Replies to my Sewing Room Post

Thanks to everyone for your nice responses! It's great to get feedback on a room that's near and dear. Rather than responding in the Comments, I thought I'd go ahead and post here. Maybe someone will see the answer to a question she didn't realize she had.

To Debbie Cook: I guess neatness is relative. My sewing room is right outside the bedroom door so I feel like I have to keep the mess in control. After all, I have to look at it at least twice a day! I guess it's a good thing that I didn't show the closet door opened up!

Also, the cats are a factor. I can't even shut doors anymore since Smudge figured out how to open them--I have levers instead of knobs.

To Sharon: I love post it notes, especially the little colored plastic tabs. It does make referencing simpler. I mark good articles as I read through the magazine.

To MeLisa: I hope the bookcase pictures helped. I think in the long run, the cubbies work better for fabric storage than long stretches of shelving. You can probably find similar units in the closet section of Lowe's or Home Depot. FYI, be sure to get a rechargeable screwdriver for putting them together. It's much easier on your wrists than by hand!

As for the sofa table, I haven't had any problems with it being too narrow. I learned to sew on my mom's 1950's era White, which came in its own table. It wasn't much wider than the sofa table. What I like best is that it's a little lower than a normal table, and that means the height of the machine beds is close to perfect for me. If I need more room for a project, I can always move one of the machines off and shift everything else to the right hand side of the table. Also, it helps that the table isn't flush with the wall; there's about a hand's width of space between.

Everyone, it's nice to know that there are so many members of the Sterilite Club out there! What would we do without our translucent storage containers?!?

SWAP 2007: Butterick 3133

I started working on one of my key items this week: the skirt from my theme print. Originally, I planned to use a modified version of Sandra Betzina's faux wrap skirt from the Sewing Workshop, but I changed my mind after reviewing Butterick 3133 the other day. The fabric is polyester georgette, very wiggly, and a bit see through. I thought the faux wrap panel could be problematic, so I went simpler.

After interfacing where needed, I sewed up the back seam, and "uh oh." This just didn't look good. I had cut the back pieces double, and the pattern repeat was too off to match, but too close to look random. I debated leaving it alone, but decided that the only real choice was to rip and re-cut one of the back pieces.

But how? Match the print across the seam? I really thought about doing that, but a couple of issues came up. The fabric wiggles. A lot. Like if you breathe on it, it moves. So matching would be pretty difficult.

The second factor involved the print. Large and small circles. What if I did get that back seam perfectly matched and it ended up with a perfect bullseye on my butt? That would be terrible after all that work.

So I decided to make the seam look random. It actually isn't.

Here's what I did. I laid out one of the previously cut pieces on the fabric. Both the yardage and the cut piece are right side up, just as it would be when sewn. Note that I didn't press out the seam allowance or the slit. Once I decided on a nice appearance, I made sure the fabric was on grain. Then I pinned just beyond the folded-under edge of the cut piece.

Here's another view of the pinned seamline after removing the cut piece. The seamline has also been marked on the pattern.

This photo shows the pattern laid over the pins, with the pins and the marked seam line aligned.

Here's the completed seam after being pressed flat. A lot better, isn't it?

Sewing Room

I've been noticing another trend in postings. Several people have recently posted photos of their messy sewing rooms. I'd been thinking of posting some pictures for a while, and now is as good a time as any since I don't have to tidy up. Actually, it's not that bad compared with some times.

This is the view from the door. The machines rest on a former sofa table that I found at a consignment store. The lower shelf holds small drawer units that hold items like sewing gauges, cutting tools, marking tools, etc. Like items together and within easy reach of the machines, cutting table and ironing board. To the right of the machine table is my "Wall of Sterilite", consisting of portable drawers that I've acquired over the years.

Here's a better picture of the Wall. It's primarily used for fabric storage, although some of the drawers contain other items like serger thread, embellishments. It's not as tidy as I'd like right now but hopefully some actual sewing will remedy the issue.

If you look closely, you can see the Wall's other purpose, that of cat bed. Ghost is at one of her usual posts at the upper left under the color wheel.

I didn't make the quilt, I won it at a silent auction my ASG chapter had one year. The colors are true, but less vivid than in real life. I put "Daylight" compact fluorescents in the ceiling fixture, and boy, do they make a difference! I can really tell in these photos.

