Flannel Pillow Cases

I picked up about 2 yards of this awesome black and white flannel at SR Harris and knew I wanted to make pillowcases out of it. Pretty easy. I measured the existing pillowcases I had, then kind of copied them in the new fabric. I serged all of the seams and did a topstitched hem.

Fabric Glue Stick For Basting Fleece

I read this in Making Trousers for Men and Women some time ago:

"Whenever I mention glue in a sewing workshop or class, everybody laughs, as if I’m cheating or something. Apparently, the word hasn’t yet gotten out: Adhesives are a sewer’s best friend! They’re the tiny fingers you don’t have and the invisible pins that don’t ever need to come out. Admittedly, I’m quite restrained here. I use only a water-soluble glue stick and, recently, a neat ultra-fine fusible basting tape —so far, no spray adhesives or glue guns—but, really, you have to try these things!

Three quick glue-stick tips: Don’t use more than you need, which is usually very little...Don’t use the glue if it’s dried out and shrunken in the tube. (You can often resuscitate a shriveled glue stick by spraying some water into the tube cover, snapping it on tight, and letting it sit overnight—but this stuff is cheap, so get a new tube now and again.)"

On the strength of that recommendation, I bought one, and haven't used it until I was thinking about how to baste the hems for more pussyhats. I thought, why not? If I waste one hat, I'll have at least learned something. 

I'm happy to report that the glue stick worked really well on fleece! I had no trouble with my hems wandering around on me. 

Pussyhats From Shorter Pieces of Fleece

I'm basing these projects on this version of the fleece pussyhat. I was really happy with my results, but since I bought a yard (36 inches) of fabric, and the pieces for the hats are designed to be 20 inches long, that left me with a weird strip of leftover fabric, about 60 inches wide and 15 inches long. I always seem to lose at least an inch of fabric to the piece not being completely square, or because I sometimes cut too deep as I'm cutting, and I'm ok with that.

But I'm not really ok with that much waste. Anti-pill fleece isn't expensive, but it is 100% polyester, which doesn't biodegrade, and while it's not like I'm composting my cotton scraps, it bothers me a bit whenever I waste anything, but especially a synthetic fabric. 

I thought I'd try making a version of the hat with a cuff. I tried one where I only cut 11" pieces for the main part of the hat, and it came out really small, so I'm going to go ahead and suggest that 12" might be better. Test for yourself. The original pattern doesn't specify a seam allowance, so maybe she was working at a quarter inch, while I prefer a half inch, and that would make her finished hat an inch larger around than mine, which is quite a difference when it comes to hats. 

There's another reason to check your sizing before you cut out as many of these as possible - the cuffed edge seems to make the hat fit a little more snugly than the turned-and-stitched hem. That could be because of something I'm doing wrong, or it could be inherently less stretchy. I'm not sure. There are two lines of stitching instead of one, and maybe that is enough to make a difference.

This is how I did it. Cut one piece of fleece that is 12 inches wide and 15 inches long. This is the main hat. Cut another piece of fleece that is 23 inches wide and 4 inches long. This is for the cuff.

Once you have your sizing figured out, you can cut several hats at once from your theoretical scrap above: cut one piece that is 23 inches wide and then cut three 4-inch-long pieces from that. That leaves you with a piece that can be cut into 3 pieces for the main parts of hats. If your fleece turns out to be 59 inches wide when you trim the selvedges, you can always cheat a little bit and cut the main hats at, say, 11 and a half inches, then work with a smaller seam allowance. Or make two hats that are the size you want and a third that's a bit smaller, that may fit a child. You'll have to adjust the seam allowance for the cuff on the smaller hat, so that it will still fit nicely together.

Sew the side seams of the hats and sew the ends of the cuffs together so that they form a circle. Fold the cuffs, wrong sides together.

Mid-construction.

Pin or clip the cuffs to the hats, right sides together, lining up all raw edges with each other. Stitch with a half-inch seam. This makes for a really bulky seam, with three layers of fleece together, so go slowly and consider using a walking foot, if you have one. I don't have a free arm on my sewing machine, so I like to stitch anything to do with the hem or cuff from the inside of the work, as in this example and this one. You can serge this edge, too, but I would baste it on the sewing machine first, because it's so much bulk.

