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KCW Fall 2013: Project 1

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It’s Kids Clothes Week! This fun event is held twice a year (spring and fall) and challenges sewists to commit an hour a day, or more if schedules allow, sewing children’s clothing. No competition, no judging; just a personal commitment of time and effort, and a chance to simultaneously enhance sewing skills and wardrobes. KCW was created by Meg at elsie marley, and now has its very own blog and community site here, where participants can post the results of their efforts and cheer on each other.

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Even though this week can be rather exhausting, with all the rushing around to sew, photograph and post projects in a short timeframe, it is one of my favorite times of the year. I love seeing all the wonderful clothes that fellow sewists are creating. There are truly inspiring projects in the KCW photo pool every year. And I always discover new sewing blogs to follow. I’m pretty confident, however, that the KCWs do not rate quite as highly with my family! My children are made to endure multiple photo shoots, we all eat more take-out than usual this week since meal prep takes a back seat to sewing, and I’ll admit that a string of later-than-usual nights at the sewing machine takes its toll on my temperment, as well.

My goal for this KCW is to step out of my sewing comfort zone by trying new patterns, new skills, new fabrics. I sometimes have a bad habit of underestimating or discounting my own abilities, and too often I’ll see a pattern or a project on a blog and think, “that’s SO great, but I’m not ready for that yet.” So this KCW I’m stepping up my game. I’m sure there will be missteps along the way, but at the very least it will be a learning experience — and hopefully the good will outweigh the bad and potentially unwearably ugly!

So, now that I’ve revealed my philosophy for this Kids Clothes Week, let’s get to the project reveal, shall we?! More photos, less talk — that will be another theme for the week.

My Day #1 reveal is a double breasted coat with a peter pan collar for my daughter.  The pattern is by dmkeasywear, purchased on Etsy. I used a stretch denim purchased at Jo-Anns for the exterior, and a Dear Stella cotton print for the interior. I think the lining fabric is so great! I was back and forth about whether to use a solid or a print for the exterior, but the practicality of a solid finally won me over. The compromise in my internal battle was to go bold for the lining.

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My new machine has an embroidery feature, so I thought it would be fun to include my daughter’s name on the lining. I like the concept, but I think I might have preferred a block script to the cursive.

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This was my first time sewing with stretch denim. It’s somewhat stiff, but I think that lends nice structure to the coat, and I bet the stiffness will subside a bit with more washing. I was surprised at the level of wrinkles produced by just one wearing, as evidenced by the pictures; although the coat was the subject of some extra handling as I set up for the photos. While sewing, I had to remind myself not to force or stretch the exterior stretch denim fabric to avoid a misshapen exterior or wonky seams. My new machine feeds fabrics so nicely, and I’m more accustomed to having to “help” my old machine along at times.

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What do I think about the outcome?

The misses: Generally I found the pattern to be well-written but there were a few parts where I misunderstood the instructions. I haven’t seen this mentioned in other reviews of the same pattern, so I think it’s more an issue of my mind working differently than the pattern drafter’s mind; and I would have described the step a bit differently. I ended up sewing the coat exterior twice because I messed up attaching the arms on my first go around, and simply wanted to start fresh. The back pleat on the jacket, hmmmm. First time for me with a back pleat, and being unfamiliar with it shows. My buttonholes also didn’t turn out as nicely as I’d hoped, and I should have made the top row a bit higher to avoid the sag in the top corner. I also wish I’d added a facing to the coat, for a more professional look on the lining side. I didn’t even think about it, but then I found this post after the fact and was kicking myself for not finding it sooner. Next time, perhaps!

The highlights: The pattern comes together pretty quickly. Despite a couple of construction misses due to my misunderstanding, I would give the pattern a thumbs-up and will probably make it again in a few years. The current coat is going to fit Daisy for a while. I intentionally sized up because I would like the coat to fit her again in the spring. I hate when I sew the kids something and it’s outgrown in a matter of weeks! I made a 2T without any alterations for fit (she’s still wearing mostly 18-24 months right now), and it’s definitely roomy and the sleeves are long. The bonus is I get to roll up the sleeves for a peak at the lining fabric! There also won’t be any problem fitting the jacket over sweaters, so that should extend its wear into early winter.

And I should probably mention, I did NOT sew this entire coat today on Day 1 of KCW! I am hoping to be able to share a project each day of KCW (perhaps a bit ambitious!), so I started a little early.

Now, back to my sewing machine. Day #2 will be here before I know it!

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New Sewing Machine Initiation

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I did it. I bought a new sewing machine. A real machine. A serious machine. Not one that bounces around the table when sewing thick fabrics; nor one whose automatic buttonhole feature means it automatically makes irregular buttonholes.