This corner is to the immediate right of the Wall. Guess what, the closet contains more fabric! It also houses several TNT patterns that I'm storing on hangers and some alterations that I'll eventually get to. I really miss the walk-in closet from the sewing room in my previous house. It wasn't large as walk-in's go, but it could hold a ton of fabric.

The dress form is an antique that came from my friend Karen, who gave it to me when she moved to Oregon. It's nice to have although somewhat worse for wear after all these years.

Next to the dress form is another monolith, this one made from pre-fab masonite shelving from the late home supply chain, Home Base.

Here's another photo of the bookcase. The configuration was based on a real practical issue. My previous house was a 2 story townhome, and I lived alone. This was my solution to getting the parts for this massive bookcase upstairs by myself. Each individual set of shelving was relatively compact, and I could get them up the stairs over several trips. In a slightly different arrangement, the shelves took up an entire wall in the other house.

The blue boxes contain my patterns. In their previous use, they were beer cases. Cheap and easily obtainable. I just covered them with contact paper to have them look a little nicer. The shelves also have a lot of sewing-related books and even more fabric! To the right of the bookcase is an old style metal waste basket that holds large rulers and rolls of Do-Sew. Above that is my collection of State Fair ribbons. Most are reds and whites, but there are a couple of blue ones in there. Through the door, you can see my full length mirror in the hall.

On the other side of the machine table is my ironing area. When I'm working at the machines, I adjust the board so it can be used sitting down. It rests behind the door when I'm not working on projects.

Behind the ironing board is one of those folding cutting tables from Joann's. This is an older one that I got at an ASG Silent Auction. When rolled out to the center of the floor and the leaves are extended, it gives a fairly large cutting area that's high enough to save my back. It also has a shelf underneath, which is full of Sterilite shoe boxes--I really should see about buying stock in the company. They contain buttons, beads, embellishments, etc. etc. Things we all need but don't have to access all the time.

The file cabinet is about half full with clippings on various sewing topics. This is another area that I need to make better use of. The side of the file cabinet makes a nice magnetic board though. I put pattern instructions on it when working on projects.

The cost of all this? I could estimate, but I'd probably die from shock. Keep in mind that it's been acquired over time, often with cast offs, silent auction wins, and consignment shop purchases. Like many sewers, I started with a small corner, one machine, and a couple of banker's boxes for storage. But having a sewing room is worth it to me.

Interesting fact (at least to me): I bought my house from my friend Brett and his partner Dennis, who had the house built. Brett used this very room as his art studio for the 10 years he lived here. I'd like to think there's some creative karma involved.

New Vogues

Vogue Patterns recently had an online sale, and these are the ones I bought. They arrived this week.


2956 This one is a new Oscar de la Renta. I love the jacket. I think this would also look great with a pencil skirt.

8208 This one features a safari style jacket. I've been seeing a lot of this in fashion magazines and RTW.

8323 This is a group of shoulder princess knit tops. As a busty girl, I like them, and I'm hoping that this styling will help in the fitting process. However, I was a bit surprised that Vogue recommends binding the scoop neckline and the sleeveless armholes with bias tape! Gahhh, who comes up with this stuff??

Work Work Work (and Rewards)

It's been kind of a rough week at work, but things are looking up. I've been working on a large deal for a long time and yesterday was the first stage of the closing. It went well! There were no issues regarding loan covenants (yay!), which is usually where closings go bad.

However, the days leading up to this were horrible. I spent a marathon day at work on Wednesday, rewriting the credit proposal at the last minute. Then I spent most of my day yesterday redrawing documents before heading out of town and arriving at the title company with minutes to spare.

I rewarded myself by stopping in at the outlet mall on my way back to town. It has a Jones NY there, and they're probably my favorite RTW--and face it, I would be running around naked if I had to sew all of my clothes. They had a lot of goodies on the clearance rack this time. I ended up with several items--2 skirts, 2 pair of work trousers, a top, and a pair of dark brown jeans. Average price, $25 per item. And I like them all, which is key when buying clearance and outlet. It's no bargain to buy ugly, ill fitting items just because the price is low. Although Jones does great collections, these are all individual pieces. That's fine because all were neutral shades except for the top, which is a light turquoise that I always wear well. Several of the pieces I bought reminded me of Loes Hinse.

