bias cut will aid in the shaping since there are no darts for fitting. I will be cutting the size 22 after measuring myself. This blouse is long like a tunic and it needs to be wide enough to sit down and not bunch up over the hips or pull at the center band buttons and gap…I hate that!

All the pieces except the sleeve are assembled and ready for the side seams to be sewn. Now, I know lots of sewing sites tell us to do directional sewing like all side seams sewn from armhole down to the hem and the shoulders sewn from armhole to neck…BUT if you have ever worked in a factory or had to design patterns for speed of labor time, you will be familiar with sewing in the round starting at the one side seam hem and running all the way in one direction, across the shoulders down to the opposite side seam hem. My pins have been placed points to the left and pulled out as I reach them.

To maximize speed of sewing, each new edge is fed into the machine before and after a locking stitch. Then there will be an operator that cuts the thread between the pieces for the next step.

I’m sorry this is so blurry but you can see the drag lines and open gap at the side bust area. Also you can see that the right side seam is flaring forward. I didn’t do any paper pattern adjustments before cutting out to demonstrate why we should map our own measurements before cutting out or you may get a garment with this type of issue.

Here we have the front with all the bias lines drawn in and more drag lines. You can see that not one section is cut on grain except the lowest panel.

The left side seam swings forward as well and check out what happens to the back waistline seam. Still a bust armhole gap again to deal with.

This back will get a slash and spread for sure and the darts which are supposed to match up top to bottom are 1/4 inch off on the paper pattern. The drawn line is the waist line.

Next time I will adjust all the pieces to get rid of the drag lines and make the side seams hang vertically. If you are sewing this pattern, you may want to visit and see possible adjustments for your own size.

The past two weeks, Mr. Mole has been away in the UK visiting all of his family…all 16 of them. He visited many historial buildings and stately homes and tram museums and brought back these little treasures for me.

A puzzle:

Beautiful smelling soap and a leather bookmark:

Hoping your summer weather has not been too horribly hot like here in the Northwest. The garden has been suffering with 100+ temps but the tomatoes have been rpoducing way too many for just me even with grilling and freezing loads so the neighbors have been given some of the bounty.

Until next time, I’m wishing you all the best of luck with your sewing projects!

Skirt and Shirt

My friend is getting to the skirt layout part of her project. This pattern is not so simple as you can see the skirt pieces are half circles and cut bias. Makes me wonder if any sort of matching is even possible and then there is the huge pocket.

The fabric is Liberty which has defined vertical and horizontal lines in the design. It is tricky making sure she has enough fabric for all those odd pieces and grain lines.

Here is #10 piece placed over the skirt section #7.

Here is #9 pocket facing placed over the pocket stack.

As we added an inch to her front side seam, we have to add the same amount to the top of the skirt with the pocket.

Two ways to do that…just adding to the side seam which will make the actual curve of the pocket wider and thus will probably catch on every drawer knob OR slashing and spreading the #7 and adding a triangluar piece to the paper pattern to keep the curve as the original.

Moving on to another challenge…how about a shirt with many triangles?

It’s hard to tell from these two photos where all the junctions are:

But the back of the envelope shows that they are both the same except for one has a mandarin collar and the other just a regular one. Both backs are the same with some darts for shaping but the fronts have no shaping.

The pattern has just been cut from a flat front blouse and triangles drawn and seam allowances added. Call me crazy but I would like some area to use for adjustment like a FBA.

What if I wanted to use a striped fabric? See below the grainlines on each piece and imagine all those pieces in stripes…no don’t!

Next step will be to cut this out in muslin fabric and draw in the grain lines and see how it fits my life-like duct tape mannequin. All of the diagonal grain lines are for View A. The other vertical grain lines are for View B. The #6 lower piece is used for both views and is cut on grain.

Have you ever sewn so many bias seams together? It reminds me of when I was shown how to sew half square triangles for a quilting project…that’s when I knew I would never be a proper quilter!!! These bias seams will surely try to stretch and bubble!

The back pieces will be altered for a rounded back as usual.

One other confusing thing…both upper backs are cut differently. View A is on bias with a center back seam and View B is cut on grain with a center back fold…bizarre and why?

Harvesting continues in the garden:

While the bush beans have ended their production cycle, everything else is doing well so with our 90+ degree temps, soon I will be freezing fruit and veggies.

Keep cool my friends and happy sewing!!!

Get Fitting Vogue 8577

It’s always nice to see what the pattern pieces looked like from the beginning. So here are the 5 pieces that we started with.

Each piece is cut on-grain except the back yoke is cut on the bias. Do we know why? It may fit better over the shoulders/upper back region but…the big but…what happens when the bias center back seam joins the #2 pattern piece cut on-grain? Will they fight?

What about the #1 front piece and all those shoulder gathers, will it overwhelm the wearer? Can they be converted to nice flat pleats instead? Possibly.

Here we can see that the front looks like it needs at least a 1/2 inch more in length to the top and the lower panel. Remembering that a very gather skirt will have to be attached to that panel, we have to make sure that there is enough ease and not have to ride up when sitting down or eating.

This side view also shows that the horizontal grain lines angle up instead of straight across so adding to the shoulder seam will allow them to drop into place. See how the lower panel is really angled up? It also flares away from the body.

My friend decided to add 7/8 of an inch to the shoulder seam and change the gathers into softer pleats. Things are already looking better.

My oh my, are those horizontal lines the best ever???

Her bust points are where they should be and no drag lines.

Here you can see the lower front panel now follows the curve of her body and the side seam does not curve towards the front causing stress and drag lines. You can see the amount she added to the front side seam to allow it to be almost vertical compared to the first side view photo last week.

