Tutorial: No Hand-Sewing Waistband

Forgive me if this tutorial seems to be too basic. My 1950’s playsuit pattern had instructions on how to insert the waistband in a way that required no hand sewing. All of the modern patterns and books I’ve used have you stitch half of the waistband down then slipstitch it in the inside. I find that to be tedious. I don’t mind catch-stitching a hem invisible or tacking down a facing. But when there is no real benefit to all that hand sewing I don’t see the point.

First thing you need to do is press your waistband in half and then press the seam allowance up on one side of it (this will be the front).

Next,  flip it inside out and stitch on both ends of your waistband from the fold in the middle up to the fold of the seam allowance . Turn your waistband right side out. Line the unfolded edge up with the inside of your skirt or pant. Stitch, trim the seam allowance, and press up towards the waistband.

Now simply top-stitch the part of the waistband you folded in place and you are done! I think I would only do the slipstitch routine on only the most formal of skirts. Otherwise this is neat, tidy, and fast.

xx, Cynthia

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Sarah, magic commenter number 40, won my rad giveaway, so congrats to her! This is the video she posted. I love kittens so much. Have a great week ya’ll 🙂

Autumn Wardrobe a la Gertie

These are the first two pieces from my fall sewing plan. I love this outfit. My last make was a dud (btw, I’ve already taken it in and it fits much better), so it feels especially good to make a winner. I drafted this circle skirt following the instructions in Gertie’s new book (if you haven’t gotten a copy yet GET ONE FOOL!!!!). The top is the Portrait Blouse from the same book

I have tons of this brown corduroy and may make another that’s slightly longer. I made this 16 inches long and it feels a little scandalous. I’ll aim for a 18-19″ hem on the black skirt I have planned. I commute by bicycle, so I normally have shorts under my dresses and skirts. That’s the only reason I avoided a wardrobe malfunction today.

See… it’s a circle. Neat-o

I wore this outfit Monday night to go dancing for my little sister’s birthday. I got *so* many compliments. Squeee, I felt very proud of myself. Also, dancing in a circle skirt is crazy fun. I’ve never worn one before and the twirl factor was most excellent.

Obligatory twirl shot

I inserted my first lapped zipper (thanks again Gertie) and hand-picked the side on the overlap. I used a pants hook and bar at the lap of the waistband. Speaking of that, it looks a little bit sloppy up top because the waistband is a skosh short. I’ll add an inch to my next one. I finished this with an easy rolled hem and that’s about it for the skirt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The top is the portrait blouse. I was very short on fabric and barely eeked this out. I used the remainder of the cotton gauze left over from Macaron. This blouse is perfect for a light breezy fabric. It looks nice on its own and can sit comfortably under a cardi. Perfection!  My measurements fall in between two sizes so I made up a new size . Let’s call this a size 5.

I didn’t have enough fabric to make facings with so I used 1/4″ bias binding at the neck. The sleeves and hem are serged, pressed and stitched. Nothing too fancy.  The only adjustment I had to make was to lengthen the front tuck/darts by 1.5 inches. When I wore this Monday night I kept tugging at it because the fullness was too low, now it’s fitted right up until my bust starts.

Check out my beasts in the background

Gertie mentions that this blouse is short and I have to agree. I don’t think I could pair this with something that doesn’t sit at my natural waist.  If I make this again, I’d like to add around 5 inches. I’d also like to omit the zipper in future versions and see if I can make this work with slits at the side seams instead.

This outfit is a winner, and I’m looking forward to the rest of my fall wadrobe.

xx, Cynthia

Autumn/ Winter Sewing Plans

I’m starting to come up with a plan for my cold weather sewing and I thought I’d share them with you.

I’ve already mentioned the coat I want to make with some Pendleton wool. I’m pretty sure I’m going to make to make McCall’s 6442 with it. I just love the hood. I will most likely begin work on that in mid October.

