A Suede Waterfall

I was wandering around Fabricland as I like to do occasionally when I came across this fabulous faux suede. It has a substantial weight which makes it look very close to the real thing. When I came back on Fabricland's, 50% off sale, to purchase a couple of yards, I could not find the bolt. What!?!? I asked a store clerk if she knew where the bolt of fabric was and she was sure she had seen it and was pretty sure it was not sold out and then she made a couple of suggestions on where I could look for the fabric as the store was pretty busy. OK, I could do that. So, I looked and looked and when the clerks had a moment they helped look for the bolt. I was about to give up and go home when I spotted the bolt lying in a heap on the floor in the middle of other bolts. Yippee! I was in luck and promptly took my bolt up to the cutting table and stood in line. When the lady in front of me, with a huge amount fabric to be cut by the way, turned and saw my coveted bolt of faux suede, and asked 'could I have a meter cut from the bolt while I'm at the cutting table' I had no reason or forethought as to why I should say no. There appeared to be plenty of fabric and she only needed a meter. She had her meter cut and then it was my turn. Imagine my dismay when the faux suede at the end of the bolt was heavily wrinkled and looked like shit. The sales lady was very nicely sympathetic and gave me the rest of the bolt which amounted to an extra 1/2 meter. Nice sales lady and a lesson for me.

So here is my waterfall Swingy Cardigan with pockets            Burda 08/2011/117D

When I came home from the fabric store that day I wrapped the fabric around a styrofoam noodle that kids use for swimming and over the ensuing months most of the wrinkles relaxed. 

In the end it all worked out and I'm quite happy with my suede waterfall cardigan. This was a fairly straight forward sew as there where no edges to finish. I added a stay tape on the back neck edge, pockets and did a little top stitching around the raglan sleeve seams.

A Little Lime in my Coat

Burda Oversized Coat 08/2014/128

I just want to start by saying I "love, love" this coat. It's so fun to wear, mostly because of the colour. 

Burda Oversized Coat 08/2014/128

In sewing this I omitted the back pleat. In my eyes, it looked awkward: to large and to long. I also wanted a closer fit through the back and omitting the back pleat achieved this look. I also took 4 inches off the length. Other than, that it was a pretty straight forward sew as far as coats go. The coat is not overly structured so I kept it that way.

There are couple of firsts here for me. I made bound buttonholes for the first time. Yes, I did! Some of the motivation was because my sewing machine isn't always cooperative when it comes to making nice buttonholes in thick fabric. I feel I can get away with the odd flaw when the fabric is dark or has a pattern but with this pastel green I didn't want to take the chance of glaring errors. 

The other first is the colour. I have never had a coat in a such light colour, but the fun of sewing, is that I will often sew garments that I may not necessarily purchase. Although this is fun to wear, I am very conscious of the fact that this can look dirty in a nano second! 

Until next time, thank you for visiting. 

Stripes and Flowers

I have had my eye on this McCall's Pattern 6559 for quite some time now, as a matter of fact since 2012 when Pattern 
Review declared this one of the best patterns for 2012. I have also had a yearning for a maxi dress since about that time as well. Last year I bought this blue and white striped rayon jersey on impulse from Dress Sew when I was in Vancouver. A couple of months ago Fabric Land had a sale on McCall's patterns and it was time to buy this pattern. Then a trip to Kauai was on the horizon and I needed something for the tropics. These three things aligned and my pattern and fabric was on the table ready to be cut and assembled.

I made View F without the star appliqué. I tried the star with a floral scuba knit I had left over from a skirt I had made last year but it didn't look quite right. So as a nod to the style of Alabama Chanin I cut around the individual flowers and butterflies and hand sewed them onto the dress in the same area as the star would have been. 

This ended up feeling like a fun detail that I like very much. 

The dress is super comfortable and a lot fun to wear. I certainly hope to make a couple of more versions over the next couple of months with summer coming soon here on the island.

New York Chic or Church Choir Gown

In home sewing there is a fine line between it's 'OK to wear' and 'really? your wearing that?' It's always something I feel quite conscious of.   When I get an idea in my mind it doesn't always translate well into every day wear. That's where this Wide Sleeve Boyfriend Blouse - Burda 02/2015/113 sits with me. The construction was relatively straight forward with little fitting needs required. I sewed the smallest size Burda had available and there continues to be plenty of room.