Flip the cuff down and look at which two seam allowances will be covered by the third one when the hat is worn. Trim the two that will be covered, to reduce bulk at the seam. Topstitch the cuff in place, using a stitch that stretches, like a zigzag or a three-step zigzag, if you feel fancy. Finish the "ears" of the hat by topstitching with a straight stitch.

Voila!

To be honest, I like this method of construction more for two reasons - it uses up smaller bits of fabric and it's easier to make the bottom edge look really good. I struggled a bit with keeping the hem even on my other hats. I did my best, but I can see that they're not perfectly level. It's much easier to do this way, in my opinion. I know that some people use spray adhesive to stick their fleece hems in place before stitching, but I don't have any! Maybe someday, I'll try it.

I know I'm repeating myself, but when you are finished, clean your machine, even if you don't usually clean up after every project. Fleece tends to shed a bit and it can gum up your machine worse than most other fabrics.

More ideas for fleece scraps:

- piece them together and make a pet bed. Even if you don't have a pet, most shelters will accept beds/ blankets for their animals. Check with your local shelter before you sew!

- cut them into smaller strips/pieces and use them to stuff everything from pet beds to dolls.

- find a pattern that doesn't take a lot of yardage. Mittens and hats, especially for kids, are often really low-yardage. Again, just because you don't have a kid doesn't mean you can't sew for them. Check with a local charity to see what's needed.

- stuff them into a bag and feel guilty. This is my most common response to scraps, but it's not very fulfilling.

Making A Bunch of Pink Hats! + Tips for Working With Fleece

After the Women's March on Washington, my mama asked me to make her a pink hat, aka a pussyhat. * 

I'd already given away the extras I made before the march, so I needed to go buy some fleece. 

The waste I had left over the first time bothered me a bit. Each hat needs a strip that is 20 inches long and between 11 and 13 inches wide (I have a big noggin and I like to wear my hair in a bun, so, yes, my hat is 13 inches wide, when I cut it). 

If you take that out of 1 yard of fleece, you're left with weird scraps that are less than 16 inches long. Not good for a lot, although I may try piecing some scraps together into yardage.

So, I bought 1 and a quarter yards and cut it up like this: one strip that's 13 inches wide, 2 strips that are 12 inches wide and 2 strips that are 11 inches wide. Give or take. Fleece is bouncy, so cutting it is like corralling a wild animal that is made out of marshmallows. Checking the math: 13 + 24 + 22 is 59, so once you cut the selvedge off a piece of sold-as-60-inches fleece, you should have just enough. 

If the world were perfect, I would only need a piece of fabric 40 inches long to do this, but let's face it - I'm not perfect at cutting and neither are the ladies at the fabric store. So, that extra 5 inches is a little insurance for all of us, for shrinkage in the wash, and to give me something to test my machine with. 

So, I laid it all out, folded in half, and marked 6.5 inches in, 12 inches from that, and 11 inches from that, with chalk. 

This left me with 5 big strips that I then squared off and chopped into 20-inch-long pieces. I then folded them, right sides together, and stacked them to take upstairs and sew.



Folded in half. Ten pussyhats ready to sew!

Bonus Tips:

- When you're sewing a bunch of ears on hats, it can slow you down to mark where the ears should start and stop. Cut a post-it (or even just regular paper) into the size you want and use it as a template.

From the book, Wild and Wonderful Fleece Animals - "Fleece doesn’t ravel, so you don’t need any seam finishing. This fact alone makes fleece an easy and quick fabric to sew! Never press the seams with an iron, it could melt the fibers. Instead, finger-press the fabric to open the seams. You can also place a seam under a wooden block—or a heavy book, such as a dictionary—to smooth it and help it lie flat."

When you are finished, clean your machine, even if you don't usually clean up after every project. Fleece tends to shed a bit and it can gum up your machine worse than most other fabrics.

