Birdie shorts

Even in a world where "Birdie Sanders" is a thing, for me, the word "birdie" will always conjure up the feeling of sheer embarrassment I had during my (poor) performance of my one-line solo in the middle school production of "Bye Bye Birdie".  Isn't it funny that such a seemingly benign word can have terrible connotations for someone!  Unfortunately, there really isn't anything else to name these shorts--Audubon shorts?  Lab of O shorts?  (Any other Cornell alums out there? :)

Maybe there is a bit of the same embarrassment in these shorts as the name suggests to my heart.  I was super excited about this fabric (stretch cotton twill, from Mood), and this project got bumped to the top of the list because I was so in love with the idea of shorts with birds on them.  Now that I'm wearing them, I feel a little bit like I'm wearing the inside of a sleeping bag from the 70s.  Remember those woodland duck prints?  (Go ahead and Google "vintage coleman duck sleeping bag").  Hmm....

Aside from the questionable taste level, the fabric was amazing to sew and wear.  Stretch cotton is so lovely.  The pattern is the Maritime Shorts by Grainline.  Definitely a tried&true pattern for me after making the anchors away version last year.

I pattern-matched the birds only at the front pockets, above (where it was easy, in other words).

The only significant change I made this time around was to sew in some functional back welt pockets (using my tutorial, here).  The fabric seemed more refined, and therefore suited a more formal pocket in the back (yes, I'm still referring to fabric with birds on it--the substrate was refined, not the print!). All attempts to pattern-match the welts were utter failures, so I ended up just trying to avoid birds entirely for the visible welt.

Between the awesome sewing pattern and stretchy cotton fabric, these shorts are wonderfully comfortable and fairly flattering.  Now I have to find/make more tops to wear with them!

Undocumented Garments of 2015

I don't need to review my year to recognize that I didn't blog a lot this year!   I sewed a lot less and had a lot less time to take photos and write posts, just in general.  But I sewed more than I reported, so instead of reviewing my "hits and misses" of 2015, I decided to post a photo or two of each garment I didn't blog about when I made it.  I just spent an hour digging through my wardrobe and photographing them all.  So, ladies and gentlemen, here are my Undocumented Garments of 2015.

Blouse and pants (made in June, worn to my birthday dinner at Quince in SF)

Blouse pattern: Myrtle, cropped by Colette Patterns
Blouse fabric: Britex Fabrics (not available online)
Pant pattern: self drafted
Pants fabric: Mood Fabrics (no longer available)

Summer top (made in July, first worn during our vacation in upstate NY)

Blouse pattern: self drafted
Blouse fabric: Britex Fabrics (no longer available)

Spotty blouse (made in August, first worn to my son's birthday party)

Blouse pattern: Alma blouse (with sleeve alteration) by Sewaholic
Blouse fabric: purchased in person at Hart's Fabric

Chambray shirt-dress (made in October, first worn to travel back to NY for my 20 year high school reunion!)

Dress pattern: elongated Granville button down, by Sewaholic

Dress fabric: Harts Fabric

Flannel PJ bottoms (made in October, I think)

Pants pattern: self drafted
Pants fabric: Harts Fabric (no longer available)

Funnel-neck dress (made in the fall sometime--maybe November?)

Dress pattern: vintage McCalls 2506
Dress fabric: Mood Fabrics

Lace-front top (made in December, to look "fancy" while spending way too much time outside on the playground with the kids)

Top pattern: Linden top, by Grainline
Top fabric: Mood fabrics (French terry and lace)

Silk peplum blouse (made in Nov/Dec as a muslin)

Blouse pattern: self drafted
Blouse fabric: vintage silk, purchased on Etsy

I didn't just sew garments that weren't documented!  Here are two Christmas gifts:

Jewelry roll (made in December, for my mother)

Roll pattern: Modkid 
Roll fabric: Tweed from FabMo, with some scraps from my stash

Waxed canvas shaving bag (made in December, for my husband)

Bag pattern: adapted from Thread Theory tutorial
Bag fabric and notions: Thread Theory kit

In 2016, I've already sewn a few garments.  I'll try to post photos before 2017 :)  Happy New(ish) Year!

Wool knit Linden with lace overlay

If you are visiting from Britex, welcome!  

I was won over by the Linden sweatshirt, designed by fellow Guest Blogger Jen from Grainline Studios, after making it in a sporty quilted fabric.  But the wheels started turning immediately, and I felt like a lace-overlay version would take this basic wardrobe staple up a couple of notches.  

As luck would have it, I was due for my next project with Britex working with one of their amazing knits!  After working hard to narrow down the choices, I decided on this beautiful medium-weight wool knit fabric, in an extra-dark loden (almost black) color.  I'm a sucker for pale pink, so this cotton-blend lace was the perfect contrast.  The image below shows how nicely this wool drapes.  Very luxurious!

