Repairs and Alterations

This is definitely not my favorite area of sewing but sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and go for it.  I worked on four garments this weekend, so more items are in wardrobe rotation as a result. And that's a good thing.

I made a TSW Lotus Skirt years ago in the pre-blogging era. You may recall the Lotus, it was in the Sewing Workshop lineup for quite some time but has disappeared from the site. Maybe it was time-- at least in the long incarnation.

Mine was almost floor length in front but that was the style back then (early 2000's) and besides, I was wearing heels all the time. I stopped wearing it after a while and put it in the closet of the Sewing Cave. However, after seeing some similar skirts on Pinterest, I decided I should pull it out again. However, the full length no longer worked for me. I haven't shrunk but my heel-wearing days are few and far between lately. So I cut 3" off the edges, which translates to 4 1/4" when you include the original hem allowance. I'm happy with the shorter length; it looks more modern now. This wasn't a difficult alteration but a time-consuming one with all the pressing up of the new hem on nice, albeit synthetic, black crepe fabric. It isn't the most pressing friendly fabric in the world and there's a lot of hemming involved.

So that was yesterday's project. Today included two more skirts that I've made, both from View C of  the Loes Hinse Boot Skirt pattern.

I think I've only blogged one of them, though. I flat lined that one, and the lining fabric shredded along one of the seams although there was ease. I guess there was a stress point somewhere. I fixed the seam with a combination of hand and machine stitching, including edge stitching along both of the side seam. Hopefully all of that stitching will work, it's a nice little workhorse of a skirt.

I also made a knit version last winter from remnants of this project but didn't snug up the waistband elastic enough and was too lazy to fix it. Fortunately, I used a normal casing for this one, so it was a simple matter to open the casing, shorten the elastic and close it back up again.

I also had a RTW project, since I'm 5'4" and most pants are too long for me. This pair was a nice pair of Calvin Klein dress pants that I bought during my banking days and never had time to fix. In addition to shortening them 3", I also narrowed the leg a bit below the knees to eliminate an unfortunate flare (another style from the past that no longer works for me). A little extra work, but not difficult and now I have a "new" pair of pants for the office.

Coldwater Creek Handwork

I'm a fan of the knit shells that Coldwater Creek used to make, but the necklines are worse for wear after several seasons. I've already experimented with one of them by trimming the neck with lace. After wearing it a few times, I regard it as a mixed success. The top is wearable again. However, the neckline is a bit stiff and gaps a little. Nothing that a non-sewist would be likely to notice, but I do.

I have 4 others, but I didn't want to use lace again due to the results last time. So I arrived at another idea--how about a crochet edge? Although I learned how to crochet in junior high and made many projects, it's been years since I've actually done any. So I bought some crochet thread, pulled out the hooks, and started experimenting.

Here are the results on the first two:

I'm pretty pleased with how they came out. The crochet edges look nice and are more flexible than the lace. And these took less time, too! Here are some close ups:

The edging on the blue top was done with Aunt Lydia's Classic 10 lace-weight cotton thread. The closest match I could locate was a variegated color called "Ocean". It consists of 2 rows; the first is a foundation and the second is a basic picot.

The edging on the cream top was done with Aunt Lydia's Fashion 3 super fine cotton. I selected this one because it had the best color match. It's thicker, so I just made the foundation row on this one. There's also a slight sheen that the thinner thread doesn't have.

I still have 2 of these tops left, and the biggest challenge was finding threads that coordinated! I had no luck among the crochet threads, so I expanded my search to embroidery floss, where there is a much larger variety of colors to choose from.

In other news,  you probably noticed that I updated the blog a bit. This is a "dynamic" template, which is a bit different from the last one. The sidebar is the little black line along the right side of the page. Hover over it and everything that was here before appears. Still a work in process...

Here and There

I really meant it when I said I needed a vacation!

DH and I went to Pennsylvania/New Jersey right after Labor Day for a family wedding. It was at the microbrewery where the groom, our nephew, is the assistant brewmaster. We had a wonderful time hanging out with family and friends. I wore a jersey dress that I bought in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. It was perfect for travel, since it took minimal space in my small carry-on wheelie bag and didn't require any maintenance on arrival except being hung up. I must keep this in mind for future trips--knits are your friend!

After the wedding, we headed up to New Jersey to the inlaw's home in Bergen. SIL and I made a quick trip to Manhattan, where we mostly window shopped. I picked up a few few at Lord and Taylor's and Macy's. Not anything special, just wardrobe basics that will work nicely for fall. We also had lunch at Bryant Park. Since SIL is not a sewist, I didn't submit her to fabric shopping. Perhaps another time.

I still haven't done any sewing since coming back. I expect that will change as the weather changes. It's officially Fall! It's still quite warm here although we're experiencing little hints of seasonal change with cooler mornings and evenings.

I'm looking forward to Material Girls tomorrow and have a garment ready to lay out and cut. Our meetings are at a Bernina dealership, so there will be plenty of room to work. I may also bring some handwork. I have a couple more of the Coldwater Creek tops with necklines I'd like to repair. This time, I decided that a crochet edge might work nicely.

Thanks for all the nice comments about the silk shell! I've worn it to work once already and discovered that I have a RTW cardigan from Coldwater Creek that works perfectly with it. I think I will be using this pattern again and often. Now that I have the pattern worked out, it's a really fast sewing project and a perfect layering piece.

Also, thanks for the hairstyle comments! I've had the short bob for a while now, which evolves a bit with each cut. It's even shorter now especially in the back.

Puerto Rico Wardrobe, Part 3, More RTW

Following are some more RTW items that I plan to bring on the Puerto Rico trip.

These cotton T's are from Talbot's. The floor shot makes them look boxy but they're actually fitted. Yes, I get into buying multiples of the same thing.

These white cotton crops came from TJ Maxx. It's a neat garment with some interesting features that might be fun to copy in the future. The belt is actually built into the pants, consisting of a piece of black elastic threaded through belt loops and pockets. The last set of openings are actually small vertical welts. And, one end of the elastic was attached before completing the fly front and waistband.

Of course, more shoes sandals. Although it's hard to tell from the camera angle, both pairs have heels; the Borns are a bit higher. I haven't decided whether to bring both pairs or just one but there's plenty of time to decide.