I wish I had a source for Jones' fabrics. 2 items really stood out in this category. The first is a gored skirt in camel/cream/gray floral. The fabric is a tropic weight wool and rayon blend. The second is a pair of buckskin-colored trousers. Although they look almost like suede when worn, the fabric is a silk/linen blend. I had another pair in this fabric already, and they're wonderful. The fabric combines the best of each fiber, resulting in a cool wearing garment that doesn't wrinkle excessively and holds its shape. Both of these fabrics would be such a pleasure to sew, if they could be found.

By the way, Jones NY has a website, http://www.jonesnewyork.com/. I browse it from time to time for inspiration. Jones is mainstream, yes, but they produce a classic look that informs my sewing efforts.

Before I forget--my Vogue sale patterns arrived in the mail during the work crunch. I won't go into details now, but getting them was another nice treat.

Say Hello to my Leetle Friend...

It's been approximately a year since DBF persuaded me to buy an iPod. "It'll change your life," he said. I scoffed but bought one anyway. Dang, I hate it when he's right! Yep, I'm officially a Pod person. I haven't totally drunk the Kool-Aid. For example, this blog entry is being typed up on a Dell lap top with Windows.

And no, I don't think Steve Jobs is the second coming. But my iPod is a fun little toy that holds my entire CD collection with room to spare. And I love being able to buy just the songs I want through iTunes instead of an entire disk. I listen to it at home, in my car, at the gym and at the office. I probably won't get the iPhone, but I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with the next generation of iPods--surely Steve realizes that a lot of us have company cell phones that we get for "free" and will have pity on us. It would be cool to have an iPod where the screen is the entire side.

That being said, I'm introducing a new feature to the blog. From time to time, I'll be posting on fun stuff from my iTunes and iPod.

TNT Skirt: Butterick 3133

This pattern has been hanging around the Butterick catalog for quite a while; 3133 is actually the reissue number of a previous pattern. I've only made View B, which is the longer skirt at far left, but I've made it several times. It's a simple, classic style that makes up quickly to coordinate with my collection of twin sets and sweaters.

View A (pink skirt) is the same skirt in a shorter length, a no-brainer change. View C (purple skirt) is a 4 gore skirt that might be a good basic too. The skirts don't include pockets, but View E (black pants) includes a pocket piece, so this is an easy modification for the skirts. Hmm, I may need to explore this pattern a bit more.


Back to View B. Very often, the patterns that work with short yardage are only suitable for firmer fabrics like gabardine. And the patterns that work well for softer fabrics like challis take a lot of yardage. This one works great with soft fabrics, but only takes about 2 yards of 45" width and only 1 1/4 yards of 60" width. The fit skims the body. The flat front is slimming on me, avoiding the dreaded "dirndl" elastic waist look. The skirt to the left is the last one I made. I had a raspberry twin set that needed a coordinate and this fabric came to the rescue.



I always make a few modifications not specified by Butterick. They recommend 2 rows of 1/2" elastic at the waist. Umm, no. Too fussy. I just use one row of wider elastic. I think I used 3/4" width here. This change saves time and results in a firmer waistband. I think it looks better too. It's easy to change the width of the elastic to 1" or 1 1/4" width if that's all that's available at midnight. You all know what I mean.

Also, the pattern does not specify interfacing . Let me tell you, that little front panel doesn't look so great in a soft fabric without something to beef it up. I also like some interfacing at the back slit to give a crisper look and provide some reinforcement. Usually the iron-on knit interfacing provides just enough support.

This pattern is easy to line if your fabric is a bit sheer. Then you don't have to worry about finding a slip when you're running late for work in the morning. I didn't line this skirt, but I probably should have.

It's also simple to change the layout for border print fabrics. Or it can be "one seamed" to eliminate the side seams when working with plaids, stripes, or a complex border pattern.

And it's an easy skirt pattern to size up or down when measurements fluctuate a bit. I confess, this is an 8-10-12 pattern, and I'm currently a 16.

It's not high fashion, but Butterick 3133 is a wardrobe basic that lets the fabric do the talking. Excellent for a working wardrobe.

SWAP 2007: A Garment is Finally Done

Today I had the opportunity to take a few hours from work during the middle of the day, so I went home and worked on Kwik Sew 2565 for the SWAP. My first (and so far, only) garment is now complete!

I used Wash Away Wonder Tape* to hold the hems in place while double-needle stitching with wooly nylon in the bobbin. It worked great to hold everything in place. It also performed a slight stabilizing function. It can be sewn through, and it washes out, too! I'll definitely use this stuff again.

OK, I think I'm officially back on the horse with the successful completion of this project. I have my work cut out for me but I hope I can make a lot of progress in the next few weeks until April.