*She might not wear it now that she knows that, but I'm going to make her one, anyway.

Party Dress As Top

Love it. "Party Dress" from Stretch & Sew. But I made it as a top and without any ruffles. It's fine, but I did notice something strange - the front and back armholes are identical. I've seen this before in a Stretch & Sew Pattern for a tank top. I like the top and it fits fine, so I don't know what I'm complaining about. It just strikes me as a bit odd.

It could be an inch or so longer. I was just using up a scrap bit of fabric, so the top is a little short.

Step Up Socks, Top Down

Quick photos in my mudroom, because that's how I roll.

It's easy to add colorblocking on the heel - a photo of that is on yesterday's post. 

The pattern is for sale on Ravelry and on Craftsy.

Step Up Socks, Toe Up

Step Up Socks, Toe Up, Self-Striping Yarn

Step Up Socks, Top Down, with colorblocked, slipped-stitch heel

In her Encyclopedia of Needlework (I use the English edition, published in 1886), Therese de Dillmont calls this heel the "heel in steps."

Her heel is beautiful, but can be hard to work out, from her instructions. I agree with her verdict: "A heel made like this is no more trouble than the former one (a square heel, what she calls the Usual heel); it fits closely to the foot and consequently wears better than any other shape."

I designed a version of her heel, which was knit from the top down, and reverse-engineered it to also be worked from the toe up. I have been knitting and wearing them since 2013. I don't wear out a lot of my socks, but I do have to darn some of them, every once in awhile. None of the socks I have made with this heel have required darning. That’s the highest praise I can offer a sock heel!

If this heel was first published over 130 years ago and I, myself, have been walking in it for over 3 years, why am I publishing it now?

I guess I was waiting for the right name and inspiration to push me: The Step Up Heel.

Donna Druchunas’s voice, especially, has been calling to me, since the election. When she asked if I had anything to contribute to her Knitting as a Political Act e-book, I was at a loss, at first. Then, I remembered this heel, tucked away in my knitting notes and sock drawer, and thought: “maybe this is the time for this heel pattern to emerge back into the light of day.”

I’m self-publishing the Step Up Socks pattern, as quickly as I can. There will be two versions: toe up and top down. I’m publishing the toe up first, since, for me, political action comes from the ground up. Top down will follow, since we need that, too. We need it all. We need everyone. No matter how you feel about politics right now, I think we can all agree that we should be on our feet, stepping up to the challenges laid before us.

I care about freedom, democracy, women's rights, indigenous rights and LBGTQIA equality. I don’t have a lot to give, but I am doing this: I’ll donate 10% of my proceeds from selling these patterns to a charity that I think will have the most impact. I may chose a new one every month, or I may stick with the same one for a long time.

Both patterns include stitch-by-stitch instructions for set sizes, very short instructions for if you want to use a customized stitch count, and tips for changing the colors and texture of your heel.

Look for them on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/designers/lara-neel and Craftsy: https://www.craftsy.com/profile/lara-neel.

Mitten Knitting

There's nothing quite like knitting mittens. Quick, relaxing and fun!

This is a simple mitten pattern from One-Skein Wonders. 

Victorian Knitting Manuals on Archive.org

I included a link to Richard Rutt's collection of Victorian knitting manuals at the University of Southampton Library in my book. Sadly, pretty much right around the time that I published, they changed the way the collection was organized, which made it way less user-friendly!

They're now on Archive.org, and it's a pretty awesome resource! Go forth and marvel at how far we have come, but also remember that a lot of this wonderful knowledge has been "unfairly forgotten," as Barbara Walker said about at least one of the knitting stitches in her extensive collections. Or was it, "unjustly forgotten?" I really must read through those again, some day.

New Serger Shopping List

I don't have a cute photo to go with this post, but I wanted to write it quickly because my darling sister received a serger this year as a gift!

So, this one is for all of you who either have a new serger or are new to using a serger. 