The Linden is a super quick sew, and creating the lace overlay only adds a few short minutes (with big impact!).   I wanted to adjust for turn-of-cloth, so instead of cutting both lace and wool exactly the same size, I first cut out the front piece from the wool (in the image, it is shown folded down center front).  I placed the wool on the length of lace, lining up the center front (the fold) with a motif on the lace that I wanted smack-dab in the middle of my finished garment.

Then, the lace was folded around the wool, carefully matching everything up and smoothing the fabric all around.  I pinned around the perimeter to avoid shifting, and cut along right along the wool fabric.  The dark wool is pretty well camouflaged inside the lace!  

After cutting, I carefully opened out both pieces and pinned along the edges, then basted them together.  

From there, the construction is exactly the same, including handling and sewing the neckline and hem binding.

Between this stunning wool knit and the cute lace overlay, this is quite the high-end and fashionable garment!  Such a satisfying project, and good foray into working with both knits and lace.  

Many thanks to Britex for providing the wool and lace fabrics! 

2015 Resewlution, October garment #2

Quilted Linden sweatshirt

I wasn't particularly excited about Grainline's Linden Sweatshirt pattern when it was released.  It's cool, but I don't wear too many sweatshirts, and I wasn't sure I could make it look as hip as Jen does! That all changed on my last trip over the mountain to Hart's Fabric.  I spotted this a-mazing white quilted fabric and I hightailed it over to the pattern section to nab the Linden.  It was a match made in heaven, and was the easiest decision I made that day at Harts!

I love raglan sleeves and they seem to make garments come together super fast.  I made the process a tad longer by adding some not-entirely decorative stitching along the raglan seams.  Since the fabric is thick and synthetic, I knew ironing would be a relatively useless.  So, instead of serging those seams, I "lightening bolt" stitched them on my regular machine, opened them, and then used my coverstitch machine (with wide-set needles) to finish.  The continuous sleeve-side seam was serged.

The neckline is regular old black poly/cotton ribbing (I bought the tail end of the bolt at the store).  Worked great!  I opted against the ribbing at wrist and waist, and instead went with coverstitching there and at the neckline.   How fun is that fabric?  

For the sizing, I went with 0, grading out to 2 at the hips. Surprisingly, I didn't shorten the top at all, so if you are taller than me (otherwise known as "normal"), you might want to add some length.

This is a super fun, quick pattern.  I've seen versions in normal jersey fabric, but I'm kind of interested in trying out some sweater knits...it's a pretty versatile garment.  I may even size it down a tad to make a normal tee.

If it weren't for the unseasonably warm mid-90s temps we're having in northern California, I'd be wearing this like crazy!  "Winter" will come soon enough, though, and this will be ideal as an outer garment.  

2015 Resewlution, September garment #1

Really Maritime-y shorts

I bought this lovely chambray fabric (Robert Kaufman, Nautique Chambray) because anchors! I had ideas for a skirt which never materialized, and then felt inextricably drawn to the idea of making Grainline's Maritime Shorts with it because, well, anchors.  It's kitschy, sure, but once my mind latched on to that idea, there was no going back.  I could hardly justify buying a shorts pattern (especially since I have one in hand that I like!), except that I felt like if I didn't make *these* shorts, I may never use the fabric for anything, ever.

I am so happy I did buy the pattern!  These are not the same shorts as the others, clearly, the style is significantly different and more versatile, but also, Jen's drafting is just awesome.  After reading some reviews of the shorts being a little on the small side, I cut a size 2, grading up to a 4 at the waist. I made no other adjustments, and I am really pleased with the fit.

I added 2 full inches to the length, but then hemmed them about 1.5", so I'm not sure how much longer they actually are than the original.

I'm not usually one for patch pockets, but I went with the flow, and I kind of love the change of pace! And check out my pattern matching!  Very pleased with myself on that one and I'll be showing everyone my matching bottom :)

In other areas (uh, waistband), I made no attempts to pattern match and it shows :)  I never wear shirts tucked in, so no biggie.

Here's the zip and a glimpse of the insides.  I didn't construct the waistband as instructed, opting for a quicker and less bulky version we learned in pattern-making class--simply serge the bottom edge and sew down from the outside (either in the ditch or as topstitching, as for this garment).  Sometimes if I'm fancy, I'll add bias tape along the edge.  

For someone who doesn't like shorts, I've made a lot of them this summer...this is the end of that trend for this year.   Having satisfied my crazy obsession for really Maritime-y shorts, I can move on!

Sewing PSA of the day: did you know that NPR's This American Life is available as a 24 hour stream? That's what I listen to as I sew.  Give it a try!

2015 Resewlution, July garment #2