In the midst of sewing the pleats in this black 100% cotton voile, I started to think about how this reminded me of the church choir gowns of my youth and that's when I started to question my choice of colour for this make. Burda made this in white as a nod to the classic white shirt with a twist.

So, I am going to take a cue from the younger people in my life and treat this blouse as a nod to New York Chic and put a little swagger in my step when I wear this.

After all, some of the fun of sewing, is creating garments that are outside of what I would normally buy in the store. 

Thank you for reading and spending a little time in my sewing corner.

3 Day Retreat with Ron Collins

Sewing well fitting pants have always been an elusive endeavour for me. I have made a couple of attempts these past years since returning to garment sewing, but have had no real success with the fit. I'm not one of these people that will spend a long time perfecting a pattern.  So, enter the 3 day sewing retreat with Ron Collins at our local Snip and Stitch store. 

SIGN ME UP - EL PRONTO! Ron Collins is a sewing instructor celebrity here in Canada and comes to Nanaimo and few times a year to teach. There is always a wait list and this time I was lucky enough to take an advantage of a cancelation. 


Burda 08/2012/138

Yes, I was going to spend three days sewing up these men's wear inspired Bermuda Shorts. There were 8 of us in the class. A nice number to receive individual attention to sew any pattern of your choice.

Ron teaching style is relaxed, informative and detailed. He helped me with fitting the muslin and through out the weekend I learned many new tips and tricks. It was a wonderful weekend of sewing and sharing.

The Bermudas were made from a Polyester/Viscose/Spandex blend from Fabricland. They are comfortable and I'm so pleased I finally made a pant that I will certainly wear. 

Thank you for stopping by.

Fidget for Alzheimer's

I belong to a sewing group that meets once a month to socialize and share our interest in sewing. The group consists mostly of quilters and often we will sew a group project for a charitable organization. We have sewn quilts for the Cancer Society, Haven House and friends who have been ill. One evening our 'leader' came with a story about how care facilities for Alzheimer's patients have a need for Fidget Quilts. I had never heard of Fidget Quilts but was about to have a quick lesson. These quilts are designed to provide textures and stimuli for patients so they can fidget and soothe themselves.  We needed 30! 

This quilt is for a woman with leather fringe, zipper, a knit fabric with wooden buttons, beads, satin ribbon and a head band.

Here we have a quilt designed for a man. Mr. SW came up with the idea of attaching screws and washers. I added a leather zipped pocket with a large button hidden inside, burlap pocket, rope tied in knots and a sweater knit pocket. 

Here is a closer view

Honestly, I found adding all the elements quite tedious as each item took a separate set of skills and/or pressure feet etc. But in the end, I'm glad I signed up because it felt rewarding knowing the quilts were going for a good cause. 

Here is a link to a similar project in Manitoba if you are interested in learning more about Fidget Quilts and Alzheimer's Disease.

http://www.alzheimer.mb.ca/touchquiltproject/

Thank you for visiting me here at Sew What?

It's all in the Sleeves

Sew What? This is What....I'm sewing and this is my first blog post. Yay!!

Burda Split Seam Tunic 11/2015/109B

http://www.burdastyle.com/pattern_store/patterns/split-seam-tunic-112015

This tunic may be all about the Split Seam that goes all the way up to the high hip, but it's also about the sleeves, I think.

I did not think about the length of the sleeves until I was at the trying on stage only to discover they were about 2 inches to long. In hindsight, I should have shortened the sleeve pattern before I cut the darn sleeve out. There's always something to think about when sewing. 

Here we go...on the mannequin

I used a lovely wool jersey from Fabric Mart that I purchased a couple of years ago when buying online from the US was affordable. I recently stopped doing that and really miss receiving my little fabric packages in my mail. In this town, we are sorely lacking in choices for fabric shopping.

This was a fairly straight forward sew. The pattern was originally designed for a woven but I changed some methods to accommodate the knit.

Here is the line drawing from the BurdaStyle website

This is what happens when Mr. SW steps in and takes a turn at the camera. Thank you for reading and  I look forward to posting again shortly.