1. This should have come with it, but if your serger doesn't have its manual, Google around and find your manual. It really helps to have the manual for YOUR serger. If your serger is secondhand, ask how long it's been since it was used. If it's been more than a few months, consider getting it tuned up by a professional repairperson. The oil could have congealed while in storage, and it might lock up on you, which would require repair, anyway.

2. Buy this book. I've read a lot of serger books in the last year, and this one has the best troubleshooting information, in my opinion. I'll never pass up the adorably cheerful 1980s serger books when I see them at Goodwill, but I don't really use them in the same way. They're just so adorable.

3. Buy this book, too. It's not quite as great at troubleshooting when you have a problem, but it has lots of great tips for getting the most from your machine.

4. Get a cover for it. You could make one, but I just bought this one. I'm a little paranoid about dust getting into my tension disks and messing up my machine. I consider this especially important if your machine is stored in a basement or other area that maybe isn't cleaned/used a lot. If you think your machine will go longer than 1 week without use, you really should cover it. 

5. Buy a bunch of needles. If your machine takes regular machine needles, great! If not, buy the ones that your manual says you should have. If you're anything like me, when you're learning a machine, you're more likely to break needles.

6. Buy 1 cone of thread to match each of the tension disks on your machine. Ok, that's a weird sentence. What I mean is, if your machine takes up to 4 threads, each thread will have its own tension setting wheel. These are usually color-coded in some way. They might be yellow, pink, green and blue. My machine takes 5 threads, and I think they are blue, black, red, yellow and brown. When you're first threading up the machine, I think it's really helpful to thread each needle or looper with its own color, preferably matching the color on its tension wheel. It takes some practice to be able to see which thread is which, so if you already have it color coded, you'll be able to tell where the tension is off. I may never use up that yellow cone of thread, but it sure made my life easier when I was learning the machine. If your machine isn't color coded, just pick colors you like, but make sure they're easy for you tell apart.

7. Buy sets (3, 4, or however many your machine will take) of cones of thread in blendable colors. Unlike a regular sewing machine, all of the threads on a serger don't have to match. You can just use a matching thread in the left-most needle. I like to have black, grey, tan and peach in my arsenal. I've used Maxilock and Madeira Aerolock and I like them both. It's ok to look for deals, but cheapo thread is usually a false economy.

8. Buy these teeny vacuum attachments. If you're not perfect about cleaning a sewing machine, it's usually ok. If you're not at least good about cleaning your serger, it will break.

9. Get some oil. Now, you should have this, already, but see #8 for why I'm mentioning this. I have this one and I like it but if anyone has any tips for keeping it from leaking all over me when I use it, I'm all ears. As it is, I kind of swaddle it in a rag, but I still manage to drip on myself.

10. Buy some hemostats. It sounds weird, I know, but they're great for when you're threading the machine. Much better than tweezers. You can also use them to make grabbing short threads while seam ripping easier. 

One more general tip: Try to set up your space so that you can have both your sewing machine and your serger ready to go at the same time. Switching back and forth when you actually have to move the machines will really wear you out. 

Ok, still one more general tip: When you're getting to know your machine, just cut a bunch of fabric scraps into long strips, for practice. I try to cut myself strips to test stitches for every project. It really reduces my angst. 

Craftsy class recommendations: 

Serger Solutions: Troubleshooting Techniques

Sew With Your Serger: Quick & Easy Projects - If you haven't taken a Craftsy class with Angela Wolf, you are MISSING OUT! She's an absolute delight.

Coverstitch: Basics & Beyond - If your machine has coverstitch options, you don't want to miss this class. Gail has a lot of very useful tips. 

Santa Hat

The person who this is meant for doesn't read this blog (I don't think). But, just to be safe, I waited to share it until after I gave it to her. 

It's from Kwik Sew 3743, which might be out of print, but you can still get it. I saw the zebra-print fleece on sale and I couldn't resist - my mom LOVES animal prints of all kinds. 

Everything went together quickly. I used the serger for everything except the pompom. 

Pins and Needles

Are you looking for a last-minute gift for the sewist in your life? May I humbly suggest a wrist pincushion? 