After adding the 7/8 inch to the front, she wondered what this would do to the armhole if she kept it sleeveless or added sleeves later. I drew out a diagram how to restore the front armhole curve and also how to snug up the back armhole if it gapped too much. Of course we have to move in our clothes so making things tooo snug is not a good idea either.

We still have some tweaking to do…remember that bias cut yoke? What happens when it joins the back cut on grain? Yes, we have a small bump.

We can leave it for now and see what happens when the gathered skirt is attached as it might just be enough ease or the bodice backs at the center seam point could be slipped up like 1/4 inch under the yoke. As we are working with stiff muslin and the final fabrics will by softer Liberty cottons, we will have to wait and see.

Another decision to be made are the front pleats…three pleats or two?

Thank you for following along, I still hope to get some sewing done for myself but my sewjo is not quite ready to return and my goal this week is to get all the ASG finished projects out of my annex/other sewing room so I can get inspired and start something fun!!!

Where has July gone? Are we halfway through already?

Looking for some eye candy/inspiration? These ladies are so dedicated to their craft! https://spitalfieldslife.com/2023/04/19/the-broderers-of-st-pauls-i/

Up Walking

Walking around the garden gave me a chance to exercise and take photos of the growth of the plants. So here is the progress so far:

The ten foot tall sunflower and all volunteers from dropped bird seed.

A wall of sweet peas we have been trying to grow for 22 years…success!

The strawberries have produced the first crop and now are sending out runners to make more:

The chard plants have produced bags and bags of delicious bounty:

The wall of blueberries bushes have done well and even the new baby plants are bursting with fruit:

Today’s temp will be 102 degrees F or 38.8 in Celsius.

So, thoughts turn to making cool summer clothes…well, not my thoughts but a friend, Miss L, in another state asked for help fitting her muslin for this pattern long distance. While this is not a beginner pattern with so many fitting options and adjusting, she is up for the challenge.

She sent some “before photos” so we could map out a plan after recording all her measurements on the fitting charts.

Here she is demonstrating the extra fabric she added to her side seams:

Next she is questioning the added front ease and FBA:

Side views can tell a lot.

So handy to have drawn her grain lines but happens now?

Next time I will show you what was done to make this bodice fit better knowing that a gathered skirt will be attached. When we are working with so many components that all have to sew and work together, planning is everything. Not being able to get my hands on this bodice and open and close seams and pin out what doesn’t work is a hinderance, but we will try our best with lots more photos. Another feature to consider is what happens to the waist seam when you sit down…does it pull everything down or does the bodice slide up to make wrinkles?

These shirtwaist dresses from the 50’s and 60’s were also dependant on what I call “foundation garments”…you know those girdles and panty girdles that were worn to give a proper form and posture and to hold up our stockings.

I’m afraid that these days of wearing a thong and a sports bra just won’t cut it.

With today designated the hottest day of the year so far around the globe, I hope you can find some shade and a cool drink or stay indoors and sew with the fan on.

Happy 4th of July to my US readers…it is 1:30 am and the fireworks have finally stopped.

Six Weeks Recovery

With all your advice and good wishes, I’m going to share the progression of my knee surgery.

Had my six week appointment and the Ortho Doctor was so pleased (and shocked) with my ability to bend my knee 127 degrees and to be able to place it flat on the table. It seems as though this is a rare occasion and the Physical Therapy tech says in her 20 years, she has never seen this happen. So happy days, lots of pain and pain pills and a super supportive husband have helped me get to this point.

Mr Mole has acquired new skills such as learning how to launder and fold towels.

So I started with a 7 am surgery in the outpatient surgery center to getting in the car at 12 noon to go home. Extra bleeding required a fresh bandage on day 5.

Bruising from my crotch to my ankle as the knee had to be “straightened ” before attaching the device, so lots of torquing.

Staples holding everything together:

Staples removed and still some swelling:

 

Just healing along on the road to recovery:

For you sewing folks…our local ASG has been donating more quilts for the foster kids along with finishing 50 drawstring pillowcases and 20 flannel blankets. Next will be making coloring book bags for distribution just before school starts in Aug.

I hope to get back to sewing for myself soon and next time lots of veggie garden photos. Thank you for following along and for being so patient.

Final photo of my first outing to IHOP pancake house waiting for my breakfast and stacking creamers to make a tower.

Happy sewing everyone!!!

Taking a Break

Week three of the knee replacement surgery and it has been harder than I thought with pain levels high despite more mobility. There is a phrase, “knocked the stuffing out of me” and that is how I feel.

I thought I would be having more time to hand sew things and read but it didn’t turn out that way. The knee was bent before surgery and had to be manipulated to be stright for the new appliance to be attached so bruising went the full length of my leg from crotch to ankle. Only now have the huge purple painful splotches slowly faded but sleeping in a bed at night is almost impossible with both side of the much swollen knee refusing to rest quietly. During the exercises, I had more bleeding and a change of bandage before the staples were removed.

Sadly, I have no new sewing to share with you but Mr. Mole has completed most of the veggie planting and I was able to wander outside to get a few photos for you.

The view from my sewing/recovery room window:

Raspberry plants in back and volunteer sunflowers in front along with bird feeders:

The rose arch and shaded lower level we call “the dell”.

Ever returning poppies and pyracantha bushes in flower:

Tomato and pepper plants:

Radishes, onions and red leaf lettuce:

Bush beans in front and asparagus in back:

Swiss chard and spinach:

44 strawberry plants, half new this year and half transplanted:

So, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that things get better and my sewing mojo returns next month. One thing I have learned is that when someone who has had this surgery before tells me that on week four I will be walking 10 blocks around the neighborhood…to take it with a grain of salt. Everyone’s recovery is different and we have to listen to our bodies and not push too hard.

Thank you all for following along and I look forward to more sewing adventures soon!