*ETA: The full name of this notion is Wash Away Wonder Tape. The manufacturer is WH Collins, Inc., which appears to be part of Dritz. I'm not sure where I got it. In addition to Joann's and Hancock's in Albuquerque, Ann Silva's Bernina is another store where I often buy sewing notions. HTH!

It's a Holiday, So of Course There's Snow (+ Gratuitous Squirrel)

It's Valentine's Day and it's snowing. This fits the pattern--Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's. Just when the last of the New Year's snow had melted away. I tell ya, it's just not typical weather for Albuquerque.

Accumulation on the back wall is about 4" deep. Yep, I hear you Northern folks laughing but that's a lot for us. Ice underneath, and if you live in a hilly area, it won't be fun. This is supposed to keep going until tonight. Ahh, special times.

And this is for Ann (Gorgeous Things). I couldn't resist with her recent focus on squirrels. Unfortunately I have no idea of the photo's origin, but he is cute!

Smudge in His Youth

I mentioned in another post that my cat Smudge was not an attractive kitten. A lot of you probably feel that I'm being unecessarily harsh to my boy, but it's true and here's the proof.

The giant feet and rat like tail--what can I say? Then there's the matter of the attitude. The look just says "don't even think of messing with me."

This is one of my favorite pictures of Smudge. It captures him perfectly. And yes, that is a fried chicken ad he's looking at.

TNT T Shirt Pattern

There's a thread currently running at Stitcher's Guild regarding classic patterns, meaning those basic ones that become your Tried and True favorites that you use again and again. For me, it's kind of hard to come up with a list for someone else because a lot of my classic/basic patterns are now out of print. I have TNT's from a lot of different pattern companies including Vogue, Kwik Sew, Butterick (!), even Simplicity. I haven't had much opportunity to sew up my Loes Hinse patterns yet, but I really like them. I promised that I'd try to put together a list over the weekend, so here's my first effort. Hey, there's always e-Bay for the OOPs, so you can have them too.


Kwik Sew 2565 is my "go-to" T-shirt pattern. I've made it in onionskin, buttermilk, panne velvet, cotton/lycra interlock, stretch lace, etc. I've had a couple of failures, but more from operator error than the pattern itself. In addition to the rib knit wadder, there was the panne velvet one I made and didn't account for the...shine of the fabric. I was a cute top, but too vavavoom for me to wear. I looked cute on my friend's teenage daughter though.

It also lends itself to the practice of "morphing", you know, where you take a feature off another pattern and add it to the pattern you know and love. I've changed the sleeves to bells, used a different shape neckline, etc.

This pattern features a regular T and a zip-front version. I've only made the regular T, so I can't vouch for the zip-front. The envelope also has a drawing of a lace version with a camisole underneath. The camisole isn't part of the pattern, so the drawing is a little bit misleading.

This pattern is a true TNT which I'm sure I'll keep using. I'm currently using it for the SWAP sewing project. I'm not saying it's the be-all and end-all of all T shirt patterns though. Your mileage may vary. My suggestion is to start with a basic pattern like this and make it your own. Then you can also have a pattern that you can pull out whenever a nice knit jumps into the cart.

Oh, and I decided to post about individual patterns rather than a comprehensive list. It's easier for me to post in short bursts instead of an opus, and I think it's probably easier for you readers, too. Stay tuned for more TNT's in the days (weeks, months) to come.

Trading Post, plus SWAP progress

My local ASG chapter has a monthly general meeting that features a Trading Post. Members bring sewing related items they no longer want, which other members can have. We put out a basket and you can make a donation to the guild when you pick out your items. All this is strictly honor system.

Any leftovers are sent to the women's prison in Grants, NM for their sewing program. The manager of this program is one of our members. She has a very limited budget for supplies and this is one way to help her.

Anyway--tonight was ASG night. The Trading Post was small but good. I picked up 5 cards of antique buttons, 2 magazines (that's a 2/07 Sew News and the Fall 2006 Cloth Paper Scissors), and fabric. The gold and black piece at the top is a remnant of a luxurious upholstery brocade--large enough for a trim on a jacket--a collar and/or cuffs. The blue fabric is lightweight crepe. Probably poly but a nice grade of it. There's more than enough for a blouse or skirt. The muted floral next to it is upholstery weight chenille tapestry--it's just wide enough for a table runner, maybe 2 of them.