For real, putting pins and needles in your mouth is dangerous. Don't. Just don't. I'm even a little leery of holding stitch markers in my mouth, since I read the above story.

I don't have a pattern for these. The round one was a little hard to make. The rectangle was easier. I used scrap fabric, scrap elastic and cut-up cardstock. The cardstock is to put on the bottom of the cushion, so you can't accidentally stick yourself in the arm with a pin. Very heavy felt might also work, too, but I didn't have any of that. 

For the elastic, make a casing about an inch longer than the elastic by sewing a tube, then turning it inside out. The elastic will gather it a little bit, but it will still be able to stretch and fit over your hand when you pull it on. 

If you're weird like me, you might want at least two of these suckers. One is for "regular" pins. The other, in knit fabric, is for ballpoint-head (knit fabric only) pins. I hate trying to guess which is which!

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Purple Peasant Top

I picked up some purple jersey at Jo-Anns and knew that I wanted to make a peasant-style top out of it. Paired with Stretch & Sew 1582 - perfection! I love these patterns not just because they are fun, but for the attention to detail. The sleeve isn't just a straight hem gathered into elastic. It's curved, so that it really fits the curve of your arm. I'm not saying that modern sewing patterns don't have this feature, but I really appreciate it, when I see it.

The neckline is kind of cool, too. The little self-fabric ties are there, but they're assisted by wider elastic. So, you get the look of little fabric ties with the gathering capability of a nice, wide elastic. Lovely. 

I like the length and the hem, but if I make it again, I might change it to a shirt-hem style.

Poppy Panel Skirt

Yes, this selfie is at the gym because I don't have a full-length mirror with good light at home. I should probably change that, at some point.

I saw this panel print poplin on Marcy Tilton's website and I knew I just had. to. have. it.

I had Butterick's 5466 skirt pattern, so I decided to try view B with this fantastic print. 

LOVE IT!

I'm now tempted to try to find some fabric the same color as the hot pink in the poppies to make a top. It would have to be a perfect match to work, so we'll see if I ever manage it. I think white would also look good. 

Peacock 1977

Polyester Peacock fabric, in the sunshine

I found this shiny, knit, polyester fabric at Goodwill for $2.99. I picked it up, giggled, and put it back. It was clearly from the 1970s - not a throwback, actual stashed fabric that's at least 35 years old. How do I know? It proudly proclaimed "100% polyester!" in the selvedge. Plus, peacocks.


I knew the texture couldn't work for me as a top, dress or pants, but I thought about it for a second - why not a bathrobe? Past Goodwill forays have yielded more than one bathrobe pattern. Why not?

At home, I dug up Simplicity 8275 from my stash. Stardate: 1977. A match made in polyester heaven.

Awesome. Something to swan around the house in, for about $3.50. I serged all of the seams, then pressed them to one side and topstitched with a straight stitch. I'm going to go ahead and call that a super-fake fell seam.

I reinforced the sleeve seams with twill tape. I don't know if it would have stretched out, but I figured it was better to be safe than sorry.

I had EXACTLY enough fabric, with almost none to spare. I shortened the sleeves a bit so that I can cook in this robe in relative safety. No long robe sleeves for me - I saw The Sopranos.

Hugs

Sometimes Boomer kind of hugs me when I pet him. It's the cutest thing!

Happy early Thanksgiving, to those who celebrate it. 

Latex-Free Underwear, Sewing, and Me

I'm a responsible adult, so instead of writing here about my Big Election Feelings, I'm going to write about my undergarments.

I've been thinking about this for a while, and apparently I have a lot to say about it, so here goes. 

Most ready-to-wear underwear is kind of horrible. Especially if it's "affordable." 

I grew up not thinking about it a lot. I bought undies by the handful out of the cheapo bin at the department store or at Victoria Secret. The elastic always wore out in about 6 months. I used to get very uncomfortable skin tags from the leg elastic rubbing and binding up on me. I never guessed there were better options and I had more important things to spend money on, like film and photo chemicals. 