I also really want to make a  winter weight dress. All of my dresses are light cotton or rayon. I have some pretty blue wool, and I’d like to make something inspired by what Kenley wore on episode 3 of this season’s   Project Runway. I don’t think I’ll do the contrast cuffs though. I have some seed pearl beads and I’d like to bedazzle the peter pan collar with them and make a matching cream colored belt.

Mostly, I want to make separates. I’ve already started work on that front. I love the look of short circle skirts for fall, like this one. I’ve already made one in brown corduroy. I’m just letting it hang right now so I can hem it. I also have black corduroy to make a second.

I’m planning on making a few bow-tie blouses and shells with some of my lighter 1 yard cuts of fabric. I’m going to start work today on the Portrait Blouse from Gertie’s book. That will use up the rest of the cotton gauze I made the yoke of Macaron with. I have some floral rayon to make a long sleeves blouse with. Between my brown and black skirt I should be able to mix and match an eclectic wardrobe. The rest to be decided.

I also want to make some more items with knit fabric. I already made a sweatshirt with the free Dolman Sleeve Pattern that Cindy from Cation Designs released. It’s super cute and I’ll post photos as soon as I can get the mister to take some. If you follow me on Instagram this is old news (my user name is cynbular). I also won a PDF T-shirt pattern from MariaDenmark. It will make some great layering shirts.

Today, I had a pretty amazing thrift store find and picked up an entire bolt of nice stretch denim for $25. The fabric came from Columbia Sportswear and is 60″ wide. I think there’s about 10-15 yards, I haven’t measured it. I’ll definately try my hand at jeans. I think i’ll start with Clover and then make a more traditional jean, as well as a pair for the mister.

I also want to have the Bombshell Dress done, if not by the holidays, then by my birthday at the end of February.

Looking at the list it seems pretty daunting so I’m not sure how much I’ll finish, but it’s nice to have a plan and goals to work towards.

xx, Cynthia

That F@$&ing Peplum Top

If colorful language upsets you, dear readers, please look away. First, allow me to give props where they are due. This is that fantastic peplum top from the cover of the August issue of Burdastyle (I *know* you’ve oogled it). I need to tinker with the fit and I really think I’ll like it  A LOT. I love how it dips slightly lower in the back. I love this stretch cotton sateen that Kollabora sent to me. Also,  photographer husband really stepped up his game and got some beautiful photos that hide what a shit show this was to make.

I’m giving my copy of Burdastyle away (in part), because it fucking drove me bonkers.That’s not to say that there is anything horribly wrong with the mag, mostly I’m an idiot and made about a million mistakes. There are tons of cute things in there, but I’m put off them for the time being. I’d never seen a Burda mag before and was jazzed to get my grubby hands on it. Then I saw the pattern page. WTF is that shit? It’s a sewing pattern for Klingons! I’ll stick to the downloadable PDF’s from now on….

Patience and perseverance won out in the and I got this traced out. Mostly. I used the sleeves from Macaron and made bias tape (holla!) to face the neckline. That’s because I was sick of finding the right line on that hot-mess-of-a-pattern-sheet.

Then I made a muslin. It was huge! I removed 2 inches from the center front. I also added half an inch in length and lowered the neckline by the same amount.

The skirt portion of this top was over 23 inches long… GRRRRR. That’s a dress. I removed over 13 inches in length.

Now for my mistakes. Remember how I removed 2 inches out of the center front of the BODICE. I *should* have removed that out of the skirt. Duhh. That didn’t occur me at the time. It occured to me when I was trying to ease the skirt into place without puckers. Also, this fabric has a fair bit of stretch to it. Did I account for that when I fitted my non stretch muslin? No. This is huge. That’s why I’m wearing a belt. I have to! I need to take this in a few inches at the side seams. I also forgot to let the circle skirt hang before I hemmed it, so that will probably stretch and get wonky too. FUDGE!

But these photos look great. They show me the possibility in this top. When I first put it on I felt too trendy and forced. I made it more my style by adding this beaded collar I found last Christmas at an antique shop. Très sixties

xx, Cynthia

Giveaway Day

Remember a week ago when I said I’d have a giveaway that weekend in honor of reaching 100 followers, yeah, me neither. I’m having a giveaway this weekend instead!!! YAY free shit!!!!

