Monday, October 12, 2009

New Skirt

I made this skirt a few weeks ago, and it was too big.
Way too big. It is from the September 2009 BWOF (the number is 131, and I originally made the size 42.) I don't really approve of big pockets on my skirts, so I left them out. Without pockets and belt loops, this was a really easy skirt to make.
But I seem to have the problem of always making my skirts too large, and this time there was some drama involved. I decided to wear it on a Sunday to Church, and discovered about half an hour before we had to leave that it was not going to stay up. So, being the determined woman that I am, I got out a needle and thread and made the darts bigger, opened the waistband, and did a major taking in operation. I took in about 2 inches total in the darts and went off to Church. It kind of developed that "home made look" through the whole process. I like my clothes to look like someone skilled and highly paid made them, not a frantic mother-of-two trying to get out the door.
So, since I finished that jacket, I once again whipped out my trusty seam ripper and got down to business. Here is what the inside looked like before:
Once I ripped it apart, I took in 1/2 inch on each seam, for 2 inches total, serged the seams, re-hemmed it, and put the whole thing together again.


Here is the final result:
Now I am off to help cook for about 500 people because a friend of mine is getting married today. This has been a very busy October.


Sunday, October 11, 2009

Plaid Jacket

Well, it's fall in Chicago. And this is not one of those sunny, warm falls we have gotten used to. (A few years ago, the roses started blooming in December because of the weird warm weather.) So, I realized I had been wearing the same jackets and sweaters since I was pregnant with my youngest son. Does this mean that I pick classic styles that last a long time, or that I am in a fashion rut and need an intervention?

I found this in the October Burda, and I decided to make it. It has a hood and 3/4 length sleeves.

The pattern looked easy (famous last words).
I found a great plaid at Vogue and bought it before realizing that it is a stretch fabric, which meant I had to fuse it to other, non-stretchy fabric.




Here's a close up of it and the flannel from my stash that I ended up lining the jacket with:



I lengthened the sleeves and ditched the fake fur collar. This turned out to be the longest I have ever sewed anything except for a wedding dress for a friend of mine. I ended up making up my own directions because I couldn't make the given directions work. They weren't really bad, so much as evil and incomprehensible. I had to rip out almost every seam at least once.
Here is a portrait of the tool that saved my bacon on this project, the lowly seam ripper:



My room was covered with nests of red thread and snippets of fabric. My kids were living on apples and t.v. The extent of my conversation with them was "Be careful, the iron is on!" (My husband was off on a paintball trip, so there was no one to make me see sense. ) After a blur of sewing and cutting and ripping seams out, trying on and re adjusting, I am finished!
Here is the front:









Here is the back:





Now I can toss all of those old jackets and be toasty warm in whatever weather this crazy city decides to send our way. Chicago is not known for playing nice, but I am prepared!

Somewhere in the mayhem, my youngest son managed to lose another tooth. Once I remember his name, I'll make sure the tooth fairy visits him.