Then, around 17 or 18 years ago, my twin sister told me she had a latex allergy and I should be on the lookout for it, too. We both researched a lot in a quest for cute, affordable, latex-free underwear. I mean, lots of clothes can contain latex, but bras and underwear are the worst offenders. Even if the elastic used is latex-free, a lot of companies use latex in the thread. It just doesn't seem worth it to increase my exposure to latex on the wing and a prayer that the 3-pack of undies at the mall for $22.50 hasn't done that.

We hit on Decent Exposures pretty early on, and I can't recommend them, as a company,  highly enough. Their customer service is impeccable. I lost a bit of weight and ordered some undies that were a size smaller than the pairs I had ordered 6 months before and they emailed me to make sure I hadn't made an error when I was ordering. Fantastic.

$15 per pair for latex-free panties isn't unusual, and the Decent Exposures undies that I wore for years cost between $16 and $28 (that's with shipping, the more expensive pairs are organic cotton). They are worth every penny. From their website: 

"We try hard to be a socially responsible business. All our products are made in Seattle where our employees receive good wages and benefits and the flexibility they need for themselves and their families. We use recycled products whenever possible and pass on large scraps to those who can use them (give us a call if you're interested). We neither buy mailing lists nor sell ours, so you need not worry that your name will be given to others."

From another section: 

"If you need customizing of your order (i.e. latex free elastic or other modifications you have had to previous orders), use the 'Special Instructions' box when checking out to make your requests."

They also last for years. I had pairs that I wore for over 4 years. They didn't even wear out, exactly. I lost some weight, so they just didn't work for me, anymore. I still wear an Un-Bra from them and I absolutely love it.

Around the beginning of this year, I decided to try my hand at making undies. I found this article online at the Very Purple Person and was like, ok. This looks pretty easy. I started out by buying t-shirts at Goodwill and using latex-free elastic from Bravo Bella. All of their elastics and trims are latex-free and they have rocking customer service. I'm their customer for life.

Sew Sassy Fabrics also has some latex-free elastics.

Things learned from my first experience: 

- Seriously, mark the centers of things. Pattern pieces for panties are little, but that also means that if you're off by a bit, it matters a lot. I started out using snips to mark, but now I use Clover Wonder Clips.

- If you're printing a PDF pattern, make sure to check the width and height of the printing box. I didn't do this and my first pair of undies fit well in width but was about 20% shorter than it should have been. Not cute. I mean, I like a hipster style, but it really didn't fit well in the legs.

- I pulled too hard when attaching the leg elastic and ended up with undies that made it look like I'd been fighting off a school of tiny piranha all day. Also not cute.

Overall, ok, but not perfect. 

A few weeks later, I bought the Scrundlewear pattern from Stitch Upon a Time. I'd read a lot of rave reviews about the pattern and I thought it would be cool to try an elastic-free kind of undie. 

I made several pairs. They were good. I loved that I could either use elastic or replace it with a fabric band. I liked the "burrito" method I learned from the Very Purple Person, so I actually altered the pattern so that I could use that technique. The original is drafted so that you cut on the crotch as part of the front pattern piece, so I had to change that to get what I wanted and have a completely enclosed front and back crotch seam. I imagine her method is faster to sew, but I don't mind taking a little time on something that I'm planning on wearing about once a week for (hopefully) a few years.

There was something about the Scrundlewear pattern that I didn't like, even with my alterations. The fit was just...not right, in the back. I admit to having a rather bodacious booty, and in the comment boards and Facebook group of Scrundlefans, many suggestions came up for this, including "just use a size larger in the back." But, the width across the main part of the back was fine. It was just right at the bottom of my rear that was a problem. I considered shortening the crotch piece to pull the bottom of the undies forward, but that didn't make sense. When the fit on the leg bands wasn't just a little tight, the undies rode up like they were late for a gunfight at the OK Corral. That's not comfy, but neither are tight leg bands.

Then, I looked again at the Very Purple Person tutorial and had an "aha" moment. Her crotch pattern pieces weren't symmetrical. They're larger in the back. Because, well, so are we.