I really do need to spend some time with the machine’s instruction book, learning all the new tricks this baby offers. But I couldn’t help getting straight to garment sewing the first night. It was actually a great hands-on way to get accustomed to the machine, although I did need to refer to the manual a lot. Everything is different from my old machine, from loading the bobbin, threading the needle, selecting stitches. And by “different” I mean incredibly easier and smoother — and most of all, much quieter! The quiet factor is truly appreciated considering I do 90% of my sewing at night when my children are (hopefully) asleep, and my sewing room is right above my daughter’s bedroom.

So far, so good. I’ll share some more detailed thoughts and observations a few months down the road, once I have more experience with the machine.

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I chose a simple A-line jumper, in fall colors, for my new machine’s initiation project. Pattern: Ruby Ruffle Dress by The Cottage Mama. It’s a good pattern with several variations and helpful instructions. I even learned a new way to finish the hem on a lined dress. The fabric is from Alexander Henry’s Zhivago collection (Anastasia in purple).

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A  bit of the trite “two birds with one stone” — breaking in my machine and adding to my daughter’s fall wardrobe.

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I was able to eek out a size 2T using only one yard of the main fabric (lining is in a contrast fabric), although it did require different print placement for the front and back of the dress since the floral print is rather large and linear. I centered the floral lines on the dress front, and then spaced them to the sides on the dress back.

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More fall sewing coming up soon. Kids Clothes Week is just over a week away. I need to get organized and create a “to make” list and select fabrics! Yikes!

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Sewing a Staple

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Check! That’s the sound of me proudly checking off one of the resolutions I made earlier this year — sew an adult-sized garment. I’ve done it three times now. Three dresses, all using the same pattern. One each for me, my sister and my mother.

When I made that resolution earlier this year, I did not have any particular pattern or garment in mind. I just felt like it was time to take the leap into something (literally) bigger than my usual child-sized projects. When I saw the The Staple Dress by April Rhodes popping up everywhere across the sewing blogosphere, I knew I’d found an ideal pattern for tackling my resolution.

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I made the first dress for myself (above). I didn’t make a muslin (go ahead and slap my rule-breaking wrist for that!), but rather cut right into the good stuff. I made my dress using Anna Maria Horner’s Fine Feathered in Denim from her Field Study collection. The fabric is quilting cotton but it softens with washing and I think the weight works really well for this dress.

Thankfully my decision to go without a muslin worked out just fine. I swear I wouldn’t go muslin-less for a more complicated pattern, but this pattern is very straight forward; no fancy tucks or seams or darts, and the loose cut is also very forgiving. I based my sizing off the measurements provided in the pattern, and the only alteration I made was to lower the waistline shirring a bit. I included the pockets on my dress.

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This is truly such a comfortable dress. It’s an easy on/off and not restrictive at all. And you can play around with the look and dress it up a bit with jewelry or accessories. I wore mine so much this summer. Partly because I like it so much, and partly because I was so excited to wear something I made.

For my sister’s dress, I used Anna Maria Horner’s Specimen in Struck (also from the Field Study collection). I’d just like to take a moment to congratulate myself on very good placement of the pattern for this print. High fives for me! Phew! It took me longer than usual to cut the fabric for this dress as I sweated the print placement. I realized that if the print was just a bit off-center it was going to look lopsided and sloppy. Thankfully it turned out just as I had hoped.

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I love this fabric even more than I thought I would. But I was nervous my sister wasn’t going to like it. She had only seen a photo of the fabric prior to receiving the dress, and I wasn’t sure if the photo had provided her with an appreciation for the size of the print and the background design. Yikes, what if she hates it and banishes the dress to the back of her closet? We tend to have different preferences in clothes, so I started to think that if I liked the print, it meant she would hate it.  Halfway through sewing the dress I pretty much convinced myself she was never going to wear it.

It turns out she loves it!

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And I think it looks great on her!

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Are you wondering what happened to dress number 3? Well, apparently the dress I made for my mother is  a bit of a trouble maker. More on that soon!

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Housekeeping: Fall 2013

I suppose this post should probably be entitled something more like “Blogkeeping” or “Sitekeeping” as opposed to “Housekeeping.” (Actual housekeeping has not been happening on a frequent basis lately.) It seemed like it was time to freshen up and make a few changes around here. I’m debuting some updates.

New website theme: Misty Lake by Automattic.

New background from MaishopDigitalArt on Etsy. The shopkeeper, Marina, was so nice to work with and her digital artwork is fabulous. My background art was originally part of her Digital Papers in Mint Orchid listing. At my request, she converted the 12×12″ digital papers into a format for use as a seamless website background as a custom item. I love them! I’m using another one from the set as the background on my Twitter page, too. And there are eight more designs in the set, so I will no doubt be switching things up from time to time.

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I like the new look. It feels more comfortable, and more reflective of my creative escape.

Let me know what you think!