If you want to win, leave a comment by September 15. If you’d like your entry to count twice post a youtube video of baby animals (the cuter the better).

xx, Cynthia

Lori’s Shorts: McCall’s 5391

This is my baby sister and I luff her <3. Her birthday is coming up and we decided that I would sew her a pair of shorts for her prezzie. You can see me wearing the muslin here.

We had a sister date a few weeks back where we went fabric shopping at the Pendleton outlet in Washougal, swam in the Columbia River, and got tattoos. I was thinking we would get some wool while at the  Pendleton store and make a winter short, but this mint green snake print cotton twill caught her eye.

I kept trying to talk her out of it (I thought it was supah tacky), but then a voice in my head said, “Idiot! These are for her, not you!” I’m glad I shut up because these shorts are perfect for her. They suit her style perfectly and fit her nicely. I also like them too (O_o) and lucky for me we’re the same size.

I goofed by putting the zipper of the mock-fly on the wrong side so they zip up like men’s shorts. One thing I’ve noticed with this pattern is that as drafted the waistband is a little short. I recommend is adding a centimeter or so. I ended up having to ease the shorts to fit on to the waistband.

I interfaced the waistband with horse-hair canvass to keep it from rumpleing and changed up the installation from the pattern directions so I wouldn’t have to slip-stitch by hand. I took photos so I’ll post a mini tutorial this week.

xx, Cynthia

 

Truffle Shuffle

Guys, I’m gonna need a bigger closet soon!

I’ve got fall sewing on the brain, but I decided I need to make *at least* one last summer dress, before the weather turns. I’m glad I did because Truffle from the Colette Sewing Handbook is so cute!!! I always feel like a lady when I wear one of their designs. I’m going to a masquerade themed event in October and I think this thrifted turquoise fabric would go nicely with a mask made of peacock feathers.

I looked through my patterns and decided that the stiffness in this fabric would pair nicely with the ruffle. I was a little concerned because the pattern calls for 3 yards of fabric and I only had 2. I laid out the pieces and they looked like they all fit so I started cutting. They didn’t all fit. I wasn’t able to quite fit the ruffle on grain, so instead I cut it on the crosswise grain. I hope this won’t cause any problems in the future, but I don’t think it will. The ruffle still sits at the waist on the bias. This might help you conserve some fabric if you make Truffle.

I told my photographer husband I thought this photo would come out vaguely pornographic, unfortunately it’s the only photo of the back

I didn’t make a fitting muslin beforehand since I have had such luck with Colette in the past. This dress does fit a little bit looser than other designs of theirs, so keep that in mind. It’s perfect with this stiff fabric, but I imagine it would look a little frumpy in a fabric with less body.

I opted to not line this. I have a hard time slipstitching my linings in place without distorting the fit of the bodice. I also think a lining is unnecessary in a summer dress. I serged the inside edges to keep them from fraying. I used bias tape to face the neckline and arm holes. I used another one of my hoarder metal invisible zips, and finished with a rolled hem.

This dress came together quite fast. I would recommend this pattern to a beginner. It features a classic shape, with a fun twist. I finished my sister’s birthday shorts so expect a post as soon as I can get some photos.

This is my natural expression when my face is relaxed

xx, Cynthia

Sweet-Twee Macaron

I know this isn’t Earth shattering news, but I absolutely adore Colette Patterns.Sarai designs such pretty, flattering, feminine designs. I always feel like a lady when I wear one of my Colette’s. I even got a compliment from a stranger as soon as I left the house today. That always feels good 🙂 This is Macaron, and I unfortunately let it languish in the pattern stash far too long. I decided to pull it out so that I could participate in this months Sew Collette, hosted by Erin, Rochelle, and Sarah.

I found both of these fabrics thrifting, so this pretty dress cost me only about $15 to make. Gotta love that! The blue floral is a very light and somewhat sheer cotton gauze, and the brighter blue is some sort of drapey linen blend. I have a bunch left of both fabrics, so you might see some more of them.