In May, I paid a little more than I usually do for patterns and scored a Stretch & Sew 2046 (Brief, Hipster and Bikini Panties) from The Sewin' Asylum. Again, awesome customer service. LOVE her. I made about 5 pairs of hipsters. They have a crotch piece that is asymmetrical and curved, which I think is a little harder to sew, but gives a really fantastic fit. 

Ann Person's method for the leg elastic is to measure your body, then reduce the length of the elastic by a set amount (I think it's either 2 or 4 inches), and work the ease of that evenly around the entire leg. It works ok, but I still wasn't getting the results I wanted.

Then, two things happened. 

- I took Beverly Johnson's Craftsy class on Sewing Panties: Construction & Fit. In the class, she has you measure yourself and draft your own pattern, from scratch. I'm sure it's awesome, but I haven't done it, yet. What I have done is use her method for measuring and attaching leg elastic. It's awesome. It's perfect, for me. You can even make a jig so that all of your panties will fit the same way in the leg elastic. GENIUS! She also does all of the construction "in the flat," which is easier and faster than in the round, in my opinion.

- I made a cami a little while back from this 1986 Stretch & Sew pattern (2072), and I didn't show it to you all because it was kind of a disaster, but when I picked up the pattern, again, to try another one, I noticed that it included a French Bikini. My favorite style.

1986, baby!

The crotch piece on these is curved in the back and straight across in the front. The fit is excellent. 

So, very long story short, I'm using a 30-year-old sewing pattern and construction techniques from Beverly Johnson to make the cutest underwear I've worn in almost half my life. I'm very, very happy.

I topstitch all of the elastics using the coverstitch on my serger. This keeps the edges of the elastic from flipping over and rubbing on me. 

It's cheaper, too. Even with shipping, the elastic and stretch lace I buy from Bravo Bella runs about $2.50 per pair. I could make it cheaper if I bought a ton at once, but I'm enjoying trying different styles and patterns. I bought my cotton fabric as a promotion through Purpleseamstress Fabric on Facebook. Back in January, she said she was drowning in little half-yard and one-yard cuts of cotton-blend jersey, so said if you bought a certain amount of other fabric from her, she would put in 10 of these cuts for free. The white lining is from a set of undershirts I bought at Costco, so I think of those as, essentially, free, too.

If I ever run out of these fabrics, I'll probably spring for organic cotton jersey. Let's say that's $8 per yard. I could definitely get at least 2 pairs out of a yard, and maybe more like 3. But, pretend it's just 2 pairs of undies per yard.

I could have organic, cute, latex-free undies for $6.50 a pair and less than 1 hour of work. Cheaper than the three-pack at the mall.

...and now I think this is the longest post I've written on this blog, and it's about underwear. Also, ads for underwear will now follow me around online for weeks. Perfect!

I contacted Dritz, which is the brand I encounter the most often in stores, and they sent me a list of which of their elastics are latex free. Not all of these work for underwear, but I figure that anyone who finds this page looking for latex-free sewing options might want this information, too.

Latex Free Elastic
Dritz 9325W –3/4” plush back  stated on package

Also latex free
Dritz:
9344 – 5/8ʺ  Glitter Elastics, black, gold and silver
9346C – lightweight elastic, clear
9347 – 5/8” buttonhole elastic, black and white
9348 – 3/8” stretch lace elastic, pink and white
9350w – 3/8” Non-Slip elastic, white
9577 -1 ½” soft waistband elastic, berry, green, orange, purple and tile blue
9387  – 1” Fold Over Elastic, black and white
9388 W– 5/8” double ruffle elastics, 20 SKU’s (maybe this means 20 different colors?)
9389 – 5/8” Fold Over Elastic, 17 SKU’s (17 colors?)

Walmart:
11346 – Lightweight Clear Elastic
11166 – 1” Fold Over Elastic

Babyville Boutique:
Fold Over Elastics:
35040
35041
35042
35043
35044
35045
35046
35047
35124
35214
35258
35259
35260
35261
35262
35304
35305

I Wore White for Hillary

I knew I wanted to wear white for election day, yesterday. I don't own a lot of white clothes. But, I wanted to do it for political, historical and feminist reasons.

