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!

Camas Blouse by Thread Theory

After making several Thread Theory patterns (peacoat and boxer briefs) for my husband, I was super excited to hear that they were releasing a pattern for women.  And when I saw that it was a not-so-basic knit top, well, I was all over that.   Come to me, Camas Blouse!

Overall the top is just great.  It has a few more pieces than the average knit op, but those small details really make the pattern interesting: button placket, yoke with gathers, and a curved hem.  I sewed the whole top in the same knit fabric, but the original design suggests using a contrast fabric (woven or knit) for the shoulder yoke pieces.  Check out other versions here and here.

I sewed up a size 4 top.  Knowing the v-neck was going to dip low, I shaved off about 1/2" at the top of the front and back (at the yoke seam line) and reduced the sleeves a bit to accommodate the smaller arm scythe.  I also made my standard petite adjustment at the waist.  

For the yoke pieces, there are front and back yokes attach at the shoulder.  However, I ended up combining the front and back yokes into one piece to avoid unnecessary seams at the shoulder.  It worked out great (even with the wacky grainlines).

Even with my new machine (I haven't introduce her yet!) I'm still a bit unhappy about making buttonholes on knit fabric, so I was really excited to see that the directions suggested making faux buttons, which is exactly what I did!  Sewed those things straight through the button placket.

Overall, the top is a bit roomier than I would like, but that's an easy fix.  I'll probably size down to a 2 for the next one, but mostly, I'd reduce or even eliminate all the gathering in the back.  It just looks a bit blocky and blousey on my frame.  Or, it could be the fabric, which is a bit thick.

Oh, so yeah, the fabric (and the elephant in the room, for those in the know).  I used this lovely, lovely knit fabric (Utopia, by Frances Newcombe).  And I oriented it in the wrong direction.  The stripes are supposed to be vertical, but I had it in my mind that the stripes go horizontal.  Since the fabric is a 4-way stretch, it wasn't obvious and still works just great, but yeah, I feel pretty silly.  

Thank you to Thread Theory for providing the pattern and letting me try out.  I am SO hopeful they will continue releasing women's patterns--I love their style!

Am I doing a Resewlution 2015?  I don't know yet...maybe?  If so, January garment #1!

Comox Trunks, pattern review

Huge fan of Thread Theory that I am (their recent and incredible pea coat pattern here), I was super excited that they've designed and provided us lady sewists with a quick, useful, and (dare I say) sexy item of clothing to make for our men: the Comox Trunks.  Thank you!   And they've made it uber easy by offering a kit, complete with lovely bamboo fabric, elastic waistband, and cute little tag label.  Love their beautiful packaging!

The pattern is a tad confusing with all the overlapping and non-mirrored pieces (guess I haven't thoroughly studied how boxer briefs are constructed...), but multiple readings of the directions and laying out the pieces clarified it.  I also had a bit of a problem sewing the bias along the front opening, but after trying everything (double needle, coverstitch machine, regular zigzag, multi-stitch zigzag), I pulled out the one tool I should have started with: my walking foot.  Gets the job done, yet again.

I sewed the waistband on slightly differently than in the directions, to make it easier to line up and create a cleaner finish on the inside.  I placed the elastic inside the shorts, wrong side to wrong side, matching up the edges.  I used a small zigzag to sew them together, trimmed overhanging fabric, and then flipped the waistband up.  I probably should have secured the edge with another round of stitching from the right side, but it stays in place just fine.

I may have ordered the Comox Trunk kit the day Thread Theory announced their release of the pattern, sewed them up probably the day after they arrived and yet it has taken me until mere days before the drawing deadline to photo them.  Mostly, I was trying to convince my husband (my very attractive, cyclist husband, I might add :) to model them. So finally, here's my Comox Trunks avec hot model!

And the back view:

The trunks are awesome and I'm looking forward to trying them out in some performance knit fabrics! A huge thank you to my incredible husband for agreeing to be my underwear model :)

Pattern testing: Goldstream Peacoat by Thread Theory

When I first "discovered" Thread Theory and their solid line-up of patterns, I was impressed and excited: stylish menswear!  What a concept!  So when they had a call for pattern testers for their newest pattern, the Goldstream Peacoat, I just had to respond, and was fortunate enough to be chosen to do it. Lucky me!  Never mind, of course, that I was (am!) overwhelmed with "real" work and other sewing projects (including the Britex tie/ pocket square)!

The pattern itself produces a stylish and modern coat, with many options (some of which I didn't add to my husband's jacket, such as epaulets).  The pockets on the front are super clever; they are actually two pockets together, one with top entry (with a flap) and the other side entry.

The details of the jacket make it exciting and interesting to sew.  Button tabs on the sleeves?  How professional does that look??

I love all the topstitching around the front, lapels and collar.  Sure, I broke 5 topstitching needles in the process of sewing the jacket (not just this topstitching, don't worry!), but I was sewing through some serious layers in some spots!

I used shoulder pads!  And they make such a huge difference: especially on a man, a jacket just hangs better with shoulder pads.  And check out that hood, with the small leather buttons.  LOVE.

The arms are constructed of two pieces, and are beautifully contoured to the arm shape.

The pattern is great, as is, but I made some slight changes to suit my own preferences.  First, I underlined the main body (not the arms) with flannel to support the fabric a bit better, and second, I actually made all 6 buttons functional.  It makes it a bit of a pain to button them all up, but after making my own jacket with several non-functional buttons, I felt like it looks better.

For fabric, I used a chocolate brown wool melton, purchased locally and for a steal at $20/yard, with moss green Bemberg lining from Mood.  

The lining looks messy at the hem in the photo, but it's actually really nice and straight (and hand sewn!) in real life.

One of my favorite tiny details of the jacket is the back neck facing: it was designed to encourage the sewist to add their own little design touch for the label.  

I used a little scrap of some wool-silk upholstery fabric and my little "z as in zebra" label.  

I am in love with the results of this pattern and I can seriously recommend it (once it's released, of course!).  Another hurray to Thread Theory for helping us sewists clothe the males in our lives in stylish handmade wares!