Fellow ASG members, thanks for bringing in such nice swag. I'll try to remember to bring my grocery sacks of castoffs next month's meeting.

Also, the purple t-shirt continues. I got a chance to start sewing last night. The shoulders, neck band and sleeves are done. I have side seams and hems left to complete. Although I haven't tried it on yet, I think the fabric was the issue on the last one, not the pattern.

A Plethora of New Stuff

My drive home tonight yielded more than the usual pickup of bills and junk mail from the mail delivery box down the street. Even though I was expecting packages, it was still a pleasant surprise to find the key in my mailbox, and not one, but two, items in the package box.

My order from Timmel Fabrics arrived from Canada, consisting of Loes Hinse patterns and fabric. The Loes patterns are the Bacall Sweater, Kimono Jacket and Bergman Blouse. Plus dark gold wool blend jersey. Now I really have no excuse to put my SWAP off any longer!

I also ordered some books from Amazon that came much sooner than expected. Since I'm still new to blogging, I picked up "The Rational Guide to Google Blogger" and "No One Cares What You Had for Lunch". Obviously the first is a manual. I heard about the other one through NPR. Margaret Mason, the author, was featured in a recent podcast. So I bought the book based on her interview skills. What does this book have to do with it? The subtitle is "100 Ideas for Your Blog."

The third book is "Forever Cool". It's a fashion/wardrobing/style guide. We sewers seem attracted to this kind of thing. Face it, I'm approaching that certain age, and while I still believe I've got style, a girl can use some outside advice from time to time. Some day, I'll review some of my books and share the love.

I also stopped in at Joann's and bought some goodies there. I blame the Sew Distracted blog for this (well, only a little. I accept my part in this). Here's what I got:

Vogue 2913 Sandra Betzina has updated her basic pants pattern to a yoke waist. And thanks to Vogue for
putting all sizes in one envelope!


Vogue 2948 An update and reissue of her popular princess seam pants from several years ago. This one has a yoked waist also. A nice basic.

Vogue 2952 Issey Miyake's take on a business suit. I love how this is conservative in the front and strange in the back.

However, I'm going to gripe about the photo styling. What's with the left sleeve, people? Could you not pin it to the correct length to match the right sleeve? Besides that, too-long suit sleeves are a pet peeve of mine. The left one should not graze the model's knuckles. And different sleeve lengths strike me as sheer laziness on the part of the stylist. Come on, you're still Vogue Patterns. Have some respect.

I'll probably make both pieces of this ensemble. Banker that I am, I'll combine each half with a more conservative mate. I think the jacket would look gorgeous with pants, and the skirt would be great with a classic twinset--classic and subversive, but not over the top.

Vogue 8322 Last but not least, a "small envelope" pattern for my final purchase today. This is a nice shoulder princess blouse whose parts can be combined in any number of ways. My mom used to love this sort of pattern, because you could make it several times and each version would look very different. There are also "fitting opportunities" in the shoulder princess. I'm not sure exactly when this one hit the book, but the copyright is 2006.

Progress in a couple of areas

I mostly puttered around the house yesterday, but made progress on a couple of projects that I've mentioned before.

I installed the bi-fold doors on the closet in the Florida Room. Much better! They'll be painted out once the weather gets warmer and I can ventilate the house. There's definitely a learning curve to this DIY stuff. I couldn't get the first set of doors to stay in the track until I figured out that I could use the cardboard packing material as a shim to level them while setting the pins and adjusting the height. The second set of doors took almost no time.


In addition to the aesthetics, it's nice to have the additional storage space. I'm leaving the desktop in there for now, so it'll be a place to spread out projects that I don't want strewn about, like the organization of my tax paperwork.



The other project fits the category of "getting back on the horse." I was pretty disappointed in the failure of the cream knit top so I decided I should re-test the Kwik Sew pattern I used. Fortunately, I had some quality cotton and lycra knit leftover from a previous project. I thought I only had enough for a shell, but there was enough to make a short sleeved T. The fabric is from Joann's, one of the rare ones that isn't polyester, a print or glitzed up. Hopefully it'll fit into the SWAP but if not, I can always use another nice T.

Heavens!!

One of Jean-Paul Gaultier’s wedding dresses in his Spring-Summer 2007 Haute Couture collection in Paris. Cathy Horyn of the NY Times summarized this look well:

Hail Mary, did Jean-Paul Gaultier have a Jesus hallucination?