As far as making this , I finished this in a day. That’s not to imply that it was easy or came together quickly. I just got super focused and had a dressmaking marathon. I think I spent about 8-9 hours total on this (thank you Radio Lab and This American Life podcasts)! I found this dress to be quite challenging and every bit the intermediate rating that it has.

I had originally planned for some sheer silk chiffon for the upper bodice and magenta rayon twill for the body, but I’m glad I haven’t cut into those fabrics yet. I’m not sure if my skills are up to snuff to make a challenging dress out of challenging fabric.

I don’t know if other people have noticed this, but I had a few typos on my pattern. Most notably one of the midriff pieces, was missing the cutting line for the size 4 . I guestimated, but there was little bit of fudging the skirt to match the waistband. Other than that every thing went together well, if not quickly. It’s pretty tricky attaching the sweetheart, to the upper bodice. That alone took me an hour.

I love the shape of the sleeves on this dress. It’s a very subtle but pretty detail. It mimics the overall curviness of the rest of this dress. I’m pretty sure I’ll be adding these sleeves to other patterns in the future. This dress is so flattering and easy to wear. I really like this! The guts of this are serged and not super interesting. I also finished this with a super-crazy-long metal invisible zipper. I didn’t want to frack my scissors up cutting it down so the zipper goes all the way to the hem.

I’ve had it in my head for months to make a fall version of this dress with a cream colored cotton lace and mustard yellow wool. Since I haven’t found either of those fabrics, don’t expect to see that version anytime soon. I’m really itching to make it though, so hopefully I can find that fabric come October or November.

xx, Cynthia

P.S. I just saw that I’ve reached 100 followers (I’m at 103 actually) which is very exciting to me. I’m very thankful to have ya’ll to gush about our mutual hobby with. I’ve got a giveaway to say thank you planned. I just have to decide what I’m going to put together. It’ll be a nice goody-bag of supplies, patterns and fabric. Expect a post on that this weekend.

 

 

A Toile Toile

How annoying is that title? Hahaha. These shorts are actually a wearable muslin. My little sister’s birthday is coming up and she wants a pair of shorts for her present.

We went to the Pendleton Mill Outlet with the intention of getting some wool to make a winter short. But, that’s not what caught her eye. We picked up a super fun, snakeskin print twill.

She wants a menswear inspired short (honestly, Thurlow would be perfect). I have McCall’s 5391 in the stash and gave it a try. This pattern isn’t quite what she wants. On her version I’m going to add patch pockets to the rear (I think), and she definitely wants a cuff.

These are a straight make of view A, with the buttoned belt loops from F. Her measurements are just about the same as mine so I cut these in a size 12. I haven’t be en able to fit them on her yet, but I like them on me.

I inherited a small fabric stash, as well as my sewing machine, when my friend Leslie moved across country. I have tons of this home decor cotton toile fabric (about 4 yards) in the above mentioned stash. It is the perfect weight for a pair of pants, so I made these as carefully as I would on the final version. I really like how they came out. They’re super preppy :).

I made no fitting changes and these were a fairly fast make. I spent about 4 hours total on them. The only difficulty I had was on the zipper.

The pattern calls this a “mock fly”. I’ve never made a fly before, so I’m not sure what the difference is. The instructions were very confusing, and the illustrations weren’t very helpful either. I had to read them aloud a few times, and I’m not sure if I got it right. The zipper looks good enough, so I’m not too concerned. I’ll consult a book when I make my sister’s, so I can make her a proper fly.

The only other “issue” is that, as drafted, view A is hella short. When I make these again for myself, I think I’ll add 2 inches. Even my husband said they were short! You know men, nothing can be too tight or short for them. My sis is almost 4 inches shorter than me, so they should be perfect on her.

All in all, I think this pattern is a winner. It feels like wearing a RTW short. I’m working on getting used to things at my natural waist, but I never wore them before I started sewing. This has a comfortable low to midrise.

xx, Cynthia