I also wanted to try this Wrap Peplum Blouse from Stretch & Sew. It's number 325. The pattern also includes a half-circle skirt with a waistband and, even though it doesn't crow about it, a wrap dress.

I cut out the largest size (a bust size of 40), which is a little small for me, but my fabric is closer to 33% stretch, not 25% stretch, so I figured I would be able to get away with it. 

After cutting out the sleeves, two fronts, and a back, I had EXACTLY enough fabric for one layer of the peplum. In the original pattern, the peplum is cut double and stitched and turned to form the bottom edge. I guess this is to give it more weight, but it also saves you from having to hem a shape that I can best describe as a swoopy wing. You see, the peplum is cut out all in one piece, so it wraps around the body and also has that sweet/cute curve on both fronts. It reminds me of ballet class. I ended up just serging that bottom edge, mostly to save time. I tried a rolled edge on the serger, but this fabric just wasn't having it. 

You can see this above, but I abandoned the sleeves. I really wanted to like them, but they were just a little TOO 1974 for me. Poofs, gathers and pleats. All at once. A little too much for me. Also I didn't do a bicep adjustment so they would have been super-tight on top of all of that nonsense. 

I skipped all of the facings and I wanted to use knit stay tape for the edges I needed to turn under and coverstitch. However, when I looked in my bag of tricks, I didn't have any in white! After pondering adding contrast-color bindings (I didn't even have enough scrap fabric for bindings), I decided to just press the edges under and coverstitch without any stay tape. 

I'm very happy with the result. There is a little pulling at the underarm, but I think it's ok and I'd rather not add front darts on top of everything else. If I make it again, I'll substitute in armholes and sleeves from another pattern so that it can have t-shirt style sleeves. I may also straighten out the curved edges on the peplum, but I rather like them. 

The length is perfect and even the waist length is perfect, which really matters for a wrap top. Someone needs to explain to me why I have to shorten the bodice on new patterns and I don't have to do it on vintage patterns. Have people really gotten that much taller in the last 40 years? Was Ann Person really just smarter than everyone else?

Some of the earlier Stretch & Sew patterns top out at a 38-inch or 40-inch bust. I'm thinking that Ann was a skinny Minnie (she mentions having to do a small bust adjustment in at least one of her books), so maybe she just didn't think about the larger sizes, at first. Later patterns have a wider size range.

P.S. - Heartbroken, today. I wrote the rest of this post yesterday. I'm never going to stop making things or teaching other people to make things. It's important to me. 

SR Harris Fabric

This is SR Harris Fabric. Just so you know, this is one of about 20 aisles. All stuffed to the gills. All 50% off - which makes the prices pretty much even with any large fabric store or online store. You just have to be willing to dig. There are also trims, pillow forms, and leather, both in scraps and in whole hides.

Grab a cart, or you may find yourself unable to lift your arms the next day. Don't ask me how I know, because it's embarrassing. :)

All of this gorgeousness in two locations in the Twin Cities area.

Black and Watercolor Dress

I picked up Simplicity 3775 (oop) at Goodwill a little while ago. To my pleasant surprise, it had 93 reviews on PatternReview.com, so I knew it was pretty good! The pattern I bought was already cut out - but for my size! Yay! I chose to do a sleeveless version with no overlay on the midriff and the surplice front.

A trip to SR Harris yielded a fantastic panel-print knit: black with what I'm calling a "watercolor" in jeweltones. I cut it with the colors on the bottom of the skirt and on the bodice. It's a very soft, somewhat thin fabric, so I doubled up layers on the bodice.

Post-workout hair, sorry.

I love it! The color is smashing and the fabric feels very luxurious. The fit is ok. It fits great everywhere except for at the bust. The front bodice could be a little longer. Live and learn!

Lots of reviewers said the dress was kind of short on them. I'm 5'3", and it hit exactly at my knee. That would make it pretty short on a lot of people.